Rule 28: Dare to Compare

Tia Yates is a Legal Assistant in house for Washington Mutual Bank, the loving wife to William and a grateful Mom to four active boys ages 2-14.

Comparison is comfortable. We compare prices and nutrition labels at the grocery store. I certainly compared my babies to my friends; percentiles, sleeping habits, first words and steps. It was not a far slide into comparing myself to other moms - unfortunately with an obscured view.

I watched these “all together” women with an amazing talent for keeping it all running smoothly. Never missing the PTA meeting, always able to manage their work schedules around the school events and making adorable snacks. They were the poster moms for “having it all.” I, on the other hand, felt like I was always running late, taking every shortcut I could find, and collapsing into bed at night. I didn’t realize it, but comparing myself to those moms was driving how I was living. It made me very critical of myself and in turn my family.

I had always shied away from sharing too much with moms at school or other activities. I didn’t want them to see that I occasionally dropped the ball in my juggling act. It was bad enough that I felt judged by the stay at home moms. I was horrified when I would forget until the last minute that it was our week to bring snack, and I had to buy something from the store! They would never serve a store-bought snack! My husband would tell me I was being irrational, but I could not help it. I was so thankful when our school district mandated store bought items for school.

When my third son came along our lives changed a little more then we expected. Eventually he would officially be labeled “developmentally delayed,” but the path it took to get there, filled with specialists, and therapy appointments, sleepless nights and heavy-hearted days made me stop comparing myself to other moms. Not because I had had an epiphany. I wish. It was because I did not have the energy.

I also got to know a lot of my “pedestal” moms better. They would ask how therapy was going, or if we had attained this or that goal, and suddenly their guards were down. I learned that they had their mom at home to help keep house or bake cupcakes for them, or a part time job out of their house that allowed for more flexibility in schedule.

As things settled into life as we know it today, I realized how much more I enjoyed working the book fairs and attending the fundraising events for the kids’ schools or sports. I don’t kick myself if it does not all work out perfectly, and I am not able to make every single event. I love the contributions I do make because I am doing it for myself and my children now, and not because I am trying to be like someone else, or because I will feel like I am less of a mom if sometimes I can’t swing it.

Today I love that I can accept myself as a good mom, and while I still catch myself measuring my birthday party planning skills to another mom’s (I did once make a piñata from scratch, and I won’t be doing that again), I don’t let it dictate what I do, or how I feel about myself or my family.

Last week a friend in our moms group compared herself to me. I was taken aback because I had never imagined anyone doing that. I was happy to have the opportunity to share with her that I have a Mom who helps me shuttle kids around, and a babysitter who will pull out all the stops for me.

At the end of the day, we all have different energy levels, priorities, talents, and the biggest differential of all - we all have different children. Next time you feel the urge to critically compare yourself to another mom, think of three things you are great at…and remember you fit your family perfectly.

As excerpted from “42 Rules ™ for Working Moms” Super Star Press, 2008.


- L. Lowell

Should We Eat Animals?

When I was about 6, I asked my parents where meat came from. When they told me it was from animals that had been killed, I immediately decided to stop eating meat. I mainly stuck with that resolution through my childhood and teen years, with occasional transgressions, usually involving hot dogs at ball games or cookouts. Presently, my diet is probably 99% vegetarian (though not vegan), the other 1% mainly fish and organic turkey or chicken. Yet, over the years I have gone back and forth and in circles considering the ethical and nutritional implications of being a vegetarian.

There are many ways to view this issue. One of the main arguments in favor of a carnivorous, or omnivorous diet is that hunting and meat eating are a basic part of the natural order. The opposing argument is that humans have the power to rise to a higher ethical standard. To this, the meat eater often responds that we have to kill even to eat vegetables, to which the vegetarian will usually say that plants are of a lower order and do not have the same capacity to feel pain (though some even argue this point).

The nutritional side of the debate is no less convoluted. Vegetarian activists insist that meat eaters do not live as long, and have higher incidences of diseases such as cancer and heart disease. These are highly disputed points. Some meat eaters have taken the organic route, believing that many health problems associated with meat are actually the result of the conditions found at factory farms and all the questionable additives used, such as hormones and antibiotics.

