Pakistani Wedding Decoration Tips

Pakistani culture is different to some extent from other cultures. Different aspects are included in its culture. Saying this will not go wrong that Pakistani wedding traditions are mixture of different trends and customs. Decoration is essential aspect of planning regarding wedding arrangements in all cultures. Here is short description on Pakistani wedding ceremonies and some tips to make special decorations to make this event more successful and memorable. www.CorpNet.com
Pakistani wedding ceremony is celebrated basically for three days but some people enjoy this event for four days and these events include Mehandi, Barrat and Walima.
First day is Mehandi. This day has special charm and excitement. Bride’s best friends and sisters put henna on bride’s hands. Dholak and singing activities add to charm of this day. To make decorations for this event, collect some yellow flowers and green and yellow tulles. Decorate stairs railing and entrance with best combinations of flowers and tulles. Decorate stage with yellow color theme. Hang yellow flowers stripes and yellow and green tulles.
On barrat day, color selection can vary as per choice of people. All general decoration aspects are needed to be covered like reception area decoration, sitting arrangement and stage decoration. Consult different newly got married couples and family friends to make special arrangements. Visit different florists to know about availability and types of flowers. Do all decorations in same color theme.
Car decoration is also very important in wedding decoration. Decorate car with fresh flowers, silk flowers and silky fabrics of cool colors. Black color car is considered as best to decorate with red roses. Same arrangements will be done third and last day of wedding ceremony in some different colors.
Wedding room and wedding bed decoration is also very important and exciting activity regarding wedding decoration. Decorate the room with some theme or generally. Use fresh flowers for this decoration. Decorate the room just before arrival of wedding couple. Select bed spread of light color and use candles and rose petals to decorate bed to add romantic touch to room and entire environment. Keep the taste of wedding couple in mind while making all decorations.

Decorating Bag Tips

This is where all decorating begins. Tips by the score help you produce your favorite techniques—lifelike floral arrangements, intricate lacework, bold shell borders, basketweave designs and more!
These small metal cones are shaped to produce various designs when icing is pressed through them. The size and shape of the opening on a decorating bag tip identifies the basic group, or family to which the tip belongs and determines the type of decorations the tip will produce. Each tip has a number stamped in the tip itself. Within each family, each tip will produce an effect somewhat similar to that of the other tips in the family. On our website, tips needed for project ideas are shown in the tools list. For example, on Bearing Birthday Balloons Cake, you will need Tip: 3, Tip: 8 and Tip: 16 to complete the project.

Round tips

Used for outlining details, filling and piping in areas, writing and printing messages, figure piping, dots, balls, beads, stringwork, lattice and lacework, vines, flower centers and floral work. These tips are smooth and round. View all round decorating tips.

Leaf Tips

Create perfect floral enhancements. The v-shaped openings of these tips give leaves pointed ends. With any leaf tip you can make plain, ruffled or stand-up leaves. View all leaf decorating tips.

Drop Flower tips

Make pretty one-squeeze flowers—these are the easiest flowers for a beginning decorator to do. The number of cuts on the end of the tip determines the number of petals the flower will have. Each drop flower tip can produce two different flower varieties—plain or swirled. View all basketweave decorating tips.

Ruffle tips

Ruffle tips have a teardrop-like shaped opening that yields ribbons, swags, bows, streamers, scallops, ruffles and special effects. View all ruffle decorating tips

Basketweave tips

Basketweave tips are wonderful for woven designs. These decorating tips have a smooth side for making smooth, wide icing stripes and/or one serrated side for making ribbed, wide icing stripes. View all basketweave decorating tips.

Rose tips

Rose tips have an opening that is wide at one end, narrow at the other. Using rose tips you can make a variety of petals that form flowers like the rose, carnation, daisy, pansy and more. Roses are typically created using tip 12 or tip 104 decorating tips.

Specialty tips

Specialty tips add a totally different look! This family includes tips with very distinctive design. Use them to make ring candleholders, deeply ridged shell borders, Christmas trees, hearts, three-dimensional and ridged ruffles. View all specialty decorating tips.

Star Tips

Star tips produce the most popular decorations—deeply grooved shells, stars, fleur-de-lis, rosettes and flowers. The most popular star tips used are numbered 13 through 22. View all star decorating tips.

