Laverne

I know what youre thinking! Sure, chicken is easy and yes, it can be healthy, but can it really be gourmet? Absolutely! Its all in the presentation. Grab a pen and paper; heres how you do it.

Preferably, its a heck of a lot easier to use an electric frying pan. This way you can make your sauce. Add about 2 Tbls. of extra light virgin olive oil into your pan. Take two nice size garlic cloves, peel them, smack them with a knife, chop them up and put them in your pan. Slice up some red onion (about 3 inches long and a half inch thick). Quarter a handful of mushrooms and saut them on low along with the onion and garlic. This is a great meal with a yummy Pinot Grigio so Ill pour myself a glass and use about a quarter cup of it to throw into the saut. Let that reduce a little and stir it around a few times. Next, add about 2 or 3 Tbls. of Balsamic Vinegar (I like Colavita because its a little sweeter), stir and cover. Onto the next station!

Now, rinse off the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, removing all of the fat. I used 3 7 oz. breasts. Turn up the pan to about 300 and sear the breasts tenderloin side down first. After about a minute and a half, turn the chicken over and repeat the sear. Turn down the pan to about 200 and add two cups of water. Once the liquid begins to boil again, add a teaspoon and a of low sodium, plain chicken broth paste. Stir it around so it dissolves properly. Add about a quarter size amount of Thyme on top of the chicken along with some fresh ground pepper. Startin to sound good yet? Now, you just let it go! Onto the next station!

You can do this with really any kind of rice. My personal favorite is jasmine white (because its not as mushy) but you could do whatever you like. Also, you could even dress up your rice a little by using some slices almonds or cashews. Cook your rice about a half hour before you would like to eat but make sure that its not too mushy. This way, youre not pressured. Anyway, the longer the chicken is in the sauce, the yummier it will be! You just want to make sure that you stir it and turn them every 10 minutes or so and keep the temp down to 200. Make sure that you keep about 2 cups of liquid in the pan at all times.

Ready to eat? Okay, remove the chicken and cut it into slices or chunks (whatever suites you best). Take a 1 tsp and mix it with a small amount of cold water (maybe a cup of water). Pour the mixture into the sauce and stir. Once it gets a little thicker, add another teaspoon to a cup of water and do it again. Add the chicken to the sauce and stir it up. Let the sauce cook for about 10 minutes... stir it often. You want the sauce to be thick enough to coat the chicken nicely. Onto the next station!

Heres where the presentation comes in. Now Im one of those people who would use his or her nice stuff any time I could. So, my philosophy is, if youve got it, use it! While youre messing around in the kitchen, finely julienne some pretty peppers. Red, orange and yellow are my favorite because they add some really nice color to the dish. Saut them just enough to be limp and you can either clump a little bit onto the plate or spread it out a little. You dont want it over powering thats all. Ladle about a cup and a of rice onto the plate. Now make a small pocket into the top of the rice. Ladle a nice amount of sauce into the top of the pocket. Add your chicken to the top and garnish your plate with your peppers and the final touch which is a nice piece of herb. I like to use rosemary sprigs because theyre so pretty. But you could use virtually anything I suppose.

Viola! You have now created Chicken and Rice dish that is EASY, HEALTHY and GOURMET!

Bryanna Bredius experience in cooking has come from an abundance of experience, study, and a first hand trial and error approach. She considers herself to be her best test subject. To learn more about this topic, visit http://www.thepound4pound.blogspot.com

As long as you eat and breathe you will stay alive. But is that really living? In a crisis that may be enough. If your business is in crisis - deal with it. But the secret to keeping your business alive is growth.

That is the litmus test of keeping your business alive. Look at nature. Everything that is alive continues to grow. Growing your business is the best way of keeping it alive in the long term. How do you continue to grow your business? Feed it, nurture it, invest in it and treat the business as a journey - not a destination. On your journey you must keep one eye immediately on the road in front of you and the other on the horizon.

