Filipino Recipes - Sans Rival Cake Recipe - Pinoy Food

Whenever I hear the word Sans rival, I always remember my high school best friend who gave her crush the same secret name because it is her favorite cake. Imagine a boy named Sans Rival... can't help but giggle at the thought.

Sans rival is a cake that you would like to have every day, unless you are trying to slim down. It is creamy, tasty, sweet, with bits and pieces of cashew nuts that makes the cake even more delightfully delicious. I tried baking it myself using this recipe that I got from no other than my best friend. Yes, the same one I mentioned earlier.

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Ingredients:

  • 8 egg whites
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1½ cups cashew nuts (finely chopped)

Filling:

  • 8 egg yolks
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tsp corn syrup
  • 1/3 lb fresh butter
  • ½ cup cashew nuts (chopped)

Cooking Procedure:

  • Beat egg whites until stiff and foamy. Add 1 cup sugar gradually, beating continuously, until you see soft peaks formed. Add finely chopped cashew nuts. Grease four cookie sheets which are 9x14 inch in size and dust lightly with flour. Pour mixture into 4 sheets  and spread thin. Bake in preheated oven 300ºF for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookie sheets and set aside to cool.
  • Put 1 cup sugar, ½ cup water and 1 teaspoon corn syrup in saucepan and set to boil without stirring. When thick enough to form a soft ball when dropped in a saucer of water, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  • Beat egg yolks until lemon-colored. Add syrup little by little, beating well.
  • Melt butter to creamy consistency and when syrup mixture is sufficiently cool, add little by little while continuing to cream. Spread butter mixture on the layers and put together, one on top of the other, sandwich fashion. Spread more butter mixture to the top layer and sides and sprinkle with cashew nuts, Wrap in wax paper and chill before serving.

Filipino Recipes - Sans Rival Cake Recipe - Pinoy Food

Jasmine is a native Filipino with a passion for cooking and gardening. Her love of Pinoy food has lead her to create a website to share her favorite Filipino recipes with the world. Come and explore and enjoy a true taste of the Philippines with these authentic Pinoy recipes and stories of the Philippine culture.

What Is ICC Authority?

All transportation companies need an operating authority issued by the former Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) which is now maintained by the Department of Transportation (DOT). You as a trucker also need this operating authority. For commercial trucking and commercial truckers it is an unavoidable permit or authority. When you carry commodities over different state lines, you need this ICC authority along with truck Insurance and Cargo Insurance. While getting the ICC authority check with your home state rules and regulations. Your home state may have some regulation regarding loading and unloading of the items. For truckers an ICC authority means you have a permit to carry different items and goods within state and interstate.

Now instead of the ICC, ICC authority applications are handled by two agencies under the USDOT. To get ICC authority, you do not need any experience; you just need to apply for it. ICC authority decides which companies are permitted as truckers/carriers. It also decides the service that these companies will offer and the charges that they can take from the customers.

Biscuit

ICC authority means Operating authority. ICC refers to Interstate Commerce Commission. ICC authority now means federal operating authority that looks after the rules governing transport companies for hire across the different state lines.

ICC authority is a term used to mean a legal permission or a business license. This is granted by a federal or state transportation governing agency. This permit or license is needed by the for hire transportation agency or the truckers.

According to the law, if you are a trucker, you should have a ICC operating authority. If you are operating without it, then you are really taking a big risk.

It is better not to operate till you get the authority. When you, as a trucker, operate within a specific commercial zone then you can operate without such authority but if you plan on going beyond this zone then make sure that you have the authority to.

Truck Insurance Group, a truck insurance agency has a certified ICC authority specialist that will answer your question and assist you with all your ICC authority and commercial truck insurance needs.

What Is ICC Authority?

Joe Trzepla is a consultant that occasionally works at Cover Me Insurance, the truck insurance agency as well as consults for the Direct Truck Insurance company.

Repo Semi Trucks For Sale

Sales of repossed trucks increased by an estimated 7%. For the first quarter of this year an estimated 23 thousand commercial trucks were sold, which is 7% more than a year earlier.

This sales growth is observed in virtually all manufacturers of trucks including Peterbilt, Freightliner, Kenworth and Volvo. However it has been calculated that full restoration of the commercial truck market will not be for at least another three years.

Biscuit

Heavy duty truck sales in the first quarter of this year began to rise slowly. Light commercial trucks of up to 6 tons sold about 21,062 untis, which is 6% more than a year earlier. At the same time three leading players crept up closely.

Sales of commercial trucks for Hyundai grew almost 4.7 times, up to 922 pieces and rising from 10th place in the beginning of last year. Toyota was not as lucky, sales collapsed by 90%, a total of eight trucks compared to 78 units from last year.

Repo semi trucks in the 16 ton range were able to catch up. Overall sales in the segment grew by 87%, up to 1995 trucks. We are pleased to see such a positive trend. This applies particularly to the segment of heavy trucks. To judge the restoration of growth can only be based on sales of the second quarter, according to the head unit to provide services to the automotive industry Ernst & Young. According to the deputy chairman of the committee commercial vehicle manufacturers market recovery in the cargo segment is expected no earlier than three or four years.

Repo Semi Trucks For Sale

EasyrigLease.com Commercial Truck finance and leasing on all trucks or trailers, new or used including dump trucks for sale, semi truck repos and bank repo semi trucks

Homemade Horse Treats - What You Need to Make Treats Your Horse Will Love

Homemade horse treats are actually quite simple and easy to do. Do you have a horse you love to spoil on a regular basis? If so you may want to take that love into the kitchen and whip up some treats straight from the heart.

Horse treats made at home usually involve natural ingredients such as oatmeal, sugar, carrots or apples to name a few. However, you must also keep in mind there are some ingredients that are toxic to horses.

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For example, tomatoes or chestnuts are toxic to horses and should not be used as ingredients. You may also want to take into consideration any dietary concerns for your horse. If you are monitoring weight control you may want to make something lighter in terms of sugar or other high calorie ingredients.

What Types Of Treats Can You Make?

Most homemade horse treats are made in the form of horse cookies. There are a couple other types of treats you can make your horse such as muffins, biscuit treats and even cakes.

Horse cookies are an easy choice to make. They usually involve some combination of oatmeal, carrots, apples, sugar, and molasses. If you need to make a more healthy version you can choose recipes with lower amounts of sweet ingredients.

Muffins and biscuits are a couple other choices of homemade treats. Biscuits are similar to cookies, but what you include as ingredients can offer a different texture to the finished product.

There are also recipes out there for making cakes. When making say a birthday cake for your horse, you may be using a combination of oats or feed, molasses or honey, carrots, and apples. There are versions of no-bake and baked recipes available.

When making healthy homemade horse treats you can substitute in ingredients such as unsweetened applesauce, oat bran cereal or oatmeal. Look for recipes with lower calories ingredients.

What Equipment Will You Need To Make Treats?

Equipment needs for making horse treats are pretty basic. Depending on the recipe, you should only need basic baking equipment. Likely a mixing bowl or two, measuring cup, and spatula.

Other equipment needs include baking sheets, muffin pans, or other baking pans. Plenty of counter space in the kitchen may be helpful when making homemade horse treats.

Any electrical appliances will depend on the recipe. You may need a hand mixer or a blender, but many recipes will work just fine with good, old-fashioned elbow grease.

Where Can I Find Great Recipes?

Great recipes for homemade horse treats can be found both online and offline. There are many websites that offer great recipes for baking available on the internet.

You can tailor your internet search to specific types of treat or certain ingredients. There are also many books available in the local book store filled with horse treat recipes.

Below we have provided an example of a simple horse treat recipe:

Horse Cookies:
1c grated carrots
1 grated apple
2 Tbs corn oil
1/4c molasses
1 tsp salt
1c rolled oats
1c flour

Mix carrots, apple, corn oil and molasses in large mixing bowl. Fold in salt, oats and flour until well mixed. Spread dough as one piece on cookie sheet. Can use cookie cutters in dough for shapes before baking or pre-cut. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade Horse Treats - What You Need to Make Treats Your Horse Will Love

Lynn Wenger invites you to visit http://www.stock-horse-show-source.com/horse-nutrition.html for more information on complete and balanced nutrition for your horse.

Lynn has been active in riding and showing horses since 2000. She is a lifelong equine addict with no hopes of recovery and admits since buying her first horse as a young adult that she is an expert on not being an expert when it comes to owning and showing horses. She is also the creator and founder of Stock Horse Show Source http://www.stock-horse-show-source.com, developed to educate novice equine enthusiasts on the basics of horse keeping and showing.

So lope on over, park your horse, and sign up for "The All-Arounder" newsletter, the official FREE publication from Stock Horse Show Source and you'll never miss a hoofbeat!

(c) Copyright stock-horse-show-source.com, all rights reserved

Biscuit Joinery

Biscuit joinery and dowel joinery are two easy ways to connect two boards together. These techniques are particularly useful when constructing cabinets, shelving or joining boards together to produce a flat surface, such as a table top. They are most popular when joining flat woods, such as plywood, particle board, or MDF (medium density fiberboard). You may want to join two boards together to make a custom width board for shelves or other projects. Here we will discuss a few tips for making your doweling or biscuit joining job a success.

First, we'll discuss what a biscuit is. A biscuit is almost like a flat piece of dowel. It is usually two to four inches long and is shaped like a football. A slot is cut into a piece of wood, the biscuit is inserted with glue, and then joined with a corresponding slot in the opposing piece of wood. The two pieces are clamped together and allowed to bond. Be careful not to squeeze out all of the glue when you use clamps.

