Planning to get yourself a health insurance? Health insurance is really important especially with all the different kinds of diseases being discovered these days. But before you get one, why not do a little research. There are lots of companies out there which offers different health insurance plans.

Here are a few questions which can help you choose which health insurance plan to consider:

What is the company’s history?
What are the monthly premiums?
Are there deductibles?
Will I have a co-pay?
Who receives coverage?
What is covered?

Remember that it pays to do a little investigation before picking any health insurance plan.

Heart of Palm Spring Rolls

Wrappers:
3 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or corn oil
1 cup cornflour
1/2 teaspoon salt
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) water

Filling:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or corn oil
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1/2 cup finely minced onion
2 cups heart of palm, julienned, or 2 cups canned bamboo shoots, julienned
250 g (1/2 lb) prawns, shelled deveined and minced
250 g (1/2 lb) boiled pork, julienned
1 cup green beans, julienned
salt and ground black pepper to taste
14 lettuce leaves

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
500 ml (2 cups) chicken stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cornflour

1 cup finely crushed peanuts to granish

To make wrappers: beat eggs thoroughly and add the oil. Add the cornflour and salt and stir until dissolved. Add the water and mix well. Heat an omelette pan and pour in a thin coating of batter to make the wrapper. Cook for 1 minute then flipand cook the other side for 1 minute also. Set aside. Repeat until you have made 14 or more wrappers.

For the filling: sauté the garlic and onion in oil. When the garlic browns and onion becomes transparent, add hearts of palm and cook until tender. Stir in the prawn and pork. Cook until tender. Add the green beans and simmer for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Lay the spring roll wrappers on a flat surface. Place a lettuce leaf on each wrapper, part of the leaf should extend beyond the edge of the wrapper. Add 3 tablespoons of filling. Roll and fold one end. Leave the other end open to show the lettuce.

For the sauce: combine all ingradients in a saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over high heat until the sauce thickens. Let cool.

Brush the rolls with sauce and sprinkle with crushed peanuts. Makes about 14 rolls.

Recipe by Reynaldo G. Alejandro and photo by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni from The Food of The Philippines by Periplus World Cookbooks.

What ISO is best for my pictures? - Reader Question

Changing the ISO setting on your camera changes the sensitivity to light of the image sensor inside of it.

The lower number that you select the less sensitive the sensor is to light (and conversely the higher the number the more sensitive it becomes).

This is useful when you’re shooting in different lighting situations - particularly when there’s low light and you might not be able to use a flash (you’d bump up your ISO setting in this case).

The only cost of increasing ISO is that as you do it you’ll notice that the ‘noise’ or ‘grain’ in your shots also begins to increase.

You probably won’t notice this graininess on your images when lookin at them on the LCD on your camera - however when you get them back to your computer they’ll become noticeable with higher ISO settings.

Here’s an example that I’ve used previously with two images taken with exactly the same settings except for the ISO (100 on the left, 3200 on the right). Click it to enlarge to see the difference.

As a general rule you should choose the lowest ISO possible for smooth and grain-free shots.

Of course when photographing low light scenes there may be no other alternative so I’d suggest asking yourself some of the following questions when choosing what to set ISO at:

• Am I hand holding the camera? - when using a tripod you might be able to use a slower shutter speed which would allow you to lower your ISO.

• Is my subject moving? - if your subject is perfectly still (like when shooting a still life) and where you’re using a tripod you’ll be able to slow your shutter speed and lower ISO.

• Do I need a big Depth of Field? - If you don’t need a large depth of field you might be able to increase your aperture which allows more light into the camera and will allow you to lower ISO.

• Can I use some Artificial Light? - using a flash or even switching on a light can help to get more light into your camera - allowing you to decrease your ISO setting.

• Can I get away with Grain? - sometimes a photo can actually look better with grain. Some photographers love the mood and atmosphere that a little noise can add and will bump up their ISO in the hope of getting it.

• How big will the image be enlarged? - the reason that noise is not able to be seen on your camera’s LCD is that it is very small. As a result the pixels in the picture are small also and the grain is unable to be seen. It is only when you enlarge the picture on a larger screen or in printing that it becomes noticeable. If you’re only ever going to use the shot in a small size you can probably get away with a higher ISO.

Keep in mind that it’s only when you shoot in a manual or semi-manual mode that you need to change ISO. When you’re in auto mode or one of your camera’s preset modes it will select the lowest one that it can for you.

Also keep in mind that if you change ISO that you will need to get in the habit of checking what setting is selected at the start of every photo shoot. Many photographers have been disappointed at the end of a shoot to find that they’d forgotten to check what ISO setting they’d left their camera on in their last shoot. There’s nothing worse than thinking you’re shooting at an ISO of 100 only to find you forgot to switch it back from 1600.

Try to get in the habit of not only checking settings before shooting but returning them to a low ISO at the end of a shoot.

(Article from Digital Photography School)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup peanut butter pieces
3/4 cup tiny marshmallows
2/3 cup peanuts
1/2 cup miniature candy-coated semisweet chocolate pieces

In a bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat in the flour on low speed. Spread dough evenly in an ungreased 12- or 13-inch pizza pan.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate and peanut butter pieces. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes or until softened. With spatula, spread melted pieces over crust. Top with marshmallows, peanuts, and miniature candy pieces. Bake about 5 minutes more or until marshmallows are golden. Cool pan on wire rack. Makes 12 servings.

(From eDining.ca. Source: Better Homes & Gardens)

Red wine
lemon
sugar
a cinnamon stick

Serve warm in a wine glass or mug.

From Drinkalizer.com