Invest in your business success with smart marketing. Smart marketing does not entail expensive advertising campaigns. Instead it means managing all the messages you send about yourself and your business. Be aware of the unintended messages as well as your conscious messages. Test for your unintended messages by asking your best clients. Ask those who did not give you the business - why did they chose to go elsewhere.

Marketing is a long term investment. Because of that, many get frustrated, and complain, 'I tried marketing and nothing happened.' The credibility you build today will help you gain business months or years later. It may seen tough to justify that. But don't stop running the day-to-day activities - just invest a little in your future

Marketing is like planting bamboo. In the first six years the seedlings only grow about 12 inches high. It could be very discouraging to the bamboo farmer. Then 'suddenly' in the seventh year the bamboo sprouts to 6 feet tall. In marketing - nothing happens suddenly. It takes time for results to appear. Prospects need to see your name many times before they remember you and recognize your value. You may think nothing is happening because you don't see the growth. You are the bamboo farmer.

Not only is marketing sometimes a slow pay back. It is uncertain. Not everything works all the time. It's been said that half of your marketing efforts are wasted. The problem is to discover which half. You don't know - so do it all.

Make your marketing personal. Relate to people because people buy - companies don't buy. But don't take rejections - real or imagined - personally.

One of my good clients stopped returning my calls. I continued to call and send information. I felt discouraged. I thought she didn't like me any more. A year later she called to say, "I had a major operation and I did not feel like talking to anyone." Boy, did I feel stupid for thinking it was about me. Often when we don't hear back from our clients and prospects -we think it is us. How can we be so self centered. The world does not revolve around us. Just ask my teenager - it revolves around her.

Fine-tune your database of clients, prospects and contacts. Treat your best clients special. Offer them special services. Airlines do this with their frequent flyer points and special status. Stay close to your best clients, keeping them informed and staying informed about them and their business.

Be unique. Discover the 'unwritten rules' of your business then break them to be different. Dell broke the 'rule' that computers must be sold through dealers. Dell is now a leader in computer direct sales. Stand out from the crowd. Watch for changes in your industry that may threaten your market. If the crowd goes down you don't have to go with it. The leaders in any market do well even in downswings.

Network with leaders in other business to learn about changes - threats and opportunities in their industries. These are people who may or may not actually buy your product - but you gain information, prestige and inspiration from them. You might partner with them for a joint promotion. It builds your credibility to be seen with leaders.

Build your credibility as an expert with the help of the media. Develop your media contacts. You will get the best results from appearing in print. Print has the greatest credibility and you can photocopy it for those who did not see it. Build relationships with editors, writers and reporters in the publications your prospects and clients are most likely to read - or respect. Include these media contacts in your database and treat them like your best clients. Keep them informed of changes in your business. Meet them for lunch or coffee. Offer to introduce them to some of your other contacts they may be interested in meeting.

Write articles about your expertise for the publications. Don't expect to be paid for the articles - you want to get your name out often. The easiest articles to write are tips lists. Editors like them and readers love them - easy to read and use. Once you get published - recycle the articles and offer to other publications. Photocopy the articles and send them to everyone on your database - or at least to your best clients so they receive useful information and see what an expert you are. You must be an expert if your words are in print!

Keep your business alive; invest in future growth through smart marketing.

About The Author

George Torok is coauthor of "Secrets of Power Marketing"; Canada's first guide to personal marketing for 'non-marketers'. He delivers seminars & keynotes across North America. To arrange a speech or training program you can reach George Torok at 905-335-1997. For more information about seminars visit http://www.Torok.com

info@torok.com

If you are in the market for a Global Positioning System (GPS) and are interested in consolidating some of your electronics tools (my girlfriend says electronic "toys") you might want to look into the Garmin nuvi.

In this Garmin nuvi review I will attempt to point out a number of very interesting and useful features in the Garmin nuvi that might interest you.

