Write an article based on this "Consider price. Consider the number of cigars you'll likely have on hand. Make sure the humidor you buy is lined with cedar. Select a humidifier for your humidor. Purchase a hygrometer and calibrate it. Season the humidor to create the microclimate."
article: Humidors are available in many different sizes, styles, and price ranges. You don't need to break the bank to get a good-quality humidor in which you can keep great cigars fresh. Online, or at the cigar store, explore options in your price range. You should be able to get a handsome glass-top humidor in which you can control the temperature for less than $60 or $70. Another big cost-difference tends to be temperature and humidity control elements, the quality of which can vary slightly. It would be better to get the smallest-possible humidor for your uses, with the best-quality components. While good-quality cedar chests are the best and most reliable way to store cigars, it's possible to make your own from household ingredients, if you're less of a stickler for supreme quality. Skip to the next method if you want to make your own humidor. There's no sense in investing in a 7-drawer humidor chest that can hold a couple hundred cigars if you only smoke one every now and then. Try to anticipate how many you plan to keep on hand at any given time and get the smallest-appropriate humidor. Desk-top humidors will hold about 25 cigars, while larger cases can hold upward of 150. Humidors with multiple drawers can offer organization solutions, allowing you to keep full boxes of different varieties of cigar in different areas of the humidor, hundreds of sticks on each. These are the most expensive option, several hundred dollars. Travel humidors are small, durable, plastic-backed cases that hold 10 or 15 cigars at a time. If you're going on the road and end up collecting a few cigars, or if you just want a small and durable option, a travel humidor can be a cheap alternative to more expensive desktop varieties. It's important to buy humidors lined with cedar wood, which helps to regulate the humidity and the airflow in the humidor. Plastic or metal humidors, even with the proper humidifying agents, won't maintain as even and optimal a temperature as a cedar humidor. It looks handsome, smells great, and maintains temperature and humidity. Most humidors will come with a humidifier in the case already, but being able to distinguish between the different types and styles of humidification will allow you to make the most informed choice. Sponge-style humidifiers are the most common humidifiers, and the cheapest. These usually line the lid of the humidor, and are soaked with propylene glycol solution, commonly called "PG," which regulates the humidity in the box. The liquid is commonly sold at cigar retailers, for between $6 and $10 a quart. Xikar and Cigar Mechanic are popular brands for soaking the humidifier. Humidor beads are made of moisture-sensitive silica, and are extremely long-lasting, easy to use, and can be recharged periodically to maintain the humidity in the humidor. A package of humidor beads costs between $18 and $20, but will likely never need to be replaced, just recharged. To use them, you'll soak them in distilled water and spritz them with distilled water periodically to maintain humidity. Keeping them stored in a new women's stocking is a perfect way to store them in the humidor. Digital humidifiers are somewhat expensive, but also the most efficient. You can set the electric humidifier to the proper specifications, set it, and forget it. A hygrometer is used to measure the humidor's humidity levels, and are available in both analog and digital models, which can be installed in the humidor, or on the outside. Some humidors come with clock-style hygrometers on the front lip of the humidor, for easy access. Digital hygrometers are ready to go out of the box, but analog hygrometers need to be calibrated before use, to make sure they're reading correctly. To calibrate your hygrometer, close it in a plastic bag with about a tablespoon of salt in a cap for between 6 and 12 hours. When you remove the hygrometer from the bag, it should read 75% humidity. If it doesn't, use a screwdriver to calibrate the back of the hygrometer so it reads 75% and it'll be ready to go. Before you load your humidor with cigars, you need to spend about 7 days humidifying the humidor and preparing the optimum microclimate. It's a simple process, but an important one to prime your humidor and give your cigars the best possible home. To season the humidor, prime the humidifier of your choice, either by soaking the humidity beads, the sponge, or setting the digital humidifier, and putting it in place in the humidor. Pour about a cup of distilled water into a clean cup and place it in the humidor, then blot the walls of the humidor with a very-slightly damp towel. Don't wipe them down, just blot them very gently. Close the humidor and leave it alone for about seven days, watching the temperature and the humidity levels. At the end of the week, you can remove the glass of water and you should be ready to load up the humidor with cigars.

