Summarize the following:
To steam a lobster, you will need tongs, a plate, fresh water, a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, and a steaming rack. If you don't have a steaming rack, use a metal cooling rack or an upside down colander.  To cook more or larger lobsters, you may have to adjust the cooking time, and you may need a larger pot, more water, and an extra tablespoon of salt. You'll need enough fresh water to fill the bottom of the pot, so the size and shape of the pot will determine the amount of water. To cook up to eight pounds (3.6 kg) of lobster at once, use a five-gallon (19 L) pot. Place the steaming rack in the bottom of the pot and fill the bottom with two inches (5 cm) of water. Add the salt to the water. There are a number of salts you can use for this, including:  Sea salt Kosher salt Table Salt Place the pot onto the largest element you have, put on the lid, and heat it over high heat. As the water comes to a boil, prepare the lobster:  Rinse the lobster under cold, running water and place it on a plate, tray, or other flat surface until the water boils. When the water boils, grab the lobster where the head meets the body. Hold the lobster down and carefully remove the rubber bands on the claws by slipping them off or cutting them with scissors. Watch your hands, or you might get pinched. You can leave the bands on during the cooking process if you're worried about getting pinched. The bands may transfer a bit of a rubbery taste to the claw meat. Immediately after removing the bands, remove the lid from the pot and use your hands or tongs to plunge the lobster head-first into the boiling water. If you're cooking more than one, place them in the pot one at a time. Return the lid and bring the water back to a boil. Avoid crowding the pot if you're cooking more than one lobster. If you can't see the bottom of the pot or can't get the lid on properly, you either need a second pot, a larger pot, or you have to cook the lobsters in two batches. As soon as the lobster goes into the water, start your cooking timer or make a note of the time, because the cooking time is based on when the lobster goes into the pot, not when the water returns to a boil. Cooking times for steamed lobsters are:  10 minutes for one pound 12 minutes for 1¼ pounds 14 minutes for 1½ pounds 16 minutes for 1¾ pounds 18 minutes for two pounds 22 minutes for 2½ pounds 20 to 25 minutes for three pounds 40 to 45 minutes for five pounds 50 to 60 minutes for six to seven pound Halfway through the steaming time, take the lid off the pot. Use the tongs to rearrange the lobster in the pot to ensure even cooking.  Return the lid when you're finished and allow the lobster to continue cooking. When you remove the lid, open it away from you first so the steam escapes on the other side and doesn't burn you. Take the pot off the heat, remove the lid, and use the tongs to remove the lobster from the pot. If you're cooking more than one lobster, remove them one at a time. Place the lobster on a baking sheet until it's cool enough to touch.  To stop the cooking process immediately and speed up the cooling, quickly dunk the lobster in and out of a pot of ice water before placing it on the baking sheet. You can tell that lobster is done when the shell goes bright red, the meat goes white, and an antenna comes out with no resistance when it's pulled.

summary: Gather your supplies. Get the pot ready. Heat the water and prepare the lobster. Cook the lobster. Start the timer. Shift the lobster around at the halfway point. Remove the lobsters when they're cooked.


Summarize the following:
Mnemonic devices help make information easier to remember. Create a rhyming song out of the information, or assign an acronym that you won’t forget. This works great with locker combinations, passwords, PINs, and chronological information. If you set the information that you need to know to a catchy tune, it’ll be easier to remember it. Try out nursery rhymes or pop songs to get the information stuck in your head. Writing and speaking are very helpful for remembering information. Try writing down a new phone number or address 20 times when you want to memorize it. Then, turn the paper over and recite the number or address out loud 20 more times. If you don't have a pen or paper, try saying the information out loud to another person, which can also help you remember.  Some people can also benefit from reading the information out loud as they write it. This will help your brain to “access” the information, making it easier to recall when you need it. If writing the information 20 times doesn't help, try 50 or 100 times. It might be time consuming, but it's worth the effort if the information is important. If you’re trying to remember something that you read in a book or article, quiz yourself after you finish a section. Go over the most important information, the main points, and some of the specific information, like statistics, that you read. This is a helpful technique for studying for a test or exam. You can even write up mini-quizzes as soon as you finish reading, and then take them a few hours later to see what you remember. Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking through a place that you’re familiar with, like your house, bedroom, or office. As you’re walking, look around and visualize the items that you need to remember in various places, and come up with a funny or crazy story about why they’re there. Keep going until you’ve included all of the information that you need.  If you have trouble recalling your grocery list or other lists of a lot of information, a memory palace can be extremely helpful. For instance, if you need to remember to get toilet paper, milk, and eggs at the grocery store, you can imagine your office covered in toilet paper because your boss went crazy and threw it there. Then, when you go sit in your desk chair, you sit on a carton of eggs and your boss pours a glass of milk on your head! It’s much easier for people to remember something when there’s a feeling or emotion associated with the memory. Visualize a very vivid funny story about the thing that you need to remember. Make sure you think of every detail, and imagine yourself doing something funny or crazy. For instance, if you need to remember to pick up cake for your friend’s birthday party, you can visualize how funny it would be to push their face into the cake when they blow out their candles! Make the made up story as vivid as possible so you don’t forget it. Think about some places where you go everyday, like your kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Write down the task, date, or information that you need to remember on a sticky note, and then place it somewhere you’ll definitely see it. For example, if you always make a cup of coffee before you leave the house, you can place a sticky note reminder on the “on” button of the machine so that you can’t make your coffee until you look at the note. When you learn something new, try to link it to an established memory in your mind. If it’s a name, think of someone else you know with that name. If you don’t know anyone with that name, make a note of something distinctive about their appearance, like their hair color, and link the name to their appearance. For example, if you meet someone named Rebecca, and she has red glasses, you can remember her name by associating Rebecca with red glasses in your mind. Websites and apps, like MemRise and Anki, have games that help you practice remembering information, tasks, and images. Some games will challenge you to remember the order of chronological events, and others will test your abilities to remember pictures or patterns. Play with these every day to help “exercise” your brain and keep it sharp with their techniques. If you do begin to use these apps, remember to do it every day or you won’t notice much of a difference in your memorization abilities.
summary: Make a mnemonic device to help you remember. Write or say the information repeatedly to remember it. Ask yourself questions about the information. Create a memory palace to remember a list of information. Link the information to a bizarre or funny made-up story. Position sticky notes with the information where you can easily see them. Associate the information with another memory in your mind. Practice remembering things with apps and games.