ZimZum

SANDISK, maker of the world’s 2nd best-selling mp3 player (behind Apple’s iPod) has started a new anti-iPod advertising campaign. You can read about it in detail here:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/0,39029432,49273890,00.htm

Here’s the hoopla in a nutshell. SanDisk is said to be porting Rockbox, an open-source OS for digital music players (which supports many different mp3 devices), onto its popular e200 mp3 player. To bring the matter to public consciousness, SanDisk has started releasing the before-mentioned anti-iPod ads in an attempt to blatantly attack its arch-nemesis, Apple.

The ads depict graffiti-like illlustrations made to resemble posters for an underground revolutionary movement. One shows a monkey sporting the iPod earbuds with the line “Are you an iChimp?”, and another is of a guy strung up in white iPod cables like a marionette, with the text: “Have you become an iPuppet?”

Okay, okay. Mp3 competition is fierce- I get it. SanDisk wants to play rough- fine by me. As far as I’m concerned, open source is good stuff, and there’s no doubt in my mind that SanDisk makes a good product. Competition is good for capitalism and the consumer. I’m not here to tout the technical prowess of one geek gadget over another.

What I will comment on, however, is the nature of the ads themselves. I took one look at these things and I’ll tell you right now that I’m not going to switch from iPod to e200. You know why? Because as an iPod user, I feel like I’m being insulted. Hey, I’m not a complicated guy so I won’t go into the whole nitty-gritty of “Apple makes you do this-and-that blah blah blah and it only works with iTunes blah blah blah.”

I plug the iPod into my computer and the damn thing works. That’s why I use it.

In my opinion, SanDisk’s whole “revolutionary” ad approach, however provocative, is ultimately misguided. For one thing, SanDisk won’t win me over by insulting me and comparing me to a monkey, puppet, sheep, or any other kind of farm animal. Secondly, SanDisk’s ads also evoke a political edge, which makes no sense. For better or for worse, people buy iPods because they WANT TO, not because they’re forced to. Furthermore, Apple allows its products to stand on their own merit and they never insult people for not using them. Although Apple has poked fun at PCs in their own internet and TV campaigns, it’s a far cry from SanDisk’s “Are you an iPuppet?” approach.

Perhaps I’m an iPod user who’s taking this whole thing a little too personally. But if the e200 and Rockbox are so great, which I’m sure they are, maybe SanDisk should just tell us why and let the people decide.

For all of SanDisk’s anti-iPod effort, Apple could easily fire back and say SanDisk is still #2, and 2nd place is the first loser. Even if it’s true, it would be insulting, right?

Would you rent guests for Christmas dinner? Well, maybe a beer guzzling brother-in-law comes to mind for whom a replacement would be considered. But mostly the festive season is about feasting before fasting, and rubbing elbows with those who are related rather than rented.

If goodwill and good company sets the tone for formal Christmas dining, fine linen sets the table. Paper weight doesn’t come close to genuine and you returning rented linen washes away memories. When you look back, years down the road, through albums (or jpegs!), the faces around the table grow older, somehow more familiar and unfamiliar with age. You don’t rent stuff like this, you buy right into it. And that includes the table linen.

Dressing up the dining table is ritualistic, almost like adorning an alter precedes a ceremony. With the smell of ham or turkey baking, the clink of ice in glasses and the familiarity of well-known faces, everyone feels at home.

Over food, we mull over the past year. We share those victories that were so hard won, the setbacks that snuck in out of nowhere. There is a profound intimacy underlying it all. We mark our good times, and our bad, with meals. Special occasions are made special by dressing up for them and the table is the center of attention.

Table linen is a family heirloom, an investment in the memories of those who rested their elbows on it. The best of table linen comes by its elegance as a result of being woven by hand in Italy from extra-long staple cotton. The rich soil of the Nile delta provides the perfect source for this fiber. The quality of the fiber is related to the length of the strands. For linens to last generations requires it to be of very fine quality.

Basics are beautiful. White and ivory are always stalwarts for any dining table. Against the plate it looks great. But any solid color will be suitable. Candlelight plays on the weave of napkins as well as the cutlery. Crisp white or deep rich colors can enhance modern or traditional settings.

We collectively put on enough weight during Christmas to keep the weight loss industry going through the spring. Tis the season to be dining. But New Year’s Eve resolutions, religious rituals, even the Second Coming, all take a back burner to the Second Helping when good friends and family gather around the dinner table.

