6.9 Why CVTC's Digital Marketing Program Is A Great Option For Older Students

Learn How To Use Social Media For Business

CVTC’s Digital Marketing program offers cutting-edge classes when it comes to promoting businesses on social media. The instructors teach valuable information from the ground up that gives students powerful tools and insights to build an effective online presence. The program helps students to gain new skills to create quality online content, along with the best practices for posting content that will help them to achieve the greatest results in business.

Ethics, Resources, And Skills

At CVTC, there is a strong emphasis on legal and ethical conduct for graduates to bring into the workforce. The students will have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with a broad range of online resources that will help them in their digital marketing endeavors. Because of the utilization of various Adobe products that are included with the tuition, students are expected to have a pre-approved laptop for the program. Here are just some of the following skills that students will acquire from CVTC's Digital Marketing program: 

• Running a successful online campaign
• Filming and editing quality video
• Recording and editing quality audio
• Designing content that is appealing on the web
• Analyzing data to monitor content engagement
• Achieving a higher ranking for content on various search engines
• Creating a website that will attract and engage customers

6.6 Why I Would Love To Travel To The African Paradise Of Eritrea For My Next Vacation

Eritrea is a cozy East African country located next to the Red Sea. It's capital, Asmara, is like paradise on earth; and this is because of its perfect year 'round temperature of seventy-something degrees, which is due to the high elevation of the city. Whenever I hear stories about Eritrea from my longtime Eritrean girlfriend, I start to romanticize about the country, even though I've personally never visited it. There are current restrictions due to the coronavirus; and The U.S. Department of State gives Eritrea a "Level 3" rating. This is out of their four Travel Advisory Levels which is a warning to "reconsider travel."

A Touch Of European Charm

In the late 1800's Eritrea was occupied by Italy and they invested a considerable amount of capital into the country's infrastructure. Most of the architecture still exists today. The streets are paved with cobblestone; and there are still a plethora of ornate cathedrals to observe. The people either ride bikes or drive Italian cars. Outside of Italy, Eritrea has some of the most exquisite Italian food and beverages found anywhere in the world. Here is what you will find: 

• Pizza
• Pasta
• Gelatos
• Cappuccinos
• Italian Spirits

Beach Parties By The Red Sea

Most nights are filled with music and festivities at the pristine beaches in Eritrea's beautiful port city of Massawa. People often flock to the Red Sea to enjoy the therapeutic healing properties of the pure saltwater, but others love the parties on the sandy beaches, which go all night under the starry skies. The Dahlak Archipelago, which is a series of islands in the Red Sea, also belongs to Eritrea; and they stand alone as a highly sought-after hotspot for tourism and luxury. Flights to Eritrea currently cost around $1500. Check out our other blogs and consider booking your own flight to Eritrea. 

Sources Used:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Eritrea.html 

https://www.priceline.com/m/fly/search/ORD-ASM-20201024/ASM-ORD-20201031/?cabin-class=ECO&no-date-search=false&num-adults=1&refclickid=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&sbsroute=slice1&search-type=1111&vrid=91b5a1c06e55cdeb8b2e44f1fe56812d

4.6 Tricks I Used To Cook The Most Delicious Pizzas You've Never Tasted Back In The Nineties

Slow nights at work

It was the nineties, and I was going to college and working part-time at a pizza joint. The restaurant only served thin-crust pizzas and they were considered the best in town. I did notice, however, that the restaurant had one pan for a deep-dish/Chicago style, and I always found it peculiar, because nothing like that was on the menu. 

Some nights during the middle of the week would be slow with few customers, and that gave me all the time in the world to experiment. With that pan, I would craft the most delicious pizzas that were completely unavailable to the public; and I want to share some of the tricks and techniques that I used back then to achieve those results. The point of this blog is not to give a recipe with exact measurements but to show techniques that may enhance your own pizza making endeavors.

The crust

Here is the following sequence of steps I would use in order to make an extraordinary crust:

1. Cover the deep-dish pan thoroughly with olive oil...the more the better. 
2. Roll out some dough until it's thin (the restaurant had a machine for this). 
3. Spin the dough into the air to make it even thinner. 
4. Fill the oiled pan completely with the dough (remember, this is a flattened dough intended for a thin-crust pizza, but it needs to cover the entire inside of the pan, right up to the top edges).
5. Spread butter with garlic seasoning (used for garlic bread) all over the crust...this is the "magic" ingredient. 
6. Roll out the second batch of dough and place it over the first layer of dough with the butter on it. 
7. Roll a rotary perforating tool over the second layer in order to put small holes in the crust (you want the garlic butter to evenly seep through both crust layers and cook within them).

