INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Season as desired. You can also use potato, rice starch or tapioca. Mix about 2 teaspoons of any of these ingredients with a little water or milk, and then add these into the boiling stew, slowly while stirring. Potato starch gives a different kind of elasticity, more of the dessert kind. If none of the above options is available to you, try to add thickness by being creative. For example, you could try adding instant mashed potato powder, instant sauce mix, or even crushed crackers, although they are not ideal. Take some of the stew broth and pour it into a medium mixing bowl. Let the broth cool if hot. Hot broth will cook the cornstarch before you have had time to mix it, and it will be a lumpy mess. Add a small amount (1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon) of cornstarch to the broth. Mix it in until there are no lumps. A mixer works great here. When mixing is finished, pour back into the stew, and mix thoroughly. This is called a slurry. You could also use wine to create this. Turn up the heat, and keep stirring. This will help to prevent the mixture from clumping together. Cornstarch is similar to flour in its use as a thickening agent. Guar gum is another thickening agent that is used in industrial food processing to thicken sauces and such. If you can get your hands on it, use very little because it has 8 times the thickening effect that cornstarch has. Combine the contents of the packet with a little water until smooth. Stir it in a bowl. A typical packet will thicken two cups of liquid to a gravy consistency and add a little more beefy flavor. Most packet gravies are cornstarch based, and mimic the effects of a slurry (cornstarch mixed with a little water until smooth). Arrowroot is a good gluten free option. If the stew is already prepared and is too thin, gradually stir in your arrowroot thickener, starting with about 1/2 teaspoon of thickener, and adding more to taste as the stew thickens. Remember, you must stir slowly and constantly at medium heat to thicken, so do not get impatient and add too much thickener at once. Arrowroot has more of a neutral flavor than cornstarch. It can also be used at varying temperatures without losing its ability to thicken foods. It tolerates acidic ingredients better than cornstarch and it can be cooked for a longer length of time.

SUMMARY: Add a dash of double cream or creme fraiche to make the stew smooth. Use cornstarch to create the roux instead of flour. Try a packet of beef gravy mix. Choose a gluten free option.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you are planning to fit the box into a specific spacesay, you are building a planter box for your garden, or you are stacking boxes of belongings into a moving van&messy;make sure to check your box measurements against that space. Measuring a space is much like measuring a box. If your box needs to fit along three axeslength, width, and heightthen measure those axes. If your box only needs to fit into a two-dimensional space on the ground, and height is not an issue, then only measure the length and the width. If you can physically bring the box to the space where it will rest: do so. This is the easiest way to ascertain whether the box will fit. If you cannot do so, visit the space with a tape-measure and the box dimensions that you wrote down. Imagine that the box is sitting in the space before you, and use the tape-measure to mark out the edges of the box. Simply multiply the length of a side by its width to find the area. In most cases, you will not need to know the area of the box sides but it may come in handy to know how many boxes you can fit into, say, a five-foot-by-five-foot storage space. For example: If the bottom of the box is 10 inches wide and 15 inches long, you can multiply 10" x 15" to get 150 square inches. This is the area of the bottom of the box.

SUMMARY: Measure the space where the box will sit. Calculate the area of each side.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Unless you're planning to hold frequent parties, you're probably looking for a reasonably quiet apartment. Walk around both outside and inside the apartment building and see if there are any prospective sources of loud noises that could keep you from resting when you're home. If 1 building in a large complex seems like it will be too loud, ask the property manager if they can offer you a room in another on-site building. For example, if the building houses the indoor pool, gym, or party room, you may experience more noise than you can tolerate. A building that's within a few dozen yards of a freeway, railroad tracks, or commercial buildings that take early deliveries, also experience a lot of noise. Elevators can be noisy, as can exit doors to stairways. If your apartment is near the entrance, you will have to listen to neighbors walking past your door at all hours. Many sizeable apartment buildings or one in urban locations lock a gate at night to keep out non-residents. Talk to the property manager and make sure that the gate is routinely locked nightly. The slight inconvenience of having to stop and use your key to enter the building is often worth the peace of mind you get from knowing that you won't be easy prey for criminals, door-to-door salespeople, and people who would hang take-out menus on your doorknob. If all of the apartment doors open to the outside and there's not a fence around the property, this step won't be relevant. The way the building interior is kept reflects the quality of the apartment overall. A clean, well-lit, and well-maintained interior will also help you feel safer and more at home. If the interior hallways are dimly lit and covered in cobwebs, the doors are unpainted, and the carpet is filthy, find a different building. These are signs of negligent management, and indicate that cleanliness isn't a priority to the maintenance crew. Also keep your eyes open for any signs of bug or rodent infestations, leaky ceilings, or broken windows. It also wouldn't hurt to research the age of the building online. An older building may result in higher premiums for your renter's insurance because it isn't up to the latest safety codes. The people who live around you in an apartment building can have a large impact on what living there is like. For example, an apartment may be appealingly cheap because the building is near the local college and full of partying, noisy students. Or, the building may be the last resort for troublesome tenants who've been evicted from better places. These are both good reasons to choose another building. You can also ask the apartment manager or the building's owner what the tenants are like. Or, spend an hour or 2 walking through the halls and make polite conversation with residents who emerge from their rooms. It would also be wise to read online reviews of the apartment building to find out what previous residents have to say about the noise levels, cleanliness, and management.

SUMMARY:
Gauge how noisy an apartment will be based on its surroundings. Ask if the building's outside door or gate is locked at night. Confirm that the building's interior is well-kept and clean. Meet your prospective neighbors and find out what they're like.