So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas is such an infectious feeling I like to feel that way all year around.

So if you are visiting just before Christmas, just after Christmas or even here on Christmas day I am sure you will find something of interest for you and in the spirit of Christmas.

It may be said that Christmas is no longer a celebration but this must be spoken by people that have never had trouble closing their eyes on Christmas Eve in an expectation of what maybe left for them on the carpet under the tree.

I continue to look forward to the surprise on my Grandchild's faces to this day at Christmas events.

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas

Monday, May 28, 2012

Simple Cooking Tips

By Glenn Wendell


Make sure that if you are planning a party with friends and family, to have each course planned out in advance. You should have an appetizer course, salad course, main dish and dessert. Breaking your meal into courses will give people a chance to digest and appreciate what you have cooked for them.

Add salt and horseradish to your foods if you want to instill more flavor and add spice to each of your meals during the day. These ingredients are found everywhere and are very inexpensive, allowing you to maximize your level of taste with very minimal expenses. You can Improve the flavor of many foods with these ingredients. How to Build a Built in Grill, Stainless Toaster Oven

To successfully cook a meal you should always follow the recipe. This will assure you use the correct amount of each ingredient. Cooking is a science and each ingredient has its job. Leaving out an ingredient, putting too much of something, or cooking for too long can turn your dish into a disaster.

Make sure that when you are making your pasta, not to use oil in the water upon cooking. This will reduce the risk that the pasta will stick to the sauce, which can ruin the quality of your meal. Avoid oil in water when you are cooking pasta for maximum results.

When storing ingredients that you will use for cooking it is a good habit to stock them in large quantities and freeze them in plastic bags. This will make preparing food easier and faster. For example, when preparing vegetables, you can just pull them out of the freezer and simply boil them.

It is important to know that the smaller the item, the longer it takes to cook. Many people think that smaller items do not take long to cook, therefore the item does not cook thoroughly. Usually, larger items do not take as long to cook and because people think they do, these items get burnt.

To make it easier to peel boiled eggs, run them under cold water immediately after removing from them the stove. Once they are cool enough to touch, tap them lightly to crack and roll on a counter. Once you begin peeling and have an opening in the shell, run this under cold water and you will find the rest of the shell will peel off with the greatest of ease!




About the Author:



Tired Of Throwing Money Away On Fast Food? Learn How To Cook At Home With These Simple Tips!

By Roxane J. Talisen


Cooking is a vast art. Every cook has different preferences and techniques. Some are easy and some are quite complex. Regardless of how good of a cook you are, you should be able to pick up a few tips from this article.

Twice a year, you should buy all new spices. What happens a lot is that spices are kept in a household for far too long and lose a lot of their flavor. If you know you will not use the whole spice bottle, give some of it to someone you know.

If your stir fry recipe calls for meat, make sure to slice it very thinly on the bias. It is possible that you may have a little trouble doing so in a time efficient manner. Once the meat is firm, not frozen, cut across the grain at a 45-degree angle.

To avoid mistakes like burning your food while you are cooking, it is of the utmost importance to stay organized. Keep your kitchen in order. Being unorganized can cause you to lose ingredients or tools that you need when you are cooking. This can cause a meal to be ruined which will put the money you spent on ingredients to waste.

Using different spices and sauces in your dishes can change up how you cook without learning a lot of new recipes. When you use a new spice or a new sauce to cook with you may find that dishes taste different. If you feel like you have tried everything in your grocery store to enhance your foods look around at various foreign food stores.

There's almost always leftovers after serving turkey. Instead, cut it into pieces, then freeze it in a Tupperware container. The turkey will remain fresh this way for a couple weeks, and you can use it for sandwiches and salads.

There are times when people put too much salt in a dish before they have a chance to taste it. This crisis can be averted, however. Place some chopped potatoes into the dish, and let them cook for approximately 15 minutes. The sliced potatoes will absorb any extra salt. If your dish is tomato-based, it is just a matter of adding extra tomatoes and allowing them to cook down, diluting the salt in the sauce.

This type of seasoning is commonly used on other foods besides meat. It can add flavor to all manner of foodstuffs, such as scrambled eggs. Everyone will ask what you used for spices.

