Cooking On the Grill

Summertime is rapidly approaching. This means it is time to begin preparing meals without heating the house whenever possible. If you haven’t considered the value of cooking on the grill in the past, perhaps now is a great time to adjust your way of thinking.

Cooking on the grill is a great way to keep the heat of cooking outside your home as well as to bring the family together for the entire cooking process. Moms read: this is a great way to get dad to help out with meal preparation. While this is said somewhat in jest, there is some truth to the fact that men are much more inclined to slave away over a hot grill than a hot stove. More importantly, most of the mess of cooking on the grill remains outside your kitchen. I don’t know about you, but that is a huge bonus for me, when it comes to cooking.

Cooking on the grill is also a great way to get the kids involved in the meal preparation and clean up process. We like to use disposable plates when grill cooking and keep the dining al fresco. If you are hoping for instant family unity over the picnic table you might want to think again but there isn’t anything quite like it when it comes to not worrying about spills or dropped food as you can rest fairly certain that the animals will take care of anything that gets left behind.

Even small children can help when cooking on the grill by bringing utensils to the grill, holding plates, and ‘setting’ the picnic table for your dining experience. If you intend to do a good deal of cooking on the grill you may want to invest in some portable and ‘kid friendly’ containers for things such as condiments, napkins, plastic ware, and tablecloth holders. Be sure to find containers that can handle a decent gust of wind without flying off too. These may be a little heavier for your little ones to hold but they won’t be nearly as difficult to chase when blowing across the lawn.

Cooking on the grill is a great way to enjoy nature after a long day of work. Be careful that you do not reserve this as a weekend event as you will find you miss out on some of the relaxing qualities it can bring to your midweek slump. One thing that can definitely be said about grill cooking is that the selections are almost as limitless as they are when cooking on the stove. You must use your imagination for maximum effect though very few meats and vegetables are truly off limits when it comes to cooking on the grill.

In addition to cooking meats on the grill, it is important to keep in mind that you can also cook all kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables on the grill as well. You should also keep in mind the awesome side dishes that go great with grilled foods such as baked beans, potato salad, and nice cool deserts and pies.

Cooking on the grill is a great way to bring family and friends together. The next time you plan to have a get together why not make it a night of cooking on the grill? You can have the best of all worlds with no muss, no fuss clean up and great food with good friends. Cooking on the grill is certainly a great way to get the neighbors out and about. There’s nothing on earth that can quite compare to the aroma of meat, fruit, and vegetables grilling over hot charcoal. If you don’t remember and your mouth isn’t watering just reading about, it’s been far too long since your last barbecue experience.

The most important thing to remember about cooking on the grill is that it should be an experience rather than a chore. Most of us truly enjoy the thought of having a good dinner under the sun or stars (whichever applies in your case). If you haven’t tried this in a while, it’s time to dust off the grill and refresh your memory and your taste buds.

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Coffee Makers Are Big Business In the U.S.

The average American drinks at least 3 cups of coffee daily. The United States is a leading coffee consumer with Americans drinking an overall 400 million cups of coffee each year. It’s no wonder that coffee makers are one of the most sold products. The Cowboy Coffee Pot of the 1800’s has evolved into modern, sleek machines that cater to the appetites of eager coffee drinkers.

Coffee is big business. Some reports state that coffee sales are increasing 20 percent every year. Specialty coffee (cappuccino, latte, etc) accounts for at least 8 percent of all coffee sales.

Who’s Using Coffee Makers These Days?

The average American is said to drink an average of three cups of coffee daily. The average number of sales in a drive through coffee shop each day is 200 to 300 cups. More than 50,000 coffee shops are expected to be open by 2010.
52 percent of American adults drink coffee. This translates to more than 100 million people drinking coffee every day. That’s a lot of coffee makers. Women tend to drink coffee to relax while men tend to drink coffee when they’re trying to get something done.

When are the most coffee makers in use? 65% of adults drink coffee with breakfast. 30 percent of Americans drink coffee between meals and about 5% drink coffee with meals. 35 percent of coffee drinkers prefer their coffee black. 65% add sugar and/or cream to customize their coffee experience.