Biscuit

Most woodworkers prefer to use a plate joiner tool to drill the holes for biscuits. You can use a router, but many people consider using a router more dangerous. Using a plate joiner keeps the blade encased behind a blade guard so that you cannot cut yourself. Make sure that you study the safety rules and follow the usage instructions that come with your plate joiner, exactly.

To use the plate joiner, start by making your marks. Put your two pieces together and make a pencil mark where you want your biscuit to go. Remember that the biscuit will be hidden, so there is some play room with the placement. Simply set the depth of the blade to where you want it and line up the guide with your marks. You can set the bevel angle if you are not making a simple right angle cut. The motor should be running at full speed before you begin your cut.

You will notice that the cuts are slightly longer than the biscuit itself. This gives you a little extra room for error and makes a space for the glue to set. Simply position your boards together and line them up before you clamp them down to dry. Once dry, the joints will be almost as strong as a dowel joint.

Using dowels for joinery is a little trickier, as lining them up must be precise, but it is still the preferred method for many woodworkers. Once you master biscuit joinery and doweling, you can move on up to learning mortise and tenon joints.

Biscuit Joinery

Dave Murphy is the founder and president of Good Wood, Inc. which manufactures wood products in Ohio. Good Wood, Inc. makes dowels and dowel rods, all types of wood components, custom wood parts, and more. They offer safe wood finishing, wood turning, and a plethora of wood parts needs. Visit http://www.goodwoodinc.com for your wood product needs.

Biscuits: Sweet Potato Biscuit Recipe and a Cheese Biscuit Recipe

One of the best tasting breakfast recipes for the fall months is sweet potato biscuits. We also love to serve
them at parties; making a mini version, cut with a cutter about a inch diameter and putting country ham on them.
If you were from where we're from, you would be putting Smithfield country ham on them, truly one of the best, is not
the best hams in the world. Regardless, we hope you will try these sweet potato biscuits.

Sweet Potato Biscuit Recipe

Biscuit

2 cups sweet potato - cooked and mashed

4 cups self-rising flour

1 stick butter - melted

1/2 tea baking soda

1/2 tea baking powder

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix sweet potatoes, butter and milk until well blended. Stir in flour, baking
soda and sugar. Shape into a ball and knead 8-10 times on well floured board.
Roll out 3/4-1 inch thick and cut with 2" biscuit cutter. Bake on a greased baking pan in a preheated
400 degree oven 15-20 minutes until very lightly browned. Fill with some good Smithfield ham and you are good to go!

Makes about 15.

Note: I like to roughly mash the sweet potatoes instead of smoothly to get little flecks of sweet potato that you can
see in the finished biscuits.

If you need a fast and easy secret for low fat cheese biscuits, get low fat bisquick and a low fat cheddar cheese.
Hide the box. It isn't as good as fresh but few people will guess your secret.

Almost everyone that likes biscuits loves cheese biscuits. For a great biscuit recipe: visit our recipe-of-the-week
Cheese Biscuit Recipe [http://www.swankcatering.com/cheese-biscuit-recipe.html]

Enjoy it and be sure to let us know what you think. We love to hear from people.

Biscuits: Sweet Potato Biscuit Recipe and a Cheese Biscuit Recipe

Peggy Bloodworth left a job as a sales VP in a high tech company entertaining clients around the world for a personal chef and catering business where she is chef for swank party givers in Research Triangle Park, NC. More party ideas, recipes, menus and pictures can be found on her website swank website. She maintains a large garden and vineyard. Menus are well researched, recipes are mostly original and the ingredients are fresh, organic and more frequently than not, from her garden.

Collecting Cookie Jars

Many people all over the world collect cookie jars. This is an incredibly broad hobby due to the infinite number of different types of cookie jars that are available. For that reason most collectors specialize in certain types of jars. Here are some ideas for what to collect:

Investment Opportunities

Cookie

If you have deep enough pockets you could collect expensive these items as an investment. As with any collectible, the older, rarer, and better the quality, the more valuable it will be. Since costs are high any appreciation in value can have a dramatic effect. For example, a 10 percent increase in the value of a ten dollar jar is only a buck. But a 10 percent valuation increase in a hundred dollar cookie jar is 10 bucks. As with any investment, this is usually a long-term process.

Favorite Characters

You can probably guess that Winnie the Pooh is a popular jar to collect. So is the Cookie Monster. Santa Claus is always popular to bring out onto the counter around Christmas. But you are not limited to cookie-related characters. There are cookie jars depicting just about every famous character.

Animals

Another favorite type of collectible centers around an animal. Do you like cows? Pigs? Cats? Dogs? You name it and you can find a cookie jar for it. Even here 'animals' is too broad to collect. Instead, focus on your favorite animal for which would like to see gleaming porcelain lined up in your kitchen. Jars depicting animals are popular with kids. Or is it the cookies inside the jar?

Memorabilia

Pick a historical time frame and you are sure to find cookie holders that will bring memories each time you see it. Whether it is old products from your childhood, or perhaps you also like to collect Americana. Famous products can also be collected. Speaking of memorabilia, perhaps the best type of jar to collect is simply one of memories. Perhaps it reminds you of grandmother's house.

Makers

Another type of collection is trying to get every type of jar a certain manufacturer makes. This would would be like trying to collect all the baseball cards made in a certain year. This can be a daunting task. But if successful, your collection could be famous!

Collecting Cookie Jars

Unique cookie jars from a time gone past. Some of these are really valuable. Aunt Jemima Cookie Jars, the premier authority for Aunt Jemima type cookie jars.

Cute Ways to Ask a Guy to Be Your Boyfriend! Here Are Some Real Good Ways to Get a Yes Response Fast

Asking someone to be your boyfriend is an important event that you should really prepare for. There is nothing wrong with girls doing the asking, especially if you are going to ask in the cutest way ever. It is impossible for your guy not to say yes to you if you try time-tested ideas. If your effort is greater, then you would have a higher chance that he would say yes to you.

Make a scrapbook of your whole dating life together
If you have time, you can come up with a scrapbook with pictures of the fun times you've had when you were still getting to know each other. Make sure you include pictures of events that were really memorable, like the first time you actually met or when you had your first movie date. In a colorful page at the end of the album, you can ask him to be your boyfriend.

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Ask him while you two are stargazing
Ask him out for a stargazing date, complete with a picnic blanket and wine. Then when you see a star, you can tell him your wish, which is for him to become your boyfriend. For sure, he would find this the sweetest and best surprise ever.

Bake a cookie for him and put a note inside
Similar to a fortune cookie, you can make your own. Bake something that he really likes and find a way on which you can put a note inside. You might want to use a special paper that won't melt inside the oven but would, instead, melt his heart.

Give him an artwork of his name's origin
Find out where he got his name and the story behind it. If his name comes all the way from a foreign land, you can give him a painting or a drawing of that place. Upon giving this artwork to him, you can ask him if he could be yours forever.

Ask him through a little cheer you composed
If you are part of the cheerleading team, this would be a breeze to you. Try to come up with a nice cheer, complete with your costume, pompoms and dance moves. Not only will he find this cute but he would also enjoy the sexy cheerleader number.

Write it on the blackboard on his next class
When it is not an issue for you to announce it to the world, you can write it on the blackboard of his next class. Better yet, you can put up a banner with your sweet message for the whole class to see.

Arrange a little game, like a scavenger hunt with your note at the end of the maze
Your guy would definitely enjoy a little game you prepare. Make a scavenger hunt type of activity for him where he can find one clue after the other. Your note asking him to be your boyfriend can be the final message.

Cute Ways to Ask a Guy to Be Your Boyfriend! Here Are Some Real Good Ways to Get a Yes Response Fast

Pay Close Attention Here-

Now listen carefully! Take 2 minutes to read the next page and you'll discover a stunning trick which will show you- How to Captivate a Man, Make Him Fall in Love with You -- and Give You The World. There is a set of easy to follow psychological tricks which shows any woman how to be irresistible to men. I strongly urge you to read everything on the next page before it's too late and time runs out- Click Here

Fur Real Friends Biscuit

Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin' Pup is absolutely one of the best Christmas toys for the 2008 season. This dog is incredibly realistic and full of fun surprises. If you are looking for that perfect gift for children ages 5 and older, this is it!

There have been many toys over the years that have claimed to be 'realistic' and 'true to life.' These toys are usually pretty disappointing with their stilted robotic movements. I was pleased to discover that Biscuit is the exception to the rule. His movements are fluid and life-like! In fact, if it weren't for the fact that you can hear the motors he may as well be a real dog.

Biscuit

Since you're looking for the most realistic dog around for your little one, you'll also be pleased to know that its coat is life-like as well! Biscuit is a tan colored dog that looks like a lab. He's also fun to pet and kids seems to get a kick out of stroking his fur. There is even a brush included so your little ones can brush him down if his hair gets tangled.

I was also impressed with the fact that the Fur Real Friends Biscuit is pretty much ready to go right out of the box. He will need six D-cell batteries (a small downside) and then he's good to go. You don't even have to be concerned that the battery compartment will be exposed, as it's hidden under a Velcroed flap on the dog's belly.

The best part about Biscuit is that you can command him as if he were a real dog. He responds to an impressive number of different commands. His body has sensors on it that allow him to respond to touches, tickles, and voices. There are way too many movement features to list, so here are a few of the highlights.

