Archive for the 'Food and Drinks' Category

Energize Yourself With Pecan Pralines

Written by AliceWilkene on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

When one thinks of the best pecan pralines, most probably he is thinking of the pecan pralines offered by Tanner’s Pecan and Candies. There is no other pecan praline in the market that can match the taste of those pecan pralines that are available at Tanner’s Pecan and Candies. The pecan pralines at Tanner’s Pecan and Candies are cooked and prepared traditionally. What makes their pecan pralines more special is the added touch of love extended to its loyal customers—the company is known for that since the 1940s.

Energizing One’s Self

Tanner’s pecan pralines have an unqualified decadent flavor that may remind you of the best days of the holiday season spent with your family, best buddies, and special someone, or the romantic movies you and your sweetheart have watched. The Tanner’s pecan pralines are stunningly perfect snack for everyone as these pecan pralines are not loaded with artery-clogging trans fat to damage one’s regimented diet. The Tanner’s pecan pralines are beautifully contained in cute tin cans that you can eat them anywhere and anytime. Keep a can-full of pecan pralines in your bag always. Tanner’s pecan pralines are energy foods to lift one’s energy when it has already taken a nose dive especially in the mid-mornings or afternoons. Pecan pralines can energize your sleepy self without feeling the guilt of having to add weight to yourself.

Enjoying Good Food

If a person on strict diet is looking for some snack food to enjoy on and at the same time will not compromise his conviction of shedding off extra pounds in his trimmed body, then he should go for pecan pralines. Having pecan pralines in one’s diet will not ruin your program of caloric restriction provided it is taken in with moderation. Therefore, instead of eating a 200-calorie bag of candies or chips in the middle of the afternoon, why not instead treat yourself with some healthier food like the pecan pralines. It will seriously save a person from stepping back and forth the tread mill for pecans, like the other nuts, are rich in vitamins and nutrients that are healthy to one’s body. Pecans are wholesome food choice for all those health enthusiasts and health conscious who wish to devour some good food. Be exulted in having the privilege of enjoying and having good, healthy and wonderful-tasting food!

Finding the Best Pecan Pralines

There is no better place to find the pecans—pecan pralines or roasted pecans—that will exactly go well with your taste. The destination to locate these good-tasting pecan pralines is not difficult to find and you can have it by visiting Tanner’s Pecan and Candies. Like their other equally excellent products, the pecan pralines are robust with sweet flavors that are in itself exceptional. Look forward to getting yourself treated with some of the best savoring taste of pecan pralines from Tanner’s Pecan and Candies and celebrate each satiating bite.

You may visit their online store at http://www.tannerspecan.com.

Danny Fox is the owner of Tanners Pecan - a supplier of delicious pecan treats and homemade candies. The holidays are coming up and you can prepare with Pecan Pralines and all other kinds of treats made from Pecans.

Chocolate Pecan Pie: A Wonderful Variation of the Pecan Pie

Written by DannyFox on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

Have you ever wondered why every bite of that chocolate pecan pie is so sinfully delightful? Speculate no more. Here is a recipe for that homemade chocolate pecan pie that no one can resist.

Prepare the following ingredients:

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup light corn syrup

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

• 2 tablespoons melted butter

• 2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted

• 1 cup pecan halves

• pie shell, unbaked, 9-inch

• sweetened whipped cream or whipped topping

Preheat the oven. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk eggs to beat slightly. Stir in the corn syrup, melted chocolate, salt, brown sugar, vanilla, and butter. Stir until smooth to blend the ingredients well. Next, add the nuts and stir. Pour this into the unbaked pie shell. Put this in the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 400

Christmas Gift Baskets: Gift Baskets For All Ages

Written by DannyFox on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

With the most awaited month of the year fast approaching, a lot of us are now in the verge of preparation for the merriest season of Christmas. Traditionally, Christmas is the time of giving and receiving. It is an annual holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, and Christmas festivities are being observed by almost all parts of the world. Along with the festivities is the observation of the various cultural customs of the different countries. Even if Christmas is a holiday for Christians, today, even non-Christian countries around the world are observing it as a cultural holiday.

