Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Health Benefits Of Green Tea Including Weight Loss

Green tea has certainly gained it's popularity in recent years. Many people would like to try natural herbs to maintain their health level or even improve it. That's why many people have chosen to substitute a coffee for a cup of healthy green tea. Some people have realized that green tea is far more beneficial then a cup of coffee.

Green tea is derived from the same plant as black tea. They are just processed on two different ways. Green tea contains polyphenols, known as catechins, which are powerful antioxidants. As shown in recent studies they fight viruses, slow down aging, and free radicals that can damage human cells and cause cancer or any other diseases. Many people believe that if you increase the amount of antioxidants in your diet you may reduce your risk of different forms of cancer. I am also among those people.

Different brands of green tea do not contain the same levels of antioxidants. You can actually find a wide variation from one brand to another. Quality green tea can be purchased just about everywhere, including natural grocers and online. The exact levels of catechins may or may not be printed and the back of the packaging, so I suggest you to check that out before purchasing green tea. If you want to increase the benefits of green tea, then choose a brand with a higher content of these powerful antioxidants.

I believe that this is truly one of the benefits of green tea. Therefore it's absolutely worthwhile adding it to your lets say breakfast menu. But that's not all. Green tea also lowers blood sugar levels and cholesterol. It fights allergies, and improves the immune system. There are many healthy benefits you can gain from drinking just a cup or two of green tea per day. Caffeine is found in coffee and also in green tea. That's why it is a good idea to consume only the amount that you can handle. Like I sad, cup or two should be enough for one day. Too much of green tea can therefor also affect your sleep if you drinks too much. I suggest you keep your consumption of green tea limited to early in the day.

If you already are a tea drinker why don't you become a green tea drinker? Green tea comes in many different varieties. Honey and the peppermint green tea can be very refreshing. Drinking nice fresh cup of green tea is very much enjoyable and it will also improve your health as well. I think that drinking a cup of green tea is absolutely worth doing. When browsing online I found great Green Sampler. It is a wonderful introduction to the wide range of green teas, including: green pekoe - light daily brew from China hojicha - charcoal-roasted tea from Japan citron green - green tea with lemon & lime sencha - smooth everyday tea from Japan gunpowder - smoky tea from coastal China. Green Sampler is available at Adagio Teas.

Every day people try to loose a few pounds. Every single day we are being shot at with "effective" weight loss diets and products. One of the benefits of green tea is in fact weight loss. You can drink the green tea hot or cold. But some people also take it in the form of a pill. Just be careful. OD is not a thing you want to remember your green tea experience by. Knowing all the benefits of green tea it's easy to see why it should be replacing regular tea or that cup of coffee in the morning.

Many health conscience people look for natural alternatives to fight off illness, allergies and chronic diseases. One of the most popular natural food or drinks choices is green tea because of its known benefits. We have heard all kinds of doctors and experts telling us how to take better care of our health. There is a lot of confusing and conflicting information circling around about what is and isn't good for our health. But there is no confusion when it comes to green tea. Green tea is a beverage that will do you good. With known benefits of green tea you will live a long and happy life. :)
Green Sampler

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

From Gourmet To Christmas Cookie Gift Baskets

There is no need for cookie gift baskets to include only and exclusively cookies. You can include brownies, bars and fudge for a nice selection of treats that will still count as cookie gift baskets. Cookie gift baskets can be nice surprise these days. In the celebration of this special time of year, you have got to allow for a few extra calories. If you'll gain some extra weight then will can take them off in the coming year! But In the meantime relax and enjoy.

Thousands and thousands of delicious cookie recipes are available on the Internet. Christmas is not far away now. You probably get a lot of advertising mail in your mailbox these days. Check that mail out. Maybe you will find useful Christmas recipe about chocolate chip cookies or cookie gift baskets. Also check out your local newspapers and/or magazines. If you love cookies, you probably have plenty cookie recipes at hand right now. You'll might want to include all kind of cookies in your cookie gift baskets. You can add sugar cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies or gingerbread for example. Some fudge will not kill you either. Cinnamon cookies also speak to the holiday season and chocolate chip cookies are my all time favoured. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves make a good cookie taste even better. These cookies are usually less caloric. Spices give the extra sweetness and tend to be bit more healthful.

If there is just a little bit of artist in you then you can make your own cookie gift baskets. Select an attractive basket and lining. add some stylish silver or gold paper and some colored cellophane to make a nice background. Add some ribbon or lace on the top of you cookie gift basket. If you like you can add the recipes that you followed when making these cookies. Just make sure you wright down all ingredients and procedure so that there won't be any disappointments and complaints later.

When planning your recipes for cookie gift baskets, consider the taste of a person you're baking this cookies for. If your neighbour is crazy for chocolate chip cookies, you might want to search out variations of this famous cookie. There are recipes that include nuts, peanuts, cinnamon and raisins and lots and lots more. Make an entire cookie gift basket based on chocolate chip cookies with different additions or flavours. Your friend may enjoy a selection of fruit based or filled cookies. Include your recipes for each selection, so that they can enjoy it all the way. If your recipient is open to all cookies, decadent and calorie-rich, accommodate them! Here's where fudge and butter-rich cookies come into their own.

If your are not much of a cook or you are to busy to make your own cookie gift baskets, don't worry. I found an easy way out. You will save a lot of time and hard work. Mrs. Beasley's Holiday Cookie Basket, 24 Cookies is what you are looking for. No doubt. At Mrs. Beasley's you can find everything from Mrs. Beasley's Baby Gifts to Mrs. Beasley's Cookie Baskets. The selection is unbelievable. Hundreds and hundreds of various product to choose from. All kinds of gifts, baskets, boxes and tines, snacks, cookies, brownies, candy, nuts, corporate gifts, wine and so on and so on...

As you can see you have two choices available. With just a little thought, you can make many different outstanding cookie gift baskets to suit even your demanding costumer. If your are making these cookie gift baskets for cookie lovers your assignment shouldn't be to hard. Just do your best and use some imagination and with just an little effort you should make wonderful cookie gift baskets. But if you are not good at baking cookies or making cookie gift baskets, or you are not much of a cook in general; don't hesitate and visit Mrs. Beasley's homepage and simply order a cookie gift baskets that you or your friends like most.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

There are tons of options when it comes to baking chocolate chip cookies and mixing ingredients up is a great way to make the same old chocolate chip cookie a little bit special. Many recipes can be found in various baking cook books and you can even consult a experienced cook for some fresh ideas as well. No matter which recipe you decide to choose you can be pretty sure that the chocolate chip cookies will disappear in no time. Chocolate chip cookies are perhaps one of the favorite treats that are loved by children and adults alike. Chocolate chip cookie is the most requested cookie in my family. As the holidays approach I often find people scrambling to find the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

The Internet is a center of information for a mass of topics, so you can start searching for new recipes for chocolate chip cookies to add them to your collection of recipes. One very positive thing about the Internet is that you can find information extremely quickly and you can print out the recipes as you search. You will have a bunch of different chocolate chip cookie recipes to try. That way I came up with a great idea and now you can try it too. You can create a special chocolate chip cookie gift basket that is filled with various chocolate chip cookies and every cookie is based on a different recipe. Make every arrangement a little bit different than other. Make sure that you include satisfying amount your favorite chocolate chip cookies. You can not go wrong if you use your secret recipe that has been used in your family for years. Or maybe you can make up your own recipe that will become famous in the years to come. Many people will swear that the best chocolate chip cookies are made right from this traditional recipes. So no matter how many different approaches you will try, always make sure that you have a few dozen traditional chocolate chip cookies in your chocolate chip cookie gift basket.

