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Articles in Home | Food & Beverage | Beverage & Food Title|Newest|Oldest Tips For Buying, Storing And Preparing Produce  By : Stacey Moore The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would like to remind you that fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Like any other food, it is important to handle fresh produce safely to prevent illness. Use these tips: Buying Tips Time-honored Spirit Is More Than A Mixer  By : Stacey Moore Odds are you have never sipped a "Diplomat." This drink was all the rage in 1910, say cocktail historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, authors of "Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini." It's a cocktail made with equal parts dry and sweet vermouth and a dash of maraschino liqueur over ice. Tips For Hosting Responsible Celebrations  By : Stacey Moore When planning your next celebration, you may want to consider some tips on hosting responsible parties. The host of a successful party makes sure guests are well fed, entertained and that they don't make dangerous decisions such as choosing to drive when they've had too much to drink. Treat Yourself To An Indulgent Taste Experience  By : Stacey Moore In today's fast-paced world, women are constantly on the go. Balancing work, family and grocery shopping can add stress to an already busy schedule. Chaotic times require everyone to take a moment to reflect and indulge. A recent survey reveals that Americans indulge, on average, 3.5 days a week-with "just because" as the No. 1 reason. The survey, conducted on behalf of Swiss Miss, found that while food in general ranks highly as an indulgence, with 77 percent of American women turning to their favorite beverage or snack, sweets take the cake as the top six food choices for indulging. Easy Tips For Food Safety  By : Stacey Moore Recently, two food safety scares occurred, with E. coli outbreaks tied to bagged spinach and a fast food chain; fortunately, you can still protect yourself and your family. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 million cases of food-borne disease occur each year in the United States. The great majority of these cases are mild and cause symptoms for only a day or two, but some cases are more serious, causing hospitalizations and even death. While America's food safety system is among the best in the world, you can take a number of modest and easy steps to help prevent the spread of disease: Are Americans Eating Healthy When They Eat Out?  By : Stacey Moore If you're on a diet, you have lots of company. According to a recent poll, one in four Americans (24 percent) is currently on a diet. A higher percentage of women (29 percent) were watching their weight compared to men (18 percent). According to the poll conducted by Maritz Research, a leader in marketing research, male and female dieters were equally likely to maintain dietary discipline. Two-thirds (66 percent) of dieters indicated that they will stick to their diets, making healthy choices when eating out, compared to "overindulging" because dining out is a special occasion. Furthermore, nearly six out of 10 (57 percent) of those surveyed indicated that offering low-carb or other healthy dining options was at least "somewhat important" in their decision when choosing a restaurant. Move Over Wine, Cocktails Are The New Partner For Food  By : Stacey Moore If you're like a growing number of hosts, you've made room at your table for some creative dinner/drink pairings. Today, more and more people are enjoying a variety of spirits and mixed cocktails with their meals, rather than just wine. Though they are not sommeliers or master mixologists, they enjoy experimenting with new tastes, flavors and textures to spice up their culinary occasions. "These pairings speak to the ever-growing number of consumers who are enthusiastic about cooking, cocktailing and entertaining-it is a perfect blend of what's important to today's lifestyle consumer," stated Marcus Samuelsson, national award-winning New York chef. Classing Up Take-out  By : Stacey Moore What's cooking in American homes? Sometimes, not much. Americans buy an average of 202 meals per year at restaurants-that's nearly four nights a week. The eating-out-of-home trend goes one step further with large national restaurants offering to-go meals straight from their popular dine-in menus. Case in point: Take-out sales for Outback Steakhouse nearly doubled while those for Applebee's more than doubled. So with 34 percent of American adults considering take-out "essential" to their way of life, spending 25 percent of their income on out-of-home meals, why not make the take-out experience a little more special? Try these tips for getting more out of your meal: Avoid Food Fiascos During Your Festivities: Tips For Entertaining  By : Stacey Moore According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 76 million cases of food-borne illness in the United States each year. Hosting parties and family gatherings is a time to enjoy loved ones, but between greeting guests, taking coats and handing out drinks, food preparation can get lost in the shuffle. To prevent food poisoning when entertaining, use measurement tools to ensure that foods are cooked thoroughly and stored correctly. Follow these food safety tips to help ensure happy and healthy guests: Safe Cooking Top Ten Tips For Holiday Food Safety  By : Stacey Moore When making your list and checking it twice, don't forget about food safety during the holiday season. "While the pace is hectic, it's crucial to slow down in the kitchen and remember the importance of food safety, so that friends and family don't leave with any unwanted gifts," says Debra Smiley Holtzman, JD, MA, an internationally recognized safety and health expert and author of "The Safe Baby-A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety." Choosing Cookware Worthy Of Compliments  By : Stacey Moore There's no place like home for the holidays and no gift quite as fitting during a season of feasting as gleaming new pots and pans. What should you look for when choosing cookware as a gift-or for yourself? Look for pans that make cooking easier and that achieve the desired result-a delicious meal on any cooktop surface. Five Tips For A Stress-free Holiday  By : Stacey Moore When it comes to creating a delicious Thanksgiving meal, finding ways to save time doesn't have to be a challenge. Growing up as the daughter of Earl B. Olson, founder of Jennie-O Turkey Store, I have always considered Thanksgiving a very special holiday. Through the years, I have also learned a few tricks of the trade when it comes to preparing the Turkey Day meal. Tips For An Exceptional Party  By : Stacey Moore You don't need a big budget to host a great seasonal party, just a little time for thoughtful planning. That's the word from professional party planners who say people should anticipate their guests' needs whenever possible. That includes every aspect of holiday hosting, from picking the party date to planning the party music. Here are some tips to enhance your next party: • Do a quick survey of your guests to determine which date and time will work for most. Then, send a fun e-mail or regular mail card to have them save the date. Keeping American Meat Safe  By : Stacey Moore The meat Americans buy is the safest it's ever been, according to industry experts. One reason is a 100-year-old federal law that puts meat inspectors in every meat plant. Yet most consumers don't understand the frequency or intensity of meat inspection done in the U.S. by the Department of Agriculture, according to new data from the American Meat Institute (AMI). The 2006 data showed many consumers thought banking (35 percent) is more heavily regulated and inspected than the meat industry (21 percent). Yet meat inspectors by law must be present in meat-packing plants during every minute of operations. Enjoy A Night Out Without Breaking The Bank  By : Stacey Moore With the cost of living always on the rise, many of us are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to dine out. Even with limited funds, you can still dine out in style and keep your budget intact. Here are just a few hints on how: The Scoop On America's Ice Cream Habits  By : Stacey Moore It's no secret that Americans love ice cream-but getting the scoop on when, why and how they love this frozen treat takes a bit more investigation. According to the new "Real Dish on Ice Cream Survey," 87 percent of Americans keep ice cream in their freezer and 19 percent are fanatic enough to hide containers in the back of the freezer where family members won't see them. Seventy-one percent have up to two flavors in the freezer at any given time. eative Party-planning Tips  By : Stacey Moore If you're looking for ways to turn your next party from drab to fab, be sure to invite one person in particular to help with the pre-party planning: your creative inner hostess. That's the advice from Susie Coelho, TV host, author and lifestyle expert. "I can't overemphasize how important it is not to censor the creative process when throwing any party," she says. Coelho now offers planning tips that cover virtually every type of soiree-from showers to theme parties-as part of the Vanity Fair® Napkins Tips & Ideas section. The tips include such creative suggestions as: • Don't be afraid of paper! Dress up paper plates with stamp art made from organic vegetable dyes. Wrap utensils in Vanity Fair® napkins made by Georgia-Pacific. Tie them up with colorful silk ribbons and place them in a basket for your guests A Pregame Party Plan  By : Stacey Moore More than 15 percent of Americans have celebrated in the parking lot before a big football game and many more entertain in their backyard before turning on the television, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. "Getting psyched for the game tops the list of reasons for a tailgate party," says Jamie Purviance, author of "Weber's Real Grilling." "The menu you choose says a lot about your attitude. If you are not grilling, it just feels like a picnic. Rally the crowd with at least a couple of seared, smoky recipes." Pairings That Go Beyond The Grape: Beer And Cheese Please  By : Stacey Moore As small, local artisan creameries across the country continue to gain popularity, many cheese lovers are looking to these small shops for the hottest new trends in culinary delights (not to mention the least expected). That's what makes cheese and beer pairings such a novel and fun concept. "A flight of cheese served with a flight of lagers or ales can be infinitely more interesting than the typical cheese and wine flight," said Nathaniel Davis, brewmaster, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. "The subtle nuances of a beer and its refreshing or sultry finish can play off a range of cheeses, resulting in a delicious, unique taste." Windex and Food: Imperfect Together!  By : Matthew C. Keegan As tempting as it may be to use, Windex or any similar type product can be a hazard to use in the vicinity of food products, particularly cutting boards. If you do not have the proper sanitizer available, a certain “secret” common household item will suffice. Please read on to find out how you can keep your guests safe! Our web community for business flight attendants can be frequently found discussing proper food handling and food safety tips. One lively discussion a few years back surrounded the proper way of cleaning a cutting board. Might I add that the food preparing area of the typical business jet galley is about the size of a two-by-four? Thus, food can easily get into contact with the wrong products if extra care is not taken. Is A Vegetarian Diet Safe For My Infant?  By : Kirsten Hawkins If, for dietary or ethical reasons, you have decided that you want to put your infant on a vegetarian diet, you should be very careful in choosing formulas and solid food for your child. If you plan to breastfeed the infant and you are also a vegetarian, you may need to supplement breastmilk with additional sources of nutrition, depending on your dietary restrictions. If you are a vegan, or an ovo-vegetarian, you should add sources of vitamin B-12 to your child’s diet. How To Cook For A Vegetarian This Holiday Season?  By : Kirsten Hawkins Are you worried about cooking for a vegetarian in your family this upcoming holiday season? Well, worry no more. This article will tell you exactly what you need to do and know before you start cooking this holiday season. You can start off by finding out what type of vegetarian your guest is. For instance, if she is a strict vegan, then there’s a chance she will not eat food that contains honey or yeast; however, if on the other hand, she is a "semi" or "pseudo" vegetarian, there is a chance she will actually eat the meal as it is prepared, including the meat. And if she’s a lacto-ovo-vegetarian,she might eat anything with eggs and milk, but will probably avoid meat dishes. Is A Vegetarian Diet Safe For My Child?  By : Kirsten Hawkins If you are vegetarian parent, you have probably considered putting your child on a vegetarian diet. Not only would it save time and make meal-planning easier, but for dietary and ethical reasons, you believe it is a better choice for your child. Conversely, you might not be a vegetarian yourself, but have a child who is going through a vegetarian "phase," where she rejects meat, but doesn’t consume enough healthy foods to compensate for the nutritional gap. How To Make A Vegan Cake  By : Kirsten Hawkins Do you have a strict vegan in the family who has a birthday or celebration coming up that traditionally calls for cake? If you’re not familiar with vegan dietary practices, you might not know what vegans do not eat. Even worse, you might have no idea how to replace what they do not eat. But don't worry. In a few short paragraphs, I’ll explain exactly what you need to make the perfect cake for your vegan friend or relative. And best of all, no one will be able to taste the difference. Growing Your Own Salad  By : Kirsten Hawkins It’s not exactly fast food. It could take most of the summer to get your salad (which seems to be roughly the speed of most pizza places) but it is well worth the wait. With only the most rudimentary of tools, a little space in the back yards, and some elbow grease, anybody can have a truly fresh salad. Gardening is a rewarding hobby. Flower growers can see the beauty of their labors all summer long. The vegetable growers also get a great reward. They can hear the fresh crunch of home-grown lettuce and taste the mouth-watering tomato that just came off the vine minutes before you tasted it. Who Says Vegetables Have To Be Boring?  By : Kirsten Hawkins Eat your veggies - especially your lettuce. But don't confine yourself to iceberg lettuce or salads! Darker greens have about the same number of calories and carbs -very low! - but pack a lot more punch in the vitamins and other nutrient categories. By substituting radicchio, watercress, escarole or spinach for the iceberg lettuce, you add vitamin C, riboflavin’s, manganese and other essential vitamins that aren't present in lettuce. Try them braised, steamed or grilled for something a little different from the usual salad. Here are some recipes for greens that will tickle your taste buds and make your heart happy! Convenience Food Tips  By : Kirsten Hawkins While it would be ideal to make all of our own snacks and meals from scratch everyday, the plain and simple truth is that most of us simply donÕt have that kind of time. This is where we turn to convenience foods to meet our dietary and weight loss needs. However, the right convenience foods in the right amounts can easily be integrated into almost any diet. Shop Smart - Never shop on an empty stomach. This will only make it harder for you to make choices that are in your best interests. Always be prepared with a thorough shopping list and do not divert from it. If an aisle is full of tempting goodies but has nothing on your list, simply walk right by it, instead of down it. If you see something healthy that you would like, but itÕs not on your list, jot it down and add it to the list next time. This will provide you with something to look forward to. Diet Food Doesn’t Have To Be Boring!  By : Kirsten Hawkins Not too long ago, my mother and I were talking about food and diets. "Your grandmother used to feed you pasta five nights a week," my mother insisted. "She did not!" I exclaimed, stung. After all, I remembered my grandmother as a wonderfully varied cook who could make anything taste wonderful. She served all sorts of meals, not just pasta! There was spaghetti, of course - she was Italian, after all. But she also made Ziti with vegetables. And Linguine. And tuna casserole with. ..elbow macaroni. By the time I'd finished naming off a typical week's worth of menus, I had to concede my mother's point - but I made mine as well. "But... it didn't FEEL like we were eating pasta every night!" There's a point to this story, I promise, and here it comes: One of the biggest reasons that people slip off their diets and eating plans is BOREDOM. It's very easy to look at the foods allowed on your diet and see it as restrictive and boring. Chicken four nights a week. Fish three times a week. Green leafy vegetables till they're coming out of your ears. Who wouldn't get bored? The answer is - anyone with a good set of cookbooks and a healthy imagination. Perk up your cabinet with spices and fill your refrigerator with fresh fruits and vegetables, then look for novel ways to combine them. Here are a handful of tips for non-boring, healthy, low-cal eating 1. Spice it up! Spices are one of the quickest ways out of the diet doldrums. Rosemary and fennel with chicken, mint rubbed into pork, pepper and lemon mint on fresh fish - the 'blander' the food, the higher the effect of the spices. 2. Dress it up. Fruit vinaigrette dressings make wonderful marinades for meats and dressings for warm or cold vegetables. Try broccoli drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette or cabbage spiced up with apple vinegar and pepper. Regional Cuisine Of The United States: Louisiana Cajun Cooking  By : Kirsten Hawkins Louisiana Cajun cuisine originated with a group of French residents of Nova Scotia, who were expelled by the British in 1755. They eventually, after years of a nomadic existence, settled in the Southern Louisiana swamplands. There they adapted their native cooking methods to use ingredients that were available in their new land. This cuisine is the food of hardworking country people, used to difficult conditions. It is practical, strong country food, taking advantage of easily available local ingredients, often an entire meal prepared all in one pot. This style of cooking became the hallmark of these people, called Acadians, which was later shortened to Cajuns. Authentic Cajun recipes can be hard to come by, as they were traditionally passed down verbally from one generation to the next. They also tend to change a little with each generation, each adding their own flair. There are hundreds of recipes for most common dishes, as the independent nature is of the Cajun people is reflected in their cuisine, each kitchen adding their own special touches. Scottish Cuisine: Haggis  By : Kirsten Hawkins Haggis is a traditional Scottish highland dish that resembles, in some senses, a rather rough sausage. It is the national dish of Scotland, and Robert Burns, the great Scots poet, who wrote the famous “Address to a Haggis” called the haggis the “chieftain o’ the puddin-race.” It is a staple of Scottish cuisine, and is served in the traditional manner, as well as in the “haggis supper” (deep fried haggis with a side of French fries) or even as a haggis burger. It is sold prepared in supermarkets year round. But what is actually in this mysterious and oft-misunderstood food? Though the traditional response to the question “what is a haggis?” is often answered with a joke about a small highland animal with one pair of legs shorter than the other (to more easily circle the highland hills), the truth is that it is a food designed to let no part of the animal go to waste – hence its popularity amongst the poor in the days of Burns. Russian Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Let them eat cake. So said Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, upon being told that the peasants were rioting in the streets because they had no bread. It has been cited for over two centuries as an indictment of the arrogance of the aristocracy – but in reality, the young queen may simply not have understood why, lacking bread, a person would not turn to cake. Such was the separation between the tables of the privileged and those of the poor. Risky Fish: The Thrill Of Fugu  By : Kirsten Hawkins There's a certain weird appeal to the Japanese delicacy known as fugu. After all, it's not every day that the food on your plate could bring about almost instant death. Fugu is the Japanese name for the blowfish, also known as the pufferfish, which has the ability to puff up to twice its size and project poisonous spikes to defend itself from predators. The spikes of a blowfish contain tetradotoxin, a poison considered to be at least one thousand times deadlier than cyanide. Theoretically, the poison from one blowfish could kill up to 30 people. Regional Cuisine Of The United States: California-style Cooking  By : Kirsten Hawkins The great state of California carries some of the most rich aspects of American culture, from the pioneers to the gold rush to quality cuisine. