Tips to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

BBB (Better Business Bureau) has laid down a detailed memorandum to shop during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As I was reading through the guide, I thought it is relevant for anytime shopping. Shopping would be a better experience if we could follow most of the guidelines.The BBB recommends the following tips for shopping online this holiday season to help fight unscrupulous online retailers, scammers and hackers:


Start planning now. Many retail stores are already promoting Black Friday deals in ads and on their websites. Take time to print out or clip ads for items you are interested in buying to help outline your shopping day in advance.

Read the fine print on gift cards. These can be found on the back of the card and will let you know the terms and conditions for using the card. There could be limitations to in-store purchases or exclusions on certain items.

Ask about return policies. While many stores offer a 30-day return policy, it is important to read the terms and conditions associated with each purchase. And remember that the refund policy usually applies to the day you purchase the item not when you give the item as a gift. Be sure to request gift receipts for all gifts.

Ask for gift receipts. When buying gifts, it’s important to obtain and keep receipts for all purchases in case the recipient needs to return an item. Many stores will provide gift receipts upon request, which allow returns but don’t show the recipient how much you paid for an item.


Protect your personal information. Check to see how your information may be used online. When shopping at stores, keep your card out of sight and make sure you get it back and safely in your wallet before you leave the store.

Check the site’s security settings and privacy policy. If the site is secure, its address should start with https://. You also may see a picture of a small closed lock in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

Know the company’s refund and return policies. Are there restocking fees? Do you have to pay shipping costs on returns?

Do not rely on pictures of a product. Read the description and check model numbers, if applicable.

Be cautious of free or low-price offers. Often, free offers are followed by an open-ended enrollment in a program that automatically bills your credit card account. Before ordering anything online, make sure you click on and read all terms and conditions.

Pay with a credit card.If you suspect fraud or don’t receive your order, you can challenge the charge in the event of a dispute.

Obtain a tracking number for shipments. If you need the product before the holidays, find out when the seller intends to ship it and if possible, how it will be shipped.

Print out the order. Make sure you have the documentation page for online orders and save it until the order arrives.

Be aware of phishing. Don’t respond to emails that ask for your credit card or bank account number or other personal information. Legitimate businesses do not send emails claiming there is a problem with an order or account to lure you into revealing financial information.

(C): BBB

Soy Sauce Eggs: Easiest, fastest and yummiest eggs you have ever tasted!

Mahogany eggs dipped in luscious soy sauce - have you ever tasted something like that? If not yet just save yourself 7 minutes before your pack your lunch box for the next day and see how sumptuously you are served for the day. Besides, the taste is uncompromising. Soy sauce eggs are wonderful as snacks because they don’t need any additional seasoning.

Use super quality authentic soy sauce, which is darker in appearance and richer in flavor than regular soy sauce. One trick to note–when peeling your hard boiled eggs, peel carefully, trying to avoid nicking the surface of the egg whites. If you do nick the surface, the eggs will still taste delicious, but they just won’t be as pretty.

You will need:

Hard boiled eggs
Authentic soy sauce

Preparation:

Pour the soy sauce into a pan and heat it on slow flame. When the soy sauce starts foaming up, add the eggs. Roll the eggs around in the soy sauce to coat them, and continue rolling them around the pan until the eggs are a dark mohagony color and the soy sauce has been reduced to a thick sludge.

Remove the eggs, letting any extra soy sauce drain off, and place on a plate to cool.

And you are done with nice pretty and healthy mahogany eggs!


Learned from Malaysia Rasa.

Decoding Milk for kids by Wendy Donahue

Q: Why milk is important for children?

A: It contains so many nutrients that children need to grow. Calcium is obvious, but milk is also high in potassium — it has more than bananas — phosphorus, protein, vitamins like B12 and D and magnesium.

Q: What is the right milk for what age?

A: Birth to age 1 is breast milk or formula. Age 1 to 2 is the only time that whole milk is necessary; the fat content is needed for the brain when it's developing rapidly.

Q: If fat helps a brain develop, would it make sense to give a child higher-fat milk if obesity isn't a problem?

A: It's better to choose plant-based sources of fat or low fat milk. Try to get fats from olive oil, avocados and peanut butter rather than saturated fat from animal products, ice cream, butter and cream.

Q: Some older kids aren't getting enough milk?

A: The recommended amounts are 3 cups over age 9, 2 cups for ages 2 to 3. Kids aren't getting enough potassium, calcium and magnesium. Two ways the teens get to drink milk are in smoothies and yogurt parfaits, with low-fat granola and fresh fruit.

Q: Do we reduce liquid milk in their diet if they eat a lot of yogurt and cheese?

A: The trick with yogurt is you have to look at the nutrition label. If the calcium and vitamin D are equivalent to a cup of milk, go for it. But some have a lot of gelatin, which means less calcium, and some have added sugars or artificial sweeteners.

Q: Milk also has sugar. Is it good sugar?

A: Unfortunately the sugar grams on labels do not differentiate between added sugar and natural sugar, or lactose.

Q: What are the best substitutes for cow's milk?

A: For some ethnic groups that do not digest lactose well, there are lactose-free milks. Soy milk is very similar to cow's milk in the calcium content, because they add it.