More than 18 billion dollars are on coffee each year in the United States. McDonalds is reported to take in $51 million each day just in coffee sales.

Americans are drinking more and more specialty coffees. Many are purchasing coffee makers that allow them to brew specialty coffees at home. Coffee maker manufacturers have risen to the occasion, creating increasingly sleek styled machines that brew great coffee quickly and easily. Pod coffee makers are used frequently by coffee lovers who want to indulge at home instead of driving to the coffee shop.

Pod Single Cup Coffee Maker

For coffee lovers who prefer a fresh cup of coffee each and every time, a single serving coffee maker is ideal. Basic single serving coffee makers can be purchased for less than a hundred dollars. High end single serving machines can cost hundreds.

Pod coffee makers use premeasured coffee pods to make 8 ounces or less of coffee in less than one minute. There is no hassle. Users simply fill the reservoir with water, drop a pod into the pod spot and push a button.
Some pod coffee makers feature adjustable spouts so that different sized mugs can be used with the machine. Larger water reservoirs are also an added feature on some machines.

Pod Coffee Makers quickly and easily brew a cup of coffee in less than a minute. Prefilled pods make cleanup a breeze. Removable parts are often dishwasher safe and limited warranties are provided by most manufacturers.

Coffee is an American tradition. Those who love the beverage take their coffee drinking seriously. The availability of coffee makers that allow users to make specialty coffee at home has tremendously increased the coffee drinking population.

A Look At Champagne Racks

In the process of manufacturing Champagne, riddling racks are a must have. Once the sparkling wine has began to age on the less, it will be time for the concluding stages. Riddling is essential to the life of Champagne as it collects the sediment in bottles and deposits it near the bottles mouth. This sediment is what helps to bring the bubbles bursting out when you pop the cork.

Champagne bottles are put on riddling racks at a 45 degree angle, comprising the two rectangular boards that have been hinged at the top of the rack. On each side of the rack, there are ten rows that contain six holes for the necks of the bottles. Due to their structure and shape, each riddling rack is capable of holding 120 bottles, although there are special models that are made to hold more.

The riddler, who places the bottles, will place a bottle neck into each one of the holes on the riddling racks. There are painted lines at the bottom of each bottle, which acts as a marker for placing the bottles. All markers point in the same direction, which makes it easy for the riddler to put the bottles on the racks.

Over the course of several weeks, the riddler will twist each bottle a few degrees. By doing this every day, the riddler will prevent the sediment from settling in one place. Once a few weeks have gone by, the riddler will slant the bottles to a 60 degree angle and ensure that each and every bottle on the riddling rack is neck down in the proper hole.

Once the riddling process is complete, the Champagne bottles will be placed in a freezer for a brief period of time. After an ice plug has formed along the necks of the bottles, they will be placed on a conveyer belt and taken down the line to a disgorging machine that will remove the crown caps from each one of the bottles. Once the crown caps are removed, the pressure is in place. The pressure that is well known with Champagne bottles is from the bottle shooting out the ice plug, or the frozen sediment that is trapped in the bottle.

For the home collector, Champagne racks are also important. There are other factors involved with riddling racks, such as temperature and location of the racks. With manufacturers however; everything simply must be perfect. Champagne is a very popular wine throughout the world, ideal for celebrations and special events. Riddling racks are essential to the process, including the infamous bursting bubbles. Champagne that doesnt feature the infamous bursting bubbles isnt really a tradition – and certainly wouldnt be worth the investment.

Easy Solutions To Common Cake Decorating Mistakes

Below are the most common cake decorating mistakes and easy ways to rectify them.

Anyone who has ever frosted a cake knows there are times when the icing will pull apart the top of the cake and cake crumbs get will into the frosting. To stop this from occurring, you should start with a crumb coat. This is the same icing that you are using to frost the cake, but it has been thinned down a bit. That way you will cover any part of the cake that might crumb with a thin layer of icing, and it will give you a base over which you will put a regular coat of icing. Take care that you do not make the icing too thin. It should be thinned down just enough to cover the cake without tearing it and picking up crumbs.