Veronica Wakeham is a Vancouver Interior Designer and owner of Terra Nova Linen House, a luxury linen establishment in Yaletown in Vancouver, BC. For interior design consultation call 604-688-9280 or go to http://www.threadcounts.com.

The marketing paradigm that can literally make or break your coaching business…

What’s the single most important process determining whether or not your coaching business is successful?

The correct answer to this question can completely change your coaching business forever. It can change your perception of your business. It can change your focus in your business. It can change how you go about operating your business. And most importantly, it can determine the success or otherwise of your business.

We asked dozens of coaches this question and got a broad array of responses. But only 4% of them were even close to the mark! Most coaches answered: quality service; number of clients; pricing; branding; advertising copy.

…And whilst all these issues are critical, the single most important process is your marketing methodology. Whilst you must have all the other elements as well, it’s your marketing methodology that ultimately determines the success or otherwise of your business.

Let us explain…

Nearly all coaches use a marketing methodology that’s a sales-based marketing methodology. This is understandable as most traditional marketing methods teach sales-based marketing methods. We’re all impacted by sales-based marketing at every turn - on TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards, radio - everywhere. And when coaches research marketing methods, they are most likely to learn about traditional sales-based marketing methodologies - print ads (in newspapers, yellow pages, journals, magazines etc), direct telephone calls, radio, flyers, direct mail letters, etc.

But there are several extremely powerful forces at play against coaches employing a sales-based marketing methodology…

Most coaches invariably feel uncomfortable delivering a ’sales pitch.’ Coaches generally have better technical skills than marketing skills. They’re therefore uncomfortable talking about themselves and endorsing the quality of their product. This means they don’t close, and comes across to prospects as a general lack of confidence in themselves, and their product and service.

Sales marketing is extremely expensive - narrowing your net margin on your service. The more you spend to get a client the less net profit you’ll retain at the end.

Generally people are very sceptical and defensive against sales approaches. This exponentially increases the barrier of making a sale. When you employ a sales-based marketing method, most prospects have already closed themselves off to learning about your services due to their natural tendency to put up a defence against sales-based marketing.

There is no trust and rapport built through a sales-based marketing approach. For a prospect to buy from you, there needs to be an element of trust. Your prospect needs to trust that you can deliver on your promises and that they’ll gain a positive return on their investment. This level of trust is extremely difficult to build through a sales-based marketing approach.

You build no reciprocal obligation on the prospect to investigate your offer or purchase from you. It’s a natural human tendency to reciprocate in kind what’s been given to you. You can not build reciprocal obligation through sales-based marketing.

You attract price sensitive shoppers and ‘tyre kickers’ that take up a lot of your time and result in extremely low conversion.

It’s difficult to maintain contact with prospects for long enough to build rapport and trust - it generally takes 4 to 6 contacts before a prospect will buy from you.

So, we can hear you shouting “If sales-based marketing is not going to be effective, what’s my alternative to get clients?”

And the answer is… Education-based Marketing. Education-based marketing is simply the process by which you attract and convert highly-qualified clients by giving them what they want - valuable information and advice that solves their problems - and removing what they don’t want, a sales pitch.

Education-based marketing is generally undertaken by delivering Credibility Marketing techniques such as public speaking, information based teleclasses, publications, networking, hotlines, free educational give aways (such as reports, assessments, tools, ecourses), etc.

As opposed to sales-based marketing, education-based marketing means…

- You give your prospect what they really want - highly valuable information. And you take away what they don’t want - a sales pitch.

- You maintain your dignity and feel good about yourself as you never make an effort to sell.

- Your brand recognition and respect will skyrocket! Education-based marketing is the ultimate brand builder. By positioning yourself as the ‘expert’ or ’specialist’ by solving, through your education products, the most pressing issues your niche confronts. You become the only logical choice in your market.

- You can establish yourself as a credible authority as prospects depend on you as a reliable source of valuable advice.

- You significantly reduce your marketing costs - and can in fact get paid to market yourself. This vastly compounds the net worth of every client you attract - you can actually earn double the net profit with only half the clients!

- You don’t have to seek out new prospects - prospects come to you (to have their problems solved).

- You can maintain (mutually beneficial) contact with your prospects through the sales process because they don’t feel pressured by a sales pitch and value your information and advice.

- You reach prospects early during the first stages of their decision making process.