Biscuit will:

- Make sounds when you pet him
- Lay down when you put a hand on his back
- Sit up when you put a hand on his back when he is already laying down
- Sniff when his nose is tickled
- Chew when there is something near his mouth
- Raise his paw to shake when his paw is touched
- Flinch, blink, or sneeze when you waive something near his face

One of the biggest challenges I've run across when looking at this Fur Real Friends is that it can take younger children a little while to catch on to the commands. The good news is that Biscuit has a bone-shaped tag that describes the commands he knows.

Your little ones can tell Biscuit to:

- Sit
- Lie Down
- Speak
- Say, "Do you want a treat?"

Just like a real dog, Biscuit doesn't stop when you do. He'll entertain himself some when you're off doing other things. I am really impressed that he can even tell when the lights come on and go off!

All in all, you really can't go wrong with the Fur Real Friends My Lovin' Pup Biscuit. He's a smart, realistic dog that the whole family is sure to enjoy. That makes him one of the best gifts you can give for Christmas 2008.

Fur Real Friends Biscuit

Helping you find all your Christmas presents this year. http://furrealdeals.com/

Cookie Monster Birthday Party Ideas

Is your kid simply gaga about cookie monster? Then he or she will love it if you planned a party around this theme for their next birthday. Cookie monster is a popular muppet who just can't get enough of cookies, and children of all ages simply adore this popular Sesame Street character.

Cookie

Cookie Monster Theme invitations

Making party invitations is pretty easy, you can get supplies at your local party planning supply store or on the internet. You can make the invites using a blue construction paper and a couple of cookie monster stickers or clip art. You can write all the party details on the construction paper and add a couple of the clip art or stickers and viola! Your invitation cards are complete! Ensure that you include all the necessary party details such as:

Who you are inviting
What party they are being invited for
Where the party is taking place
Time
RSVP

Make sure you send out the invites at least two weeks before the party date.

Party Supplies

You will discover that cookie monster and other Sesame Street party supplies are not at all difficult to find. If you do not want to get themed plates and cups, you can simply use plain blue ones.

You can also get a couple of latex and mylar balloons with a cookie monster on at least one or two of them. Get beautiful party table centerpieces that will look just lovely on the tables. You can also get a lot of inexpensive wall decorations

You have to make sure that you stick strictly to your budget, do not overdo it. There are so many online party supply stores where you can get pretty good bargains on themed party supplies.

Party Activities

The kids will enjoy playing cookie decorating game. You can make lots of cookies and then set out a couple of candy decorations and blue frosting and allow each of the kids come up with a design for his or her own cookie. Allow the kids to decorate as many cookies as they possibly can decorate.

Pin the cookie on the monster - this is an activity that the kids will surely love

piñata - it certainly no secret that piñatas are a huge hit at kiddie parties. You can have your piñata with cookie monster themed sweets, candy treats and other goodies and watch the kids beam in delight when the piñata finally breaks open.

Party Favors

Party favors are a great area of excitement at every party. A good party favor includes lots of cookies and we mean lots of cookies. You will also want to include little toys and trinkets which the kids can play with this can range from tattoos, balloons, stickers, etc..

You can decide to host your cookie monster theme party at your house but if your home is too small to accommodate all the guests you plan to invite, you can host the party at your community club house or recreation center. If you go online, you can also get lots of ideas on what kinds of food and treat will be ideal for a themed party.

Cookie Monster Birthday Party Ideas

Thor enjoys party planning and one of his favorite themes is a Cookie Monster party. He has created an entire site around Cookie Monster Party Supplies.

Biscuit Manufacturing

Automated Biscuit manufacturing has the following processes.

MIXING: This is a process where all ingredients are put together in right proportion for dough formation. These ingredient are then fed into Mixers where mixing is done and dough is prepared for molding. Major ingredients are flour, fat, sugar and others as per the product one would like to have. Dough temperature plays a very important role. The Temperature varies from 35- 40 degrees centigrade. Low and high temperatures have an effect on dough consistency.

Biscuit

MOULDING: In this section we laminate the dough into sheets which then pass down to gauge rollers and sheet thickness achieved for cutting. Here we have a cutter or a moulder as per the variety where one gets the shape and sizes of biscuits. Moulder speed varies from 20 - 40.

BAKING: This is the area where we pass these moulded wet biscuit into a baking oven. The biscuits are baked at desired temperatures. Various type of heating are available nowadays as per the convenience and cost. Different types of ovens are available. Baking time vary from 3 min to 8 min as per the product requirement.

COOLING: These baked biscuits are then passed on to cooling conveyors for natural cooling prior to packing. The temperatures are brought down to room temperatures. It should be between 35 - 40 degree centigrade.

PACKING: These biscuit are then stacked and fed into packing machine for packing. Different packing material are available for packing of these biscuit in different packs. Slug packs, pouch pack or family packs etc. These packs are then put into secondary packaging like cartons to be transported to retailers. Packing machine can be selected as per the plant capacities and nature of packing. Normal packing machine speed varies from 80-100 packets per minute.

Raw material : flour, fat, sugar, lecithin, salt, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate & flavours other ingredients could be nuts, cocoa, coconut powder, onion, garlic etc

Packing material : laminates, tapes, stickers etc

Plant and machinery : mixers, laminator, gauge rolls, cutters , moulders ,ovens, conveyor, coders, packing machines, printers etc.

Biscuit Manufacturing

For more details Visit www.bakerybazar.com [http://www.bakerybazar.com]

Woodworking Joints - Which Ones Should You Use?

There are many popular woodworking joints. A Woodworking joint's strength varies, and some are better than others.  Which ones are best for your projects?

1. Butt Joint

Biscuit

The Butt Joint joins two pieces of wood by merely butting them together. The butt joint is the simplest to make. It is the weakest joint, and you must use some type of reinforcement. You have an end grain to long grain gluing surface. The resulting joint is naturally weak. It relies on glue to hold it together; however, glue does not have much lateral strength. You can break this joint with your bare hands.

2. Biscuit Joint

A biscuit joint is nothing more than a reinforced Butt joint. The biscuit is an oval-shaped piece and is made of dried and compressed wood, such as beech. You install it in matching mortises in both pieces of the joint. Most people use a biscuit joiner to make the mortises. You design the biscuit joint to allow flexibility in glue-up. However, you must locate the mortise the correct distance from the face of the joint in both pieces. Since the biscuit is thin, you can move the alignment around. This is the very reason that I do NOT like this joint. It is not in perfect alignment. In addition, you waste your money on the Biscuit Joiner and a lot of time cutting the mortises in each piece of stock. Why bother?

3. Bridle Joint

 A bridle joint is similar to a mortise and tenon. You cut a tenon on the end of one piece and a full width mortise into the other piece to accept it. This is the distinguishing feature of this joint You have only three gluing surfaces.

The corner bridle joint joins two pieces at their ends, forming a corner. You use this joint to house a rail in uprights, such as legs. It provides good strength in compression and is fairly resistant to racking. You must use a mechanical fastener or pin.

4. Dado (joinery)

 A dado is a slot cut into the surface of a piece of wood. When viewed in cross-section, a dado has three sides. You cut a dado perpendicular to the grain. It is different from a groove, which you cut parallel to the grain. A through dado passes all the way through the surface and its ends are open. A stopped dado has one or both of the ends stop before meeting the edge of the surface. You use dadoes to attach shelves to a bookcase carcass. You rabbet the shelves to fit the dado, which makes the rabbet and dado joint.

5. Dovetail Joint 

The dovetail joint, or simply dovetail, is a strong woodworking joint, and is great for tensile strength (resistance from pulling apart). The dovetail joint is used to connect the sides of a drawer to the front. A series of pins cut to extend from the end of one board interlock with a series of tails cut into the end of another board. The pins and tails have a trapezoidal shape. Once glued, the joint is permanent, and requires no mechanical fasteners. Some people use a dovetailed dado, because of the tensile strength.

6. Finger joint

 A finger joint or box joint is used to join two pieces of wood at right angles to each other. It is similar to a dovetail joint except that the pins are square and not angled. The joint relies on glue to hold together. It does not have the mechanical strength of a dovetail.

7. Lap joint

 A half lap joint is made by removing material from each piece so that the resulting joint is the thickness of the thickest piece. Generally, the pieces are of the same thickness. You remove half the thickness of each. This joint is good for making workshop storage items.

8. Mortise and Tenon

One of the strongest woodworking joints is the mortise and tenon joint. This joint is simple and strong. Woodworkers have used it for many years. Normally you use it to join two pieces of wood at 90-degrees. A mortise is a cavity cut into a piece of wood to receive a tenon. A tenon is a projection on the end of a piece of wood to insert into a mortise. You insert one end of a piece into a hole in the other piece. A quality mortise and tenon joint gives perfect registration of the two pieces. This is important when building heirloom pieces.

9. Pocket-Hole Joinery

The Pocket-Hole Joint is nothing more than a Butt joint with Pocket Hole Screws. The pocket holes require two drilling operations. The first is to counterbore the pocket hole itself, which takes the screw head. The second step is to drill a pilot hole whose centerline is the same as the pocket hole. Most people use a pocket-hole jig, such as the Kreg Jig(TM). This jig allows you to drill pocket holes at the correct angle and to the correct depth. Glue should be used to strengthen the joint. Of course, the Kreg Jig(TM) costs from up to 0. To me, that is a lot of money when you can make the mortise & tenon jigs for a fraction of that price. Moreover, the mortise and tenon joint is much stronger.

10. Rabbet

 A rabbet is a recess cut into the edge of a piece of wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the end of the surface. An example of the use of a rabbet is in the back edge of a cabinet. The rabbet allows the back to fit flush with the sides. Another example is the insertion of a glass pane by using a rabbet around the edge of the frame.