To cloud the issue even more, the vegetarian camp is deeply divided on the issue of consuming animal products such as eggs, milk and other dairy products. Vegans, taking the basic vegetarian position one step further, believe that consuming any animal products is unhealthy. Many also take an ethical stand, pointing out the conditions suffered by animals who supply humans with their milk and eggs. This, we must note, is not an argument against animal products per se, only against the mainstream model that is currently used. Organic and free range alternatives are now widely available. It is, however, often questionable whether some of these alternatives are really as benign as they would have us believe. A certain portion of vegans actually take the hard line stance that it is wrong in principle to “exploit” animals for their food products, even if they are not harmed in the process. While I sometimes waffle on the bigger questions, I can say that I do not agree with this position, so long as the animals are well cared for.

One argument that I find fairly persuasive, coming from the carnivore side, is that when we look at eating habits historically, vegetarianism is quite rare and veganism almost unknown. I am talking now about what can be verified; some hypothesize an idyllic remote past when humans were vegetarians. Many traditional cultures did not consume large quantities of meat or animal products, but it is difficult to find a strictly vegetarian society, apart from certain religious subcultures in places like India. And in these cases, animal products were not taboo. In India, the sacredness of cows is not considered an injunction against milk products.

The ethical implications of a meat vs. vegetable diet is something everyone simply (or perhaps not so simply) has to work out for themselves. To some extent, this is also true of the health aspect. In both instances, however, I think we can safely conclude that the current model of treating and eating animals is highly unsatisfactory and inhumane. There are also many questionable implications to our health in consuming animals and animal products that originate in modern mass-production facilities or factory farms. My own conclusion, from the nutritional standpoint, is that if you choose to consume animals and/or animal products, is best to stick to high quality (usually meaning organic) products and in smaller quantities than is typical for modern American or Western diets. I think this decision alone, while not resolving the more complex moral questions, is a marked improvement over the status quo of the modern diet.


- Larry Christopher

Your Writing Life: are You a Perfectionist? the Pros and Cons

You’ve probably thought about your general temperament and how it impacts your relationships. For instance, you have some idea about what kind of friend you are, what kind of parent or sibling or spouse or significant other. But have you ever thought about what kind of writer you are? Finding out can tell you a great deal about your relationship with writing and can reveal ways you can be more productive.

Honestly assessing your writing temperament and holding an awareness of it as you work can help you avoid time-wasting tendencies and reaffirm routines that are already working. And since so much of writing is putting yourself on the page (regardless of your genre or subject), if you have a clearer picture of your writing self, your finished product will be richer for it.

Here’s the complete list of the most common writing temperaments:

1) Sir Starts-a-lot

2) The Perfectionist

3) Fool for a Deadline

4) The Island (includes (a) The Over-confident Island and (b) The Fearful Island)

5) The Tofu Artist (a.k.a. The Feedback-Dependent Writer)

I’ll devote a separate article to each temperament.

(Note: to avoid s/he overload, I’ve decided to alternate pronouns from article to article. In no way do I mean to imply that certain genders are more likely to exhibit certain tendencies at the writing desk.)

2) The Perfectionist 

Like Sir Starts-a-lot, the Perfectionist doesn’t get submissions in the mail either, but for very different reasons. The Perfectionist just never believes her manuscript is really, really ready. If her work-in-progress were a preschooler on the verge of Kindergarten, she would hold the little dude back until adolescence passed him by and he was shaving every day, still claiming she could do more to prepare her son for the rigors of school.

Okay, as hard as it is, at the right time we have to let them go: human offspring and creative offspring alike.

If you socialize with other writers, odds are you know someone who has been working (really working, not slacking) on the same piece for years and years.  Your writer’s group encourages her to send it out (through clever e-cards, decorated cupcakes, even the chilled champagne you smuggled into the bookstore where you meet), but she insists it’s not ready and tweaks it yet again.

The right dose of perfectionism (in short, temporary bursts) can actually be a good thing, because it pushes you to insist that your work be the best it can, but too much perfectionism can lead you down the road toward obsession, prevent you from getting published, and ultimately keep you from ever starting anything new. Don’t fool yourself into believing that if you focus all your time and energy on finding the elusive “Perfect” in your work you’ll be rewarded with something flawless. Remember the words of Gustave Flaubert, “Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.”  

