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Below are a few birthday cake decorating ideas that will help make your child’s birthday a very memorable occasion.

– Candy Land Cake: Make a standard sheet cake in your child’s favorite flavor, in a rectangular pan. When it is cool, frost it with buttercream frosting in your child’s favorite color. If you can get your hands on a Candy Land game board, you will be able to fashion the cake decorating to resemble the board. You can also go to Candyland.com to see a game board.

The Candy Land game features peppermints, iced gingerbread men, colored gumdrops, licorice sticks, chocolate candies, and circus peanuts. If you can’t find some of these items, You can use construction paper to make them, staple or tape them to a popsicle stick to stand it up in the cake.

– Race car cake: Bake two cakes, one in a loaf cake pan and one in a rectangular pan. Allow the cakes to cool thoroughly. Remove them from the pans, cut the loaf cake in an arch, like the shape of the top of the car. Frost the sheet cake and place the cut loaf cake in the middle, centered to give the cake balance.

Ice the car with a different color icing than you did the cake, red or blue are good racing colors. You should be able to find decorations in the store for this cake. Use your imagination, many times craft stores have some nice decorations. You can either use icing to outline the doors and windows, or string licorice works well for this. Small chocolate doughnuts make a good tires for your race car.

– The Doll Cake: This cake is very popular with young girls who still love to play with dolls. Bake a cake in a metal, oven safe, bowl. When the cake has cooled, turn the cake out, centered, onto a prepared cake board. The widest part of the cake should be on the board.

Use a butter knife to hollow out a spot in the top of the cake for the doll’s legs. Once the doll is inserted, the cake becomes a dress for the doll. Make sure the doll is clean and undressed. Wrap the legs in plastic wrap before placing the doll into the cake, up to her waist. Ice the cake and the top of the doll to make it appear that the doll is fully dressed. You can purchase accents at the supermarket to jazz up the dress.

These cakes are a great idea for children who love different themes, and you have a fondness for cake decorating, These are basic, simple ideas, for a children’s theme party too. You can use the doll cake and have a Barbie theme party, the race car cake to have a Car’s theme party, and of course, you can decorate for the Candy Land party with huge gumdrops and gingerbread men made of construction paper to hang or affix to the walls.

You may also want to include a pinata that goes along with the party theme.

Getting into hospitality management can be a pretty competitive endeavour for you. Most likely, for you to get a pretty good position in a good company, you would need to have some special training on your part. This is why you could find a lot of hospitality management training courses.

What Is It?

Such courses are basically programs that specialize on hospitality management. Thus, it is more concentrated on the management aspect of the industry, rather than the skilled working aspect. This generally involves learning how to manage hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, spas, resorts and other hospitality oriented facilities and establishments.

What Can You Get From It?

If you’ll be obtaining this kind of training, then you are in store for a lot of benefits in the end. However, you would also be up for some tight competition. Positions that you may land in for getting this kind of training would include being a general manager over the whole enterprise. You may also just manage one division within the whole company. This would generally depend on your abilities and how the company sees your skills along with their job vacancies.

Although you can get such kind of training when you are on the job itself, you can still choose to be trained in advanced. There are various courses and degree programs that you van get, especially if you really want to be much competitive in the practicing field.

Where To Get One?

There are basically three general sources for you to have this kind of specialized training. Here’s an overview for each source.

Colleges And Universities

Most colleges and universities are now much flexible. They try to cater to the various interests of students. Thus, most would not have only medical or arts related courses but also even hospitality related courses. In fact, it is possible for it to become your bachelor’s degree. There are now courses that have this as a major. Getting into this kind of program under the name of a pretty big and credible university would be a huge plus on your part.

Specialized Schools

Nowadays, you can find a lot of specialized schools that only focus on teaching hospitality courses. The good thing with this kind of schools is that they would only teach you the essential information that you would need for your course. There is no nonsense, unlike in other schools that teach you a lot of things which are not really useful for your future work.