The Garmin nuvi is not just a GPS by any means. It includes the following features not found in "just any old" GPS.

Navigation

Obviously, navigational assistance is one of the basic features that anyone will be looking for in a GPS. The Garmin nuvi 360 comes with preloaded maps of Europe or North America. In addition, it includes automatic routing, 2D or 3D map perspective, turn-by-turn voice directions that speak street names, and a fingertip touch screen interface, making navigation easy.

But that's not all. It also supports configurable vehicle icons - fun, customized car-shaped icons in a variety of colors that show your position on the map.

Hands-free calls with Bluetooth wireless technology

The nuvi 360 along with its counterpart the nuvi 310 integrate wireless technology with a microphone and speaker that lets you make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial numbers with the nuvi's touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible Bluetooth phone. To answer calls, just tap nuvi's screen and speak directly into its built in microphone.

In addition, easily look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or from your phone's call history log. Don't know the phone number for your destination? Simply find and dial it from nuvi's extensive points of interest database - including hotels, restaurants, stores, and attractions.

Enjoy Travel Kit full of entertainment and useful tools

Navigation is just the beginning. Nvi includes many "must have" entertainment and travel tools including MP3 player, audio book player with optional content from Audible.com, JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converters and more. In addition, optional software packages such as the Language Guide and Travel Guides can be added for language and content support.

Customize with Optional Software Optional software available on plug-in SD cards, lets you instantly add new features to your nvi without connecting to your computer.

* Language Guide - contains five bilingual dictionaries and a multilingual word bank and phrase bank that support nine languages and dialects. Even get a spoken pronunciation of each word or phrase

* Travel Guide - gives you helpful and thorough reviews and recommendations for restaurants, hotels, shopping, nightlife, sporting events and tourist attractions. Travel Guide for the United States and Europe are currently available for purchase.

* Savers Guide - a "geo-coded" coupon book of local businesses that notifies you of nearby discounts on restaurants, hotels, shopping, and more at thousands of participating Entertainment businesses throughout North America.

John Mann has been an aficianado of "really cool gadgets" for over thirty years. "Champagne living on a beer budget" is his mantra. Checkout his new website http://www.TheRefinedGentleman.com.

Interested in learning more about Garmin's Nuvi 360? Read his Garmin nuvi review at his site and signup for his Newsletter to keep abreast of all sorts of interesting topics that Refined Gentlemen (and Sophisticated Ladies) want to know about.

Garmin nuvi review

It is estimated that 80% of all online traffic starts at search engines(i). And with over 1 billion unique web searches per day, most online marketing managers will agree that having a strong SEO campaign is a great long-term strategy for maximizing your internet visibility.

However, you may be surprised to learn that according to a January 2006 poll(ii); paid search ads ranked as the #1 performing online marketing tactic - ahead of SEO. It is projected that over 58% of the total online adspend goes to paid-for search.(iii)

Several reasons exist for the popularity of paid search ads. Firstly, PPC saves you time. Unlike the risky game of organic SEO that can take several months or years (if ever) to get optimized for high positions; PPC results can get you top rankings on the search engines immediately.

Secondly, PPC is a great way to test new keyword campaigns before you optimize them for SEO. It is wise to first experiment with keywords to measure conversions as well as visitor demographics before you take the long and risky route of search engine optimization.

PPC also enables you to engage in A/B testing for landing pages. It is a quick way to gauge conversion rates to help you determine the content or graphics that yield the best results.

Further benefits lie in the fact that paid search is considered a lower risk method of advertising because you only pay for the visitors you receive. And by being able to set the price you are willing to spend for each key term, you can easily manage your budget and return on investment. Of course, you must be mindful of potential click fraud, so it is important to investigate the precautions taken by your chosen advertising method (search engine) to protect advertisers.