(C): wdonahue@tribune.com

The easiest snack to prepare: Healthy and spicy chickpea salad

This dish is surprisingly good and easy to prepare considering that the ingredients are so simple and easily available. Cooked Chickpea salad is very healthy and makes an excellent item to snack on. It also makes a nice accompaniment to many major dishes.


What you will need

teaspoons olive oil (any other oil will do)

diced onions, freshly chopped green chili and coriander leaves

turmeric, whole cumin

par-boiled chickpeas, drained and rinsed

lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

How to make

1. Heat a sauté pan large enough to easily hold the beans over medium heat. Add oil to heat, then add the onion and sauté until transparent.

2. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander and pepper and continue to sauté until the spices are aromatic and a bit toasted, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the chickpeas, lemon juice, salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes to blend the flavors.

4. Serve with freshly chopped green chilies and coriander leaves.


Photo credit: NYTimes

Surprise your guests with delicious Fish ball curry (Machher Kofta)

Koftas are essentially meatballs with lot of interesting Indian spices. There have been several innovations on the ingredients, shapes, texture etc. on the making of koftas. The most exciting of these possibly is the intrusion of vegetables which replaced the minced meat. A vast population of India eat vegetables and the meat is happily replaced by various seasonal vegetables to make delectable koftas. This is certainly a smart culinary move since that managed to include the whole veggie populace in no time.

Koftas are delicious. This is particularly so in India. You may have seen Malai Kofta on the menu at your local restaurant served in rich creamy gravy. In other regions Koftas are served steamed, poached and grilled on skewers.

Last week, when my mother bought bhetki fish, I literally snapped at her. Oh no, not again! The fish, mostly over hyped, doesn't seem to have any taste of its own. My mother knows this and to calm me off came up with this recipe. Later, in the evening, I was awed by the delicacy. I thanked her and she gave me a signature look that only we, three sisters, would understand. To others it is undefined and to us it is our mom.

For the preparation, she par boiled the fish and took out the bones and separated the skin. Added flavorings such as onions cubes, parsley twigs, garlic paste, pepper powder and the boneless fish are mixed with lentil flour for tightening the mix. You can mix with soaked bread, rice powder, egg whites or any other binding agent also.

She then deep fried the fish balls in refined oil to make perfect golden brown snackie fish balls. For the gravy,  in a wok she heated white oil and sprinkled whole garam masala, bay leaves, onion ginger and garlic paste. She added red chili powder, salt and turmeric powder and continued to stir in slow heat till the oil starts to leave the wok. She then added the fish balls/ koftas, added little warm water and cooked till the gravy thickens to a nice spicy red gravy.

She served the fish kofta with gravy with steamed basmati rice and lots of love.

Tip:

The fried fish balls can also be served on mini skewers and served as snacks and appetizers. Koftas can also be an exciting addition to alfresco dining and the perfect finger food complemented with yogurt dip.

Make this Diwali more special with home made besan ka ladoo

Ladoo. One word speaks enormously of its implications on Indian food and culture. A small rounded ball loaded with goodies (read calories) is conspicuously significant in our lives. No Diwali is complete without ladoos. It is of special significance and is considered auspicious. Though ladoo is of various types- the motichoor ha laddo, sounth ka ladoo, aate ka ladoo, til ki ladoo, dal ka ladoo, nariel ka laddo, the most loved and relishing of them is the ‘ Besan Ka Ladoo’. Here is the easy to make recipe and this Diwali you must try your hands at it.

Heat ghee in a non-stick pan or thick bottomed wok. Add the gram flour and fry it on a low flame stirring continuously till it turns golden brown.Once it is browned, let it cool. Add powdered cardamom and sugar. Add chopped almonds and raisins and more goodies to suit your taste buds. Shape into ladoos and serve.

Sugary Coconut laddus (narkel naru, nariel ka ladu) - A must for festivals in Bengal

The festive fervor never dies here in Bengal and so does the food. The pujas has just passed. The remains of pandal structures almost cleared by the infamous KMC, the festive newness still lingering and will soon usher in the Kali puja with eye catching lights and crackers. It is around the same time, in fact the same day that we will celebrate Diwali - the festival of lights as well. The fervor of Durga puja never dies. it merges with another festival to yet another festival. The festive circle continues and before realizing it's puja time again.

The puja time is beautiful with all its customs, rituals and magnanimity. Food, perhaps, is one of the factors that makes it more alluring. Bengalis are known for their way with the food, and today I will share an age old Bengali custom festival food. It's called 'nadu', 'naru' in our part of the country. It's actually coconut laddus where variant proportion of grated coconut, sugar, jaggery are being mixed to give a lovely texture and taste.

Some use only sugar, which makes it white and some jaggery, which makes it dark brown and some mix both to attain a different texture.

First you have to grate the coconuts finely. Mix it with sugar/ jaggery and stir is continuously in a thick bottomed wok on slow flame. Keep stirring till you attain a sticky texture. Remove from flame and quickly make round circles by moving portions of the mixture between your palms.

Making 'narus' are not as simple as it sounds. You have to be careful to shape off the coconut mixture while the thing is still hot. Be careful not to burn your hands. The nicely shaped 'narus' look beautiful and they taste really good. Go ahead and try it out and keep me updated.


Photo copyright: Mimpi