Add Personal Touch with a Photo Christmas Card
by Rob Buenaventura
If you want to make a really big impact this Christmas, rather than running down to the market and buying stock Christmas cards, try making a family photo Christmas card. Even better, the photo Christmas card is not likely to make it to the rubbish bin but more likely to be kept and either framed or placed into a photo album. In this manner, you are doing your part to help save the trees. The problem with traditional greeting cards is that many people find them to be impersonal and insincere. A photo Christmas card is a personal greeting lets the receiver know that you feel they are a part of your family too.
With widespread digital photography programs available to download (some free and some for a price) or purchase from local retailers it is easier than ever to design, touch up, and print your very own family photo Christmas cards. Digital cameras allow you to take and view photos immediately and retakes only require a few more seconds of your time for those rare photos where someone�s eyes or closed or someone is giving sister rabbit ears. You don�t even need fancy printing and photo editing software to make your own photo Christmas cards, you can upload the photo to one of many online photo services and they can make, edit, and even print the cards for you (for a small fee of course, which is really a small price to pay if you lack the skills to do it for yourself).
There is absolutely no right or wrong way to make a photo Christmas card. In today�s world it is perfectly okay to be creative or casual with your card making. Some of the best cards I�ve seen are with families in jeans and tee shirts with bare feet all lying on the floor wearing Santa hats. Be silly, be creative, have fun, and let your personality show through. It doesn�t even have to be a Christmas type of setting. You can have a family photo at the beach and say something like �I bet you wish you were here instead of eating fruitcake� Anything to bring a smile to the faces of those that love you most.
The most important thing to remember is that you don�t make the process more complicated than it has to be. Keep it as simple as possible. You do not want to have a negative experience by trying to do too much or learn too much too quickly. If you do that, you run the risk of giving up and quitting all together. As I�ve mentioned before, if the process of making and printing a card seems overly complicated to you, there are many services, both online and off that will be more than happy to create and print wonderful photo Christmas cards from your family photograph.
About The Author
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Things To Look For In A Management Membership Site Software In The Web
Things To Look For In A Management Membership Site Software In The Web
by Mario R. Churchill
User-friendly Interface
It would be useless to obtain a sophisticated piece of software that claims all good functionality but you would not be able to use it. You really have to ensure that the management membership site software you purchase will not disappoint you and will truly serve to make things easier for you. A user-friendly interface will enable you to master the software more easily and you will be able to give less time for learning it and more time to actually using it for your purposes.
Usability
The software you buy for your membership site must be something that you can use conveniently. It must be easy to install, fast in loading and not intricate or prone to hang when you are using it simultaneously with other programs you use in your computer. You must also check the system requirements of the software to ensure that you get attain supreme functionality of your software and it is very much compatible with whatever you are using it with.
Affordability
How much does it cost? Is it under your budget? You must be able to weigh your options carefully. This will require you to really scour the market for this software and choose the best based on your needs and your available budget for this software. If you find something beyond your initial budget allotment but see that it is worth all that excess money, make the adjustments.
Company Credibility
Before buying anything, you must also check if the provider of the software is reliable in this field. You will be ensured of better service if there are more satisfied customers from the company you are buying your management software from. There are some companies which give more advanced features at a lower price, but if they are relatively new to the business and not yet established in this field, you may want to give a second though before buying from them.
Warranty and Effective Customer Service
Warranties of return if you get dissatisfied with the performance of the software, as well as the ready customer service available should you encounter glitches that require troubleshooting are essential and you must never take these for granted. The presence of a warranty ensures that the company is confident that you will be satisfied with their product and that they are willing to return your money if your expectations are not met. Companies with a no return, no exchange policy are much more riskier and may prove to be fatal if they are unreliable with their products.
Free Trials, if applicable
Free trial of the software will give you a feel for the product and allow you to gauge if it is really worth your money and time. Have as much free trials from different bands as you possibly can before making the decision of what brand to purchase. Check also once you try the software if they fit the exact descriptions they place when marketing the product.
Customizations of Features that can Suit Your Specific Needs
In line with checking for functionality, it is also very important that you can customize the software functions to suit your particular needs. Extra features will be useless if you will not find any concrete use for them. It is better to have a low end customizable software than have a high end one but not be able to truly use the benefits which require the extra dollar payments.
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Long Term Care Decision Can Take an Emotional Toll on Caregiver
Long Term Care Decision Can Take an Emotional Toll on Caregiver
by Clay Cotton
It is universally agreed that one of the most difficult decisions a caregiver must make is deciding when it is finally time to choose a long term care facility for a loved one. Accepting that home is no longer enough is tremendously difficult for a caregiver and all concerned. Not only must families handle the grief, heartbreak and guilt of the placement, but they must also decide which type of care facility will be most appropriate for a loved one - plus, how to manage family finances. This period is, without a doubt, one of the most stressful for any family, especially for the the caregiver.
For the caregiver the bitter grief of separation and lingering guilt about the choice continues throughout this period. Caregiver strain can be made even harder by the patient who pleads to return home or asks staff to call the caregiver at home. Caregiver guilt can be devastating. As friends, family and community we can help acaregiver at this time. Telephone the caregiver often, or better still drop by for a visit. Listen to caregiver concerns and offer your support. Caregiving can be a very lonely game. A caregiver who has been out of the "social circle" for awhile will welcome an invitation to lunch or other pleasant outing.
Please don't forget the person in the care facility. Visit often, take old photos to jog pleasant memories and stimulate conversation. Knowing that friends and family continue to visit is a great comfort to the caregiver. We often hear from caregivers dealing with these issues.
Connie Metsger, director of Sun City's Residence for Alzheimer's Care, offers good advice:
"Dear Connie: My husband has recently moved into an Assisted Living Facility. He has had Alzheimer's disease for five years and has reached a stage where I could not manage his care at home any longer. I feel horrible about leaving him there, and I cannot get the image of his sad eyes out of my mind. The thought that we shall never again share the same home often brings me to tears. My friends tell me I made the right choice, and I know that they are correct. I have tried to get back to my old activities, but I feel so callous. How can I enjoy myself when Bob is so unhappy? I end up spending most days at the facility. Is the rest of my life going to be like this? - Judy
Making the decision to place a loved one under care is probably one of the hardest decisions a caregiver can ever be asked to make. Once the decision has been made, it is also very common to question whether you did the right thing. Going to a caregiver support group and hearing this from others may be helpful to you. They can share tips on how they handled their periods of caregiver adjustment. The trials of caregiver adjustment are not easily grasped by those who have not experienced similar hardship. Children and other family members may benefit from counseling as well. These are psychologically traumatic events, and we must deal with them as maturely and sensibly as possible."
Having to place your loved one in a care facility is hard enough. Trying to come up with the money to pay for their care can make a hard situation unbearable. Don't wait until it's too late. Speak to your long term care insurance Buyer's Advocate to see if coverage is right for you and your family.
Copyright (c) 2006 Clay Cotton
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Questions to Help You Pick a Focus to Accomplish 20 Times as Much
Questions to Help You Pick a Focus to Accomplish 20 Times as Much
by Donald Mitchell
A mistake that many people make is to focus on relatively unimportant activities in creating 2,000 percent solutions (ways of accomplishing 20 times as much with the same time, effort, and resources). Why not gain as much benefit from your efforts as possible?
Now, let's look at questions to help you achieve great results. I suggest that you jot down your answers. These notes will be helpful to you when you repeat the eight step process in the future by reminding you of what you did and did not consider.
1. What activities in your organization have the most positive impact on total profits now?
For a mining company, the answer may be reducing the cost of raw materials by extracting the lowest cost ore first. For a manufacturing company, the answer may lie in avoiding costly errors in its products so that rework and warranty costs are avoided. For a wholesaler, the answer may lie in purchasing the lowest cost items and being able to keep those goods in stock with low inventory levels. For a brokerage firm, it may be interesting clients in trading more frequently in profitable ways for the clients and the firm.