Make dishes you already feel confident cooking if you have invited a special guest to dinner. Stay away from using new ingredients, or a new recipe. This will take the stress out of the cooking.

You only need to be able to read and follow instructions to become an effective cook. It may seem difficult, but it really isn't. By keeping in mind the above advice, you will succeed.




About the Author:



How To Choose The Right Vehicle

By Clint Reedy


Whether you are buying a vehicle new or used, let us face it -- this is an experience that could jeopardize your full head of hair and calm and collected countenance. Coming only second to buying a new home, vehicles would be among those life-altering purchases people make, and it can be quite a harrowing experience to make a choice and avoid the double-talk salespeople are so notorious for.

Really, there is one thing that can help you let go of your trepidation when it comes to car buying, and it can save you consternation, likewise the salespeople, and that is RESEARCH.

Gathering Data/Analysis - Part 1

First, consider your current vehicle. Why do you want to trade it in, and what are its advantages and disadvantages? If you need better gas mileage, a lower mileage vehicle, want to reduce your payment, or to upgrade to something more stylish, keep that in the forefront of your mind, since that is essentially your goal for buying a different vehicle.

Also think about how you use this vehicle the majority of the time. There are a lot of people that use huge vans and SUVs for commuting because they wanted a large family vehicle for the one week out of the year they go on vacation. Think about the size of the family and the potential savings on fuel costs and monthly payments if you would get a midsize car or an economy car, because it might make more sense to fly out instead and still have some extra money afterwards.

The objectives of your trade and the main usage of the vehicle will help you make a wise decision -- should you buy a Prius, a Camaro or perhaps one of those babies from GMC so that the entire family can hit the road on your next week off from work?

How Much Can You Afford?

After you know what type of vehicle you need and what you are trying to accomplish, next comes the most dreaded part of the equation, pricing.

You can also gain some vital leverage by ascertaining the most accurate trade value possible and getting financing from a bank, credit union or another financial institution; after all, you will not be reliant on anybody else for information on payment terms and credit. Remember, no matter what salespeople say, the price of the vehicle is what determines the payment; so if you can spend $300 a month on payments, ask your bank or credit union how much money they will loan on a car for $300 a month. As such, you do not need to worry much about spending too much on your vehicle payment.

Car Lot Dilemmas, or Lack Thereof

Once you know what you are after, test driving vehicles will be much easier, and you can tell salespeople you are still in research mode, and not looking to buy today, if that is your plan.

The moment you find that wonderful vehicle that meets all of your expectations in terms of performance, looks, fuel economy, price range and others, you have to give pause and consider just a few more things. To put it succinctly, the miscellaneous things you have to do would be to have an independent mechanic (emphasis on independent) look at your vehicle (if it is used) to make sure that there is nothing about it that may be a harbinger for disaster, and you should also look at the costs of insurance and ownership, either through online resources or through a local provider, so you can be confident that you will not be spending much to secure ownership of the vehicle.




About the Author:



Keeping Your Atv Tires In Good Shape

By Larry Oaks


Everybody encounters a flat every now and then, and ATV riders are no exception - may they be beginners or experts. You'll never know when your tires go flat, so you have to be prepared at all times and guard against this possibility.

Flat tires are not an event unique to all terrain vehicles. But it's easy to fix a flat tire on an ATV as it would on an ordinary vehicle. In fact, it may be the least of your worries in the long run.

Air leaks are probably the most well-known symptom of flat ATV tires. You can repair most types of flats on the trails. The more complicated ones, though, will need to be fixed by a repairman or mechanic.

More often than not, a flat tire doesn't necessarily mean the end of your ATV ride, which is usually a good thing. However, be aware that you still need to get it fixed to avoid future problems. Fixing an ATV tire requires that you have the required items. Keep these tools in a place where you can easily find them so you can fix your tires if needed.

These tools required for fixing ATV tires include a plug insertion tool with reamer, tire pumps, tire repair glue, tire plugs and an air gauge. Also, don't forget the air gauge which is also used to check tire pressure.

Once your tires become flat, you need to find the holes. Then you'll have to fill the tire with enough air. Check for any debris that got into the tire or punctured it, including screws, nails or anything else that may be sharp.

