If you have been an outdoor griller you may want to take a look at some of the advantages of indoor grilling. Just as there are some things that outdo

KitchenAid, the American manufacturer of the industry-leading stand mixers is offering buyers a Christmas bonus this year! Up until December 31, the company is offering a $50 rebate on the KitchenAid Professional 600 stand mixer! The largest and most powerful of the KitchenAid Stand mixers, the Pro 600 Series is equipped with a high performance, professional level motor and can effectively mix up to 14 cups of all-purpose flour per batch. It powerfully churns through yeast bread dough and triple batches of cookie dough. With a spacious 6 Qt. stainless steel bowl and a variety of attachments, this KitchenAid stand mixer is able to perform multiple functions. Available in 9 beautiful colors, this wide array of choices allows it to enhance your kitchen décor as well.

The Pro 600’s features include a 575-watt motor, a handy bowl-lift design with direct drive transmission, all-steel gears, and all-metal construction. The stand mixer comes with the patented PowerKnead Spiral Dough Hook, a flat beater, a stainless steel wire whip and a plastic pouring shield. In addition to this initial set of accessories that come with the mixer, there are dozens of attachments that will all you to make your mixer into an ice cream maker, a fruit/vegetable strainer, a sausage stuffer, a pasta maker and a number of other unique functions. This is the stand mixer professionals like Martha Stewart swear by! If you want a machine that is powerful, operates hands-free, made to last and that adapts to do a variety of functions, don’t miss out on this rebate offer!

Fruitcake Sauce in 3 Simple Steps

Is that fruitcake I smell on your breath?! No...just the new fruitcake sauce.

Good fruitcake is hand prepped, gently baked for hours then doused with generous quantities of fancy liqueurs. The flavors of the particular liqueurs infuse every morsel over the months of cool storage ahead so you can savor the flavor! It sounds perfect but can be improved on if you find a piece of fruitcake still in storage at the back of your fridge.

At Old Cavendish Fruitcake, we developed our fruitcake sauce recipe when we had to bring a locavore dessert (locavore means local or home-grown) to an impromptu party. Naturally we had fruitcake on the top shelf of our very tall fridge!

We also had local vermont-made butter and not-so-local sugar (shhh, don't tell). Looking in the cupboard we also found a bottle of Sapling, a maple liqueur. Made in Saxton's River, Vermont, only 20 miles from us, it is delicious. Not too sweet and leaves a lingering reminder of the Vermont spring time ritual of sipping maple sap slowly converting to syrup in the sugar house.

We simmered the sauce, added some more fruit and took the cake, warm sauce and remaining Sapling liqueur (!) to the party. It was all so well received! Lets say there were zero leftovers. And no hangovers.

When you tuck that last piece of fruitcake away in the fridge, leave a little Sapling left in the bottom of the bottle so you can make a really fine fruitcake ever finer and whip out a dessert with just a few minutes notice. Enjoy!

Here's the Fruitcake Sauce Recipe

You'll need these ingredients:

* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 Tbsp butter
* 3/8 cup Sapling Vermont Maple Liqueur
* 1/4 cup minced apricots

Simple Directions:

1. Simmer sugar, water and butter together in a small sauce pan until thick.
2. Remove from heat and add Sapling Vermont Maple Liqueur and apricots.
3. Spoon over sliced fruitcake for an elegant dessert.

That's it! Enjoy, your fruitcake and fruitcake sauce.

Having Overnight Holiday Guests? Serve them Eggnog Pancakes or Easy Ham and Cheese Quiche

Cooks always like to know they have served their guests something different than the usual but that is also tasty. If you are having overnight guests during the holidays or you are planning a holiday brunch serve your guests these Eggnog Pancakes. Using boxed mix and commercially prepared eggnog, making these little treats is quick and easy. Or make this Easy Ham and Cheese Quiche. The quiche goes together quickly and leaves you free to visit while it bakes for 45 minutes.

EASY HAM AND CHEESE QUICHE

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 tsp salt

dash of pepper

3 eggs

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/2 cup cubed ham

1/2 cup biscuit baking mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 or 10-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the milk, butter, salt and pepper. Lightly beat the eggs and add to the milk mixture. Add the biscuit mix and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie plate; sprinkle with the Swiss cheese and ham. Using the back of a large spoon, gently press the ham and cheese into the mixture.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Let stand for about 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

EGGNOG PANCAKES

2 cups boxed pancake mix

1 egg

1 1/2 cups commercially prepared eggnog

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of nutmeg

Lightly grease griddle and turn heat on so it will be hot for cooking. Put pancake mix into a medium mixing bowl. In a seperate bowl, whisk egg, eggnog, vanilla and nutmeg together. Stir egg mixture into pancake mix just until moistened. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle. Turn pancakes when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Thai Style Barbecue Chicken

Everybody loves a good barbecue chicken recipe. This delightful chicken recipe will have your family raving and will stay at the top of your recipe box.

1 small bunch fresh cilantro, preferably with the roots, washed and dried
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 Tbs fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, smashed
6 boneless chicken breast halves, or 8 boneless thighs
1 head leaf or butter lettuce, washed and dried
1/2 English cucumber cut into thin half moons
1 small bunch mint, washed and dried
1 recipe Thai Sweet and Sour Chili Dipping Sauce
4 Tbs chopped roasted peanuts

Divide the bunch of cilantro in half and coarsely chop one of the halves. Cut off the stems of the other half. Combine the chopped half with the garlic, fish sauce and black pepper in a blender or food processor and process to a paste. Pour over the chicken and toss well to coat. Marinate for at least 2 hours or, ideally, overnight.