Of course you can bake many many different types of cookies but there is no cookie like chocolate chip cookie. No matter how many versions you will try you won't go wrong with this particular treat. Chocolate chip cookies can become your personal and favorite baking recipe. There comes time when baking just isn’t possible because of busy schedule. When that time comes you can order chocolate chip cookies online. In that case I have a perfect solution for you. That perfect solution is called Mrs. Beasley's Cookie Baskets. You should most definitely check that out. They have products in range from 30$ to 230$. In case you are wondering what kind of chocolate cookie is worth 230$, click on this picture and find out.
Mrs. Beasley's Ultimate Beasley Tower, 60-70 Servings


Don't think that these online cookies are not as good as yours. When it comes down to buying cookies, Mrs. Beasley's chocolate chip cookies are my first choice. They are worth every penny and maybe you will even get a little jealous when you'll try them. The only treat that tastes better than chocolate chip cookies are double chocolate chip cookies! :)

To find out more about Mrs. Beasley's CLICK HERE

Monday, November 27, 2006

African Food

Africa is a continent that impersonates regional diversity. It's also rather poor continent but it sure does have some common, staple food. African food is a mixture of original dishes and the imported food from colonizing countries and immigrants. In the West, we're most familiar with Northern African food, especially through Moroccan restaurants that are known world wide. African people (African Americans) also introduced many ways of cooking to the American South that are familiar today in grits, flat breads and fritters. This is all original African food that was just customized a bit by local population.

Africans like to eat game and fish and also a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. They use root vegetables such as cassava and yams in large quantities. African people use many different marinades and spices to give that little extra to the vegetables which are mostly steamed. Chicken or some other poultry is usually main ingredient in their stews. Melons and particular watermelons also take part in Authentic African Recipes. Groundnuts also find their place in African food. Every African region has it's own specific food and agriculture. Many African villages use a lot of curd, whey, cereals, yams and milk. The coastal regions tend to use a lot of fish. This is quite normal if you think about it. Everywhere in the world coastal regions are known of it's fish dishes. African people use chillies, cayenne pepper and ginger to spice up their food. Fish is marinated in this spicy mix and it's very popular. Africans didn't marinate their food, which was brought into Africa by French people. West African food is also known by their stews and soups. They add okra or black eyed peas into the soup. It is fantastic. Sometimes they mix fish and meat together when they are making a soup or a stew. Method of marinating wasn't the only thing the French brought into many African countries. They also brought many herbs and spices such as scallions, garlic and lime juice. Coconuts and bananas are indispensable and also very popular African food. Ethiopian dishes are also very known in the world. There are many Ethiopian restaurant in the US. Ethiopian food uses hot peppers, hard cooked eggs. bread and a lot of meat, some dishes contain even raw meat. It is not something we are used to eat.

Dutch and British settlers together with Bantu traditions had their influence of South African food. Many don't know that Africa also has vineyards. They were brought to Africa by French. I guess French had the biggest influence on Africa altogether. The British sent workers from India to work on the railway construction. After effect was that also Indian cuisine left it's influence on African food. There is not much meat involved in East African food. Cattle is used rather for trading and not for food. The only influence on East African food was left from Arab settlers who brought saffron, cloves and rice pilafs. African countries that were colonized by Portugal, tend to use a lot of citruses such as oranges, lemons and limes. Other fruits such as pineapples, bananas and coconuts are also used.

African food is very often combined with alcohol. Only Muslim countries in North Africa don't consume or use alcohol. South Africa is world famous for its first class red and white wines. This wines are legacy of the French who started vineyards in South Africa. Kenya has a local beer called Tusker which is also exported. Who would have thought that Kenya is a beer exporter. The Tusker goes particularly well with African food. There are many bee keepers in Ethiopia and they make a drink called Tej. This is a drink made from the honey which is similar in taste to mead. Ethiopian coffee is also well known in the West. If you decide to try it I recommend you to try whole bean coffee. Africa is very specific continent and so is African food. You can find many many different and very tasteful dishes. Influence of various colonizing European countries, such as France, Italy, Portugal, UK, Spain etc... gave African food an eccentric taste.

In Italian cooking article Jessica asked me if two cultural tastes can be successfully combined? My answer was and still is YES. Not only two cultural tastes can be combined. More tastes combined the better. Now this may not be always true but in most cases it is. We should open our selfs up to the world and experiment as much as we can. This is why I love to taste all kinds of different food and dishes. African food it self wouldn't be what it is today if there wouldn't any cultural combinations.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Chicken Dinner

A simple and delicious chicken dinner can make your day. Majority of people loves chicken with all the respect to vegetarians :) I honestly believe that I haven't met a person that didn't like chicken dinner or poultry for that matter. There is just one small problem. Making a chicken dinner takes time just as any other dinner. But with the right recipe you can not go wrong and your chicken dinner will taste absolutely fantastic. Even if you made chicken dinner only once you know that it takes time, patience and some cooking knowledge. I remember when my mom made chicken dinner we always ran to the dinner table screaming chicken, chicken, chicken... Many people like to order their chicken dinner online. Various take out restaurants provide this service. After being at work all day, you are probably not in a mood for all that cooking. If you don't have time you can just go and pay a few bucks and your chicken dinner will be brought right to your door. So ordering a take out chicken dinner makes a lot of sense if you really think about it.

If you ever find your self in a situation like that, fried chicken dinner can be a smooth and tasty solution to your problem. Fried chicken dinner is bad for your health but it sure does taste good. Every person should get a taste of a fried chicken dinner every now and then, regardless of health. Many restaurants deliver fried chicken dinners, so finding one in your area shouldn't be a hassle. If you wish for something more exotic and different I recommend chicken tikka. In case you are wondering what that is, it's a delicious Indian dish. This chicken is special because it is flavorful and tender and has this specific aroma that I absolutely adore. I bet you would like it too.

Chicken can be prepared in so many ways. We know all kinds of chicken dinners that you can order for delivery. We mentioned some of them above. Almost every country and cuisine has it's own special way of making chicken. You can make chicken dinner, or you can make chicken soup, or you can grill the chicken if you like, you can make your special chicken salad and so on and so on. Chicken dinner can be very healthy if prepared correctly. There are many healthy choices to chose from. Of course there is the classic chicken meal that almost all Americans love so much. Roasted chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and some peas or carrots on the side. You can add a salad with this and some desert is always nice when you're done with the chicken.