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja, classic California food can take on many forms. The unique cuisine of California is earmarked by a tradition of freshness and home grown quality, calling forth to mind fresh leafy green salads, fruit, and organic just-about-anything. California is one of the major agricultural centers of the United States. The state of California, as one of the nation's leading producers of fresh produce, has an extreme abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. When it comes to food in California, a lot of the focus is shifted to quality and nutritiousness rather than cost, taste, or anything else. While this does not necessarily mean that California cuisine tastes badly, it is not for everyone. Those who prefer a heavier, fried or battered food would have better luck sampling some other type of cuisine. Regional Cuisine Of India: North Indian Flavors  By : Kirsten Hawkins India, one of the most populated nations in the world, has rich and varied culinary traditions, many deeply enmeshed with spiritual traditions that are thousands of years old. Other culinary styles arrived throughout India’s long history with those who wandered into the land from afar and settled here and there, as well as with those who invaded its territories, overtaking native populations. Still others have been shaped by the natural forces climate and geography. These many culinary styles can be generally divided into four regional cuisines, with North Indian flavors and style standing out distinctly from the rest. The northern part of India, it is said, is part of India in which the influence of the early light-skinned Aryan invaders can still be seen, in the cuisine, culture, and language. This is the part of the world in which Sanskrit is thought to have evolved. North Indian cuisine encompasses the culinary traditions of the various northern countries, including Punjabi, Kashmiri, Awadh, Rajasthani, Marwari, Gharwal, and Pahari. Due to climate and growing conditions, wheat plays a stronger role in North Indian cuisine than in other areas of the country. Tandoori cuisine comes from the north. Regional Cuisine Of India: Tasting East India  By : Kirsten Hawkins East India, with a complex history that includes long periods of European colonization, has developed culinary traditions that reflect centuries of tradition and a variety of cultural influences. In addition to the various cultures that have been assimilated into the cuisine of the region, the geography also has influenced the development of the culinary traditions of East India, as has the climate. Portuguese and Spanish explorers first brought the spices of India to widespread European use in the 15th and 16th centuries, inspiring European political and economic colonization of the area. The famous British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, both established in the 17th century, were companies specifically created for the production and sale of a variety products from the region, including spices. Naturally, as the native populations interacted with the European peoples, including through forced service in their homes, a European influence came to affect local cuisines. Chinese Cuisine What’s In A Name?  By : Kirsten Hawkins There’s more to Chinese cuisine than meets the taste buds. There is also what meets the eye, the ear and the imagination. Chinese culture demands attention to the entire presentation of a meal, and that includes the blend of flavors, the subtlety of the spicing, how appealing the colors and arrangement of the food is and how well it plays on the imagination of the diner. This is a concept that is as foreign to most Westerners as an appreciation for the nuance of a single brushstroke in an ideograph. To the Chinese, though, the name of a dish plays its own part in the presentation when they serve a meal to guests. The subtlety is lost on most Americans, who’d rather know what’s going to be on their plate than enjoy a bit of imagery with their meal. Some of the most common names survive – Seven Happiness, a dish that includes shrimp, lobster, scallop, fish, pork, beef and chicken in a delicate sauce with vegetables, for instance. Seven happiness indeed – what mouth wouldn’t be happy with that? Italian Cuisine: In The Heart Of Tuscany  By : Kirsten Hawkins When an American conjures up an idea of “Italian cuisine,” often what comes to mind is pasta, red sauce, and garlic bread. Pasta, no doubt, plays a large part in most traditional Italian regional cuisine, and few cultures know how to employ a tomato the way that Italians can. However, there are so many distinct styles and trademarks within the different regions of Italy that it is hard to lump together all Italian regional cuisine into one general type of cooking. In reality each region has a very distinct style and taste, and there is really no way to appreciate Italian regional cuisine without visiting restaurants and eateries all over the boot. Tuscany is a region of Italy that takes up a small piece of the western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Since a large border of the Tuscan region is coastal, seafood plays a large role in the regional cuisine of Tuscany. A coveted destination for tourists, Tuscany is overflowing with cultural experiences, with roots stemming from the Renaissance. Florence, Pisa and the busy port of Livorno all lie within this modest region. Like it’s simple but beautiful landscape, Tuscan cooking keeps things simple. Tuscan bread, for example is a saltless crusted compliment to their judiciously spiced entrees. Fusion Cooking – Blended Cuisines  By : Kirsten Hawkins What do you get when you cross hot Indian food with the English love of tomatoes and all things creamy? Chicken Tikka Masala is a famous combination of chicken tikka and masala.Chicken tikka is a marinated piece of meat cooked in a tandoor, an Indian oven made of clay and coal-fired. Masala is gravy commonly made out of some kind of tomato gravy or puree with cream and various Indian spices.It is technically a mild curry dish, though the addition of sometimes large amounts of tartrazine causes the dish to often look orange.In other recipes, it can look anything from red to orange to green. Chicken Tikka Masala is possibly the most popular Indian dish in the world, and has arguably replaced tandoori chicken as the flagship of Indian food, including on the subcontinent itself; it even has a musical written singing its praises.In the United Kingdom alone, Marks & Spencer, the famous English retailer, claims to sell 18 tons a week of the chicken in Tikka Masala Sandwiches, while 23 million servings a year are sold at Indian restaurants. Sainsbury’s, another retailer, sells 1.6 million dishes every year, and stocks 16 different products containing what is affectionately known as CTM.10 tons a day are manufactured by Noon Products to later be sold at supermarkets. Culinary Traditions Of The Caribbean Islands  By : Kirsten Hawkins Authentic Caribbean cuisine is truly an excellent representation of all the cultural influences the Caribbean Islands have experienced since Christopher Columbus' landing in the late 1400's. With a fine mixture of French Island and African recipes, Caribbean cuisine is widely prepared and enjoyed by people of all nationalities, in many areas of the United States and the world. Caribbean food and culture was forever changed when the European traders brought African slaves into the region. The slaves ate mostly the scrap leftovers of the slave owners, so not unlike the slaves in the United States they had to make do with what they had. This was the birth of the more contemporary Caribbean Cuisine. The African slaves blended the knowledge of spices and vegetables they had brought from their homeland and incorporated them with the precious fruits and vegetables of the Caribbean Islands, as well as other staples to be found in the area. This created many one-of-a-kind dishes, because many of the produce on the islands at the time was too fragile to make it through the exportation process. Fruits most often found in Caribbean cuisine include yams, yucca, mangos and papaya fruits. Among the produce that is too fragile to be exported is the tamarind fruit and plantains (a fruit grown on a tree that is similar to the banana). Culinary Traditions Of South America: Argentina  By : Kirsten Hawkins Argentina is South America's second largest country, snugly situated between the Andes mountain range, the Pacific Ocean, and the South American countries of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile. Being situated in such a manner, Argentina is exposed to many different cultural influences from all directions, including countries all the way across the Pacific. Spain took it upon themselves to permanently settle in the country in the late 1500s, and remained there until Buenos Aires formally emancipated themselves in 1853. One of the most remarkable differences between Argentine Cuisine and exotic cuisines from around the world is the heavy influence that the cuisine of the Italian and Spanish cultures had on it. Startlingly enough, due to the influence of the Italian culture on the country of Argentina, Italian food staples such as lasagna, pizza, pasta, and ravioli are commonly seen on the Argentine table, at least in the country's major cities. Unusually enough (when it comes to Italian food), white bread is also common, as are side dishes made of vegetables native to Argentina, such as potatoes, egglpants, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini. Regional Cuisine – New England Clam Chowder  By : Kirsten Hawkins Sea air, crisp apples, the brisk, spice of fallen leaves – there are few things that say autumn in New England like the scents that seem to buffet the senses from everywhere. Among those marvelous treats for the senses are popular dishes from appetizer to dessert that you just won’t find – or at least won’t find quite the same way – anywhere else in the country. If you doubt it, there’s always an ad that was popular this past autumn – after the Red Sox won the World Series. In it, a man was explaining, “Son, when you live in New England there are three basic truths... clam chowder is white…” And the other two truths don’t matter. We New Englanders take our clam chowder seriously. Up and down the New England coast throughout the autumn, nearly every town and township has its Chowder Festival. Throughout the six states, restaurants cook up pots of chowder from their best recipes and compete to be named Best Clam Chowder. The granddaddy of all New England Chowder Festivals is held in Newport, Rhode Island, where dozens of area restaurants compete for the title of ‘America’s Best Clam Chowder’. Italian Cuisine: A Trip To The Island Of Sardinia  By : Kirsten Hawkins The island of Sardinia perhaps most quickly conjures up the idea of sardines. A small island off of the western coast of Italy, it certainly incorporates seafood in to much of its regional cuisine. However, Sardinia has such a rich and various history that it bears little resemblance to the traditional idea of Italian cooking. Like many other Italian regional cuisines, Sardinia’s regional taste is often a surprise for a palette that is expecting red sauce and parmesan cheese to be the beginning and end of traditional Italian cooking. While it is a region of Italy, Sardinia’s history is shared with explorers of many European nations, such as Greece, France, and Spain. This diverse history of people shows in the traditions and culture of this isolated island destination. While, being an island, seafood, especially shellfish, plays a large part in the regional cuisine of Sardinia, very few Sardinian meals do not incorporate lamb, a rich resource in the mountainous inland of the island of Sardinia. In addition to the lamb’s meat, a favorite of Sardinian chefs, very few meals are complete without the company of sheep’s milk and wild fennel. Stews and roasts are popular choices for the people of Sardinia. Looking at any Sardinian recipe, it is easy to see that the cuisine of this hilly island is a veritable stone soup of the many different cultures that have passed through the island over the years. Italian Cuisine: More Than Pasta  By : Kirsten Hawkins Go to any family restaurant with Italian dining in mind and you are likely to order chicken parmesan, pasta alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, or maybe a pizza. It is easy to think that some pasta, some marinara sauce, a crust of Italian bread and a glass of wine is the beginning and end of Italian cuisine, especially if you grew up in the United States.There is much more than red sauce and starch on the agenda for most Italian regional cuisines, and with all of the various regions and cultures in the boot on the ocean, Italian regional cuisines have as much range as your average New York City block. There is the tourist region of Tuscany, on the northwestern coast of Italy. Tuscany is sought out for its simple but delicious dishes, seasoned sparingly with basil, parsley, and thyme. Tuscan bread and a little bit of olive oil is a big part of the seafood dishes of the Tuscan region. The Evolution Of Pizza  By : Kirsten Hawkins Trying to trace the history of the first pizza is a surprisingly controversial subject. Some claim that this popular food is based on early unleavened breads served in the early centuries in Rome. Others trace a connection from modern pizza back to the pita breads of Greece. It's fairly well established that the first pizza as we know it today was created by a man named Raffaele Esposito from Naples, Italy. Esposito's creation was designed to honor the visit of Queen Margherita to Naples in 1889, and he decorated it with the colors of the Italian flag, using white cheese, green basil, and red tomatoes (tomatoes, which had arrived from the west about 60 years earlier, were originally thought to be poisonous, but by Esposito's time they were already embraced by Italian cuisine). United States Regional Cuisine: Soul Food  By : Kirsten Hawkins The history of American soul food can be traced all the way back to the days of slavery. More often times than not, the slaves were given the most undesirable part of the meal, the leftovers from the house. Pairing this with their own home-grown vegetables, the first soul food dishes were invented. After the slaves were freed, most of them were so poor that they could only afford the most undesirable, inexpensive cuts of meat available to them. (The leftover, unwanted parts of a pig such as tripe, tongue, ears, and knuckles). As in the days of slavery, African-Americans used their own home-grown vegetables and things they could catch or kill to complete their meals. In the modern United States, soul food has truly evolved. It has become part of the African-American culture, bringing family members together on all occasions from birthdays to funerals, to spend time together preparing meals. The history of soul food is mainly an oral one; recipes were never really written down so while two families may be preparing identical meals, chances are that they don't taste very much alike. Different ingredients, cooking methods, and techniques go into preparing soul food meals, causing the end results to come out differently. Regional Cuisine Hunan Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Hunan cuisine shares many commonalities with its close, more well-known cousin, Szechwan cooking, Both cuisines originate in the Western region of China. The climate there is sub-tropical – humid and warm enough to encourage the use of fiery spices to help cool the body, and to require high spicing of food as a preservative. With similar climate, the two regions also share many ingredients – rice is a major staple in both diets, and chili peppers are an important part of most dishes. The two styles of regional cuisine are similar enough that many restaurants and cookbooks lump them together under ‘Western Chinese cooking’ or simple refer to both as Szechwan cuisine. There are some important differences, though. Hunan cooking is, for one thing, even more fiery than most Szechwan dishes. Szechwan dishes often include chili paste for rubbing into meats, or including in sauce. Hunan chefs include the entire dried chili pepper, with its intensely spicy seeds and rind. Japanese Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi, sushi – even the words used to describe the most basic of Japanese dishes are exotic and beautiful. Japanese cuisine is easily one of the healthiest in the world, with its concentration on fresh fish, seafood, rice and vegetables. The pungent sauces and delicate flavors of fresh foods complement each other beautifully, and the methods of presentation turn even simple meals into beautiful events. The Japanese have easily a dozen different names for rice, depending on how it is prepared and what it is served with. The most common meal is a rice bowl, a bowl of white rice served with various toppings or ingredients mixed in. So popular is it that the Rice Bowl has even made its way into the world of Western convenience foods alongside ramen noodles. Domburi is a bowl of rice topped with another food: domburi tendon, for instance, is rice topped with tempura and domburi gyudon is rice topped with beef. The Japanese adopted fried rice from the Chinese, and a century ago, when curry was first introduced, developed Kare Raisu, curry rice. It is now such a popular dish that there are many fast-food restaurants that serve several versions of it in take-away bowls. Regional Cuisines Of China  By : Kirsten Hawkins It’s easily one of the world’s favorite foods. No matter where you are, someone you know is bound to suggest, “Hey, let’s do Chinese.” For decades, Chinese food meant one thing – Cantonese cuisine. It was the style of Chinese cooking with which most of the world was familiar – the appetizers and roasted meats and delicate sauces that blend vegetables and spices in a perfect marriage of flavors. But Chinese food is far more than just the Cantonese cuisine. There are four major styles of cooking across China, and several more subdivisions to divide them even further. Cantonese is the most well-known and popular of the Chinese regional cuisine styles. Cantonese chefs specialize in delicate sauces and roasted meats, in steamed and stir-fried dishes with vegetables that are as carefully chosen for appearance and appeal to the eye as to the palate. Steamed rice is a staple of Cantonese cuisine, and is the base of most meals. Every vegetable is sliced to best show off its color and shape, even in a stir-fry or sauce. One of the more enduring and widely enjoyed traditions of Cantonese cooking is ‘dim sum’ – ‘little hearts’. In many cities, both in China and in other countries around the world, you’ll find little dim sum shops tucked beneath stairways and in storefront shops. They serve tea and the delicious savory and sweet little dim sum pastries to businessmen and afternoon shoppers. Middle Eastern Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins ‘Middle eastern cuisine’ is a broad term that encompasses many different cooking styles from a number of different countries. Moroccan, Syrian, Greek, Arabian – the various cuisines of the middle east share a great deal – and have many differences. The food of the Middle East is a celebration of life. No matter which country, the staples are the fresh fruits and vegetables that