Lifestyle

IMPACT dance team from Dance with Kim School of Performing Arts in Lehighton enjoyed a successful 2010 competition season.

Team students attended the Starbound Talent competition in Scranton. Junior and senior teams received Gold and High Gold awards in ballet, tap jazz, contemporary, lyrical, character and pointe categories.

Senior IMPACT received an eighth overall for their contemporary piece "Red Football."

If you grill meat regularly, it's worth considering ways to cut the fat but keep the flavor.

Though the marbling of many meats can't be cut away (and to keep things flavorful, you wouldn't want to), trimming any visible fat from the exterior of the meat is an easy way to reduce your intake.

With poultry, the same effect is achieved by removing the skin, which contains a large percentage of the bird's fat.

The trick to great barbecued ribs is not letting the meat get lost in the sauce.

So to keep the pork flavorful and moist – and to give it the substance to stand up to the sauce – I created a quick sweet and peppery brine from brown sugar, kosher salt, peppercorns and garlic powder.

A quick – or not, depending on how much time you have – bath in the brine produces exceptionally tender, moist ribs. To help the meat shine even more, I opted for country-style pork ribs, which are all meat and no bone.

Announcement has been made of the engagement of Rebecca Macchiano of Manchester, Conn., and Anthony "Tony" Sparano, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Sparano of Davie, Fla.

The bride-to-be is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Anthony Macchiano of Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Lake Hauto, and the granddaughter of John and Florence Bubel of Hometown and the late Anthony and Verne Yuskauskas. She earned a bachelor of arts degree from the New York State University at Albany and is employed as a legislative aide.