Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Volume 4, Issue 25, Tuesday June 26, 2007

 

 

Shop Talk

Working out in a gym everyday might not be easy for those who are workaholics and/or food lovers. Sometimes the best you can do is buy an exercise machine to workout at home while you can listen to music or watch your favourite show.

Gym Balls
Exercise balls should be purchased according to your body height. The ball should be inflated to the point where it becomes firm. It comes with an instruction book that helps you to know what kind of exercises can be done with its help. It comes in a price range of Taka 1500 to Taka 2000 (according to the size). You can check out sports stores like Body and Sports located in both Banani and Panthapath.

Treadmills
We're all familiar with this term. Running is a really good way to tone your legs. The extra bulk in your legs is the muscle building up under the fat, and soon the fat will go away if you keep exercising. Nowadays commercial treadmills come with TV monitors at price range of Taka 4 lakh, 95 thousand while the small ones suitable for home cost between Taka 4200 to Taka 1 lakh, 50 thousand. You can go for a brand like American Motion Fitness, a Taiwanese product. Various sports shops around town sell them.

Sit-up Bench
This helps to reduce fat from the belly area and tones your hands as well. One of the best products for this is Ab King Pro, a Chinese product costing around Taka 3500 to Taka 4000. This is available at sporting stores around town.

 

Electrical Exercise Bikes
Many people find they ride more (and get more exercise) when they have electrical assistance. This helps movement of both hands and legs and reduces unwanted fat especially from your thighs. “Top It” is a known brand for this product. This costs between Taka 9000 to Taka 11,000.

 

By Tashmia Zaman


A True Taste Of Asia

French Toast Soufflés (Baked French Toast)
Ingredients

8 slices cubed fresh bread
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, cut into cubes
12 eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups milk

Method
Place half of the bread cubes in the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking pan. Cover bread with cream cheese squares. Top with remaining bread cubes. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Combine maple syrup and milk. Pour over bread cubes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 45 minutes until set. Serve with maple syrup on the side.
Garnish with fresh strawberries if desired.

Ande Ki Bhorji (Indian Scrambled Eggs)
Ingredients

6 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Chopped cilantro for garnishing (optional)
1 or 2 green chilli peppers, seeded and thinly sliced for garnishing (optional)

Method
Beat the eggs, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderate heat and sauté the onions until tender and golden but not brown, for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cumin and sauté for 30 seconds. Reduce the heat to low and add the egg mixture. Stir frequently until the eggs are cooked as desired.
Serve garnished with cilantro and chilli peppers if desired.

Ginger Rice Pudding
Ingredients

100 grams rice
250 ml milk
200 ml whipped fresh cream
5 grams gelatine
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 gram chopped glace ginger
75 grams sugar

Method
Soak rice in water for 30 minutes; strain; add milk and gently poach on low heat until rice is cooked and milk thickens. Add vanilla essence. Moisten gelatine with a little cold water; melt over low heat and add to rice mixture. Add chopped glace ginger and sugar and some ginger syrup.
When cool, fold in whipped cream. Place in small individual ring moulds or in medium sized spring form cake tins.
Allow to set in refrigerator

Banana Chapatti
Ingredients

2 cups wheat flour
1 ripe banana
Milk, as required
1 tbsp oil/ghee

Method
Take the flour in a mixing bowl. Mash the banana to a fine paste without peeling and squeeze it out into the flour. Note that the dough gets very sticky as it has the banana. Now add in the warm milk as required. Since the dough gets sticky, while you add the milk, try to add it in little quantities as needed while kneading. Knead it into a soft dough. A tablespoon of oil/ ghee can be added to the dough. Allow it to stand for 15 minutes. Heat the girdle/wok. Pluck out the required quantity of dough to make a chapatti. Roll it to a puri size while dusting it with flour. Brush it with oil on top. Fold to a quarter and roll into a round shape, the same way you make chapattis. Fry and toss them; you may add a drizzle of ghee/oil while you do this. Remove from heat and serve hot.

Tips

Leather Goods maintenance

Leather is a popular choice for furniture, car interiors, clothes and accessories. And along with cozy leather sofas and great shoes comes the frustration of keeping them clean. Taking good care of leather is something people tend to ignore. They often forget that leather items require maintenance just like everything else in your wardrobe or house. In order to keep your leather goods looking their best, you need to take care of them.

Disinfecting: Often times people ask if leather can be disinfected. The answer is no. Forget all the stuff you've heard about rubbing it down with alcohol- that just destroys the leather's finish. However, you can remove a stain such as ink by dipping a cotton swab with alcohol and applying it right on the spot. Dry the area with a blow dryer. If the stain still remains after drying, apply a thick coat of non-gel, non-oily cuticle remover. Leave on overnight, and then wipe off with a damp cloth. The fact is that regardless of what you may use, leather is an organic, permeable surface and unlike latex, rubber, or vinyl it can't be disinfected.

Polishing: Take a little Kiwi-type shoe polish (the hard wax in the tub), or soft crème such as a Meltonian-type polish, and freshen up your leather goods with a good polish.

Removing dark stains: To remove stains from light-colored leather upholstery, mix a paste of one part lemon juice with one part cream of tartar. Rub the paste on the stain and leave in place for about ten minutes. Apply another layer of the paste; work it in; then remove with a damp sponge and moisturising soap.

Waterproofing: Some items can be sprayed with shoe waterproofer, but since there is usually a suede side to things, this may only help a little. However, if you have something with finished leather all around, then you might find that it will help to protect your leather from any "showers" it might encounter.

Using saddle soap: This should be used only in situations where you want to soften your leather, because that is what it will do. If you saddle soap your jacket, it will end up like a limp rag, so think about what you use on which piece. It will also tend to remove some of the colour. Neutral Kiwi-type polish may be a better choice, if black is not the colour involved. There are some colours available in the hard wax polish if you look around. For general leather cleaning, use a moisturising soap such as Dove. Lather on a soft cloth, and wash the item to remove dirt and grime. Do not wet the leather too much, and do not rinse after washing. Just buff with a soft cloth; this allows the moisturising soap to condition the leather. Polish as usual.

While you might have to go a tad bit out of the way to clean your leather pieces, a little care will take them a long way.

By Tashmia Zaman

 

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