2. What activities in your organization will have the most impact on total profits five years from now?
For the mining company, the answer may be locating new sources of lower cost ore. For the manufacturing company, the answer will often lie in redesigning products and developing new products that are less expensive to make and cause fewer errors in producing. For the wholesaler, the answer may lie in creating new computer systems that allow for more efficient purchasing and management of inventory. For a brokerage firm, the opportunity may be adding new services and increasing the value of existing services to attract more profitable clients and retain them longer.
3. In which of these activities do you suspect that some of your organization's efforts are much more productive than the least effective efforts?
Although you cannot know until you measure, you have probably observed differences in performance or heard stories that lead you to believe that there are differences in some areas. These differences may occur from individual to individual (such as how rapidly and correctly transactions are processed), office to office among people doing the same function (such as regional sales and administrative operations), or from plant to plant producing the same item.
4. What measurements already exist that could help you identify the size and value of these differences in performance?
Convenient measurements may not be readily available for this purpose, but could be assembled to help you understand differences. For instance, you may have individual productivity by employee in some performance areas. Those individual data could be combined to determine if office by office productivity differs. That measurement would help because it could identify superior management practices in some locations that are not performed in other locations. Many people assume that such measurements only exist in accounting, information technology and manufacturing functions. Be sure to also ask people who work in the activities that interest you. You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that there are other measurements in place that you have never seen.
5. What measurements could you inexpensively add for other high value opportunities where you have no information about relative performance now?
Talk with those who would have to be involved in making the new measurements to learn their ideas about what can be done easily and inexpensively. Then, take a little time to make these measurements on a one-time basis. Later you can decide if it is worth continuing these new measurements.
6. What do your existing measurements already suggest are the greatest differences in the value of performance?
In looking at this question, you should be sure to consider the economic impact of differences in performance as well as the percentage size of the differences in performance. For example, your most productive salesperson may be selling 50 times as much as the least productive. But if everyone operated at that level, you might only save one percent of revenues. If everyone matched your most productive design engineer in finding less costly and more valuable ways to redesign existing products and design new ones, you might save as much as five percent of revenues. Obviously, the latter alternative would be the one to work on first assuming that all else is equal.
7. Where do you think that the greatest value differences in performance are among areas where you have no measurements available?
8. How hard will it be to make improvements in performance in the most valuable opportunity activities identified in questions 6 and 7?
When answering this question, you need to consider difficulty, risk of not succeeding, cost of working on the problem compared to what you can afford and how long you can expect it to take in the worst case. Many such changes are difficult. The most challenging are those performance areas where people have to change their long-held habits and beliefs. Don't rely solely on your own judgment in answering this question. Speak with those who work in those areas as well as outside experts who have helped organizations improve performance in these areas.
9. What area of performance improvement should be your top priority?
My suggestion is that you pick an area with a high payoff which can probably be improved rapidly with fewer resources and risk than other activities you are considering. Be sure to consider the potential enthusiasm with which those who will need to change will probably view the necessary adjustments. If in doubt, pick the activity where enthusiasm is highest for the needed changes.
Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
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Online Shopping Today
Online Shopping Today
by Paul S. Crowe
Online shopping offers a very fast and convenient way to find exactly what you are looking for regardless of what remote part of the world you live in. You can also shop from the comfort of your home wearing whatever you want and do it at any hour of the day or night. You can easily find anything you could possibly want to buy when you are shopping online. Just do a product search by entering keywords into any search engine and you will get plenty of matches.
Comparison shopping is much faster and more convenient online than with traditional shopping methods. This is a great way to ensure you always get the products you want at the very best price. You do want to make sure you compare shipping and handling costs as well when you compare prices online.
Have you ever found the perfect vacation or other item online but the price was more than you had budgeted for it? Instead of having to check back day after day to see if the price has changed you can sign up for notification when price drops occur for the trip you want. There are plenty of other items online you can shop for that offer the same service at no charge to you. All you have to provide is the amount that the price needs to drop to before you are notified and an e-mail address.
If you have flexible shopping needs such as for furniture or travel then you can take advantage of hot deals that take place online. They generally only last for a day or two or until they are sold out. You can get a great price on airline tickets or even that new couch you have been interested in getting for a while.
Take advantage of all the discounts you can get online. If you sign up for the newsletters many sites offer you will get special discounts and promotions. They will also offer you coupon codes that you can enter for additional savings during the checkout process.
With the issue of identity theft being so common these days you really need to be careful who you purchase from online. There are plenty of ways to make sure your transaction will be worry free. Read the information about the site before you place an order. Find out how long they have been in business. Check the business name with the Better Business Bureau to find out if there are any disputes involving the business and other consumers. Make sure you enter the business name exactly as they have it because some scams operate with names very similar to names we are familiar with.
Only make purchases from a secure website. You can easily determine this by looking at the web address that appears in the browser. It will start with http � it there is an �s� after it then the site is secure. If there is no �s� then the site isn�t secure and you really shouldn�t use it to make a purchase. If you can�t find the product anywhere else contact them about mailing in a money order.
Shopping online is fun and it is convenient. It opens up the world to you in an instant. It doesn�t matter if the nearest mall is 100 miles away you can still get the perfect dress you want. It is important that you do all you to only purchase from reputable businesses that offer a secure website to process your order on.
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Risk Reversal - Make It EASY For Your Customers To Buy From You
Risk Reversal - Make It EASY For Your Customers To Buy From You
by Joe Heller
To remove any obstacle that stands in the way of a sale. Most of us has at one time or another been ripped off by some unscrupulous individual or a business of dubious character. Because of this negative experience, we've become fearful of it happening again and so we're very careful about with whom we do business.
Your prospects are no different. They fear being taken in some way. This fear often paralyzes them from making a buying decision. If the fear is too strong, they simply run for cover and avoid the potential pain.
Your job as a marketer is to remove all the obstacles that may be stopping people from buying. By eliminating, or at least significantly minimizing all the hurdles, you are in effect eliminating or reducing the effect of a prospect's objections.
People want to buy. They want to say yes. They desire what you offer. But the fear can often curtail even a strong impulse to buy.
You can overcome this problem and improve your sales dramatically by removing the risk from your prospect/customer and assuming the risk yourself. In taking the risk away from your prospect, you make it easier for him to buy. And the less the prospect feels he is at risk, the more likely he is to want to do business with you.
Here Are A Few Examples:
You can remove the risk by offering a strong, money-back guarantee. Guarantees are a great way to relieve buyer anxiety and increase sales. The stronger the guarantee -- the more effective it is. A 90 day guarantee will usually produce more sales than a 30 day guarantee, and a one year guarantee is better than 90 days. The longer and stronger your guarantee, the more effective it will be in improving sales.
Another way to apply the risk-reversal principal is to offer a payment plan instead of requiring full payment up front. Three monthly payments of $34 is a safer bet than one payment of $100 for your customer, because he actually gets to try out your product before having committed the full amount for it. As a vendor, you're assuming the risk - you're assuming you'll collect on all three payments.
A third example is to accept a post-dated check as payment. You're assuming the risk because the buyer gets full advantage of the product for free, until the check is redeemable. There's always the risk that you've accepted a bad check, but from the buyers point of view, you must have a solid product that delivers what you say to make such an offer.
How?
You can implement this strategy by improving your existing guarantee. Extend the duration or remove unnecessary restrictions that weaken your guarantee. The more hassle-free you can make - the better.
If you can create a guarantee that is far superior to that offered by your competition, you'll capture more sales and you'll baffle them in the process! They'll be astounded at your audacity, but more customers will flock to you because of it.
Most buyers today have come to expect guarantees, so you might as well offer the best guarantee in the business. Make your guarantee a prominent part of all your marketing communications. Guarantees make it easier to nudge an undecided prospect in your favor.
The interesting thing about guarantees is that with a solid product or service, you'll rarely be called on to honor your guarantee anyway. People tend to relax and forget about it. The longer a guarantee, the more likely they'll leave it for later, which means they'll forget and never pursue it. This is no excuse for putting out products of suspect quality, it's merely an interesting revelation about human nature. So, you might as well make it the most power-packed guarantee in the marketplace and enjoy additional sales because of it!