11. Tongue and Groove

Tongue and groove is made by cutting a slot (groove) along one edge. The other piece has a tongue cut on the mating edge. As a result, two or more pieces fit together closely. You can use it to make wide tabletops out of solid wood. Some other uses are in wood flooring, parquetry, paneling, etc.

Woodworking Joints Torture Test - Wood Magazine Nov 2006

Are pocket screws stronger than dowels? Which of the woodworking joints give the most strength? Do screws add any strength to a joint?

For the "Wood Joint Torture Test" in WOOD Magazine issue #173, they created and then destroyed more than 100 joints.

Wood Magazine Shear test:

Mortise & Tenon Joint took 1,005 lbs/force, which is over two to three times the force to break compared to other joints.

Wood Magazine Pull Apart test

The breaking force for a Biscuit miter joint is 220 lbs/force; Dado 559 lbs/force and screws did not help.

For a Mortise & Tenon Joint, the wood failed but not the joint. It took 4,733 lbs/force nearly 2½ tons to pull apart.

Clearly, this test shows that the Mortise & Tenon joint is superior to other joints.

For more information on Woodworking Joints, including pictures and the video by WOOD Magazine showing the results of these tests, please visit http://www.provenwoodworking.com/woodworking-joints.html

Copyright 2009 - Jim McCleary of provenwoodworking.com. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give author name credit.

Woodworking Joints - Which Ones Should You Use?

Jim is a woodworker with over 37 years of experience. He helps many woodworkers increase their skills with techniques, tips, plans, and jigs. Helping woodworkers is Jim's expertise. Visit his specialty site at http://www.provenwoodworking.com

How to Make Icing

A quick visit to the local, corner bakery is not only a feast for the nose and taste buds. All of the colorful, decorated cookies and various treats are enough to inspire awe. The secret to many of those professional looking cookies is in the icing.

Making icing at home, whether for cakes, cookies or even muffins, is a very basic and simple process. With just a few basic ingredients, both baking enthusiasts and the novice alike can decorate their creations with colorful coatings that dry to a lovely matte finish.

Cookie

Basic Icing for Cakes and Cookies

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp milk

2 tsp light corn syrup

1/4 tsp almond extract

Assorted food coloring of choice

1. In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in the corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing appears to be too thick, add more corn syrup, a little at a time.

2. If using color, divide into separate bowls, and add food coloring to each to the desired intensity.

3. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush. If using with cake or muffins, thin the icing slightly and drizzle over the top.

Tip: This icing can be spooned into a pastry bag or clear sandwich bag and piped onto the cookies to create detailed decorations. If using a sandwich bag, simply snip off one of the bottom corners with a scissors, and twist the bag as usual to press through the opening.

Royal Icing

One of the most popular types of icing used on cookies by both the hobbiest and professional pastry chef, is royal icing. The basic recipe produces a beautiful glossy white icing, but once drops of food coloring are added, can transform into a rainbow of colors.

There are two basic royal icing recipes; one using meringue powder, and the other using egg whites.

Royal Icing with Meringue Powder

4 cups of powdered sugar

3 tbsp meringue powder

1/2 tsp of vanilla or almond extract, though any extract variety will work

1/2 - 3/4 cup warm water

1. In a large bowl, mix the powdered sugar and meringue powder until combined.

2. Add the warm water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy, stiff peaks form, about 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Take a few moments to assess the consistency and if needed, add either more powdered sugar or water, depending on whether the mixture is too dry, or too wet.

Tip: To get the correct consistency for achieving a nice coating on a cookie, once the beater is lifted from the mixture, a ribbon of icing should linger on the surface before disappearing.

Royal Icing with Egg Whites

2 large egg whites

2 tsp fresh lemon juice or 1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Assorted food coloring of choice

1. With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy.

2. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes till stiff and glossy.

3. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pasty bag to pipe onto cookies.

Tips: If using food coloring with any of these recipes, begin by adding a single drop and mix well, slowly adding more color as needed. It's always better to start with slightly less food coloring than needed, to ensure too much isn't added at once. It is always easier to make the icing darker by adding more coloring, but making it lighter requires adding more ingredients, so start slow.

These icing recipes all dry pretty hard, so this should be noted if being used with a cake. More liquid can be added to each recipe to create a thinner consistency. The best method for coating a cake with this type of icing is to drizzle over the top, rather than using a brush which can pull cake crumbs into the icing.

Learn more about how to make icing here.

How to Make Icing

Ray T. Lewis doesn't always make homemade icing, but when he does, he's always happy with the results.

Antique Blacksmith Tools

There's something about being a blacksmith that hearkens back to old and ancient times. Blacksmithing is considered an ancient profession, and one that is rarely practiced today. While there is some truth to that, it is not as extinct a profession as many would believe. The ABANA (Artist Blacksmith's Association of North America) has been around since the early seventies, and has over 4000 paying members. Considering the age of the profession, it's no wonder that there are so many different types of tools that have been used historically, and new tools that are available to the aspiring blacksmith.

While modern technology as influenced blacksmithing and the equipment used by blacksmiths, the old, vintage tools are still much sought after. Part of the attraction I think, for becoming a blacksmith, is to be part of a tradition that has gone on for generations. So, it's inevitable, that collecting and acquiring antique and vintage tools would be part of the whole blacksmithing gig.

Biscuit

While many blacksmiths make their own tools, it makes sense to augment your own creations with those of others. Not only does it give you some insight into different ways of doing things, it gives you and your shop a connection with the past. Being able to craft useful tools for your own projects is a wonderful feeling, but so is holding in your hands, a tool made by a fellow craftsman, that was created to do a similar or perhaps entirely different project than the one your currently working on.

Antique Blacksmith Tools

Be sure to visit this Antique Blacksmith Tools website, for more info.

Ever wondered about the value of antiques [http://www.antiquesvalueguide.com/] you may have lying around?

7-Day Meal Plan For Professional Soccer Players

We all know that playing professional soccer requires a big commitment for both physical training and mentally. However, the same is to be said for a food commitment and eating well. How you eat will depend on your performance both on and off of the soccer field; plus before and after the match.

Below are some specialized soccer meals for a week. For professional soccer players.

Biscuit

Monday

  • Breakfast: 1 cup powdered chocolate milk, breakfast cereals and a banana.
  • Lunch: Spaghetti, Beef filet with potato and tomato, and fruit salad.
  • Snack: Sandwich with ham and an orange juice.
  • Dinner: Vegetable soup, omelet, rice, and apple pie.
Tuesday

  • Breakfast: 1 cup powdered chocolate milk, Toasted bread with olive oil and tomato, and an orange juice.
  • Lunch: Lentils Beans, bread crumb chicken fillet with mushrooms, and a yogurt with sugar.
  • Snack: Peanut butter sandwich and a fruit juice.
  • Dinner: Mixed salad, Salmon in sauce with fried potatoes, and strawberries with cream and sugar.
Wednesday

  • Breakfast: 1 cup powdered chocolate milk, toast with butter and ham, and a fruit juice.
  • Lunch: Rice with vegetables, pork loin steak undressed breaded with lettuce and a yogurt with sugar.
  • Afternoon Snack: Cheese sub or sandwich and an orange juice.
  • Dinner: Mixed vegetables with peas with ham, grilled hen with lettuce and corn, and a yogurt.
Thursday

  • Breakfast: a glass of chocolate milk powder, biscuits with butter and jam, and an orange juice.
  • Lunch: Cooked beans, Fried fish with lettuce and tomato, and Pineapple with honey
  • Snack: Ham sandwich.
  • Dinner: Mashed vegetables and grilled garlic & shrimp and plain yogurt with sugar.
Friday

  • Breakfast: 1 cup powdered chocolate milk, Toasted bread with olive oil and tomato, and fruit salad.
  • Lunch: salad from the garden, rice with squid in its ink, and a custard.
  • Snack: Cottage cheese with honey and a banana.
  • Dinner: Noodle soup, sea bass baked with roast potatoes and two kiwis.
Saturday

  • Breakfast: 1 yogurt cereal, homemade biscuit, and a fresh orange juice.
  • Lunch: Pasta a la carbonara, veal steak with fresh tomato and corn, and two tangerines.
  • Snack: Sandwich with serrano ham with fresh tomato and a fruit juice.
  • Dinner: vegetable soup, swordfish with mashed potatoes and a yoghurt with sugar.
Sunday

  • Breakfast: 1 cup powdered chocolate milk, a croissant with jam and a fresh orange juice.
  • Lunch: Fried eggplant, Roasted chicken with mixed salad, and an apple with cheese.
  • Afternoon Snack: Egg Omelet (preferably yoak)
  • Dinner: Cream of spinach soup, Baked chicken with roasted tomato and a natural yogurt with sugar.

7-Day Meal Plan For Professional Soccer Players

To get more soccer meals and foods where they came from sign up for the Soccer Recipes 5 Day E-Course Soccer meals and foods completely free by Nicole Thomas.

Shiba Inu Temperament - The Good and the Bad

The Good of Shiba Inus -

1. A Shiba Inu is a beautiful, spitz dog. You will get many compliments and turn many heads while walking next to a Shiba. Get used to hearing, "He/She looks just like a FOX!". In fact, it is this foxy look that often gets Shibas into trouble. Many people fall in love with his look but are not equipped to handle his larger than life personality.

Cookie

2. A Shiba Inu is a dog that is more like a cat. Shibas are independent and clean. My Shiba spends a fair amount of time not just grooming himself, but also helping to groom my Siberian Husky. Shibas are extremely easy to housebreak. My Shiba was housetrained when we got him at 10 weeks old.

