Healthy LIfestyle and Foods
Exotic foods
Gourmet Easter Baskets!
Mar 27th
Easter’s on it’s way! I love Easter. I love dying eggs. I love Easter Egg hunts. Even though my kids are all grown and out of the house, I still dye eggs every Easter. It makes me happy, besides, it’s tradition.
Easter is such a happy time, with the flowers all a-bloom, birds chirping about, trees greening up. And the weather finally turning from cold and gloom to bright and sunny and warm. Who couldn’t love a holiday like that? Out front, I have 8 or so azaleas in bloom, with 3 shades of pink, and white and red. There is More >
Great Deals on Fine Wine
Sep 7th
I’ll be leaving soon to visit some old friends on the coast. We get together at least once a year for good food, good fun and fine wine. Getting together with your buddies is a great way to keep the friendships growing, don’t you think?
Everyone brings their favorite foods to (more…)
Bookmark It Hide Sites $$('div.d207').each( function(e) { e.visualEffect('slide_up',{duration:0.5}) });Coffee Lovers, Attention, Please!
Mar 26th
Ah… the rich, comforting smell of coffee brewing first thing in the morning, what could be better? What kind of coffee drinker are you? The one that just drinks it and goes, or one who savors every sip, aware not only of the spiciness, the richness, the crisp bold flavors, any hints of fruitiness? Oh, yeah… the coffee connoisseur.
For the true coffee lover, every cup is a joy. Not only the coffee itself, but all the accoutrements involved. There are jumbo coffee mugs, latte cups, espresso cups and saucers. There are shiny tumblers and thermoses, special wraps to keep it More >
Yummmm… Chocolate
Mar 21st
Yummm…. Chocolate. Who doesn’t like it? It’s hard to believe that chocolate has not always been around. Well, actually, the Aztec in Mexico have had the cocoa bean for thousands of years, and they used it to make a drink by mixing it with mixed with vanilla, chile pepper (for spice), and achiote. This made it kind of bitter, and the Aztec word for Chocolate means bitter water.
Once the Europeans got hold of it, they sweetened it up a bit. They left out the chile pepper and added sugar. Later, they learned how to process it so that it would More >
Flavor Your Water With Cucumber
Feb 19th
We all know we need to drink more water. The thing is, sometimes, it gets a little boring. Water is, well, just water. There are times when I know I’m thirsty, and I get myself a tall glass of cool, clear water, and just drink in it’s freshness. But, other times, a little extra flavor might help. One way to “spice” up your water is to add, of all things, cucumber. You can slice a cucumber, and drop it into a pitcher of water, allowing the essence and flavor to infuse into the water. It is really quite delicious!
Not only More >
Why Is Vanilla Extract So Expensive?
Feb 17th
Vanilla Extract, the pure stuff, is rather expensive. I’ve tried getting the “flavoring”, but it just doesn’t’ do the job. So periodically, I have to bite the bullet, and fork out the money for the good stuff. I’ve always wondered why this little bottle should cost so much, and recently, I found out why.
Vanilla beans, that are used in making the extract, come from orchid flowers. Orchids are delicate flowers, to say the least, and growing Vanilla is very labor intensive. It takes a whole lot of patience and attention from start to finish. Each orchid has to be hand More >
Guacamole, Yum!
Jun 25th
Guacamole is an excellent addition to so many meals. It is versatile, and can have so many different variations, you can use it a variety of ways. Guacamole can be a dip all by itself, or an addition to tacos, or with chili. You can even spread it on your sandwich, or make a sandwich of just guacamole!
Here is one of my favorite variations on the dish:
Ingredients
2 large Haas avocados (remove the meat, and mush it up)
1 medium tomato , diced really small
½ cup cilantro, also chopped up really small
2 Tbs lime juice, fresh is best
½ sweet onion, diced really More >
Couscous
May 19th
Couscous is made from wheat flour, but not like pasta. It is simply flour that has been slightly moistened with salted water, then rolled into tiny little granules. Most couscous found in the supermarket are the “medium-grain” size (also called Moroccan). But couscous comes in a wide variety of sizes, from granules fine as sand, to some as large as baby peas. You’ll have to go to a Middle Eastern grocery to find the more unusual sizes, though.
Couscous is served like rice would be, as a side dish, flavered with butter perhaps, and as a base for other sauces and More >
Shiitake Mushrooms
Apr 14th
Shiitake mushrooms are great for flavoring many many dishes. They are sometimes also known as shiang-gu mushrooms, oak mushrooms, black forest mushrooms, black mushrooms, or just forest mushrooms. They have a rich, almost buttery flavor, which is not like other mushroom varieties. When they are dried, the flavor concentrates, and has a smoky hint to it. The texture of the shiitake is also different from most other mushrooms. It has a much lower water content which accounts for its density, and chewy texture, as well as the intense flavor.
Shiitakes are best when grown on a tree, or log, and not More >