Preheat the barbecue or broiler to medium-high. Cook the chicken 4-5 minutes on each side until the skin is crisp and the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Arrange the lettuce, cucumber mint and remaining half of the cilantro on a large platter. Place 4 tablespoons each of the sauce into 4 individual dipping bowls and sprinkle with the peanuts. Cut the chicken into 3/4-inch slices and place on the platter.

To eat, take a lettuce leaf and tear it in half. Place a few slices of cucumber, a few mint and cilantro leaves and a slice or two of chicken on the leaf. Roll up into a snug bundle, dip into the sauce and eat.

The Secrets In Your Wine By Bradlley Mckoy

From the biblical times to the present, a glass of wine has been celebrated across cultures to mark happy occasions and love. Wine is the elixir of life and an aphrodisiac. Without wine, poets could not have loosened their minds and tongues to write and deliver moving poetry.

Enjoying Your Bubbly?

Cheers greet the familiar sound of the cork popping out of the champagne bottle. The festive mood gets merrier and the drinking ensues. But do you know that champagne and other bubblies have their whims and caprices? To serve up the best tasting drinks, there are some practices to observe so you can enjoy your wine.

Sparkling wine must be poured properly into tall and thin flutes. Don't pour into the center of the glass because you'll disturb the bubbles. For non-bubbly wines, decant it into the center of the glass. For both wines, don't fill the wine glasses to the brim, but only about a fourth or a third from the top of the glass. White wine like Riesling is served in tulip glasses, while red wine like sherries are served in rounded glasses with large bottoms.

When the drinks are served in their proper glasses, your guests can enjoy the flavors and the aromas of the wines. This enhances their drinking pleasure and yours as well. Don't forget, though, to fill up glasses when everything has gone up a decibel higher - music, laughter and conversation.

Wine Temperature

Older wines taste better when chilled and decanted before serving. Decanting makes sure that cork sediments are not included when you serve a drink. Did you know that cork sediments affect the wine's flavor and aroma? Use cheesecloth when you pour the wine into the decanter just to make sure that no cork sediment is present and do this before the guests arrive.

Not all wines have to be cooled to get the best flavors out. Vintage wines are warmed because the aged flavor comes out best. You can always have a drink from it from one of those liquor flasks. Sparkling wines and roses are best served when cooled to 45 degrees Fahrenheit and sherry at 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cooled wines taste better and smell better, otherwise it would be too unpleasant to drink. Don't worry, though, if you don't have time to chill the wines before the guests arrive. A 10-minute chill in the refrigerator will be good enough.

Secrets From the Vineyard

Red grapes produce the famous Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon, and Zinfandel, but they all taste differently, each with their kind of seduction. These grapes were grown in France, Spain, and Argentina. These will, however, have a shared distinction of the fruit.

But how do these red grape wines differ from one another? Cabernet has the flavors of plum, black cherry, and currant and strong tannins. Zinfandel is a stimulating drink spiced with wild berry and pepper, while a Sauvignon Blanc has a bit of herbal kick to it. The Muscat is spicy.

Vintners guard their trade secrets tightly, passing on the secret only to the next generation who will manage the vineries and the business. The hapless Fortunato in Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado was a connoisseur of wine and the Medoc, a French red wine, was his downfall. But for all wine lovers and tired imbibers, wines will always be an elixir and the source of the heart's fountain of youth. So toast to the wines that make the world go round.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=219455&ca=Food

Soy Foods: Cancer Fighters And More By Raymond Geok Seng Lee

Can tofu help prevent breast cancer? Increasingly, it looks that way. Soy foods – soybeans, tofu, miso, tempeh, soy milk, soy protein and textured vegetable protein (TVP), but not soy sauce – offer all the healing benefits of the other beans. In addition, they contain unusually large concentrations of chemicals – isoflavones and phytosterols – with cancer-preventive value. These chemicals may help account for the low rate of breast cancer among Asian women, who eat soy foods as staples.

Breast cancer. Soy isoflavones and phytosterols first came to American scientific attention at a National Cancer Institute conference in 1990. Isoflavones, also known as phytoestrogens show the most powerful anti-cancer effects. They are structurally similar to the female sex hormone, and they bind to the same receptor sites on breast cells. But unlike hormonal estrogen, isoflavones and phytosterols do not spur the growth of breast tumors. When the soy chemicals bind to estrogen receptors, they prevent hormonal estrogen from doing so, which in turn prevents tumor growth. Soy foods’ marked influence in estrogen metabolism was demonstrated on six women in their twenties with regular menstrual cycles add two ounces of TVP to their usual diets. Within a month, their menstrual cycles were two to five days longer. Longer menstrual cycles mean less lifetime exposure to estrogen and, many scientists believe, less risk of breast cancer. It was also then substituted the same amount of miso, a fermented Asian soy food, for the TVP and found an even greater effect.

Hot flashes. In Japanese, there is no word for “hot flashes,” the uncomfortable feeling of heat that plagues many women during menopause. Hot flashes develop as production of hormonal estrogen declines. It is suggested that the estrogen-like chemicals in soy replace declining hormonal estrogen and prevent hot flashes. Japanese who eat a traditional Japanese diet consume about 24 pounds of soy a year. Americans consume about 3 pounds annually, mostly because soy protein is added to many processed foods. Eat as much soy as you can, as long as your soy foods are low in fat.

