Tag: food;

Coffee Makers in the Workplace

Many people have a coffee maker at work. This is a great idea because it lets employees and managers alike have something in common and lets everyone have a short break from work while they refresh their coffee mugs. Coffee makers are used in office buildings, manufacturing plants, and almost every type of business there is from fast food to convenience stores. The office coffee maker is a place everyone can go and chit chat for a few minutes similar to a water cooler.

The usual office coffee maker is of the automatic drip variety and makes about 12 cups at a time. The funny thing is, 12 cups from a coffee maker means about 5 ounces per cup. Nobody drinks that little so you might as well assume one pot will serve 6 people. For a busy workplace you may need a larger coffee maker to accommodate everyone and might even decide to use a coffee vending machine. If this is owned and operated by the company, they may lower the prices so they don’t make much profit. This will be made up with employee morale and productivity so it evens out.

Many people feel better and more alert after drinking coffee so naturally, a coffee maker in the workplace helps everyone. The caffeine in coffee is a stimulant and should help them feel that way. If your employee is alert, there is less chance of incomplete work and injuries as they should be paying more attention to the job at hand.

The type of coffee maker for the workplace will need to be discussed among all the coffee drinkers and if a fancy one is needed, everyone should help pay for it. A normal coffee maker costs between 10 to 40 dollars but fancy ones can be 60-90 dollars depending on the features. These higher priced coffee makers usually come with a foamer, grinder, or some other special feature that would cause the price to be so high. You may want to just get two cheaper ones as there is always someone who wants decaffeinated coffee and doesn’t like to mix the two types of coffee in one pot.

If you work in a large manufacturing plant or industrial building, chances are you will have to walk a long way to get a cup of coffee. Many of these workplaces use strategically placed break rooms that will have an assortment of vending machines. One of those may be a coffee vending machine or there might be a coffee maker on the counter for employees in your area to use. Make sure you have someone clean it before you clock out or management may take it away. I have seen this happen before.

With espresso and cappuccino becoming very popular, you might have one of these machines in your workplace. They cater to certain people usually but many come with a normal coffee pot on one side. This can help balance out two distinct tastes and make more employees happy.

Learn to Make Italian Food

Italian food has long been amongst the most popular food in the world. Everyday people all over the world sit down to meals of fresh Italian food that tastes so good it’s hard to imagine making it yourself. However, there are some people who are up to the challenge of learning to make quality Italian food. For some it is not just enough to enjoy Italian food, they need to create Italian food. There are many options today for learning to cook Italian food. Some people live in areas where there are no Italian food cooking classes. Others may feel too self conscious in order to go to an Italian food class. But there is an option for everyone that wants to learn to cook Italian food whether they want to become a world class chef or if they just want to not be intimidated by a pot of boiling water and a handful of spaghetti. The great thing about Italian food is that it has great dishes that are simple to make for the beginner and complex dishes that take world class chefs years to master. There really is something for everyone.

The first option to learn to cook Italian food is cooking classes or cooking school. If you want to become a professional Italian food chef then you will want to attend an accredited cooking school. There are many different culinary institutes in the United States and around the world that can help you specialize in Italian food. Research the different options and decide which will be best for you and will help you meet your goals. Some things to consider are tuition and location. You can attend school abroad or in your local area. If you want to start work right away after graduation at an Italian food restaurant, then see what kind of help the different schools give in job placement after graduation.

Going to school to become a professional Italian food chef is very challenging but in the end it is extremely rewarding to know that you can craft some of the finest Italian food in the world. For those not wanting to necessarily become professionals, you can look into local cooking schools or community centers that offer lessons in cooking Italian food. You can learn to make specific regional Italian food or just take a few classes to teach you how to cook a meal for a special occasion to impress friends or family.

Another great option in today’s world is to learn how to cook Italian food right from home. Today it is possible to take classes in cooking Italian food off of the internet. This is a great option for people who are self conscious or like to take things at their own speed in a comfortable environment. There are both paid and free cooking classes online that can help you with your Italian food skills. Research the different programs available and see what is right for you. Be sure to also check out reviews of online programs and see if previous students feel that they really learned how to cook Italian food from the course.

You can never be too careful online, but once you find a school that you like that has good reviews, don’t hesitate to jump right in. Before long you’ll cooking up fabulous Italian food dishes that previously seemed impossible.

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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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.

What is There To Know About Mexican food?

Mexican food is popular all over the world and for great reasons. There is such a variety when it comes to Mexican dishes. You can taste combinations you never have before. Many people appreciate the great Mexican minds that created popular Mexican foods. The foods thrill our taste buds, the smells excite our minds, and the looks please our eyes and enrich and inspire our souls.

Many of the Mexican foods of today are based from long ago when the Aztecs and Mayas first created them. Some dishes that are exotic and eaten long ago include iguana, spider monkeys, and rattlesnakes. It is not eaten most of the time in this century, but it is also not unheard of. In addition the Mexican foods evolved when the Spanish colonists arrived. One ingredient that has not changed is the chili pepper. You may also find a bit of Caribbean influence in some Mexican dishes, especially in the Mexican states of Veracruz and the Yucatan. French influence can also be found in some Mexican dishes, one being bolillo. That is bread popular in Mexico that has a hint of French.

There are many health benefits when it comes to Mexican foods. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, with low fat and calories. You are not eating authentic Mexican food if you eat at Taco Bell. America has added many fats to the foods, which doesn’t contain all the nutrients you would eat if you ate in Mexico. Mexican dishes contain many fresh ingredients that you may not be able to find in other types of cuisine. Tomatoes, peppers, onions and others are very healthy for your body.

Foods differ in the different regions of Mexico. It depends on the climate and geography of the area along with ethnic differences. Northern Mexico is known for its dishes that contain meat, while in Southern Mexico, dishes popular include vegetable and chicken. Sea-food is commonly served in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Veracruz is a Mexican state that is very long and tropical with lowlands that runs up and down the Gulf of Mexico. It is easy to get fish such as red snapper, snook, grouper, and mojarra. Mojarra is a prized fish in the area. Crab, lobsters, and oysters are abundant.

Besides the ocean, the state has more than 40 rivers that run through it. It has an endless supply of freshwater fish and shellfish. The food is prepared in a way that reflects unique dishes of the state. Seafood is very healthy for your body and can add a different taste to regular classic Mexican food dishes.

You can learn a lot of history and facts about Mexican food by the different regions. Trying new recipes will give you a taste as to why they differ. With Mexican culture rich in history, it is always nice to learn about how the foods came about and how they are nowadays. Once you are knowledgeable about the dishes it makes it even more enjoyable when cooking and eating.