The toppings

A technique I consistently used was to load the pizzas up with a more concentrated (less watered down) pizza sauce in order to increase the tanginess of the flavor. The sauce was trapped in the multi-layer crust within the pan, which prevented a mess and increased the blending of flavors. Some pepperoni slices were added next; and then I topped it off with the following cheeses that, with the exception of mozzarella, were unavailable in the restaurant:

• Asiago
• Romano
• Parmesan
• Mozzarella
  

One trick I've found is that combining many types of cheeses will enhance the complexity of flavors in any dish. Last, I would place the entire pan into the brick oven and cook it until it was evenly browned. 

The result

Getting the pizza out of the pan was tricky, but once I did and sliced it in eight pieces, it was a thing of beauty to behold. Imagine a crust that tastes and feels similar to a buttery pie crust, with a flaky texture. Tangy, flavorful red sauce oozed out the side, and the savory mixture of the different Italian cheeses on top was just slightly burned to perfection. The combination of flavors would give it a richness that I've never tasted since...even on my trips to Chicago, I still can't find pizza like the ones I crafted back in the day. I hope you can find some of these ideas helpful in your own cooking and if you liked what you read please check out some of my other blogs.

DISCLAIMER These were dishes I made for personal consumption and in no way reflect techniques used by any restaurants or corporations that I previously worked at.

 

3.6 The Day I Purchased My First Home In My Late Twenties

  

I remember that October day when I was 28 years old and was handed the keys to my very first house. It was a big step for me because I’d spent the last few years moving from place to place, virtually homeless, “shacking up” with women. I had saved enough for a down payment and finally decided to purchase a house on the west side of the town I lived in. When that day arrived and the deal was to be closed, I still had a degree of uncertainty, but looking back, I would do it all over again.

That morning I found myself sitting in a beige office at Century 21, with a giant stack of paperwork in front of me. The realtor and I were going over the details of the payment plan. Nobody ever explained compound interest to me before and when I saw the charts, I felt conflicted. I said something to the effect, “So if I only pay the minimum monthly payments, I’m going to have to pay three times what this place is worth.” He nodded to confirm what I had assumed. I knew it was going to be a big responsibility, but I signed the paperwork anyway. Owning a house would prove to be better than paying rent because after a while at least some of those payments would be going toward my own net worth. Upon signing, the keys were placed in my hand and the house was officially mine.

When I opened the door to let myself (and my large gray cat) inside, it was like being handed a blank sheet of paper. It bookmarked the beginning of a new chapter in my life, full of possibilities yet to be written. It was beyond exciting. The day itself was dreary and the cold air poured through the drafty windows, but as I walked from room to room looking at the white walls, I pondered over the realization that I could paint those walls whatever colors I chose. There was also the newness of having to fill the house with things…curtains, a television, furniture, and towels. I'll always remember that same night, when I picked up a frozen pizza; and as I walked out of the store, I immediately turned around and went back into the store saying to myself, “You don’t even have a pizza cutter.”  

It felt good to own a home because it made me feel like I was a part of the American experience, and I finally had some stake in what happened in the country. I grew up seeing my parents and grandparents owning houses...now I was one of their peers. As a young single guy, I created some of my fondest memories in that house. I associate those times with freedom, happiness, and tranquility; and I was proud of the life I had started building for myself, wishing I had done it sooner. I would encourage any young person to permit him/herself the same adventure.

The Day I Purchased My First Home In My Late Twenties

I remember that October day when I was 28 years old and was handed the keys to my very first house. It was a big step for me because I’d spent the last few years moving from place to place, virtually homeless, “shacking up” with women. I had saved enough for a down payment and finally made the decision to purchase a house on the west side of the town I lived in.

I sat in the office at Century 21, with a giant stack of paperwork in front of me. The realtor and I were going over the details of the payment plan. Nobody ever explained compound interest to me before. I said something to the effect, “So if I only pay the minimum monthly payments, I’m going to have to pay three times what this place is worth.” He nodded in agreement. But, I signed the paperwork anyway...owning a house was better than paying rent because after a while at least some of those payments would be going toward my own net worth. After that, the keys were in my hand and the house was officially mine.

When I opened the door to let myself, and my large gray cat inside, it was like being handed a clean sheet of paper. There was a new chapter in my life full of possibilities yet to be written. It was exciting. I looked at the white walls and pondered over the concept that I could paint the walls whatever colors I chose. I had to fill the house with things…curtains, a television, furniture, and towels. That night I purchased a frozen pizza, and as I walked out of the store, I immediately turned around and went back in saying to myself, “wait a second, you don’t even own a pizza cutter.”  

It felt good to own a home because it made me feel like I was a part of the American experience, and I finally had some stake in what happened in the country. As a young single guy, I created some of my fondest memories in that house. I associate those times with freedom, happiness, and tranquility; and I was proud of the life I had started building for myself. I would encourage any young person to do the same.