Multi-opening Tips

Pipe rows and clusters of strings, beads, scallops, even grass and hair! View all multi-opening decorating tips.

Where to Begin

Begin with your basic group of tips—round tips 3 and 12, star tips 16, 18 and 21, basketweave tip 47, leaf tips 67 and 352, rose tip 104 and drop flower tip 2D. A good collection of tips would also include a range of sizes in each family. It's also a good idea to have several of those tips you use most often, so that you don't have to clean a tip each time you change icing color.
Metal tips can be used with decorating bags of any kind. All standard size decorating tips can be used with a Wilton standard coupler. A coupler is a two-piece device that fits onto your decorating bag and holds the decorating tip in place. It's a great convenience when you want to change decorating tips without changing bags, such as when you are using different tips with the same color icing. The coupler base goes inside the cut bag to hold the tip in place, while the coupler ring twists around the base on the outside of the bag to attach the tip. Just twist off the ring to change tips.
Standard tips can also fit on Wilton Tube Icings when a coupler is used. Tube Icings give the decorator a fast way to add small amounts of color to a cake.
View our decorating techniques section to see all the techniques you can create using decorating tips.

Care and Storage

Your decorating tips must be designed for precision and durability. Wilton tips are made of non-rusting, nickel-plated brass. Their seamless design and finely-cut openings will help create precision decorations. The optimal way to store decorating tips is upright, on pegs. This protects the finely cut ends from being bent out of shape. With proper care and storage, your decorating tips will last a lifetime!
To keep tips in perfect decorating condition, wash after each use in hot, soapy water. Rinse in hot, clear water. If bits of icing clog the opening, gently use a tip brush to clean icing away. Air dry, or if using immediately, dry with a soft towel.

Tips for a Successful Interview

Quick Facts...

• To make a good impression at an interview: Do your research, rehearse, then relax.
• Practice ahead of time with sample questions and different interview styles.
• During the interview, be tactful, courteous, sincere, polite and knowledgeable about the organization and what you have to offer it.
• Always send a follow-up thank you letter to the interviewer.

You've just applied for college admission, a major award or a new job. You have been invited to come in for an interview next week. Your resume, cover letter and good use of networking contacts have brought you this far. Now do your research, rehearse and relax. If you've had interview experience through 4-H youth development or school, you're ahead of the game. Here are some tips to help you make a good impression.

Interview Preparation

Do Your Homework

Learn as much as you can about the opportunity and the interviewing organization. Evaluate your own knowledge, skills and abilities and think about how you qualify for the opportunity. Find out information about the organization ahead of time.
General Questions

• What is the name of the interviewer(s)?
• Where will your interview be conducted? When and for how long?

College or University

• Is it public or private? State or municipal? Land grant? What majors are the most popular? How many students attend? Can you study online?
• Do you know any students who attend? If so, ask them how they like going there.
• What is the rate of admission? Of graduation? What scores do students usually need for acceptance? What is the rate of employment upon graduation in your field or area of interest?
• What are the expectations? Do you need to have a laptop when you arrive? Will you be traveling during breaks?

Award

• Is this award given every year? How is it funded? How many winners will be selected?
• Do you know any previous winners? If so, talk to them about their experience as an award winner.
• What are the criteria and qualifications for selection? Do they offer other awards similar to this one for which you might apply?
• What are the expectations? Will you be writing a report or making a presentation about your experience as the winner?

Employment

• How long have they been in business? What goods or services do they provide? How many employees do they have?
• Do you know any people who currently work there? If so, ask them how they like working there.
• What will the responsibilities be? What skills and knowledge will you need to do this job? Are there opportunities for increased responsibility or advancement?
• What are the expectations? Is this a full-time or a part-time job? Is the schedule flexible and will it fit your other responsibilities?

Interview styles

Be prepared for a variety of interview styles. Some interviewers simply ask questions from a list, some use a conversational style, and others may just say something like, "Tell me about yourself and why you want this opportunity." You may be asked to give a graphic representation of yourself in words or symbols on a chalkboard or flip chart. You could use one or more of the following types of visual aids: bar graph, freehand drawing, pyramid steps or resume outline.