grow in the hills. The spices and flavorings of Middle Eastern food are those that awaken the senses, sparkling against the thicker, richer tastes of the main ingredients. Mints, lemon, garlic, rosemary – all have a fresh, astringent quality that cleanses the palate and refreshes the taste buds. Throughout the region, the cuisine varies – but these things remain the same: fresh ingredients, astringent and piquant spices, olive oil, and little meat. Fast Food Takes Its Place  By : Kirsten Hawkins What if someone asked you to name the great cuisines of the world? What would you say? French food, of course, is famous. Italians are world-renowned. Greek food has its own following. What about America? Well, what comes to mind when you hear the words "American cuisine"? Personally, I think of the 1950's drive-up restaurants, with milkshakes and old-fashioned hamburgers and Coney Islands dripping in mustard. That's probably not the typical definition for the word "cuisine", but it definitely defines American food. But wait a second. What does the word "cuisine" mean, exactly? The textbook definition is "A characteristic manner or style of preparing food." According to that, there's nothing more American than a hamburger, large fries, and a chocolate milkshake. That meal, served in its own greasy white paper bag, might just be the epitome of everything that is American. Regional Cuisine Of Mexico  By : Kirsten Hawkins Just south of the United States and bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, Mexico is quickly advancing both culturally and economically. The devaluation of the peso in 1994 threw the Mexican economy into a frenzy, lowering their per capita income to a mere quarter of that of the United States. Through repeated social and economic turmoil, the rich cultures of the original Yucatan civilizations has remained, though somewhat jaded after their emersion from under Spanish rule in the 19th century. It isn't hard to research the rich history of Mexican cuisine. When the Spaniards first landed in Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) they carefully chronicled every aspect of life there in Mexico, especially the food and cooking techniques of the natives. During their observations, they noticed that the Mexicans had a lot of corn-based foods. This was due to the fact that maize was Mexico's chief crop at the time. A lot of these notes have carefully been preserved in the name of history--not that that is necessary. The Mexican culture has continued to live on through food, if through nothing else at all. Puerto Rican Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Puerto Rico is an island nation that is officially a territory of the United States. Puerto Rican cuisine has evolved from several strong influences, including those of the original peoples, such as the Tainos, and the Spanish conquerors that drove most of the natives out and enslaved the remaining. African and Caribbean influence is also reflected in the cuisine of the island, which has also been shaped significantly by its climate and geology. Cocina criolla, one of the main cuisine styles particular to the island has deep roots, extending far back to the native Tainos and Arawaks. Their culinary traditions were based tropical fruits, native vegetables, seafood, and corn. With the Spanish came a host of other ingredients that expanded the criolla style. These included olive oil, rice, wheat and meats, such as pork and beef. As enslaved African peoples were imported for work on the sugar cane plantations, their culinary traditions took root as well, and their contributions, which included taro and okra, became assimilated into the whole of criolla cuisine. Pizza  By : Kirsten Hawkins The pizza pie is an ubiquitous symbol of both Italian cooking and Americana. Oven-baked, thin-crust or deep-dish, round or square, it is a common favorite throughout the United States, with a wide number of regional variations. The most traditional pie is the pizza Napolitano, or Neapolitan pizza. Made of strong flour, the dough is often kneaded by hand and then rolled flat and thin without a rolling pin. The pizza is cooked in an extremely hot wood-fired stone oven for only sixty to ninety seconds, and is removed when it is soft and fragrant. Common varieties of Neapolitan pizza include marinara, made with tomato, olive oil, oregano, and garlic, and margherita, made with tomato, olive oil, fresh basil leaves, and mozzarella cheese. Italian Sweets  By : Kirsten Hawkins The regional cuisine of Italy is surely a delight to the senses. With the pasta, seafood, savory meats and cheeses, and delicious crusty breads, it is hard to stop yourself from eating until you are packed full. However, if you do not remember to save a little room, you may miss out on the best part: dessert. No one does desserts quite like the Italians. From simple fruity finger foods to savory layered tortes, the Italian’s make desserts for every palette. From the chocolate lover to someone looking for something lighter and more refreshing, you are sure to find something to your looking in an Italian bakery. One of my favorite Italian desserts has been a staple of my Grandmother’s dessert table at holiday dinners for as long as I can remember. The best part is that it is something that I was always able to help with. Stuffed dates were always a task that the kids could do, by simply taking the pre-sliced dates and stuffing about a tea spoon full of cream cheese into them and then dotting them each with a pecan, we could be happy to know we had helped. Even if we ate a date or two along the way. Brazilian Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins It began as most ‘ethnic food movements’ do – with small restaurants in the neighborhoods where immigrants settled, diners and lunchrooms and tea rooms opened by those who wanted to offer a taste of home to their fellow émigrés. Chinese, Italian, Middle Eastern, Thai – from family run bistros, the cuisine spread as those outside the cultures of the ‘neighborhood’ learned of the good food and the word spread. The latest ‘new cuisine’ that is spreading like wildfire is Brazilian – a delicious blending of three separate cultures that comes together in dishes and delicacies that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. To understand the cuisine of Brazil, one must understand a little of its history. The base of Brazilian cuisine is in its native roots – the foods that sustained the native Brazilians – cassava, yams, fish and meat – but it bears the stamp of two other peoples as well: the Portuguese who came to conquer and stayed, and the African slaves that they brought with them to work the sugar plantations. Brazilian cuisine today is a seamless amalgam of the three influences that interweave in a unique and totally Brazilian style. Cantonese Regional Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Easily the most well-known of the Chinese regional cuisines, Cantonese cuisine comes from the region around Canton in Southern China. Simple spices and a wide variety of foods used in cooking characterize Cantonese cuisine. Of all the Chinese regions, Canton (Guangdong province) has the most available food resources. Its proximity to the sea offers a veritable marine cornucopia to be added to its dishes, making possible such delicate matings as Seven Happiness, a dish that includes shrimp, scallops, fish and lobster along with chicken, beef and pork. The light, delicate sauce, quick cooking and subtle spicing allows the natural flavors to shine through rather than being overwhelmed and blending together. The spices used in Cantonese cooking tend to be light and simple: ginger, salt, soy sauce, white pepper, spring onion and rice wine. For many who are used to the more rich, spicy and complex flavors of Hunan and Szechwan cooking, Cantonese cooking may seem bland – but the subtle blends of flavor and aroma are created by the hand of a master chef. Does The Sloppy Joe Have An Origin?  By : Kirsten Hawkins In most of the United States, the sloppy Joe sandwich is a lunchroom staple, consisting of skillet-cooked ground meat, usually beef, spicy tomato sauce or tomato paste, and bread or a bun. Sometimes greasy and oversweet, the sloppy Joe has been served in school cafeterias for years. Certainly, when one considers the commercially available versions of the sandwich, this is what comes to mind; the manwich, for example, which is seasoned beef and sauce in a can, ready to be heated and poured over the bread. Ideally, though, the meat in the sloppy Joe is both sweet and spicy At the same time, and is heavily sautéed to give the sauce thickness, And far from the cold, greasy monstrosity served to school kids. It has become, in some more fashionable delis, an experiment in bringing Diners back to their youth with combinations that go well beyond tomato Paste and beef. One possible selection, for example, is pork in tomato Sauce with ginger, garlic, and chili sauce. With cheddar cheese and on a freshly baked Kaiser roll, topped with fresh spices, it is a far cry from something on a hamburger roll served by a lady in a hairnet. Wholesale Organic Food  By : Bakhru Without doubt the best way for you to save a penny or two (or more!) in your quest to become healthy is to buy your healthy living organic foods, wholesale. It might not be easy to find a vendor who deals in wholesale organic food, but if you try hard enough and persevere you will be surprised at the results you get. Buying wholesale organic food will also make it easier to stick with being organic, as you won’t necessarily readily run out of your stock of organic food. Besides being expensive, organic foods are also not as easy to find as you might think. It’s not like looking for a needle in a haystack, but it’s not as if you’re going to find it lying around in every corner store and grocery store that you come across. Organic Vegetable Garden  By : Bakhru To grow your organic vegetable garden is not a difficult thing and in fact many people who enjoy gardening are now turning to organic gardening methods. This doesn’t mean that you need to grow only organic herbs and vegetables in your garden. Organic gardening can encompass all aspects of gardening, including a flower garden or an ornamental garden as well. Just because you want to have an organic vegetable garden that doesn’t mean that you only need to stick with the organic vegetable garden. You can expand to include such things as herbs as well if you like, not mention flowering plants and others. Organic Restaurants  By : Bakhru Organic restaurants are almost as difficult to find as organic foods were once upon a time (ten years ago!), to find. But not to worry, if you like eating out once in a while and enjoy a fine dining experience, you will still be able to find one or two organic restaurants in your nearby vicinity which you can visit when the mood hits you. Otherwise you might find that you are stuck with going to a normal restaurant for those special times, or for those times when you just want to get out of the house. This is not a hardship by any means, but it does seriously curtail your organic food habits especially if you eat out on a regular basis. Organic Meats  By : Bakhru Not everyone knows about the fact that you can get not only organic produce but also organic meats. This enables you to change your entire dietary lifestyle if you so wish, without having to compromise on such things as organic meats and organic dairy products, substituting the non-organic stuff instead. In fact, if you do your grocery shopping in a place where organic foods are readily available, you will find the organic meats and dairy products to be readily available alongside their stock of organic fruits, vegetables and processed foods. This is also true, maybe especially more so, of online organic food stores and suppliers. Organic Living Magazine  By : Bakhru I have to confess, the entire reason that I am now an organic freak is because I stumbled across a most interesting article in an organic living magazine one day. Well, that and the fact that I came across an equally interesting article in a magazine on what’s in the foods that we eat. If you truly believe that you are what you eat, then you will most definitely want to consider switching to organic foods. It was the second article really which was the impetus in my organic food move. Organic Health Food Store  By : Bakhru No matter where you go or what you’re doing these days, you are sure to be bombarded on all sides by slogans, advertising campaigns and health conscious people about your own health and how to look after it properly. This extends to every aspect of your life, including what you eat and where you can get it. This is where the organic health food store comes into your otherwise peaceful existence. You are forced to leave your normal easy lifestyle to adopt one which most definitely better suited for you, but which is also too much hassle in this and age of convenience foods. Organic Foods Online  By : Bakhru Whether you’re looking for organic foods online or in your local supermarket, the one thing that you can be assured of is that you will be able to find at least one or two organic products. Granted you will want more than one or two organic products to tide you over for the week, but it does go to show you how far organic foods have really come in the last few years. From near obscurity to actually being sold in places outside of health food stores is no small feat, especially when you take in the opposition it has to face in the guise of processed foods, and the more readily available non-organic foods. If you’re looking for a ready source of organic foods however, your best bet is to turn to suppliers of organic foods online. Organic Food Suppliers  By : Bakhru If you’re thinking about going organic there are a few things which you might want to look into first. And one of the most important aspects of trying to go organic is finding good organic food suppliers from whom you can get your organic foods. This includes not only organic fruits and vegetables, but also organic meat and poultry, organic dairy produce as well as organic processed foods. All of these things come under the heading of organic foods, and when you’re looking to find organic food suppliers for your own needs, then you will have to take these into account as well. On the one hand, and depending on where you live, you have the option of going to the source to get your organic foods, but this will only work if you live in close proximity to organic farmers. Organic Food Supplier  By : Bakhru The best way to make your organic food come to you is not to go to the supermarkets or health food stores which carry organic foods. Instead, make your organic food come to you by going to an organic food supplier who sells his wares, online. That’s right, find an online organic food supplier to supply all your organic food needs and you will find that your life has just become somewhat easier. Besides the fact that you won’t have to run down to the grocer’s every week to get your weekly food shopping down, there’s also the upside of using an organic food supplier in that you even have the choice of doing your shopping in the middle of the night, or even in your underwear! Organic Food Stores  By : Bakhru Although you won’t find organic food stores on every street corner, it is a fact that they are not as scarce as they once used to be. In fact it is also a fact that consumption of organic products has also risen significantly over the last few years, and it looks set to continue rising for the foreseeable future. This means that you needn’t be surprised to see organic food stores popping up more and more over the course of the next few years. It also means that you might find that your normal everyday mom and pop grocery stores of yesteryear are also starting to carry organic foods. Organic Food Store  By : Bakhru So you’ve gone organic but now you’re finding that it’s difficult to stick to your goal of staying organic. You need help, but most definitely you won’t find it without trying. And one of the best ways of keeping your resolutions to stay organic, is by first of all finding an organic food store near you. Why would you want to do this first of all? For the simple reason that if you have a ready source where you can find your daily organic food needs, you will be that much eager and able to keep to your resolution. And if you can’t find an organic food store near where you live, find one that’s on the way to work, or barring that find one that’s on the way to your favorite shopping mall. Organic Food Shop  By : Bakhru One of the best things about living in this century has most definitely got to be the fact that you have the ability to eat healthy organic foods without having to sound like someone just let out of bedlam. Although you might not be able to find an organic food shop around every corner, you can still find at least one in your city or town, and if that fails, you also have recourse to the internet. This means that with the aid of twenty first technology you have the ability to bring the organic food shop to you, and not the other way around. Of course, these very wonders and marvels of modern technology are the reasons that we need to have an organic food shop to begin with. Just think about it. Organic Food Market  By : Bakhru Although it took some time for organic foods per se to truly catch the attention of the general populace, the organic food market these days is a thriving industry and one that can only become bigger as the years progress and more and more people turn away from chemical enriched foods. Of course not everyone cares about exactly what they eat or how it was produced, if they did we wouldn’t have had a need for a separate “organic food market”, would we? The fact remains however that some people do care, and although the number isn’t yet overwhelming, it is growing annually at healthy percentage. Organic Food Delivery  By : Bakhru For the person looking to get organic foods delivered straight to their house, the best option they have is to use an organic food delivery service, such as what an online organic store will supply. This will be the easiest option to take not to mention the most cost effective in the long run. There are many reasons why using the organic food delivery services offered by internet based organic food stores will be just the thing that you need. But to state the first and the foremost (and the most obvious), you will get your organic foods delivered straight to your door. This means that you can avoid rush hour traffic, and you can avoid the aisles full of people who are madly dashing about in an effort to get home as soon as possible. Organic Food Definition  By : Bakhru While most of us have heard about organic foods we may not have that much of an idea about what this term means. So where can you get this information without getting bogged down by the technical jargon. There are a number of different places like dictionaries, encyclopedias, television shows and even the internet. The main item to remember when you are looking for organic food definition is in many cases the standard answer. The first thing to understand about organic food definition only covers the tip of the iceberg as the saying goes. Well the basics of organic food is quite simply food that is grown without any sort of man made substances being poured over it, around it and even inserted under it. The condition for the growing of the organic matter has to be composed of 100% natural environment. Organic Eating  By : Bakhru Unfortunately with the easy and ready availability of processed foods, organic eating habits aren’t as wide spread as they could be. Even those of us who prefer not to literally riddle our bodies with pesticides and chemical toxins find that sometimes a fast food meal from our favorite drive-in or takeaway is easier than going to the trouble of preparing our own organically cooked meals. I have to admit that I sometimes even go to the lengths of heating up a TV dinner when I’m too tired to even lift a finger to dial the pizza joint for a meal that has to be better than a first frozen and then nuked meal eaten in solitary confinement in front of the TV. Organic Dog Food  By : Bakhru Just like you want to stay healthy and live a healthy lifestyle, so too should your pet live a similar healthy lifestyle. This is not a luxury that either of you can forego, and getting organic dog food for your dog is one