After you apply the crumb coat to the cake, you need to let it set about 2 hours or more before you apply the rest of the icing. In fact it should rest in the refrigerator, and can be kept there overnight before you need to add more icing. It is okay if you see crumbs in the crumb coat, they will be stuck in this first layer of icing and will not effect the next layer of icing. The cold will set the icing and it will be a cinch to ice after that.

There can be a problem with fillings spilling out the sides of the cake. There are ways to stop this from happening when your cake decorating involves a filled middle.

1. Bake your cake the day before you are planning to fill it. This will make the cake firmer and will give it time to settle. A freshly baked cake will be unstable and will not hold fillings as well as when they are settled.

2. You can also use icing to make a dam to stop the filling from spilling out. Once the dam has been made, you can frost the whole cake with a crumb coating. The cake should be set in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight, this will firm up the icing and will keep the filling from oozing out the sides. The dams made of icing will firm up and keep the filling in.

If you are a busy person and don’t have time to bake and decorate a cake all at once, you can bake the cake and freeze it until you need to decorate it. A cake can be kept in the freezer a couple of weeks before it needs to be used. You must prepare the cake for freezing by wrapping three layers of strong cling wrap around the cake, followed by one layer of aluminum foil just prior to freezing. If you do not follow this procedure, your cake will dry out and crumble. You will also need to make sure the cake is completely thawed before attempting to ice it.

You will need to allow the cake to defrost slowly, at room temperature, for one or two days until it has defrosted. Icing a cake before it has thawed will make the icing sweat and become mushy, this will ruin your cake decorating, and all your hard work will be for nothing.

Learn to Cook Italian Food on Vacation

It used to be that vacations were all about site seeing and relaxing. Well, not anymore. Today the hottest trend in travel is taking courses to learn new things while on vacation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the cooking classes that have sprung up all over the world specifically for tourists. Many people travel to Italy on vacation in order to enjoy Italian food. Now though, many people not only want to enjoy Italian food while away, they want to learn how to cook it. Instead of bringing back souvenirs tourists are bringing back skills that they can put to use in their kitchens at home to whip up authentic Italian food.

If you like Italian food then you may want to consider taking some classes to learn how to cook Italian food while in Italy. There are many resorts today that offer Italian food classes to their guests. There are even whole vacation packages focused around learning how to cook Italian food. You can take a tour through Italy and in each city or region that you stop in learn to make the local Italian food from the people who know it the best, the locals, not some tour guide or American teacher. If you decide during your vacation that you would like to try out a cooking class then ask the concierge or front desk at your hotel. They should be able to point you in the direction of some Italian food classes. Often resorts will have their own world class Italian food restaurants and it’s not uncommon for them to open their doors to travelers who want to learn to make a dish from the menu. Be sure to ask the front desk at your resort about possible Italian food classes. Resorts don’t always advertise these classes because they often fill up just on word of mouth.

If you are feeling a little nervous about learning to cook Italian food on your vacation, relax. The classes are typically very small so you’ll be able to get one on one help. This is truly a great opportunity to expand your knowledge of preparing Italian food from actual Italian chefs. Don’t worry if you don’t know the first thing about cooking. These classes are structured to accommodate people with little to no knowledge of Italian food or even cooking for that matter. If you would like to take a more advanced or intermediate class then ask about those options as well, but the majority of classes will be for beginners. These Italian food classes for vacationers will teach you how to make easy dishes that look more complicated than they actually are. They’re not going try and teach you something complicated that will only end up frustrating you. They know that it can be intimidating learning to cook Italian food from professional chefs so they will keep things simple. On the other hand, they also understand that you probably want to go home and impress your friends with an Italian food dish that seems really fancy, so they will teach you dishes with a certain “wow” factor.

The next time you plan a vacation to Italy, try to step off the beaten path and learn how to cook some authentic Italian food. The skills and memories you bring home will outlast any souvenir you could buy. Vacationing in Italy is not just about enjoying Italian food; it’s about bringing Italian food home with you.