I bet you probably all know how to roast a chicken. But here is a short recipe just in case. First you have to remove giblets if they haven't been removed. After that wash the chicken under cold water and dry it up with paper towel. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on your chicken. One or two tablespoons of salt and half table spoon of pepper should do it. You can melt some butter and add one table spoon of honey. Mix it up until it is nice and smooth. Take a cooking brush and put this dressing over a chicken. You chicken will be golded brown and it will have this beautiful crispy skin. Mashed potatoes are rather simple to make. Just peal and dice the potatoes and add some salt. Cook until they are tender so that you can split them easily with the fork or knife. Pour the water away, add some butter and sour cream or milk and make a mash. You can add a garlic if you like. Mashed potatoes are done. For a gravy you need a chicken soup base or broth. If you don't have any you can use water but it won't taste as good. Heat up some fat. Butter or olive oil, whatever you choose. You can add both if you like. Then add thinly sliced or minced onions. Stir occasionally. Then add flower if you want more thickness. If you want more thickness add more flower if not add some broth, water or chicken soup base. Add some salt, pepper and parsley. Cook for about 5 minutes and stir so it doesn't scorch. Cook some carrots or peas or both in salt water and add as a side dish to your chicken dinner. Of course you can cook any vegetables you like. Enjoy your home made chicken dinner.

Chicken dinner is nutritious, healthful, satisfying and simple. I am always saying that whenever possible you should make your own meals at home. Home made stuff is the best. But if you are under a pressure and have no time, restaurant take out is the way. Almost every restaurant makes a good chicken dinner. So why shouldn't we used this in our own advantage?

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Fine Cooking Light Magazine

My mother is cooking amazing dishes and has been cooking amazing virtually all of her life. Much of this amazing cooking was passed down from her mother. Grandmothers are outstanding cooks. It's a cliche. I can still taste and smell all the delicious pies she used to make. That woman should get a job at some cooking magazine. I could never get enough of her dishes. No matter what she made, it was always cooked to perfection. My absolute favorite was banana pie. I love everything made with banana. On the second place came banana bread. She always made dishes with banana on special occasions. Just one more reason why I way looking forward to the holidays even more as usual.

Who prepares the food in your house? Regardless of who prepares everyday meals in your home, you probably want to eat healthy. You have to eat healthy even if you don't want to. It is not a big secret that we all want our meals to taste delicious and great, but we should try to make these meals as healthy as possible. This is the point where fine cooking magazine should take it's place. Fine cooking magazine is a source that offers a variety of wonderful cooking recipes and ideas to please basically any food consumer. Are you receiving fine cooking magazine yet?

If you are, are you purchasing your cooking magazine at your local grocery store? I am asking because this is the perfect place to buy cooking magazine. One thing I love about cooking magazines is all the superb recipes they have to offer. Even if you are not a professional cook, we these cooking magazines you can become a decent cook. It's not hard if the correct directions are given. It's not a rocket sync when all you have to do is read the recipes or the articles and just follow them. You are all set once you have all the ingredients. I recommend you to check around for seasonal fine cooking magazines. You can also find all kinds of fine cooking magazine on the Internet. I am sure you will be satisfied and your family will thank you later.

Cooking Light magazine is the largest food magazine with healthy recipes. The magazine was launched in 1987 completely by demand of public. People in America were becoming more and more aware of importance of healthy recipes and healthy food. People wanted a source for tasteful, accurate, realistic and healthy recipes. Cooking Light magazine started to providing that. Cooking Light Magazine features all recipes and meal combinations that use healthy ingredients and preparation methods instead of traditional recipes. You can check it out at Cooking Light anytime from the comfort of your home. Articles are written by nutritional experts in an easy to follow format. This is one of the main Cooking Light Magazine’s secrets for creating delicious, satisfying and healthy recipes. You will be able to find a guide for healthy lifestyle habits, low fat substitutions and how to get or stay fit in every issue. Some tips for your work out are also in there including new monthly routines.

Many online magazine vendors offer reduced subscriptions to all your favorites cooking magazines at significant savings. Visit any number of sites including Magazines, MySimon, Mags4Cheap or MagazinePlace for comparison. Find out what will suite you best. Cooking Light magazine offers periodical specials for new subscribers. If you become a new subscriber you might get a number of free issues. This is a good way to check out the magazine without having to pay for it. If you like the magazine you can continue with a paid subscription. Cooking Light Magazine is also entertaining magazine full of advices on how to live our lives healthy way. I like to read recipe make over, where they take a totally unhealthy recipe or a meal and transform it into healthy recipes. That way you will realize that you can enjoy chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies with less or no guilt at all. You can eat all the things you want you just need to alter the recipe a bit to get rid of all those extra fat and other unhealthy ingredients. Cooking Light magazine is a fine cooking magazine and a good place to start if you are looking to lose weight or maintaining it. You can start your own recipe collection with low carbohydrate recipes for example. The most simple recipe of all is: use a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, poultry, and fish. And don't stuff your face. Eat many times a day and chew your food well. If you will follow this you can still have candy and also baked goods.

Use these fine cooking magazines. They will teach you how to enjoy cooking and how to cook lighter and healthier meals. Add some exercise plans to your healthy cooking and you entire body will thank you. Many people think that healthy cooking sucks but cooking magazines will prove that this is a myth. Healthy food can taste just as good if not even better than regular food. Try to follow only one recipe from cooking magazines and you will see that I am right about it. Cooking magazines are out there because of you so don't be afraid to use them.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Low Carbohydrate Recipes

Nowadays you shouldn't be having problems finding low carbohydrate recipes. Popular protein diets that introduce low carbs recipes can be a good place to start. The South Beach Diet for example is perfect. This diet helps you with amounts of proteins you should consume and introduces some sensible and very important carbohydrates. You can also go to the bookstore and find some low carbohydrate recipes there. There are tons of cook books that offer wonderful low carbohydrate recipes. You just have to find one that will suit any tastes. Many of these publications can be even bought online at very reasonably priced.

Maybe you are one of those people who lost weight on a high protein weight loss program. If you are, congratulations. But you also might be one of those who are afraid of gaining their pounds right back. I have a solution for you. You have to find low carbohydrate recipes that you can apply to your weight maintenance. If you have succeeded with high protein diet you probably know that if you are not careful, you will gain those pounds right back. But you don't want to eat fish and chicken for the rest of your life i suppose. Who wants to eat nothing but proteins? There is more to life. Plenty low carbohydrate recipes are out there just waiting to satisfy your taste and you will get to keep your figure. You must know that low carbohydrate recipes are at the same time also healthy recipes. If you add a lot of carbohydrates to your diet it will make you gain on a few pounds, that's for sure. But if you decide for low carbohydrate recipes that offer portion control you will be able to control your weight.

It's not a secret that high protein diets are absolutely fantastic if you want to loose weight very fast. As I mentioned earlier we also know that those pounds can jump right back. So you have to make sure that you follow a sensible maintenance program. You may enjoy some of carbs but make sure that you include plenty of low carbohydrate recipes. You have to stick to your plan if you want to maintain you weight. If you don't want to go to the bookstore you can easily find low carbohydrate recipes right online. You can find tons of information on low carbohydrate recipes and low carbohydrate cooking. The effort you will put into finding great low carbohydrate recipes will be minimal and you will be able to stay fit.

I always encourage people to look for things they need online. We live in modern age and there is not a thing you won't find online. I might have sad this in many of my posts before but I feel that folks are not aware of this possibility.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Italian Cooking

I am not particularly picky when it comes to food. I just like to eat good. Tasting different foods from different countries is a pleasure for me. I like Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Spanish and many other cuisines. However, my favorite is Italian cooking. I don't speak Italian language but I sure like Italian food. There are even specialist cooking vacations available, where you can go some place nice and be taught how to cook by a cooking expert. I'd love to do an Italian cooking one and come home able to make the perfect spaghetti sauce. Every Italian family is supposed to have a secret recipe for the sauce and pass it on to the next generation or take it to their grave. I know that the frantic lifestyle of people, especially in cities, is having an effect on the cooking traditions of different countries. It turned out that the younger generation of French women, who have careers, don't have the same interest in cooking. I hope that this doesn't affect Italian cooking too badly, and they don't succumb to microwaved ready meals like the rest of us.