3. A Shiba Inu is a good watch dog. Shibas do not bark much; but when there are strange people or strange noises around the house they will bark to alert you.

4. A Shiba is graceful and agile. Shibas can leap tall fences in a single bound and can scale walls like Spiderman. They are great hiking buddies, and can easily learn and conquer an agility course. A Shiba running is a sight to behold and a Shiba at play is poetry in motion.

5. A Shiba is extremely intelligent. Shibas can learn many commands and they can learn them very quickly. Shibas can also quickly figure out complex interactive toys and puzzles.

6. A Shiba is small in body but has an enormous personality. My Shiba always surprises me, makes me laugh, challenges me, and keeps me on my toes.

The Bad of Shiba Inus -

1. A Shiba Inu is bold, strong willed, and stubborn. Shibas have a "Never give up, Never surrender" attitude. They will not back down from a challenge and will often fight back when they perceive a threat. Because of this, many owners face aggression issues with their Shiba, including resource guarding, dog aggression, and people aggression. To successfully live with a Shiba, you must be extremely patient and have a good sense of humor. Work with a Shiba's innate personality and use it motivate him in the right direction. Reward based techniques work best with Shibas.

A Shiba will hand you many lemons, which is good if you like lemonade. Otherwise, just cut one up and squirt it on his muzzle. ~~ [ just a joke! ]

2. A Shiba Inu has a sly, roguish, kind of intelligence. Shibas will do whatever they want if they can get away with it. If they can't get away with it, they will figure out another way to get away with it. When they are caught with their nose in the cookie jar, they will give you the innocent "what did I do?" look and then come over and lick your hand. Once you turn your back, they are back in the cookie jar.

3. A Shiba Inu is like the evil, black, Spiderman. Shibas are capable of great feats of agility but if untrained, they will use it to destroy and cause great havoc in the household. If bored and lonely, they will escape by jumping over or burrowing under your fence. They can squeeze through small holes, bite through leashes, and achieve amazing great escapes that will make Houdini proud.

4. A Shiba is a drama queen. Shibas will whine, mope and act like it is the end of the world when they are hurt or think that they are hurt. My Shiba acts like he is close to death's door even for small things like getting grass stuck between his teeth. Woe be to you, woe be to your vet, and woe be to anyone who tries to help. Shibas are extremely touchy when in this state, and may snap and bite at anyone who comes near them.

5. A Shiba is an accomplished singer. Shibas don't bark much but they have a wide range of vocal stylings. The most well known is the Shiba-scream, which is a high pitched, loud scream that will make your blood curdle and make your neighbors call 9-1-1. Shibas will quickly learn to use this scream against you if you let them.

6. A Shiba knows that he is royalty. Shibas want their subjects close enough to serve them but not too close as to sully their royal persons. As a result, handling a Shiba (e.g. cutting nails, bathing, or a vet examination) can be tough work.

7. A Shiba pretends not to understand the word "obedience". Shibas think that you should be obedient to them, not the other way around. If you want them to do something for you, you had better make them a good offer.

Shiba Inu Temperament - The Good and the Bad

A Shiba Inu has very large teeth and he is not afraid to use them. The Shiba Inu breed is a primitive breed. As a result, Shibas tend to be more mouthy, and may lose control more easily, compared to other more domesticated breeds.

Names For Black and White Dogs

Several pure breeds only grow black with white markings fur or vice versa. We will look at the breeds to find the most appropriate dog names. Here are some ideas for the remarkable and beautiful breeds.

The breeds that may grow only black and white fur are Bearded Collie, Border Collie, Boston Terrier, Bull Terrier, Dalmatian, Karelian Bear Dog, Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Polish Owczarek Nizinny, and Portuguese Water Dog.

Cookie

Bandit, Batman, Butler, Checkers, Dominos, Ninja, Oreo, Panda, Punisher, Superman, Tux, Tuxedo, Zebra, Zorro are possible best dog names which relates to black and white dog.

Panda and Zebra may also be good dog names, because the breed mimics the black and white markings of Panda and Zebra. The names may sound a little strange to call the dog as Panda and Zebra at first, because a dog is also another kind of animal.

Bandit is perfect name for predominant white face with black marks. It is like the breed is wearing a black mask. For example, Border Collie and Bull Terrier may have white face with black marks.

Checkers and Dominos are one of the classic games. Since the tiles or boards of the game are black and white, several owners use Checkers and Dominos as cute dog names. Traditionally, the Checkers are played in black and white checker board.

In Dominos, the players use rectangle tiles in white or black. If the tile is white, black spots appear on tile. If the tile is black, white spot appears on the tile.

Like the domino set, the Dalmatian grows majority white with black spots fur all over. That is why owners like the name to relate to spot. For example, Spot, Spotty, and Spot Fletcher are excellent English dog names for Dalmatian breed. The Former President George W. Bush named his English Springer Spaniel as Spot Fletcher. He coined the name from Scott Fletcher who was a professional baseball player.

A Ninja wears black or white suit. Therefore, Ninja can be an excellent name. Ninjas are expert in Ninjitsu which is Japanese martial arts. Often, Ninjas were paid to sabotage and espionage.

In formal event, men usually wears black suit called Tux or Tuxedo. Behind the Tuxedo, the men usually wear a white shirt. Thus, Tux and Tuxedo are options for names.

Butler often wears black Tuxedo and white shirt as a uniform. Butler is a male servant of a house. He may be in charge of several servants.

Hancock, Punisher, and Zorro are brave dog names which are the names of superheroes. They were black and white suit to hide their identities. Sometimes, Batman, Spiderman, and Superman wears black and white suit as well. Hancock is a superhero who possesses a super strength, immortal life, and flying ability. He losses his powers when he gets too close to his immortal wife.

Punisher is a vigilante superhero who kills, kidnaps, extorts, forces, and tortures as a tactics to fight crime. He became vigilante when gangs killed his family. With martial arts, sneaky tactics, guerrilla warfare, and strong firearms, he single-handedly fights the mobs and criminals.

Zorro is an outlaw who uses the sword to depend the people from abusive officials and villains. Zorro wears mostly black except for white long sleeve shirt. The hat, mask, pants, belt, boots, gloves, and cape are black. Nowadays, he wears black long sleeve shirt instead of white long sleeve shirt. He rides a black horse named Tornado.

Finally, Oreo is delicious snack which is a two black cookie with white cream in the middle. By dipping the snack in milk, the cookie softens, dissolves, and melts faster in your mouth.

These are great name ideas for black and white dog. We continue to gather and create name ideas for the breed. If you have name ideas, feel free to suggest. We will try our best to add in our database.

Names For Black and White Dogs

Dennis Estrada owns and operates good dog names and brave dog names website as a hobby.

The Good, the Bad, the Biscuit

The humble dog biscuit has been around forever in various shapes and sizes. This small treat has been responsible for training dogs almost as long as man has had that special relationship with his dog.

But what do you as a dog owner know about the humble dog biscuit?

Biscuit

How many should you give your dog during the course of an average day?

What ingredients area mixed into the treats we give our best friend every day?

Are the biscuits we give our dogs packed with Vitamins and minerals that will enhance our dogs health, or are full fat, sodium and sugar the unholy trinity?

Quality biscuits can be fed to your dog as a reward or treat a snack, or can simply be mixed with his meat as his main meal.

Most dog biscuits manufacturers will provide a FEEDING GUIDE such as follows;

Size of Dog Weight of Dog Daily Amount
Toy Up to 5 kg Up to 3 Biscuits
Small 6-10kg Up to 7 Biscuits
Medium 11- 22kg Up to 14 Biscuits
Large 23-35kg Up to 21 Biscuits
Very Large 36kg Plus Up to 24 Biscuits

You must remember that these figures are only a guide to consumption, an individual dogs requirements may vary depending on size, age and condition.

It is very important to always have fresh drinking water available for your dog 24/7.

Typical dog biscuit ingredients include, cereals, oils & fats, meat & animal derivatives, minerals, vegetable derivatives, some colorants and antioxidants.

If the dogs biscuits you buy do not show the ingredients, or worse still do not show oils, minerals or antioxidants then you should steer clear

When buying dog biscuits for your dog always read the food ingredients label. Quality dog biscuits manufacturers will show the Typical Analysis of the vitamins and minerals in the biscuit, such as follows.

Protein 10%
Oils & Fats 5.0%
Fibre 2.0%
Ash 4.5%
Vitamin A 4,500iu/kg
Vitamin D 450 iu/kg
Vitamin E 45mg/kg
Copper as copper sulphate 10mg/kg

It is important to point out that these vitamin levels start to reduce if the biscuits go past the Best Before date.

So you can see the humble dog biscuit can form an important part of any dogs diet, and it is important to be sure this food source is wholesome, nutritious and above all healthy.

The Good, the Bad, the Biscuit

If this information has been of use to you Sam Carter has produced a Dog Obedience e-book that will help solve the most common dog behavior problems quickly & easily.

To download it instantly visit [http://www.dogobedienceexpert.com]

Aussie Passionfruit Cheesecake Delight

Alright. There are many sensational cheescake recipes from around the world. Connoisseurs will, no doubt have enjoyed baked versus cold, French versus New York cheesecakes and many more as well. Perhaps you are looking for a refreshing change. Why not try this traditional, sensational Aussie cheesecake!