Special schools are also good since you can be sure that this area of knowledge is their forte. Thus, they would also have the best faculty members to teach you everything you know via book and practical experiences. Schools like these would also offer you four year courses or vocational ones. It basically depends on your preference. They also have specializations. For instance, you may want to specialize on tourism, management or cooking. You choose.

Online Training

It is also possible for you to undergo training on the Internet. This is much true nowadays specially with the evolution and innovation of online teaching and learning. Simply try making use of general search engines to find programs like these. For sure your search would yield a number of results.

However, if you do want to learn online, you should practice some precaution. Make sure that the program and company you would be interacting and learning from are credible. You should also make sure that they are accredited by some kind of authorized accrediting organization so that all your efforts would not be taken in vain.

Planning a party is not always easy for everyone. It can be something that is a lot of hard work and may even be a little tiring to some. When you are trying to plan the party that has everything that you are looking for and so much more, you may want to have a professional help you with all the things that you have to do.
Having an event planner help you with our special occasion is something that you may not think you need, but you may be wrong. When you have a lot of things to do and not enough time to do them all in, you will want to make sure that you have the help that you need to get it all done in time.
Getting an event planner can also help you find different ideas that you could not get on your own. You will appreciate the ideas that you can get from an event planner that has a lot of different experience with planning a great party. They will be able to bring some fun and flair to your night and make it the best that it can be.
Hiring an event planner is nothing to be worried about. You will find that it can be something that will make your party a great success. Finding an event planner is not something that will be too hard either. There are many people that are looking to help you out with your next event. You will be able to check out the different options that you have and go from there. You will see that there are all different types of planners that come with different prices as well. It will depend on the type of party and amount of work that needs to be done.
You will find that the larger parties are going be difficult to take on by yourself. You will want to have someone that you can rely on and trust to make the difficult decisions about things that have to be done. You will the skill of an event planner to make this great time even better. Memories are the one thing that many people like to have of special occasions and you will want all of your memories to be great.
Weddings are an event that will probably call for an event planner to take charge. There are many preparations that need to be done and you will find it a lot easier to get help for them. When you have someone to take on all the problems that happen and take the stress off you, you will be able to sit back and enjoy more of the process instead of worrying about it all the time.
Surprise parties and larger sized birthday parties may also call for an event planner to help. Getting someone to find the place, food, entertainment, and all the hard to deal with problems that can happen with a party is going to take a lot of pressure off of you. You will want to have a good time at the party too and not be stressing over the things that need to be done. That is what you are going to pay the event planner to do.
After the party is over with and you have had the best time ever, you will then have to decide if you want to fess up and let everyone know your secret about the event planner, or let them think that you did it all on your own. Either way, you will feel good about the choice you made and actually be excited about the next party you have to plan.

Are you a hardworking college student? If so, are you looking forward to spring break? Spring break is an extended break that all college students in the United States are granted. Unlike holiday breaks, spring break is often a time to vacation, let loose, and have fun with your friends.

Selecting a bring break destination is a fairly easy process. There are a large number of college students who flock to the most popular spring break destinations. These destinations include Cancun, South Beach, the Bahamas, or Panama City. Each of these destinations is famous for their sunny weather and amazing nightlife. Despite their popularity, these beaches often become overcrowded during spring break. If you are interested in swaying away from the norm, you may want to consider spending your spring break aboard a cruise ship.

When it comes to cruise ships, many individuals mistakenly believe they are only for family vacations or romantic getaways. The truth is that you can take a cruise at just about any point in your life and go just about anywhere you want. That includes spring break. If you are interested in spending your break partying and enjoying life, you do not have to worry. There are a number of cruise lines that have cruise ships that are just for you.