Christmas Is for Giving

It is now an accepted fact that when Christmas comes, you think of presents coming your way. But, remember, you also need to give, too, and that is the true essence of Christmas. Most of the people nowadays settle for simple and practical gifts. They are items that do not need complicated preparations and planning. Some of the common gifts are:

 Clothing, shoes, etc.

 Electronic gadgets

 Food

 Pet animals

 Jewelries and other accessories

 Gift baskets

Gift Baskets for All Ages

If you have not heard of gift baskets then it’s time that you take notice of how they can relieve so many gift seekers. Christmas gift baskets are most practical gifts for busy people like you and me. Because gift baskets are easy to prepare and is ready for gift giving, more and more people prefer them than any other gift ideas.

How to Prepare Your Christmas Gift Baskets

First and foremost, consider the person you are giving your gift baskets, whether they are for your relatives, friends, co-workers, nephews or nieces. From then, you can decide on what items to gather and put in them. Among the items that can be included in your Christmas gift baskets are:

 Assorted grocery items

 Bunch of flowers

 Cookies & pastries

 Assorted nuts

 Assorted candies

All you need is an elegantly made basket, preferably wicker Christmas gift baskets, so that the recipient can reuse it over and over again. Wicker gift baskets are made of rattan, and are found to be durable. It has been tried and tested over the years. Just gather all the items you have chosen for your Christmas gift baskets. Place them all together in the basket and wrap them with a thick plastic wrap, a colored one can also be used, preferably Christmas colors. Tie them tightly and securely with a ribbon, and voila! You have your very own Christmas gift baskets.

Hassle-free Shopping

So, if you still do not wish to prepare the gift baskets yourself, then there’s no problem. Because in Tanner’s Pecans & Candies, every Christmas gift baskets your need may be personalized. You just have to choose the items you want to be included. Each Christmas gift baskets are elegantly packed and ready for gift giving. With a wide array of package selection, truly Tanner’s Pecans & Candies is the right place to visit.

Tanners Pecan would like to invite you to get prepared for the holiday season early! Christmas Gift Baskets are great all-purpose gifts. Give the gift of food with Christmas Food Gift Baskets.

Roasted Pecans and Other Sweet Pecans For Special Occasions

Written by DannyFox on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

In a week, you will be hosting your family reunion. You feel great about it because it will be your first time. If you recall your family reunion last year, it was a blast of fun, great food, and good company. Since you don’t want to ruin the family gathering, you have planned ahead of time the food and the setup. Together with the other family members, you planned and divided the tasks as to who will prepare what. And also, you tried to recall what other dishes you can prepare that delight their taste buds. Since the younger ones are not able to cook something, their assignment is to meet and greet and guests when they come. And everyone else was excited for the upcoming family reunion.

Your eldest daughter is fond of making cinnamon roasted pecans because her cousins really loved it when she prepared it during their get-together. And so you let her do her thing, while you plan to prepare your favorite praline. Your husband volunteered to roast the pecans right before serving. Surely, its aroma will make it more inviting to your guests. You are also excited to make roasted pork and added pecans, and all others were getting excited to have a mouthful of it, since you only cook it on special occasions.

And to get you started, you have already purchased raw materials for the food. For your dessert, how can you forget the roasted pecans and the raw pecans? Your children have been kicking to make goodies out of roasted pecans for their cousins. Roasted pecans are definitely tasty and sweet, have buttery texture, and are perfect for any creations of recipes that your children will gladly make.

The day of the reunion has come. Guests start to arrive, and as planned, your little ones meet the guests with a bowl of roasted pecans. Your relatives are really happy to see them again, and haven’t forgotten to pick up some roasted pecans. Your house is filled with the rich aroma of the roasted pecans, especially that they were just roasted. After some time, all the guests have arrived, and the dinner started. Of course, the desserts are really attractive to the kids, and so they finished early with the main course and started eating the cinnamon roasted pecans, others were munching the praline pecans. After dinner, everyone gathered at the living room and the kids had some presentation to entertain everyone.