Italian restaurants are one of the best. They have very friendly waiters and quality service including domestic atmosphere. I like to experiment with Italian cooking myself, with varying degrees of success. I imagine that the everyday food of the Italians and the restaurant dishes we are all familiar with are somewhat different. I'd like to go to Florence one day. It's an old city in Tuscany. It would be awesome to be invited into the home of an ordinary people. I bet the meals would be incredible. I think Peasant cooking is the term. Please do not take that as an insult, it just means ordinary people cooking with fresh ingredients. It would be sin to use fancy sauces from a supermarket. Freshly baked bread with a slice of Gorgonzola cheese on the top and a good Italian wine can be the finest meal.

I have a small herb garden. It's not even a garden actually. It's just a small spot reserved for herbs that I use in my cooking. I like to grow the herbs that are used regularly in Italian cooking as in other international cooking too. Rosemary, oregano. marjoram and basil are used on daily basis. I like to make my own special dressings for various salads, like potato salad or chicken salad for example. I also love Italian bread. I try to buy it as much as possible. Many people assume that Italian food is only pizza and pasta. We can not deny these are popular but there is so much more to Italian cooking. Regional differences just add to the excitement. Maybe you didn't know this but Italians eat pasta as a starter and not as a main course. When you're making pasta or rice, don't overcook them. Rather go for al dente, there's nothing worse than soggy and overcooked pasta.

But I think a non-pasta appetizers are quite nice. The ingredients are salami or prosciutto and also seafood like mussels and prawns. Mix in with some melons and figs and it will be delicious. Italian cooking contains many soup recipes. Italian soups and stews are often thick and very nutritious. Just like chicken soup. I love Roman beef stew, it's made of bacon and beef that are cooked in red wine. You should try it if you'll have a chance! If you have any leftovers including pasta, you can use them again anytime.

As you see there is many interesting Italian cooking no just pasta and pizza! So try and make something special for your family, something they don't eat every day. Take your time and put some love in your cooking. Then sit down, relax and eat in peace and quiet. Try to make some homemade Italian cooking and I can tell you, you won't be sorry!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Chicken Soup

I gotta tell you that I just love chicken. So let's continue with poultry. Let's find out how a good chicken soup is made. Chicken soup is a favorite around the world and has been so for centuries. There are probably as many recipes out there as there are chicken soup cooks!

Making a chicken soup is very easy. All you need for your chicken soup, are some chopped vegetables and chicken of course and you can put in a few herbs if you like. Soup requires little supervision or no supervision at all while cooking. You can combine you chicken soup with other dishes and you can make a whole meal out of it. You can take chicken breasts and make some chicken salad, add some bread to it and you have a inexpensive and very healthy meal. You will have almost no cleaning up to do, since you do not need many pots and pans.

You've probably heard all about famous chicken noodle soup. Chicken noodle soup is cure for the flu or cold, or any other illness. Many scientists have tried to discover why chicken soup works so well. Until today they still haven't discovered the magic and the secret of the chicken soup.

For a recuperative chicken noodle soup you must always include specific ingredients. They are broth, chicken, parsley and garlic and of course indispensable noodles. Make the broth by simmering the chicken (with skin, fat and bones) in water for two to three hours. It depends on the amount you are cooking. Skim away any stuff that floats on the surface. When the broth achieves a nice deep color you should remove the chicken. Now it's time to get rid of all that fat skin and bones. But before you do that add your parsley, garlic, noodles and any other vegetables you like. Any vegetable that you like is fine. Chop the chicken into smaller pieces and put it back into the broth along with vegetables and spices and herbs. You can leave the breasts out and make a chicken salad as I mentioned earlier. The noodles and vegetables are done in 15 minutes or so. So let those cook for 15 minutes and you are done.

Chicken is healthy choice for the your soup. It has a lot of proteins and is low in fat at the same time. It's also less expensive, and is easy to digest. Chicken soup can be made as a simple broth, a bisque. You can add tomatoes or you can add some milk or sour cream and you get a nice creamy chicken soup. Chicken soup is a filling and tasteful meal. Its one that most grownups and kids like!

Here are a few vegetable combinations you might try if you wish. You can try various other combinations that you consider to go together. Or you can try your grandmothers recipes and her combo. These are the combination of vegetables that I found appealing:

Snow peas, water chestnuts, red bell pepper
Broccoli, mushrooms and onion
Celery, carrots, parsley and onion
Potatoes, peas, carrots and onion
Mushrooms, corn, and red bell pepper

Any chicken soup you make, pure chicken soup or chicken noodles soup, chicken soup with noodles and vegetables or without, chicken noodle soup was and will remain delight for ages to come. Chicken soup can be made with almost any vegetables. If you find some left overs vegetables in your refrigerator don't waste them. Make some delicious chicken soup and make the best out of it. Your family will love the soup and you'll avoid wasting vegetables. That will save you some money and money. With rising food costs this is a win-win meal. So next time you will know what to do with those vegetables. Put them in the chicken soup.

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Chicken Salad Recipes

We will be talking about a salad again, only this time we won't be talking about a potato salad recipes but chicken salad recipes. There are more chicken salad recipes out there than you could possibly imagine. I have tried quite a few of them, but none to date has been even half as good as the one that my mother makes. Of course, no chicken salad recipe could really compare to the intensity of childhood which colors these early memories of her cooking. She loved cooking, and she especially loved to cook up a lot of chicken. She would whip out one of her famous chicken salad recipes in the summer, and would have chicken with squash in the winter. In the fall, it would be served with carrots, onions, and all other manner of delicious autumnal foods, and in the spring she would cook up the chicken with delicious spring greens fresh from our garden. Every time of the year had it's own chicken salad recipe and every single one tasted like it was a godsend.

Of course, there is a lot of room for different tastes in chicken salad recipes. What is delicious to me may not be all that good for you, and the other way around. That is why there are so many chicken salad recipes available – different flavors for different folks. I have even sometimes seen chicken salad recipes made with barbecued chicken. This can be absolutely delicious if the chicken is smoked first, and then grilled. To be honest, just writing about it is making me hungry.

Many people fail to see the wide variety of possibilities which chicken salad recipes really has to offer. In my opinion, many people use the same old basic chicken salad recipes, without really thinking of all of the variations which are possible. You can, for example, put in nuts and fruits, and keep the may content very low. Otherwise, you can use capers, olives, and onions to have a spicy, salty chicken salad recipe which will just simply be delicious. The choice is up to you, and it is quite worth spending the time it takes to experiment with all of the ways that this delicious kind of food can be cooked up. I have this little secret recipe. I am still working on it and maybe I will post it online once I will be happy with it. I am perfectionist when it comes to food. So even the simple recipes like chicken salad recipes have to do perfect before I tell anyone about my recipes.