If you’re a Perfectionist, odds are your manuscript will never feel 100% ready. But push yourself to take the plunge and submit it when it feels “good enough.” If your critique group is begging you to send it out (if they try to steal your flash drive so that they can do it themselves), you know you have to relax your unrealistically high standards so that you can add your words to the conversation known as the printed word.

Listen to the little voice inside that’s trying to remind you of how much time and effort you’ve spent on the work. Sure, you could always find more to do, but it’s time to wrap this one up and begin something new.

The BENEFIT of this temperament: Your piece is GOOD. Really good. You take pride in your work. You have high standards and insist on meeting them. That in and of itself sets you apart from many people who want to write for publication but think revision is optional.

The COST of this temperament: But if you keep your manuscript chained to a treadmill of never-ending revision, no one but your immediate family will ever get the chance to admire your high standards. Further, you’re not stretching and growing as a writer: unless your revisions include major overhauls, new chapters and a substantive amount of rethinking and rewriting, you’re only using one side of your brain when you edit (the logical, organizing side).

You can afford to hang around Sir Starts-a-lot’s table in order to remember what inventing new ideas feels like. Writers get better with each article, story, poem or book they finish. Don’t limit yourself to perfecting and polishing the same thing and thereby condemn yourself to editorial limbo.

(Rule of thumb: if you’re memorizing your novel – without trying — you’re spending too much time on it.)

And remember: If writing is important to you (second only to a select group of humans), you can succeed with the right attitude, no matter what writing temperament you are.

Check out the first article in the series, “Assess Your Writing Temperament and Be More Productive, Part 1.”

Coming soon: Watch for the next discussion of writing temperaments with number 3, “Fool for a Deadline.”

To discover other ways to make your writing habit more efficient, satisfying and fun, visit http://ManuscriptRx.com and sign up for “Write Through It,” the FREE monthly newsletter that offers practical writing advice and anecdotal wisdom. 

 


- Lucia Zimmitti

Eating Healthy for Vegetarians

The vegetarian way of eating can be a very healthy style

of eating. The rules still apply with healthy eating,

although you should add variety, balance, and moderation.

A vegetarian is someone who avoids all types of meat,

whether it be hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, or even fish.

Vegetarians are also sometimes classified by the type of

food they are or aren’t willing to eat. For example,

Lacto-ovo vegetarians will avoid animal flesh yet they

will eat eggs and most dairy products. A Vegan on the

other hand, will avoid all food that has any trace of

animal origin.

Because they don’t eat meet, vegetarians will often

wonder how they’ll get enough protein. Although you may

not realize it, the average American actually consumes

more protein than he actually needs. For the lacto-ovo

vegetarian, dairy products are an excellent source of

protein. Vegans on the other hand, get their protein

from nuts, seeds, and soy products.

Along the lines of beans, there are several to choose

from, including green or red lentils, peanuts, split

peas, pinto, soy, kidney, and many more. Some of them

you are already familiar, such as kidney beans in

chili, refried beans in Mexican dishes, red beans and

rice, and pinto beans. Although some beans taste good

as they are, others are available with different flavors

to help enhance their taste. Nuts are hihg in protein,

although they deliver a lot more fat than beans, which

means you should enjoy them in moderation. By having

one cup of cooked beans, you’ll get the same amount of

protein as eating two ounces of meat!

The nutrients of concern for vegans, who avoid all types

of animal food, are vitamin B12, calcium, and vitamin D.

In the average North American diet, the primary source

for B12 is animals. To have an adequate intake of B12,

vegans should regularly consume vitamin B12 supplements or

foods, which contain vitamin B12, such as soy products

or milk.

For calcium, vegans can rely on orange juice or soy

milk, as they are fortified with calcium. Beans and

leafy green vegetables will also contain some calcium as

well.

Although all types of vegetarians rely on simple food

groups, controlling your vitamins and calcium intake is

something you should always do. This is very important

for eating healthy, as well as staying healthy. If you

control what you eat, you’ll have many years of healthy

eating ahead of you.