To find a cruise ship that allows adventure, partying, and all-around fun, you will need to do a little bit of research. This research involves familiarizing yourself with popular cruise lines and the ships they offer. If you are looking to examine popular cruise lines, you are encouraged to learn more about Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, or Costa Cruises. In addition to these well-know cruise lines, it is likely that you will come across additional cruise lines offering fun filled cruises, all around the world.

When you are searching for a cruise ship that offers excitement and adventure, you are encouraged to stay away from ships that target families. Family cruises are often limited on the amount of gambling or alcohol assumption that goes on. If gambling and alcohol consumption is allowed, excess amounts are often frowned upon. To avoid confrontation, you are encouraged to stay away from these family cruise lines. That is unless you plan on spending your spring break with your family.

In addition to family cruises, you may want to avoid cruise ships that target couples. These romantic cruises are often geared towards couples that are interested in experiencing a romantic and relaxing cruise. If you are traveling with your partner, a romantic cruise may be acceptable for your needs. Gambling and alcohol consumption is allowed aboard most romantic cruises, but excessive amounts are also often frowned upon.

To find the perfect cruise ship for your summer vacation, you are encouraged to find a cruise ship that targets those seeking adventures. In addition to offering exciting onboard activities, you are likely to find that the land adventures are just as fun. Many party cruises or adventure cruises dock in well-known ports. These ports may have activities that are just what you are looking for.

Spending your vacation aboard a cruise ship is the perfect way to enjoy your break. This unique vacation experience will often eliminate overcrowded beaches and unsafe adventures. Aboard a cruise ship you can safely enjoy your break, while having fun at the same time.

When you begin cake decorating, you can get by with a heavy duty mixer, icing tips, icing bags, cake pans, ready made or recipes for homemade royal icing, mixing bowls, spatulas, and metal icing spatulas. Later on you will want to spread your wings and expand your cake decorating and baking inventory. Below are some of the items you may want to purchase.

1. Rolled Fondant Icing White Vanilla, 2 pounds – $8.88. Rolled Fondant cake icing is a premium quality, non-stick, icing that is pliable and can be rolled out for cake decorating with a rolling pin or mechanical sheeter. This Fondant produces a satiny smooth and elegant finish to any cake. This product can also be used as a modeling paste to create decorative flat or 3-D pieces for your cake decoration.

This product has a mellow flavor and is delicious. It is very pliable and easy to handle . This product can be used over a thin layer of icing or a layer of powdered sugar so that it will not stick. Any cake will take on a beautiful, elegant look when Fondant is used. Different flavors of Fondant are available in various weights and flavors.

2. Buttercream Icing 3 1/2 pounds. Ready to use for cake decorating and icing. Price $8.95, 25 pounds- $46.89, 8 pounds- $16.01.

3. Hexagon Cake Pan- 16 gauge anodized aluminum, straight sides, Hemmed rim for durability, even wall thickness. Also available Cut Corner Sheet Cake Pan, Petal Cake Baking Pans, Heart Cake Pans, Square cheesecake pan with removable bottom, Oval Cake Pan Set, 10 x 2 Aluminum baking ring, Round Cake Pan Sets, Wedding Cake Pan Set.

4. Magic Line Round Cake Pans are made to suit all of your baking needs whether you are a professional or a novice at cake decorating. Set includes one 6 inch, 8 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, and 14 inch pan.

5. Set of 2 round cake pans from 2 x 2 inch, to 20 x 2. Prices range from $4.84 to $34.10. 3 inch deep cake pans and pan sets at lower prices.

6. Round, fluted cake pans.

7. Non-stick angelfood cake pan.

8. 3 tier Cake and Dessert Stand – $29.29.

9. French Chef Rolling Pin – $6.99.

These and many more cake decorating supplies are available at ultimatebaker.com. This site has all of the newest gadgets and tools that will help with cake decorating. This site is an excellent store for all of your cake decorating needs, whether you are a home baker or a professional cake decorator, there are so many tools at this website, you will find it hard to choose. An excellent site for those who own a cake decorating business, you will benefit from shopping here because of their reasonable prices and their large inventory.