- You attract ‘moderately interested’ prospects that may otherwise be afraid to call you but are not afraid to request your information.

- Due to the high level of trust and rapport built early on you’ll be perceived as an adviser, not a salesperson, making added-value sales dramatically easier.

- You dramatically increase your referrals from prospects as they feel loyal to you - due to a relationship built on trust and reciprocal obligation and your efforts to help them - even if they don’t hire you! And your referrals will come much earlier in your relationship.

- You gain compounded advantage as your information is passed freely between prospects within your niche.

- You gain a competitive advantage because not many competitors are using education-based marketing.

- You achieve a highly leveraged advantage as you can put forward your marketing even when you are not present.

- You save valuable time as you often are delivering your message directly to your most highly qualified target audience.

As you can see, education-based marketing is the exact opposite to sales-based marketing, and can make an extraordinary difference to your business, and your enjoyment of ‘doing’ business. So, ask yourself, “How much education-based marketing am I currently doing?” and “How can I develop a marketing plan significantly comprised of education-based marketing methodologies?”

Life Coaching Institute is Australia’s leading coach training organisation. Learn more about LCI coach training programs and receive a FREE GIFT at http://www.lcia.com.au/lz

For years you’ve lived in that sprawling house where you raised your children . . . it’s home. But now you don’t need all the space and the upkeep is becoming more difficult every year.

You now have to consider things that weren’t issues before. When you were younger, you never thought about how many times a day you went up and down the stairs. You didn’t mind having the bedroom upstairs and the laundry facilities in the basement. Now, all those steps are taking their toll.

Washing windows isn’t as easy as it was before either, is it? Climbing an extension ladder to reach the second story becomes a bit scarier with each passing year. As you age, you become more concerned about falling.

You may be thinking it’s finally time to move into a home that’s a bit more senior-friendly, but what are your options?

• Smaller, single level houses

• Condominiums

• Apartments

• Retirement communities

• Assisted living facilities

Let’s take a more detailed look at these options:

Smaller homes built on one level with convenient laundry facilities may be what you need.

Look for a house that requires little outside maintenance. A brick or vinyl-sided house won’t require painting. An open floor plan may be helpful if you’re ever confined to a wheelchair. A smaller yard allows you to garden but still keeps the yard work to a minimum. An attached garage is a helpful feature, especially in the winter when icy sidewalks can cause falls. Of course, finding a location that’s close to shopping, public transportation and medical facilities is also important.

Condominiums provide privacy without a lot of maintenance.

Like individual houses, there are many different types of condominiums from which to choose. The main advantage of a condo is that outside maintenance of both the structure and the yard is usually provided. Most condos include a small area where you can plant flowers but the lawn and other common areas are maintained by the association. There are additional fees for this mandatory service so be sure to find out if they will fit into your budget.

Apartments require no maintenance.

One of the main advantages of apartment living is that you aren’t responsible for any maintenance. You don’t have to worry about painting, replacing major appliances or yard work. Apartments also give you a certain degree of freedom because you don’t have to worry about them if you travel a lot. It’s important for laundry facilities to be easily accessible and that there is an elevator if your apartment is to be on a higher floor. You won’t have as much privacy and your only personal outdoor space may be limited to a small patio or balcony, if that. Rent is likely to increase and is not tax deductible on your Federal returns.

Retirement communities or assisted living facilities give you the highest level of security.

Both of these options are specifically designed for seniors and offer many safety features not found in regular housing. The amount of privacy you have depends on which community you choose. Your medical condition will usually dictate whether a retirement community or assisted living facility is your best choice. Some retirement communities offer private living space, much like individual homes, as long as you’re healthy and then provides assisted living if your health deteriorates.

Giving up the home where you’ve lived for many, many years may seem a little scary. But, often a new home that brings less responsibility and greater peace of mind will make you feel years younger.

About the Author:

Kyle Thomas Haley has been helping people relocate on the Internet since 1999 with Apartment and Relocation Websites:

The Apartment Rental Net

Nationwide Relocation Guide

Copyright 1999 - 2005 STANZEEKAY Inc. You have permission to publish this article, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included and none of the links or content are removed or changed.

For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance. And, the operative word was ‘tried’ I can assure you. Although I thought I did a good job on the presentations and scripts provided by trainers, I did not make a single sale.

