Thoughts on Italian Cuisine

Cooking the Italian way is all about simplicity and the freshness of ingredients. Many of its traditional recipes were once only known regionally and have since evolved into national dishes. The mistake to avoid when cooking Italian food is to over complicate it, simply buy the freshest and best quality ingredients you can find and cook with a lot of passion and love.

To accompany the food we must also mention that wine is a very important part of Italian cuisine governed by numerous regulations and laws. The Italians take their wine just as seriously as their food and with the same sense of pride, tradition and history. Coffee and in particular espresso is also a mainstay of Italian cuisine. It has made its way into the very heart of everyday Italian living like a common denominator amongst all Italians.

The regional variety that exists for food in Italy is truly amazing. Every area has it's own take on how things 'should be cooked' but its all universally delicious. Meals are structured in 3 to 4 courses and it's a time to be spent with family and noisy conversation around the dinner table. One of aspects I love about it is the length of daytime meals, especially in the south these meals can last hours and hours.

There are certainly 'secret recipes' out there however most Italians adore to share their cooking knowledge with you. Food is a way to the heart and it's very rewarding to teach others the 'real way to cook this or the real way to cook that'... that is until you arrive at the next town and it's done completely differently!

With a willingness to learn and by sticking to some simple principles anyone can learn to cook good quality Italian food. It's healthy, full of heart and totally delicious to enjoy each day.

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Dining Out - Good Dining Experience

Dining out is no longer a way to fill up your stomach. Many people dine at restaurants because of entertainment such as live band performance and good companionship. Especially due to our tight schedule, the occasion to dine at home becomes very rare. Many people like to consider what they will do for fun when they dine out. Now, let me share with you a list of reasons why dining out is a pleasant experience:

1. Good food. Restaurants usually offer delicious cuisines. Today, you are spoilt with choices. When you take a walk in town, you can find many restaurants offering all kinds of mouth-watering cuisines such as Italian food, Japanese food, Korean food, Chinese food, Vegetarian, etc. If you feel like treating yourself well tonight, you can even order a five course meal and enjoy an extravagant evening.

2. Lovely atmosphere. Another main reason why people love to dine out is because of the atmosphere. Restaurants provide some of the loveliest atmosphere to enjoy a meal. Whether you are dining alone or with your loved ones, I am sure you will enjoy the experience. Some restaurants are catering to a particular culture. So if you are interested to find out more about other people heritage, dining out is the best way to do it.

3. Convenience. If you are lazy to cook or want to go for a quick lunch, restaurants can fulfill your needs. When you dine out, you will be served by waitress and you do not need to cook. What you need to do is order what you love to eat and sit back to enjoy the experience. Also, you do not need to clean up after your meal as the restaurants will take care of it. If you want to share a romantic night with your loved ones, dining out at restaurants is the best choice.

4. A great place to entertain friends, family or business associates. Quality hours can be spent in restaurants. Also, restaurants are great place to take your clients and business associates out for a business lunch or dinner.

5. Suitable for kids. As restaurants serve a wide range of cuisines, I believe there will be something for even the fussiest of all. If you have kids, you do not need to worry anymore.

To find a list of restaurants near your area, you can do a search using Google Map. If you stay in London and are interested in Japanese Cuisine, you can type in "Japanese Restaurants in London with street name" in the query box. You should be able to find what you want.

For Singapore good food guide, visit JP Pepperdine now.

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Family Dining - Dining Etiquette to Take Note

Due to our tight working schedule, family dining is becoming a rare occasion. We usually don't go home for dinner as frequent as last time. However, there are times when we will get together with our family for dinner, such as during Christmas and New Year. Therefore, it is wise to know the basic family dining etiquette. Now, let me share with you some common dining etiquette:

1. Personal hygiene and grooming. Before arriving at the dining table, you should wash your hand with soap. Personal grooming is also very important and you should not wear any dirty clothes. Once you are at the table, sit up straight and maintain a good posture right away. Each person should have an assigned seat and if the family prays before a meal, members at the table should remain quiet to show respect.