Cake decorating is becoming a large industry. Every celebration includes a cake to share with the participants. A cake decorating business can be a very profitable and fun.

The travel industry is one of the greatest assets of some continents for several years. They make use of their natural resources to attract visitors particularly cruisers. Traveling becomes one of their main sources of investment.

Actually, cruise liners have taken the travel industry by storm during the previous season for the past year. In fact, according to the statistics of the number of cruisers who visit the country, it ranges between 8 to 9 million passengers have enjoyed with the luxurious cruise liners. That is the record for the year 2005 alone.

Despite of the lavish and expensive worth of cruising many American people still want to engage themselves with the activity. The industry analysts arrive at a presumption that the numbers of passengers will double this year.

As early as now, the cruising companies start to think of the new itineraries and travel packages that they can offer the passengers for this year’s cruising activity. They need to make a change so that the passengers will feel new thrill and excitement.

The cruising lines also suffer from grave competitions. More than one cruising liner introduces the best purchasing options and competitive prices. They make it a point that they have their own style of gathering passengers. Since most of the passengers do not mind for the worth anymore, you can bring them a luxurious travel as long as they find the trip comfortable.

Reality shows that the perfect months for cruising fall on the month of January, February and March. This is considered as the “wave period” for the cruise lines. They prefer this type because it can boost the adventure of the trip. The big waves move the cruising ships. This makes their adrenaline rise.

Moreover, for the past year it was also on the months of January to March when they get the most loaded bookings. There was an increase of 35% also on their sales, which is almost half-additional profit that they have.

During the peak season, it is the right timing for you to avail the greatest deals bargained by the cruising lines. It is a natural tendency for the companies to compete for every passenger that can come along their way. This is also the season when they offer their hottest deals.

Each cruising line companies have their individual strategies. Some are giving incentives for the passengers, extra drink, blackberries and sometimes phones. This is specifically entitled for the specific packages.

Make sure that when you search for the cruising line, you have exerted more than enough time in deciding. This will help you find out the cruising line that can cater all your needs as a passenger. You can also browse newspapers and magazines and search on the traveling site the leading companies that air their advertisement of the most highlighted features they have such as special discounts. If you do not prefer reading in print ads, you can surf over the net.

Locate the website of these companies online. You can search all the information that you need on their sites. Majority of the largest cruising line companies provide for their own website.

Immediately after you find out your preferred cruising line, you can now make a call. Do not forget to mention your name, age and the state where you are residing. You can also open up to them whether you are going to travel alone or with a group.

It is also more helpful if you will tell them that you had your previous travel in their cruising line. Some companies give special grants to this kind of status. This is also included in their cruise deals. All these factors can help you to avail bigger discounts.

There are times that it is more advantageous if you will have a direct contact with the agents. They know more about the do’s and don’ts that you need to consider. They are also more aware of the details in cruising line.

A reliable agent can provide you the best cruise that you look for. Considering the competition that also exists in getting clients, the agents work hard before they can get a great deal with the client. They can offer you lesser costs for consultation fee than the actual quotes of the company.

Avail the best cruise deal!

If you are given a week off from your work, how will you spend it? Of course, you want to give yourself a different treat; after all, you want to relax and unwind yourself from the pressure of your work.

Scuba diving? Mountain climbing? Backpacking? Different activities you can choose from, but make sure that you take a holiday that is cost-effective and time-efficient.

For instance, in scuba diving, you need to find the best diving sites in and out of the United States. The same goes in mountain climbing. It is quite time wasting, since you cannot reach the top in just a single day of climbing.

In backpacking, you have to pack and unpack at every hotel; at the same time, you need to find restaurants and everything you need by means of a travel map.

