Canux : Home Sweet Home

Archive for January, 2011

The outdoors can be good places to relax. However, there are times when the temperature is just unacceptable. The good thing these days is that there are now outdoor misting fans that will help you have regulated air while relaxing.

Misting fans have been known venue equipments especially when it’s commonly used for important events. Venues like churches and outdoor gardens may have this equipment since it can make the guests comfortable during the event even during hot days. But these outdoor fans are now available for your personal use at home.

There are now many manufacturers that made their fans as affordable as possible for regular consumers. If you plan of getting one of them, you must know the following to get the best outdoor misting fans for your needs.

First, you have to choose whether you will get a tall fan or just a low cooling fan. You will basically choose between a stand-fan like misting cooling fan while the low ones are just like desk fan. The smaller ones are good for you if you have limited spaces at home.

Second, you can choose outdoor misting fans depending on their capacity to cool a certain area. For example, there is an outdoor fan that can cool an area reaching 1000 square feet. Make sure to ask your details so you will get the right fan enough to cool your patio area.

Third, think of getting a portable fan. This type of fan doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get small equipment for your home. There are also large misting fans that assure high portability because they have wheels.

Fourth, you have an option to get the fans with singular or dual fan. Usually, these fans may only have one fan but there are some that have two so it will help you better cool your patio area.

Finally, there are some outdoor fans that have prominent coolers or tanks. You can choose whether you will get the ones with large tanks or just those that you can connect to the water supply to avoid crowing your patio because of its size.

Choosing your own misting fan is simple as long as you know your options. This will help you find the right fan just for your needs and keep you from spending too much on them especially if you’re on a budget.

If you don’t understand the different range hoods available for your kitchen, you could end up buying one that is incompatible with the kitchen layout. Most people tend to shop for a hood that they like the look of without thinking about whether it will fit into their kitchen.

Many stoves and cook tops are attached to an internal kitchen wall. If your kitchen has this layout then you need to buy a ventless range hood which essentially cleans the cooking air before blowing it back into the kitchen. These hoods have two filters inside that traps food and grease particles, as well as odor before the cooking steam is blown back into the kitchen. If you wish to have the air extracted outside of your home, you will need to a have ducting installed within the ceiling cavity in order to move the air outside.

Some ventless hoods can be bought with a ventilation kit at a later stage should you wish to install a duct system. This is a good idea if you need a range hood now, but you know in the near future you will be redecorating your kitchen. You do have to make sure that the ceiling cavity has the capacity to hold these ducts though.

An important function of any kitchen hood is to effectively extract the steam when cooking. It is advisable to buy a hood that comes with at least three fan speeds and has a CFM of at least 600. The more hobs you have on your stove, the more powerful the fans motor needs to be. You need to balance the motor speed with the amount of noise that is produced. It is recommended that you find a manufacturer that specifies the amount of noise their range hoods make when in use.

Joel Houghton, an American, invented the first ever dishwasher way back in 1850. It was a wooden machine with a wheel that had to be turned by hand. This action splashed water on the dishes to clean it. Joel even had it patented.

L.A. Alexander, in the year 1865 got a patent for his contraption. This was also a hand operated one. It used a hand crank and gear to spin a wire rack of dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

However both these models were not successful at cleaning dirty dishes.

Josephine Cochrane was the granddaughter of John Fitch who invented the steam boat. She was a wealthy woman who entertained a lot. Josephine was a worried woman because her servant maids were chipping her fine china. She invented a dishwasher in 1886. It was a mechanical device that worked by hand. Her aim was to wash the dishes fast, without breaking and chipping them.

She got wire compartments made after measuring the size of her dishes. Plates, cups and saucers were placed in the wire compartments. The compartments were kept inside a wheel that was placed in a copper boiler. When a motor was switched on, it turned the wheel. Hot soapy water from the boiler cleaned the dishes.

The dishwasher was a success. Josephine exhibited her invention at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Restaurants and hotels were interested in the dishwasher. This led her to found a company to manufacture dishwashers. The company eventually became Kitchen Aid.

Other companies produced dishwashers that worked on steam. The dirty dishes were placed on a conveyor belt or a revolving basket and passed under jets of hot water. The cleaning though was not good.

