Problem: Article: If you feel like inventing your own salad, move on to the next step to begin the step-by-step instructions. If you're looking for something faster, here are a few well-tested ideas that can stand at the center of your meal:  Chef's salad: sliced ham, cheese, hard-boiled egg, cucumber, and tomato on a bed of lettuce. This can stand up to thicker, stronger-flavored dressings such as Caesar salad dressing, ranch, or Thousand Island.  Salad Nicoise: a French salad of potatoes, tomatoes, egg, olives, and fish (usually anchovies or tuna), among other ingredients. Southwest salad: Combine cooked corn and black beans with red peppers, spring onions, and plenty of avocado and/or grilled chicken. Season with cilantro and lime. You can start with lettuce or mixed greens, if you're prepared to amp it up with plenty of protein and starchy ingredients. Another approach is to use a bed of grains, especially something with plenty of texture like brown rice or quinoa. A bed of rice noodles works well for Asian salads. This isn't just for show; a variety of colours means a variety of vitamins. Strips of red, orange, or yellow bell pepper are a great choice. Also try shredded carrot; shredded beets (raw, pickled or cooked); or sliced tomatoes. You can even add edible flowers. Add intensity with roasted garlic, pitted olives, or diced hot peppers.  Use avocado for a creamy texture. Keep it tasty but more casual with chopped asparagus, any kind of onion, or flavorful mushrooms. These little nibbles make a salad much more interesting. There are all kinds of options:  Any nuts or seeds – walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. Breads or grains – croutons, tortilla chips, popcorn, cooked quinoa Any type of fresh or dried fruit, especially berries Snap peas, corn niblets, or other small veggies A salad requires protein to become an entreé. Choose just one or two of the following, chopped into bite-size pieces.  Cooked beans – chickpeas, lentils Cheese – Parmesan Swiss, or feta for more subtle flavor; cheddar or blue cheese for strong flavor Other vegetarian options – soft- or hard-boiled egg, tofu Meat – tuna, chicken breast, ham, grilled fish or steak, shrimp, squid Salad dressing can be purchased or made at home. Whichever you choose, drizzle over the salad and toss until thoroughly coated. If you made the salad in advance, wait until just before serving to add the dressing.  Combine one part Balsamic vinegar with three parts olive oil and add salt & pepper for a classic dressing. This is best on lettuce or tomato salads. You can easily add crushed garlic or any savory herb. Mix Greek yogurt with lemon juice, garlic, oregano and hot sauce for a strong dressing, best on strong-flavored leaves such as arugula or radicchio. Mix freshly squeezed fruit juice, olive oil, salt and pepper for a fresh fruity dressing  Check out this article for more ideas.
Summary: Choose your approach. Start with a base ingredient. Add colourful veggies. Mix in veggies with strong flavours. Add extra texture. Add your protein. Toss with dressing. Finished.

Problem: Article: Fill a large bucket or sink with cool to room temperature water. Immerse the leather in the water for about 10 minutes, or until it becomes thoroughly soaked.  Note that this process works best when used with vegetable tanned leather. You can technically stiffen the leather by soaking it in nothing but room temperature water, but it will only become mildly harder and you will not be able to shape it. The addition of a hot water step will allow you to make structural changes while hardening the leather further. As your leather soaks, fill a large stockpot with water and set it on the stove over high heat. Continue heating the water until it reaches a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees Celsius).  Use an accurate thermometer to keep track of the temperature. If the water is too hot or too cold, your results can vary dramatically from those described here. If you do not have a thermometer, you can gauge the temperature of the water by slowly heating it on the stove and testing it every minute or so with your bare hand. If you can keep your hand immersed in the water, it is safe to use that temperature for your leather. Once you can no longer bear to keep your hand in the water for more than an instant, remove the water from the heat source and do not allow it to get any hotter. Some people prefer to soak the leather in boiling water. Doing so stiffens the leather at a faster pace, but it also gives you less control. The resulting leather can become very brittle and may be unevenly stiff across its surface. Pull the leather out of the cool water and immerse it in the hot water. Let it remain there for a few minutes.  After the first minute, you should already see the leather darken and curl. The longer you soak the leather, the stiffer it will become. If you soak the leather too long, however, it will be more brittle when dry. When using this method, soaking the leather in hot water for 30 seconds after it already darkens will result in a piece of leather that is hard but not inflexible. This means that the total hot water soak time would be about 90 seconds. Leave the leather in the water for a longer period of time if you want to make it stiffer. When you pull the leather out of the water, it should be fairly flexible. If you need the form the leather into a specific shape, now is the time to do so. When wet, the leather will be stretchy and easy to form. This stretchiness will vanish within the first minute or two, though, so you need to work fast if you plan to stretch it out. The leather will still remain flexible for up to an hour after the stretchiness fades away, though. Let the leather sit out at room temperature for several hours. After it dries, the leather should be notably thicker and stiffer. Stiffened leather will also shrink, so the piece you started out with may not look as large when you finish the process.
Summary:
Soak the leather in cool water. Heat a second pot of water. Dunk the leather in the hot water. Shape as desired. Allow the leather to dry at room temperature.