Appearance

Plan how you will look. Don't try a new haircut or style, but do get a haircut about a week before your interview. Makeup and jewelry, if worn, should be moderate. Dress conservatively and comfortably, about one level above what you would wear to work. Being clean and neat is most important. Plan ahead so that you don't have to scramble at the last minute about what to wear. Have a backup outfit ready just in case. No denim and no backpack.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice answering questions. List your skills, talents and experiences that directly apply to this opportunity, as well as any hobbies that relate to it, so you can tell the interviewer(s) about what you can do.
Plan and practice some answers to typical questions. Practice in front of a mirror, or record your practice interviews on an audio- or videotape. Watch for nervous gestures and eliminate any slang or other inappropriate language. You will be expected to speak in the language of work and school. Enlist the help of others to ask you questions and evaluate your answers and presentation. Look on the Internet for sites with practice interview sessions.

Typical Questions

Tell us something about yourself.

Sample answers:

• I am a team player with experience in solving problems.
• I try to make healthy lifestyle choices and to be a responsible citizen.
• I am an excellent communicator and enjoy working with others.

My answer:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

What skills have you gained in your 4-H youth development experience that you would like me to know about?

Sample answers:

• My projects required keeping records. I learned the importance of setting goals and using resources wisely.
• People depended on me to be prepared. I know the value of responsibility.

My answer:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Sample answers:

• Managing my time is a strength because it helps me do many things I like to do. It can be a weakness because I tend to be overorganized and I might appear less friendly or fun-loving than I really am.

My answer:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Where would you like to be in five years?

Sample answers:

• I hope to be the most I can be wherever I am. I want to continue learning.
• I want to use the skills I've learned, including critical thinking, communication, teamwork and self-discipline.

My answer:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Why are you qualified for this opportunity? Why should we select you for this opportunity?

Sample answers:

• I know how to work. I have demonstrated I am a responsible and dependable person.
• I know you emphasize team work. I cooperate and share well with others.
• I have leadership skills and experience. You can count on me to follow through.

My answer:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Do you have any questions for us?

Sample answers:

• When do you plan to make your decision?
• What do you like the most about this organization?
• Describe the environment here.
• What are the characteristics of the successful applicant here?

My answer:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

The Interview Itself

Arrive early, about 10 to 15 minutes before your scheduled time. Make sure you know how to get to the interview. If you are unsure of the location, make a trial run. Know where to park and if you need change for a meter.
Calm your nerves by taking deep breaths. Maintain a positive attitude no matter how you think the interview is going. Smile. Bring an extra copy of your resume, a fresh notepad and a pen.
Greet the interviewer. Offer a firm handshake. Listen carefully for the interviewer's name and title, if you don't already know them. Make and maintain eye contact. Be friendly but not too casual. Speak in complete sentences, and use a formal vocabulary. Don't fidget, chew gum, smoke or use slang during your interview.
Answer questions. Above all, be honest. You do not have to offer negative information, but be sure you don't lie if asked directly. Answer clearly and completely with enough information. Take a moment to think before you respond to difficult questions. Organize your thoughts so you don't ramble. Remain calm no matter what question is asked. Be tactful, courteous, sincere, polite and knowledgeable about the organization and what you have to offer.
Conclude the interview. Thank the interviewer for the time spent with you. Ask when a decision will be made, if that hasn't already been indicated.

Interview Follow-Up

Make notes as soon as you leave. Jot down the name of the interviewer, questions you answered well, questions you might have answered more effectively, and questions you would like to have asked. Keep a file of notes from your interviews that you can use to prepare next time.
Send a follow-up or thank you letter. Type it on good quality paper, or write it by hand. Don't think you can skip it — interviewers expect it. Express your thanks for the interview and restate your interest in the opportunity. You can even answer a question you may have missed during the interview.
Take advantage of opportunities to interview through 4-H youth development and at school. Every interview can be a learning laboratory for you, and you will be ready for your next important interview.