of the few things that you can do to keep your faithful companion in the best of health. Organic dog food can be found readily at many stores now, although probably not in smaller townships and such where organic foods and the fad of going organic has not yet fully caught on. If this is the case you might need to go to a specialty store or a health food store to obtain organic dog food for your dog. Organic Directory  By : Bakhru When you want to buy organic food you have a number of different options open to you. These options will include going to the supermarket and also stopping by roadside organic food stalls where you can buy the fresh produce. Now, while both of these options are quite good there are times when you will need help in finding where you can get your organic foods from and this where an organic directory comes in handy. This will change form place to place, from region to region, but essentially the organic directory will contain the same basic information. This will normally include such things as the names of organic food producing farms, the different organic foods to be found in these farms, and maybe even how long these farms have been producing organic foods. Organic Delivery Food  By : Bakhru There are as we know many different types of food that people love eating. The growing awareness with our bodies means that more people are switching to organic foods. While these foods are best eaten fresh this will sometimes cause a problem. This problem entails organic delivery food containers and transport. You will find that since the organic food needs to be harvested just as it is near to being matured the packing conditions should make sure that you will not see any damage to the produce. To ensure that the food you are getting stays fresh but without any preservatives you will find that these organic foods are packed very carefully. Organic Consumers Association  By : Bakhru The world that we live in is filled with many different technological advances. While most of these advances are beneficial to us there are some which can harm us. One example of this is the use of genetically modified food. The food which is produced in this manner is unnatural and will cause health problems in the long run. For this reason you have groups of people like the organic consumers association which takes the part of the consumer. This group is battling large chemical corporations and governmental procedure to make sure that you have the right to eat whatever food that you want. If this food can be free from harmful pesticides and fertilizers then you can be sure that the organic consumers association will look to this matter. Organic Beauty Products  By : Bakhru Organic beauty products. Who would have thought about it twenty, even ten years ago? Beauty products were beauty products and that was it. Sure there was some talk about all the “bad” things used in the literally hundreds of thousands of beauty to line the market shelves, but only the very hardcore enthusiasts of these things took much notice of these claims. Everyone else stuck with their normal beauty routines, the consequences of using potentially harmful chemicals and the like on a daily basis, negligible in the face of looking like a hag to put it mildly. With the turn of the millennium however the tides have changed and the theme now most widely utilized is that of “natural”. Anything and everything natural is in, and this includes organic beauty products. Organic Bar Food  By : Bakhru It’s healthy, it’s disgusting, and it might possibly be the hardest task on earth to get your kids to chow down on a snack bar made from organic foods. How easy is it to wean your children away from their potato chips, candy bars and chocolate coated everything’s? It’s a Herculean task and one that doesn’t become any easier when they see the sometimes disgusting organic bar food snack. The last thing that you want your child to do is to ingest toxins and pesticides from non-organic bars, but unless you find a way to make the organic bar food snacks more palatable to their young stomachs, you will find that you have a rebellion on your hands, especially if you went and threw off all of their most favored junk foods! Nutritional Difference Between Dark Chocolate And White Chocolate  By : Natalie Aranda There are as many stories associated to chocolate candy as brands available on the market. Different shapes, sizes, and colors are usually accompanied by a dilemma, which is better, dark chocolate or white chocolate? Apart from taste, World's Finest Chocolates are characterized for their nutriments. Within your preferred brand, Hershey chocolate, Ghirardelli chocolate, Nestle chocolate, or Lindt Chocolates, you will find that they are available in dark chocolate and white chocolate presentations. Organic Baby Foods  By : Bakhru It’s not everyday that you will come across a revolution in the making, but there you have it. From being nearly organically-ignorant twenty years ago, to being semi-organically-ignorant fifteen to ten years ago, the human race is now making direct contact with its grassroots and going back to being healthy and eating healthy. And not surprisingly this has also spread to such an extent that we now have organic baby food as well. We have been privy to witness a revolution, a significant change in our history that ultimately comes down to whether we care about what we put in our bodies or not. Almost with the turn of the new millennium, more and more people started joining this revolution, and it wasn’t long before we could see organic foods coming out of their specialty and health food stores and moving to the normal everyday grocery and convenience stores. America's Top 5 Chocolate Candy Brands  By : Natalie Aranda Often referred to as the sweetest pleasure of mankind, Chocolate candy is one of the top sellers in America after a long time before enjoying it. Chocolate was discovered by Mayans of the Yucatán Peninsula, in México about 2,600 years ago or so, as evidence found in ruins suggest. When the Aztecs arrived to the Valley of Mexico, the term chocolate was coined, derived from its Náhuatl name. However, chocolate was only prepared as a beverage or chewed as cacao bean. In this period of history, the World's Finest Chocolates were totally out of scope. Online Organic Food  By : Bakhru Although not as proliferate as some people might wish, organic foods are more readily available in more places than they used to be. Apart from the physical brick and mortar stores that you can go to, to shop for organic food, you will also find that there are many online organic food stores available as well. These stores tend to deliver quality organic food to its customers, and the trick here is to find an online organic food store that you can trust. This can be a difficult process for many people who enjoy the prospect of buying and choosing their own foods, but it can’t be denied that online organic food stores do tend to get the job done when you don’t have time to do it yourself. Natural Organic Products  By : Bakhru It’s not always easy to find natural organic products for the person who has already gone organic, so you can imagine what type of hurdle that might be for those who are still only looking to go organic. Many people, despite their good intentions, will balk at having to buy their weekly grocery supplies from a health food or specialty store. Over and above the prohibitive cost you would more than likely incur, is the ingrained dislike of anything that is even remotely thought of as good for you. This naturally enough stems for our childhoods when “good” was almost literally shoved down our throats with the expectation that we would grow to like everything green and nasty tasting. A Brief History Of Chocolate  By : Natalie Aranda Chocolate has been a favorite of man for thousands of years. Ancient people brewing the seeds of the cacao tree into a yummy beverage was the beginning of the wide assortment of chocolates that we enjoy today. Once chocolate was discovered by European conquests, it became a treat only the wealthiest could afford. Not only was chocolate expensive, but it was bitter. Sugar and spices used to sweeten it were expensive too and out of the common man's reach. It was in the 1800's that the industrial age and mass production made chocolate candy affordable for everyone. Natural Organic Foods  By : Bakhru Natural organic food is not for everyone. There are many circumstances where even the person who might like to go organic and consume only natural organic food and food products will be at a loss as to how to go about this in an economically viable manner. The reason for this might seem self evident to some people, but the truth of the matter is that no matter how far organic food and food products have come down in cost, it is still bordering on the expensive, and most middle to low income families find it almost impossible to buy natural organic food on any kind of regular basis. Health Food Store  By : Bakhru If you’re forever looking for healthy foods for you and your family, and are tired of scouring the grocery store aisles in search of meaningful nutrition which is non-existent, you might want to try going to a health food store instead. You will find that all the nutritious foods you were looking for are to be found there. And depending on the size of your health food store, you might also find that it carries such things as raw organic foods as well as processed organic foods. Health food stores are also a great place to pick all sorts of things to help you round out your life and make it healthier. Benefits Of Organic Foods  By : Bakhru It’s not everyday that a person has the chance to change the way that they eat. You might try to do so, become healthier and eat healthier but in a great many ways you will be thwarted in this desire. This is why the benefits of organic food can have a far reaching effect on you, more so than you might have thought. Why do I say this? Because even though you might try to become healthy and change your way of living, it is extremely difficult to do so in many circumstances. With the advent of more and more organic foods onto the scene however, it becomes easier to hold to your desire to live a healthier lifestyle. Why? For the simple reason that your healthy eating habits become even healthier when they come in the guise of organic foods. Advantages Of Water  By : Bakhru In addition to the regimen related to the internal functioning of the body such as diet and exercise, the Naturopathic system of healing makes use of several remedial procedures external to the body. These procedures are designed to achieve two aims: (1) accelerating the process of healing and (2) providing relief to the patient from the painful symptoms of the disorder. Among these external remedies prescribed by Nature Cure, hydrotherapy is of special importance. Water is an integral factor of our life processes. Actually water makes up 70 per cent of the human body. There are numerous widely accepted methods of hydrotherapeutic treatment, chief among which are enema, hipbath, the full sheet pack, local wet packs, steam-bath, hot foot bath, spinal bath, localized fomentation by steam, jalaneti (in the yogic tradition), and irrigation of the stomach. Before discussing all these methods in detail, let us consider the two common uses of water. These are (1 ) drinking, and (2) bathing. Join A Home Brew Club To Learn New Tricks  By : annmarier (author) Those getting into the hobby of home brewing their own alcoholic beverages may want to consider joining a home brew club, geared toward the type of home brew in which they are the most interested. Whether your beverage of choice is beer, wine or grain alcohol and regardless of where in the country you reside, there is going to be a home brew club to match your interest. Many times people follow directions for so long they tend to ignore the possibility there are other ways of doing things. As people become more experienced in home brewing, they may try different methods or different ingredients and often willingly share these findings with other members of their home brew club. The associations are designed for this type of sharing as well as gathering and sharing their finished products as well as discussing potential legal issues surrounding the home brewing industry. A Home Beer Making Kit Will Improve Your Popularity!  By : annmarier (author) It is a well known fact that Americans love their beer and desire nothing but the best from their beer. No doubt the large commercial beer manufacturers hold a considerable chunk of the beer making pie, but the number of home beer makers too has steadily been rising. In fact, the popularity of home brewed beer has risen dramatically during the past twenty years or so, and custom made beers are more popular now than ever before. Home Beer Brewing Kits Are The Start Of An Intoxicating Adventure  By : annmarier (author) You will be right in thinking that there must be an alternative to drinking commercial beer that large factories containing huge copper containers manned by white-coated employees are churning out and for which you end up paying more than you wish to pay. The answer is simple. You should think about buying home beer brewing kits and brew your own beer at home which will help to save your money while experiencing the pleasure of drinking beer that (if made properly) will taste the way that you want it to taste. The Increased Benefit Of Organic Tofu  By : Michelle Bery - As more and more people heed the advice of researchers and begin to examine what they are eating, there has been a momentous change in the diets of many modern Americans. Heeding the advice of experts who herald the benefits of whole, natural foods, the health-conscious among us are looking for new and better ways to feed ourselves and our families in a healthy – and delicious – way. Tofu continues to be a main staple in the diets of vegetarians and healthy eaters as a meat alternative. But with the growing trend towards choosing organic foods, many tofu enthusiasts are taking their diet another step further by choosing organic tofu. Tofu derives from soybean curd and is used in a variety of recipes and cuisine based on its moisture content. Soft tofu, with the consistency of custard, is often used in the making of tofu-based deserts. Firm tofu, has lower moisture content than soft tofu and is generally pressed into blocks to be used in recipes. Dried tofu has the lowest moisture content of all tofu varieties and is often used crumbled or sliced in tofu recipes; in some cases it is pressed into noodles. Tofu can be used as a meat substitute in most any recipe; tofu made into a puree can be used as an alternative to dairy products. Because tofu has very little of its own natural flavor, it has the ability to absorb the flavor of any other ingredient in the dish. Subsequently, tofu enthusiasts use tofu in a variety of cuisines that feature it raw, stewed, fried, and even grilled. Home Brewing Beer With Co2 Can Go With A Pop  By : annmarier (author) Beer has been brewed at home, more or less for the past several thousand years. There is not much said about the practice before the nineteenth century. At some point though, men figured out that CO2 (carbon dioxide) was needed for brewing beer at home. This most likely strengthened the fascination with home brewing. Larger breweries were not quite so thrilled with the home-based competition. The Inland Revenue Act of 1880 in the United Kingdom demanded private citizens to pay for a license in order to pursue their pastime. The same types of hardships were felt by home brewers in the United States. A law passed in 1920 banned anyone, private of company to produce alcohol. Organized crime saw a boost in activity during the famous “Prohibition” period. The Appeal Of String Cheese As A Quick Healthy Snack  By : annmarier (author) Of all the different kinds of cheeses available today, perhaps none represents the needs of modern society as much as string cheese does. Taking advantage of the way some cheeses are structured, string cheese is molded, extruded, or braided into strings that can be individually wrapped for consumers. The end result is that instead of having to cut your cheese for a snack, you need only open a small package. Because of this, string cheese makes a great, healthy snack for those on the go, from kids to adults. The Care And Use Of Fresh Ricotta Cheese  By : annmarier (author) Among cheeses, ricotta cheese is unique in that it is made from whey instead of milk. Usually made using the whey that is a by-product in the creation of mozzarella or provolone cheeses, it takes a lot of this liquid to make a little ricotta cheese. To create it, the whey is boiled so that the remaining proteins curdle, and then the resulting solids are removed. The process is simple enough that ricotta cheese can be made at home. Storing the Cheese Tofu Is A Wonder Food  By : Michelle Bery - People become more and more health conscious with each passing year. Fad diets, home gyms, and quick weight loss pills constantly flood the market. However, there has always been one tried and true road to good healthy; healthy eating. Finding ways to eat healthy can be difficult, especially with the high fat and cholesterol content that is found in red and white meats. But there is an alternative that has been long embraced by both eastern culture and vegetarians alike, and that alternative is tofu. Tofu is made from soybean curd that is pressed into blocks that can be used in various recipes and methods of cooking. Different varieties of tofu are suited for different kinds of recipes. Soft tofu is a form of fresh tofu – produced directly from soy milk- and contains the highest moisture content of all varieties. Its custard-like texture makes it conducive to use as a dessert. The Variations On Names Of Cheeses Define The Area They Come From  By : annmarier (author) Cheese, like wine, is something that can have a lot of variation from area to area, with hundreds of techniques available for creating different kinds of cheeses. And just as there are many variations of cheese, there are many different names of these cheeses to go with them. There is not right or wrong way to name a cheese, though if you have a homemade cheese you want to sell, there are plenty of options for coming up with names of the cheeses you make. Where you are Delicious Moldy Cheese Was Thought To Be First Eaten Over 1000 Years Ago  By : annmarier (author) Blue Veined Moldy Cheese Some varieties of blue veined moldy cheese are protected by their country of origin and may only be called by those names if they actually originate from those countries; some examples of those are Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and Stilton. Enjoying A Delicious Tofu Dish  By : Michelle Bery - In a world where seemingly every day a new fad diet hits the shelves, eating healthy can be mired in confusion and doubt. It’s no wonder that we have such a difficult time making healthy food choices when everywhere we turn there’s a new doctrine of nutrition. What health-conscious eaters need to remember is that no matter how many diets hit the market, there are fundamental guidelines that will always be in place; and ingredients that will always be the healthier choice. Tofu, for instance, continues to be a mainstay in the diets of vegetarians and healthy eaters alike. And finding a tofu dish that seamlessly integrates nutrition and great taste can be easier than you think. Tofu is made from soybean curds after which it is pressed into blocks to be used in a variety of cuisines. There are a number of forms of tofu – the difference between the forms dictates what tofu dish in which it will work the best. Soft tofu has extremely high moisture content as it originates directly from soy milk. The texture of soft tofu is similar to that of custard and subsequently soft tofu is best in a dessert tofu dish. Firm tofu contains slightly less moisture and can hold it shape enough to be cut into cubes. A tofu dish in which the tofu is being used as a meat substitute may be the best use for firm tofu. Dried tofu has the least moisture content of all the tofu varieties. It can easily be used in a tofu dish that calls for crumbled or sliced tofu; as well as a tofu dish that calls for tofu noodles as dried tofu can easily be pressed into delicious noodles. [1] [2] [3] [4]