It is widely considered that SEO, when performed properly, can give you the best long term ROI. If you are able to get high rankings with some strong keywords, you can assure yourself of ongoing traffic for months or even years after your stop paying for optimization. However, with so much competition for top placements and the complexities of optimization, there is no guarantee your SEO will ever get the desired results.

Furthermore, SEO is often a difficult proposition requiring outsourcing to a professional firm. Whereas, good PPC strategies are easier to learn and can often by implemented by someone in-house. The costs for SEO should be considered a long term investment as opposed to the immediate expense of paid search ads. SEO results can reap long term rewards but as soon as you stop paying for your search ads, any new traffic will cease.

While there are conflicting opinions on conversion rates, most believe that SEO listings garner the highest response rates as they are not perceived as ads and are considered most relevant. However, these issues can be somewhat alleviated on search engines that manually review their advertiser's paid listings. This practice ensures that both the ad and the content on the website associated with it match the searchers needs for relevancy.

In conclusion, deciding between SEO and PPC is dependent on a variety of factors including budget and time frame. If funds are very limited and an immediate return is needed, one would best be suited buying some PPC ads. A positive ROI would warrant reinvestment into further PPC until adequate funds are available to complement your marketing with some optimization. By then you would have a good indication of your top performing keywords that you should target for SEO.

The ultimate strategy would be to balance both methods. Getting your website exposure via SEO while simultaneously running a strategic PPC campaign will allow you to capitalize on the Internet's two best methods of finding targeted traffic. Once any of your PPC keywords garner top placements via SEO, it is time to start allocating those funds to other high converting words thereby, expanding your reach potential on the web.

_____________________________________________________________

i-Harris Interactive, 2006.

ii-MarketingSherpa.com, January 2006.

iii-IAB Online Adspend Study in partnership with Pricewaterhouse Cooper.

John Buttedahl sits on the board of directors for Intelimax Media Inc. - http://www.Intelimax.com - a company that develops industry-specific, niche search engines. Their flagship brand is http://www.Gamboozle.com The Gambling Search Engine.

Are you fresh out of high school, and appreciate good food? The United States has many culinary schools and the job market is booming, so if you have ever been curious about the possibility of turning a natural love into a career, read on. At the very least, you will have fun choosing which culinary school would be perfect for you.

1. Art Institute (AI)

This institution's culinary program is excellent. They are actually one of the leading institutions for students who are looking for not just a culinary school but a place that greatly specializes in the creative arts. Culinary programs of the Art Institutes are top-notch education and training in the following culinary fields of expertise: culinary arts, the art of cooking, restaurant and catering management, baking and pastry and culinary management. The availability of these culinary programs may vary from one Art Institute culinary school to another. Its best to call your chosen campus location first to verify if theyre offering the courses that youre interested in. This will help you save time in trying to find the best suited culinary school for you.

2. Atlantic Culinary Academy

The Atlantic Culinary Academy is actually a division of the popular McIntosh college. This culinary school boasts programs that specialize in Le Cordon Bleu training as well as associate degrees in Culinary Arts. This culinary school is known for being able to teach and train its students in just 18 months. And, in addition to the completion of their culinary courses, the students will also earn the Le Cordon Bleu Diplome, a highly recognized international culinary arts diploma.

3. California Culinary Academy

In San Francisco, California, this school is located in San Franciscos Civic Center district as well as in the hip and stylish Portrero Hill district. Aspiring chefs flock to this culinary school because it is internationally known for being able to produce some of the worlds best chefs. This is made possible through their extensive training programs, great cooking facilities, and excellent instructors.

4. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts

This school has several locations in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Las Vegas and Florida to name a few. It is a culinary school that is highly revered for its Associate of Occupational Science Degree In Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts. There is a fifteen month program that includes a highly extensive cooking technique and training program, but what makes this school unique is their inclusion of an internship wherein the students of this culinary school will gain over one hundred hours of real on-the-job experience before they ever leave. This is a classical culinary school for aspiring chefs, and oh yes, one more thing, it is also incredibly demanding.