2. Serving of food. To prevent improper serving, food should be taken from a communal bowl and placed in small portions on the plate. No one should start eating until everyone is seated and each member has been served with food.

3. Eating habit. Some people like to lick the utensils clean or chew with their mouth wide open. These gestures are very rude and you should avoid making them. Do not put too much food in your mouth and always remember not to criticize any food on the table.

4. Nobody should talk with food in their mouth. Although a good dining experience involves conversations, no one should talk with food in their mouth. Also, you should not interrupt another conversation. Always let the other party finish talking before you give your input. If you request anything from anyone, always say it with please and thank you. Last but not least, no burping please!

5. Do not leave the table right away after you finish your meal. Proper table etiquette requires the person to ask the host or parent if he or she can be excused from the dining table. This is a very basic table manner. And before you leave the table, you should clear your own plate, utensils and glass.

Having the right dining etiquette is very important during family dining. With right dining etiquette, everyone will enjoy the dining experience. Remember, your behavior at the table will determine how your family members look at you. Taking the time to hone your table etiquette is definitely a worthwhile investment for you.

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Organic Coconut Oil Makes You Shine!

There are many great health benefits from eating organic food and one way to enhance these rewards is by cooking your food with organic coconut oil. I told my mother about this delicious and healthy oil and she laughed. She was surprised I use it because she assumed it was loaded with saturated fat and clogs your arteries. "You're so skinny, how do you cook your food in this oil every other day and maintain your weight?" she asked. I was the one laughing now.

Organic coconut oil is the icing on the cake for those of you who are already eating organic and want to know how to add to your healthy diet even more! You already look and feel like a million dollars because you are getting the vitamins that your body needs. Why stop there when you can improve your health further by cooking with oil that offers just as many rewards as the food you eat? Organic coconut oil contains caprylic acid, capric acid and lauric acid all that work together to boost your immune system and fight to keep you feeling and looking great. Amazingly enough, this oil helps you maintain a consistent mood and reduces stress. In today's economy we all know how priceless these benefits can be! Organic coconut oil helps fight the hands of time as it has many anti-aging benefits. It will accent the health and appearance of your hair, nails, teeth and skin. I apply coconut oil to my hands, arms and legs when the weather gets dry and it completely replenishes the moisture. Ladies, if you're going for a night out on the town and you're wearing a skirt, this oil is essential to make your legs look sparkling and beautiful! These are the benefits that can be seen on the outside of your body.

The rewards that this oil has for the inside of your body are astonishing. It raises your metabolism and helps the body to rid of waste. Some of our weight is put on from eating toxic food that remains stuck in the colon walls and pocketed in the hips or belly. There is no need to worry about the fat content as this type of fat is easily converted to energy! You will lose excess weight when you cleanse your body with products like this and maintain an organic diet. Everyone who uses this oil will not necessarily lose weight, so those of you who are already at a healthy weight do not need to worry about becoming too skinny. You'll lose weight only if your body needs to shed toxins.

Winter is around the corner and it is time to boost our immune system. It is better to consume products that raise immunity like healthy food and drinks versus taking dry vitamins. Vitamins are processed and are not as pure as food and drinks. Juice your fruits and veggies for power drinks, eat well and definitely use this oil! Organic coconut oil will help your body fight bacteria that cause a variety of illnesses. It also helps prevent high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer. We would normally think of this oil as a condiment or simple cooking oil but it is so strong that it has even been known to help those with HIV maintain better quality health.

You're probably thinking about how a coconut tastes and why you would want to add this flavor to a variety of dishes. We think of the coconut as having a very sweet flavor that would not go well with dishes such as chicken or spaghetti sauce. We usually associate coconut flavor with sweets like frosting, candy, rice pudding, etc. You will notice that a coconut itself is not very sweet should you eat it in it's true form- in fact it's fairly mellow in flavor. The flavor is perfectly subdued and enjoyable. You may notice that you're more full after eating coconut than you'd be from eating any other fruit! I first used this oil in my pasta sauce when I ran out of olive oil. I had no idea what I was missing! I'm Italian so I take pride in making my sauce. I always try to compete with my mom to see if I can beat her sauce. I struggled for years to get my sauce to taste even remotely like hers. Guess what? It was better... and all with my secret ingredient! The oil brought out the flavor of every single spice I added to the sauce, magnifying the flavor times ten. I couldn't believe how good it was. I'll leave you with a few recipes I gathered online. You can also get recipes from Food Network and substitute another oil with organic coconut oil. Prepare to look great on the outside all winter long and feel great on the inside for many years to come! You can buy this oil at your local health food store and occasionally the grocery store- but make sure it's organic!