Sample Follow-Up or Thank You Letter

	123 West First Street Anytown, State 01234 Today's Date
Dr. M. I. Interviewer 9876 East First Street Anytown, State 43210   Dear Dr. Interviewer,
Thank you for the interview today. I am more interested than ever in your [college or university, award, job] and appreciate the time you spent with me talking about it. It was especially exciting for me to hear about your goals for the next few years.
I think your [college or university, award, job] offers just the right match for my skills and interests. During the interview, I didn't mention my community service work through 4-H Youth Development, but wanted you to know that I respect your organization's efforts to be a good corporate citizen. I would be proud to participate with you in helping others.
If you would like any additional information or references, please contact me at (123) 456-7890 or kstudent@myaddress.net. I am very interested in this [admission/award/job] and look forward to hearing your decision.
Sincerely, (Use blue or black ink for your signature.) Kirby A. Student

Resources

• Hendricks, P.A. (1998). Targeting Life Skills Model. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Extension.

¹K. Wolfe, Colorado State University Extension 4-H youth development agent, Larimer County; J. Carroll, Extension specialist, 4-H/Youth Development; and T. Blush, (former) Extension 4-H youth development agent, Boulder County. 1/2000. Reviewed 6/2010.
Colorado State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Colorado counties cooperating. Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. No endorsement of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.

Phones: Top 10 Buying Tips

1. Ask around about the best carrier. Coverage and call quality vary widely between the six national carriers. The carriers will tell you that they're perfect, so ask neighbors, friends, and co-workers about who has the best coverage where you live, work and travel.
2. Pay attention to battery life. A dead phone is no phone at all, so look for a phone's "continuous talk time" rating. Assume you'll be able to go a day without charging for each hour of talk time.
3. Test the speaker. Usually, you'll be able to make local calls with a test phone at the wireless store. Make sure voices come through loud enough and clear enough.
4. Take a hands-off approach when driving. Several states now require you to use a hands-free kit in your car. For a car phone, look for speaker-independent voice commands so you don't have to touch the phone to dial. Try to find a phone with Bluetooth wireless capability for the widest selection of wireless headsets.
5. Keep an eye out for nickel-and-diming. Your base plan may not include instant messaging, picture messaging, e-mail access or calls in rural areas. If you're going to do any of those things, make sure it's included.
6. Shop in person, but buy online. Always go to a store to check out phone keypads, screens and speakers. But check carriers' Web sites and independent retailers like amazon.com for online deals once you've settled on a product.
7. Lock yourself in. Advertised, super-low prices for phones almost always require signing up for a new, two-year contract. Read the fine print to find the price for a phone with a one-year contract. If signing any contract drives you to distraction, check out no-commitment phones like AT&T's GoPhone or Virgin Mobile's prepaid service.
8. Consider a family plan. These are always the best deal for couples or families with
multiple phones. You share a bucket of minutes, each get your own phone number and can save up to 50% over getting separate plans.
9. Get the right bands for your trips. If you travel between US cities, make sure your phone has both 850 and 1900 Mhz bands for the best coverage. If you often travel in the rural USA, an analog band will help big-time. And if you regularly go overseas, get a 'worldphone' with the 1800 Mhz band.
10. Don't be afraid to give it back. Most carriers offer a 15-day period when they'll take a phone back, no questions asked. Use your phone heavily the first week after you buy it. If anything deeply disturbs you – muffled sound, dead areas, a limp battery – return it and get a new one.

The Art of Baking - a dry heat method of cooking

Definition of Baking
Baking is defined as cooking food in an oven using dry heat. That’s all well and good, but since baking is one of the primary ways in which we cook food, let’s take a minute to look at baking, in depth. When we think of the term “baking” we are generally talking about cakes, breads, and pastries. We will discuss oven roasting of meat and vegetables in the Roasting section.

History of Baking

Baking was originally accomplished in the coals of a fire, or on a hearth. The Italian peasant bread, focaccia, comes from the Italian word for hearth. Notice that it is the same root as the word “focus.” The hearth was, literally and figuratively, the center, or focus, of the home.
From the earliest, unleavened breads from the Middle East and the Americas to risen breads to elaborate cakes and pastries, history leaves us record of baking in many ancient civilizations, including Babylon, Egypt, Rome and Greece.