One final note; in order to start making more sales and build your business empire � you must become an avid student of lead generation and marketing strategy � the high-payoff items necessary for you to magnetically attact new clients to skyrocket your profits.
Copyright (c) 2007 Joe Heller
About The Author
Trust Cycle Selling
713.927.4494 :: 1.888.543.5537
Joe.Heller [AT] TrustCycleSelling.com
http://www.TrustCycleSelling.com
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Healthy Salad Dressings Made Easy
Healthy Salad Dressings Made Easy
by Deborah Carraro
With warmer weather looming on the horizon in Northern America, many women and men start to simplify and streamline their diets. Gone are the heavy chili dinners and beef stews that fill our bellies in the dead of winter. Enter the salad: cool, fresh, crisp bursts of flavor - but not necessarily a significant caloric savings over a meat and potatoes dinner. The culprit: creamy, oil based dressings. The solution: for most, it's to take their dressing on the side.
Traditional commerically prepared salad dressings are an easy way to turn a healthy salad into a calorie-dense, fat-laden disaster. Bottled dressings can have anywhere from 8 to 20 grams of fat per serving.
Take your dressing on the side? Never! At least, there�s never a need when you make your own healthy salad dressings.
Of course, you can buy decent commercial low-fat dressings, or even organic dressings but, more often than not, they are loaded with unhealthy elements like sugar and heavy amounts of heart-unhealthy sodium.
It�s hard, however, to beat a homemade dressing!
The key to making delicious healthy dressings at home is to reduce the oils and other fats, and bump up the ingredients that add texture and flavor.
The oil in any salad dressing serves several functions, including providing a �cling" or "binding" factor, so your acidic and other flavorings (such as vinegar and herbs) don�t end up in a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
Oil also serves to soften and balance the acids so that they're more pleasing to the pallate.
When thinking of healthier dressings, most people eschew creamy dressings in favor of lighter vinaigrettes. But classic vinaigrettes often use a 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 ratio of fat to acid (for example: olive oil and red wine vinegar). Such a ratio can yield at least 10 grams of fat per tablespoon! And who uses just one tablespoon?
So what constitutes a healthy salad dressing?
Let's look at oil.
When choosing oils for your dressing, think carefully about flavors. Extra-virgin olive oil is almost always an excellent healthful and flavorful choice. But so are nut oils such as almond, macadamia and hazelnut. Each contributes complex yet subtle flavors that can complement a salad. Olive and nut oils also are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats.
You can reduce the amount of oil, however, in any dressing by approximately 40 percent if the other ingredients that balance the dressing are not too acidic.
A common complaint when reducing the oil content of a dressing recipe is that one often misses the thick texture that oil adds to your recipes. Try adding Dijon mustard as an emulsifier to make up for the reduced oil. Like oil, mustard is thick enough to bind the other ingredients and adds a tangy flavor.
In creamy dressings, the emulsifier often is sour cream or mayonnaise (and sometimes oil, too). Providing a healthy option for these ingredients is an easy fix.
Nonfat yogurt, reduced-fat sour cream, and reduced-fat mayonnaise all make good substitutes. They each have good flavor and produce dressings that hold together and coat vegetables quite well.
Or try buttermilk. Buttermilk is always either nonfat or reduced-fat. Its thick texture and mild, tangy flavor makes it a useful ingredient.
With a little bit of ingenuity and creativity, it is possible to make healthy salad dressings without sacrificing good nutrition by cutting calories, fat and chemicals.
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Car Purchase Loans: A Dream Comes True
Car Purchase Loans: A Dream Comes True
by Martin Andrews
In the past decades, purchasing a car of own was like building castles in the air, but not today. In present period, the emerging loan schemes have transformed it into reality to drive a car of own. Car purchase loans are now easily available and can be obtained by persons from every financial category. To obtain the loan more easily, it is designed in a lucrative manner and classified into secured and unsecured forms. The forms are like the two sides of the same coin, which concentrates to aid financially the individuals to purchase cars.
Car purchase loans can be obtained by pledging property as collateral (this option is a secured form of loan); without pledging any sort of collateral (for persons who do not have property to pledge) which makes it easier to borrow amount according to ones ability to borrow. But pledging of collateral empowers borrowers to obtain more loan amount as lenders becomes ascertain of borrowers repayments. With the coming up of numerous lenders, car purchase loans are now available at reasonable and low rate of interest. The interest rates vary from one lender to another due to the cutthroat competition among them and individuals should take the advantage of this fierce competition. While carrying out such a job, taking the assistance of online is a wise decision because the sophisticated technology makes it possible to reach numerous lenders in less time saving individual efforts.
The main advantage of car purchase loans is that persons can finance expensive and branded cars. But if individuals cannot afford to have the expensive car, they can least finance for the used car and carry out the purposes or make the daily commute easy. The car purchase loans can also be regarded as a good option to finance commercial vehicles and add boost to expand the business empire. To reach the lenders or to gather information about car loans, individuals need not have to visit lenders individually and click for the high-end application process.
All the advantages and proposals of car purchase loans are also offered to persons having bad credit score like default, arrears, late-payments, bankruptcy and such. The bad credit while applying for car loans should produce precise data concerning to [personal and credit score in order to avoid delay and for a smooth approval.
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5 Preparation Tips For A Successful Home Business
5 Preparation Tips For A Successful Home Business
by Mario Churchill
Many people mistakenly believe that all home businesses will hit the ground running. Just like any other company or store, a home business requires the same things from an owner: capital investment, time, effort, diligence, interest, and so forth. More importantly, if you�re not willing to make the necessary adjustments and changes, it�s very unlikely that your home business will succeed.
5 Preparation Tips for a Successful Home Business
Are you truly committed to attaining success for your home business? If so, be prepared to make the following changes.
The main appeal of home businesses to most people is its personalized touch. Most products of home businesses are either handcrafted or homemade. These products are the result of a labor of love rather than machines. It�s what drives their prices up, and if you�re not ready to do the same for your home business � you�re going to find it very hard to market your products anywhere.
In relation to that, home businesses must be unique. You need to dedicate a good amount of your time prior to opening up your home business in thinking of any way that would distinguish your home business from all others.
Flexibility is one of the key advantages of home businesses over its bigger rivals, and your home business has to show their ability to become flexible as well. There are various ways that a home business could be flexible where a large company wouldn�t be able to. Your home business could focus on one or multiple ways, depending on your preferences and capabilities.
It could be flexible with its payment method. Since a home business is almost always small in size, you have the opportunity to build a solid relationship with your suppliers, partners, and clients.
The strong foundation of trust between both of you allows for uncommon payment methods. Whereas any company would never dream of sending the goods first before receiving payment � you could afford to do that because you personally know your clients.
Customizing options are also a must for almost all home businesses. With bigger rivals, designs of their products are rarely customizable since they are already pre-made. Home businesses, however, can�t afford to have large stocks in inventory. Most of their products are sold on a by-order basis, but they compensate with the waiting period by allowing clients to customize certain features like the color and design of their product. This may seem like a small thing, but it truly means a lot to clients!
Home businesses more often than not find success in the Internet. It�s through the Internet that they�re able to get much needed exposure and have the chance to stand on equal ground with older and bigger rivals. It�s there that they�re able to expand in size and number.
If you want your home business to succeed, you must be willing to invest in learning how things work in the Internet. You must understand how search engine optimization (SEO) works and use it when creating your own website.
Last but not the least, always remember that home businesses start with you: at its first stages of operation, it�s important that you personally oversee your home business. Hiring help is okay, but delegating everything to them is not. The time for delegating will soon come � you don�t have to worry about that � but for now, it�s your own blood and sweat that�s going to make your home business progress.
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Gourmet Coffee - Variety and Choice
Gourmet Coffee - Variety and Choice
by Chris Brown
The words �Gourmet Coffee� are coming up in conversation more often these days. Is there any substance to it or is it just a term some elite coffee snobs have come up? What makes a coffee "gourmet" and who decides this? This article attempts to sift through the hype and give some straight facts.
