Several years ago, I bought a lovely blouse for a surprisingly low price at the nearby bargain store. It was such a great buy because it was exactly the top I was looking for to complete a certain outfit. After its first visit to the laundry, I was in shock to see that the blouse was about to perfectly fit my two-year old cousin. A total bummer, indeed.
I believe I'm not the only person who experienced this kind of dilemma. I also know someone who bought a much cheaper version of Nike Presto that didn't last that long. It's a common notion for most of us to opt for less expensive goods given the difficulty of earning money. But what we fail to see is that sometimes, we also sacrifice good quality. The result? We spend even more. It really does pay to look beyond the sales rack. "It has to do with longevity," says Candace Bahr, co-founder of the Women's Institute for Financial Education (WIFE.org) and co-author of It's More Than Money — It's Your Life! The New Money Club for Women. "If it's something that you'd like to keep for a long time, a quality product will last longer."
Take the case of a cheap suit that seems like a great deal — until you've worn it a couple of times and it has developed permanent wrinkles and a sagging lining. According to Alan Rouleau, owner of Alan Rouleau Couture in Boston, trim and stitching differ by price, from carefully crafted bespoke pieces to mass-produced clothing that's run off on machines by the thousands. Fabric quality also increases with price. In cotton, for example, higher thread counts are
more expensive. Finer cotton holds dye and color longer and hold up better in the laundry, which can translate to big savings, too.
So, when do you ignore low-priced goodies and drop more money for quality clothing? It makes sense to spend on classics that you know won't go out of style — a great blazer, a black sheath dress or a great pair of pants. But if there's an oriental fad going on and you're looking for trendy clothes that will likely go out of fashion in months, then there's no need to hurt your savings.
Read more...
How to Maximize the Performance of Cooking Appliances
Everyone can relate to the smell of freshly baked cookies, pies or bread in the oven. We all love the smell of baking pastries, a nice crunchy pizza or dishes of all sorts lingering throughout the house. With all these smells of delectable foods buzzing in the kitchen, there is one we often take for granted —The Kitchen Oven.
An age-old tradition
The oven is one of the few universal appliances that have been in existence for centuries. And in all those years, its basic principle —surrounding uncooked food with hot air — has remained virtually unchanged. Today, however, we get to choose the preparation time, temperature, and whether we want the food to be baked or broiled. The list of things we can prepare in the oven seems endless: pizza, cake, steak, fish potatoes, you name it and it probably can be cooked to perfection in an oven. The list doesn't end with food however: even bricks for example, are baked to industrial ovens which use the same physics as your kitchen oven. Modern kitchen ovens give you the choice of baking or broiling. The difference between them is simple: baking prepares the food by surrounding it with hot air. Broiling heats the food by infrared heat.
General Tips Regarding Cooking Products:
• Food does not cook any faster at a higher setting flame size than that which maintains a gentle boil. Water boils at the same temperature, whether boiling vigorously or gently. If too high a setting is used, food may burn on the bottom before it is completely cooked.
• As a range or oven gets older, it is not uncommon for the oven temperature to shift higher. It is normal to notice some cooking time differences between a new oven and an old oven.
• Do not cover an entire rack or oven bottom with aluminum foil, this reduces air flow and may cause poor results.
• Over-peeking can reduce temperature 25 degrees with each door opening and affect results.
Don't open the door until the specified cook time is up. If you do it will extend the cooking time tremendously!
• The finish on the pan affects the amount of browning. Dark, dull pans absorb heat and result in darker browning, faster cooking and crispier crusts. Use these for pies and breads. Shiny, bright pans reflect heat and result in lighter, more delicate browning
Use these for cakes and cookies. Glass baking pans and some very dark pans perform better with recommended temperatures reduced 25 degrees.
Fast facts:
• When boiling or grilling, leave the door of the kitchen oven open just a bit to vent the smoke. When baking, keep the door tightly closed to prevent hot air from cooling down.
• Some kitchen ovens can clean themselves. By using the temperature to about 500 degrees Celsius, baking leftovers are burned away. This automatic pyrolytic process takes about three hours to complete.
• Some models circulate the hot air around the food. This evenly bakes or browns the food, resulting in the same quality that you know from some restaurants or bakeries.
Read more...
An age-old tradition
The oven is one of the few universal appliances that have been in existence for centuries. And in all those years, its basic principle —surrounding uncooked food with hot air — has remained virtually unchanged. Today, however, we get to choose the preparation time, temperature, and whether we want the food to be baked or broiled. The list of things we can prepare in the oven seems endless: pizza, cake, steak, fish potatoes, you name it and it probably can be cooked to perfection in an oven. The list doesn't end with food however: even bricks for example, are baked to industrial ovens which use the same physics as your kitchen oven. Modern kitchen ovens give you the choice of baking or broiling. The difference between them is simple: baking prepares the food by surrounding it with hot air. Broiling heats the food by infrared heat.
General Tips Regarding Cooking Products:
• Food does not cook any faster at a higher setting flame size than that which maintains a gentle boil. Water boils at the same temperature, whether boiling vigorously or gently. If too high a setting is used, food may burn on the bottom before it is completely cooked.
• As a range or oven gets older, it is not uncommon for the oven temperature to shift higher. It is normal to notice some cooking time differences between a new oven and an old oven.
• Do not cover an entire rack or oven bottom with aluminum foil, this reduces air flow and may cause poor results.
• Over-peeking can reduce temperature 25 degrees with each door opening and affect results.
Don't open the door until the specified cook time is up. If you do it will extend the cooking time tremendously!
• The finish on the pan affects the amount of browning. Dark, dull pans absorb heat and result in darker browning, faster cooking and crispier crusts. Use these for pies and breads. Shiny, bright pans reflect heat and result in lighter, more delicate browning
Use these for cakes and cookies. Glass baking pans and some very dark pans perform better with recommended temperatures reduced 25 degrees.
Fast facts:
• When boiling or grilling, leave the door of the kitchen oven open just a bit to vent the smoke. When baking, keep the door tightly closed to prevent hot air from cooling down.
• Some kitchen ovens can clean themselves. By using the temperature to about 500 degrees Celsius, baking leftovers are burned away. This automatic pyrolytic process takes about three hours to complete.
• Some models circulate the hot air around the food. This evenly bakes or browns the food, resulting in the same quality that you know from some restaurants or bakeries.
Read more...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