Ingredients

Biscuit

Filling

250 grams of reduced fat cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup of reduced fat condensed milk (room temperature)

juice of two lemons

lemon zest from one lemon

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Base

2 cups of finely crushed plain sweet biscuit crumbs

2 rounded teaspoons of cocoa powder

2-3 oz of melted butter

Topping

1 cup passionfruit pulp

2 rounded teaspoons of gelatin

2 oz of hot water

Directions

Base
1. Thoroughly mix biscuit crumbs, sifted cocoa powder and melted butter.

2. Press firmly into the base of greased cheesecake pan.

3. Place in the refrigerator to set whilst preparing the filling.

Plain biscuits can vary in butter content. If you find the base does not form a ball when squeezed in your fist, add a little more melted butter to ensure the base will hold together when cold.

Filling
1. In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until softened and fluffy.

2. Add condensed milk, lemon zest and vanilla essence until well combined.

3. In a separate container, with very clean beaters, whisk the cream until firm peaks form. Set aside.

4. Add the lemon juice to the cream cheese and condensed milk mixture. Beat well. The lemon juice will start to react and cause the mixture to thicken.

5. On a very slow speed beat in the whipped cream until just combined.

6. Pour mixture onto chilled biscuit base.

7. Place cheesecake into the refrigerator for 3 hours to firm up.

Topping

1. Dissolve the gelatin powder in the hot water according to manufacturer's directions.

2. Mix dissolved gelatin into passionfruit pulp and place in the refrigerator in a small bowl.

3. When nearly set, but still pourable, pour passionfruit and gelatin mixture over the chilled cheesecase.

4. Return to the refrigerator and chill several hours before serving.

Aussie Passionfruit Cheesecake Delight

Kim Beardsmore M.B.A., B.Sc. (Biochemistry) is a writer for the online weight loss, health & fitness magazine Weight Loss Health. For free resources, tips and healthy recipes to help you lose weight and gain energy, visit http://weight-loss-health.com.au

Shortening, Butter or Margarine - What is Best for Baking Cookies?

There is so much controversy about what is best to use for baking cookies. You may find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out this dilemma. Which one is healthier to use than the other? With a little research we can solve this dilemma.

First, what is shortening? It is a semisolid fat and refers to a hydrogenated vegetable oil. There is so much controversy about what is best to use for baking cookies. You may find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out this dilemma.Hydrogenation is a process of bubbling hydrogen through vegetable oil, changing its chemical structure. This process turns the liquid to a solid at room temperature and below. Shortening is 100% fat. Butter and margarine contain 80% fat. Hydrogenation produces trans fats, which are the unhealthy fats known to cause heart disease. The advantage of shortening over butter or margarine is its smoke point (higher temperature before burning). Another advantage is its has a higher melting temperature. During the baking process of cookies it helps dough hold its shape longer. This allows the flour and eggs to set, keeping the dough from spreading too much. There are some new shortening products on the market that contain no trans fats or very little.

Cookie

Second, what is margarine? Margarine is again made from vegetable oils and contains no cholesterol. Margarine is high the in good fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated), but contains some saturated fats. Some margarine is worse than others. Hydrogenation solidifies the margarine. The harder the margarine the more trans fats it contains. Trans fat raise levels of bad cholesterol and lower the levels of good cholesterols, which makes it worse than saturated fat. Tub margarine is lower in trans fats than stick margarine.

Third, we all know that butter is created from a dairy cow's milk cream fat. Being that, it is animal fat, which is loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. Butter and margarine are equal in calories and fat. Each contains about 35 calories and 4 grams of fat per teaspoon. Butter is believed to contain traces of hormones and antibodies fed to the dairy cows. On the bright side butter contains fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

OK, now that you are confused now more than ever let's compare. Margarine is better than butter when it comes to our heart, but falls flat in the flavor department. Butter also adds a creamy texture. Shortening helps to keep your cookies from deflating or spreading out, but again it does not enhance the flavor. In fact shortening has no flavor. If you are a fluffy cookie fanatic use half shortening and half butter. You get the raised cookie with the buttery flavor.

Finally, what should you use, salted butter or unsalted butter. Salt in butter acts as a preservative, so butter won't turn rancid when left out at room temperature. The down side is you are adding extra salt to your recipe. The problem with reducing salt in a recipe to substitute for salted butter is different brands of butter has different salt contents. The rule of thumb is when using salted butter reduce the salt added ½ teaspoon per cup of salted butter. The purist baker will always use unsalted butter. That way they can be in control of the salt being added to the recipe. Salt in butter is also believed to add flavor, overpowering the sweet butter taste, and mask butter odor.

When it comes right down to the decisions between shortening, margarine, salted butter or unsalted butter is a personal preference. But at least with information we can make an informed decision. The best way to decide what is best for you is experiment. Try different ways to bake cookies and have fun. As they say, "The journey is the best part of the trip."

Shortening, Butter or Margarine - What is Best for Baking Cookies?

Our web site is all about baking delicious cookies, like the peanut butter cookie recipe [http://www.herecookiecookie.com] and her list of baking supply products. We give you all the kitchen utensils and recipes you will need to be a successful baker.

Frank H. Carter, [http://www.herecookiecookie.com]

Welding Pot Metal - Tips For How to Tig Weld it With HTS-2000, Aladdin 3 in 1, Or Durafix

Welding pot metal is not as hard as people say, but it is not as easy as you might think...unless you know the tricks.

Pot metal is used for all kinds of cheap trinkets like figurines, cookie cutters, hole punch handles and especially old automotive window crank handles.  The problem with welding this kind of stuff is that sometimes the effort that goes into welding it is just not worth it. But there are some things made from pot metal that are worth fixing. Some of the ones that come to mind are antiques, old classic car parts like trim and ornaments, and grandmas old cookie cutter that is not worth anything but has sentimental value.

Cookie

 Pot metal is made from aluminum, zinc, copper and possibly a few other low melting point metals in various combinations. It's also referred to as Die Cast metal.

It's the zinc that makes it a pain  to weld because zinc has such a low  melting point and also tries to out-gas when tig welded. But It can be welded with few problems if you know how.

The 3 main welding rods are :

  1. HTS-2000
  2. Durafix
  3. Alladin 3 in 1 

These rods are advertised to be able to weld using only a small hand held propane torch. That is actually brazing, not welding, but the sales guys at boat shows are really impressive when they braze repair big holes in beer cans.

But these Zinc aluminum brazing rods can also be used to Tig Weld Pot Metal.

If you are pretty decent at tig welding aluminum, you can surely read this article and do OK tig welding this stuff too.

Generally,  pot metal parts are pretty clean so only a minor bit of grinding is required before welding. Usually the problem is that something just broken off clean. If that's the case, a little grooving out of the crack will permit enough penetration for a strong joint. Remember, if it's an ornamental piece, and its broken because someone dropped it, Its going to break again if its dropped again no matter how deep you penetrate the weld, so take it easy on the penetration.

You need an A/C tig welding machine with high frequency start.  Most  jobs can be welded with a small 1/16  inch tungsten electrode with a blunt taper on the tip.  Set the amperage to only about 80 amps and you probably wont even need near that much.

Tig weld it just like you would aluminum except that you will only weld for about 5 or 10 seconds at a time before stopping to let it cool. Just when it gets to flowing good. STOP! Its about to melt and fall in your lap. That is the best tip around for welding this stuff.

Stop often and let cool.

Welding Pot Metal - Tips For How to Tig Weld it With HTS-2000, Aladdin 3 in 1, Or Durafix

Jody Collier's web articles on subjects like welding pot metal are full of Down and Dirty welding tips. For TIG, MIG, STICK welding tips along with a buttload of other welding information, visit http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/
And while you are soaking in some welding tips, take a minute and sign up for "Welding Videos Reviewed" a weekly video newsletter.

Key to Starting Your Own Clothing Company

Starting your own private label clothing company is not as difficult as you may think. I assure you that the founding members of Volcom, Paul Frank, Hurley and Von Dutch, are not mad geniuses of fashion. You can duplicate their rise to brand stardom provided that you have the following:

1. A decent logo

Biscuit

2. Creative concepts and graphics - Design Talent

3. A unique, blank apparel supplier

4. A decent screen printer

5. A Line Sheet to show potential buyers

6. Sales and promotional talent.

Which do you think is most important? Its obviously design talent you say? Are you Joking? You must be joking. Have you stepped out of the house recently? Have you seen Von Dutch clothing? Crayon weilding Chimpanzes produce better designs. Furthermore, I imagine the monkeys are more sanitary, but I digress.

#6 is clearly the most important element. You can create an entire line of fashion forward, beautiful clothing but if you can't pitch it - no one will ever see it (excluding your mom of course). So, unless you want a closet full of your fantastic designs, ask yourself the following two questions:

Can I sell?

In other words......can I hit the pavement with my line sheet and walk into every boutique clothing store I can find? Then will I harass the hell out of retail clothing store buyers so that they'll try to squeeze 5 minutes of time in for me at Magic 06' (Clothing Convention) ?

Will I be able to make a professional presentation to a Nordstroms buyer?

Can I promote?

Do I have and creative viral or gureilla marketing ideas to get this label kickstarted?

If the answer to both of these questions is No - you better get some help. Namely, find someone passionate for fashion who also happens to be ridiculously outgoing, great on the phone and aggressive as hell. Lastly, (and superficially) it would help if your sales rep is hot.

I know, how horrible.....so sorry, buy I didn't say anything about this being an equal opportunity blog :)

That being said, let me welcome you the shallow end of the pool..... i.e. the fashion world.

Good luck with your label!