One day I decided to look around on the Internet for some chicken salad recipes. I found very easy and very cheap solution. So if you are looking for chicken salad recipe you can find it in

Good Cooking - The New Basics: Chicken and Moroccan Salad

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Good Cooking - The New Basics: Chicken and Moroccan Salad

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Whole Bean Coffee

If I got your attention then you are probably a coffee drinker. I consider myself to be a heavy coffee drinker. Well I should say I was a heavy coffee drinker, because now I am drinking only a cup or two per week. I try to drink more green tea now. But if you love coffee, you don't have to be a specialist or heavy coffee drinker to know that whole bean coffee is the way to go. Whole bean coffee stays fresh a lot longer, and if you brew it immediately after grinding it you get a flavor you just can’t get from pre-grounded coffee that’s been sitting around for some time. Even only mediocre whole bean coffee brands taste pretty good if brewed right after grinding. Just imagine how the real stuff tastes...

Some of the best whole bean coffee I’ve ever tasted was coffee from South America. As an area famous for its coffee, I was eager to try some genuine South American brews. My friend was on vacation last year and I asked him to bring me some genuine coffee if possible. He was kind enough and he brought me different coffees from different countries. I was totally blown away when I tasted it. Knowing that the freshness is much better preserved when the beans haven’t been grounded. I ordered him to bring back only whole bean coffee.

When he arrived back home, I immediately put as many bags of coffee in the freezer, and left the other out for use. Every time I opened that whole bean coffee I thought I was in heaven. Well if I exaggerate a little bit then I can say that I was in a coffee drinkers heaven for the next few months. If I would got already grounded coffee, it would have lost a lot of its unique flavor. You have to believe me when I say that it doesn't feel the same if the coffee is pre-grounded. To know the huge difference you just have to try both coffees and you will know I am right. So now every once in a while I order a whole bean coffee mix for myself. This mix is one of my favourites and it's called Lacas Coffee World Traveler Sampler (whole bean) In this special mix you will find 1 lb Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, 1 lb Colombian Supremo, 1 lb Sumatra Mandheling, 1 lb Kenya AA Estate, and 1 lb Guatemalan Antigua whole bean coffee. That is 5 lbs of whole bean coffee mix worth 45.95$. Of course the problem with whole bean coffee is that you have to grind it. That means you have to purchase a coffee grinder. O own a Gaggia MM Grinder Black that I bought at The Gourmet Kitchen. Now you can get it with 50$ discount! And my friend that brought me my whole bean coffee from South America now owns Saeco MC2002 Grinder. This beauty costs a little bit more but is worth it. This grinder is one of the most versatile and powerful grinders you can buy for under $200.00 yet it shares the same grinding wheels used in many semi-professional grinders.

Coffee grinders can be a pain in the ass when you have to clean them. Another agonizing step you have to take before enjoying your cup of coffee. If the flavor isn’t really that important to you as it is to me, and/or you are lacking in time or patience, whole bean coffee probably won’t appeal to you that much. Most coffee drinkers I know don’t even own a coffee grinder. Putting a coffee powder into a machine and pushing a button is all there is to them. I don't even call that a coffee. It tastes like black water with some taste of coffee. That kind of coffee disgusts me now when I had the opportunity and pleasure to taste true whole bean coffee.

Having said that, there is something nice about just being able to dump some already grounded coffee in a machine and having a pot brewed in just a few minutes with very little effort. For this reason, I usually have both whole bean coffee and already grounded coffee standing by. If I’m in a hurry, I use the grounded coffee, and if I’ve got some time to relax I’ll grind up some fresh whole bean coffee to savor. But it does not tastes the same. I try to drink whole bean coffee every time if possible. I even wake up five minutes earlier before I go to work and make me a nice fresh cup of whole been coffee. It makes my day. Now i don't even drink grounded coffee anymore. I drink only whole bean coffee or green tea if possible. Grounded coffee is no longer an option for me. But whole bean coffee is another story...

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Sunday, September 17, 2006

Find Healthy Recipes For Your Family

Nowadays we live in a world that is turning very fast an it's getting even faster. We have no time to sit down, to relax and to eat our meal in piece and quiet. Everybody is just running here and there and everywhere. People just stop in front of fast food restaurant and grab a burger, swallow it and they move on. It's important that you find some healthy recipes and healthy meals. Try to eat healthy before it will be too late.

Junk food has gained a special status in today's society. If you are among people who hate junk fund then you are probably looking for some healthy recipes. there are literally hundreds and hundreds of healthy recipes available out there you just have to look around a little bit. Internet is a great source of healthy recipes. If you like you can find recipes with ingredients that are not used very often. That way you will ad some uniqueness to the food.

You can find healthy recipes for let's say Italian food if you are fan of Italian cooking. Throw away those store sauces and try to find healthy recipes for sauce you can make at home. Fresh tomato and garlic from your garden and some fresh basil, yummy. It is more convenient to just open the bag that you bought in a store and cook some sauce in 5 minutes but this is not the sauce and it's not as tasty and fresh as the one that you made. You might consider using lean turkey meat or try to use the leanest cut of hamburger you can find. Don't be afraid to use low fat cheese in your dish. It tastes better than you can imagine. You can transform recipes into healthy recipes but you will have to put more work into it. Processed and packaged foods are less healthy. Choose natural products for you and for your family, buy organic vegetables. Everything that can be made at home with vegetables from your garden, you should make it. Make the basics yourself. I am sure that you will agree with me if I say that lasagna that your mom makes tastes better that one you get in a supermarket. Fresh meat, fresh spices, no food from a store can beat that. I stand my ground here.

Internet is not the only source where you can find healthy recipes. You will be able to find cookbooks dedicated only to healthy recipes. Usual healthy recipes or meals can be boring sometimes. Cookbooks are great place to find some new ideas. Almost any recipe can be made into healthy recipe with just a small modification. Fried chicken for example is considered to be unhealthy because of the fat in which chicken is deep fried. So what can you do? You can just change the recipe a bit. Tweak it around. So what can you do is change the oil you fry chicken in. I suggest you go for heart healthy vegetable oils like canola or olive oil that I mentioned in my previous post. These oils still contain some fat calories but in overall they are better for your health. You can also use skinless chicken breasts instead of some other part of the chicken. Be creative. Just add a little bit of this and a little bit of that and your meal will look and taste completely different.

You are able to find even healthy recipes for desserts. Today you can substitute almost every ingredient for you dessert. These ingredients are healthier products but you can still make delicious chocolate chip cookies or any other dessert. Other way to find healthy recipes is by choosing restaurants that offer food based on healthy recipes. Ask the waiter or a chef how they prepare the food. try to remember their advice and then experiment at home if you like. Maybe chef will try to keep his secret but you can try. While small things seem like they don't count much, when everything adds up, you will have healthier recipes and health meal on your plate. Healthy recipes can be more than just healthy, they can also taste good. Just try to use fresh ingredients that are mostly home grown and home made and not processed or/and packaged. Of course buying processed food is less annoying and time consuming but if you put some time and work into it, then it can be done on healthy way.

Friday, September 8, 2006

Healthy Vegetable Oils

Are vegetables oils healthy or not? Let's take a look. Well we are not getting any younger. So if we wanna live long and happy life we have to live healthy. Living healthy means eating healthy. People become more health conscious with every day. Everyone starts to wonder about the oils they use when cooking. I know some people who try to avoid oils as much as possible. Some are looking for the healthiest variety of vegetable oil. Vegetable oils used for frying and they are very popular in restaurants and also in home cooking. But the situation is changing. New studies are suggesting that plain vegetable oils may not be the healthiest thing for your heart.