High cholesterol. As beans replace meat in the diet, cholesterol levels decline. Research showed that, compared with other beans, soy foods are effective cholesterol cutters. In a study, volunteers whose average cholesterol levels were very high (353 mg/dl) and who were already on low-fat diets. Some continued eating as they had been, while the others’ diets were modified to include generous amounts of soy. After four weeks, the ones whose diets were unchanged showed no change in cholesterol levels, but among the soy eaters, average cholesterol levels plummeted 27 percent, to 257 mg/dl.

Prostate and colon cancer. Tofu and its soy cousins may also help prevent prostate and colon cancer. A study showed that those who ate the most tofu had the lowest rate of prostate cancer. It was also discovered that as soy food consumption rises, colon cancer risk falls. Scientists theorize that in addition to soy’s direct anticancer effects, people tend to use it to replace the meat in the diet. Meat’s high fat content has been linked to both prostate and colon cancer.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=221134&ca=Food

Explore The World Of Wine. Take A World Wide Wine Tour By David Faulkner

Travel Around The Globe Of Wine

If there ever was a single location that would be considered pure paradise for wine tours, it would be the state of California. Perhaps that statement is somewhat disingenuous. Bear in mind, California is a gigantic state and is made up of many counties and locations where one could take part in a wine tour.

This does present a problem although the problem could easily be circumvented by merely taking part in more than one wine tour! If you have a limited amount of time to go on the wine tours, then there are two specific areas in California where you could pinpoint your visit. These areas are, of course, Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley.

Both Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley have a thriving wine culture that attracts a significant number of tourists every year. The wine tours that are available are expansive, inexpensive and, best of all, fun. If you make only one wine tour in your lifetime go to California it will be an experience you will never forget.

Choose Among The Best

Of course, if you wish to spend time taking part in a wine tour, you need to settle on where you wish to go. This can be a thrilling decision to make as the sheer vastness of the choices is incredibly expansive. There is simply no limit to the many regions and the volume of destinations and places where you could visit to take part in a wine tour. The possibilities are endless. Well, 'no limit' is not an entirely accurate decision. It would help that the wine tours you embark upon are destinations to places that actually have a winery! As a matter of fact, you will discover that it is not at all difficult to locate a winery. The difficulty will involve centering on which specific wine tour to take as making a choice in the matter may prove incredibly difficult.

It would help that the wine tours you embark upon are destinations to places that actually have a winery! As a matter of fact, you will discover that it is not at all difficult to locate a winery. The difficulty will involve centering on which specific wine tour to take as making a choice in the matter may prove incredibly difficult. These wine tasting tours can be taken in one country or you can see the various wine tasting regions in the world. While this option is expensive you will be able to enjoy authentic wines from regions where you would find expensive wines back home, being sold at reasonable prices. The best way to find out about these wine tasting tour operators is to look in the internet.

Here you will be able to see if you would like to spend your money going to other countries and tasting the wines that are produced there. With this option you will also be able to see about going on a wine tasting tour that takes place on a ship. On this tour you will be introduced to the wines of the country that you are going to be visiting and you can take in some cultural sights as well.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=220013&ca=Food

Coffee Making Using A Coffee Machine By Liz Canham

If you don't mind instant coffee granules or powder, it isn’t that difficult to make a cup of coffee. You just put a teaspoonful of coffee in a cup or mug, boil some water, pour it on, stir and then serve. However, if you want 'proper' coffee, not instant, the process isn't quite so easy unless you have a coffee machine.

There are many different types of coffee machine available and which one you choose will depend on the features and the price of the appliance. In a domestic environment, you don't necessarily need all the 'bells and whistles' that a commercial enterprise would require, but if you want to make different types of coffee, you'll want something a little fancy.

First of all, you can choose the look and size of the coffee machine. If you only have a small space available, there's no point buying a huge machine and this may restrict the facilities that it has. For example, it will affect the number of cups of coffee which can be produced before the water reservoir must be refilled. In terms of appearance, there is either plastic or stainless steel to choose from and plastic may come in a variety of colours depending of the make of the machine.

Another early decision will be whether you want a filter machine with a jug or whether you want an espresso machine. The latter is usually more versatile but may well cost more to buy and you'll also need to buy more coffee as by it's nature espresso is usually stronger than filter coffee.

Filter coffee machines usually have a jug which sits on a hotplate to keep the coffee warm. This is useful if you have a lot of people drinking coffee, for example in an office, but although you can vary the number of cups you make, it isn't really practical for a lone coffee drinker (unless you drink far too much) because the hotplate doesn't really keep the coffee that warm over time and the flavour becomes a bit 'stewed' if not drunk within an hour or so.

Espresso coffee machines, particularly really do come in all different shapes and sizes, from the tiny little one cup machines to the large (and expensive) types which have a large reservoir, grind the coffee, dispense and tamp it down then discards the spent coffee when the water has run through. All you have to do with one of these is make sure that there is enough water and beans then froth the milk if you want it.

Medium priced espresso machines will usually have a reasonably large water reservoir and a milk frothing system. Cheaper ones will probably only hold enough water for a couple of cups and won't have a frother. It's really horses for courses depending on how much and what sort of coffee you like to drink.

Many brands have similar models of coffee machine, so you may want to visit a few different electrical shops and compare prices, brand facilities and warranty conditions, before you make your decision.

Whichever type you buy, don't forget that there is different ready ground coffee for filter machines than for espresso machines so make sure that you pick up the right sort in the supermarket. Either way, once water has run through the coffee, don't even think about trying to use the coffee again or it will look and taste like dishwater!