- Ginger Malone

Vegetarian Thanksgiving - No Turkeys?

What comes to your mind when you first think of Thanksgiving? The big fat golden-brown turkey? To millions, a Vegetarian Thanksgiving would mean no heaps of turkey meat at their dining table to feast on, but to the turkeys it would mean freedom to LIVE.

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks to God for blessings received during the year. It is usually a family day, celebrated with joyous reunions, feastings and prayers. Families and friends come together to enjoy the Macey’s Thanksgiving Parade and Football. Although it is a major celebration in the United States and Canada, other countries like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Laos, Liberia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, etc also celebrate this joyous holiday.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving is a term which has slowly become popular all over, not only with the vegetarians but also among the non vegetarians. Being veg. is a journey, not a destination – even with its back roads, detours and speed bumps. Thanksgiving used to be a vegetarian’s worst nightmare, but no longer. More and more vegetarian groups are holding dinners and celebrations, and there are even caterers and food companies specializing in a wide selection of meatless alternatives.

The living and the dead! If turkeys were our companions, we would be terribly upset with the death of any one of them; but because they are “food”, we are indifferent to their death. Thousands of free-range turkeys are raised in a single warehouse-like structure forced to stand on accumulated fecal waste and breathe in ammonia fumes. These turkeys are then taken to the slaughterhouse through transport containers where they are hung upside down in shackles. There they cry out in fear and pain as they await their own slaughter. Think of how much it hurts when we get a little speck in our eye, and we might understand the degree of suffering that the turkeys are been forced to endure day after day. When left the way God intended turkeys to be, they have a wonderful and close family life. It is not human to deprive them of this gift from God.

There is a lot more to explore at a thanksgiving dinner table than just turkeys. Some food items that I can suggest, which I found from some great recipe sites, would be:

APPETIZERS/STARTERS

Guacamole, a Relish plate of sliced vegetables (Crudités) and White wine.

MAIN COURSE

Vegan Nut Roast à la PeTA

Ingredients:

‘The roast’:

Two tablespoons oil or margarine

2 large onions, chopped fine

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups raw cashews

1 1/2 cups bread

1 cup soup stock (or water)

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons lemon juice

‘The stuffing’:

3 cups bread cubes, toasted

Two tablespoons margarine, melted but not hot

1/2 to 3/4 cup finely-chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon marjoram

1/2 teaspoon sage

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

Cook the onion and garlic in the oil or margarine until tender, and remove from the heat.

Chop the cashews by hand or in a food processor; cut up the bread as well. Add the cashews and bread to the onion, then add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Put half of this mixture into a small, non-stick loaf pan. Mix together all the ingredients from the second list. Put the mixture on top of the stuff in the loaf pan, and add the rest of the first mixture so that there are three layers of food in the pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet or in a larger loaf pan, and bake at 400 degrees F for half an hour. The top should be browned. Let the roast cool for a few minutes, then turn the pan over and serve the roast on a plate. Serve with gravy if desired, keeping in mind that it is a very rich dish.

Notes:

The roast will take about an hour to prepare. This recipe makes roughly six servings.

Other main courses items could be: Home-made bread, Salad, Steamed carrots and green beans, Mashed potatoes, rolls, Bread stuffing, Red wine, Vegan Bisquits, Vegan Nut Roast with Stuffing à la PeTA, Vegan Gravy and Simple Cranberry Sauce.

DESERT

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 350-g box of silken firm tofu, drained

1 heaping cup of cooked or canned pumpkin

1 to 1 1/4 cups brown or golden sugar, not packed tight

dash salt

4 teaspoons blended “pumpkin pie spice” OR:

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground dry ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoons nutmeg

1 pie crust

Method:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Blend the tofu in a food processor or with a blender until smooth and cream-like, for about four minutes. Stop the machine every once in a while to scrape large pieces of tofu down into the machine’s blades. Add the cooked pumpkin and blend some more, again stopping the machine and scraping the mixture down. The result should be a light orange-colored paste with no lumps of tofu. Put the paste into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar, salt, and spices. Mix well and spoon it into the pie crust; decorate with cheerful shapes of leftover crust, if desired. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until the crusts are dark brown. Serve warm or chilled, plain or topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Notes:

This pie takes about two hours to prepare. A single good-sized sugar pie pumpkin will usually yield enough material for two pies: the recipe doubles easily. The pie refrigerates and freezes well.