Key to Starting Your Own Clothing Company

Bradley J

Fashionable Wholesale Clothing

Terrier Mix Dogs - Treats For Training

Terrier mix dogs are filled with tremendous energy. They're smart, fun and can be a little cheeky at times. Just watching them play in the backyard or in the park is a joy in itself. There is a time to let loose, play and release the abundant energy. There is also a time to be well mannered and your furry friends should understand that. No jumping all over you when they're about to get their favorite treat. No running circles around your legs while you're walking down the sidewalk. No chewing the furniture, your best shoes and ripping the trash apart. So, how do you accomplish all this? By using the worst kept secret, **treats.**

You see terrier mix dogs thrive in a well structured environment. Meaning, the use of treats should only be as a reward for a job well done. I know I know, everyone loves giving treats to their furry family members. Just the reactions and the look in their eyes when your furry friends are about to receive a treat is enough to break the rules from time to time. However. you need to resist that temptation. Why? Dogs that get treats for free are prone to behavioral challenges in the future because they are more likely to misinterpret their rank in the home and become disobedient. Now that is clearly not what you want, right? Of course not...

Biscuit

Ok, so let's start with the different kinds of treats. Some of the more common treats are biscuits, cookies, greenies, and meaty treats. Terrier mix dogs see treats in varying levels of appeal, just as we do. A biscuit is an all right treat but a piece of meat or cheese is next to heaven. The command that you're giving should support the treat and its level of appeal.

There are studies to show that the size of the treats holds little relevance in how quickly terrier mix dogs learn. So, make the treats small so you can get more time out of training and hold your furry friends' attention that much longer. Remember, you didn't learn how to walk and talk over night. Training your pets will take repetition, understanding and lots of love.

Terrier Mix Dogs - Treats For Training

Jay F. Sabree loves his dogs and enjoys sharing what he's leaned over 25 years of caring and training his pets. Visit Terrier Mix Dogs Click Here [http://terriermixdogs.pictureshosted.com] for some excellent tips.

Cake and Cookie Baking Tips for Beginners

Are you new to baking cakes and cookies? Not sure how to read and follow recipes? Here are some baking tips to get you started.

All ingredients should be at cool room temperature.

Cookie

Unless the recipe states otherwise, use unsalted butter. If you have only salted butter on hand, reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by 1/4 teaspoon per stick of butter. Use regular butter, not whipped, and don't substitute margarine unless the recipe gives it as an alternative.

Unless otherwise stated, eggs used in baking recipes should be the large size.

Use dry measures for dry ingredients and wet measures for liquid ingredients. Measuring cups for dry ingredients come in individual sizes (1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 1 cup). You fill the cup completely with the flour or other dry ingredient and level it off. Liquid measures are marked with lines for various amounts (1/3 cup, 4 ounces, etc.), with some space at the top so the liquid doesn't spill. You pour the liquid in up to the desired line.

To measure flour, stir up the flour, then swoop the measuring cup into the flour, and level the flour even with the top of the cup using a knife or the side of your hand. To measure sugar or cocoa, spoon it into the cup. To measure brown sugar, spoon it into the cup and pack it down with the back of the spoon. When measuring sticky ingredients such as molasses or honey, lightly oil the inside of the cup first.

You must sift flour for cakes and confectioners' sugar when you're using it in icing. For cakes, sift the flour, measure it, then sift it again with the dry ingredients. You don't need to sift flour for pies or most cookies.

Chocolate must be melted over low heat or it will burn. You can melt it in the top of a double boiler (a pan with two parts; the top sits in the bottom pan, which contains boiling water). You can also put it in a microwave-proof container and heat on 80 percent power for 1 minute. It should still be lumpy when you remove it; keep stirring until it is smooth. If it is still lumpy, return it to the microwave and heat in 10-second increments on 80 percent power until smooth.

To cream butter (with or without the sugar), beat it at high speed on an electric mixer for about 2 minutes, or until it is fluffy.

If a recipe tells you to fold in egg whites or cream, it means to spoon the egg whites or cream over the batter, then move a rubber spatula in a circular motion from the bottom of the bowl to the top of the batter, "folding" in the whites or cream. You can also use a wire whisk to gently whisk in the eggs or cream.

Use the size of pans indicated in the recipe.

Always turn the oven on for at least 15 minutes before you will be using it, so it has time to reach the proper temperature.

Baking (cookie) sheets come with and without sides. Some recipes refer to a baking sheet with sides as a jelly-roll pan. Cookies bake the most evenly on a cookie sheet without sides, but it's OK to use one with sides.

Space drop cookies at least 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet so they have room to spread.

Most cookies should cool on the baking sheets for a minute or two to "set" before they're removed to wire racks to cool completely. Cakes should cool completely in the pan before being inverted onto a plate or cardboard round. Run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan first to loosen it.

Cake and Cookie Baking Tips for Beginners

Virginia (Ginger) Van Vynckt is a longtime food writer, cookbook author, and webmaster of MakeGreatCookies.com, a site devoted to cookie baking and decorating.

Easy Dutch Oven Recipes - Getting Started Cooking With Your Dutch Oven

Dutch Oven cooking is fun and easy. Dutch oven recipes are abundant and adapting them from your favorite home recipes is easy. With a little experience you'll find that it is fairly simple to cook with your Dutch oven. Here are some easy Dutch oven recipes to try:

Easy Dutch Oven Mountain Man Hash

Biscuit

1 lb. Bacon or sausage

2 lbs frozen potatoes (shredded or southern style)

1 dozen eggs

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cut bacon/sausage into smaller pieces (about 1"). Cook the bacon or sausage in the Dutch oven. Add potatoes, cover with lid with coals on top. Cook until potatoes are done, stirring occasionally. Mix eggs together in a bowl and pour on top of potatoes. Replace lid with coals on top and cook until eggs are done (shouldn't need a long time if the lid is hot). When eggs are done, sprinkle cheese on top, replace lid and bake until cheese is melted. Serve as is, or wrap spoonfuls in warmed flour tortillas to make breakfast burritos (provide salsa).

Easy Dutch Oven Taco Pie

1 ½ lbs. Ground beef

1 medium jar of taco sauce

6 large corn tortillas

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz can of tomato sauce

Brown the ground beef and drain it. Mix the taco sauce and tomato sauce. Line the Dutch oven with tin foil and put 3 tortillas in the bottom. Put ½ of the ground beef on the tortillas and cover with ½ of the sauce. Put 3 more tortilla shells on top, and put the remaining ground beef and sauce on top of those tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Cover the Dutch oven, place a few coals on top, and bake until the cheese is melted. You could also add onions, olives, mushrooms for some variety.

Easy Dutch Oven Au Gratin Potatoes

8-10 potatoes, sliced thin

2-3 Tbsp. Melted butter or margarine

2-3 medium onions, sliced thin

15 oz can of cheese soup

¼ cup milk

½ cup cracker or bread crumbs

1 cup shredded cheese

Put a little oil in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Put a layer of potatoes in the bottom and brush with the melted butter. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Add a layer of sliced onions. Continue the layering with potatoes and onions as described until all have been used. Mix the soup with the milk and pour over the top. Sprinkle the top with the bread or cracker crumbs. Add any additional desired seasonings. Put Dutch oven over 6-8 briquets and 16-18 briquets on top. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the top with the shredded cheese. Replace lid and let the cheese melt-shouldn't take long.

Easy Dutch Oven Cowboy Stew

4 potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 can of corn

1 can of peas

1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 can of green beans

1 can of baked beans

1 can of tomato soup

Bay leaf

Brown ground beef and onions. Add all other ingredients (don't drain the cans). Add bay leaf and any other desired seasonings, such as salt and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are done.

Easy Dutch Oven Cinnamon Bread

4 cans of refrigerated tube biscuits

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup of sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Mix the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a zip-lock bag. Put the biscuit quarters in the bag and shake until they are all well-coated. Place the biscuit pieces in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Melt the butter and then pour over the biscuit quarters (you can do this with another pan, or you can use the inverted lid of the Dutch oven to melt the butter). Put 6-8 coals underneath Dutch oven and 14-15 on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Each of these is a quick and easy Dutch oven recipe and will help you get started with Dutch oven cooking. Have fun!

Easy Dutch Oven Recipes - Getting Started Cooking With Your Dutch Oven

Scott Carey enjoys all types of outdoor cooking, including Dutch oven cooking. See http://www.outdoorcookingmagic.com for more Dutch oven cooking tips.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe - How to Make Snickerdoodles Without Cream of Tartar

Cream of tartar is an age old ingredient, found in just about any Snickerdoodle recipe. The common household baker rarely knows what cream of tartar is, let alone has this acidic based salt in their spice cupboard. Suffice it to say you can still enjoy delicious Snickerdoodles even though you may not have any on hand. You may even find you like the end results better with a simple common substitution.

Cream of tartar is commonly used in conjunction with baking soda when making Snickerdoodle cookies. Baking soda is the leavening agent while cream of tartar has no leavening qualities at all. It is the acidic counterpart that allows the baking soda to react and not leave a bitter taste in the cookie after it is baked. Baking soda must always be used with an acid based food such as buttermilk, yogurt, fruits, and cream of tartar. A Snickerdoodle recipe usually calls for two parts cream of tartar to one part baking soda. However, in the absence of cream of tartar you can replace this two to one formula with baking powder.