SIGN UP FOR FREE   Sign Up for a free account or learn more. Submit Articles Member Login Top Authors Most Popular Articles Submission Guidelines Ezine Notifications Article RSS Feeds About Us Link to Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Service   Most Recent Articles Tips For Buying, Storing And Preparing Produce  By : Stacey Moore The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would like to remind you that fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Like any other food, it is important to handle fresh produce safely to prevent illness. Use these tips: Buying Tips Time-honored Spirit Is More Than A Mixer  By : Stacey Moore Odds are you have never sipped a "Diplomat." This drink was all the rage in 1910, say cocktail historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, authors of "Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini." It's a cocktail made with equal parts dry and sweet vermouth and a dash of maraschino liqueur over ice. Tips For Hosting Responsible Celebrations  By : Stacey Moore When planning your next celebration, you may want to consider some tips on hosting responsible parties. The host of a successful party makes sure guests are well fed, entertained and that they don't make dangerous decisions such as choosing to drive when they've had too much to drink. Treat Yourself To An Indulgent Taste Experience  By : Stacey Moore In today's fast-paced world, women are constantly on the go. Balancing work, family and grocery shopping can add stress to an already busy schedule. Chaotic times require everyone to take a moment to reflect and indulge. A recent survey reveals that Americans indulge, on average, 3.5 days a week-with "just because" as the No. 1 reason. The survey, conducted on behalf of Swiss Miss, found that while food in general ranks highly as an indulgence, with 77 percent of American women turning to their favorite beverage or snack, sweets take the cake as the top six food choices for indulging. Easy Tips For Food Safety  By : Stacey Moore Recently, two food safety scares occurred, with E. coli outbreaks tied to bagged spinach and a fast food chain; fortunately, you can still protect yourself and your family. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 million cases of food-borne disease occur each year in the United States. The great majority of these cases are mild and cause symptoms for only a day or two, but some cases are more serious, causing hospitalizations and even death. While America's food safety system is among the best in the world, you can take a number of modest and easy steps to help prevent the spread of disease: Are Americans Eating Healthy When They Eat Out?  By : Stacey Moore If you're on a diet, you have lots of company. According to a recent poll, one in four Americans (24 percent) is currently on a diet. A higher percentage of women (29 percent) were watching their weight compared to men (18 percent). According to the poll conducted by Maritz Research, a leader in marketing research, male and female dieters were equally likely to maintain dietary discipline. Two-thirds (66 percent) of dieters indicated that they will stick to their diets, making healthy choices when eating out, compared to "overindulging" because dining out is a special occasion. Furthermore, nearly six out of 10 (57 percent) of those surveyed indicated that offering low-carb or other healthy dining options was at least "somewhat important" in their decision when choosing a restaurant. Move Over Wine, Cocktails Are The New Partner For Food  By : Stacey Moore If you're like a growing number of hosts, you've made room at your table for some creative dinner/drink pairings. Today, more and more people are enjoying a variety of spirits and mixed cocktails with their meals, rather than just wine. Though they are not sommeliers or master mixologists, they enjoy experimenting with new tastes, flavors and textures to spice up their culinary occasions. "These pairings speak to the ever-growing number of consumers who are enthusiastic about cooking, cocktailing and entertaining-it is a perfect blend of what's important to today's lifestyle consumer," stated Marcus Samuelsson, national award-winning New York chef. Classing Up Take-out  By : Stacey Moore What's cooking in American homes? Sometimes, not much. Americans buy an average of 202 meals per year at restaurants-that's nearly four nights a week. The eating-out-of-home trend goes one step further with large national restaurants offering to-go meals straight from their popular dine-in menus. Case in point: Take-out sales for Outback Steakhouse nearly doubled while those for Applebee's more than doubled. So with 34 percent of American adults considering take-out "essential" to their way of life, spending 25 percent of their income on out-of-home meals, why not make the take-out experience a little more special? Try these tips for getting more out of your meal: Avoid Food Fiascos During Your Festivities: Tips For Entertaining  By : Stacey Moore According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 76 million cases of food-borne illness in the United States each year. Hosting parties and family gatherings is a time to enjoy loved ones, but between greeting guests, taking coats and handing out drinks, food preparation can get lost in the shuffle. To prevent food poisoning when entertaining, use measurement tools to ensure that foods are cooked thoroughly and stored correctly. Follow these food safety tips to help ensure happy and healthy guests: Safe Cooking Top Ten Tips For Holiday Food Safety  By : Stacey Moore When making your list and checking it twice, don't forget about food safety during the holiday season. "While the pace is hectic, it's crucial to slow down in the kitchen and remember the importance of food safety, so that friends and family don't leave with any unwanted gifts," says Debra Smiley Holtzman, JD, MA, an internationally recognized safety and health expert and author of "The Safe Baby-A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety." Choosing Cookware Worthy Of Compliments  By : Stacey Moore There's no place like home for the holidays and no gift quite as fitting during a season of feasting as gleaming new pots and pans. What should you look for when choosing cookware as a gift-or for yourself? Look for pans that make cooking easier and that achieve the desired result-a delicious meal on any cooktop surface. Five Tips For A Stress-free Holiday  By : Stacey Moore When it comes to creating a delicious Thanksgiving meal, finding ways to save time doesn't have to be a challenge. Growing up as the daughter of Earl B. Olson, founder of Jennie-O Turkey Store, I have always considered Thanksgiving a very special holiday. Through the years, I have also learned a few tricks of the trade when it comes to preparing the Turkey Day meal. Tips For An Exceptional Party  By : Stacey Moore You don't need a big budget to host a great seasonal party, just a little time for thoughtful planning. That's the word from professional party planners who say people should anticipate their guests' needs whenever possible. That includes every aspect of holiday hosting, from picking the party date to planning the party music. Here are some tips to enhance your next party: • Do a quick survey of your guests to determine which date and time will work for most. Then, send a fun e-mail or regular mail card to have them save the date. Keeping American Meat Safe  By : Stacey Moore The meat Americans buy is the safest it's ever been, according to industry experts. One reason is a 100-year-old federal law that puts meat inspectors in every meat plant. Yet most consumers don't understand the frequency or intensity of meat inspection done in the U.S. by the Department of Agriculture, according to new data from the American Meat Institute (AMI). The 2006 data showed many consumers thought banking (35 percent) is more heavily regulated and inspected than the meat industry (21 percent). Yet meat inspectors by law must be present in meat-packing plants during every minute of operations. Enjoy A Night Out Without Breaking The Bank  By : Stacey Moore With the cost of living always on the rise, many of us are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to dine out. Even with limited funds, you can still dine out in style and keep your budget intact. Here are just a few hints on how: The Scoop On America's Ice Cream Habits  By : Stacey Moore It's no secret that Americans love ice cream-but getting the scoop on when, why and how they love this frozen treat takes a bit more investigation. According to the new "Real Dish on Ice Cream Survey," 87 percent of Americans keep ice cream in their freezer and 19 percent are fanatic enough to hide containers in the back of the freezer where family members won't see them. Seventy-one percent have up to two flavors in the freezer at any given time. eative Party-planning Tips  By : Stacey Moore If you're looking for ways to turn your next party from drab to fab, be sure to invite one person in particular to help with the pre-party planning: your creative inner hostess. That's the advice from Susie Coelho, TV host, author and lifestyle expert. "I can't overemphasize how important it is not to censor the creative process when throwing any party," she says. Coelho now offers planning tips that cover virtually every type of soiree-from showers to theme parties-as part of the Vanity Fair® Napkins Tips & Ideas section. The tips include such creative suggestions as: • Don't be afraid of paper! Dress up paper plates with stamp art made from organic vegetable dyes. Wrap utensils in Vanity Fair® napkins made by Georgia-Pacific. Tie them up with colorful silk ribbons and place them in a basket for your guests A Pregame Party Plan  By : Stacey Moore More than 15 percent of Americans have celebrated in the parking lot before a big football game and many more entertain in their backyard before turning on the television, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. "Getting psyched for the game tops the list of reasons for a tailgate party," says Jamie Purviance, author of "Weber's Real Grilling." "The menu you choose says a lot about your attitude. If you are not grilling, it just feels like a picnic. Rally the crowd with at least a couple of seared, smoky recipes." Pairings That Go Beyond The Grape: Beer And Cheese Please  By : Stacey Moore As small, local artisan creameries across the country continue to gain popularity, many cheese lovers are looking to these small shops for the hottest new trends in culinary delights (not to mention the least expected). That's what makes cheese and beer pairings such a novel and fun concept. "A flight of cheese served with a flight of lagers or ales can be infinitely more interesting than the typical cheese and wine flight," said Nathaniel Davis, brewmaster, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. "The subtle nuances of a beer and its refreshing or sultry finish can play off a range of cheeses, resulting in a delicious, unique taste." Windex and Food: Imperfect Together!  By : Matthew C. Keegan As tempting as it may be to use, Windex or any similar type product can be a hazard to use in the vicinity of food products, particularly cutting boards. If you do not have the proper sanitizer available, a certain “secret” common household item will suffice. Please read on to find out how you can keep your guests safe! Our web community for business flight attendants can be frequently found discussing proper food handling and food safety tips. One lively discussion a few years back surrounded the proper way of cleaning a cutting board. Might I add that the food preparing area of the typical business jet galley is about the size of a two-by-four? Thus, food can easily get into contact with the wrong products if extra care is not taken. Is A Vegetarian Diet Safe For My Infant?  By : Kirsten Hawkins If, for dietary or ethical reasons, you have decided that you want to put your infant on a vegetarian diet, you should be very careful in choosing formulas and solid food for your child. If you plan to breastfeed the infant and you are also a vegetarian, you may need to supplement breastmilk with additional sources of nutrition, depending on your dietary restrictions. If you are a vegan, or an ovo-vegetarian, you should add sources of vitamin B-12 to your child’s diet. How To Cook For A Vegetarian This Holiday Season?  By : Kirsten Hawkins Are you worried about cooking for a vegetarian in your family this upcoming holiday season? Well, worry no more. This article will tell you exactly what you need to do and know before you start cooking this holiday season. You can start off by finding out what type of vegetarian your guest is. For instance, if she is a strict vegan, then there’s a chance she will not eat food that contains honey or yeast; however, if on the other hand, she is a "semi" or "pseudo" vegetarian, there is a chance she will actually eat the meal as it is prepared, including the meat. And if she’s a lacto-ovo-vegetarian,she might eat anything with eggs and milk, but will probably avoid meat dishes. Is A Vegetarian Diet Safe For My Child?  By : Kirsten Hawkins If you are vegetarian parent, you have probably considered putting your child on a vegetarian diet. Not only would it save time and make meal-planning easier, but for dietary and ethical reasons, you believe it is a better choice for your child. Conversely, you might not be a vegetarian yourself, but have a child who is going through a vegetarian "phase," where she rejects meat, but doesn’t consume enough healthy foods to compensate for the nutritional gap. How To Make A Vegan Cake  By : Kirsten Hawkins Do you have a strict vegan in the family who has a birthday or celebration coming up that traditionally calls for cake? If you’re not familiar with vegan dietary practices, you might not know what vegans do not eat. Even worse, you might have no idea how to replace what they do not eat. But don't worry. In a few short paragraphs, I’ll explain exactly what you need to make the perfect cake for your vegan friend or relative. And best of all, no one will be able to taste the difference. Growing Your Own Salad  By : Kirsten Hawkins It’s not exactly fast food. It could take most of the summer to get your salad (which seems to be roughly the speed of most pizza places) but it is well worth the wait. With only the most rudimentary of tools, a little space in the back yards, and some elbow grease, anybody can have a truly fresh salad. Gardening is a rewarding hobby. Flower growers can see the beauty of their labors all summer long. The vegetable growers also get a great reward. They can hear the fresh crunch of home-grown lettuce and taste the mouth-watering tomato that just came off the vine minutes before you tasted it. Who Says Vegetables Have To Be Boring?  By : Kirsten Hawkins Eat your veggies - especially your lettuce. But don't confine yourself to iceberg lettuce or salads! Darker greens have about the same number of calories and carbs -very low! - but pack a lot more punch in the vitamins and other nutrient categories. By substituting radicchio, watercress, escarole or spinach for the iceberg lettuce, you add vitamin C, riboflavin’s, manganese and other essential vitamins that aren't present in lettuce. Try them braised, steamed or grilled for something a little different from the usual salad. Here are some recipes for greens that will tickle your taste buds and make your heart happy! Convenience Food Tips  By : Kirsten Hawkins While it would be ideal to make all of our own snacks and meals from scratch everyday, the plain and simple truth is that most of us simply donÕt have that kind of time. This is where we turn to convenience foods to meet our dietary and weight loss needs. However, the right convenience foods in the right amounts can easily be integrated into almost any diet. Shop Smart - Never shop on an empty stomach. This will only make it harder for you to make choices that are in your best interests. Always be prepared with a thorough shopping list and do not divert from it. If an aisle is full of tempting goodies but has nothing on your list, simply walk right by it, instead of down it. If you see something healthy that you would like, but itÕs not on your list, jot it down and add it to the list next time. This will provide you with something to look forward to. Diet Food Doesn’t Have To Be Boring!  By : Kirsten Hawkins Not too long ago, my mother and I were talking about food and diets. "Your grandmother used to feed you pasta five nights a week," my mother insisted. "She did not!" I exclaimed, stung. After all, I remembered my grandmother as a wonderfully varied cook who could make anything taste wonderful. She served all sorts of meals, not just pasta! There was spaghetti, of course - she was Italian, after all. But she also made Ziti with vegetables. And Linguine. And tuna casserole with. ..elbow macaroni. By the time I'd finished naming off a typical week's worth of menus, I had to concede my mother's point - but I made mine as well. "But... it didn't FEEL like we were eating pasta every night!" There's a point to this story, I promise, and here it comes: One of the biggest reasons that people slip off their diets and eating plans is BOREDOM. It's very easy to look at the foods allowed on your diet and see it as restrictive and boring. Chicken four nights a week. Fish three times a week. Green leafy vegetables till they're coming out of your ears. Who wouldn't get bored? The answer is - anyone with a good set of cookbooks and a healthy imagination. Perk up your cabinet with spices and fill your refrigerator with fresh fruits and vegetables, then look for novel ways to combine them. Here are a handful of tips for non-boring, healthy, low-cal eating 1. Spice it up! Spices are one of the quickest ways out of the diet doldrums. Rosemary and fennel with chicken, mint rubbed into pork, pepper and lemon mint on fresh fish - the 'blander' the food, the higher the effect of the spices. 2. Dress it up. Fruit vinaigrette dressings make wonderful marinades for meats and dressings for warm or cold vegetables. Try broccoli drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette or cabbage spiced up with apple vinegar and pepper. Regional Cuisine Of The United States: Louisiana Cajun Cooking  By : Kirsten Hawkins Louisiana Cajun cuisine originated with a group of French residents of Nova Scotia, who were expelled by the British in 1755. They eventually, after years of a nomadic existence, settled in the Southern Louisiana swamplands. There they adapted their native cooking methods to use ingredients that were available in their new land. This cuisine is the food of hardworking country people, used to difficult conditions. It is practical, strong country food, taking advantage of easily available local ingredients, often an entire meal prepared all in one pot. This style of cooking became the hallmark of these people, called Acadians, which was later shortened to Cajuns. Authentic Cajun recipes can be hard to come by, as they were traditionally passed down verbally from one generation to the next. They also tend to change a little with each generation, each adding their own flair. There are hundreds of recipes for most common dishes, as the independent nature is of the Cajun people is reflected in their cuisine, each kitchen adding their own special touches. Scottish Cuisine: Haggis  By : Kirsten Hawkins Haggis is a traditional Scottish highland dish that resembles, in some senses, a rather rough sausage. It is the national dish of Scotland, and Robert Burns, the great Scots poet, who wrote the famous “Address to a Haggis” called the haggis the “chieftain o’ the puddin-race.” It is a staple of Scottish cuisine, and is served in the traditional manner, as well as in the “haggis supper” (deep fried haggis with a side of French fries) or even as a haggis burger. It is sold prepared in supermarkets year round. But what is actually in this mysterious and oft-misunderstood food? Though the traditional response to the question “what is a haggis?” is often answered with a joke about a small highland animal with one pair of legs shorter than the other (to more easily circle the highland hills), the truth is that it is a food designed to let no part of the animal go to waste – hence its popularity amongst the poor in the days of Burns. Russian Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Let them eat cake. So said Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, upon being told that the peasants were rioting in the streets because they had no bread. It has been cited for over two centuries as an indictment of the arrogance of the aristocracy – but in reality, the young queen may simply not have understood why, lacking bread, a person would not turn to cake. Such was the separation between the tables of the privileged and those of the poor. Risky Fish: The Thrill Of Fugu  By : Kirsten Hawkins There's a certain weird appeal to the Japanese delicacy known as fugu. After all, it's not every day that the food on your plate could bring about almost instant death. Fugu is the Japanese name for the blowfish, also known as the pufferfish, which has the ability to puff up to twice its size and project poisonous spikes to defend itself from predators. The spikes of a blowfish contain tetradotoxin, a poison considered to be at least one thousand times deadlier than cyanide. Theoretically, the poison from one blowfish could kill up to 30 people. Regional Cuisine Of The United States: California-style Cooking  By : Kirsten Hawkins The great state of California carries some of the most rich aspects of American culture, from the pioneers to the gold rush to quality cuisine. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja, classic California food can take on many forms. The unique cuisine of California is earmarked by a tradition of freshness and home grown quality, calling forth to mind fresh leafy green salads, fruit, and organic just-about-anything. California is one of the major agricultural centers of the United States. The state of California, as one of the nation's leading producers of fresh produce, has an extreme abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. When it comes to food in California, a lot of the focus is shifted to quality and nutritiousness rather than cost, taste, or anything else. While this does not necessarily mean that California cuisine tastes badly, it is not for everyone. Those who prefer a heavier, fried or battered food would have better luck sampling some other type of cuisine. Regional Cuisine Of India: North Indian Flavors  By : Kirsten Hawkins India, one of the most populated nations in the world, has rich and varied culinary traditions, many deeply enmeshed with spiritual traditions that are thousands of years old. Other culinary styles arrived throughout India’s long history with those who wandered into the land from afar and settled here and there, as well as with those who invaded its territories, overtaking native populations. Still others have been shaped by the natural forces climate and geography. These many culinary styles can be generally divided into four regional cuisines, with North Indian flavors and style standing out distinctly from the rest. The northern part of India, it is said, is part of India in which the influence of the early light-skinned Aryan invaders can still be seen, in the cuisine, culture, and language. This is the part of the world in which Sanskrit is thought to have evolved. North Indian cuisine encompasses the culinary traditions of the various northern countries, including Punjabi, Kashmiri, Awadh, Rajasthani, Marwari, Gharwal, and Pahari. Due to climate and growing conditions, wheat plays a stronger role in North Indian cuisine than in other areas of the country. Tandoori cuisine comes from the north. Regional Cuisine Of India: Tasting East India  By : Kirsten Hawkins East India, with a complex history that includes long periods of European colonization, has developed culinary traditions that reflect centuries of tradition and a variety of cultural influences. In addition to the various cultures that have been assimilated into the cuisine of the region, the geography also has influenced the development of the culinary traditions of East India, as has the climate. Portuguese and Spanish explorers first brought the spices of India to widespread European use in the 15th and 16th centuries, inspiring European political and economic colonization of the area. The famous British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, both established in the 17th century, were companies specifically created for the production and sale of a variety products from the region, including spices. Naturally, as the native populations interacted with the European peoples, including through forced service in their homes, a European influence came to affect local cuisines. Chinese Cuisine What’s In A Name?  By : Kirsten Hawkins There’s more to Chinese cuisine than meets the taste buds. There is also what meets the eye, the ear and the imagination. Chinese culture demands attention to the entire presentation of a meal, and that includes the blend of flavors, the subtlety of the spicing, how appealing the colors and arrangement of the food is and how well it plays on the imagination of the diner. This is a concept that is as foreign to most Westerners as an appreciation for the nuance of a single brushstroke in an ideograph. To the Chinese, though, the name of a dish plays its own part in the presentation when they serve a meal to guests. The subtlety is lost on most Americans, who’d rather know what’s going to be on their plate than enjoy a bit of imagery with their meal. Some of the most common names survive – Seven Happiness, a dish that includes shrimp, lobster, scallop, fish, pork, beef and chicken in a delicate sauce with vegetables, for instance. Seven happiness indeed – what mouth wouldn’t be happy with that? Italian Cuisine: In The Heart Of Tuscany  By : Kirsten Hawkins When an American conjures up an idea of “Italian cuisine,” often what comes to mind is pasta, red sauce, and garlic bread. Pasta, no doubt, plays a large part in most traditional Italian regional cuisine, and few cultures know how to employ a tomato the way that Italians can. However, there are so many distinct styles and trademarks within the different regions of Italy that it is hard to lump together all Italian regional cuisine into one general type of cooking. In reality each region has a very distinct style and taste, and there is really no way to appreciate Italian regional cuisine without visiting restaurants and eateries all over the boot. Tuscany is a region of Italy that takes up a small piece of the western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Since a large border of the Tuscan region is coastal, seafood plays a large role in the regional cuisine of Tuscany. A coveted destination for tourists, Tuscany is overflowing with cultural experiences, with roots stemming from the Renaissance. Florence, Pisa and the busy port of Livorno all lie within this modest region. Like it’s simple but beautiful landscape, Tuscan cooking keeps things simple. Tuscan bread, for example is a saltless crusted compliment to their judiciously spiced entrees. Fusion Cooking – Blended Cuisines  By : Kirsten Hawkins What do you get when you cross hot Indian food with the English love of tomatoes and all things creamy? Chicken Tikka Masala is a famous combination of chicken tikka and masala.Chicken tikka is a marinated piece of meat cooked in a tandoor, an Indian oven made of clay and coal-fired. Masala is gravy commonly made out of some kind of tomato gravy or puree with cream and various Indian spices.It is technically a mild curry dish, though the addition of sometimes large amounts of tartrazine causes the dish to often look orange.In other recipes, it can look anything from red to orange to green. Chicken Tikka Masala is possibly the most popular Indian dish in the world, and has arguably replaced tandoori chicken as the flagship of Indian food, including on the subcontinent itself; it even has a musical written singing its praises.In the United Kingdom alone, Marks & Spencer, the famous English retailer, claims to sell 18 tons a week of the chicken in Tikka Masala Sandwiches, while 23 million servings a year are sold at Indian restaurants. Sainsbury’s, another retailer, sells 1.6 million dishes every year, and stocks 16 different products containing what is affectionately known as CTM.10 tons a day are manufactured by Noon Products to later be sold at supermarkets. Culinary Traditions Of The Caribbean Islands  By : Kirsten Hawkins Authentic Caribbean cuisine is truly an excellent representation of all the cultural influences the Caribbean Islands have experienced since Christopher Columbus' landing in the late 1400's. With a fine mixture of French Island and African recipes, Caribbean cuisine is widely prepared and enjoyed by people of all nationalities, in many areas of the United States and the world. Caribbean food and culture was forever changed when the European traders brought African slaves into the region. The slaves ate mostly the scrap leftovers of the slave owners, so not unlike the slaves in the United States they had to make do with what they had. This was the birth of the more contemporary Caribbean Cuisine. The African slaves blended the knowledge of spices and vegetables they had brought from their homeland and incorporated them with the precious fruits and vegetables of the Caribbean Islands, as well as other staples to be found in the area. This created many one-of-a-kind dishes, because many of the produce on the islands at the time was too fragile to make it through the exportation process. Fruits most often found in Caribbean cuisine include yams, yucca, mangos and papaya fruits. Among the produce that is too fragile to be exported is the tamarind fruit and plantains (a fruit grown on a tree that is similar to the banana). Culinary Traditions Of South America: Argentina  By : Kirsten Hawkins Argentina is South America's second largest country, snugly situated between the Andes mountain range, the Pacific Ocean, and the South American countries of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile. Being situated in such a manner, Argentina is exposed to many different cultural influences from all directions, including countries all the way across the Pacific. Spain took it upon themselves to permanently settle in the country in the late 1500s, and remained there until Buenos Aires formally emancipated themselves in 1853. One of the most remarkable differences between Argentine Cuisine and exotic cuisines from around the world is the heavy influence that the cuisine of the Italian and Spanish cultures had on it. Startlingly enough, due to the influence of the Italian culture on the country of Argentina, Italian food staples such as lasagna, pizza, pasta, and ravioli are commonly seen on the Argentine table, at least in the country's major cities. Unusually enough (when it comes to Italian food), white bread is also common, as are side dishes made of vegetables native to Argentina, such as potatoes, egglpants, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini. Regional Cuisine – New England Clam Chowder  By : Kirsten Hawkins Sea air, crisp apples, the brisk, spice of fallen leaves – there are few things that say autumn in New England like the scents that seem to buffet the senses from everywhere. Among those marvelous treats for the senses are popular dishes from appetizer to dessert that you just won’t find – or at least won’t find quite the same way – anywhere else in the country. If you doubt it, there’s always an ad that was popular this past autumn – after the Red Sox won the World Series. In it, a man was explaining, “Son, when you live in New England there are three basic truths... clam chowder is white…” And the other two truths don’t matter. We New Englanders take our clam chowder seriously. Up and down the New England coast throughout the autumn, nearly every town and township has its Chowder Festival. Throughout the six states, restaurants cook up pots of chowder from their best recipes and compete to be named Best Clam Chowder. The granddaddy of all New England Chowder Festivals is held in Newport, Rhode Island, where dozens of area restaurants compete for the title of ‘America’s Best Clam Chowder’. Italian Cuisine: A Trip To The Island Of Sardinia  By : Kirsten Hawkins The island of Sardinia perhaps most quickly conjures up the idea of sardines. A small island off of the western coast of Italy, it certainly incorporates seafood in to much of its regional cuisine. However, Sardinia has such a rich and various history that it bears little resemblance to the traditional idea of Italian cooking. Like many other Italian regional cuisines, Sardinia’s regional taste is often a surprise for a palette that is expecting red sauce and parmesan cheese to be the beginning and end of traditional Italian cooking. While it is a region of Italy, Sardinia’s history is shared with explorers of many European nations, such as Greece, France, and Spain. This diverse history of people shows in the traditions and culture of this isolated island destination. While, being an island, seafood, especially shellfish, plays a large part in the regional cuisine of Sardinia, very few Sardinian meals do not incorporate lamb, a rich resource in the mountainous inland of the island of Sardinia. In addition to the lamb’s meat, a favorite of Sardinian chefs, very few meals are complete without the company of sheep’s milk and wild fennel. Stews and roasts are popular choices for the people of Sardinia. Looking at any Sardinian recipe, it is easy to see that the cuisine of this hilly island is a veritable stone soup of the many different cultures that have passed through the island over the years. Italian Cuisine: More Than Pasta  By : Kirsten Hawkins Go to any family restaurant with Italian dining in mind and you are likely to order chicken parmesan, pasta alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, or maybe a pizza. It is easy to think that some pasta, some marinara sauce, a crust of Italian bread and a glass of wine is the beginning and end of Italian cuisine, especially if you grew up in the United States.There is much more than red sauce and starch on the agenda for most Italian regional cuisines, and with all of the various regions and cultures in the boot on the ocean, Italian regional cuisines have as much range as your average New York City block. There is the tourist region of Tuscany, on the northwestern coast of Italy. Tuscany is sought out for its simple but delicious dishes, seasoned sparingly with basil, parsley, and thyme. Tuscan bread and a little bit of olive oil is a big part of the seafood dishes of the Tuscan region. The Evolution Of Pizza  By : Kirsten Hawkins Trying to trace the history of the first pizza is a surprisingly controversial subject. Some claim that this popular food is based on early unleavened breads served in the early centuries in Rome. Others trace a connection from modern pizza back to the pita breads of Greece. It's fairly well established that the first pizza as we know it today was created by a man named Raffaele Esposito from Naples, Italy. Esposito's creation was designed to honor the visit of Queen Margherita to Naples in 1889, and he decorated it with the colors of the Italian flag, using white cheese, green basil, and red tomatoes (tomatoes, which had arrived from the west about 60 years earlier, were originally thought to be poisonous, but by Esposito's time they were already embraced by Italian cuisine). United States Regional Cuisine: Soul Food  By : Kirsten Hawkins The history of American soul food can be traced all the way back to the days of slavery. More often times than not, the slaves were given the most undesirable part of the meal, the leftovers from the house. Pairing this with their own home-grown vegetables, the first soul food dishes were invented. After the slaves were freed, most of them were so poor that they could only afford the most undesirable, inexpensive cuts of meat available to them. (The leftover, unwanted parts of a pig such as tripe, tongue, ears, and knuckles). As in the days of slavery, African-Americans used their own home-grown vegetables and things they could catch or kill to complete their meals. In the modern United States, soul food has truly evolved. It has become part of the African-American culture, bringing family members together on all occasions from birthdays to funerals, to spend time together preparing meals. The history of soul food is mainly an oral one; recipes were never really written down so while two families may be preparing identical meals, chances are that they don't taste very much alike. Different ingredients, cooking methods, and techniques go into preparing soul food meals, causing the end results to come out differently. Regional Cuisine Hunan Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Hunan cuisine shares many commonalities with its close, more well-known cousin, Szechwan cooking, Both cuisines originate in the Western region of China. The climate there is sub-tropical – humid and warm enough to encourage the use of fiery spices to help cool the body, and to require high spicing of food as a preservative. With similar climate, the two regions also share many ingredients – rice is a major staple in both diets, and chili peppers are an important part of most dishes. The two styles of regional cuisine are similar enough that many restaurants and cookbooks lump them together under ‘Western Chinese cooking’ or simple refer to both as Szechwan cuisine. There are some important differences, though. Hunan cooking is, for one thing, even more fiery than most Szechwan dishes. Szechwan dishes often include chili paste for rubbing into meats, or including in sauce. Hunan chefs include the entire dried chili pepper, with its intensely spicy seeds and rind. Japanese Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi, sushi – even the words used to describe the most basic of Japanese dishes are exotic and beautiful. Japanese cuisine is easily one of the healthiest in the world, with its concentration on fresh fish, seafood, rice and vegetables. The pungent sauces and delicate flavors of fresh foods complement each other beautifully, and the methods of presentation turn even simple meals into beautiful events. The Japanese have easily a dozen different names for rice, depending on how it is prepared and what it is served with. The most common meal is a rice bowl, a bowl of white rice served with various toppings or ingredients mixed in. So popular is it that the Rice Bowl has even made its way into the world of Western convenience foods alongside ramen noodles. Domburi is a bowl of rice topped with another food: domburi tendon, for instance, is rice topped with tempura and domburi gyudon is rice topped with beef. The Japanese adopted fried rice from the Chinese, and a century ago, when curry was first introduced, developed Kare Raisu, curry rice. It is now such a popular dish that there are many fast-food restaurants that serve several versions of it in take-away bowls. Regional Cuisines Of China  By : Kirsten Hawkins It’s easily one of the world’s favorite foods. No matter where you are, someone you know is bound to suggest, “Hey, let’s do Chinese.” For decades, Chinese food meant one thing – Cantonese cuisine. It was the style of Chinese cooking with which most of the world was familiar – the appetizers and roasted meats and delicate sauces that blend vegetables and spices in a perfect marriage of flavors. But Chinese food is far more than just the Cantonese cuisine. There are four major styles of cooking across China, and several more subdivisions to divide them even further. Cantonese is the most well-known and popular of the Chinese regional cuisine styles. Cantonese chefs specialize in delicate sauces and roasted meats, in steamed and stir-fried dishes with vegetables that are as carefully chosen for appearance and appeal to the eye as to the palate. Steamed rice is a staple of Cantonese cuisine, and is the base of most meals. Every vegetable is sliced to best show off its color and shape, even in a stir-fry or sauce. One of the more enduring and widely enjoyed traditions of Cantonese cooking is ‘dim sum’ – ‘little hearts’. In many cities, both in China and in other countries around the world, you’ll find little dim sum shops tucked beneath stairways and in storefront shops. They serve tea and the delicious savory and sweet little dim sum pastries to businessmen and afternoon shoppers. Middle Eastern Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins ‘Middle eastern cuisine’ is a broad term that encompasses many different cooking styles from a number of different countries. Moroccan, Syrian, Greek, Arabian – the various cuisines of the middle east share a great deal – and have many differences. The food of the Middle East is a celebration of life. No matter