If ever you do not find any sharp debris, then you can rotate the tires to see if there are any cuts or air leaks. One way you can check for damage, may it be puncture-related or not, is to put some water in the tires. Another thing you have to look out for is a broken seal or valve stem.

Once you successfully found the holes or the cause of leakage, use the reamer to roughen the hole's edges in order for the plug to hold effectively. You'll have to apply some tire glue on the plug to further ensure it fits in and sticks. Then see if the plug will successfully be held in the hole.

When replacing ATV tires, you may need a bit of patience and some time to perfect this, as you may need different tire plugs for different reasons. But before you get on your ATV and ride it again, you should make sure the glue has dried up properly. While you will still have to properly fix the tires once you're back home, this process will at least help you make it back with you and your ATV in one piece.




About the Author:



5 Ways You Can Save Money On Gasoline

By Richard Horowitz


If you are like many, the rising cost of gasoline may have you and your family in a financial crunch. Regardless if it's getting back and forth to work, on weekend getaways, or just to the grocery store, when it comes to your necessary commutes you will be glad to know that there are several ways you can save money.

Carpool. It may be a good idea to carpool and save on the cost of gasoline if you happen to live near colleagues who will be traveling to work at the same time as you. For instance, one colleague can drive one week and another the next. Depending on how many people you are commuting with, you could save a significant amount of money on gasoline costs and general everyday wear on your vehicle.

Drive slow. If your vehicle works harder then chances are it will be using more gasoline. Driving cautiously is not only an economical choice but it is also the safest thing to do. You will also use more gasoline if you accelerate and brake quickly. By avoiding sudden actions, you will be able to save some extra money on the highway.

Why you should scale down. If you scale down to a smaller vehicle then this will help you save on gasoline since it's a fact that some automobiles use more gasoline than others. When you go shopping for a more economical choice in automobiles, the one you should choose must have a good gas mileage per gallon.

Fill up when prices are down. You can save a significant amount of money by filling up your vehicle when gas prices are at a low point. Depending on your automobile, it may be difficult to let go of this much cash all at once, but it will save you money in the long-run.

You should not leave your motor running unnecessarily. During the summer months, many people will leave their automobile and air conditioner running while they go to the store. Rolling down the windows instead or turning the air conditioner back on when you return to your car would be a better option. Never leave children or pets inside of the vehicle and this is an important thing to keep in mind.

This article contains information that is only designed for reference purposes. You shouldn't use this as, in place or in conjunction with professional, financial, or motor vehicle operational advice. You can refer to the owner's manual that accompanied your vehicle in order to have more information on your automobile's gas mileage.




About the Author:



Defensive Driving - A Way Of Life

By Judy Miller


Each year, more than 40,000 people lose their lives in automobile accidents. Then about 2 million would suffer from disabling injuries. It's possible to reduce the amount of casualties if more people would learn defensive driving.

No matter how careful or a skilled driver you are, high speeds, impaired or careless drivers, and not using occupant restraints correctly or not at all, threatens each person on the road.

Defensive driving is something we've all heard of. This means that you take responsibility for yourself and your actions and in addition, you are always aware of the other driver's actions.

To help reduce risks on the road, here are some driving tips you can follow.

You shouldn't start the engine unless every passenger in the car has been secured. Thousands of lives each year are saved by safety belts. Lock all doors.

Increasing the likelihood of collision is driving too fast or too slow.

You shouldn't kid yourself. Designate a driver who won't drink if you plan to drink. Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all fatal motor vehicle crashes.

Stay alert! A car responding slowly to traffic signals, weaving, making wide turns, abruptly stopping, or straddling the centerline would could mean that the driver may be impaired.

By exiting or turning right at the nearest corner, you can avoid an impaired driver. Pull over the roadside if it appears an oncoming car is crossing into your lane or you can flash your lights and sound your horn.

Notify the police immediately after seeing a motorist who is driving suspiciously.

Follow the rules of the road. Do not contest the "right of way" or try to race another car during a merge. Be respectful of other motorists.

Avoid following too closely. Always use a "three-second following distance" or a "three-second plus following distance."

While driving, be cautious, aware, and responsible.

You'll be sure to have a safer car ride if you follow these common sense suggestions.




About the Author:



If You Are Unable To Be There But Want To Show You Love Them Then Send -