5. Online Certificate

For those who simply dont have the luxury of time to just actually go to a normal culinary school, there is the Art Institute Online, that hopes to be able to reach out to more students who are interested in taking up art courses as well as courses regarding culinary arts. This online program is actually uniquely designed for working people who have already earned their Associates degree. Of interest, this program combines all kinds of courses such as human resource management to law and ethics and accounting. Why, you ask? The program is aimed towards culinary arts students who are thinking of opening their own restaurant someday.

For more great culinary school related articles and resources check out http://www.culinaryschooladvisor.com

Flat Organizations have been the In thing to happen in many new economy companies for over a decade now. Today most companies new economy or the old economy like to describe their organization has flat. Initially it did start with a lot of the Silicon Valley ventures, then the IT boom, then the Internet bubble and the idea was well entrenched in to the HR toolkits of most organizations across the globe. Cross pollination of ideas which usually happens when HR head honchos switch jobs eventually ensured that Flat is the only way any organization is supposed to be structured. While this article is not useful to anybody looking information on Flat as an organization concept, it is a must read for the millions of minions like me who eke a living out of corporatedom.

It is not clear where and how this particular word originated but it is expected to be a very fashionable word to use particularly if you are the HR person of the company. My guess is that Flat originated as a word which would imply the opposite of the pyramidal, a structure of organization most companies were used to ever since the industrial revolution. Flat could also have originated has a word which alluded to Level since most organizations defined their positions and seniority ladders as levels. Thus Flat was supposed to the idea to level out all levels. Flat could also be a shorter version of Flatter as this is a word which Flatters the lowliest minions in the company to think that they are equal to the bosses.

Flat could mean different things for different people in the organization, like everything else in the world the meaning of flat depends on the individuals outlook towards life, like

For an Optimist Flat could mean she is now closer to the top.

For a Pessimist Flat could mean there is not enough elbow room to go up.

For the Cynic -- Flat could mean there is not enough to go round.

For the Utopian Flat means all people in the company are equal.

For the Ambitious Flat could mean there is no ladder to climb.

For the Lazy Flat could mean there is no need to try to go anywhere as there is nothing up there.

For the Authoritarian Flat could mean Other than me all are at the same level.

For the Team Player Flat could mean there are more options to pass the buck (or baton PC).

In addition to an individuals outlook, how Flat impacts your own career depends on which stage of career you are in and what your position in the organization is, like-

If you are Trainee or junior staffer - Flat means you need to take on responsibilities which are directly disproportional to your age and position, since we treat you as an equal!!

If you are a Mid-Level manager Flat means there is no more room for you to go up. They have replaced the corporate ladder which you were climbing with a stool and you are already standing on top of it. The people above you are actually above the ceiling.

If you are a Senior Manager Flat means your responsibilities will be now given to smarter and younger staffers probably even trainees who do the same work at much lower pay, so that you become redundant before you retire.

If you are the Top Boss Flat means other than yourself every thing is Flat and all people are at the same level.

It is difficult to trace the exact reasons for the onslaught of the Flat revolution in Corporatedom. Although conceptually it has its political equivalent in the Communist revolution, the essential difference to be noted is that the political revolution emphasized in change of ownership of political power from the Czars to the common people and was a revolution caused by the common people. The corporate revolution on the other hand is driven usually from the top or the board. The common man in the corporatedom the staffers and junior managers usually have no interest in the Flat Revolution. In corporatedom Flat does not emphasize change of ownership or even distribution of ownership, it emphasizes only on distribution of work and responsibilities lower down the order.

Along with the distribution of work and responsibilities lower down the order usually accompanied by technology enabled management control systems, it also draws blood much like the other revolutions, by reducing the number of positions and ranks in the organization. Then what happens to the people who are already occupying those positions and ranks, depending on how lady luck smiles on them and how they have been adaptable to the culture of the organization they could be -

Laid Off - This usually accompanied by a strenuous and excruciating process of fitment where HR tries to collect enough documentation to ensure you do not retaliate.