It can be confusing when it comes to vegetable oils because not all oils are healthy. Some oils are considered to be safer than plain old vegetable oil. There are heart healthy oil types and then are other kinds that may cause you health problems. If you find vegetable oil on the supermarket shelf and the label says only vegetable oil but makes no distinction otherwise, just move on. It is not worth to take a risk. Other types of vegetable oils, like olive oil, canola oil or sunflower oil are a much healthier choice.

Decide which oil to use and put vegetable oils aside. You want to look for a good oil that will not be hazardous for your health and will also taste good. Two of the most common types of oils you should look for are canola oil and olive oil. Each of these have been determined to be safer than vegetable oils. This information may change again after some time. With progress and technology we discover new and new things every day. Margarine for example was considered to be healthier than butter. Today they say it is other way around. It seems like they cannot make up their minds. Technologies are getting more and more advanced and no one can predict the future. Perhaps they will come to conclusion that steaks are healthier then vegetables. I would sure like that and I bet you would too.

Let's get serious again. This paragraph doesn't quite go with drinks and food section but it's good to know. One surprising development in recent years is an alternative use of vegetable oils. As gas prices went sky high, people start looking for alternatives. As it turned out, there are engines that can run on oil alone, and some that use both oil and gas. Using vegetable oils in a car cause cleaner burning. This kind of fuel is something that States can produce without the need to import huge amount of oil from foreign countries. It's cleaner and healthier for environment. It can also have some good influence on economy because it won't depend on oil from middle east in such extent anymore.

There are only a few cars that run on vegetable oils, so we can say they are not very common yet. But things can turn around quickly today and they will become common sooner then we all might think. Even today there are a few models on the road driving around right now. Just imagine the amount of money you will save and the influence it will have on the American economy. If it's not good for our health we might as well use it to improve the health of our planet.

As you can see vegetables oils are healthy in many ways. Vegetable oils can be used for cooking and as an alternative fuel. If you wanna be healthy and live long try to eat as less fried food as possible. But when you do eat it try to use vegetable oil that is good for your heart and your health. Try to make those recipes you use into healthy recipes. A few drops of olive or canola oil on your salad is a lot more healthier then french fries fried in plain vegetable oil with some mayonnaise on the side. Think about it!

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Worlds Finest Chocolate

Who doesn't like chocolate? I must say that I am for sure big fan of chocolate. But not just any chocolate will do the trick. Only the worlds finest chocolate is the one. The world finest chocolate is made in Belgium and it's called Godiva. This is the stuff, the perfectly crafted chocolate treats that melt in your mouth. The worlds finest chocolates are meant to be enjoyed. They may cost a few extra bucks but you gotta know it's worth it.

Only the world finest chocolate makes your mouth water upon sight. Once you taste something so smooth it will be simply impossible to survive without. It will comfort you and dry your tears in times of melancholy. Well maybe I am a bit dramatic. Or not. It's just that worlds finest chocolate can have such an impact and even chocolate in general if you are not too picky. The smooth and sweet treat just makes all worries float away. When was the last time you tasted worlds finest chocolate?

I was having a conversation with my friend the other day, where we were trying to decide what are the worlds finest chocolate bars. Everyone tries to find it's own worlds finest chocolate. This friend of mine has traveled all around the world. So he had a chance to taste all different types of chocolate. So finding a world finest chocolate bar should not be a big problem for him. A lot of chocolate factories has what they insist is the worlds finest chocolate. At the end everybody is producing the worlds finest chocolate and you will be always able to find people who will claim that the chocolate they like the most is the worlds finest chocolate..

The big question is what is your favorite chocolate? What type of chocolate do you love? Milk chocolate, dark chocolate or white chocolate? Do you like them all the same? I have to say I prefer milk chocolate. I remember a few years back when I was looking for a gift. I spotted a Godiva and that was it. Many people, including me, consider this stuff to be the worlds finest chocolate. Even after tasting many chocolates from many different countries, I still prefer Godiva over anything else. I am not sure why exactly but if you have tried Godiva chocolates before, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Each and every piece of chocolate appears to be perfectly crafted. Like open sea shells with the truffle inside for example. Simply beautiful.

So back to my friend. We were having a discussion about worlds finest chocolate. I was eating a chocolate bar at the time, and was talking about how good it was. He looked at me like a was kidding or something. He told me that a simple chocolate bat is hardly a chocolate and worlds finest chocolate is out of the question. I begged to differ. Even a simple candy bar can taste good. Maybe not as much as Godiva, but it can satisfy any chocolate needs. The worlds finest chocolate is something that comes in a decent size and something that you can afford. But he just went on and on about the worlds finest chocolate and how it lies in the jungles of Mexico. We decided to give it a rest.

Are you looking for the worlds finest chocolates? Maybe you have already exhausted your local resources and haven't had any luck so far. Or maybe you have already found the worlds finest chocolates you just haven't realized it yet. Well, no reason to get down. The worlds finest chocolates are basically at your fingertips. I'm talking about Internet. If you found this article then you have already made this step and now you are on your way. You will find deals about worlds finest chocolate you never knew existed.

We live in a time when searching for anything is not a problem anymore, even if you are searching for worlds finest chocolate.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Wine Of The Month Clubs Are Perfect Solution

Many people adore wine including myself. I try to taste new types of wine as much as possible. Each month I try to take a sip of at least one bottle of new type of wine. I am one of those persons that don't like to go shopping very much. Going out and find new bottle of different wine every month or even week was a hassle for me. So I started to search and found a perfect solution. I decided to join in wine of the month club. If you are a n expert of wine, I can recommend only wine of the month club and nothing more and nothing less. Many people that love wine have never even heard of wine of the month clubs. I know that I haven't heard of them until recently. Therefore, let me tell you how wine of the month clubs work.

I belong to one of the many international wine of the month clubs that delivers a different wine or two or three every month. They come from all over the world, as the name implies. Wine of the month clubs will provide you with spectrum of wines. You may get a Bordeaux one month, a Chardonnay another month, and a Barbera the third month. Blushes and Ports are also very popular choices.

Of course, wine of the month clubs are almost never only for the very serious connoisseur. The wine of the month clubs can be a bit more expensive but it is worth it. If your main concern is quantity and not quality then wine of the month clubs might not be the best thing for you. If you are in doubt just read the article about wine values and maybe you will come around. I only drinks about a glass a day, usually after lunch. Sometimes I even drink only a glass or two per week and so my wine of the month club supplies are more than enough. I am satisfied with many different types of wine through all month. If you are like me, then you should join one of the many fine international wine of the month clubs as well. You will sure be glad you did, I have no doubt in my mind. I know that I have been absolutely thrilled.