Write an article based on this "Preheat the oven. Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown. Cool the cookies on the pan for several minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling."
article: While the cookies are setting, turn the oven on and set it to 350F (180C). Allow it to heat fully, so it's hot enough to bake the cookies when they're ready. When the cookies are set, place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Let the cookies bake for approximately 8 to 12 minutes, or until they become golden brown at the edges. Depending on the size of the cookie cutters you used, the cookies may need to bake longer. Large cookies may take up to 15 minutes. When the cookies are finished baking, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for about 10 minutes. If you try to move them when they're still hot, they're likely to break. Once they're partially cooled, use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack. Leave them on the rack for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until they're cooled completely. If you didn't decorate your cookies with sugar and sprinkles, you can ice them once they're completely cooled. Store the cookies in airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.

Write an article based on this "Water the soil. Start by laying sod along a long edge. Lay it in a brick-like pattern. Lay sod around hills instead of from top to bottom. Shape the sod around curves. Cut the sod to lay it around trees and other obstacles."
article:
In order for the sod to establish, it's best to start with freshly watered soil. It doesn't need to be soaking wet; just use a sprinkler to lightly moisten everything before you get started. Unroll the first piece of sod next to a driveway or a street. Line it up so that the edge of the sod is exactly aligned with the edge of the yard, with no extra dirt exposed. Carefully unroll the entire piece of sod so that the first long edge is covered. This provides a strong edge against which you'll lay the rest of the sod. Starting from the middle instead will make it tricky to lay the sod in a logical matter without leaving any gaps or short ends. Make sure to roll each piece of sod in the same direction. If you roll a piece in reverse it will look very different from its neighbor, although they will eventually grow to an even appearance. Cut the second strip of sod in half lengthwise, and lay it directly adjacent to the first. Keep laying sod in a staggered, brick-like pattern. Laying sod in this fashion will make the seams less apparent later. Make sure that the edges of the sod butt up against each other without overlapping. Don't leave gaps at the seams; these exposed edges will be prone to drying out and leaving brown spots in the yard. Continue laying sod in this manner until the entire yard is covered and no seams are visible. Use a box cutter to cut shorter pieces of sod where you need to fill in gaps or lay sod around corners. However, leave the sod pieces as large as possible. Don't cut them into smaller pieces unless you need to, since the smaller pieces are more prone to drying out before they get established. Seam all the edges by firmly rolling them together. Avoid walking or kneeling on the sod as you lay it, since this can cause air pockets and indentations to form. Laying the sod horizontally across the hills, rather than vertically along the hills, will prevent the hill from eroding. When the grass roots establish themselves they'll hold the dirt underneath in place. If you lay them vertically, especially on steep hills, you might encounter problems with the strips of sod bunching toward the bottom instead of staying in place on the hill. If needed, purchase sod or landscape "fabric staples" to pin the sod in place. Be sure to mark them clearly or paint them a visible color for removal once the sod has rooted. Since the key is to keep the sod in large pieces whenever possible, you can lay around curves by reshaping it instead of cutting it apart. Drape a large piece of sod next to the curve and pinch it together in a few spots so that the shape of the piece wraps neatly around the curve. Use your cutter to chop off the the raised areas that you pinched, and set aside the two smaller triangular pieces. Now you've essentially created two darts in the sod, allowing it to take on a semi-circular shape. Pull the cut edges of the darts together so that they lay right next to each other, with no gap remaining. If you encounter a tree or another obstacle you need to lay the sod around, drape it over the object and carefully cut the sod so that it fits around the object's base. Save the cutouts so you can use them if you have any small gaps to fill in later. If you're laying sod around a tree, don't lay it right up against the tree's base. Laying it over the roots could damage the tree. Instead, cut out a circle so that the edge of the sod is a few feet from the tree. If you have a lot of trees or other obstacles to work around, you might want to get a sod cutter to make the job a little easier. Cutting shapes out of the sod using just a box cutter can get time consuming.