In terms of cost and time efficient getaway, you may consider getting yourself a cruise. Not unlike in the aforementioned getaways, which you need to locate everything, in cruising, you do not have to. All the amenities you wantfitness center, restaurants, swimming pools, casinocan be found in cruise ships.

You do not have to worry about your luggageyou check in your things and once check you suite, your stuffs automatically placed there. Moreover, the best attraction of cruising activities the parade of delicious dishes on cruise dining rooms.

Each cruise ship has its own restaurant administered by the finest chefs in the world. You do not have to take out some cash out your wallet to pay for those foodsthese are all included in the cost of the cruise.

In every port during your local sightseeing activities, tourist guides are readily available to assist you. You do not have to worry about your children; there are several activities, which can keep them preoccupied while you are enjoying your own activity.

Taking a cruise vacation enables you to enjoy every minute of your vacation and frees you of worries concerning traveling.

All cruise lines offers the aforementioned services to their passengers, but you need to take at least one when having your vacation. This article will provide you information on Celebrity Cruise Line, and why make it as one of your options in selecting the cruise line you will sail with.

Celebrity Cruise Line is one of the best cruise lines in the planet. They offer competitive package, which includes informative forums about your preferred location. They also have on-board upscale boutiques and entertainment ala Las Vegas, which is created and designed exclusively for Celebrity by Cirque du Soleil.

You can try your luck at The Casino or even take some fine art masterpieces at the on-board auction. In case you cannot sleep on wee hours of the evening, you can check The Bar at the Edge of the Earth, an exotic lounge provided by Celebrity.

If you want to feel relaxed, have a visit to the famous Aqua-Spa by Elemis. There, you will experience a deluxe manicure, facial treatments, and a relaxing massage. Celebrity also has on-board acupuncture center if you want to feel renewed and invigorated.

Your kids will also enjoy their stay in the cruise ship. Celebrity offers the X-Club Youth Program exclusively for your kids. It has activities and entertainment for a specific age group.

Professional staffs administer all of these activities, which include science and nature exploration, treasure hunts, talents shows, dinner parties, and others. Celebrity reserved some areas in the ship for younger seafaring such as the Shipmates Fun Factory, teen center, and pools. This will make your kids enjoy their own activities while you are on cultural tours.

Cruise adventures are not only for kids and adults. It is also a perfect vacation retreat for individuals with disabilities. Celebrity designed its ships to accommodate mobility-impaired passengers. There are also staffs that are always ready to attend to their medical and other needs.

Celebrity also employs on-board clinic staffed by a licensed doctor and nurse who can speak foreign language as well. They are in-charge of the passenger’s health while on-board.

Foods are available 24/7 in cafeterias and dining areas. You can also request for a room service in case you want spend a romantic dinner with your husband or wife. There are also formal dinner happening every evening for those who want to display their best attire and jewelry.

Lastly, as for the cruise destination itself, itineraries are provided. You have the option of boarding the ship all day or going ashore. You are free to have a check each destination as long as you return immediately to the ship in time of departure.

There are also optional activities available. Just have a pre-arrangement with the cruise line before the scheduled departure.

Enjoy cruising with Celebrity Cruise Lines!

Imagine yourself traveling all over the world. You enjoy the breathtaking scenes and the pampering weather temperature. The world is indeed a paradise….

The humankind is blessed with not only thousands but also millions of natural wonders. Every country in the world has so many natural resources that they can be proud of. From the top to the bottom of the world map, you can see surrounding water and land resources.

It is quite difficult for the cruisers to choose the best place to visit because they have several cruising destinations to choose from. They expect a cruising experience the Splendor with Caribbean Cruises

Imagine yourself traveling all over the world. You enjoy the breathtaking scenes and the pampering weather temperature. The world is indeed a paradise….

The humankind is blessed with not only thousands but also millions of natural wonders. Every country in the world has so many things that can be proud of. From the top to the bottom of the world map, you can see surrounding water and land resources.