On the other hand, the veteran who trained me didn’t spend much time with presentations or scripts. He simply told stories about clients who spared their loved ones great pain by getting proper coverage. Just as importantly, he talked about the troubles suffered by people who did not have coverage. And, he sold a lot.

Which takes us to the subject of purpose-driven story telling. I’ve bumped up against the idea of it as a strategic communication skill several times recently, so maybe it’s time to discuss it here.

For starters, let’s distinguish between stories by talkers who believe the world wants to know what they think about everything under the sun, and stories told with the express purpose of advancing an objective. Let’s call the latter ’strategic stories’ (and you know what we call the other kind).

You can use strategic stories to help your cause or project by figuring out, in advance, what you’ll say and why you’ll say it. In other words, before you make your speech or presentation, identify the stories you’ll use, and know why you’ll use them.

Leaders frequently use stories to add emotion to their communication. Adding emotion allows listeners to buy in with their hearts, as well as accept with their minds. One specific type of emotional charging evokes shared values or memories. For example, “I know you’ll keep providing great customer service because you all did such a great job when the product recall was announced. Do you remember how the calls started coming in right after the first announcement?”

Stories can also be used to add context or background information, “I know you’d like to launch the new product line, but when I was at the industry conference a couple of weeks ago, I heard banks want to get into our business, which means….” Very often, information by itself has little meaning or impact without context. Stories buttress our arguments by explaining the rationale we used, and not just the conclusions we reached.

You can use stories as a type of proof. My life insurance experience is a pointed example. The most effective stories, of course, talk about the good and bad things that happen to survivors after an unexpected death.

Sometimes, a story can be used for self-deprecation. By making fun of myself, I can further illustrate the point I’m trying to make. For example “Did I ever tell you about the time I spilled coffee on a client while he was sitting at our boardroom table? As it turned out, it broke the ice between us and we ended up talking serious business. Now, I’m not suggesting you spill coffee on clients, too, but I would suggest that you look for ways to connect with them on a personal level.”

Where can we find stories? The best ones come from our own experience, from things that happened to us and things we’ve done. But, don’t overlook magazines, television, and other mass media. For example, you might warn against doing something by explaining what happened to characters in TV sitcoms when they did something similar. Remember, most sitcoms are morality plays in modern garb.

Which reminds me of the time when….

In summary, strategically-used stories can help us communicate more effectively by adding emotion or context, providing proof, or giving us a chance to poke fun at ourselves.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott’s Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at:
http://www.communication-newsletter.com

The huge array of tents on the market can be a little baffling if you are a first time camper. A tent is also likely to be your most expensive outdoor purchase so it is worthwhile to spend a bit of time selecting the right one.

When deciding on what tent to buy, you need to work out what your needs are? What do you want the tent for? When do you want to use it? And how many people will be sleeping in it? Once you’ve decided on these factors you’ll be able to narrow down the options immediately.

If you plan to camp in an established campground for a couple of weekends during summer, it isn’t necessary to splash out on a mountaineering tent that can withstand gale force winds. However, it does pay to be on the cautious side and prepare for the worst weather conditions you are likely to encounter at that location and time of year.

Tents can be grouped into three main categories depending on the weather conditions they can withstand.

4 Season: These tents are built to stay standing and dry in the worst weather conditions nature can dish out. They can have a lower profile to help cope with wind stress and snow loads. They use high quality materials and usually feature four or more poles with ample guy attachment points for maximum stability. Many 4 season tents also come with snow valances and two vestibule entrances to store plenty of expedition equipment.

3 Season: There are more varieties of this type of tent than any other and they are probably the most popular tent in the UK. Three season tents perform well in most weather conditions from spring through to autumn but they can only handle light snow loads.

Summer or Two Season Tents: These are generally the most inexpensive tents on the market. The emphasis is usually on lightweight materials and plenty of ventilation to reduce condensation. They can handle a few short showers but decent rain storm or strong winds will see them come off second best.

Convertible Tents: These are basically three season tents that can be adapted to withstand most winter conditions. They can be converted by the addition of fourth pole to help with strength and stability. Zip over panels can also be added to mesh panels to help keep the warmth in, during the winter.

Happy Camping!

Visit Guide4Home for all your camping and outdoor leisure activities including reviews on Dome and Pop Up tents.

Setting out to find a new cheese to add to your life is a great way to
spend a weekend afternoon. There are some great spots in just about
every city to explore new tastes. Once you find your new cheese, having
it loose its flavor or dry out before you can share it with others is a
sad moment. So let’s talk about caring for the cheese.