As an adjective, gourmet is defined as: Referring to fine food. So, gourmet coffee is fine coffee, that doesn�t help narrow it down much more. It may be stating the obvious, but what makes a coffee fine is its taste. There are five primary taste sensations; salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami (savory). Understanding how these sensations apply to coffee is not important to the majority of us. What�s important is our preference; what tastes good, bad and to what degree. People have huge variations in preference. A coffee you may love, I might hate. C'est la vie!
This variation in preference is where gourmet coffee fills a need. Gourmet coffee offers choice and variety. These choices come in countless combinations of international coffee beans, varying degrees of roasting, flavoring and preparation.
International Coffee Beans
International coffee is probably the biggest factor in gourmet coffee; it's the starting point for variety and choice. From a purest point of view the bean's original flavor should play a bigger role than artificially flavored coffees or specialty coffee drinks.
Coffee is international by nature, even though all the world's coffee beans are grown within 1000 miles of the equator - from the Tropic of Cancer in the north to the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. Two varieties make up nearly all of the beans; Arabica and Robusta. Arabica contains less caffeine, it is the most popular and it grows between 1,500 and 6,000 feet above sea level. Robusta contains the most caffeine and grows at lower elevations.
South American, Central American and Caribbean coffee beans for the most part are lighter in body than other regions, a bit sweeter and slightly more acidic. These beans are often described as smooth and nutty. Central American varieties are not usually as sharp as the South American. African and Middle Eastern coffees often have a more medium body and what can be described as a wild and syrupy feel. African beans are strong, sharp and assertive. The majority of the world's Robustas are grown along the African coast. Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Indonesian coffees are almost completely Arabicas. Characteristics include spicy, heavy body and low acidity.
Flavored Coffee
Flavored coffees become popular in the 1990s but can be traced back centuries ago to the Turks, who used a unique method of preparing coffee that is still popular in the area today. Spices like clove, cinnamon, anise, and cardamom were added to flavor the coffee. People typically have strong feelings towards flavored coffee; they love it or prefer to let the natural flavor of the bean to prevail.
Coffee is typically flavored by adding flavor oils to the beans after roasting and prior to grinding. Flavoring oils are combinations of natural and synthetic flavor chemicals which are created by flavor chemists. There are also liquid flavors which are added to coffee during preparation much like adding cream or sugar. Flavored coffees are generally classified into four categories:
- Spice based flavors - like cinnamon.
- Fruit based flavors - like coconut or raspberry.
- Chocolate based flavors - like chocolate mint.
- Nut based flavors - like vanilla, hazelnut or macadamia nut.
- Cremes - like Irish Creme or French Vanilla.
Specialty Drinks and Preparation
There seems to be a million ways to prepare coffee these days; Dark roast, light roast, espresso (and all its derivatives), regular coffee, with cream and sugar or simply black. Coffee preparation is a topic that's been the subject of many other articles. However, like all facets of gourmet coffee the theme of choice and variety applies.
Most of the fancy coffee drinks start with espresso, which is just coffee that is brewed a particular way. The beans are finely ground to an almost powder consistency then very hot water is forced through the grinds at high pressure. Some examples of Espresso based coffee drinks are Espresso Macchiato, Espresso Con Panna, Caff� Americano, Cappuccino, Caff� Latt� and Caff� Mocha. Specialty coffee drinks are becoming very popular but most people still drink regular coffee optionally adding different amounts of cream or sugar.
Summary
The bottom line is Gourmet Coffee offers today's selective coffee drinker choice. These choices come in the form of beans farmed around the world, flavored coffees and vast array of specialty drinks and preparation techniques. Some people drink coffee only as a means to an end, to wake up! More and more people are starting to take notice of the flavor. People's taste evolve, many people start out drinking coffee with lots of cream and sugar and overtime take less or even drink it black. With all the choices available, why not try something new for your next coffee.
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Website Basics-Choosing a Domain Name
Website Basics-Choosing a Domain Name
by Richard James
The first step in building a website is in the choice of a domain name. Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, plumber, aluminum siding salesman, or if you want to start up a website to feature your family dog Spot, the entire endeavor begins with the choice of a domain name.
The next logical question you might ask, is �What is a good domain name?�. The answer is, it depends. For example, if you are the person above who wants to build a website devoted to Spot, the family dog, then the answer is that the choice of a domain name really doesn�t matter. Why? Because you probably don�t really care about gaining a lot of traffic to your website, your site is probably only something you are going to produce for family and friends, to let them know about the latest goings on in Spot�s life. In a case like this, it does not matter whatsoever if you find a domain name like �ourdogspot.com� or not, since most likely you will only be giving out the website address to a few friends and family and maybe Aunt Tilly in Toledo.
In fact, in a case like the above, you could call the site anything you wanted to, �dogdiary.com� or even �catsdontlikespot.com� or something even as silly as �lookatthis.com�, which really has nothing at all to do with the subject matter of the website itself. The point is that in a case like this, there is no real concern with getting a lot of visitors to the website other than friends and family and Aunt Tilly in Toledo, so there is no real harm in naming the website ANYTHING, because you will be giving out the website address to a select few people. BUT��
What if the website is for business? What if I do want it to attract attention?
The simple answer is, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business. If your website is about car parts for example, do you really expect the average web surfer to remember how to get to your website if it is named "bobsthingsforsale.com" or some other unrelated name? The best strategy is to find a domain name that directly relates to your business, whether it is the business name itself or related to the category of business. For example, a car parts website should have a domain name like carparts.com or bobsautoparts.com, something that immediately associates the domain name with the theme of the site. It�s all about branding, and making a lasting impression on the target audience or customers.
You can find domain names by checking the WhoIs database on the internet. While there are any number of places on the net to do this, we have conveniently placed a domain name search engine on www.StartMyWebsiteToday.com for this very purpose. After searching the domain name, the results given will instantly show whether or not the domain name is available, and if so, give you the option to immediately register it. If not, several alternative domain names will be proposed, to help you fine tune your search, or possibly giving you an acceptable alternative domain name to register instead.
In the next article, we discuss strategies for choosing a domain name, long or short, hyphenated or not, and generic or brand names.
About The Author
How to Raise the Prices You Charge to Your Cleaning Customers
How to Raise the Prices You Charge to Your Cleaning Customers
by Steve Hanson
You started your cleaning business to make a profit and earn a living. Most cleaning businesses, whether they do residential or commercial cleaning, start out with the owner doing everything - marketing, cleaning, buying supplies, and even the bookwork. As your company grows and you hire employees and add more clients, your expenses grow too. When you started out you may have under-priced your services either to get new clients or because you lacked bidding experience. So now that your expenses are growing and you've discovered you under-priced your services, what do you do?
First off, understand that raising prices is necessary in any business. Just take a look at things you buy on a routine basis - gas, milk, cleaning supplies, electricity - prices do increase and sometimes take a big jump!
Before you raise your prices to your cleaning customers go back and take a look at your original contract. Does your contact state the original bid price will be good for a certain length of time? If it does you will not be able to raise your price until that time frame has expired. If not, how long have you been cleaning for that client? Even if you originally under-priced your services you may not want to increase your price if you have only been cleaning for the client for a short time. Most cleaning companies wait at least a year before increasing prices. If you don't have anything written in your cleaning contract about price increases, you should start adding a clause about it with your next client. Many companies guarantee their price for a year and state that they take cost of living increases each year (for example, 4%). Or they may state something like, "we reserve the right to increase prices after one year".
Before figuring out a new price go back through your original bid and make sure that you have everything covered so you are making a profit. If your supply costs have gone up dramatically or if you have added expenses (workers comp or more insurance because of hiring employees), make sure the price increase will cover the extra expenses.
Another factor to consider before raising prices is your customer's current satisfaction level. Are they happy with the job your cleaning company is doing? Most people understand price increases and will stick with your cleaning company as long as they are happy with the job you are doing. After all, looking for a new cleaning company takes time and your customer may not get a better price or the quality of work they want from someone new.
But don't be afraid to raise the price on a customer who is constant complainer, especially if their complaints are not justified. You may need to raise your price to cover the extra time you spend in their office (or home).