If you choose the right coffee machine for the job, then you should have good tasty coffee whenever you want it.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=220384&ca=Food

Why Is There Corn Syrup In So Many Foods? By Gery Craig

It's almost impossible anymore to pick up an item in the grocery store and not find some form of corn syrup listed among the ingredients. Corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, glucose syrup, and fructose are all forms of corn syrup or its derivatives. So why is there corn syrup in so many foods? Is it just a sweetener or does it serve other purposes as well?

Certainly, corn syrup does have some application as a sweetener. Corn syrup consists mainly of glucose, but it is only about 75% as sweet as table sugar (sucrose), which is about a 50-50 mix of glucose and fructose. Because corn syrup lacks the full sweetness of sugar, it is often paired with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has a fructose-to-glucose ratio that is almost identical to sugar. Often HFCS is used alone as a sugar substitute.

Answers.com describes the many places you will find corn syrup: 'Corn syrup is one of several natural sweeteners derived from corn starch. It is used in a wide variety of food products including cookies, crackers, catsups, cereals, flavored yogurts, ice cream, preserved meats, canned fruits and vegetables, soups, beers, and many others. It is also used to provide an acceptable taste to sealable envelopes, stamps, and aspirins. One derivative of corn syrup is high fructose corn syrup, which is as sweet as sugar and is often used in soft drinks. Corn syrup may be shipped and used as a thick liquid or it may be dried to form a crystalline powder.'

What other roles does corn syrup play besides that of a sweetener? One purpose is as a thickening agent, such as in relishes. Another is as a humectant (moistener), extending the freshness and shelf life of baked goods and other products. Additionally, it does not crystallize as easily as sugar, making it preferable over sugar for frostings and jams. It also helps keep the ice crystals off ice cream and other frozen desserts, makes jam taste fresher, and provides a sweet balance to sour ingredients.

All of these reasons are great for food manufacturers-they are able to manufacture foods that taste fresher, last longer, and are cheaper to make than foods with sugar in them. Why? Because corn is cheaper than sugar in the United States because of government subsidies and tariffs. The U.S. government has placed high tariffs on imported sugar and massively subsidizes the U.S. corn industry.

Many people are quick to blame the current obesity epidemic on the prevalence of corn syrup and HFCS in the American diet. This is in part due to a scientific paper written in 2004 by Barry M. Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and George A. Bray, a professor of medicine at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, which noted a remarkable surge in obesity in Americans that paralleled an increased use of HFCS by food manufacturers. However, in a July 2, 2006 NY Times article entitled 'A Sweetener with a Bad Rap' Popkin was quoted as saying 'It was a theory meant to spur science, but it's quite possible that it may be found out not to be true. …I don't think there should be a perception that high-fructose corn syrup has caused obesity until we know more.'

It is more accurate to say that Americans are consuming much more 'sugar' (including corn syrup and HFCS) than a generation ago. Soft drink consumption alone has increased five-fold since 1980, and it is difficult to find a soft drink in America that is not sweetened with HFCS. Most consumers are likely unaware of how much corn syrup they really consume. As Americans continue to cook less at home and eat more prepared food, they are consuming more foods that even a generation ago did not contain any or at least as much corn syrup and HFCS. A manufacturer may add corn syrup to its product for a reason other than sweetening, but the result is still higher amounts of sugar and calories, and that is what fuels obesity.

For a more thorough discussion of the history and manufacturing of corn syrup, see www.answers.com/topic/corn-syrup. Other websites with more information about corn syrup include www.karosyrup.com/faq.asp and www.ochef.com/362.htm. For more information about tariffs and subsidies see www.answers.com/topic/agricultural-subsidy. To read the NY Times article see www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/business/yourmoney/02syrup.html?ex=1309492800&en=49fdce8d3bd886c5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=121579&ca=Food

Are Gourmet Foods For Everyone? By David Swanson

When you think gourmet foods what comes to your mind? Expensive, only available in the top restaurants of the world presented in unique design by men that speak with accents wearing tuxes? The truth is that they are not as expensive as you think, they do not need a culinary master to be prepared and they do not take as much time as you may believe.

Gourmet foods can appeal to all the senses. Taste, touch, sight, and sound. Finer gourmet foods when beautifully presented and carefully tasted can equal the experience of seeing an original piece of a masters work of art. The aroma that lingers in the air and the beauty in the way it was arranged can be worth the price that some of the finest restraunts may charge. Only high quality food and drink will suffice for those that consider food to be a delicacy and treasure.

With that being said, how does a person go about selecting everyday foods from the local market and preparing them at home to equal those prepared by a world renown chef? I completely believe that preparing gourmet meals at home for yourself, several times a week, is possible and not saved for those times when special dinners are required for guests while entertaining. Where to shop for gourmet foods? That depends on where you live. Gourmet quality items can be found at your local grocery or farmers market, it just takes some looking. There are some areas that have specialty stores or gourmet shops. Remember, I said it doesn't have to be expensive to be gourmet it has to be high quality.

So you are going to look for foods that look good, are high quality and are fresh. You want foods that are not processed or packaged and in most cases have not been treated with pesticides and such. Pick the freshest foods if at all possible. If fresh foods are not an option some frozen varieties are acceptable but never use canned. You know the difference in quality foods when you see them. They are usually the foods that are packaged attractively and displayed in a way that makes you want to buy them. You are consuming it, it should be high quality.