As a rule, you shouldn’t slice up your hunk of cheese before you are
ready to use it. Unpasteurized cheese will begin to loose subtlety and
aroma once it is sliced and more area is exposed to the oxygen in the
air. So keep them in hunks as long as you can.

Find out from your cheese vendor, or from searching the Internet, what
conditions were used to mature your new found cheese. Storing your
cheese in the same conditions is often the best way to keep it
flavorful. For hard, semi-hard and semi-soft cheeses the normal storing
temperature is about 8-13 C (about 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for example.
Cheese stored in the refrigerator should be removed about an hour and a
half before serving, letting the cheese warm up allows the flavor and
aroma to develop.

Keeping your cheese wrapped in waxed paper is much better than a plastic
wrap or plastic container. Waxed paper, inside a loose-fitting storing
bag will not lose humidity and will maintain air circulation. Plastic
will often condense air and trap moisture. One exception to this would
be blue cheese. Mould spores from blue cheese spread quickly and easily.
If they stayed on the cheese that would be fine, but they don’t, and
quickly spread to anything close to them. Cheeses contain living
organisms that must not be cut off from air, yet it is important not to
let a cheese dry out.

Most cheese are like sponges for other strong smelling odors, so you
don’t want to store cheese next to the garlic dip, or anything that
might damage the cheese’s flavors.

So what cheese should we be looking for? Really it depends a great deal
on what we might be serving with the cheese. If wine is on the list,
then that may make it a bit easier to narrow down a good new cheese to
bring home.

The rule of thumb for finding cheese to serve with wine is: the whiter
and fresher the cheese the crisper and fruitier the wine. White wines
normally go better with more cheeses than reds wines do, but a dry fresh
red wine goes very well with soft cheeses, especially goat milk types.
Light fruity red wines are often the best matches for other cheeses, but
the heavier reds are a hard match with cheese. Sweet wines a great with
the cheeses that have a high acidity, the contrast in tastes is often
very enjoyable. Dry champagnes a great choice with bloomy white rinds.

The matching of cheese and wine is such an old culinary tradition that
when you are first starting out on the matching exploration of these
two, try combinations which include cheese and wine from the same
geographical regions. There are probably good reasons they make the
cheese and wine they do.

Personal enjoyment is the last and final line of judgment. So enjoy
yourself and have a great time exploring new tastes.

Jerry Powell is the Owner of a Popular site Know as
Gourmet911.com. As you can see from our name,
we are here to help you learn more about different kinds of
Gourmet food and Wines, Coffees from all around the world.
http://www.gourmet911.com/

Here are some self help tips on how to ward away boredom and keep you motivation in the workplace which hopefully will increase your career success.

• Never do the same task for two long, that will kill your motivation
• Try to take breaks every half an hour. Get up and walk or do some stretching exercises - good for your job motivation
• Try to alternate between two boring tasks. This will reduce

  the boredom in both tasks by 50% and thus increase motivation

• If you have someone else with you who is doing the same job, try exchanging jobs with the person, it will increase work motivation for both.
• Talk about your job to a sympathetic listener who can give you encouragement and thus bring about motivation
• It’s motivating to reward yourself once you have done a job well
• If you have an uninteresting job left to do, write it down and pin it somewhere in your work station so that you can see it and constantly be reminded about it until you do it. That’s motivational.
• Try to make your work environment more attractive by pinning up some motivating words or some pleasant wall posters, preferably something that makes you smile. Those ‘Dennis the Menace’ posters are really wonderful for your job motivation.
• If you are allowed, try playing some soft music while you work. This can boost your job motivation
• Write down a list of not-so-interesting job tasks that you have done and pin it up. It just tells you that if you have done it before, then you can surely do it again.
• If possible, keep a small potted plant near your work station; watching it grow is a wonderful source of inspiration and motivation.
• Relaxment can make you more motivated for your work, Take time to relax, just sit back and close your eyes and hum a favorite tune for a minute or two. But do not fall asleep!

Most of the points for increasing job motivation mentioned above are self explanatory but I would like to elaborate on one point and that is reward your self! This is one tactic that I have found to work wonders with me when it comes to motivation at work. If you have finished doing a job, you have every right and reason to reward yourself. All the more if the task was a boring one or one that involved a deadline.