Types of Ovens

Several free-standing brick ovens have been uncovered in the ruins of Pompeii. Other ovens of the ancient world include clay and even mud ovens, and later, in the 1600’s, cast metal ovens, such as the Dutch oven. Although brick and clay ovens are still in wide use all over the world as well as in America, most home bakers will have access to a conventional oven, a convection oven and/or a microwave oven.
Conventional ovens consist of a metal box with several racks and upper and lower thermostatically controlled heating elements of some sort (gas or electric). Preheating a conventional oven first heats the air in the oven and then the metal box itself.
Cooking is primarily done through means of radiant heat. Heat is transferred from the walls of the oven to the food through the air in the oven. Some conduction occurs, as well. Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact.
For example, cakes are baked with radiant heat from the oven itself, and heat is also conducted from the cake pan (which of course has heated up) directly to the batter. This is why baked goods are generally darker at the edges where they meet the pan: the food is being cooked through two heat transfer processes at once.
Convection ovens are similar to conventional ovens, but they also have a fan inside that creates an air current inside the oven. Regular convection ovens have a fan that blows air, but true convection ovens also have a third heating element, located right behind the fan, so the fan blows heated air.
In general, convection ovens speed the cooking process, harnessing radiant heat energy, conductive heat energy as well as convective heat energy. If you have a convection oven, your baking times will be shorter, and you will most likely have to set the thermostat anywhere from 25 to 50 degrees lower than your recipes call for, unless they were developed using a convection oven.
Microwave ovens send energy into food in the form of waves that excite “lopsided” molecules, namely: water. Microwave ovens can heat quickly, but since water boils at 212 degrees, food will never get hot enough to brown. For that reason, most home cooks eschew the microwave for cooking, but they are very useful and efficient when it comes to reheating foods.

Baking V. Roasting

The age old question of which came first, baking or roasting. No I have that confused with something else. Seriously, I get asked what's the difference between baking and roasting all the time. People want to know why we bake bread but roast chicken since they are both essentially the same dry heat cooking method. You have baked clams but roasted bruschetta. To make matters even more confusing, there are baked potatoes and oven roasted potatoes.
To help clear this up, I wrote a blog called Baked or Roasted - You Decide that might help or may even confuse you more.

Mixing Methods:

Since we have pretty well established that baking starts with dough or a batter, let us take a moment to examine the different methods we have for making a batter or dough. We’ll discuss methods for making bread dough elsewhere. Many of these methods outline the manner in which fats are incorporated into the batter or dough.