Downsized Usually means your position and pay is no longer available, you could accept something lesser than you deserve.

Right Sized usually accompanied by a process of discovery where HR finds they made critical mistakes earlier in offering you better pay and perks and the time for righting that wrong has arrived

Lateral Movement This is a humiliating process by which the organization asks you to do a job you cannot do and then points out how incapable you are of doing a job.

Kicked Upstairs This happens to the lucky few who have collected enough brownie points in the past or hold some mission critical secrets which may be either useful or damaging depending on the nature of the person. It is also done if you are good candidate for employment by competition. In this case you are given a senior than current position with more advisory activities, little responsibilities and no action.

What has been discussed above is relevant to people who are caught in the throes of the Flat Revolution in corporatedom. What if you have landed yourself a new job in Utopia Inc. where everything is Flat? This can be particularly tricky with a lot of the foolish minions actually taking thinks to their head and assuming that they are as equal as the people above them. Organizing your daily life around a Flat organization can be as tricky as playing Minesweeper on Windows on wrong click and all the points you collected till date becomes zero game over- start again.

I will conclude with a few tips for people who join fresh in Utopia Inc. a Flat Organization which may help in survival till you find the next job.

Golden Rules for working in Flat Organizations:

* Remember George Orwell All are equal, but some are more equal

*Remember it has been proven since the age of renaissance that the world is round and not flat.

*Remember not to be Flattered by Flat.

Typical Symptoms for Flat Organizations:

*Common lunch rooms and cafeterias for all staff which means there is no place to gossip and bitch about your boss.

*Open office spaces and no secretarial assistance to senior managers which means your boss keeps a constant eye on you and you have may have to even do some work supposed to be done by his/her secretary.

*Misleading and confusing designations which is well devised ploy by HR to flatter lower rung employees to think they have the similar sounding designations as bosses and confuse senior employees so that they do not find out that their career is stagnant. Remember that a Boss by any designation is still a boss.

*Constant change in roles and responsibilities which is again a well devised ploy to ensure you never become good at what you do.

*Overwhelming use of technology and systems which ensures that has the computing power of chips increases, most of your knowledge is mapped onto corporate databases and the organizations can be made much more flat.

*Penchant for outsourcing work, which becomes essential since the more you outsource the more you can keep on reducing levels in the organization to become even more flat.

So once you have understood the symptoms and use the golden rules as mantras, you need to ensure that you go on daily diet to ensure your fitness to live in flat world. The essential ingredients of your daily diet should be

Document your good work This will ensure that when there is an exercise of fitment you can hold forth against HR

Take Credit immediately Modesty is not a virtue. Take credit for any success which was remotely associated with you.

Be focused on Self-Development- Your aim should be to build your CV as per market needs and work is a means of building the CV.

Be Multi-Skilled you never know which one will be useful on a particular day. It would be a good idea if you have a few lateral skills like being able to organize parties, bartending, dancing, anchoring stage shows etc in case nothing else works they will help. I know of people who have built a decent corporate career with only these skills.

Be focused on the Pay Check At the end of the day you are as good as the paycheck in your hand.

Measure your worth through the seriousness of deliverables asked of you, number of security rights, approval authority and number of people reporting to you and not by your designation or what is communicated to you by HR.

While the tone of this article may appear grim, it has been written out methodical research, observation of organizations and serious contemplation. The intent is not discussing an HR theory but provide the ordinary person with a self help guide.

May your rise to rule Corporatedom!

Vijay V Bhat works with one of India's leading Technology Companies, to him writing is a passion and a hobby. Having worked in managerial capacities in the manufacturing sector in India, his articles tend to be oriented towards the field of management. He has also taught Engineering and Management subjects in India, intermittently in between his career.