which country, the staples are the fresh fruits and vegetables that grow in the hills. The spices and flavorings of Middle Eastern food are those that awaken the senses, sparkling against the thicker, richer tastes of the main ingredients. Mints, lemon, garlic, rosemary – all have a fresh, astringent quality that cleanses the palate and refreshes the taste buds. Throughout the region, the cuisine varies – but these things remain the same: fresh ingredients, astringent and piquant spices, olive oil, and little meat. Fast Food Takes Its Place  By : Kirsten Hawkins What if someone asked you to name the great cuisines of the world? What would you say? French food, of course, is famous. Italians are world-renowned. Greek food has its own following. What about America? Well, what comes to mind when you hear the words "American cuisine"? Personally, I think of the 1950's drive-up restaurants, with milkshakes and old-fashioned hamburgers and Coney Islands dripping in mustard. That's probably not the typical definition for the word "cuisine", but it definitely defines American food. But wait a second. What does the word "cuisine" mean, exactly? The textbook definition is "A characteristic manner or style of preparing food." According to that, there's nothing more American than a hamburger, large fries, and a chocolate milkshake. That meal, served in its own greasy white paper bag, might just be the epitome of everything that is American. Regional Cuisine Of Mexico  By : Kirsten Hawkins Just south of the United States and bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, Mexico is quickly advancing both culturally and economically. The devaluation of the peso in 1994 threw the Mexican economy into a frenzy, lowering their per capita income to a mere quarter of that of the United States. Through repeated social and economic turmoil, the rich cultures of the original Yucatan civilizations has remained, though somewhat jaded after their emersion from under Spanish rule in the 19th century. It isn't hard to research the rich history of Mexican cuisine. When the Spaniards first landed in Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) they carefully chronicled every aspect of life there in Mexico, especially the food and cooking techniques of the natives. During their observations, they noticed that the Mexicans had a lot of corn-based foods. This was due to the fact that maize was Mexico's chief crop at the time. A lot of these notes have carefully been preserved in the name of history--not that that is necessary. The Mexican culture has continued to live on through food, if through nothing else at all. Puerto Rican Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Puerto Rico is an island nation that is officially a territory of the United States. Puerto Rican cuisine has evolved from several strong influences, including those of the original peoples, such as the Tainos, and the Spanish conquerors that drove most of the natives out and enslaved the remaining. African and Caribbean influence is also reflected in the cuisine of the island, which has also been shaped significantly by its climate and geology. Cocina criolla, one of the main cuisine styles particular to the island has deep roots, extending far back to the native Tainos and Arawaks. Their culinary traditions were based tropical fruits, native vegetables, seafood, and corn. With the Spanish came a host of other ingredients that expanded the criolla style. These included olive oil, rice, wheat and meats, such as pork and beef. As enslaved African peoples were imported for work on the sugar cane plantations, their culinary traditions took root as well, and their contributions, which included taro and okra, became assimilated into the whole of criolla cuisine. Pizza  By : Kirsten Hawkins The pizza pie is an ubiquitous symbol of both Italian cooking and Americana. Oven-baked, thin-crust or deep-dish, round or square, it is a common favorite throughout the United States, with a wide number of regional variations. The most traditional pie is the pizza Napolitano, or Neapolitan pizza. Made of strong flour, the dough is often kneaded by hand and then rolled flat and thin without a rolling pin. The pizza is cooked in an extremely hot wood-fired stone oven for only sixty to ninety seconds, and is removed when it is soft and fragrant. Common varieties of Neapolitan pizza include marinara, made with tomato, olive oil, oregano, and garlic, and margherita, made with tomato, olive oil, fresh basil leaves, and mozzarella cheese. Italian Sweets  By : Kirsten Hawkins The regional cuisine of Italy is surely a delight to the senses. With the pasta, seafood, savory meats and cheeses, and delicious crusty breads, it is hard to stop yourself from eating until you are packed full. However, if you do not remember to save a little room, you may miss out on the best part: dessert. No one does desserts quite like the Italians. From simple fruity finger foods to savory layered tortes, the Italian’s make desserts for every palette. From the chocolate lover to someone looking for something lighter and more refreshing, you are sure to find something to your looking in an Italian bakery. One of my favorite Italian desserts has been a staple of my Grandmother’s dessert table at holiday dinners for as long as I can remember. The best part is that it is something that I was always able to help with. Stuffed dates were always a task that the kids could do, by simply taking the pre-sliced dates and stuffing about a tea spoon full of cream cheese into them and then dotting them each with a pecan, we could be happy to know we had helped. Even if we ate a date or two along the way. Brazilian Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins It began as most ‘ethnic food movements’ do – with small restaurants in the neighborhoods where immigrants settled, diners and lunchrooms and tea rooms opened by those who wanted to offer a taste of home to their fellow émigrés. Chinese, Italian, Middle Eastern, Thai – from family run bistros, the cuisine spread as those outside the cultures of the ‘neighborhood’ learned of the good food and the word spread. The latest ‘new cuisine’ that is spreading like wildfire is Brazilian – a delicious blending of three separate cultures that comes together in dishes and delicacies that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. To understand the cuisine of Brazil, one must understand a little of its history. The base of Brazilian cuisine is in its native roots – the foods that sustained the native Brazilians – cassava, yams, fish and meat – but it bears the stamp of two other peoples as well: the Portuguese who came to conquer and stayed, and the African slaves that they brought with them to work the sugar plantations. Brazilian cuisine today is a seamless amalgam of the three influences that interweave in a unique and totally Brazilian style. Cantonese Regional Cuisine  By : Kirsten Hawkins Easily the most well-known of the Chinese regional cuisines, Cantonese cuisine comes from the region around Canton in Southern China. Simple spices and a wide variety of foods used in cooking characterize Cantonese cuisine. Of all the Chinese regions, Canton (Guangdong province) has the most available food resources. Its proximity to the sea offers a veritable marine cornucopia to be added to its dishes, making possible such delicate matings as Seven Happiness, a dish that includes shrimp, scallops, fish and lobster along with chicken, beef and pork. The light, delicate sauce, quick cooking and subtle spicing allows the natural flavors to shine through rather than being overwhelmed and blending together. The spices used in Cantonese cooking tend to be light and simple: ginger, salt, soy sauce, white pepper, spring onion and rice wine. For many who are used to the more rich, spicy and complex flavors of Hunan and Szechwan cooking, Cantonese cooking may seem bland – but the subtle blends of flavor and aroma are created by the hand of a master chef. Does The Sloppy Joe Have An Origin?  By : Kirsten Hawkins In most of the United States, the sloppy Joe sandwich is a lunchroom staple, consisting of skillet-cooked ground meat, usually beef, spicy tomato sauce or tomato paste, and bread or a bun. Sometimes greasy and oversweet, the sloppy Joe has been served in school cafeterias for years. Certainly, when one considers the commercially available versions of the sandwich, this is what comes to mind; the manwich, for example, which is seasoned beef and sauce in a can, ready to be heated and poured over the bread. Ideally, though, the meat in the sloppy Joe is both sweet and spicy At the same time, and is heavily sautéed to give the sauce thickness, And far from the cold, greasy monstrosity served to school kids. It has become, in some more fashionable delis, an experiment in bringing Diners back to their youth with combinations that go well beyond tomato Paste and beef. One possible selection, for example, is pork in tomato Sauce with ginger, garlic, and chili sauce. With cheddar cheese and on a freshly baked Kaiser roll, topped with fresh spices, it is a far cry from something on a hamburger roll served by a lady in a hairnet. Wholesale Organic Food  By : Bakhru Without doubt the best way for you to save a penny or two (or more!) in your quest to become healthy is to buy your healthy living organic foods, wholesale. It might not be easy to find a vendor who deals in wholesale organic food, but if you try hard enough and persevere you will be surprised at the results you get. Buying wholesale organic food will also make it easier to stick with being organic, as you won’t necessarily readily run out of your stock of organic food. Besides being expensive, organic foods are also not as easy to find as you might think. It’s not like looking for a needle in a haystack, but it’s not as if you’re going to find it lying around in every corner store and grocery store that you come across. Organic Vegetable Garden  By : Bakhru To grow your organic vegetable garden is not a difficult thing and in fact many people who enjoy gardening are now turning to organic gardening methods. This doesn’t mean that you need to grow only organic herbs and vegetables in your garden. Organic gardening can encompass all aspects of gardening, including a flower garden or an ornamental garden as well. Just because you want to have an organic vegetable garden that doesn’t mean that you only need to stick with the organic vegetable garden. You can expand to include such things as herbs as well if you like, not mention flowering plants and others. Organic Restaurants  By : Bakhru Organic restaurants are almost as difficult to find as organic foods were once upon a time (ten years ago!), to find. But not to worry, if you like eating out once in a while and enjoy a fine dining experience, you will still be able to find one or two organic restaurants in your nearby vicinity which you can visit when the mood hits you. Otherwise you might find that you are stuck with going to a normal restaurant for those special times, or for those times when you just want to get out of the house. This is not a hardship by any means, but it does seriously curtail your organic food habits especially if you eat out on a regular basis. Organic Meats  By : Bakhru Not everyone knows about the fact that you can get not only organic produce but also organic meats. This enables you to change your entire dietary lifestyle if you so wish, without having to compromise on such things as organic meats and organic dairy products, substituting the non-organic stuff instead. In fact, if you do your grocery shopping in a place where organic foods are readily available, you will find the organic meats and dairy products to be readily available alongside their stock of organic fruits, vegetables and processed foods. This is also true, maybe especially more so, of online organic food stores and suppliers. Organic Living Magazine  By : Bakhru I have to confess, the entire reason that I am now an organic freak is because I stumbled across a most interesting article in an organic living magazine one day. Well, that and the fact that I came across an equally interesting article in a magazine on what’s in the foods that we eat. If you truly believe that you are what you eat, then you will most definitely want to consider switching to organic foods. It was the second article really which was the impetus in my organic food move. Organic Health Food Store  By : Bakhru No matter where you go or what you’re doing these days, you are sure to be bombarded on all sides by slogans, advertising campaigns and health conscious people about your own health and how to look after it properly. This extends to every aspect of your life, including what you eat and where you can get it. This is where the organic health food store comes into your otherwise peaceful existence. You are forced to leave your normal easy lifestyle to adopt one which most definitely better suited for you, but which is also too much hassle in this and age of convenience foods. Organic Foods Online  By : Bakhru Whether you’re looking for organic foods online or in your local supermarket, the one thing that you can be assured of is that you will be able to find at least one or two organic products. Granted you will want more than one or two organic products to tide you over for the week, but it does go to show you how far organic foods have really come in the last few years. From near obscurity to actually being sold in places outside of health food stores is no small feat, especially when you take in the opposition it has to face in the guise of processed foods, and the more readily available non-organic foods. If you’re looking for a ready source of organic foods however, your best bet is to turn to suppliers of organic foods online. Organic Food Suppliers  By : Bakhru If you’re thinking about going organic there are a few things which you might want to look into first. And one of the most important aspects of trying to go organic is finding good organic food suppliers from whom you can get your organic foods. This includes not only organic fruits and vegetables, but also organic meat and poultry, organic dairy produce as well as organic processed foods. All of these things come under the heading of organic foods, and when you’re looking to find organic food suppliers for your own needs, then you will have to take these into account as well. On the one hand, and depending on where you live, you have the option of going to the source to get your organic foods, but this will only work if you live in close proximity to organic farmers. Organic Food Supplier  By : Bakhru The best way to make your organic food come to you is not to go to the supermarkets or health food stores which carry organic foods. Instead, make your organic food come to you by going to an organic food supplier who sells his wares, online. That’s right, find an online organic food supplier to supply all your organic food needs and you will find that your life has just become somewhat easier. Besides the fact that you won’t have to run down to the grocer’s every week to get your weekly food shopping down, there’s also the upside of using an organic food supplier in that you even have the choice of doing your shopping in the middle of the night, or even in your underwear! Organic Food Stores  By : Bakhru Although you won’t find organic food stores on every street corner, it is a fact that they are not as scarce as they once used to be. In fact it is also a fact that consumption of organic products has also risen significantly over the last few years, and it looks set to continue rising for the foreseeable future. This means that you needn’t be surprised to see organic food stores popping up more and more over the course of the next few years. It also means that you might find that your normal everyday mom and pop grocery stores of yesteryear are also starting to carry organic foods. Organic Food Store  By : Bakhru So you’ve gone organic but now you’re finding that it’s difficult to stick to your goal of staying organic. You need help, but most definitely you won’t find it without trying. And one of the best ways of keeping your resolutions to stay organic, is by first of all finding an organic food store near you. Why would you want to do this first of all? For the simple reason that if you have a ready source where you can find your daily organic food needs, you will be that much eager and able to keep to your resolution. And if you can’t find an organic food store near where you live, find one that’s on the way to work, or barring that find one that’s on the way to your favorite shopping mall. Organic Food Shop  By : Bakhru One of the best things about living in this century has most definitely got to be the fact that you have the ability to eat healthy organic foods without having to sound like someone just let out of bedlam. Although you might not be able to find an organic food shop around every corner, you can still find at least one in your city or town, and if that fails, you also have recourse to the internet. This means that with the aid of twenty first technology you have the ability to bring the organic food shop to you, and not the other way around. Of course, these very wonders and marvels of modern technology are the reasons that we need to have an organic food shop to begin with. Just think about it. Organic Food Market  By : Bakhru Although it took some time for organic foods per se to truly catch the attention of the general populace, the organic food market these days is a thriving industry and one that can only become bigger as the years progress and more and more people turn away from chemical enriched foods. Of course not everyone cares about exactly what they eat or how it was produced, if they did we wouldn’t have had a need for a separate “organic food market”, would we? The fact remains however that some people do care, and although the number isn’t yet overwhelming, it is growing annually at healthy percentage. Organic Food Delivery  By : Bakhru For the person looking to get organic foods delivered straight to their house, the best option they have is to use an organic food delivery service, such as what an online organic store will supply. This will be the easiest option to take not to mention the most cost effective in the long run. There are many reasons why using the organic food delivery services offered by internet based organic food stores will be just the thing that you need. But to state the first and the foremost (and the most obvious), you will get your organic foods delivered straight to your door. This means that you can avoid rush hour traffic, and you can avoid the aisles full of people who are madly dashing about in an effort to get home as soon as possible. Organic Food Definition  By : Bakhru While most of us have heard about organic foods we may not have that much of an idea about what this term means. So where can you get this information without getting bogged down by the technical jargon. There are a number of different places like dictionaries, encyclopedias, television shows and even the internet. The main item to remember when you are looking for organic food definition is in many cases the standard answer. The first thing to understand about organic food definition only covers the tip of the iceberg as the saying goes. Well the basics of organic food is quite simply food that is grown without any sort of man made substances being poured over it, around it and even inserted under it. The condition for the growing of the organic matter has to be composed of 100% natural environment. Organic Eating  By : Bakhru Unfortunately with the easy and ready availability of processed foods, organic eating habits aren’t as wide spread as they could be. Even those of us who prefer not to literally riddle our bodies with pesticides and chemical toxins find that sometimes a fast food meal from our favorite drive-in or takeaway is easier than going to the trouble of preparing our own organically cooked meals. I have to admit that I sometimes even go to the lengths of heating up a TV dinner when I’m too tired to even lift a finger to dial the pizza joint for a meal that has to be better than a first frozen and then nuked meal eaten in solitary confinement in front of the TV. Organic Dog Food  By : Bakhru Just like you want to stay healthy and live a healthy lifestyle, so too should your pet live a similar healthy lifestyle. This is not a luxury that either of you can forego, and