Creaming
In the creaming method, fats are mixed with sugar to form a mixture that is either smooth and creamy (cookie dough) or light and fluffy (cakes). Then, eggs are added one at a time, followed by adding dry ingredients (flours + salt + spices + chemical leaveners) alternately with wet ingredients (milk/water + liquid flavorings). The resultant batter can be very thick, as in cookie dough, or “spoonable,” like cake batter. Rarely does the creaming method produce a batter that is truly pourable.
So why combine ingredients this way? The initial creaming of the fat with the sugar creates lots of little air bubbles (fewer for cookies, many more for cakes). The sharp edges of the sugar actually cut into the butter and create a bunch of little air pockets. Upon heating, the air in the pockets expands, helping the dough/batter to rise.
Beating the eggs in early allows even more air to be whipped in (think of meringue) in the initial mixing stages. In the creaming method, it is very important that you do not skimp on the creaming of the fats/sugar/eggs. The more air pockets you have to begin with, the more rise you will get, regardless of how much baking powder or baking soda you add to the batter.
When adding the flour and liquid, it is important to mix as little as possible while still getting the ingredients well combined. The less you mix, the less gluten is developed, resulting in a more tender final product. Adding flour before adding the liquid helps to coat the flour with fat, further inhibiting gluten production. If you add liquid first, and then add flour, you will end up with a chewier final product since more gluten will be activated.
Muffin
The muffin method is the method by which we make muffins, scones, pancake and waffle batter and other quick breads. It’s a pretty easy method, but like many easy things, it must be done correctly to be successful. In the muffin method, all dry ingredients are combined (flour + salt + sugar + chemical leaveners + spices).
All wet ingredients are combined (milk/water + liquid fats + eggs + liquid flavorings).
Then, the wet ingredients are poured onto the dry ingredients and gently mixed. Lumps are okay in this method—they will settle out on their own. Since you’re not taking the extra step of coating the flour with fat, it is extra important that you mix gently so you don’t activate the gluten.
When incorporating the wet with the dry, don’t think “mix,” think “fold.” You want to gently fold the ingredients together to make a batter. This folding shouldn’t take any longer than about ten to fifteen seconds. Then, even if it’s lumpy, as Alton Brown says, “Just walk away.”
In reality, you want to get your batter into tins and into the oven (or on the griddle) relatively quickly so the chemical leavening can do its job.
Biscuit
The biscuit method is the method used to make biscuits, scones and many pie doughs. In the mixing method, dry ingredients are combined (flour + sugar + salt + chemical leaveners + dry flavorings).
Then, chunks of cold, solid fat (butter, lard, shortening or a mixture) is cut into the dry ingredients) with either forks or another mechanical helper or by hand), until the fat is about the size of peas. This method allows some of the flour to be coated with fat, adding to tenderness while leaving enough fat in large pieces to melt during the baking process and create steam. This adds texture and leavening to the final product.
Once the cold fat is cut in, cold liquids are added (ice water/milk/buttermilk/cream). It is important to keep the fats very cold in this method. If the fats begin to soften before you are finished, put your bowl in the freezer for a few minutes so they firm up. Once the liquid is incorporated, mix minimally, shape and bake.
Two-Stage
The two stage mixing method was originally applied to high ratio cakes. The term high ratio refers to a high ratio of water to flour held together by the emulsifiers in the “new fangled” solid shortenings. Since the emulsifiers could hold more water, the batter could also hold more sugar, since sugar dissolves in water. This helped to increase shelf life and moistness in cakes.
Since we have become more health conscious about the effect of trans fats, solid shortenings have fallen out of favor somewhat. The two-stage mixing method, however, is an effective method for creating a meltingly tender, fine crumbed cake.
In the two-stage method, you mix all dry ingredients in the mixing bowl (flour + sugar + salt + chemical leaveners + dry spices). Then, mix the eggs with about ¼ of the liquid ingredients (milk/water + wet flavorings).
Make sure that all dry ingredients are well mixed in the bowl, and then add butter at cool room temperature plus the egg mixture. Mix on low to moisten all the ingredients, and then beat on medium for a couple of minutes to develop the structure of the batter. The batter will get light and fluffy.
Next, add the rest of the milk in three additions, scraping the bowl and mixing for a few seconds between additions. Batter made using this method is generally a bit thinner that batter made with the creaming method. Since dry + wet + eggs are mixed in at the same time, you will not get the same amount of air bubbles that you will with the creaming method. Your final product will have a tighter, more velvety crumb and have a very melting mouth feel.
Egg Foam
The egg foam method is the method we use for making genoise, angel food cake, and meringue-type cookies. In this mixing method, most (if not all) of the leavening comes from an extended beating of either egg whites or whole eggs with sugar. Then, the dry ingredients are gently folded in.
Batter made with the egg foam method of mixing are generally very thick and light. It is best to bake them immediately and let them cool in the pan upside down, as the structure of these cakes is very delicate until cool.
There are also some “hybrid” mixing methods where eggs are separated, the yolks are added according to the creaming method or the muffin method, then the whites are beaten to medium peaks and folded in before baking. This creates a batter with extra lift—from chemical leaveners, air bubbles created during creaming and air bubbles in the egg foam—and a drier end product.
Now that you know the major mixing methods, the world is your oyster. You can take almost any cake recipe that calls for the creaming method and apply the two-stage method. Note the results, and then use the method that you like best.
Read a recipe, name the general mixing method, based on the instructions, and then adapt it how you see fit. Not all mixing methods are interchangeable, but you can usually use choose between creaming or two-stage, creaming or muffin or even adapting a recipe with whole eggs to the hybrid method described above.

