Valentines Day is a day of love a day set aside to tell the people around us how much we care. Be it a spouse, a friend, or a parent, we show our loved ones how much they mean to us by delivering them with sentimental cards, flowers, candy, and gifts. It is the one day of the year when all out romanticism in all its forms is expected and accepted. When it comes to Valentines Day we all seem to have our own ways of celebrating. For some that means a special dinner at a restaurant. For others, it means tickets to a show. And for still others, it means a special Valentines Day treat that we wait for all year long. Valentine cookies are here just prior to and on February 14th and gone the day after. So for many, buying or making these sweet treats are part of their celebration of love.

Valentine cookies come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. You can simply head to your local grocery market where youll surely find cookies of all kinds packaged and ready to be bought. This is a perfect idea for those classroom parties for which youve been asked to supply treats. Most often these are simple sugar cookies decorated with all manner of Valentine decorations from frosting to sprinkles. This certainly makes any parents job easier; you can just pick up a couple of trays of Valentine cookies and youre on your way with cookies that will surely please every picky eater.

Of course the bakery is another place to find your Valentine cookies. Here youre likely to find a more high-end cookie with better quality ingredients. If you are presenting the Valentine cookies as a gift or bringing them to someones home this is a great place to get them. The bakery can wrap the cookies in a tray or box them in beautiful wrapping. Either way youre giving a lovely and sweet gift.

There are even online resources where you can find unique and creative Valentine cookies that you can box and ship to whomever you choose. Some companies will even do personalized messages on large Valentine cookies from I Love You to Will You Marry Me?. This is a wonderful personal gift for the cookie lover in your life.

Valentine cookies are another sweet way to let someone know you care. No matter what kind of cookies you choose, it is guaranteed that the person to whom you give them will be thrilled with such a gift.

For easy to understand, in depth information about Valentine cookies visit our ezGuide 2 Valentines.

How to stop smoking? Hey, it's the easiest thing in the world, I have done it a hundred times... So goes the hoary old joke. It brings a smile from some, a frown from the others and hacking cough from the smokers.

It is no joke for the smokers, however they may smile at it. At heart every smoker wants to stop. Many of them are knowledgeable enough to know how, but cant quit the fags because the habit is too deeply ingrained.

A) What wont work?

Gradually decreasing it.
Buddy, the nicotine wont let you quit. It is too powerful an adversary and too cunning for you. You will find the gradual decrement plan going fine, until the day you have an excuse to forget it (tension, overwork, circumstances, party etc.).

Depending on medicines.
Medicines only help to reduce the craving. But seriously, do you smoke only when the urge hits you? Isnt it true that most of the time you smoke casually, whether there is a physical urge or not?

Talking continuously about it.
While you may think that it will help to keep the issue the uppermost in your mind, it will most probably lead to you being ridiculed in case you fail to quit. Also, words being cheap, it will begin to sound like empty boast.

Nicotine substitutes.
These are substitutes. They arent really the solution. Sooner or later you will revert to the real nicotine.

B) So, What will work?

Well, thats what this article is about

1) Strengthen your resolve
First of all, I thank and congratulate you on having come so far with me. It shows that there is hope for you yet You have already proved that you can take tough talk and are determined to go through with it. Thats the first step.

Next, Analyze your smoking pattern, How many in a day? How often? When do you really have the urge (usually on waking up, after meals or generally after consuming anything orally)? When do you smoke maximum (with friends, alone, with drinks, under stress etc)

Number three, list down your reasons for a) smoking, and b) wanting to quit. I am a big advocate of putting things down on paper. It shows a commitment Number four, take someone into confidence. A friend, a family member, a medical worker or, best of all, a sympathetic ex-smoker.

These steps are keystones (preparations) for the big event. The only thing is that the big event is not a one off. It is a continuous obsession.

2) Back to basics
Now lets revert to the point A) above. I was less than generous when I said definitely that these things wont work. These things do help, specially reducing consumption. Every cigarette less means approximately 5 minutes more to live. Also, it helps to strengthen your resolve, which is the first step.

You see, archaic though it sounds, Will is a sure shot solution. So, unless you strengthen it, you will most likely fail. Why? - Remember that I said Will and NOT Will Power They are different, 'Will Power' implies a struggle, where as using your Will, implies that its going to be easy. Let me explain:

Do you need will power to smoke? NO
Do you need will power to eat your favorite Ice-cream? NO
Now to do one of the two above activities, is easy because it is your Will and NOT Will Power.

The steps in the wont work topic are generally the excuses that frequent relapsers offer. But they are helpful in their own way. What is important is not only the steps leading up to it, but maintaining the tempo once you have reached the crucial stage of ZERO cigarettes a day.

3) Penultimate stage Quitting it By the time you have worked on stages 1 and 2 above, you would be feeling strong enough to risk quitting it. As the experts suggest, you should decide on a date. NOT like a new years resolution - More like a new Quit Smoking Revolution! Youre the leader of the campaign and then just go for it!

Are you ready to quit smoking? We can take this quit smoking journey together and make real progress to a healthier life.

When you want to cook shrimp but have never done it before you will need to know how to cook shrimp. There are many ways that you can use when cooking shrimp. The way that you choose will depend on the way that you like to do it. You can find out very easily how to cook shrimp when you look on the internet or buy a cookbook about shrimp. However, here is how to cook shrimp to help you get started.

One thing before you learn how to cook shrimp is that you want to buy shrimp that is frozen with their shells still on if you can. You dont have to but the shells will help to protect the meat of the shrimp and add more flavor to it. You can either cook the shrimp with their shells off or leave the shells on and then remove them after you have cooked them.

I am going to tell you how to cook a pound of shrimp so if you want to cook less or more than a pound you will have to find out how. It will be pretty much the same for all batches of shrimp, you will just have to use more or less of everything to cook it.

For a pound of shrimp you will want to bring two quarts of water to a boil. You will then want to salt the water lightly. If you prefer you can add lemon juice to the water, this is optional though so do it however you prefer.

Once the water is at a boil you will want to shut off the heat that is under the water. You then add the shrimp to the water all at once. Once in the water you want to let them steep for about 3 to 5 minutes. Shrimp are better when you cook them gently.

You will want to check to see if the shrimp is done by cutting one in half. If the flesh is opaque throughout then the shrimp is done. When they are done you will want to get them out of the water immediately. If you cooked them with the shell on then you will want to now take the shell off. Here are a few other ways that you can use when cooking shrimp. You can quickly boil or poach them, which is the most common method, put them in a skillet with butter or oil, in a fryer, on a barbecue grill, a steamer, or in a hot oven.

When you learn how to cook shrimp you may want to learn about how to do it a couple of different ways until you find the way that you like the best. Shrimp is good no matter what way you do it if you dont overcook it. Learn what you can before you start cooking shrimp so you dont ruin the shrimp since it is expensive to buy.

For more information on How to Cook Shrimp try visiting http://www.askchefshawn.com/ where you will find a variety of information and resources including recipes on Shrimp