The reward does not have to be any thing great. It can be something like treating yourself to a good dinner in a favorite restaurant or it could be a simple chocolate bar if you have a sweet tooth. But, if you are a weight watcher it would be best if you could buy yourself something material that does not just go down your throat. If it is something that can be displayed in your work station, then it’s all the better. Many such cute (but practically useless) baubles are available in most gift shops.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website 1st-Self_Improvement.net Terje is a Sociologist who enjoys contributing to the personal growth and happiness of others. He tries to accomplish this by writing about self improvement issues from his own experience and knowledge. For example, self esteem improvement help as well as career and workplace success.

“Say to them, `This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech’” (Jeremiah 7:28);
“They have set their abominations - extremely disgusting and shamefully vile - in the house which is called by My name, to defile it” (Jeremiah 7:30, The Amplified Old Testament).

For years prophets have told us that we no longer listen to the voice of our Lord; we do not appreciate the correction we would experience if we bothered to listen to God’s word. Let us read and consider the rise and fall of former great civilizations:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to selfishness;
6. From selfishness to complacency;
7. From complacency to apathy;
8. From apathy to dependency;
9. From dependency right back to the bondage where it all started.

We have taken the liberty of taking God’s liberty and making light and license of it. We refuse to be reformed and reclaimed, for then we would have to admit that we are not our own, but God’s, and our intellectual pride forbids that.

We have journeyed rather quickly from bondage to bondage. Somewhere in between we lost our bearings. The day must come that even God Himself will no longer be able to forbear us. One of our modern prophets, Billy Graham, is reported to have said, “If Jesus doesn’t come back soon, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…” (Romans 1:21a NIV).

Rice may be cooked by 3 methods, each of which requires a different proportion of water. These methods are boiling, which requires 12 times as much water as rice; the Japanese method, which requires 5 times as much; and steaming, which requires 2-1/2 times as much. Whichever of these methods is used, however, it should be remembered that the rice grains, when properly cooked, must be whole and distinct. To give them this form and prevent the rice from having a pasty appearance, this cereal should not be stirred too much in cooking nor should it be cooked too long.

BOILED RICE - Boiling is about the simplest way. Properly boiled rice not only forms a valuable dish itself, but is an excellent foundation for other dishes that may be served at any meal. The water in which rice is boiled should not be wasted, as it contains much nutritive material. This water may be utilized in the preparation of soups or sauces, or it may even be used to supply the liquid required in the making of yeast bread.

BOILED RICE (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 c. rice ; 3 tsp. Salt; 3 qt. boiling water

Wash the rice carefully and add it to the boiling salted water. Boil rapidly until the water begins to appear milky because of the starch coming out of the rice into the water or until a grain can be easily crushed between the fingers. Drain the cooked rice through a colander, and then pour cold water over the rice in the colander, so as to wash out the loose starch and leave each grain distinct. Reheat the rice by shaking it over the fire, and serve hot with butter, gravy, or cream or milk and sugar.

JAPANESE METHOD - Rice prepared by the Japanese method may be used in the same ways as boiled rice. However, unless some use is to be made of the liquid from boiled rice, the Japanese method has the advantage of being a more economical way of cooking this cereal.

JAPANESE METHOD (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 c. rice ; 1-1/2 tsp. Salt; 5 c. boiling water

Wash the rice, add it to the boiling salted water, and boil slowly for 15 minutes. Then cover the utensil in which the rice is cooking and place it in the oven for 15 minutes more, in order to evaporate the water more completely and make the grains soft without being mushy. Serve in the same way as boiled rice.

STEAMED RICE - To steam rice requires more time than either of the preceding cooking methods, but it causes no loss of food material. Then, too, unless the rice is stirred too much while it is steaming, it will have a better appearance than rice cooked by the other methods. As in the case of boiled rice, steamed rice may be used as the foundation for a variety of dishes and may be served in any meal.

STEAMED RICE (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 c. rice; 1-1/2 tsp. Salt 2-1/2 c. water

Wash the rice carefully and add it to the boiling salted water. Cook it for 5 minutes and then place it in a double boiler and allow it to cook until it is soft. Keep the cooking utensil covered and do not stir the rice. About 1 hour will be required to cook rice in this way. Serve in the same way as boiled rice.

Noraini Maskuri enjoys cooking and has professional training in bakery. She owns the site MyCookery.com and runs the blog at http://www.mycookery.com/blog/