MARRAKECH CHICKEN AND LENTILS

Ingredients:

· 1tbsp. 100% Pure Virgin Coconut oil

· 4 skinless chicken breasts chopped into pieces

· 6oz wholemeal flour

· 8oz brown lentils, rinsed and picked over

· 1 bunch spring onions, chopped

· 12 whole dried apricots (3 oz.), quartered

· 5oz golden raisins

· 2oz fresh parsley, chopped

· 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, chopped

· 1/2 tsp. Salt, or to taste

· 1/4 tsp. EACH ground allspice, cinnamon, cumin and red pepper (cayenne)

· 120ml water with 1 teaspoon of vegetable Bouillon powder dissolved into it.

Heat oven to 350°F. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan Coat the chicken pieces with flour, shaking off excess. Add to frying pan and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and place on a plate. Add lentils, spring onions, apricots, raisins, parsley, ginger, salt and spices to frying pan. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer to an ovenproof dish. Put the chicken on top. Add water, cover and place in oven. Bake 30 minutes, uncover and bake 20 minutes longer or until chicken and lentils are tender. Serves 4

Make a delicious dessert drink by melting organic coconut oil and adding it to a banana shake!

ORGANIC CARROT CAKE

Ingredients:

· 8oz organic grated carrots

· 8oz organic soft brown sugar

· 6oz organic virgin coconut oil

· 4oz organic plain wholemeal flour

· 2oz organic chopped walnuts

· 2 organic free range eggs

· Grated zest of 1 organic orange

· 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat all the above ingredients together and place in a baking tin greased with virgin coconut oil.Cook in preheated oven at 180oC / 350oF for 45 - 60minutes. (Check with a metal skewer - the cake is ready when it doesn't stick!)

You can also get recipes from Food Network on Satellite TV and substitute another oil with organic coconut oil.

Great Cherry Sodas

Cherry soda is a nice treat, and a nice change from your typical cola. I really like the sweetness, as it's crisply refreshing on the way down. While they've been around for a while, I'd like to take a look at a few of the great cherry sodas on the market. Here goes, and I hope you enjoy.

1. Cherry Coke. This quintessential classic has been around for years, and I still love it as much as ever. I like it most out of the fountain though.

2. Wild Cherry Pepsi. A relative newcomer on the scene compared to Cherry Coke, this is a great soda and one that I could easily see myself drinking over Cherry Coke when it comes to a bottle.

3. Cherry Dr. Pepper. This is one of the newest drinks out there as far as sodas go. I've tried it once, and I've really liked it. The blend of cherry with the traditional Dr. Pepper flavor is just as you'd expect. Very tasty in my opinion.

4. Cherries' and Cream soda by Stewart's. This is another great drink and while it's a bit more syrupy, it's really sweet and nice. It's not cola based either, which makes it different from the others listed above.

5. Dr. Brown's black cherry soda. Another classic and I'm not sure as to whether you've had it or not, but you should definitely try it if you haven't. I love this drink and the black cherry has a distinct taste from regular cherry flavored sodas.

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The Great Debate - Pepper Extract Or Pure Capsaicin?

In the world of hot sauces, one thing is certain, hot sauce fanatics tend to be little extreme. After all, it takes a fairly over-the-top personality to blindly try a product that claims it'll burn your face off (i.e. - Big Dawg's Burn Ur Face Off Salsa). I've found another common attribute of chili heads is a natural passion for debating which hot sauce is the best. Or, as if often the case - which is the HOTTEST! So, the purpose of this article is to distinguish why I acknowledge The Source Hot Sauce as being the hottest sauce available in the U.S.

