Copyright 2005 Heartmind Connection, LLC

My friend Jonathan is self-employed and single. He talks about how it would be so nice to have a relationship in his life and yet I do not see him making the time for the process of dating. He tells me that his work is very demanding and that he is barely keeping up with his clients.

Having your own business or being self-employed is very challenging, as well as rewarding. Add being single to the equation and it can be a very lonely place to be. I was single while I ran a women’s clothing boutique. Although I worked incredible hours and had a 7 day a week operation, I made a concerted effort to date and meet people which eventually led me to meeting my husband. This is how I recommend you fit in dating into your hectic work schedule:

1.Get Clear on What your Life Goals and Priorities Are

What are your goals and priorities in life?
- Work
- Family
- Finding a life partner and getting married
- Community service
- Athletic activities
- Personal/ social activities

Rank them from 1 to 6, 1 being the most important. What came up for you during this exercise?

Next, where do you see yourself in 5 years? Would you be happy being single at that time? It’s time to be honest with yourself.

Just like you have a business plan for you business, you need to develop a life plan for you life. When you focus on obtaining and having the important things in life, will happen for you.

2. Put your Personal Time on Your calendar and Stick to it!

When you decide to carve out some time for your personal life which may include the pursuit of meeting someone for a relationship, then make an appointment with yourself on your calendar. How many hours a week are you willing to commit to this endeavor?

You need to apply the same time management skills to your personal time as you do to your work time. Do you consider the event or activity for meeting people to date urgent, desirable or eventually need to do?
Go ahead, put this date in your calendar and commit to keeping this appointment with yourself!

3.Decide on What Trade Offs You Are Willing To Make

Life is about trade offs. What are you willing to sacrifice to have what you want? It may be for a short time or a long time depending on your success on meeting the right person for you.

Are you willing to work some less hours and make less money? Perhaps you would be willing to hire someone to do the work that is least desirable to you. I hired a bookkeeping even though I was very capable of doing the work myself. I ended up using a mailing service for my promotional materials when I did the labels for mailing myself at early on in my business. I thought it was more important to free up my time for what I enjoyed rather doing the detailed, repetitive tasks. I hired smart college students to do some of the busy work for me. Even if you bring in help seasonally, it may free you up for a vacation or a long weekend!

Consider hiring an assistant to help you with writing letters, making appointments and following up with phone calls to your clients. Now virtual assistants are becoming very popular with business owners.

4.Use Efficient Dating Techniques

There is a time cost and benefit to every singles event and dating service available to you. Once you have a handle how much time a week you want to put towards dating, and then you need to decide how much financial resources you want to devote to these endeavors.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to get a real clear picture of your values. Your values are what’s most important to you in life. For instance, kindness and compassion may be very important to you. Therefore, this is what you would want in a mate, as well. Once you have your valued constructed, then you have a guideposts for which you can evaluate your potential partner.

Next, it’s important to get clear on what you want in life. Do you want a children? If not, you need to be clear with your potential dates that you are not interested in children. You may not even want to date divorced people with kids. Then opposite may be true as well. If you want children and someone doesn’t then there is no point pursing a relationship with this person. This will save you much time and anguish!

Now you are ready to see who is out there and who will be best suited for you. If you are willing to spend the money, you may consider a reputable matchmaker or dating service. The internet can be a good way to meet people to date. You can search the net at all hours of the day or night. However, it may take a lot of searching and weeding out. It can be very frustrating when people do not return your emails. Try more than one site. Different sites will produce different results. See my resource page on my website http://www.heartmindconnection.com/resources for a list of dating internet sites you may want to consider.

Last, ask friends, family or perhaps business associates who know you well to introduce you to people to date. Tell them what you are looking for in a mate so they can be helpful to you. Don’t be shy to ask them to fix you up. One of my clients was very good about getting the word out that she was looking to meet someone to date. She eventually got a fixed up with someone she really likes.

5. Combine Fun and Recreation with Meeting People

What is fun and relaxing for you? It is not healthy to work all the time and not have any play!

If you enjoy socializing, then the singles events may help you get out and be with people. Who knows, you may pick up a client if not a date! For the athletic types, sports activities such as biking groups or tennis parties may be a way to have fun and meet someone to date. If you are into working out to keep your shape and stamina, then the gym can be a place to meet those of the opposite sex who also share this desire to keep fit. Perhaps you will entertain taking a ski trip or a hiking trip with a singles group.