Other Desert items could be: hot cocoa, Vegan Pumpkin Pie and Butter Tarts.

You can wish your friends and family a Vegetarian Thanksgiving with a simple Ecard from sites such as 123Greetings.com


- Sean Carter

Nutritional Values of Flaxseeds

Can’t do without essential fatty acids

We need essential fatty acids, namely the linoleic acid LA and the alpha-linoleic acid ALAsince they are necessary for the formation of healthy cell membrans. They are vital in regulating the functions of our brain, organs and nervous system. If we lack either one, we encounter symptoms like impaired vision and learning, skin lesions, behavioural disorders (depression, Alzheimer’s disease etc), reproductive failure and cardiovascular diseases.

LA and ALA are converted into omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids respectively by our bodies which perform more important tasks in regulating blood clotting, platelet aggregation, blood pressure and cell proliferation.

The World Health Organisation suggests an ideal ratio of omega-6:omega-3 fatty acids as 2:1 to be maintained. The average American diet contains way too much omega-6 and insufficient omega-3. Vegans and vegetarian are not spared in the danger of omega-3 deficiency since most processed plant foods are stripped of the important omega-3 nutrients.

But its important to keep LA and ALA in balance because both are competing for the enzymes needed to convert into omega-6 & 3.

Sources of Omega-6 and Omega-3

Vegans and vegetarians can obtain LA easily from processed oils such as sunflower, corn, grapeseed, seeds, walnuts and grains which convert readily to omega-6. But itmore difficult to ensure adequacy of omega-3. Other than the fact that the conversion is less efficient, the sources for ALA are decreasing as food processing often removes the unstable ALA.

All is not lost though as vegans and vegetarians can still increase their omega-3 intake by eating unprocessed seeds. All seeds provide good sources of essential fatty acids.

Flaxseed is the best source

Of all seeds, flaxseeds (the seeds of the plant Linum usitatissmum) have the highest ALA and lowest LA, thus can help improve the imbalance in essential fatty acids. Therefore, flaxseeds should form an important part of a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Health benefits

As mentioned above, ALA has many benefits, one of them is to protect the heart in two ways  through improvements in abnormal heart rhythms and a reduction of blood platelet stickiness. ALA also reduces LDL or bad cholesterol and lipoprotein levels to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

ALA also keep blood pressure at normal level by inhibiting inflammatory effects on blood vessels, thereby preventing formation of plague on blood vessels which cause poor circulation.

Flaxseeds contain approximately 28% fiber, soluble and insoluble. The insoluble fiber helps to relieve constipation, improve colon health and may prevent colon cancer. Mucilage fiber is the soluble fiber which also help to ease the stool along the gut when absorb plenty of water. It also prevents toxicity which results from constipation.

Furthermore, mucilage fiber reduce the speed of sugar digestion in the digestive tract, so as to stabilize blood sugar and control cravings. It helps those who are obese, diabetic or hypoglycemic to overcome overeating and carbohydrate addiction.

Flaxseeds contain the highest level of lignans among all plants. Lignans are phytoestrogens which resemble human hormone estrogens. Despite being much weaker than human estrogens, they nevertheless help to balance hormone levels in the body and may protect against breast, colon, prostate and skin cancer.

A study involving 50 women with breast cancer showed that 25 women who were fed with 25g of milled flax daily before surgery had slower-growing tumors than the other 25 women who were not fed milled flax at all.

Lignans may also have antioxidant properties and hence may reduce cell damage caused by free radicals. Thus, it could help to delay the onset of Type 1 and 2 diabetes.

Selection

Brown or golden flaxseeds do not differ much in nutritious content though some say golden ones have lighter nuttier flavor and brown ones can be a little bitter.

You can choose whole flaxseeds, grounded flaxseeds or flaxseeds oil but whole flaxseeds are the most economical because they are the least expensive and they keep fresh for longer periods. Just a blender and you can prepare ground flaxseeds in seconds.

