Home and Garden Focus
Safe Summer Fun in the Sun

By Jane B. Jones

After returning from a vacation at the beach, I am concerned about the number of adults who appear unconcerned about protecting their skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Adults serve as role models to children by the way they treat their skin. Remember to teach children the importance of using sunscreen and sun block when playing outdoors.

Here are some facts you should know about skin cancer, which is the most common form of cancer:
• More than half of all new cancers are skin cancers.
• More than one million people will be diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (the most common form of skin cancer) this year.
• The incidence of Melanoma (the rarest form of skin cancer, but most dangerous) is increasing rapidly in women under the age of 40.
• Melanoma has been associated with individuals who received painful, blistering sunburns as children or teenagers. It is the single most life-threatening type of skin cancer. If detected early, melanoma can often be treated successfully, but in the later stages it spreads to other organs and can result in death.
• The Sun Protection Factor, or SPF, on sunscreen products indicates how much longer you can remain in the sun before burning while wearing sunscreen compared to your time to burn without the use of sunscreen. For example, let’s say your skin would burn in ten minutes. If you use a sunscreen with SPF 15, you can stay in the sun 15 times longer (150 minutes or 2 ½ hours) before burning than if you did not wear sunscreen.
• Applying a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 15 should be a part of your year-round daily care routine. One idea is to use facial moisturizers with sunscreen and apply them to ears, neck and chest as well as your face.
• Apply sunscreen liberally. Reapply every 2 hours when outdoors. Even waterproof sunscreen can come off when you towel off.
• Cloud cover is no cover! It is a myth that the clouds filter out the sun’s harmful rays. Up to 80% of UV radiation gets through cloud cover and straight to your skin, so use sunscreen all year long.

Summer is all about fun, but it’s always important to take care of yourself and to set a positive example for your young ones. Good habits formed now will serve them well for a lifetime!

Considering Making A Move?

When you’re thinking about making a move, the first steps in home buying process are fairly simple. First, decide when you want to make your move. Next, consider how much money you would like to spend. Continue by thinking about what type of home you would like to purchase, and in what area of your chosen region you would most like to live. The next step is usually finding out how much you can qualify for and deciding the type of financing that will work best for you.

If you’re in the “thinking about it” stage, you will want to speak with a lender about receiving pre-qualification. If you chose to become pre-qualified, the lender will determine how much you can borrow based on financial information you provide to the lender. Pre-qualification is useful for making preliminary decisions about how much you can afford, but does not assess your credit-worthiness. You will need to let your lender do a credit check to determine your credit-worthiness, as well as verify your employment and income. The lender’s pre-approval is a commitment to loan up to a certain pre-determined amount.

Why is pre-approval important at the beginning of the process? Pre-approval strengthens your offer and negotiating position. A home seller will often choose an offer that is pre-approved for a mortgage over someone whose financial picture is still in question. Planning is the key to the successful purchase of your next home.

Increase Confidence for Better SAT and ACT Scores

By Fran Fookes

More than three million college admissions tests are administered each year, making the SAT and the ACT two of the most important exams that a high school student will ever take. In order to perform at their best, students should become familiar with the style and types of questions on the tests in order to avoid “trap-door answers.” In addition, students should boost their reading and vocabulary skills and learn specific process of elimination strategies. Above all, students need to work through as many practice questions and tests as possible in the weeks and months leading up to the actual exam.

Following are some tips that can help students as they take these important tests:

Unlike the SAT, the ACT has no scoring penalty for incorrect answers, so never leave an ACT question blank.
On the SAT, by eliminating at least two incorrect answers for every question you’re unsure about, you will mathematically beat the odds of the test and raise your score.
Since the test’s instructions will not change, don’t waste time reading the instructions on the day of the test, you should already know them.
Never spend too much time on any single question—it’s just not worth it. It’s better to lose one point on a difficult question than to lose 10 points because you ran out of time on the last part of a section.
If you are unsure of a question, circle it and come back to it if time permits.
Don’t get bogged down on the difficult questions before you have racked up as many points as possible on the easy and medium questions.

While the methods they use vary, most college-bound students do prepare for the SAT and ACT test. In a recent survey of over 2000 college bound teens, 90% either had prepared or planned to do some sort of preparation for the test. Working from a prep handbook was the most popular method. Others joined study groups. Over 50% took a prep class either online or in person. Of those who did take a prep class, 83% reported a high satisfaction with that help. It boosted their confidence as they took they test.

FOOD
Easy Raspberry Lemonade Pie

By Marie Lemoine

The hot steamy weather of August may tempt you to skip healthy nutritious meals in favor of cool, sugary treats. Never give in! Just get in an August mindset and try some cool, easy to prepare foods that use the outdoor grill rather than the stove, and let the refrigerator and freezer chill out the rest of the meal. Quickly grilled meats and vegetables, or refrigerated salads of chicken or ham, along with lots of fresh garden vegetables and tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers for salads, along with some store in the freezer desserts will help keep you cool. This cool delicious recipe is from the late Mrs. Faye Escude Truex, a true friend of the Avoyelles Tourism Commission, and is featured in “Je Ne Mesure Pas!” (The I Don’t Measure Cookbook) one of many cookbooks available for sale in our office.