Once you have all your facts and the new price you need to charge, send a letter to your customer. Let them know that you are raising your prices, why you are raising your prices, and the benefits to them to continue using your cleaning company. Make sure you inform your customer at least 30 days in advance that the price will be going up. Keep in mind that large corporations and government agencies may need more time if they have to run the price increase through a committee or get approval by a board.
The phrase "you get what you pay for" is often true when it comes to cleaning companies. Too low of a price may mean the company is not doing satisfactory work or that the company has undervalued its services and will soon be out of business.
Pricing your services so you make a profit is not a bad thing! Your cleaning company's survival depends on charging your customers appropriately so you can stay in business and make a profit. Good customers will understand a price increase and be happy to continue using your services. And don't be surprised if a customer that leaves because of a price increase soon comes back! Many people eventually realize that a lower priced bid from another cleaning company means their building (or home) is not as clean as when your company provided their cleaning services.
Copyright (c) 2007 The Janitorial Store
About The Author
The Adware Threat
The Adware Threat
by Arvind Singh
Adware can be basically defined as software that tracks your activities on the Internet so that it can trigger off pop-up ads and other marketing-related actions. The Internet has many free adware removal tools, which can help you run a scan to remove adware.
When your computer slows down and behaves strangely, chances are you have adware installed. You didn't ask for it, but neither did you ask for new toolbars, websites you don't recognize, continuous popups! Read on to know just how annoying and dangerous adware can be.
Adware doesn't let your computer respond quickly to your commands. When you click to go to a website, it takes you elsewhere and you wonder why. Adware presents you with toolbars you never asked for and keeps adding strange new websites to your favorite folder so that it looks like you gave it permission to be there. Here's the worst part - it steals your personal information, spies on you and sells this information to advertisers who can then irritate you with a flood of advertisements that they think you are interested in.
Nobody Is Spared From Adware
Practically every computer that connects to the Internet has loads of spyware and adware getting into it, collecting confidential information from the user. This can be in the form of information about browsing habits, or more serious threats like spying on your credit card number, and other personally identifiable information so that it can misuse it and put you in danger.
Adware can be basically defined as software that tracks your activities on the Internet so that it can trigger off pop-up ads and other marketing-related actions. It installs components in your system without your being aware of it so that it can collect personal data like surfing habits and other demographics. Saying no when adware asks you has nothing to do with what it does. It just goes right ahead and installs itself in your system.
In recent times, adware and spyware have been evolving so fast that it is more than adware removal tool manufacturers can do to keep up with them. Adware poses a major security risk to any computer and every user must make it a point to ensure that he or she runs a scan to clear their systems from adware and spyware. The Internet has many free adware removal tools, which can help you do this. But you've got to be cautious in selecting a reliable vendor. There's every chance that a vendor who promises to remove all the adware from your computer will do just the opposite - that is, install more spyware and adware. Reliable adware removal tools can protect you against unwanted intruders like adware in your system.
Look around and compare the features of various paid adware removal tools available. While some free adware removal software will only scan your computer and present you with the results, they won't actually clean it from your computer until you buy it. Beware of this ruse.
About The Author
To know about the Registry Cleaner visit at: http://www.pcmantra.com/registry-cleaner.htm
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Friday, December 28, 2007
Who Else Really Wants to Play Games and Make Money?
Who Else Really Wants to Play Games and Make Money?
by Geoff Morris
Are you one of these people that have become addicted to on-line gaming?
Do you relish in the thrill of being able to pit your skills, not just against an on-line game, but against a worthy opponent who is also on-line at the same time?
How about joining in an online tournament across the globe?
Have you become so finely attuned to online gaming, that anything apart from the latest, coolest, and most challenging games, bores you to tears?
Have you been to an Internet Caf� recently, and seen many of the booths occupied for ages while on-line games are taking place with much gusto (or perhaps you have been the one that was waiting �patiently?' for your turn, or even trying to get in to send an important email).
Well, if you are one of these Gamers (do we have a word yet for an over-enthusiastic on-line games player?), do you ever have a pang of remorse about how much time you spend on this drug-like craze. No, of course you don't, but check this out�
Would you believe that there are sites out there now that can offer you not just an opportunity for you to indulge in your favourite pastime, but also turn it into genuine money making home business?
Wow! Imagine that! When you get shouted at by your boss / partner for �wasting time in front of that screen', you just turn round and say �but it's my job�'
Imagine telling your boss late (i.e. you roll in at 10.30 am) on one Monday morning that you just can't find the time to come to work any more� you're too busy trying out the latest, coolest, and mind-challenging game to have a boring day time job any more. Anyway, you're making more money with your favourite pastime�
If any of you are having a pang of conscience right now, forget it! The US Government, in a recent survey, stated that �short periods of high intensity, challenging games actually stimulate the brain, making productivity at work increase, not decrease'.
The point is, that this phenomenon has become so big, it cannot be hidden away. The ground swell for on-line games has become unstoppable, as more and more of us have a greater amount of leisure time, more and more of us are taking part in this activity.
Bear in mind, we are not talking about gambling here, we are talking about actual games that have a great deal of skill involved, not just luck as in ordinary gambling.
As an active Gamer, you will be aware of the vast amounts of information contained on thousands of Games Forums and Chat Rooms, and if you are not an avid Gamer, then the language you will encounter may take some translation (not just from spotty faced teenager, but also the granddad in the next booth to you!).
So how can you possibly make a home business out of all this? I mean, to meet the quite strict gaming rules, stakes on games can not be more than around $10-$15 (although tournaments can be a lot higher).
But look at the way technology has moved to provide you with all the tools you need for effective on-screen performance. Next to porn sites (which I don't recommend) these games sites are driving technology forward, and with the surge in interest, comes masses of traffic to these sites.
Now, not to get too technical here, but the way to a successful web site is to enable masses of visitors (traffic) to come to your site very day. Alexa.com is showing about 4 times more traffic to some gaming sites than Virgin Atlantic, Ford, and Visa.
So, if you can the identify a Gaming site that combines all the latest, coolest on-line games, with people being able to identify who is available to play at any time, using a social networking facility, and an excellent and easy to understand pay plan, then join it while you can. Get in at the beginning, before millions join after you, locking in your (expanding) income stream while also enabling you to play the best games against the best opponents on the web ( in fact - in the world).
Some of the world's biggest network marketers are calling this phenomenon the next MySpace, UTube, Google, EBay.
Look around carefully, as there are a number of sites in pre pre-launch right now, and although many of us may have missed massive opportunities in the past (who wanted Microsoft shares in the 80's at $1?), now is the time to search the net, and join one of a number of fledgling sites that will not remain embryonic for very long. Then, as they grow, so does your business and its �Goodbye to your Boss, Hello Financial Freedom.'
About The Author
Conversion Service: feel the difference in your business
Conversion Service: feel the difference in your business
by Amit Bhalla
Now a day�s paper has become outdated and organizations are using online services to avoid paper work. For any organization, its biggest and most important asset is its data and more important is perfect accessibility of that data when it is needed. Sometimes it becomes really very difficult to manage such a large amount of data, especially for firms with large amounts of information, multiple formats, and complex system requirements. In order to avoid such situations of mismanagement conversion services are like bliss. Conversion services allow these organizations to systematize their data by putting it into one format which can be used across many different platforms.
Conversion Services has an extremely efficient fast connection via the Internet for outsourcing requirements. It provides convenience and security to organization in managing, updating and retrieving data. Online conversion prevents access, downloads or copying of confidential documents or information. There is particular software which makes conversion more secure and reliable. Conversion services not only saves data but also time and money of any company. Online data retrieval and data entry to search online resources and enter relevant data from those sites into a database is the greatest specialty of conversion services. Conversion services perfectly handle tasks such as preparation of online catalog by online data-retrieval, searching on the Internet, identifying source URLs, gathering information, deleting the irrelevant portions and adding product images etc. Automating any business by conversion services definitely increases the productivity of that company.