Many wine of the month clubs will offer you a selection of wines you won't be able to refuse. You will be able to pick your wine from almost any part of the world. You may not like that because I know many people who only like white wines and hate reds or other way around. Anyway, don't get scared if you fit into either of those categories. Many international wine of the month clubs will allow you to choose the types of wines that you will be getting and the types that you will not. They will even allow you to choose specific regions if you are more partial to the wines of South America than Spanish wines. But I love to experiment and I like almost all wines and I also like to be surprised every month. If I get to choose my own wines then wine of the month club would have lost it's purpose to me. The surprise and the expectation, this is what counts. Therefor I would like to show you which wine of the month club I belong to. It is called Prime Wine and this is my favourite choice:

Wine Club 3 Bottles for 1 Month Mixed Dry & Fruity/Sweet

It doesn't have to be Dry&Fruity-Sweat, you can go only for dry or only for fruity-sweat. You can decide which you prefer. Now they have special discount where you can get 3 bottles of wine for the cost of two bottles per month. It will cost you 20$ per bottle per month. I think this is very reasonable price. Therefor you will pay less then 60$ per month for 3 bottles of wine. If you are very passionate about the wine you can save some money if you order a full year subscription to wine of the month club. That way you will save 130$! That's more then 6 bottles of wine at this wine of the month club.

Wine Club 3 Bottles for 12 Month Mixed Dry & Fruity/Sweet

Just click through and check out the variety of their products. I mean you can find almost everything there: wine of the month club, wine gift baskets, gift certificates (all can be customized; red, white, dry, fruity...), racks, cabinets, accessories, flowers (flower arrangements) and much much more. Please don't make me list up everything. Check out for your self and I promise you you won't regret it. I am very glad that I found this wine of the month club that I am a member of. I am very happy with variety of wines that I received each and every month. It may cost a little bit more compared to the wine in market but is worth it. You do not necessarily want the cheapest brand on the market though it is wonderful to find decent quality in the cheapest brand on the shelf.

Prime Wine firmly believes that the best wines are found by tasting them not advertising them. Their range is not typical. They go to great lengths to avoid the mass marketed over hyped, bulk produced selections found in so many fancy neon supermarkets. Unique quality wine experiences without the fancy overheads; that is what they do. Some clubs may be cheaper, but then so are their wines. So chip in extra penny and get the quality you deserve. If you are a serious connoisseur of wine then wine of the month can be a perfect solution for you. Even if you are not a serious connoisseur, you can become one thanks to the wine of the month clubs.

Prime Wine Inc.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Potato Salad For The Party

Beautiful summer day. It was Friday and I was just sitting around with my friends with nothing to do. So we decided we will throw a party Saturday night. They went to buy something to drink and I was going to buy some food. I decided I was going to make a potato salad. I don't know why did I decide for potato salad but it was on my mind all day. Potato salad can be very refreshing in summer.

So, party it is. What else could you do on Saturday night? We started preparing the food the day before. Maybe you ask your self why day before. One reason is that there wouldn't be enough time on the day of the party and second reason is that you want to put it in the fridge and eat the next day. You will be really in for a treat the next day. My mother always said that potato salad was one of those things that always taste better the next day and she's absolutely right!

Potato salad requires boiled potatoes and eggs and that was the first step. If you wanna know how to boil and peel eggs the right way you can read deviled eggs article. I was preparing the potato salad while my friends made several other side dishes. I boiled the potatoes for about 10 minutes or so until they were tender. If you would like to make sure that they are tender just stick them with a fork or knife. If it goes in easily, they're cooked. Rinse with cold water until they are cold enough so that you can hold them without burning your hands. I started peeling like 10-12 pounds of potatoes that we had cooked. After one hour I had peeled and diced the eggs and potatoes. As I started chopping the eggs. This process was time consuming and it was taking me forever. Now I knew why they didn't want to bother with salad. Lazy bastards. Next thing on the list was dicing celery and onions. A final thing was the dressing. There is so many different potato salads that it would take me a whole page just to write down all kind of potato salads. There are entire cookbooks that are dedicated to different kinds of potato salad. Potatoes mix well with a whole variety of different flavors. There are dozen of different potato salad recipes out there for you to try. Once you discover a basic recipe that will suit you best, just stick with it and modify it a bit if you like, so that it will suit your taste and needs even better. Let me tell you about the potato salad I make.

I just told you about main ingredients. Once you have cooked, peeled and chopped the potatoes and eggs you are almost done. You want to add some onions (green, white, red), celery, salt and pepper and some vinegar. The rest is up to you. You can also add some sugar, chili or chili powder, bacon, hot sauce, tomatoes, basil, garlic, mustard, mayo, carrots, green beans, parsley, olives, corn, paprika, coriander, ginger, yogurt, sour cream, honey, lemon juice, orange juice... etc You choose, you decide. Experiment a little bit and make your own special and unique potato salad. Some people like German potato salad. The small difference between my potato salad and German potato salad is that when you are making German potato salad, you have to fry bacon and onion until bacon crisps and onion is tender. Add flour, salt and pepper to bacon drippings. Heat stirring constantly. Gently stir in potatoes, water, and vinegar. German potato salad has to be served warm.

Let's go back to my potato salad. Just as I was finishing up the salad my neighbour came by. His first remark was that there is not enough potato salad and that we will ran out of potato salad. I was convinced that it will be enough but he didn't let it go. So we took a bet. I said I will go and buy some extra potato salad with my own money just for him if there won't be enough of my potato salad. I mixed my potato salad in like five gallon bowl all the way to the top. I tried to convince him that this was enough salad. We also made few other salads and some sandwiches (turkey, ham...).

Amazing thing about potato salad is that it is very time consuming and labor intensive and yet a lot of hosts serve it as a side dish. Depends on how you make a potato salad. Some people do not like it with onions or celery some people don't like eggs in it. The dressing is also debatable. You can use mayonnaise or salad dressing. I believe that people in general like any kind of potato salad at parties, events and gatherings. I am amazed every time I try to buy potato salad at the variety of potato salads that are available. You can find potato salad with and without mayonnaise or salad dressing or with eggs and also without .

My potato salad was a big hit at the party and so I have received some complements. Right before party ended I put out the last small bowl of the my special potato salad. I did not have to go buy any potato salad for my neighbour but it was close. It way incredible party and you can't image how much people like potato salad. Even though I made five gallon of salad we almost ran out of it. Potato salad is definitely a party dish.

When the party ended I was relieved. Everything went well when I realized that we had a lot of cleaning up to do. Choosing plastic plates for serving a potato salad turned out to be a good idea. It was one chore less to do when cleaning up because we threw those plates in a plastic garbage bag and we were done. The party was a great success and so was potato salad. How do I know? I didn't throw away a single piece of potato salad.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

White Zinfandel Wine

Let's get back to wine. In previous article about wine we talked about wine values. Today we will be talking about White Zinfandel. White Zinfandel is a relative new discovery in the world of wine. I believe it's perfect wine for the summer. White Zinfandel is a very refreshing, smooth yet crisp, very easy to drink rose wine.

White Zinfandel is a favorite wine for many people because of its fruity nature and general appeal. It's very popular in California and Italy. White Zinfandel is also known as Zin or Primitivo in Europe (Italy). Research confirmed a relationship between White Zinfandel and Primitivo, causing speculation that White Zinfandel might have originated in Italy. dna research has shown that Crljenak Kastelanski (very old and almost forgotten grape from Croatia) and Zinfandel have identical genetic profile. Additional research discovered that another more popular grape Plavac mali (also from Croatia) is a descendant of Crljenak Kastelanski and therefore of wine, in America (California) known as Zinfandel.