After hours of merrymaking, the reunion ended with goodbyes and goodnights. Since there were lots of desserts that you prepared, you had packs of cinnamon roasted pecans and praline pecans as giveaways to your guests. Everybody was thanking you for hosting a wonderful family reunion and the giveaways. You also thanked them for coming over. The family reunion was a huge success and your family enjoyed the annual gathering. You thanked everyone for the help and cooperation to make the event successful.

To have an idea on how you can make other recipes out of pecans, you can check out Tanner’s Pecans and Candies. They offer holiday packages of roasted pecans along with other pecan delights, perfect as holiday gifts for your loved ones.

Roasted Pecans can be a healthy snack that everyone enjoys. Stock up on our Home Made Roasted Pecans today!

Festive Punches

Written by SarahMartin on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

St. Charles Punch

1 teaspoon sugar

1 lemon—juice only

1 large shot of port wine

1 pony cognac brandy

1/3 teaspoon Curacao

Dissolve the sugar with a little water in a mixing glass. Add the lemon juice, the port wine, the cognac, and last the Curacao. Fill the glass with fine ice and jiggle with the bar spoon. Pour into a long thin glass, garnish with fruit, and serve with a straw.

Years ago this was a famed punch very much in demand at the celebrated St. Charles Hotel bar. Don’t omit the straw; this drink demands long and deliberate sipping for consummate enjoyment.

Orgeat Punch

1/2 shot of orgeat syrup

1 lemon—juice only

1/2 lime—juice only

1 large shot of rye whiskey

1 dash orange bitters

1 small shot of port wine

Mix all but the port in the order named in a tall 12-ounce glass. Fill with cracked ice to a finger-width of the top. Jiggle with a spoon until well frapped. Then float on top the pony of port wine … do not stir.

Said Sam Guarino, once the chief bartender at the Hotel Roosevelt bar, who originated this drink delight:

“The Orgeat Punch has two distinct flavors which register separately when trickling down your throat. First you taste the Oporto, and then you get the second rich taste of the orgeat-flavored whiskey mixture.”

Orgeat sirup, or sirop d’orgecut, is made from the milk of almonds and has long been a favorite flavoring and sweetening liqueur among the Creoles of New Orleans. It is not used as much today as in the past, but drink-mixers who like something different should cultivate its acquaintance again.

Arrack Punch

A large shot of date arrack

2 teaspoons bar sugar

2 dashes of lemon juice

Dissolve the sugar in a little water, add the lemon juice, then the arrack; fill the glass nearly full with shaved ice, and shake well. Strain into a glass and serve with a straw. Printed coasters may be appropriate to serve along with this festive punch.

Arrack is the fermented juice of the date palm, and is a name that was applied in Eastern countries to any spirituous liquor of native manufacture, especially ones distilled from the fermented sap of the coco-palm, or from rice and sugar fermented with coconut juice. Later the arrack imported from Bastavia and Japan was considered superior in concoct

Ten Most Popular Restaurants

Written by MattJohnson on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

All of us love to eat out. You can eat cuisines like Italian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Indian or junk food like pizzas, burgers, French fries or various kinds of drinks. The options are literally limitless. You can opt for the dishes that you love or try out new and different kind of dishes. Eating out is like an adventure and every time can be an entirely different and wholesome experience. So when the time comes to discuss the ten most popular restaurants, it is a very tough call. People across the world have different food tastes and enjoy different kind of restaurants and cuisines.

If you can a pizza lover than you would look forward to Pizza Hut or Dominos every time you step out to eat. If instead you like burgers and similar delights then Burger king and McDonalds may feature in your favorite joints. If you are fond of cafes then may be Starbucks and Barista are two of the names you can count on.

A survey was conducted to decide the ten most popular fast food joints. Here are the ones that are at the top when people of United States were asked this question:

• 23% Wendy’s

• 12% Taco Bell

• 12% McDonald’s

• 11% Burger King

• 8% KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

• 3% Jack in the Box

• 3% Long John Silver’s

There was a time way back in the 1999 when McDonalds was the undisputed leader of this kind, but now things have changed. Not only have more joints sprung up there is also a big “anti-McDonalds” sentiment in a lot of health conscious people.