Strategy of conversion service can profoundly benefit multiple areas of organizations, including content and knowledge management, publishing, data exchange, and manufacturing supply chain integration. Conversion services can help you standardize your diverse information into one standardized format and utilize it in content management services. Conversion services are just made to foster growth and development of any organization by providing them with the highest level of service. The final phase of the data conversion process is output. Once the data has been converted, conversion service helps you retrieve your data from your database and output it to a wide variety of destinations including Web and print publishing systems, Web portals, channel partners or business systems.
Conversion Service offers flexibility, responsibility and ability to cater to any new process. If you have a data conversion requirement or want to convert bulk documents than take advantage of conversion services. That enables you to handle large volumes of data. As conversion services cover a multitude of formats it is ideal for corporations, educational institutions, library and business. In conversion quality of work is very essential to get outstanding result. Conversion service prevents access, downloads or copying of confidential documents or information as it customize software for data capture and workflow. Conversion service supports the combination of work teams with client�s in-house team for the smooth progress of client�s on-line data entry needs. If you really want to get rid of tedious data management on papers and want to walk with online world them step towards conversion services and feel the difference.
About The Author
To VOIP or not to VOIP- that is the question!
To VOIP or not to VOIP- that is the question!
by Dottye Blake
I used to love the TV commericals that Vonage, a well-known provider of VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol telephone service. My favorite one was the one with the rocket that went berserk and flew all over, with people dashing around madly to get out of the way. I watched the wayward rocket totally mesmerized, and then started laughing so hard when the Vonage theme music started playing that I almost fell off the couch! I liked the one where the photographer fell into the fountain, too. I wish Vonage would bring those commercials back- the ones that they show now are so dull in comparison. Most of these ads try to sell their calling services based on how much cheaper they are in comparison to traditional telephoning plans. They also discuss quality and clearness of telephone calls. If you are smart, you have, in all probability, questioned how much of this is honest information and how much is hype.
VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is plausibly one of the most radical advances in the telecom industry. It permits you to speak to another person on the other side of the world by employing a digital network connection precisely the same way that you get e-mail or surf internet sites. Due to the fact that your voice is changed into a digital signal, it can be transmitted around the block, on the other side of the country, or around the world for exactly the same price. For VOIP telephone calls, the idea of long distance does not exist. A single basic benefit is its low-price. If you have a fast Internet connection (DSL or cable), you can make computer-to-computer telephone calls anyplace on the globe FREE. Computer-to-phone telephone calls normally have a fee, but are usually still less expensive than typical telephone service. Perks like call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail, caller ID and 3way-calling, are packaged with VOIP telephone service at no additional fee. At the same time you are speaking on the telephone, you can transmit graphics and documents.
VOIP telephoning plans are available in two types; bulk rate pricing and unlimited calling. Bulk rate pricing permits you to receive a monthly ration of minutes to telephone anyone you desire (similar to your cellular telephone ). If you exceed your monthly limit you will receive overage fees. Unlimited calling is precisely the way it is meant- you have no cap on the number of telephone calls you can dial. Limitless telephoning packages start at $35 a month depending on the VOIP service supplier and the extra perks included with your plan. Unless you are making many telephone calls or the limitless telephoning plan is very cheap, bulk rate pricing is normally a more beneficial choice.
Like cellular telephones, VOIP companies permit you to �port� or bring your existing phone number with you into their company. This is very handy since you will not need to advise your friends and family that you have changed your telephone number. Presently there is no law that VOIP suppliers must permit you to take your number with you if you are not satisfied or wish to switch companies. A few of them will, others will bill you an extra charge, and some will refuse to cooperate with your wish. Make sure, then, to take a look at this prior to putting your signature on any contracts.
Another benefit is its flexibility. You can make and get telephone calls as long as you have access to a broadband connection by just logging in to your VOIP account. Because of this factor, using VOIP is as easy as sending e-mail. While you are vacationing, you just take a headset or Internet phone with you; then you can speak to family or colleagues virtually for free.
Phone-to-phone VOIP is also portable. VOIP telephones are pocket-sized and light enough to take anyplace. Once you contract with a VOIP company , the Internet phone or adapter employed by that company is given a unique identification number. This 'phone number' stays valid, even if your VOIP company is in New York and you're connected to the Internet in Tokyo. While connected to a broadband connection, anyplace on the planet, you can make and receive telephone calls just like you were sitting in your own living room .
There are a few bugs that still make a negative impression with VOIP being more popular with the public. Lack of uninterrupted telephone service during power failures and problems with 911 emergency calling make up the 2 largest stumbling blocks.
Traditional telephone service keeps going due to the electric current running through the phone line at the time of a blackout. This is not possible with VOIP telephones. At the same time that the electricity fails, there goes VOIP service. Battery backups and electric generators that furnish power are the present-day answers to this dilemna.
A huge headache involves emergency 911 telephone calls. VOIP services usually aren't useful in emergencies. Traditional telephone gear can trace the locations of telephone calls. Emergency calls are channeled to the closest call center where the operator can distinguish your location, in case you are unable to talk. With VOIP, at this time there is no way to figure out the location from which Internet calls are coming. There is an emerging standard called e911 however, which is trying to resolve this restriction.
VOIP also has voice quality and reliability issues. Data sent through the Internet normally reaches its destination scrambled. E-mail and text files can be reassembled in the proper order when it arrives. Voice data also comes in scrambled, but it's more difficult due to the real-time nature of VOIP. Many data bundles may have to be unloaded when they don't make it in time, in order to make voice connections with the smallest time lag. This can create quick silences in the audio flow.
Space and speed of the connection specify the quantity of data dropped. Many networks get more traffic and therefore are more likely to create audio dropouts. One way to supply superior caliber audio connections is to produce dedicated data routes.
With the unbelievable amount of work committed to VOIP, these bad aspects will certainly be settled withinin the next 2 years. It is forecast that by then VOIP will be better accepted by consumers far and wide.
Please visit VOIP Made Easy http://www.computingninternet.com/2817
About The Author
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Top 10 Holiday Turkey Recipes for Your Thanksgiving Dinner
Top 10 Holiday Turkey Recipes for Your Thanksgiving Dinner
by Nicole Anderson
The holidays always mean family and FOOD! The turkey recipe is key to a good meal. Here are 10 of the top turkey recipes for your holiday meal. These recipes range from traditional to unique and there is even a beginner turkey recipe!
Recipe #1
Traditional Oven Turkey
Kraft Foods© Recipe
1 frozen turkey (12 lb.), thawed
3 Tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh or 2 tsp. dried herbs, such as thyme, sage or rosemary
3 cups water
Thaw turkey completely before grilling. To thaw, place turkey on tray in refrigerator. Refrigerate until thawed, allowing 24 hours of thawing time for every 4 pounds of turkey.
PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse outside of turkey as well as inside the cavity; pat dry with paper towels. Tuck the wings under the back. Place turkey, breast side up, on roasting rack in large disposable aluminum foil pan.
RUB outside of turkey with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with herbs. Place pan on grate of grill. Add water to pan, then close the lid of the grill.
GRILL turkey 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 180�F when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh and 170�F when inserted in the thickest part of the breast, adding additional water to the pan as needed to prevent the drippings from burning and to have enough liquid remaining in the pan after turkey is cooked for use in making gravy. Remove turkey from grill; let stand 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, use pan drippings to make gravy, if desired.
For extra flavor, stuff the turkey cavity with a peeled onion, celery stalks, lemon slices and/or fresh herb bundles before grilling.
Recipe #2
Turducken
Foster Farms© Recipe
This is a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken layered with dressing.
INGREDIENTS
3 pounds Foster Farms Whole Young Chicken
salt and pepper to taste
Creole seasoning to taste
1 (4 pound) duck, boned
16 pounds Foster Farms Fresh Whole Turkey, boned
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lay the boned chicken skin-side down on a platter and season liberally with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Lay the boned duck skin-side down on top of the chicken and season liberally with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Lay the boned turkey skin-side down on a flat surface. Cover with a layer of cold Sausage and Oyster Dressing and push the dressing into the leg and wing cavities so they will look as if they still have bones in them.
3. Lay the duck on top of the turkey skin-side down and cover it with a layer of cold dressing. Lay the chicken on top of the duck skin-side down and cover it with a layer of cold dressing.