If you are not sure how to go through the grocery and pick out the high quality foods, then you can turn to the internet. There are many quality gourmet shops online. If you are going to use the online approach to gourmet food shopping I recommend making a list of what you are looking for. Once you have that list you will want to find the better sites that offer the best foods. Places such as Amazon.com can help you locate the foods you are looking for and offers you a simpl way to price compare.

Price compare, paying more doesn't mean that you are getting better quality of food. The quality of the food is not always revealed in the price tag. I have been to restaurants and had a filet mignon and paid an insane amount of money for a steak and then gone to a chain restaurant and had a filet that was ten times better and cost 1/3 of the 'fine restaurants' filet.

Shopping for the good gourmet foods takes time. It can be an enjoyable time. Planning ahead and getting bargins by watching for coupons in your local paper is also wise. Instead of taking a long county drive on a Saturday, try visiting one or two local markets browsing up and down the isle looking for special food items to create a gourmet meal. Eating should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, so take the time to prepare your gourmet meals.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=220134&ca=Food

Are Gourmet Foods For Everyone? By David Swanson

When you think gourmet foods what comes to your mind? Expensive, only available in the top restaurants of the world presented in unique design by men that speak with accents wearing tuxes? The truth is that they are not as expensive as you think, they do not need a culinary master to be prepared and they do not take as much time as you may believe.

Gourmet foods can appeal to all the senses. Taste, touch, sight, and sound. Finer gourmet foods when beautifully presented and carefully tasted can equal the experience of seeing an original piece of a masters work of art. The aroma that lingers in the air and the beauty in the way it was arranged can be worth the price that some of the finest restraunts may charge. Only high quality food and drink will suffice for those that consider food to be a delicacy and treasure.

With that being said, how does a person go about selecting everyday foods from the local market and preparing them at home to equal those prepared by a world renown chef? I completely believe that preparing gourmet meals at home for yourself, several times a week, is possible and not saved for those times when special dinners are required for guests while entertaining. Where to shop for gourmet foods? That depends on where you live. Gourmet quality items can be found at your local grocery or farmers market, it just takes some looking. There are some areas that have specialty stores or gourmet shops. Remember, I said it doesn't have to be expensive to be gourmet it has to be high quality.

So you are going to look for foods that look good, are high quality and are fresh. You want foods that are not processed or packaged and in most cases have not been treated with pesticides and such. Pick the freshest foods if at all possible. If fresh foods are not an option some frozen varieties are acceptable but never use canned. You know the difference in quality foods when you see them. They are usually the foods that are packaged attractively and displayed in a way that makes you want to buy them. You are consuming it, it should be high quality.

If you are not sure how to go through the grocery and pick out the high quality foods, then you can turn to the internet. There are many quality gourmet shops online. If you are going to use the online approach to gourmet food shopping I recommend making a list of what you are looking for. Once you have that list you will want to find the better sites that offer the best foods. Places such as Amazon.com can help you locate the foods you are looking for and offers you a simpl way to price compare.

Price compare, paying more doesn't mean that you are getting better quality of food. The quality of the food is not always revealed in the price tag. I have been to restaurants and had a filet mignon and paid an insane amount of money for a steak and then gone to a chain restaurant and had a filet that was ten times better and cost 1/3 of the 'fine restaurants' filet.

Shopping for the good gourmet foods takes time. It can be an enjoyable time. Planning ahead and getting bargins by watching for coupons in your local paper is also wise. Instead of taking a long county drive on a Saturday, try visiting one or two local markets browsing up and down the isle looking for special food items to create a gourmet meal. Eating should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, so take the time to prepare your gourmet meals.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=220134&ca=Food

Backpacking Recipes - The Simplest By Steve Gillman

I need simple backpacking recipes because there is never a stove in my backpack, even on week-long trips in the wilderness. I often backpack with less than fifteen pounds total pack weight, and total means all food, water - everything. It's often in a daypack, so I don't have much room for a stove and fuel cannisters.

I also don't want the extra weight. I don't want the extra trouble of cooking either. I prefer to spend my time to hiking and exploring and picking wild berries. I leave the stove home. If you've considered doing the same, try some of the following simple backpacking recipes to add a little variety to that diet of crackers, nuts and granola.

Peanut Butter And Wild Fruit

Peanut butter is a great backpacking food because it is so high in calories for the weight. Put some on a wheat cracker and top it with a few wild strawberries or raspberries for a healthy treat. My wife and I have eaten as many as nine different kinds of berries on one day hike, so you can have quite a variety of taste sensations with this plan.

If it isn't the season for wild fruit, you can bring along a handful of jelly packets borrowed from your favorite restaurant. If you bring jam or jelly from home, ditch the heavy glass jar, of course. Jelly in a small plastic tub will be lighter and safer, and should stay fresh for at least a few days.

Trail Mixes

A good trail mix is one of the most convenient backpacking foods. Here's my recipe for a good one: Mix peanuts, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, and raisins in any proportions you like. Taste and adjust the quantities. Add whatever else you can think of and taste it again. Is that simple enough?

A Full Dinner Backpacking Recipe

Want a delicious dinner in the middle of the wilderness without cooking? Pack whole wheat crackers and two types of cheese. Hard cheeses, like a good smoked gouda last longest. Bring a foil pouch of tuna. These don't have to be refrigerated. Put a few olives in a zippered plastic bag with a small handful of baby carrots. Then get a boxed wine, drink all but about four glasses, remove the bag from the box and pack that.