Cookie

Baking powder is also a leavening agent. It produces a gas during the baking process that raises the baked good in the oven. Baking powder makes a good substitution in this recipe because it is conveniently made of baking soda, cornstarch, and cream of tartar. If you have baking powder in your cupboard, then you have the cream of tartar necessary to make Snickerdoodles. However, although you can substitute baking powder in your Snickerdoodle recipe, you may arrive at a different finished result. It will taste every bit as good as you want it too, you will find that it is a thicker cookie that has spread less in the oven during the baking period. Since most people find this favorable in a cookie then it should not be a problem. If you have always enjoyed thinner, crispier Snickerdoodles, then stick with the original formula that uses cream of tartar. Whether you are using the baking soda cream of tartar combination or the baking powder alone, you will make a crackled, spicy, sweet treat enjoyed by all.

Try these Snickerdoodle cookie recipes: one with cream of tartar and one without to see which one you prefer the most.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe - How to Make Snickerdoodles Without Cream of Tartar

Try these Snickerdoodle cookie recipes: one with cream of tartar and one without to see which one you prefer the most.

Fur Real Friends - Biscuit, My Lovin' Pup Reviews

Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup is one of the best selling toys this holiday season. It's a gift that the whole family will enjoy. It's cute and cuddly and every bit as adorable as a real puppy. It has all of the cool things you like about having a pet with none of the hard work associated with cleaning up after your pet.

This holiday season kids and their parents will enjoy playing with the oversized Biscuit My Lovin Pup. This toy will surely bring the family together for many hours of fun.

Biscuit

Is it expensive? Not really, some stores sell it for close to 0.00, but many have it on sale for under 0.00. I believe it's worth every dime. This is really a lovable toy that is almost life-like. It listens to your commands with it's voice recognition feature.

This adorable plush puppy has a soft coat and glossy, pleading eyes and looks just like a real dog. You better get used to his three different barks and a whole range of movements that are playful and affectionate. Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup comes with a real collar, a bone-shaped treat to share, and a brush for smoothing out his silky fur, Fur Real Friends Biscuit is ready to be part of the family. When you play with him, he will quickly start wagging his tail and making happy puppy noises. He has all of the qualities of a real puppy with none of the training work required.

You will soon fall in love with this new pet toy and if you feel so inclined you can even adopt him. Biscuit comes with an adoption certificate to make kids feel like real pet owners.

Some of the Unique Features of Biscuit this fun-filled holiday toy are:

* This lovable mutt has voice recognition, and obeys six commands, including, "Sit", "Speak", and "Lie down"

* Ask your furry friend to give you his paw and he'll raise his right or left paw.

* Ask him if he wants a treat, and he'll nod and whimper to let you know he's ready for his dog "bone"

* Biscuit my lovin' pup pet will even "shake" at your command, lifting his paw to your hand or sit up and beg, just like a real puppy would.

* Biscuit my lovin' pup pet also wags his tail and barks, too, to let you know he's ready to play

* With the special adoption certificate you can register your pet online and ensure that you and this adorable pup will be friends forever

Just think of all the wonderful memories to be had this holiday season. This is a toy buying decision you will be happy you made, especially because your kids will have a very memorable holiday experience.

Fur Real Friends - Biscuit, My Lovin' Pup Reviews

For more information on where to buy FurReal Friends [http://www.holidaytoygiftguide.info/FurRealBiscuit] Biscuit My Lovin' Pup click here.

Old-Fashioned Biscuit Recipes Like Grandma Used to Make

Do you remember those big, fluffy, delicious biscuits that you enjoyed eating at grandma's house? I sure do. I remember the big old wood cookstove in my grandma's kitchen and the delicious biscuits that were always sitting in the "warmer" area. No matter the time of day, there were always biscuits at the ready in grandma's kitchen! I grew up in the midwest where we had some mighty cold winters. One of the best things to do was to sit in grandma's kitchen where the heat from the big old cookstove made it the warmest room in the house. So if you are like me and have wonderful memories of sitting in grandma's kitchen eating a homemade biscuit slathered with hand-churned butter and homemade jam, you might want to try one of these old-fashioned biscuit recipes.

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Biscuit

5 cups flour

3/4 cup shortening or lard

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

1 pkg yeast

1/3 cup warm water

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients together into large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture. Add buttermilk and yeast that's been dissolved in the warm water. Mix with a spoon until all the flour is moistened. Cover and set in refrigerator till ready to use. Take out as much dough as needed. Roll out on a floured board to 1/2" to 3/4" thick. Cut using a biscuit cutter or small glass. Bake 12 minutes until browned. Keep unused dough in refrigerator for use the next day.

BAKING POWDER BISCUITS

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using two knives, cut in shortening until crumbly. Add milk and mix in well. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake at 400 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Enjoy!

Old-Fashioned Biscuit Recipes Like Grandma Used to Make

Linda collects vintage recipes and enjoys sharing them with others. You can visit her vintage recipe blog at http://grandmasvintagerecipes.blogspot.com For more of Linda's recipes and diabetic information visit her website at http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com

Easy Dutch Oven Recipes - Getting Started Cooking With Your Dutch Oven

Dutch Oven cooking is fun and easy. Dutch oven recipes are abundant and adapting them from your favorite home recipes is easy. With a little experience you'll find that it is fairly simple to cook with your Dutch oven. Here are some easy Dutch oven recipes to try:

Easy Dutch Oven Mountain Man Hash

Biscuit

1 lb. Bacon or sausage

2 lbs frozen potatoes (shredded or southern style)

1 dozen eggs

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cut bacon/sausage into smaller pieces (about 1"). Cook the bacon or sausage in the Dutch oven. Add potatoes, cover with lid with coals on top. Cook until potatoes are done, stirring occasionally. Mix eggs together in a bowl and pour on top of potatoes. Replace lid with coals on top and cook until eggs are done (shouldn't need a long time if the lid is hot). When eggs are done, sprinkle cheese on top, replace lid and bake until cheese is melted. Serve as is, or wrap spoonfuls in warmed flour tortillas to make breakfast burritos (provide salsa).

Easy Dutch Oven Taco Pie

1 ½ lbs. Ground beef

1 medium jar of taco sauce

6 large corn tortillas

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz can of tomato sauce

Brown the ground beef and drain it. Mix the taco sauce and tomato sauce. Line the Dutch oven with tin foil and put 3 tortillas in the bottom. Put ½ of the ground beef on the tortillas and cover with ½ of the sauce. Put 3 more tortilla shells on top, and put the remaining ground beef and sauce on top of those tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Cover the Dutch oven, place a few coals on top, and bake until the cheese is melted. You could also add onions, olives, mushrooms for some variety.

Easy Dutch Oven Au Gratin Potatoes

8-10 potatoes, sliced thin

2-3 Tbsp. Melted butter or margarine

2-3 medium onions, sliced thin

15 oz can of cheese soup

¼ cup milk

½ cup cracker or bread crumbs

1 cup shredded cheese

Put a little oil in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Put a layer of potatoes in the bottom and brush with the melted butter. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Add a layer of sliced onions. Continue the layering with potatoes and onions as described until all have been used. Mix the soup with the milk and pour over the top. Sprinkle the top with the bread or cracker crumbs. Add any additional desired seasonings. Put Dutch oven over 6-8 briquets and 16-18 briquets on top. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the top with the shredded cheese. Replace lid and let the cheese melt-shouldn't take long.

Easy Dutch Oven Cowboy Stew

4 potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 can of corn

1 can of peas

1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 can of green beans

1 can of baked beans

1 can of tomato soup

Bay leaf

Brown ground beef and onions. Add all other ingredients (don't drain the cans). Add bay leaf and any other desired seasonings, such as salt and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are done.

Easy Dutch Oven Cinnamon Bread

4 cans of refrigerated tube biscuits

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup of sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Mix the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a zip-lock bag. Put the biscuit quarters in the bag and shake until they are all well-coated. Place the biscuit pieces in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Melt the butter and then pour over the biscuit quarters (you can do this with another pan, or you can use the inverted lid of the Dutch oven to melt the butter). Put 6-8 coals underneath Dutch oven and 14-15 on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Each of these is a quick and easy Dutch oven recipe and will help you get started with Dutch oven cooking. Have fun!

Easy Dutch Oven Recipes - Getting Started Cooking With Your Dutch Oven

Scott Carey enjoys all types of outdoor cooking, including Dutch oven cooking. See http://www.outdoorcookingmagic.com for more Dutch oven cooking tips.

Homemade Biscuit Recipe

The following recipe is what is called making biscuit's from scratch - My Grandmother made them like this, but mother was lazy and opted for the canned variety - that we all know taste, well not that great.

Making biscuits from scratch is not hard at all - it takes us about 20 minutes from beginning to out of the oven and ready to eat. They taste so much better and you can have quality time with the kids making them - Why? Because there is a cookie cutter involved and it's like working with Play-Doh!

Biscuit

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour (never really tried anything else)

3 teaspoons of baking powder

½-teaspoon salt

½ cup of shortening (Crisco)

1-cup milk (we use buttermilk)

Cooking Directions:

Preheat Oven to 450 F. degrees

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Using blender, cut shortening into flour until consistency of course meal. Pour in milk; stir with fork until mixture leaves sides of bowl and forms a soft moist dough, toss lightly until no longer stocky, Roll out to ½ inch thick, and cut with 2-inch floured cookie cutter. Place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake biscuits in oven on middle or top rack at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve hot with butter and favorite jams and jelly or honey. Makes about 12-15 biscuits.

For snacks throughout the morning leave the left over biscuits plated on the top of the stove, and they can ad peanut butter, or their favorite spreads for a mid morning treat.

Homemade Biscuit Recipe

Jon and his wife Rena write for many ezines but share a passion for recipes. There website for free recipes is called Spring Texas Recipes and we invite you to come and see all the wonderful and free ideas for making great family meals. Also explore the rest of what Spring TX has to offer.