General Cooking Tips

Prepare what you need before you start. It’s how the pros do it and it simplifies the process when you are scrambling to put it all together.
When using a broiler to cook steaks, pre-heat oven until it's really hot. This will sear the outside of the meat and keep the juices in. And don’t use a fork to turn the steaks, use thongs or a spatula to prevent juices from leaking out.
Buy yourself a potato ricer for mashed potatoes. It a great gadget to have in your kitchen, it looks like a giant garlic press, costs about six bucks, but there’s nothing better for smooth airy mashed potatoes.
A folding steamer platform that sits in almost any pot works great for your steamed veggies. Important, be careful not to overcook the broccoli, you want it to be crisp but tender.
Invest in a salad spinner. They’re inexpensive and work great. There’s nothing more unappealing than soggy lettuce. And speaking of lettuce, you may have grown up on iceberg, but try some red or green leaf lettuce for a little diversity.
Never cook with any wine you wouldn't drink! You can substitute 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary leaves with 1 teaspoon. of dried, but fresh is better. Try using a spray olive oil to coat your roasting pan.
Any brine-cured black olives can be substituted for Kalmata and remember to tell your guests there are pits so they don't break a tooth.
To roast garlic, sprinkle the bulb with a little olive oil and white wine, salt and pepper, wrap it in tin foil and roast in a 350 degree oven for approximately one hour.
Try using a hand blender to puree the soup....it's easier than transferring to food processor.
Mushrooms should be wiped off with a damp cloth and not washed under the faucet since they are like sponges and will absorb the water.
Make sure your roasting pan is the correct size and is placed on the middle rack.
When roasting, save the pan juices for your gravy.
Leeks are full of hard to get at sand and dirt, chop them first, then give them a bath in cold water and drain in a colander.
Try using carrots instead of sugar to sweeten your sauces.
Cracked pepper corns: I opt for putting the peppercorns in a zip lock bag and cracking them on my cutting board with a hammer. Noisy, but it worked. Otherwise, set your pepper mill to course grain instead.
When buying cabbage, look for heads that appear heavier than their size with crisp leaves.

Grilling Tips:

Be sure your grill is hot enough before starting.
Grill meat and veggies about 4 inches from heat source and chicken about 6-8 inches away.
To add more flavor, try adding pre soaked chunks of natural hardwoods like Hickory.
Make sure grill is clean before cooking.
To prevent sticking, brush or spray a light coating of oil on grid.
If your grill has a top, close it to allow smoke to add it's flavor.
To keep poultry from drying out, grill with bone in and baste continuously.
Poultry dark meat takes longer than white meat so start it sooner.
Sear chicken on the skin side first.

Baking Potatoes:Recipe

Use a potato with a high starch content ...it makes for a puffier baked potato. Good starchy potatoes are: russet and Idaho.
Look for potatoes that have a smooth skin and no sprouts. Stay away from those with wrinkly skin or soft spots.
Store your potatoes in a cool dark spot away from your onions.
And don't store them for months on end. A couple of weeks is what you should plan for

Light Of The Day

As most of you know most jobs today come with a lot of stress. I work for an Insurance company and we are going through a lot of changes right now and it is causing a lot of stress for all of the people in my department as well as the agents.

A few weeks ago I was having a very bad day and was about ready to start looking elsewhere for a job that was not as stressful. Something happened that day to change my way of thinking and I am so appreciative of this young lady. Things have been stressful for me personally as well as at work. I want to let her know
that the small act of kindness touch my heart.
In my cubicle I have a small collection of lighthouses and everyone on my team knows that I collect them. I have them sitting on top of the cubicle to let people know where I am sitting in case they have to find me for any number of reasons.
I came in to the office and was standing at my cubicle waiting to log in and get the day started when Crystal came over to my cubicle. I turned around and she said hello. I said hi and asked her if she needed anything. She said, “I bought you something.” I looked at her with a puzzled look and said “Well, thank you, but why would you buy me anything.” I had never spoke to this young lady before. She said, “Every day I stand up and look across the room and see your lighthouses. I was out shopping with my mom over the weekend and saw this and thought you would like it.” In her hand she had a small globe with a lighthouse and ship in it. I gave her a hug and thanked her. I don’t think she knows how much that small act of kindness changed my day.
I kept the small globe on my desk for a few days. Now it sits on my television in my apartment. I hope for anyone that reads this you remember, no matter what the gesture is you could change someone’s day.