You can find many types of Zinfandel. One popular style is White Zinfandel. It's a fruity flavored blush wine. White Zinfandel is usually slightly sweet and vary in pink hue. Many people think it's a mistake that wine is labeled as white because of its pinkish color. Anyhow, white is the correct term for the wine. The White Zinfandel is not actually a blush wine. The finalization process of making White Zinfandel is different than in a blush wine.

The Zinfandel grape is red and it produces a red wine. Why is the final product pink or white you might ask. The producers of White Zinfandel changed the wine making strategy. They adapt the process of creating the wine. As I stated already earlier people use Zinfandel grapes to produce a wide range of wine styles including White Zinfandel. The grape skins are holding the color. When the grape skins are left on the grape during the fermentation process you will get a red colored drink as a final result.

So why has a White Zinfandel pink hue? The answer is because the skins of the grape are left on only for a moment and then they are removed. The final product will have a pink hue because we removed the skins (they contain the red color) during the fermentation process. When we remove the grape skins we also remove the red color and only a small trace of the red color remains which gives the wine it's characteristic hue.

White Zinfandel is delicious with fish, with pasta, pork, creamy sauces and other let's call them lighter meals. It seems to have this acid that remind me of a lemon. You will be able to taste a lot of berries with this wine. Some fruit juices are added to White Zinfandels just before bottling. This is more or less just a marketing move in my opinion to create new flavored versions of White Zinfandel. But people seem to like it so why not? It became popular among the mainstream but wine connoisseurs are not thrilled with White Zinfandel. Majority of wines are superior quality and taste regarding to White Zinfandel. But these wines have please the connoisseurs and pretentious wine drinkers. Therefore White Zinfandel is a perfect bond wine that connects the wine enthusiasts and average wine drinkers.

White Zinfandel should be drank at around 54°F (12°C) which is warmer than fridge temperature which is around 39°F (4°C). Take it out of the fridge an let it worm up a bit before consuming it. That way you will be able to experience those gentle flavors and smells that we mentioned earlier. Important thing to know about White Zinfandel is that Zin is not an aging wine! It won't get better with years passing by so drink it as soon as possible.

White Zinfandel is not the only wine created through this unique process There are many tasteful wines created through the same unique process. As a matter of fact now you can find white Merlot on the market. White Zinfadel is favorite among mainstream wine drinkers because it goes great with a food on picnics and barbecues. Or if you wish you can just chill out with it after a hard day at work. So if you haven't tasted White Zinfandel yet I am sure you will taste it now. Relax, sit on a sofa or wherever you feel comfortable and enjoy your first sip of White Zinfandel.

Cheers!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Deviled Eggs Are Great Appetizers

I think it's time to talk a little bit about appetizers. To some people appetizers are not that important. I am among people who think that appetizers are important. Today I will be writing about deviled eggs. Deviled eggs can be great appetizers.

There are so many great new recipes for appetizers out there these days. Every time people get their hands on a popular recipe you'll able to see this dish on almost every party or a banquet. There is nothing that special and popular on a recipe that everyone is using. I am not saying it won't taste good, you just might consider to do something a bit different. It might not be a bad idea if you would look for some old recipes. These recipes are many times forgotten but they still manage to satisfy even very demanding guests. This way you will avoid comments like: Oh, we were having this same appetizers at Dave's last week and at Susan's the week before that. Make the appetizers you don't see at every party. I know one crowd pleaser that won't disappoint you and it is called deviled eggs.

Deviled eggs are delicious appetizers that are easy to make and serve. The basic recipe can be prepared in no time. One positive characteristic about deviled eggs is that you can do the majority of the preparations in advance. There are many things people have to take care of on a day of a party. That day is normally very busy and a lot of tasks need to be done. But the day before is intend to make preparations. So one or even two days before the party you can start making your deviled eggs.

As mentioned, deviled eggs can be made very easy and very fast. Even though you might consider to take some extra time and put some extra effort into your work. It will pay off at the end. I will tell you about some tricks and tips on how to make your deviled eggs not only tasteful but to look good too.

First thing you want to do is place the eggs on their sides and let them rest a few hours or overnight. This way you can better center the egg yolks in their shells. Take eggs out of the fridge a half hour before you start cooking them. This way you will avoid or at least reduce the temperature shock. Place the eggs in large pot of water and cover the eggs by about an inch or so. You don't want the eggs to be tight together because they might bump into each other and crack. Once set, you want bring eggs to a boil. Keep the temperature just a notch from the max while the water heats up. This will also help preventing eggs from bumping into each other. Add a teaspoon of salt into water. This will help you peel the eggs later on. Once the eggs start to boil take the pot off the heat. Leave the eggs covered for half hour or so. After that time place the pot in the sink and run cold water over the eggs and let it run for several minutes (10 minutes or more). Or you can put them in another bowl with cold water, you may also add cubes of ice in it if you want (this way you will safe few gallons of water). Cold water will stop the cooking process and will insure that the yolks will not turn green. Dry the eggs and place them in the refrigerator. If you are in a hurry or your party is the same day you boiled the eggs, then don't put them in a fridge (or maybe just for ½ hour). Simply continue with making deviled eggs.

Peel the eggs on the day of a party. Take the egg and give it a few gentle taps on a hard surface. But be careful, don't tap it to hard. Eggs should be cracked all over the surface. Then place the cracked eggs back into your cooling water. Allow the egg to sit for another 10 minutes or so. Some water will get under the shells to help peeling. After that the hell should slip off easily. If it doesn't, try to peel the eggs under running cold tap water. This process is slightly time consuming. The prize will be perfectly round eye-catching and tasty deviled eggs!

Cut the eggs lengthwise after you have peeled them. Use a knife with a clean not serrated edge and cut cleanly through the center of each egg. Gently remove the yolk from the whites. You will want to arrange the whites in a single layer. Put the yolks on separate plate. It is a good idea to keep the extra deviled eggs and keep them cold.

Next smash the yolks with a fork. When the yolks are smashed they will might seem a little dry. there must not be any lumps in smashed yolks. This will guarantee you nice smooth fillings. Filling with lumps? I don't think so. What you add to the yolks is up to you. Majority of people add mustard or mayonnaise or both. Seasoning is indispensable. I saw people using cream cheese. You can also add vinegar, onions, olives or garlic or mixture of these ingredients. Whatever works for you and your guests. You can put a bowl with the yolk mixture into the fridge to chill before filling the whites. You can use pastry bag to make deviled eggs more stylish. This way you can achieve many interesting shapes of yolk mixture for your deviled eggs. If you don't want to complicate things you can just spoon the filling into the whites. If you want you can garnish with pinch of parsley flakes or paprika or sliced green olives if you wish. The yolk mixture holds its shape. That's why you can make all deviled eggs up at once and then serve or you can take them to the serving plate as you need them. If you own a cooling buffet table you serve the deviled eggs right there. It is more convenient. You can also make potato salad for the party if you want.

The deviled eggs are appetizers that will never stay long at a party. Actually they will be first to leave the party. :)Deviled eggs are simple to make and even easier to consume. They can make a nice treat for your friends and family on any occasion. You can store them in the fridge a day or two prior to consumption. There are some lovely deviled egg plates you can use. Even most of vegetarians eat deviled eggs so you will have one problem less to worry about. Deviled eggs simply rule!