First of all, The Source registers a whopping 7.1 million Scoville Units (S.U.), and that's nothing to sneeze at, in fact, you need to use extreme caution when using this sauce. Now hold on! Before all you hot sauce afficianados race to your computer to argue your case that hotter sauces exist, let me offer further explanation for my choice.

There is a product on the market call Blair's 16 Million Reserve that tops the charts at, you guessed it, 16 million S.U. Now, I might not be a mathematicien, but 16 million is a far cry bigger than 7.1 million. However, after much deliberation I chose not to heap the "Hottest Sauce" honors on this product because by definition, it's not a sauce. Blair's 16 Million Reserve is pure capsaicin - in otherwords, it doesn't get any hotter than this. But, I repeat, it is not a sauce, it's pure capsaicin in crystal form.

Upon further examination of The Source Hot Sauce, I suppose technically one could make the assertion that it is not a sauce either. The Source is a pure pepper concentrate extract - that's all it is, nothing else is added. Without actually referring to Mr. Webster, in my opinion, the number one prerequisite for something to referred to as a "sauce" is that it be a liquid. Therein lies my reason for giving the dubious honor to The Source as the hottest hot sauce in the U.S.

To be fair though, a more detailed definition of "sauce" might require that it be a combination of ingredients in liquid form. If I were to have gone by this definition I'd have given props to Mad Dog 357 Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce. This is an incredibly hot sauce packing the punch of 500,000 Scoville Units.  It's made with Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper), Habanero peppers, Peri Peri peppers, chile extract, garlic, onions, vinegar, evaporated cane juice, and spices. Mmmm! Tasty! 

You can view and buy these products and many others on my website http://www.hotsaucesfromatoz.com. Leave boring behind - spice up your life!

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What to Do If You Don't Like the Taste of Cottage Cheese

If you don't like the taste of cottage cheese, you're not alone. The mere thought of eating it plain makes many people retch, myself included. However it can't be denied that it is a really good source of protein, especially the slow digesting casein variety. It's also a great source of calcium if you don't like drinking milk. Many people that are trying to lose weight or that lift weights have an increased demand for protein intake in their daily diet, so getting protein from any source they can is vital to them. For that reason, it's not a smart thing to give up entirely on a source of protein just because they don't like the taste of it.

The key to eating cottage cheese if you don't like the taste of it, is to simply mask the taste! This is actually a very easy thing to do, contrary to what you might think because of the way it smells. It smells like it has a really strong taste and that you'd need really powerful foods to mask it's flavor. The reality is that cottage cheese has a very weak flavor and many things can be used to overpower it.

One of the simplest ways to make cottage cheese edible, is to mix it with yogurt! This is incredibly easy, because yogurt comes prepackaged in small single serving containers, and it comes in a large variety of different flavors! These small yogurt containers come in flavors ranging from apple turnover to key lime pie to vanilla and everything in between. All you need to do is have some sort of bowl or empty container to eat out of, pour in the cottage cheese, and then open up your yogurt container and empty it in. Grab a spoon and stir it all up till it's nice and blended, and then enjoy! You won't taste the cottage cheese at all, you'll just get the flavor of your yogurt!

The next way is a bit more involved, but can taste extremely well. It's more involved because it involves using fresh fruit. You'll just need to get a nice sized portion of whatever your favorite fruit is and remove any stems, seeds, or skins you don't want. Place the cottage cheese in a blender, put your fruit in next and then blend it together until it's smooth. I personally recommend fresh strawberries, cherries, or blueberries.

If neither of those options sound good to you, or you just want to switch it up a bit, my last suggestion is a little sticky. Mix your cottage cheese with some good honey, and sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon over it, then mix it all up of course. This makes a really sweet taste, but in my opinion is not as good as the previous two methods. Still, it's all up to our individual tastes and this might be the best way for you!

You don't have to give up this great food if you don't like its taste. Try one of the methods above, and I bet you'll agree that you can't taste the cottage cheese at all!

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