Better models with permanent plumbing were invented in 1920. William Howard Livens, in 1937 invented a small dishwasher ideal for home use. It was like the modern dishwasher with a front door for loading dirty dishes and a rotating sprayer. In 1940 electrical elements to dry the wet dishes were added.

By the year 1950 the dishwasher was a normal kitchen utility. In the 1970s, dishwashers were very common in homes in America.

As we come into apple season, here are a couple of apple recipes that are so easy even beginning cooks can make them easily. Just image the delicious taste of Microwave Apple Crunch with it’s butter, oats, Granny Smith apples, etc! The Dessert or Snack Apple Squares are perfect for after school snacks with milk as well as for dessert, pitch-ins, picnics, etc.

MICROWAVE APPLE CRUNCH

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
3 tbsps packed brown sugar
2 tbsps all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 lbs Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar

Melt butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the Graham cracker crumbs, oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir until well blended; set aside. Put apples and sugar in an 8-inch square microwave-safe dish and toss to mix. Sprinkle the topping mixture from the bowl evenly over the apples. Microwave uncovered on high for 8 to 10 minutes until the apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Use a rotating microwave pad or turn the mixture halfway through the cooking time for even cooking. Remove from the microwave and set on a flat surface for 30 minutes until just warm and topping is firm.

DESSERT OR SNACK APPLE SQUARES

FILLING:

1 cup sugar
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups sliced apples, coarsely chopped

Combine all the above ingredients, except apples, in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture is thick. Remove from heat and add apples. Let apple mixture stand while making crumbs.

CRUMB MIXTURE:

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cups quick oats, uncooked

Mix all the ingredients together, mixing thoroughly. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture. Spread the remaining mixture in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Spread the filling over the crumbs. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon over the filling mixture. Sprinkle the reserved cup of crumbs over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

It goes without saying that new furniture can be very expensive. A new sofa, couch, or sectional can easily cost a few thousand dollars in some cases. With this kind of investment, protecting it for years to come should be a priority. This is where a sofa slip cover comes in.

It only makes sense to put a high quality sofa slip cover on a new sofa. You’ve invested good money and you certainly don’t want the kids ruining it by spilling food or drinks on it. As a parent you know that accidents do happen from time to time. I can attest to that with my 4 year old daughter.

Finding the right style and pattern for your new slip cover is a decision only you can make, but you’ll have no problem in finding the right cover to fit over your new upholstery.

Regardless of what sofa slip cover you choose, sooner or later it will get dirty and need to be cleaned. Most slip covers are able to be put in the wash machine and cleaned in a quick easy manner. This makes things so simple and convenient.

Other more expensive slip covers may require taking it to your local dry cleaners. While this is not as convenient as doing it yourself at home, the end results are well worth it.

One thing you should always keep in mind if you wash your slip cover yourself, be sure you don’t put it in the dryer. A hot dryer may cause it to shrink and ruin it altogether.

Cleaning your sofa slip cover isn’t at all difficult if you know what the requirements are for taking care of it. It will protect your sofa and keep it looking brand new for many years down the road.

So you want to build a list of raving fans and not just a basic opt in email list!

There is nothing wrong with other types of list building such as free reports or anything like that. I want you to answer these to questions to yourself right now.

Do you want to stand out from the crowd?

Do you want to position yourself as a market leader?

If you answered “yes” to either of these, then you have to do something different to stand out.

Here is your quick 2 step blueprint to do just that.

Step 1 – Record Your Owner Interview (MP3)

Find a friend, a relative, a business associate, anyone you can. Write up a set of questions in your market that an expert would answer. Go on a conference call (there are tons out there that are free, just search it). Have the other person do a little introduction and then start asking you the questions. Of course you will have all the answers because you prepared ahead of time. Of course you want to mention your website in the recording, so people can find you.

Step 2 – Offer the Recording

Now you need to get your name out on the street. Go to popular niche forums and sites and offer the site owner the MP3 interview for free. Let them sample it and they will see that it is high quality. They will send it to their list and in turn people will come to know you as an expert.

Another place you could put your recording, would be on sites that host podcasts. That way numerous other people will be able to find you.