Have this special meal on your first or second night out, while the carrots and cheese are still good. Prepare crackers with tuna on then. If you come across some wild onions, sprinkle some chopped up leaves or bulbs on these. Prepare crackers with the two types of cheeses and top these with the olives. The baby carrots will be ready to eat as is, and will have been flavored by the olive juices.

Enjoy it all with a water bottle half full of wine (I never carry a cup). The wine bag, by the way, can then be used to carry up to six quarts of water, or can be blown up and used (wrap in a sweater) as a pillow. These bags weigh less than three ounces and are very tough.

Salad Recipe

Backpacking doesn't have to mean giving up fresh foods, not even if you go really light. Throw a few carrots and radishes in a plastic bag and they're usually good for at least several days. Add some edible wild greens, like dandelion leaves, and some wild onion or peeled and chopped young thistle stalks, and you have a salad. Carry you veggies in a large zippered plastic bag, for easy mixing.

For dressing, get one of those eight-ounce plastic water bottles. These weigh less than an ounce and don't take too much room. Put a few ounces of olive oil in it (a great high-calorie backpacking food), an ounce of wine vinegar (or any other vinegar), and a pinch of salt, pepper and oregano. Add a touch of honey if you like it sweet, and a bit of cayenne pepper if you like it hot.

This should be enough for two salads. Just wash your salad ingredients, put them in the bag, add some dressing, close and shake. You can eat it right from the bag. The salad dressing container can be used as an extra water bottle when it is empty. I like backpacking recipes that keep it light, and multi-use containers help with this.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=195209&ca=Food

The Popular Flavors of Plush Puffs marshmallows : No Plain Vanilla Anymore

Remember plain marshmallows? Plain flavors like vanilla alone is in the past. Today, marshmallows have gone gourmet with Plush Puffs marshmallows.

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Marshmallow lovers have created a renassaince in making homemade marshmallows and creating dishes with marshmallows. The marshmallow makers also have taken notice of that and started using different methods to please their customers.

Plush Puffs marshmallows, for example, are famous for their delicious flavors. Some of the varieties offered in Plush Puffs marshmallows are vanilla bean, caramel swirl, chocolate chipetta and china’s cinnamon. Like ice cream, marshmallows have branched out into many different flavors.

The origin of marshmallows dates to back to ancient Egypt with a sweet made-up of sap of mallow plant. French confectioners whipped it with other ingredients to make a fluffier version. Later gelatin was used instead of mallow root sap, but the name marshmallow remained. Use of marshmallows has become a comfort food classic.

They are still popular today. Retail marshmallows sales have soured to 146 million US dollars in 2008. Nowadays, marshmallows are used less as a baking ingredient and more as a treat. Push Puffs marshmallows is one of the new popular gourmet brands, and are available in all leading food stores in U.S. and online.

Plush Puffs marshmallows are a great ingredient in desert preparation. Plush puff ice-cream topping is another mouth swallowing item, and very popular among the consumers. During summer, smores made up of plush puffs marshmallows are widely bought for its flavor.

Plush Puffs marshmallows have a shelf life of 90 days so they can be bought ahead of time. They will also remain fresh and soft if kept in an airtight container.

Wine Making Kits: Producing Your Personalised Wine For Any Affair

Wine, along with beer, is a drink that has surviving with man as distant back as chronicle goes and handed on from generation to generation in the identical style that the tales and legends of the prehistoric. Wine is the drink that pledges to substantive effects in lifetime and that it is a must in such affairs as birthday, anniversaries, and other solemnisation that merit revelry.

Thorough work of Wine making

Wine getting is a very skillful process that requires thorough notice and getting indisputable that the fitting elements and their quantity is followed. The action is identified as vinification. It begins with choosing the correct assortment of grapes that is worthy for the aim, taking into considerations ingredients as maturity, juice capacity, and taste perception. The select of wine that will be produced is virtually insured solely by the sort of grapes employed.

more cut-rate Alternative to dear Wines

Though very best-selling, several wines are very overpriced - a cause that limits backwards any likely buyer of the drink, descending alternatively for cheaper drinks such as beer. Even So, this tendency may presently be reversed with the creation to the market of wine establishing kits. The entrance of wine making kits has molded the drinking penchants of man. Masses observed wine to be a drink that is usually the reservation of the selective ones. Nowadays they neck that even common people can enjoy this grand drink with wine having kits.

Wine making kits has rightfully transformed the culture of several. Straight Off, everyone can toast to any social function that deserves jubilations. During graduations, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, the birth of a newborn, as a symbolic representation for friendly relationship pacts, when nations sign accords, wine is had to be there, thanks largely to the handiness of wine getting kits.

Providing Business Opportunity

One accompanying profit of the proliferation of wine getting kits is that folks can Instantly afford their private business enterprises, which proffer home-made wines as their main production. In serious economic times such as the present, wine having kits have facilitated households to tide through the economically grave times while serving the local economy remain filled, presenting it a boost.

In to the highest degree illustrates, the locally grown wine using wine establishing kits suffices as a window to the more superb culture of the vicinity. Tourists who are calling the locale for the first time commonly take their clue of what the place has to extend them through the products processed by the local pub. When wine making kits are practiced by the local pub, everyone is passed on chance to experimentation with their admired savour, distinguishing their sealed talent for dreaming up wines that fit to their taste. In such a state of affairs, they can ostentate their mixing attainments and earn from it.

Get Wine getting Kits on the Internet

For the safest business deals in wine getting kits to keep going your family business or to organize one for family assemblages or to proffer to friends, visit The Grape and Granary. It is the greatest place for character kits that will give you your money's worth.