It is quite difficult for the cruisers to choose the best place to visit because they have several to cruising destinations to choose from. They want to make their cruising trip an experience that they will surely never forget. An incident, which they could look back to with memorable and exciting happenings.

Caribbean is one of the most desirable cruising destinations for the cruisers. It consists of several islands than can offer peculiar cruising experiences. Once you have tried it, you will tell yourself that nothing can be compared with your experience here.

Before, it was just a dream for you. To travel and to sail on the terrific waters of the Caribbean as you cross the miles and miles of ocean surrounding you and your fellow cruisers. You will also hear the splashing sound of the wave as it hits the big rocks along the shores.

Caribbean cruise is certainly an enchanting experience. The islands in the Caribbean are dream come true for all the cruisers. The islands on the place are unique compared to other islands, because these are in chains. You will have a chance to hop from one island to another since they are linked with each other.

Cruising in Caribbean is also fascinating because of its modernity, which is why if you are a nature lover who lives in a modern way of living you can easily adopt yourself with Caribbean cruising.

The cruise has plenty of remarkable experiences to offer. You will witness a land of abundant vegetation, fine-looking beaches and green forests. Despite of the wealth that you can see in the modern resorts of Caribbean, you will still experience the prosperity of the nature reserves that the places have.

There you will feel the irresistible temperature of the dense rain forest, which can be found only in Puerto Rico and Bonaire’s resort. Likewise, the climate is also incomparable to all other places because it is just perfect for your swimming in the sea, sight seeing along the shore and snorkeling.

Even from the start, Caribbean cruises possess an exciting appeal for the cruisers. The climate that the island has is warm which is exceptional to other beaches. You will also be enchanted with the coral reefs that are visible because of the very clear and clean water of the sea.

Aside from the natural wonders that you will also witness in Caribbean cruising, shopping is another attraction offered. This is good news for shopping lovers.. It is also a fun experience in Caribbean to shop for your most desired souvenirs from your trip. Shopping is also an exciting activity that you can do there; all the prices are friendly because these are base from duty free prices.

Caribbean cruising presents you various itineraries that you can visit. It is up to you to decide the places that you want to see and take an adventure in Caribbean. In the same manner, they can also offer you with wide choices of destination such as a two-day trip or if you will prefer a longer voyage.

Most of the cruisers in Caribbean often choose to have a longer travel in the islands. They want to maximize their stay in the place because it will take them another season to spend their visit in Caribbean. A couple of day’s trip in Caribbean will allow you to take a glimpse on the richness of culture of Caribbean people. You will also be acquainted about their history and the kind of people residing in Caribbean.

Lastly, Caribbean cruises are also best for your families. You can spend school holidays of your children with Caribbean cruises. This is the perfect moment where you can bond with your families and spend sometime with them as they enjoy the splendor of the islands of Caribbean.

You need to bake a cake for a special occasion, you know you are creative, but you need a fresh idea to work with. Every celebration includes a cake to be shared among the guests and family members. It is tradition to have a cake baked by a bakery, or to have a relative bake a cake for the event. If you are the designated cake decorator, you may be looking for a new idea for your next creation.

Below are a few cake decorating ideas:

– Characters: There are hundreds of famous characters to use for cake decorating. You can make any cake special by drawing in Dora the Explorer, or Blues Clues. Or you may want to cut up the cake to make the entire cake into a favorite character.

– Themes: Maybe you would like to go with a 50’s theme, underwater adventure, sport theme, or a roaring 20’s theme for your cake decorating. Use your creativity and find a theme that will thrill the person you are making the cake for, and the guests . You may want to have a masquerade party in that theme. Whatever you decide, have fun.

– Motor Cakes: Boys are usually crazy about trucks, cars, fire engines, boats, tractors, helicopters, or airplanes. Again you can use your cake decorating expertise to make a farm with a 3-D tractor, a racing strip, or a scene showing a fire being put out by firemen. Of course it all depends on what the particular birthday boy is fond of.