To enable the maximum absorption of the nutrients by the body, it is best to ground the flaxseeds before consumption. Just one or two tablespoon daily of ground flaxseeds are sufficient to meet your dietary requirements.

Uses

Substitute for eggs  you can mix one tablespoon of ground flax seeds with three tablespoon of water, let the mixture sit for two to three minutes to thicken it. Substiture this mix with eggs in baked food recipes like pancakes, muffins or cookies.

Substitute for fats  replace one tablespoon of fats with three tablespoon of ground flaxseeds. You can use the flaxseeds to replace margarine, butter or shortening in a recipe. Note that flax causes baked food to brown more quickly, so be sure to adjust the baking times.

Flaxseed oil

Even after processed into flaxseed oil, it retains much of essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Flaxseed oil is available in bottles, in gel capsules or blended with other oils.

If you prefer bottled flaxseed oil, you can add a spoonful to your salads, baked potatoes, rice or vegetables to replace margarine, yet enhance the taste and texture of foods. You can even add to juices and drinks. Add the oil after the food is cooked as high heat will reduce the oils nutritious value.

Alternatively, you can consume gel capsules as dietary supplements though it will cost more.

As flaxseed oil is prone to spoilage, I suggest you keep flaxseed oil refrigerated.

While flaxseed and flaxseed oil share the same source, flaxseed oil contains only the ALA component of flaxseed because lignans and fiber are removed during extraction.


- Laura Ng

How To Plan A Summer Party: Inflatable Rentals, Water Slides & Outdoor Movies

The end of the school season is approaching and that means fun summer parties! Planning a party can sometimes be so overwhelming that families avoid throwing them. That doesn’t have to be the case this summer - often it is the simplest parties that are the most successful!

While a summer party is fun, they can also be a great way to reconnect with neighbors and school friends, break up a summer full of sports, vacations and camp, and spend quality time celebrating with your family.

By following some simple suggestions, such as including inflatable rentals, water slides, and outdoor movies in your plan, your party is sure to be an easy success. Plan your party around a specific big-ticket item, such as an inflatable obstacle course, to get the party-goers excited.

Invitations

Get things started by sending out invitations early. Have children create their own construction paper invitations or get creative and hand deliver balloons with invitations inside, cupcakes with save-the-date information on the icing, or hand-made adventure park admission tickets that children can present to access one of the inflatable rentals at your party.

The most important thing is to let people know the date of the party, the time and any special instructions required - like wearing a bathing suit!

Food

Food and beverages don’t have to be extravagant - consider finger foods, pizza and outdoor classics such as hamburgers and hot dogs. Just remember to make it fun and easy to clean up! An outdoor party in the summer is an excellent time to break out popsicles for the kids and fresh fruit like watermelon or peaches.

Another option, an ice cream sundae bar equipped with fixings such as ice cream, candy toppings and chocolate sauce, is a sweet end to any meal. Drinks can be as simple as pitchers of lemonade or a cooler filled with water bottles or cans of soda.

Inflatable Rentals

Once the food and snacks are planned out, consider entertainment options. Inflatable rentals are a big hit with children of all ages, and adults are even able to partake in the fun! Allow children to slide down inflatable slides, navigate through inflatable obstacle courses, or test out their champion skills in an inflatable boxing ring - the options for outdoor inflatable rentals are limitless!

Nighttime

After a tiring day playing in the inflatable rentals, wind down the party with a number of outdoor movie options. Viewing screens that project movies on an inflatable surface are sure to be a crowd pleaser. Set up a viewing area outside and pick from a variety of children’s movies, along with classic movie snacks like popcorn and gummy worms, to end the night. Provide blankets and lawn chairs for everyone to relax and make sure there are flashlights or outside lamps so that everyone is safe.

The options are unlimited when it comes to planning a spring party. Ensure that a detailed checklist is set up to guarantee that inflatable rentals will be at the party, the movie is picked out, and the food is prepared for the day of the party. After that, sit back, relax, and have fun!


- Christine Harrell

The Ten Most Important Baking Equipment For Local Bakeries

When starting a new bakery business, you will find it is strikingly very detailed in terms of its preparation. You will surely need a guide for the most vital equipments in baking. Hence, being in the bakery type of business is considered as a very industrious kind of business because it entails hard work and patience. Building a bakery that is also based on your home can also stand as a meticulous endeavor.