getting organic dog food for your dog is one of the few things that you can do to keep your faithful companion in the best of health. Organic dog food can be found readily at many stores now, although probably not in smaller townships and such where organic foods and the fad of going organic has not yet fully caught on. If this is the case you might need to go to a specialty store or a health food store to obtain organic dog food for your dog. Organic Directory  By : Bakhru When you want to buy organic food you have a number of different options open to you. These options will include going to the supermarket and also stopping by roadside organic food stalls where you can buy the fresh produce. Now, while both of these options are quite good there are times when you will need help in finding where you can get your organic foods from and this where an organic directory comes in handy. This will change form place to place, from region to region, but essentially the organic directory will contain the same basic information. This will normally include such things as the names of organic food producing farms, the different organic foods to be found in these farms, and maybe even how long these farms have been producing organic foods. Organic Delivery Food  By : Bakhru There are as we know many different types of food that people love eating. The growing awareness with our bodies means that more people are switching to organic foods. While these foods are best eaten fresh this will sometimes cause a problem. This problem entails organic delivery food containers and transport. You will find that since the organic food needs to be harvested just as it is near to being matured the packing conditions should make sure that you will not see any damage to the produce. To ensure that the food you are getting stays fresh but without any preservatives you will find that these organic foods are packed very carefully. Organic Consumers Association  By : Bakhru The world that we live in is filled with many different technological advances. While most of these advances are beneficial to us there are some which can harm us. One example of this is the use of genetically modified food. The food which is produced in this manner is unnatural and will cause health problems in the long run. For this reason you have groups of people like the organic consumers association which takes the part of the consumer. This group is battling large chemical corporations and governmental procedure to make sure that you have the right to eat whatever food that you want. If this food can be free from harmful pesticides and fertilizers then you can be sure that the organic consumers association will look to this matter. Organic Beauty Products  By : Bakhru Organic beauty products. Who would have thought about it twenty, even ten years ago? Beauty products were beauty products and that was it. Sure there was some talk about all the “bad” things used in the literally hundreds of thousands of beauty to line the market shelves, but only the very hardcore enthusiasts of these things took much notice of these claims. Everyone else stuck with their normal beauty routines, the consequences of using potentially harmful chemicals and the like on a daily basis, negligible in the face of looking like a hag to put it mildly. With the turn of the millennium however the tides have changed and the theme now most widely utilized is that of “natural”. Anything and everything natural is in, and this includes organic beauty products. Organic Bar Food  By : Bakhru It’s healthy, it’s disgusting, and it might possibly be the hardest task on earth to get your kids to chow down on a snack bar made from organic foods. How easy is it to wean your children away from their potato chips, candy bars and chocolate coated everything’s? It’s a Herculean task and one that doesn’t become any easier when they see the sometimes disgusting organic bar food snack. The last thing that you want your child to do is to ingest toxins and pesticides from non-organic bars, but unless you find a way to make the organic bar food snacks more palatable to their young stomachs, you will find that you have a rebellion on your hands, especially if you went and threw off all of their most favored junk foods! Nutritional Difference Between Dark Chocolate And White Chocolate  By : Natalie Aranda There are as many stories associated to chocolate candy as brands available on the market. Different shapes, sizes, and colors are usually accompanied by a dilemma, which is better, dark chocolate or white chocolate? Apart from taste, World's Finest Chocolates are characterized for their nutriments. Within your preferred brand, Hershey chocolate, Ghirardelli chocolate, Nestle chocolate, or Lindt Chocolates, you will find that they are available in dark chocolate and white chocolate presentations. Organic Baby Foods  By : Bakhru It’s not everyday that you will come across a revolution in the making, but there you have it. From being nearly organically-ignorant twenty years ago, to being semi-organically-ignorant fifteen to ten years ago, the human race is now making direct contact with its grassroots and going back to being healthy and eating healthy. And not surprisingly this has also spread to such an extent that we now have organic baby food as well. We have been privy to witness a revolution, a significant change in our history that ultimately comes down to whether we care about what we put in our bodies or not. Almost with the turn of the new millennium, more and more people started joining this revolution, and it wasn’t long before we could see organic foods coming out of their specialty and health food stores and moving to the normal everyday grocery and convenience stores. America's Top 5 Chocolate Candy Brands  By : Natalie Aranda Often referred to as the sweetest pleasure of mankind, Chocolate candy is one of the top sellers in America after a long time before enjoying it. Chocolate was discovered by Mayans of the Yucatán Peninsula, in México about 2,600 years ago or so, as evidence found in ruins suggest. When the Aztecs arrived to the Valley of Mexico, the term chocolate was coined, derived from its Náhuatl name. However, chocolate was only prepared as a beverage or chewed as cacao bean. In this period of history, the World's Finest Chocolates were totally out of scope. Online Organic Food  By : Bakhru Although not as proliferate as some people might wish, organic foods are more readily available in more places than they used to be. Apart from the physical brick and mortar stores that you can go to, to shop for organic food, you will also find that there are many online organic food stores available as well. These stores tend to deliver quality organic food to its customers, and the trick here is to find an online organic food store that you can trust. This can be a difficult process for many people who enjoy the prospect of buying and choosing their own foods, but it can’t be denied that online organic food stores do tend to get the job done when you don’t have time to do it yourself. Natural Organic Products  By : Bakhru It’s not always easy to find natural organic products for the person who has already gone organic, so you can imagine what type of hurdle that might be for those who are still only looking to go organic. Many people, despite their good intentions, will balk at having to buy their weekly grocery supplies from a health food or specialty store. Over and above the prohibitive cost you would more than likely incur, is the ingrained dislike of anything that is even remotely thought of as good for you. This naturally enough stems for our childhoods when “good” was almost literally shoved down our throats with the expectation that we would grow to like everything green and nasty tasting. A Brief History Of Chocolate  By : Natalie Aranda Chocolate has been a favorite of man for thousands of years. Ancient people brewing the seeds of the cacao tree into a yummy beverage was the beginning of the wide assortment of chocolates that we enjoy today. Once chocolate was discovered by European conquests, it became a treat only the wealthiest could afford. Not only was chocolate expensive, but it was bitter. Sugar and spices used to sweeten it were expensive too and out of the common man's reach. It was in the 1800's that the industrial age and mass production made chocolate candy affordable for everyone. Natural Organic Foods  By : Bakhru Natural organic food is not for everyone. There are many circumstances where even the person who might like to go organic and consume only natural organic food and food products will be at a loss as to how to go about this in an economically viable manner. The reason for this might seem self evident to some people, but the truth of the matter is that no matter how far organic food and food products have come down in cost, it is still bordering on the expensive, and most middle to low income families find it almost impossible to buy natural organic food on any kind of regular basis. Health Food Store  By : Bakhru If you’re forever looking for healthy foods for you and your family, and are tired of scouring the grocery store aisles in search of meaningful nutrition which is non-existent, you might want to try going to a health food store instead. You will find that all the nutritious foods you were looking for are to be found there. And depending on the size of your health food store, you might also find that it carries such things as raw organic foods as well as processed organic foods. Health food stores are also a great place to pick all sorts of things to help you round out your life and make it healthier. Benefits Of Organic Foods  By : Bakhru It’s not everyday that a person has the chance to change the way that they eat. You might try to do so, become healthier and eat healthier but in a great many ways you will be thwarted in this desire. This is why the benefits of organic food can have a far reaching effect on you, more so than you might have thought. Why do I say this? Because even though you might try to become healthy and change your way of living, it is extremely difficult to do so in many circumstances. With the advent of more and more organic foods onto the scene however, it becomes easier to hold to your desire to live a healthier lifestyle. Why? For the simple reason that your healthy eating habits become even healthier when they come in the guise of organic foods. Advantages Of Water  By : Bakhru In addition to the regimen related to the internal functioning of the body such as diet and exercise, the Naturopathic system of healing makes use of several remedial procedures external to the body. These procedures are designed to achieve two aims: (1) accelerating the process of healing and (2) providing relief to the patient from the painful symptoms of the disorder. Among these external remedies prescribed by Nature Cure, hydrotherapy is of special importance. Water is an integral factor of our life processes. Actually water makes up 70 per cent of the human body. There are numerous widely accepted methods of hydrotherapeutic treatment, chief among which are enema, hipbath, the full sheet pack, local wet packs, steam-bath, hot foot bath, spinal bath, localized fomentation by steam, jalaneti (in the yogic tradition), and irrigation of the stomach. Before discussing all these methods in detail, let us consider the two common uses of water. These are (1 ) drinking, and (2) bathing. Join A Home Brew Club To Learn New Tricks  By : annmarier (author) Those getting into the hobby of home brewing their own alcoholic beverages may want to consider joining a home brew club, geared toward the type of home brew in which they are the most interested. Whether your beverage of choice is beer, wine or grain alcohol and regardless of where in the country you reside, there is going to be a home brew club to match your interest. Many times people follow directions for so long they tend to ignore the possibility there are other ways of doing things. As people become more experienced in home brewing, they may try different methods or different ingredients and often willingly share these findings with other members of their home brew club. The associations are designed for this type of sharing as well as gathering and sharing their finished products as well as discussing potential legal issues surrounding the home brewing industry. A Home Beer Making Kit Will Improve Your Popularity!  By : annmarier (author) It is a well known fact that Americans love their beer and desire nothing but the best from their beer. No doubt the large commercial beer manufacturers hold a considerable chunk of the beer making pie, but the number of home beer makers too has steadily been rising. In fact, the popularity of home brewed beer has risen dramatically during the past twenty years or so, and custom made beers are more popular now than ever before. Home Beer Brewing Kits Are The Start Of An Intoxicating Adventure  By : annmarier (author) You will be right in thinking that there must be an alternative to drinking commercial beer that large factories containing huge copper containers manned by white-coated employees are churning out and for which you end up paying more than you wish to pay. The answer is simple. You should think about buying home beer brewing kits and brew your own beer at home which will help to save your money while experiencing the pleasure of drinking beer that (if made properly) will taste the way that you want it to taste. The Increased Benefit Of Organic Tofu  By : Michelle Bery - As more and more people heed the advice of researchers and begin to examine what they are eating, there has been a momentous change in the diets of many modern Americans. Heeding the advice of experts who herald the benefits of whole, natural foods, the health-conscious among us are looking for new and better ways to feed ourselves and our families in a healthy – and delicious – way. Tofu continues to be a main staple in the diets of vegetarians and healthy eaters as a meat alternative. But with the growing trend towards choosing organic foods, many tofu enthusiasts are taking their diet another step further by choosing organic tofu. Tofu derives from soybean curd and is used in a variety of recipes and cuisine based on its moisture content. Soft tofu, with the consistency of custard, is often used in the making of tofu-based deserts. Firm tofu, has lower moisture content than soft tofu and is generally pressed into blocks to be used in recipes. Dried tofu has the lowest moisture content of all tofu varieties and is often used crumbled or sliced in tofu recipes; in some cases it is pressed into noodles. Tofu can be used as a meat substitute in most any recipe; tofu made into a puree can be used as an alternative to dairy products. Because tofu has very little of its own natural flavor, it has the ability to absorb the flavor of any other ingredient in the dish. Subsequently, tofu enthusiasts use tofu in a variety of cuisines that feature it raw, stewed, fried, and even grilled. Home Brewing Beer With Co2 Can Go With A Pop  By : annmarier (author) Beer has been brewed at home, more or less for the past several thousand years. There is not much said about the practice before the nineteenth century. At some point though, men figured out that CO2 (carbon dioxide) was needed for brewing beer at home. This most likely strengthened the fascination with home brewing. Larger breweries were not quite so thrilled with the home-based competition. The Inland Revenue Act of 1880 in the United Kingdom demanded private citizens to pay for a license in order to pursue their pastime. The same types of hardships were felt by home brewers in the United States. A law passed in 1920 banned anyone, private of company to produce alcohol. Organized crime saw a boost in activity during the famous “Prohibition” period. The Appeal Of String Cheese As A Quick Healthy Snack  By : annmarier (author) Of all the different kinds of cheeses available today, perhaps none represents the needs of modern society as much as string cheese does. Taking advantage of the way some cheeses are structured, string cheese is molded, extruded, or braided into strings that can be individually wrapped for consumers. The end result is that instead of having to cut your cheese for a snack, you need only open a small package. Because of this, string cheese makes a great, healthy snack for those on the go, from kids to adults. The Care And Use Of Fresh Ricotta Cheese  By : annmarier (author) Among cheeses, ricotta cheese is unique in that it is made from whey instead of milk. Usually made using the whey that is a by-product in the creation of mozzarella or provolone cheeses, it takes a lot of this liquid to make a little ricotta cheese. To create it, the whey is boiled so that the remaining proteins curdle, and then the resulting solids are removed. The process is simple enough that ricotta cheese can be made at home. Storing the Cheese Tofu Is A Wonder Food  By : Michelle Bery - People become more and more health conscious with each passing year. Fad diets, home gyms, and quick weight loss pills constantly flood the market. However, there has always been one tried and true road to good healthy; healthy eating. Finding ways to eat healthy can be difficult, especially with the high fat and cholesterol content that is found in red and white meats. But there is an alternative that has been long embraced by both eastern culture and vegetarians alike, and that alternative is tofu. Tofu is made from soybean curd that is pressed into blocks that can be used in various recipes and methods of cooking. Different varieties of tofu are suited for different kinds of recipes. Soft tofu is a form of fresh tofu – produced directly from soy milk- and contains the highest moisture content of all varieties. Its custard-like texture makes it conducive to use as a dessert. The Variations On Names Of Cheeses Define The Area They Come From  By : annmarier (author) Cheese, like wine, is something that can have a lot of variation from area to area, with hundreds of techniques available for creating different kinds of cheeses. And just as there are many variations of cheese, there are many different names of these cheeses to go with them. There is not right or wrong way to name a cheese, though if you have a homemade cheese you want to sell, there are plenty of options for coming up with names of the cheeses you make. Where you are Delicious Moldy Cheese Was Thought To Be First Eaten Over 1000 Years Ago  By : annmarier (author) Blue Veined Moldy Cheese Some varieties of blue veined moldy cheese are protected by their country of origin and may only be called by those names if they actually originate from those countries; some examples of those are Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and Stilton. Enjoying A Delicious Tofu Dish  By : Michelle Bery - In a world where seemingly every day a new fad diet hits the shelves, eating healthy can be mired in confusion and doubt. It’s no wonder that we have such a difficult time making healthy food choices when everywhere we turn there’s a new doctrine of nutrition. What health-conscious eaters need to remember is that no matter how many diets hit the market, there are fundamental guidelines that will always be in place; and ingredients that will always be the healthier choice. Tofu, for instance, continues to be a mainstay in the diets of vegetarians and healthy eaters alike. And finding a tofu dish that seamlessly integrates nutrition and great taste can be easier than you think. Tofu is made from soybean curds after which it is pressed into blocks to be used in a variety of cuisines. There are a number of forms of tofu – the difference between the forms dictates what tofu dish in which it will work the best. Soft tofu has extremely high moisture content as it originates directly from soy milk. The texture of soft tofu is similar to that of custard and subsequently soft tofu is best in a dessert tofu dish. Firm tofu contains slightly less moisture and can hold it shape enough to be cut into cubes. A tofu dish in which the tofu is being used as a meat substitute may be the best use for firm tofu. Dried tofu has the least moisture content of all the tofu varieties. It can easily be used in a tofu dish that calls for crumbled or sliced tofu; as well as a tofu dish that calls for tofu noodles as dried tofu can easily be pressed into delicious noodles.

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