Taking vacations are critical to maintaining sanity for an entrepreneur. If you love traveling, you may consider joining a singles travel group to see various parts of the world. There are even singles cruises for those who enjoy traveling by sea. I know a woman who loved yoga and found a travel group that incorporated daily yoga into the trip. Imagine finding your soulmate while doing what you truly love!

As an entrepreneur, you have already experienced what happens when you have a vision of what you want and focus on that goal. You have built your thriving business with your drive and determination. You can also have a fulfilling relationship if you apply your same drive and determination to that area of your life. It may just take some rebalancing of your energy and focus. Nonetheless, the benefits of finding that rewarding romantic relationship can last a lifetime!

Amy Schoen is a life coach who specializes in helping singles to discover what they need and want in relationships and how to find their desired romantic partner. For down to earth tips and helpful hints on dating and relationships, you can subscribe to her popular ezine or her tele-seminars at:
http://www.heartmindconnection.com

Wine is a drink that has been enjoyed by humans for thousands of years. Recent archaeological finds have now even found wine dating back to almost 5,000 years in China.

Nowadays there is an amazing array of wine racks available. Wine has become a passion for millions of people. There are wooden wine racks, but now also various metal ones as well.

Some of the metal wine racks are almost works of art in their own right: fashioned in elegant spirals, or circles, or made to hang on the wall.

But, if you want traditional wine racks, then you should stick to wooden wine racks. Wood such as cedar or pine has been used effectively for hundreds of years to store precious wine.

Wooden wine racks have two distinct advantages over metal ones: first, many people are interested in stackable wine racks. This allows you to grow your wine collection over time; as you procure more wine, you simply buy another stackable unit and place it on top of the one you already have. The second advantage is that wood does not conduct heat as metal can. If you plan to store wine for prolonged periods of time to age it, you want to make sure your wine rack will not conduct heat to the bottle.

This can unfavorably affect the taste of the wine. What a same! Especially if you’ve been saving some bottles to open years later for a special occassion.

In short, traditional wine racks are wooden wine racks….stackable wine racks.

However, if you don’t plan on storing your wine for long periods of time. And you want to purchase an artistic wine rack that is a conversation piece and display it prominently, metal wine racks are the way to go. You would be amazed at how beautiful and classy some of these metal wine racks are.

View the best traditional wine racks and stackable wine racks we’ve found at our resource http://www.wine-racks-selection-guide.com

Cardiff Pinacle award new contract to Missing Ingredients

Cardif Pinnacle has awarded Missing Ingredients- the Crown
Group’s Business and Industry Caterer, a one year rolling
contract to provide catering services from July 2005 across its
four sites in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

The contract has an estimated annual turnover of £300k, of which
Rushes Restaurant makes a major contribution, will require 11
new MI team members to operate over the four sites.

Cardif Pinnacle was formed in 1971 and is established as a
leading supplier of financial services and investment products.
MI won the contract from a local catering company who operated
over only two of Cardif Pinnacle sites.

MI will be providing a comprehensive catering service at each
site to over 600 staff. One of the sites to receive a MI
makeover is Rushes Restaurant and Café Bar, a popular, high
street style venue offering speciality coffee, caesar salads,
baguettes and mouth watering main courses, such as sausages
infused in mash potato and organic vegetables.

An additional Cardif Pinnacle site that MI will be responsible
for was not previously providing a catering facility, yet Cardif
Pinnacle expressed a keen desire to do so. ‘New Horizons’ will
now offer ‘Grab’n’ Go’- a brand from MI’s Deliverance Range to
include freshly made sandwiches, paninis and a selection of
snacks and drinks.

MI competed against four other caterers, including Compass
Group, to gain the contract which will see the company design,
develop and build the new catering facilities. “We came in with
realistic pricing levels and innovation,” explains MI’s Managing
Director Sean Valentine. “MI has the reputation of Midsummer
House, a two Michelin star restaurant, which is regarded highly
in terms of focus on quality and an excellent place to train
chefs. ”

Italy is famous for many things, but perhaps it is most famous for its wine. The wines of Italy are almost as varied as the people themselves. Wine is very common in Italy, as are tea and coffee in other parts of the world. There are many different types of wine. The two most distinct classifications are red wine and white wine. There is a lot more to that than meets the eye when it comes to fine wine though. There are table wines, after dinner wines, lighter wine to be enjoyed during the day, the types of wine, whether white wine or red wine, are almost endless.