Then there also is a category of people who do not prefer fast foods at all. Though they do eat out occasionally, but fast food isn’t on their menu. It is hard to come up with popular restaurants in this category but we can surely tell you about the best ones.

According to the “Restaurant Magazine” chose a list of 50 places worth visiting. These included restaurants, bars and eating joints of various kinds from the world over. The criteria were food, ambiance and service among other things. Here is the list of their ten favorite ones:

1. El Bulli – Spain: This is an exclusive restaurant with only a seating of 50 people. It only opens for dinner between April to December and has received the honor of being world’s best restaurant many times.

2. The Fat Duck – UK: They are open between Tuesday and Sunday for lunch (12-2) and dinner (7-9:30). You can choose between the tasting menu and the a la carte menu here.

3. Pierre Gagnaire – France: This restaurant is one of its kind and very unique. It is named after the owner and chef of the place. It is known for its innovative and exotic dishes.

4. The French Laundry – USA: It is open for dinner seven days a week but for lunch only on the weekends. They have two menus that are changed daily.

5. Tetsuya’s – Australia: It is open from Tuesdays to Sundays for dinner from 6pm and only on Saturdays for lunch from 12 pm. It is famous for amazing Japanese cuisine.

6. Bras – France: It is known around the world for Gargouillou de Jeunes L

Wine Cellar Lighting

Written by RussellNeal on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

Phantom linear strips make ideal wine cellar lights. Due to both their flexibility and concealment, they can be positioned in a variety of positions that create both direct and indirect cove lighting effects. In smaller wine cellars, they can function as the primary light source, and in larger cellars where people gather for a quiet getaway into a better, alternate reality, linear strips can be used to create ambient wine cellar lighting that contributes a vital element to romance, mystique, and relaxation.

Because many wine cellars are intended for viewing rather than visitation, lighting them with standard overhead accent lighting fixtures can often detract from the presentation of the wine bottles and the aesthetic of ornamental wine racks. Wine cellar lighting in this type of environment must completely hide its source and magnify the bottles, labels, and racks without giving away the source of illumination. This can be difficult in narrow confines that often resemble a long closet more than what most of us think of when we visualize a room. In such quarters, Phantom linear strips can be mounted on the rear interior of the doorway of the wine cellar. Light shines back into the room from the concealed strips, creating a luminance that appears to grow out of the corridor and intensify as it reaches the bottles.

In larger wine cellars, lighting takes on a more subtle role as an accent to atmosphere. Wine cabinets and wine racks stand along the walls, normally surrounding a table or two where people can gather and enjoy wine and cheese and quiet conversation. Most wine cellars of this nature, though spacious in floor space, nevertheless have low ceilings. Flexible cove lighting strips can be mounted on top of racks and cabinets, shining light upward along the back wall and reflecting it off the ceiling. This is similar to valance and cove lighting, but it has a much more powerful effect due to the space limitations of the low ceiling. The light appears to climb the wall and wrap itself around the ceiling, fading toward the center in a gentle glow.

Lighting wine racks themselves can also be done with similar effect using linear strips. Because Phantom makes every LED energy saving lighting strip custom to the dimensions of either a horizontal or vertical mounting surface, strips can be fitted to the interior of the rack to emphasize the label and surround the bottle with an aura of light. Or, wine cellar lighting strips can be concealed behind the racks along the rear surface of the wood, shining the light forward for a silhouette effect. Because of this remarkable flexibility and precise matching of fixture size to mounting dimensions, the possibilities for wine cellar lighting with Phantom custom lighting strips are as many and varied as wine cellars themselves.

For lamping options, we recommend LED 2800K festoon lamps as the most ideal source of both direct and indirect wine cellar lighting. 2800K festoons produce the warmest possible colour temperature available in LED, and they are a viable replacement for incandescent and xenon light sources. It is extremely important to use LED strip lighting in any wine cellar if at all possible. The absence of UV radiation and infrared heat renders the light harmless to the wine itself and prevents interference with any refrigeration systems that may be in place. The distribution of light produced by the 2800K LED festoon is indistinguishable from that of previous, more primitive technologies, and is ideal for creating an atmosphere of warmth, colour, and comfort. This is also the most energy efficient form of wine cellar in cabinet lighting and the best option for those who wish to leave the lights on for most, if not all, of the time.

