Learning

The link between caffeine and migraines is something of an anomaly. For some people caffeine can provoke an attach, for others a caffeine-containing medication will bring relief. Read about some of the studies into this paradox.

In 1979, the highly respected Lancet Journal published an article identifying caffeine as a suspected migraine trigger. Various theories about caffeine and other substances in products that contain caffeine have since been explored.

As is frequently the case with food intolerances, one person will not react to a specific food, whilst another can suffer a severe reaction to the same food. Consider the shellfish - a killer for some, a healthful food for someone else.

Share This

Do you know how far the apple in your kitchen traveled before you picked it up at the grocery store? According to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, apples in American grocery stores typically travel 1,726 miles before reaching your kitchen!

Just think about the fuel needed to transport produce like this across the country or across borders. Also think about the pollution generated by the vehicles carrying this produce. An apple a day may keep the doctor away but the fumes accompanying it will definitely hurt us!

Share This

In an ongoing effort to involve kids in the kitchen, I’m always looking for ways to make cooking and food preparation fun. Even better is the dream of combining cooking fun with a purpose. In my quest, I’ve stumbled upon the concept of Taco Night. This is not a new or original idea, but it’s so good I have to spread the word.

Taco Night is a special night that can happen once every 3 months, once a month, or once a week, depending on your family’s level of organization, enthusiasm, and energy. It’s for the kids and by the kids. Make it a new tradition that your kids and their friends will all look forward to. Sounds good? Then read on.

Share This

This is a great sitting on the couch and watching TV recipe. You’ve got two kinds of chili, onion, cheese, sour cream and of course, corn chips.

1 (15oz.) can chili, no beans
1 (15 oz.) can chili with beans
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup of corn chips
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 pound cheddar cheese, grated
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 1 1/2-quart or 2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a saucepan, combine both cans of chili with water; heat to boiling; stirring occasionally.

Share This

Rosemary is an aromatic herb from the libiatae (mint) family and is a gardeners friend as it is known to be a natural insect replant. If left unchecked it can grow to over 2m (6.6ft) tall, regular picking and pruning will keep your plant more manageable. It has needle like greygreen leaves and its flowers are small and pale blue/pink in colour. There are several decorative variegated types, but none are as hardy as the ordinary green rosemary.

Sowing:

Share This

There are not many things as relaxing as having friends or family to an evening grill or BBQ on a fine summer evening. The type of grill used does not much matter, as long as it provides heat from underneath the cooking plate. Heat is heat – and the main differences between types of grills relates to heat control and plate configuration. When the food is to be smoked for extra flavor, the chips that provide the smoke need to be placed easily and regularly onto the charcoal, beads or flames.

Share This

When you think of beer you might think that it has only been here for a couple of hundred years but is so not the case, beer has been drunk all over the world in one form or another, from lagers to bitters.

So How Is Beer Made?


To put it in simple terms beer is a fermented combination of water, barley, yeast and hops. The various beers on offer in the licensed establishments across the world are mainly determined by the yeast that was used during fermentation.

So let’s take a beer apart and examine the different properties that make up a “pint”.

Share This

Sit down in most small restaurants in Oaxaca, order the comida corrida (full meal, daily special) and as fast as the Flying Burrito Brothers your server arrives with a bowl of tepid soup with minuscule floating grease bubbles, a healthy portion of fried-in-oil-then-boiled white rice flecked with cubed carrot, a small piece of overcooked meat or poultry swimming in a scrumptiously tangy mole, a glass of fruity water-of-the-day (agua del día), and a two-inch slab of flan to finish … on the other hand there’s La Olla.

Share This

Tradition is how we have gotten many of our menu items for holidays. Chinese New Year is no different. Delicious Asian delicacies form a big part of Chinese New Year, and here are just a few ideas:

Some items you may find during Chinese New Year are a vegetarian dish called jai, whole fish, chicken, nian gao, rice pudding, and man tou. The menu items have more meaning than most foods available at a traditional New Year in the United States. The Chinese believe their food symbolizes many things. Among the symbolization of food is the attitude that the amount of food prepared shows abundance and wealth for the household.

Share This

If you are really fed up with having the hum drum coffee all the time. Then it’s time to recompense yourself with something diverse and exciting. Why not spritz up your morning routine with a cup of exquisite “gourmet coffee”.

The dictionary definition has gourmet food down as this, “Gourmet food is that which is of the highest quality, perfectly prepared and artfully presented.” If you want the maximum quality food you go to a star class restaurant, but if you want the premier quality coffee, this can be achieved by you at home. That gourmet meal is in all probability staying at the restaurant where you ate, unless you become friends with the chef and invite him over, but as for the cup of gourmet coffee you can make it where ever you desire.

Share This