Being in the bakery type of business is considered as a very industrious kind of business because it entails hard work and patience. Building a bakery that is also based on your home can also stand as a meticulous endeavor. Hence, on the brighter side, you don’t need a whole lot of equipment before you can get your business started. You only need your oven, a few pans, and the main ingredients like flour, eggs, yeast and the like. Of course, the bread and pastries you will make would depend on your own special recipe, your family’ recipe or on what you have learned from a baking class. Depending on the type of bread, pastry or bread you will bake, you will know what kind of oven you will need or what type of ingredients to buy. Thus, for you to get into this kind of industry, quality control of every product and apparatus should be observed diligently.

Some of the things that a baker needs are listed below, along with their uses:

1. Baking pans come in different shapes and sizes depending on the user’s plan of what he or she will bake. This is considered as the most important asset and one of the food service’s largest investments. Some of the most readily available pan styles include:

? Open top bread pans

? Single and strapped Pullman pans

? Hearth bread pans

? Baguette pans

? Bun and roll pans

? Cupcake and muffin pans

? Display case pans

? Specially-constructed perforated baking sheets

? Sheet pans

? Pizza pans

? Cake pans

? Pie pans, and many other types.

They are mainly made from three different kinds of materials like:

? Tin plated steel

? Aluminium coated steel

? Aluminium in either cast or sheeted forms.

2. Measuring cups or spoons is the very source of a chef’s exact mixture. Baking is an exact science, where in, you need to have an exact amount of every product which you need to add and make sure that they are added at the right time.

3. Slide bread rollers are very useful in trying to flatten or to thin out your dough. This roller is usually utilized in order for you to have enough amount of dough that you need.

4. A baking sheet is always used for practical reasons that only baker understands. They usually use wax paper but if it is too costly to buy one. This is why baking sheets are enough because they are a good substitute for the mentioned wax paper.

5. Sifter or a substitute for this could be a fine sieve. This is chiefly used for sieving your flour off the dirt or the tiny solid portion of your flour.

6. A timer which can ring very loudly is preferred because inside the baking room there is some unavoidable noise that can hinder your ears from perceiving the sound of your timer. It is mainly used for determining the right time that the breads or other products will obtain their exact degree of heat.

7. An oven is of course the most imperative of all the equipments. This, as all of us know, is the heart and soul of a bakery, aside from the baker of course! Maintenance of such a machine is also demanded and should be strictly imposed.

8. A bread cutter, as the name implies, is utilized for slicing bread products into the desired thickness and form. You can somehow set the right size for your bread if you use this tool.

9. A mixer is intended for beating, whipping, mixing food ingredients that comes in two major variations, hand mixers and stand mixers. Hand mixers, as they are named, are hand-held mixing devices. This is usually mounted over a large enclosure that contains the motor, which has either one or two beaters. A stand mixer is almost the same as the hand mixer but it is mounted on a stand which is larger and more powerful than their hand-held counterparts. They usually have a mixing bowl that is fixed into place while the mixing process is ongoing. Thus, heavy duty models have the capacity of about 95 litres. The typical home models can accommodate about 4 litres.

10. Refrigerators are mainly used for storage of unused or some left over ingredients in order to preserve their freshness.

Bakery equipments are good investments for starting a bakery business. By filling up your list and contemplating on the needs of your store, you will be able to assess when you can get your return of investments.


- Dave Text

Children Clothing Made From Natural Fabrics Can Be the Best Choice

Today, there are many fabrics that can be chosen in clothing for children. Clothing may be either natural or synthetic. When you choose clothing made from natural materials, the clothing will have beneficial qualities that affect the wearer’s level of comfort. For children, clothing made from natural materials is a great choice.

Most clothing that is made from natural fibers or fabrics will have a woven appearance. In addition, wools and other natural woven fibers can be processed to give it a matted appearance. Most synthetic fabrics can be identified by their cut edges. Natural fabrics fray when cut. If a fabric does not fray at its edges when cut or inspected at the seams, it is probably a synthetic or synthetic blend fabric. Synthetic materials are added to natural fibers to create a synthetic blend material.