Almost all wine is produced from fermented grapes. Red wine is made by fermenting red grapes just as white wine is made from fermented white grapes. The red wines are usually heavier, often creamier and richer than their white wine counterparts. After dinner wines are frequently very strong and bold red wines produced with much aplomb. Red wines are served with red meats such as beef during meals. In Italy it is not uncommon to have a glass or two of wine when enjoying any meal.

If you are serving fish, poultry or perhaps pork, a white wine is usually served with the meal. White wines are usually lighter and fruitier than red wines. The white wines of Italy vary region by region and even batch by batch.

While wines are produced in similar fashion, even under ideal circumstances in the fermentation of the grapes, there are variations in the wine production. Something so seemingly unimportant as a change in temperature during the fermentation process can have a noticeable effect on the wine being produced. Probably the best thing to keep in mind when you are sampling Italian wine, is to make sure you find one, whether a red wine or white wine, that you enjoy personally.

Imagine sipping a tall glass of iced pink lemonade. A deliciously refreshing drink that is great for your skin too.

All you need is honey, strawberries, a lemon, lots of mineral water, lots of ice, a blender, a juicer, a pitcher or jug and a glass.

Strawberries are rich in vitamin C, calcium, Magnesium, folate, Vitamin A, potassium and phosphorus. Ripe strawberries are deliciously yummy too. These red strawberries are responsible for the pink color in this pink lemonade.

Lemon is rich in vitamin C, folate, bioflavonoids, some vitamin B, vitamin A, vitamin E, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.

Honey contains proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals as well polyphenols.

Strawberries, Lemon and honey are rich in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants neutralize free radicals, preventing them from harming the body, or from causing premature aging.

Water hydrates your entire body. Drinking lots of fluid is essential for keeping your body healthy, and your skin hydrated.

Together, they make one delicious, nutritious beauty drink.

Here is a simple recipe for this pink lemonade.

1. Wash and dry a pretty glass jug pitcher to present your pink lemonade in.
2. Use the juicer to squeeze out all the juice from 1 lemon.
3. Clean 10 strawberries and remove the green stalk. Wash them thoroughly.
4. Blend strawberries and some distilled or mineral water to form a smooth liquid
5. Mix the strawberry liquid with the lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of honey.
6. Top up the jug with distilled water or mineral water and lots of ice.
7. Taste the drink. If it is too sour for your liking, add more honey to sweeten it until it is just right.

About the Author

The aurthor is the webmaster of All Pink Info, an online mall with everything that is pink. This article is from Pink Lemonade from All Pink Info.

Pretty pats of butter can add interest to your dining table or buffet. You
can make them easily, in a wide variety of shapes. Here’s all you do:

Soften several sticks of butter. Use a knife to spread the softened butter
evenly into a candy mold (flip the mold over once you have some butter
in it, to make sure the butter is filling the mold completely; the butter
tends to leave “gaps” of empty space, even when you feel like you’re
filling the mold solidly). Freeze the filled mold until the butter is firm.

When firm, pop the butter pats out of the mold. Line a large pan or
baking dish with waxed paper. Layer the butter pats in the pan, with a
piece of waxed paper between each layer to keep the pats from sticking
together. Refrigerate the molded pats until you’re ready to serve them. At
serving time, place some crushed ice in a bowl and place the pats on
top of the ice to keep them cold.

A heart-shaped candy mold is perfect for butter that will be used at a
wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. Candy molds come in all sorts of
shapes and sizes. Just choose one that is right for your special
occasion.

For pretty herb butters, add some of your favorite chopped herb(s) to the
butter before putting it in the mold.

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer and owner of the Three Angels
Gourmet Co. which offers a unique line of “heavenly gourmet mixes” for
sale at http://www.threeangelsgourmet.com and through gift shops,
Christian bookstores, gourmet food stores, and gift basket companies
across the country.