Due to the highly original and custom nature of wine cellars, lighting in these environments has to reflect a level of equivalent customization and adaptability to some of the most eclectic cabinetry and interior architecture found in refined and elegant settings. Because our Phantom LED cabinet lights are all manufactured custom to specification orders, the best way to order these lights is to contact our main office and send us blueprints of your wine cellar (if available), along with a series of photographs that will help us build your lighting strips specific to the dimensions, floor plan, ceiling height, racks, and cabinetry of your cellar.

Phantom Lighting. For more information on Wine Cellar Lighting and LED Lighting Technology visit us online today.

Learn Where Martinis Came From - How to Make a Lemon Drop Martini

Written by EileenChilds on Monday, October 13th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

If you like martinis then read on and learn about both the history of the martini and about a tasty, cool cocktail called the Lemon Drop Martini.

History of the Martini

The martini is a cocktail made with gin or vodka and dry white vermouth, and is considered by many to be among the top six variations of a cocktail type drink.

It is believed that the martini originated in Martinez, which is the town where I grew up. Martinez is located on the south side of the Carquinez Strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, facing the city of Benicia. It’s the birthplace of New York Yankee baseball star Joe DiMaggio, and was the childhood home of Norv Turner, head coach of the Washington Redskins football team.

If you go to the corner of the intersection of Alhambra Avenue and Masonic Street, you will find a plaque commemorating the birth of the martini. The first known reference to the martini being invented in Martinez can be found in The Bon Vivant’s Companion: Or How to Mix Drinks (1887 edition), by “Professor” Jerry Thomas, a head bartender who worked in many well know places, including the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, California. According to George A. Zabriske, who republished the original book in 1928, Jerry Thomas had a client who took a ferry from the Occidental Hotel to Martinez, each morning. Thomas mixed him a “Martinez” to keep the morning chill off, and named the drink after his client’s destination.

The Lemon Drop Martini

One of my favorite versions of the martini is the Lemon Drop Martini. This drink is a sweet, lemony drink that became popular during the 1970’s in California. Remember the lemon drop candies you used to get at the movies when you were a kid? This drink has become a favorite on the West Coast. One account suggests that this drink originated in a bar called Henry’s Africa in San Francisco. This was a well-known singles bar and was said to develop and push “girl-drinks”. These are drinks that are made very sweet to cover the taste of alcohol.

Lemon Drop Martini Recipe

The Lemon Drop Martini has become a favorite of my guests. Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 ounces vodka

1/2 ounce Triple Sec

1 teaspoon superfine sugar

3/4 ounce freshly squeezed or bottled lemon juice

Ice cubes

Lemon Wedge or Twist

To prepare glass, put it into the freezer until it is frosty cold. Then rub the rim of the glass with lemon and dip the glass in super fine sugar to create an edge of sugar on the glass.

Mix the vodka, Triple Sec, sugar, and lemon juice in a shaker half-filled with ice; shake well until well blended. Pour strained liquid into sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with lemon.

Then enjoy! Remember to be careful drinking these. They really are sweet, but potent! And remember, the next time you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, stop by a little town called Martinez and see where the martini was born.

For cocktail party tips and more, visit http://www.cocktailsandbeerandwine.com/ and plan your next cocktail party today!

Software For Meal Planning – Technology For Healthy Eating Habits

Written by JudeWright on Monday, October 13th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

Software for meal planning fits right in with the discussions being had over nutrition and diet today. Not only are these topics hot on the list of things to work for in overall fitness, they seem to have a direct relation to the way we age and the way exercise affects us. The same time frame also brought about the ever popular cooking show which held a plethora of wonderful recipes you must try that are not considered to be fat free or healthy.