6 Party Planning Menu Ideas

Whether you're planning a big event or a gathering for a few people, the basic steps are still the same. It's up to you to decide how simple or elaborate the details get. When people come to a party there are certain things they expect. One they want to have a good time, they want to meet and mingle with the party goers, and they want to have good food and drinks. A good party needs to have a good party planning menu that tailors to all guests.

1

The first step is preparing your party planning menu is knowing what is the theme of the party. Is it a holiday party, a special event party like a bachelor party, or is it just a gathering of old friends. Once you determine the theme of the party and whether or not a sit is down or stand up event, then you can decide what types of food and drinks you need.

2

The next step is picking a date and time for your party. If your party is going to be held late in the evening after dinner then you probably only need finger foods and snacks. If the party is held during the middle of the day then you need to have a complete meal prepared for each guest.

3

The next step is deciding if the party will be indoors or outdoors. If you are having your party in the backyard you probably only need finger foods and snacks. If it’s inside a rented hall then you want to full spread of food.

4

Who will attend your party? Your guest list is very important when determining the types of food you will have at your party. If you are inviting your boss over for the party you don’t want to have chips and dip.

5

How much money to you have to spend on your party? Your budget will play a big role in the types and amount of food you will serve at your party.

6

Are you serving casual finger food, potluck, or a multi-course feast? You should cater to your guests: vegetarian, low-fat or sugar-free options, tolerance for spices, food sensitivities, and the willingness or reluctance to try new food should all be considered. Ask ahead of time if there are food issues you should know about. You need to offer a good variety of choices, but don’t go overboard and spend too much money on the food.

Free Soul Food Recipes Growing Controversy: Healthy vs. Traditional Soul Food Recipes

There's a quiet controversy growing on more websites featuring free soul food recipes that's starting to catch the attention of more industry experts and watchdogs. The battle is increasing between the health conscious and the traditionalist who resist the changing landscape and direction soul food cooking is going in.

The healthy recipe crowd has formed a crusade of using healthier ingredients and eliminating traditional soul food recipes, which contain high calories, sodium and fat. For example, those ingredients they're attempting to eliminate include fat back, ham hocks, bacon and other pork products that have been traced to many health ailments. For instance, high blood pressure, strokes, obesity and other medical ailments.

The traditional soul food recipe crowd have their own complaints. They complain that taking away traditional ingredients will also take away what has made southern cooking famous. The robust flavors, smells and most important taste that made this popular southern cuisine world famous will be loss forever. They predict bland food, bland eating and watered down recipes.

The two schools of thought have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to taste and health. The side that currently has the strongest momentum is the health conscious crowd. This side represents the younger generation, who is less tied to tradition and more concerned about their diets and eating healthy than the older generation. When it comes to southern cooking, traditional southern cuisine is almost like a religion to some people.

The answer many traditionalist have is to eat in moderation and exercise but keep the traditional southern cooking intact. They claim by doing this soul food recipe lovers get the best of both worlds. As strong as this debate appears to grow, many experts believe the deciding factor will come from a neutral third party. This deciding factor will unemotionally choose which side will come out ahead in this controversy. What's that you ask? It's time, Yes. Eventually time will decide who will prevail. Stay tuned!

Benefits of Cheese Making

Cheese Making: Top 3 Grounds Why Make Your Own CheeseCheese is one of the most consumed milk products. The iron and calcium substance of the food is ideal for bone maturation. No wonder then that a motley of cheese is procurable in the market, to the highest degree of them as an ingredient for preparing dishes. Nevertheless, for to the highest degree people, cheese is best taken as it is: for snack or to go with bread or simply for crunching something when there is nil nicer to do.Main ComponentCheese is fundamentally the preservation of milk. Its development is traced back to the drifting herdsmen of the Middle East who stored their provide of milk on vessels that are made from the stomach of goats and sheep. Because of the lactic acid possessed in the linings of the containers, wild bacteria mixes with milk, getting it to ferment and coagulate. The commonly expended milk in having cheese is milk from cow, goat, sheep, or buffalo.The increase and Popularity of Home-based Cheese MakingChess affecting used to be the specialization of those who have the needed accomplishments and equipments for the process. But with the maturation in recent times of ready-to-use chess producing equipments, the style has been towards home-based chess forming. This is primarily for native usance, although some enterprisers do form chess affecting as a pursuit.Benefits of Cheese MakingAs a spare-time activity, chess cooking is fun and rewarding. For some individuals, it is a sideline that requires up most of their time, but unlike any little sidelines, this one extends multiplex gains such as:▪ A reservoir of income. Smaller occupation cheese makers can transform their hobby into a practicable source of income for the family by producing and selling cheese in the vicinity or selling them to the local store. In such an instance, significant investing may be requisite for overhead disbursements. But because the cheese was prepared at home, people unremarkably rely such product as fine and worthy to their penchants. An added benefit of cheese producing as an moneymaking action is that one can become the supplier for the needs on cheese of the local bakery or pastry shop, cornering their needs for cheese to use on their productions.▪ A low-budget and dependable source of commendable nutrients for the family. When one is engaged in cheese readying at home, the family, peculiarly the kids, are definite to delight the available supply and accessibility of cheese. Furthermore, because it was affected at home, one is confident on the quality as well as the elements used in forming the product.▪ Benefiting others. An additional benefit of cheese making is that when sold in the local market, other sectors are destined to gain from it such as the makers for the wrappers and for the packaging of the cheese. Neighbors will sure enough treasure the low-budget monetary value of the cheese they can purchase.Your Source of Cheese Making SuppliesIf you are searching for the greatest deal on cheese making appends to support your home need of the food as well as to cater your local market, get in touch with The Grape and Granary. You can encounter the needed materials for your new hobby that can become your family's generator of income.