For daily food tips and other fun food information, visit the Three Angels
Gourmet Co. blog at http://www.threeangelsgourmet.blogspot.com

Soups and sauces can be thickened in a variety of ways. A sauce must the thick enough to cling to the food, but not so thick it stands up on its own. Starches are by far the most common thickening agent. Cornstarch, arrowroot, waxy maize and the ever popular, roux (roo). But what is a roux and how does it work?

Roux is a cooked mixture of equal parts by weight of fat and flour. If you mix a starch with water, such as cornstarch it is called a slurry

How does it work?

Starches thicken by absorbing water and swelling to many times their original size. This process is called gelatinization. In order for the starch to function at its maximum, each granule of starch must be separated before heating in order to avoid lumps. If granules are not separated the starch on the outside of a lump quickly gelatinizes into a coating that prevents the liquid from reach the rest of the starch inside. This is accomplished in two ways.

1. By mixing the starch with cold water - This is used with starches such as arrowroot and cornstarch. This method is not recommended for flour because it lacks flavor and has an undesirable texture.

2. By mixing the starch with fat - This is the principle of the roux. A roux must be cooked for a short period of time so the finished sauce or soup does not have the starchy taste of flour. If cooked for just a short period of time, it is called a blond roux. If cooked longer until it takes on a light brown color, it is called a brown roux.

The most preferred roux in cooking is made by mixing melted butter and flour. Many cooks clarify the butter first because the liquid in whole butter tends to gelatinize some of the starch and make the roux hard to work with. A roux made with butter gives a nice rich flavor to sauces and is easy to work with.

Margarine and oils can be used to make a roux as well, but because of there lack of flavor they are very seldom the top choice.

Fat drippings from animals such as chicken and beef can make superior sauces. Animal fats enhance the flavor of sauce, but again must be clarified to eliminate any liquid that might cause lumping.

Mixing it all together

A roux can be added to the liquid or the liquid may be added to the roux. The general rules are: The liquid can be hot or cool, but not cold. A very cold liquid will solidify the fat in the roux. The roux in the same way can be warm or cold, but not hot. A hot roux could cause spattering and possibly lumps. For medium sauces and soups I use 8 ounces butter and 8 ounces flour per gallon of liquid. For home it comes out to about 1 tablespoon each per cup of liquid. Use less or more depending on how thick you like your sauce. By follow these simple steps you’ll have lump free soups and sauces for the rest of your life.

Chef Richard has worked in the top fine dining restaurants in Washington State and is the author of the ebook “Chef’s Special”. You can find free recipes, informative articles and order the ebook at http://www.csrecipes.com

Duck as a great alternative to Turkey this Holiday Season

Are you looking for new and exciting dishes to serve to your
family or at your next dinner party? Then you must look for a
recipe for cooking duck. Duck is a very delicious meal that
everyone will enjoy from the very first bite. There are many
ways to prepare duck that will delight even the pickiest of
people.

This recipe is for a stuffed duck and would be great for any
type of holiday dinner or even for a large family get together.

For this recipe for cooking duck you will need:

1 duck, the normal size is about one pound per person, 3 cups of
bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of sage, ½ cup of chopped onion, 1
teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion salt, 1 stalk of
chopped celery, 1 egg, 1 cup of chicken broth, ¼ cup of melted
margarine and 6 slices of bacon.

To prepare your recipe for cooking duck you need to pre-heat
your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, pour in
the bread crumbs, sage, onion salt, garlic powder, celery, and
onion, mix together. After the ingredients are well blended, in
a separate bowl mix together the water, egg and margarine, pour
this mixture over the dry mixture and stir together.

If you do not think the dressing in moist enough add just a bit
more water. Lightly stuff the duck with the dressing. Place the
bacon strips on top of your duck and hold in place with
toothpicks. Bake your duck for around 1 ½ to 2 hours. Be sure
not to overcook or it will be dry.

This is the perfect recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas when
you are tired of the traditional turkey or ham. Duck can give
your holiday meal a new and exciting flavor that is sure to
please everyone in your family and may be the beginning of a new
family tradition.

You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or
website provided you do not alter or change the article and give
credit to the author in the form of an (HTML clickable)
hyperlink.