4. With the help of an assistant, bring the edges of the turkey skin up and fasten them together with toothpicks. Use the kitchen string to lace around the toothpicks to help hold the stuffed turkey together. Carefully place the turducken, breast up in a large roasting pan.
5. Roast covered for 4 hours or until the turducken is golden brown. Continue to roast uncovered for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer inserted through the thigh registers 180 degrees F. and a thermometer inserted through the stuffing registers 165 degrees F. Check the turducken every few hours to baste and remove excess liquid. There will be enough pan juices for a gallon of gravy. Carve and serve.
Recipe #3
Holiday Champagne Turkey
Foster Farms© Recipe
Summary
A bottle of champagne is the secret to this moist turkey stuffed with apples and baked in an oven bag.
INGREDIENTS
1 (12 pound) Foster Farms Fresh Whole Turkey, neck and giblets removed
1/2 cup butter, cubed
2 apples, cored and halved
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 (750 milliliter) bottle champagne
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Rinse turkey, and pat dry. Gently loosen turkey breast skin, and insert pieces of butter between the skin and breast. Place apples inside the turkey's cavity. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place turkey in a roasting bag, and pour champagne over the inside and outside of the bird. Close bag, and place turkey in a roasting pan.
3. Bake turkey 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, or until the internal temperature is 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) when measured in the meatiest part of the thigh. Remove turkey from bag, and let stand for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Recipe #4
Perfect Turkey
Summary
This is a perfect recipe for a moist, flavorful holiday bird! Plan the time to brine the bird overnight - it's worth the extra effort!
INGREDIENTS
1 (18 pound) Foster Farms Fresh Whole Turkey, neck and giblets removed
2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine
DIRECTIONS
1. Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt. Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.
3. Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.
4. Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.
Recipe #5
Latino Lime Glazed Turkey with Chipotle Gravy
Recipe by: Chef/GM Chris Ottens of Novell, a Bon Appetit Management Co.
Citrus Glaze
3/4 Cup unsalted butter
1/2 Cup honey
4 Tablespoons orange zest
4 Tablespoons lime zest
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
4 Teaspoons canned chipotle chilies, chopped
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 Teaspoon salt
Over medium heat, melt butter in heavy saucepan. Remove pan from heat and stir in honey, orange and lime zests, thyme, chilies, cumin and salt.
Measure 1/2 cup glaze and reserve for gravy. Cover and chill remaining liquid in freezer for about 30 minutes or until liquid begins to turn firm but is still spreadable.
Vegetables
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4-1/2 Cups chopped sweet onions
1 Packet giblets (turkey neck, gizzard and heart)
2 Cups coarsely chopped peeled carrots
2 Cups coarsely chopped celery (with leaves)
1-1/2 Cups chopped plum tomatoes
Over medium-high heat, melt butter in large nonstick pan. Add onions and reserved turkey parts.
Saute until onions are deep brown. Add carrots, celery and tomatoes to skillet and toss to blend.
Glazed Turkey
22 to 24-pound WHOLE TURKEY, fresh or frozen (thawed)
9 Cups TURKEY STOCK
Set a small rack in a large shallow roasting pan and place cooked vegetables with turkey parts around rack.
Blot turkey dry with paper towels. At the neck end, gently loosen skin from the turkey breast without totally detaching the skin. Rub 1/2-cup citrus glaze under skin. Replace the skin.
Fold neck skin and fasten to the back with skewers. Fold the wings under the back of the turkey. Return legs to tucked position.
Place turkey, breast side up, on the rack. Brush an additional 1/3-cup citrus glaze over top and sides of turkey. Reserve any remaining glaze. Sprinkle turkey with salt and pepper.
Loosely tent the turkey and roast turkey in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 30 minutes.
Add 1-cup poultry broth to pan and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Secure foil snugly around turkey and continue to roast for 1-1/4 hours. The foil will prevent the honey-coated turkey from excessive browning.
Add 1-cup poultry broth to pan every 30 minutes until turkey reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees F in the thigh. Remove the foil during the last 15-20 minutes to brown the turkey.
Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to stand for 20 minutes before carving.
Chipotle Gravy
1/2 Cup flour
1 Cup TURKEY STOCK
Strain pan drippings, pressing vegetables to extract liquid. Discard solids in strainer.
Spoon fat from top of juices and discard fat. Add enough broth to pan juices to equal 6 cups.
Stir reserved 1/2-cup citrus glaze in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until melted.
Gradually add flour and whisk 1 minute, allowing flour to slightly brown. Gradually whisk in pan juices. Bring to gentle boil, whisking until smooth.
Reduce heat to medium; simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season gravy with salt and pepper.
Recipe #6
Holiday Turkey with Sage and Sherried Cider Gravy
Recipe provided by Volk Enterprises, Inc.
Ingredients
2 12-Pound WHOLE TURKEYS, fresh or frozen (thawed)
As needed salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Large lemon, cut in quarters
14 Large fresh sage leaves
4 Slices multi-grain bread
1 Large Granny Smith apple, wedged
1 Large sweet onion, wedged
1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
1 Pint water
1 Pint dry sherry
1 Pint sparkling apple cider
2/3 Cup flour
1++ Quart TURKEY BROTH As needed assorted fresh sage leaves Roasted Turkeys
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Rinse and pat turkeys dry, inside and out. Season turkeys inside and out with salt and pepper.
3. Place 1 lemon wedge, 1 sage leaf and 1 bread slice into each neck cavity. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with a skewer.
4. Fill each body cavity with apples and onions, 3 sage leaves and remaining lemon wedge and bread slice. Truss turkeys.
5. Rub turkeys with remaining sage. Spread turkeys with butter and arrange on rack in roasting pans.
6. Roast turkeys in middle of preheated 425 degree F oven 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees F and baste turkeys with pan juices. Add water to roasting pan and continue roasting, basting every 20 minutes. Continue to roast 2-1/2 to 3 hours more, or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F in the thigh.
7. Transfer turkeys to carving board, reserving juices in roasting pan; discard string. Keep turkeys warm, covered loosely with foil.
Sherried Cider Gravy
1. Skim fat from pan juices, reserving 1/2 cup fat.
2. On range top, deglaze pan with sherry over moderately high heat, scraping up brown bits. Stir in cider.
3. Bring sherry mixture to a boil and remove pan from heat.
4. In a heavy saucepan, whisk together reserved fat and flour and cook roux over moderately low heat. Whisk together for about 3 minutes.
5. Add sherry mixture and stock in a stream, whisking to prevent lumping. Simmer, whisking occasionally for about 10 minutes.
6. Whisk in additional stock to thin gravy if desired.
7. Season gravy with salt and pepper.
8. Discard the cavity ingredients before serving. Garnish turkey with sage.
9. NOTE: Provides 32-34 servings at 6 ounces per portion.
Recipe #7
CAJUN DEEP-FRIED WILD TURKEY
Recipe from John Maynard (Courtesy of NWTF)
1 (10-15 lb.) unstuffed turkey
5 gallons peanut oil
2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
Pour peanut oil into a 10 gallon pot. Put pot on propane cooker and heat oil to 375 degrees. Have turkey completely thawed and dry turkey thoroughly. Tie two cotton strings around the carcass so bird can be easily lifted out of oil. Carefully submerge turkey in oil. Deep fry for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes per pound and cook until turkey floats to the top. Remove bird from oil, and immediately dust heavily with cajun seasoning. Melt butter or margarine, and add to it garlic powder and cayenne, if desired. Brush turkey with butter mixture. Allow to cool 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Yield 12 to 16 servings.
Recipe #8
Honey Smoked Turkey
Sweet and light, this is the easiest way to cook a big bird! It will be the best turkey you have ever had. The breast is moist and juicy, and the honey makes a great thin sauce. I hope you enjoy it as much as my friends and family do when I make it. I never have any leftovers! Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
1 (12 pound) Fresh Whole Turkey
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons celery salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (12 ounce) jar honey
1/2 pound mesquite wood chips
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat grill for high heat. If you are using a charcoal grill, use about twice the normal amount of charcoal. Soak wood chips in a pan of water, and set next to the grill.
2. Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse the bird and pat dry. Place in a large disposable roasting pan.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together sage, ground black pepper, celery salt, basil, and vegetable oil. Pour mixture evenly over the turkey. Turn the turkey breast side down in the pan, and tent loosely with aluminum foil.
4. Place the roasting pan on the preheated grill. Throw a handful of the wood chips onto the coals. Close the lid, and cook for 1 hour.
5. Throw about 2 more handfuls of soaked wood chips on the fire. Drizzle 1/2 the honey over the bird, and replace the foil. Close the lid of the grill, and continue cooking 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) in the thickest part of the thigh.
6. Uncover turkey, and carefully turn it breast side up in the roasting pan. Baste with remaining honey. Leave the turkey uncovered, and cook 15 minutes. The cooked honey will be very dark.
Recipe # 9
Maple Roast Turkey and Gravy
A New England style turkey with maple syrup. It makes for a mellow Thanksgiving dinner. Try stuffing it with Cranberry, Sausage and Apple Stuffing. If fresh marjoram is unavailable, 2 teaspoons of dried marjoram may be substituted.
INGREDIENTS
Turkey
14 pounds Fresh Whole Turkey, neck and giblets reserved
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
Maple Butter Mixutre
2 cups apple cider
1/3 cup real maple syrup
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3/4 cup butter
alt and ground black pepper to taste
Gravy
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons apple brandy (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Boil apple cider and maple syrup in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and mix in 1/2 of the thyme and marjoram and all of the lemon zest. Add the butter, and whisk until melted. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until cold (syrup can be made up to 2 days ahead).
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place oven rack in the lowest third of oven.
3. Wash and dry turkey, and place in a large roasting pan. Slide hand under skin of the breast to loosen. Rub 1/2 cup of the maple butter mix under the breast skin. If planning on stuffing turkey, do so now. Rub 1/4 cup of the maple butter mixture over the outside of the turkey. With kitchen string, tie legs of turkey together loosely.
4. Arrange the chopped onion, chopped celery, and chopped carrot around the turkey in the roasting pan. If desired, the neck and giblets may be added to the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining thyme and marjoram over the vegetables, and pour the chicken stock into the pan.
5. Roast turkey 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and cover turkey loosely with foil. Continue to roast, about 3 to 4 hours unstuffed or 4 to 5 hours stuffed, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) and stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (75 degrees C). Transfer turkey to a platter, and cover with foil. Reserve pan mixture for gravy. Allow turkey to sit about 25 minutes before removing stuffing and carving.
6. To Make Gravy: Strain pan juices into a measuring cup. Spoon fat from juices. Add enough chicken stock to make 3 cups. Transfer liquid to a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, mix reserved maple butter mixture with flour to form a paste, and whisk into the broth. Stir in thyme, bay leaf, and apple brandy. Boil until reduced and slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe #10
Easy Beginner's Turkey with Stuffing
This easy to make turkey is great for beginners, but experts will find it equally delicious. Adjust the cooking time for different sized birds.
INGREDIENTS
12 pounds Fresh Whole Turkey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Stuffing Mix
1 (6 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 slices toasted white bread, torn into small pieces
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse turkey, remove giblets and place in a shallow roasting pan.
2. Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Mix in water.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and slowly cook and stir the celery and onion until tender.
4. Mix celery, onion, and toasted bread pieces into the stuffing, and season with salt and pepper. Loosely scoop stuffing into the turkey body cavity and neck cavity. Rub the exterior of the turkey with vegetable oil.
5. Loosely cover turkey with aluminum foil, and roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) and the interior of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove foil during the last half hour of cooking to brown the bird.
About The Author
American Consumers Are Short on Discipline When it Comes to Parting With Their Income
American Consumers Are Short on Discipline When it Comes to Parting With Their Income
by Ed Bagley
Like a 4-year-old child at the checkout counter in a supermarket, American consumers want just one more impulse buy to make their buying day complete, and apparently the more expensive it is, the better.
Here is an example: A 68-year-old, semi-retired businessman shells out $600,000 for a recreational vehicle which costs about $550 to top off at the pump. He and his wife are tooling around the country in an effort to have fun while they can.
His comment on the decision is that "This isn't a dress rehearsal for life-this is it. We're curtailing nothing." Those big tears you see following his comment might well come from any children who see their inheritance fading away into the sunset with dad and mom.
Like a dog in heat, if we have it we tend to spend it in America.
All of this impulse buying is detailed in a recent USA Today article with this headline: "Spending is hotter than the 4th of July". And indeed it apparently is.
Although the median amount of credit-card debt carried by the typical American is about $6,600 (this is not a typo), 13% of respondents in a recent online poll reported balances higher than $25,000, according to CardTrack.com.
"Never have Americans, who have always liked their toys, been faced with a situation where their impulses are so hard to control," says Stuart Vyse, a professor of psychology and author of the upcoming book Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold on to Their Money.
The fact is that we as consumers can buy almost anything we want anytime we want on the easiest terms we want. Sellers and lenders have no compunctions about selling us what we do not need at a price we cannot afford and at a rate of payment that can eventually drive us into bankruptcy.
Sellers and lenders, especially credit card lenders, have raised this willingness to line their pockets at our expense to an art form. And yes, I understand and agree with the observation that we all need to be responsible for our actions.
What I do disagree with is this: How can doing the right thing with right thinking and right motives justify lending consumers money and credit when they do not deserve it, and then leaving them no smarter but broker and deeper in debt in the process?
All of this unmerited lending is creating and concentrating wealth among America's very rich, and the rich club in America is growing faster and farther away from America's poor and middle classes.
"For the first time in history, more than half of all earned income, specifically 50.4%, is going to 20% of the U. S. population, which amounts to $3.5 trillion in the hands of 23 million households," says Peter Francese, a demographic trends analyst for ad and marketing giant Ogilvy & Mather.
So more than half of the earned income in America is going to 20% of the population, leaving the other half to 80% of the working stiffs that are left to continue buying things they do not need at prices they cannot afford on credit.
A key component of this impulse spending happens because too many Americans think they can afford it when they cannot.
Families are less frugal today, in part because only 25% of households have married couples with children, a significant drop from 50% in 1960 and the lowest percentage in census history. We have a census procedure in this country to learn these kinds of sociological shifts.
There are more working couples without children who have more disposable income and keep spending rather than realizing their good fortune and saving. Leading the spending spree are the seniors mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Seniors have so much spendable income that a Luxury Marketing Council has been created to advise top brands on consumer trends for a growing group of seniors that have at least $1 million in liquid assets. They do not need to sell their home to buy a $125,000 Maserati, they simply write a check out of one of their accounts.
I personally would not encourage this kind of spending among any consumers, and especially on an automobile which is a decreasing asset. If you cannot control your impulse to buy, at least buy land or developed properties that might well appreciate over time.
The USA Today article carried information by Pitney Bowes MapInfo which identified the Top 20 Counties nationwide with the highest average expenditures annually per household. Here are the Top 7:
1) Marin, CA - $68,782
2) Fairfield, CT - $65,263
3) Fairfax, VA - $63,569
4) San Mateo, CA - $63,229
5) Morris, NJ - $62,995
6) Somerset, NJ - $62,345
7) Westchester, NY - $61,425
I identify these counties as "high rent districts" which are too expensive for most people to buy a home. One thing is for sure, if you do not make some major money, you are not going to be able to keep up with those earners who can.
Not all of us suffer from this apparent impulse to buy.
The answer to impulse control just might be in yoga. Yoga taught me "impulse control", the ability to feel an urge and delay acting on it. Yoga also taught me that when stability becomes a habit, maturity and clarity follow.
While earning money has a way of increasing financial intelligence quickly, I learned a long time ago that a fool and his money are some parted.
I will keep the $125,000 and you can have the Maserati. I will keep the $600,000 and you can have the recreational vehicle. Eventually, cash is king; the car and the recreational vehicle will eventually end up in the junkyard with a lot of other impulse purchases.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
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