Foods To Avoid At Your Wedding By Amy Nutt

A wedding is meant to be a celebration of two lives joining together as one. There are a lot of different aspects to this type of celebration. There is a lot to prepare before hand – some people actually take a year or even two years to get ready for their wedding day! There certainly is a lot too think about, and a lot to plan. Even if you can afford to hire a wedding planner, couples still have to make many, many different choices all throughout the wedding planning process.

People usually tend to only think about the big wedding choices, such as the dress, the cake, the guest list and the gift registry. Most couples and wedding planners will just choose and hire a well known and respected caterer and leave it at that. However, many of these couples do not realize that their choice of foods that they serve at their wedding can have a bigger effect on the success of the reception!

A lot of people don’t realize that there are certain foods that would be better to serve at your wedding reception, and there are also certain foods that just would not go over so well if served at your reception! This may sound a bit strange to some people, but when you think about it reasonably, it makes a lot of sense.

Every wedding is a unique affair, and part of what makes them each different and unique is the diversity of the guest list. There are a lot of people out there that have diverse families, with a mix of different cultures. Sometimes when you have a such a mix of cultures at your wedding reception, you have to watch what kinds of foods you serve, because certain cultures will be offended at some foods. For example, you don’t want to serve pork if you have Jewish relatives coming to your wedding reception, and it probably wouldn’t be such a great idea to serve meat to a strict vegetarian! Also, before you pick out the wine you will have at your reception, take a look over your guest list and make sure that no one on it will be offended by the presence of alcohol. Some people would be offended because of religious views, while others could be recovering alcoholics, and you wouldn’t want to tempt them to fall off of the wagon!

Another thing to think about when it comes to the food served at your wedding reception is what foods cause bad breath. Kissing is a pretty widespread wedding activity, and it might not be such a pleasant activity if half of the wedding reception food has garlic or onions in it. Also, you should consider the meat you will be serving. There are some couples who want to go all out and serve some sort of wild game meat, but sometimes this is just not practical or appreciated by your guests.

The last thing to think about before you finalize your food list, is how many courses you plan to serve at your reception. If you have just one or two, you don’t have to worry about it, but if you want more courses than that, then you should only serve lighter foods for the first few courses. You don’t want your guests to fill up too fast.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=218676&ca=Food

All-time Favorite Traditional Hispanic Recipes By David H. Urmann

Traditional Hispanic recipes are an all-time favorite not only in countries with a Spanish culture but also other countries learning to appreciate its delectable taste. There are a lot of traditional Hispanic recipes you can easily make at home.

Hispanic food covers the culinary traditions of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, South and Central America. These countries have Spanish cultures and origins. Hispanic food varies from each town, family and region.

Hispanic groups usually like to eat their food with rice. Other Hispanics like to mix their meals with beans, potatoes, quinoa and wheat or cassava. These foods are not similar to your basic nachos, tacos, tamales and enchiladas. They have their individual mainstreams of menu items, from the main dishes, desserts and appetizers up to the beverages.

Listed below are different types of Traditional Hispanic Recipes:
1. Picadillo Tacos
Ingredients:
• 1 large chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 pounds lean ground pork
• ¾ cup Sun-Maid Natural Raisins
• 1 can or 15 ounce tomato sauce
• ½ cup pimento-stuffed green olives sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 purchased taco or tostada shells
• 3 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 ½ cups coarsely grated radish
• Lime wedges

Directions:
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add garlic and onion, cook for about 3 minutes.
• Cook until it becomes soft.
• Add some pork.
• Increase the heat and stir, breaking up the large pieces (cook until the pork is no longer pinkish in color).
• Add tomato sauce, raisins, cinnamon, olives, pepper and salt to taste.
• Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
• Divide warm picadillos between its shells.
• Serve this topped with radish, cheese, lettuce and a squeeze of lime.

2. Sweet Raisin Tamales
Ingredients:
• 35 pcs cork husks
• 1 ½ c butter
• 3 pounds corn masa (prepared, for tamales)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 ½ cup of Sun-Maid Natural Raisins

Directions:
• Soak the corn husks in hot water for about 30 minutes or until the corn husks are soft.
• Combine the prepared masa with baking powder, sugar and butter using a large deep bowl.
• Mix until it becomes smooth, using a heavy spoon or electric mixer.
• Spoon about two teaspoons of raisin-masa mixture in a mound of about 1 x 3 inches, particularly on the length and center of corn husks.
• Roll the long side of husks over some filling.
• Fold the narrow the end of the husks up and tie it with a strip of corn husk, leaving the top end open or twisting both ends and tying it.
• Steam the tamales for about 45 minutes.
• The corn husks should pull away from the masa when it’s done.
• Serve warm.

3. Raisin Salsa
Ingredients:
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 medium red onion
• ½ bunch of cilantro
• 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 jalapeno peppers stem and seeds removed
• Juice of 1 lime
• ¾ cup of Sun-Maid Natural Raisins
• Salt

Directions:
• Beat all the ingredients, except for the raisins, inside the food processor for about 10 minutes or until it becomes coarsely chopped.
• Transfer the mixture onto a large bowl.
• Stir in the raisins.
• Salt to taste.
• Let this stand for about 15 minutes so that the flavor blends.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=324634&ca=Food