With an espresso machine in your kitchen at home, you can make your own latte’s to enjoy for yourself- and to impress your dinner guests! Some people look at the price of a home espresso machine and change their minds, but if consider what you typically pay when you buy a latte at your local coffee shop, whether it is a mom & pop shop or a chain (like Dunkin’ Donuts), you’re spending anywhere from $2 to $4 for a latte! Your espresso machine will more than pay for itself in a short time of making your lattes from home. Having your own espresso machine means having the ability to make latte’s for much less than you spend on them when you go out. Plus you can enjoy them anytime- not just when you’re on the road. Also, lattes are a wonderful after dinner complement- particularly when you have guests over!

Making a latte is all a part of the fun of having an espresso machine. While some people like to drink espresso shots right out of the machine, most people would prefer to make a latte or cappuccino to sit and enjoy with a good book, or good friends and conversation!

The espresso machine will grind your espresso beans fresh for every cup, giving you the fresh taste latte lovers have come to recognize as an integral part of the latte. Depending on your particular brand of espresso machine, you’ll probably dispense about 7 grams of espresso into the handle. Once you’ve extracted the espresso shot into the provided espresso shot pot (usually stainless steel, with a pouring spout), you can start steaming your milk!

The basic recipe is 1 to 2 ounces of espresso to 8 fluid ounces of milk. Put your milk into the frothing jug, and slide the entire container over the steam arm nozzle. Make sure you keep the nozzle as close to the bottom of the container as possible to avoid making a lot of foam out of your milk. Use a thermometer so you know when the milk reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now you are ready to pour your steamed milk into the serving cup. A glass latte cup will look the best, and really impress your friends! Pour the steamed milk into the glass, using a spoon to hold back most of the foam that forms on the top of the milk. Once you’ve filled your cup with the milk, allow some of the foam to lie on the top for a “professional coffee shop latte” look.

Your final step to preparing a latte at home is to take your espresso shot and pour it slowly down the inside of the latte serving glass. Some of the espresso will mix with the milk at the bottom of the glass and some will layer itself in between the milk and foam. You’ll have cloudy areas and several different shades of “latte brown”, making for a wonderful presentation that rivals that of the best coffee house. Only you won’t be paying $4 a cup, and you can make it and drink it in your pajamas if you want to!

If you really want to make the presentation impressive, place your guests’ lattes on a cute little serving tray, with a decorative plate of fancy cookies. Biscotti’s are typically served with lattes, but you can be creative and serve anything you like. Maybe you could make some tiramisu using your espresso to make it from scratch for dessert, and enjoy slices of tiramisu with your homemade lattes! Your guests will want to come for dinner all the time once they experience your after dinner lattes.

This article has been provided courtesy of Kitchen Junkie. Kitchen Junkie offers great kitchen articles available for reprint and other tools to help you get the best bargain on kitchen gadgets.

When a recipe calls for sautéing the first ingredient is almost always some sort of fat. This may be butter, olive oil or a rendered animal fat such as lard. The reason vegetables are sautéed is to help bring out the flavor of the vegetables. Thin sliced meats can also be sautéed alone or with vegetables to make a quick stir fry.

There are three options for lowering the fat content of recipes when it comes to sautéing.

Option One

Use less fat. This seems deceptively simple, but is often over looked. For example if a recipe calls to sauté in 3 tablespoons of oil cut the amount of oil down to 1 tablespoon. When lowering the oil, butter or lard content remember to keep a close watch on the sauté. The vegetables and meat will stick and burn quickly. To keep the food from burning continuously stir.

Option Two

Substitute broth. Substituting a vegetable or chicken broth for the fat is an excellent way to cut the fat. Simply leave out the butter, oil or lard and use 1-2 tablespoons vegetable or chicken broth. For this option to work the heat must be high on the stove and the vegetables or meat must be continuously stirred.

Option Three

Skim the fat. Skimming the fat is a method that works in soups or stews. The simplest way to accomplish this is to cook the soup and then allow it to cool overnight in the refrigerator. The fats in the soup will float to the top of the soup and can be easily scraped off.

Shauna Hanus is a gourmet cook who specializes in creating gourmet recipes. She has extensive experience cooking with easy to find grocery items to create delightful gourmet meals. She is also the publisher of a no cost bi-monthly gourmet newsletter. Her newsletter is always fun and informational packed with tips and trivia you can use everyday. Sign up for her newsletter and learn more about Gourmayeats Weekly Recipe Club at http://www.gourmayeats.com