Technology has taken us far in respects tot he internet and the websites we can visit to learn and create new recipes. The recipes we collect need a place to be stored and utilized properly. This is where software for meal planning comes in. many packages of software for meal planning are being used today.

Software for meal planning features an easy to use interface. You can find a few with tabbed selections. If you choose, you can categorize recipes into chapters making it easy to find. They will all be listed in alphabetical order to help you find your favorites fast.

Each recipe can be entered easily. The recipes you search for and find online can be added simply by using the import feature on the software. Some of the cheaper models want manual entry of the recipes but this is fading out fast.

Software for meal planning allows you to choose the recipes you want for the week ahead and adds these same recipes tot he calendar. You can also add days for eating out or for holidays when you night be eating with family or friends. You simply have to click on the meal and choose it from the calendar and you are ready to go.

Software for meal planning helps you to manage your grocery list each week allowing only the items your need for the weeks recipes to be purchased. No more impulse buying happens with this feature to guide you along. You will also be given a list of items and the expected cost so you can stay within your budget. You take the list to the store and shop without having to guess and choose what you might not need or already have.

Many websites are available to give you recipes as well as access to the software for planning meals. Take the time to choose the best software which meets you needs better and is easy to use. It need not be expensive, it just needs to work great. You can find some nice software for meal planning for under $20 so you do not break the bank in the process of health and wellness.

Meal planning provides your family with easy and nutritious meals each night. We understand that trying to work and provide these meals for your family can be a little time consuming as well. Try software for meal planning and see if it helps you create healthier and creative meals for everyone. To include even the most finicky eater in the family.

Want to learn more about Meal Planning? Visit http://mealplanningguide.com for meal planning ideas, meal plans and recipes.

Reasonable Dinner Ideas For Students

Written by TomTessin on Sunday, October 12th, 2008 in Food and Drinks.

When students are in college, they are often on a tight budget. They don’t have a lot of money since all their money goes to tuition, books, and their average monthly bills. Since college students don’t have a lot of money they often rely on fast food to satisfy their meals and hunger.

We all know that fast food can be very dangerous if it is consumed on a regular basis. So why do college students eat fast food so often? Easy, the answer is that it is very cheap. If fast food restaurants offer a complete meal for about $3.00 due to their dollar menu, who wouldn’t go there? What college students don’t realize is that you can make dinners at home for a very cheap price. Need some ideas? Look below for a some ideas on cheap dinners.

Soup – Soup is a great dinner for a college student. Soups are often low in calories and are enriched with many vitamins and minerals. You can get soup from the grocery store for a very low price, while being able to choose from a ton of different flavors. Have a bowl of soup and another little side and you’ll be all set! You can never go wrong with soup there is a flavor for everyone!

Sandwiches – Remember when you were a little kid and you always had your mom make you grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly? Bring those days back! We all love those sandwiches just never think to make them. They are very cheap, all you need is a jar of peanut butter and jelly, some bread and you can be set for a few weeks! You’re never too old to eat peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter banana sandwiches, or grilled cheese.

Deli sandwiches – Deli sandwiches make great meals! Get some lunch meat and a loaf of bread and you have a dinner. Get all your favorites, and if you want to make it healthier add some of your favorite vegetables. You can never go wrong with a deli sandwich, they are cheap and easy to make!

Cereal – You’re probably wondering why cereal is under the dinner category right? Well who said you can have cereal for dinner? If you’re hungry but don’t have a big appetite cereal is the way to go! It is very cheap, lasts a while and is a great small dinner of snack! Also there are many different kinds so you can never get sick of it.

Mexican food – Mexican food is great for dinners. You can make nachos, quesadillas, burritos, anything really. These are all cheap, fast, and easy to make. We all order them when we go out to dinner so why not make them at home and save a ton of money?

There are many ideas for college student dinners. Next time you go grocery shopping look around and don’t just go down the isles you usually do. You want to explore and get more ideas for cheap dinners. There are many ideas out there, these are just a few. There are many cheap college student dinners you just have to go looking for ideas!

Find credit cards for students and more of Tom’s work at FINDcollegecards.



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