1 Can (6 ounce) Frozen Lemonade
1 Can (10 ounce) Condensed Milk
1 Container (8 ounce) Whipped Topping
¼ Cup Raspberry Preserves (seedless)
1 9-inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Mix lemonade and condensed milk well. Fold in whipped topping and preserves. Place in pie shell. Freeze for 4 hours or until very firm. Allow frozen pie to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with mint leaves and lemon slices if desired. Serves 8.

FOOD
Black Skillet Roasted Bream or White Perch with Aromatic Wild Veggies

By Chef Fett

4 Bream or White Perch
2 Carrots (shaved and blanched in hot water)
1 Onion
2 Cloves Garlic (crushed, diced finely)
1/2 Coffee Cup Sunflower Oil (for the tree huggers) or Whole Unsalted Butter (for you true Southerners)
1 Small Bunch Celery (just by the frozen stuff—it will be faster for the lazy people like myself that don't cook when we get home)
1 Small Bunch Parsley (chopped)
2 Bunches Fresh Bruised Basil
1 Beer Mug Tear Drop Tomatoes
1 Link Sausage (your favorite—grilled and chopped) Grilled then chopped.
1 Bag Angel Hair Pasta
1 Lemon
1 Orange
1 Leek Stalk (finely chopped and held in ice water to relax and wash away excess dirt)
6 Quarts Water
2 Cups Corn Flour (not corn meal)
1lb Fresh Lump Crab Meat or Peeled and De-veined Baby Shrimp

In a large stock pot, bring water to a boil. Season and add olive oil so pasta doesn't stick together as angle hair is known to do. Cook pasta, drain and set aside. No, you don't do this first, do it while everything else is working. Heat your grandmaw's big cast iron skillet until it turns white with heat. In a large sauté pan, heat the cooking fat you choose, add in and sauté everything but the lemon, orange and fish. Let cook until natural juices are simmering in pan along with butter.

Clean fish, remove intestines, wash and season with chef's swamp love seasoning, or whatever you want. Stuff fish with cooked mixture then dredge in corn flour. Add butter to Maw Maw's hot black skillet, carefully or from a distance throw in fish. Let cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, and finish in 350 degree oven for 3 minutes to keep crispness and finish cooking.

Toss cooked pasta in a warm infused olive oil. Place fish on top, garnish with leftover butter sauce and tear drop tomatoes. Feeds four big eaters or six skinny people.

Electronics
The End Of The (Analog) World Is Near!

By Kenny Simpson

I wrote the heading about the end of the world in jest because I just had to poke fun at all of the hoopla that’s been raised about the switch to HDTV. It has been well advertised, talked about, written abou, and every broadcast station is running some sort of infomercial declaring that the deadline to turn off the analog signal will be here next February. I’ve written several articles chronicling what will take place and how it will affect each television, and still we have people coming in with worried looks on their faces declaring they heard all TV’s won’t work next year. People, people, people. Get a grip! It’s going to be O.K.

The only televisions that really will be affected will be those connected to an antenna. If you have an analog TV and you receive your programs out of the air, you will need to get a digital converter box to connect your antenna to, then the converter box will change the digital signal back to analog which will play on your old TV. There, that was easy.

And, it will be cheap. Uncle Sam will offset the cost of up to two digital conversion boxes per household with a coupon good for $40.00 each. That leaves your cost for each box at about ten or twenty dollars. After you have hooked up your converter, you probably will notice that you’re able to pick up more stations than you did before. That’s because digital broadcast signals travel further, and degrade less over a longer distance than analog does, and that’s one of the reasons to switch to digital. Another benefit will be clearer reception of the stations that you do receive, as well as the potential for better audio. So, after you get over the stress of having to make a change, you will probably find that you actually like the new system.

If you have an analog TV and receive your broadcasts from the cable company, you have nothing to do. They will probably continue to show the channels you are used to in the channel slots that you are accustomed to. For example, KALB-Channel 5 will still be on cable channel five in analog, and if you have an HDTV, you will have a choice of watching Channel 5 in analog, or the higher resolution version in digital.

If you have an analog television and you receive your programs by satellite, you also have nothing to do. TNT, CNN, ESPN, etc. will all still be there just as they have been. Your satellite company may add some channels or move some around, but things will pretty much be the same. The only concern would be if you are using rabbit ears or an outdoor antenna (like the little half circle that attaches to the dish) to receive local broadcasts. If you watch KALB, KLAX, LPB, WNTZ, etc. from an antenna to supplement your satellite, then you would be subject to the requirements I gave about using a converter box. Simply connect the antenna wire to a digital converter box, then the satellite receiver, and you will be picking up all your local channels again.

If you still have questions, you can come speak to one of the specialists at Simpson Electronics and they will ease your concerns about the changes taking place. With new flat panel HDTV’s selling for as little as $349 dollars, you may just skip buying the box.