Special Speech

Honesty Causes Fewer Wrinkles

Have you noticed that though many of our relationships start out
with such promise, something often happens, causing them to
quickly go downhill? Perhaps you’ve seen friends wondering about
someone they’ve spent time getting to know, only to find out
that person was less than completely honest with them?

For the most part, we all start with the best intentions of
meeting someone, pursuing a fun friendship that leads to a light
romance that may someday culminate in the love of our life. But
it doesn’t always work that way, does it? Sometimes it doesn’t
even get as far as meeting in person. And what is the culprit?
In many cases, honesty, or the lack thereof. Someone isn’t quite
telling the truth about who they are, what they are doing, or
why they act the way they do.

In online dating, we need to be especially diligent in helping
fight the dishonesty battle. That’s because all an online
acquaintance may know and understand about you for some time is
whatever you decide to reveal to that person. We need to be
carefully and gently honest. No one wants to get involved with a
too zealously honest brute or brutesse. But most of us have a
low tolerance for dishonesty. The dishonesty can range from our
descriptions of who we really are, to how many potential
partners are being pursued at the same time, to lies for no
apparent reason.

Every person wants to put his or her best foot forward. But
please, make sure it’s the foot attached to your own leg! I
heard one woman say a suitor told her that he “owned a textile
business.” In reality, he delivered paper towels. We all wish to
be seen in the best light possible for as long as possible, but
early in dating and throughout the relationship we should be
getting to know each other as we really are.

When we’re dishonest, whatever the reason may be, it narrows our
path. We then have to remember the lie and try to conform to it.
We are less “free” with our loved one than before telling the
lie. The side effects of the lie are almost always fatal to the
relationship, and, it’s just wrong. The listener takes in the
lie and very often recognizes it instantly for what it is. To
avoid giving offense, they won’t call their friend on the
dishonesty. If they did, the relationship would end instantly,
because who wants to date someone that has called them a liar?
But left unaddressed, it’s like a pebble in a pair of running
shoes. The shoes should be ready for the long run, but knowing
you’ve been lied to irritates and agitates.

Even if the lie isn’t caught, the ‘lied-to-loved-one’ feels
something shiftingthe one we care about slowly slipping away,
and we’re left to wonder why? What happened? Relationship decay
begins. The end is coming because a lie indicates a lack of
respect, which will most likely be repeated. This is a fatal
cycle, and it’s killing relationships that begin with real
potential.

And regarding our appearances, the “Glamour Shots” and the
7-year old pictures need to be updated. Don’t we all want and
deserve someone who accepts us as we are, so we can gracefully
get on with the processes of life, feeling loved as years go by?

If you’re stretching the truth, maybe it’s time to ask yourself
why you are doing this? Are you wasting your own and others’
time and money dating when you’re not emotionally ready?

And, hey, did you know honesty can actually be better for
appearances too! Did you know it takes 300 different
wrinkle-forming muscles to frown through a lie, while it only
takes ten to smile and tell the truth? We might just find
ourselves in healthier, happier relationships with a minimum of
additional effort.

—————————————————————–
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President Bush has indicated it is imperative to kick America’s
oil habit. In conjunction with this goal, the Department of
Energy has just announced a $119 million dollar research
initiative.

Money for Research and Development

Obviously, automobiles are the basis of America’s oil addiction.
Everyone seems to have at least one car if not more. To attack
this problem, the current administration is putting a lot of
emphasis on hydrogen fuel cell research for vehicles.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are extremely environmentally
friendly. They work by converting hydrogen and oxygen into
electricity through a chemical process. This process is
particularly attractive because it produces no pollutants, is
nearly twice as efficient as combustible gas engines and relies
on extremely plentiful resources that are not located in foreign
lands. There are, however, a few drawbacks to hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles.

Hydrogen powered cars are much more expensive than traditional
gas powered vehicles. The technology is simply not advanced
enough to make production cost effective. The vehicles
themselves are also not particularly efficient at this point in
time from both a performance and range perspective. The answer
to these problems, of course, is research and development.

To spur research on hydrogen fuel cell cars, the Department of
Energy has created a Research Roadmap that is designed to
identify and set goals for overcoming technical and
manufacturing problems related to this new energy platform. At
the Washington Auto Show, the agency also indicated it was
kicking in $119 million dollars in grants to get the ball
rolling.

The Department of Energy is focusing on a few key issues for
research. They include improving fuel cell membranes, water
movement within the fuel cell, advancing the chemical conversion
process and addressing the impact of impurities in the fuel
cells on performance and length of service of the automobiles.
Each of these subjects has proved to be a barrier to mass
production of hydrogen fuel cars.

The ultimate goal of the Department of Energy is to have
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in mass production by 2020. To this
end, the $119 million dollar kick start represents a small part
of the over 1 billion dollars the agency will devote to research
and development on fuel cell automobiles. While 2020 may seem
far into the future, at least we are taking steps to move beyond
our reliance on foreign energy sources.

Mornings are hectic. If you make your pancake batter the night before, that will save you precious minutes. Some pancake batter can be made the night before and stored in the refrigerator and some cannot. Here’s how to tell the difference:

Pancake and waffle batters made with baking powder can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight. Since the baking powder may lose some of its potency overnight, add a little extra. If the first pancake doesn’t rise enough, sift a little more over the batter and gently stir it in. Alternatively, you can add an extra 25 to 50% when you make up the batter.

Pancake and waffle batters leavened with baking soda cannot be stored. These leavenings go to work as soon as they are moistened and will lose their power overnight.

Some pancake and waffle recipes call for whipped egg whites to give them extra volume. If the recipe calls for baking powder and egg whites, you can mix the batter the night before but wait till morning to fold in the egg whites.

Since you may not be familiar with recipes that call for whipped egg whites, we thought we would share one with you.

Extra Light and Fluffy Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted all purpose, pastry, or cake flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
2 egg yolks
3/4 cups milk, more or less
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Sift the dry ingredients together.

2. In another bowl, mix the yolks, most of the milk, and the melted butter together until smooth.

3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the mixed wet ingredients all at once. Stir until just combined. (Over-mixing will make for a tough pancake.)

4. Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy and soft peaks appear as for meringue. Add the sugar toward the end of the beating. Fold the egg whites gently into the batter with a spatula. Add milk as necessary to get the right consistency.

5. Cook as you would other pancakes.

For more articles like this visit The Bakers’ Library.

© 2004 The Prepared Pantry