The difference between natural fibers and fabrics is simple. Natural fibers are the threads that are woven to create a fabric. The weave may be loose or tight. One type of natural fiber may be used to create different styles of fabrics.

For children, the best fiber sources are vegetable and animal based. The different fibers that are used to create vegetable or animal source fabrics include cotton, flax or linen, hemp, jute, ramie, silk, sisal and wool fabric types. Leather, patent leather and suede are made from processed animal skins. Fur products are processed animal skin with the fur still on the skin. Animal based fibers (hairs) are used to create fabrics such as angora, cashmere, wool and mohair.

The different types of fabrics manufactured from natural fibers include broadcloth, jean type material, chino, camoflage, shirting, specialty dress fabrics, knit fabrics, velvet, velveteen, corduroy, satin, brocade and tapestry. Many specialty fabrics with a variety of qualities can be created from natural fabrics.

Natural fabrics can be further categorized as vegan or non-vegan. Vegan consumer choices involve choosing only vegetable based products. If you want to use only vegetable based fabrics, avoid any animal based materials and fibers.

You can also distinguish fabrics as a sustainable fiber such as bamboo, cotton, hemp, lyocell and soy. Sustainable fabrics are created for conscientious consumers who want to avoid using the fabrics that have a great impact on the environment. Sustainable fibers can be produced in abundance without causing too much or little pollution during their growth, harvest and processing.

Natural fabrics will help to regulate the body’s temperature. For instance, the woven quality of the fabric allows heat and moisture to escape when the temperature is hot. That is why cotton and other natural fabrics are preferred for hot weather clothing over synthetic fabrics. Unless synthetic fibers are blended with natural fibers in a woven fabric, synthetic fabrics generally trap heat and moisture next to the body, which is uncomfortable. In cold weather, synthetic fabrics are not as warm as natural fabrics.

Animal based products are generally keep warmth close to the body in cold weather. Wool has the ability to keep a person warm even when it is wet. Natural fabrics have a hardy quality because of the woven, matted or knitted method of manufacture.

For children, clothing made from natural materials are great for the child and can be found in many textures that are soft enough for the most sensitive skin. Natural fibers can keep a child comfortable under different weather conditions and temperatures. Well made natural clothing for children can be fashionable and durable enough to be passed along to the siblings.


- Daniel Millions

The Organic Buffet

A new type of all you can eat buffet has emerged in the last decade, and it’s not the desert bar. The organic buffet is becoming a popular place for health minded people to gather for food, and company. Many top health food grocers like Whole Foods, and Earth Fare, are testing out the concept to warm results.

It seems that the mix of fresh organic foods in a casual setting has hit a chord with customers. Many customers seem to not only enjoy the organic buffet on occasion, but rather weekly, or even daily.

There is a growing number of people who come in for a light healthy meal at lunch instead of going to a fast food joint. Many feel this is also a better alternative than your normal “sit down” restaurant.

In many cases it is also faster if your time is limited. You can come in either sit down and have a light lunch or pick up several items and take back to your office. You can also do a little additional grocery shopping for your evening meal that evening.

Many people have started to focus on their bodies as a temple, and thus have adjusted their diets to help make their bodies more pure. The scope of organic style diets can be as small as enjoying organic fruits and vegetables every now, and then, to being a vegan who does not eat anything that isn’t organic.

With such a diverse pallet of taste that customers bring to the table, organic buffet restaurants have their hands filled trying to please everyone and still turn a profit in the process. The greatest organic buffets are those that are different than traditional buffets in food quality, but similar in diverse selection.

Many organic buffets will be skewed towards the vegan or non meat eating customers as those seem to be the most faithful followers of the trend. Therefore, you will usually see a very few meat offerings on an organic buffet with the majority of the foods being non meat based.

Many would believe the price of organic buffet foods would be higher than those of a traditional buffet, but this is not true. The prices seem to fall in line with that of a traditional buffet. The reasoning could be that organic buffets focus on higher quality vegetables, but offer less quantities of meats.

Traditional buffets offer more meats at a less standard of quality, thus lowering the food costs. These factors balance out for about the same price at both a traditional buffet and an organic one.


- Della Franklin

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