– Animals: You can also use an animal theme by cutting the cake to look like any animal, or draw in a scene using animals. It could be a zoo scene with several animals or choose one animal and decorate the cake with other decorations showing where it came from. Use your imagination.

– Food: Maybe you are making a cake for the opening of an Italian restaurant. You could create a scene depicting the building, or if it is for a chef opening the restaurant, a scene of the kitchen with different Italian dishes would be fun. You can also cut the cake to look like a hamburger, hot dog, taco etc… The sky is the limit when it comes to cake decorating using a food theme.

– Holiday Themes: I remember when bunny cakes became popular at Easter, Wilton has pans and decorating supplies for all holiday cake decorating designs. A heart on Valentine’s day, or a 4 leaf clover on St. Patrick’s day is a wonderful way to say happy holidays.

– Your Own Creation: If you have been involved in cake decorating for quite some time, or if you are a novice with an artistic flair, you can create your own cake based on the theme or the celebration.

Whatever cake you make will be the center of attention as cakes usually are at a celebration. It has become tradition to have a outstanding cake at every celebration. Knowing that you are the one who is artistic enough to make this cake, and the praise you will receive from others, will give you a bushel of satisfaction.

All grains, with the exception of rice, and the various grain meals, require prolonged cooking with gentle and continuous heat, in order to so disintegrate their tissues and change their starch into dextrine as to render them easy of digestion. Even the so-called “steam-cooked” grains, advertised to be ready for use in five or ten minutes, require a much longer cooking to properly fit them for digestion. These so-called quickly prepared grains are simply steamed before grinding, which has the effect to destroy any low organisms contained in the grain. They are then crushed and shredded. Bicarbonate of soda and lime is added to help dissolve the albuminoids, and sometimes diastase to aid the conversion of the starch into sugar; but there is nothing in this preparatory process that so alters the chemical nature of the grain as to make it possible to cook it ready for easy digestion in five or ten minutes. An insufficiently cooked grain, although it may be palatable, is not in a condition to be readily acted upon by the digestive fluids, and is in consequence left undigested to act as a mechanical irritant.

Water is the liquid usually employed for cooking grains, but many of them are richer and finer flavored when milk is mixed with the water, one part to two of water. Especially is this true of rice, hominy, and farina. When water is used, soft water is preferable to hard. No salt is necessary, but if used at all, it is generally added to the water before stirring in the grain or meal.

The quantity of liquid required varies with the different grains, the manner in which they are milled, the method by which they are cooked, and the consistency desired for the cooked grain, more liquid being required for a porridge than for a mush.

All grains should be carefully looked over before being put to cook.

In the cooking of grains, the following points should be observed:

1. Measure both liquid and grain accurately with the same utensil, or with two of equal size.

2. Have the water boiling when the grain is introduced, but do not allow it to boil for a long time previous, until it is considerably evaporated, as that will change the proportion of water and grain sufficiently to alter the consistency of the mush when cooked. Introduce the grain slowly, so as not to stop the sinking to the bottom, and the whole becomes thickened.

3. Stir the grain continuously until it has set, but not at all afterward. Grains are much more appetizing if, while properly softened, they can still be made to retain their original form. Stirring renders the preparation pasty, and destroys its appearance.

In the preparation of all mushes with meal or flour, it is a good plan to make the material into a batter with a portion of the liquid retained from the quantity given, before introducing it into the boiling water. This prevents the tendency to cook in lumps, so frequent when dry meal is scattered into boiling liquid. Care must be taken, however, to add the moistened portion very slowly, stirring vigorously meantime, so that the boiling will not be checked. Use warm water for moistening. The other directions given for the whole or broken grains are applicable to the ground products.

Place the grain, when sufficiently cooked, in the refrigerator or in some place where it will cool quickly (as slow cooling might cause fermentation), to remain overnight.