Sangria summer nights

For years now a staple to my summertime diet has been to have a glass or two of sangria while sitting out on my patio on those warm summer evenings with friends. Sangria is a wine based punch that originates from Portugal and Spain. The word “sangria” is derived from the Spanish word "sangre" which means blood. Sangria is usually made from red wine, sliced citrus fruit, sugar, and a sprit such as brandy or triple sec.

A lot of tourists flock to Spain and Portugal to get a taste of authentic sangria. What many people don’t realise is that in this part of the world sangria is predominately served out of a punch bowl at informal gathers with the express purpose of being inexpensive and easy to become intoxicated from. Bars and restaurants have realised the profit potential in serving sangria to tourists which is where the one litre pitchers of sangria have come from.

The recipes for what makes good sangria are almost limitless. Some people rather use white or sparkling wine instead of red, making what is known as a sangria blanca, a sangria that is much lighter in body. The type of spirit added can also vary; some people prefer to use a triple sec while others use brandy, Grand Marnier, or even whiskey to fortify their drink. Don’t make the mistake in thinking that you have to use an expensive wine or champagne, you are adding so many other flavours to the wine that using an expensive wine is not only necessary but rather foolish. Also important is to keep in mind that at most a bottle or two is all that you need for a sangria base.

The fruits used can also vary from recipe to recipe. Most common fruits used are oranges, lemons and apples, but pineapple, mango, peaches, cherries and even melon can be used to create truly unique flavoured sangria. Whatever fruits you decide to use, always remember to soak them. What does it mean to soak? Before adding ice and the carbonated liquids it is important to mix the all the other ingredients together and let sit 8 hours or overnight in a refrigerator. Doing this allows the wine and fruit flavours to meld together and enhances the overall flavour of the finished sangria.

If you are looking to make your own sangria at home, looking for a recipe to fit what you want on the internet can be quite daunting and it is quite possible you will not find that you are looking for. There is no “right” sangria, which is what makes this beverage so perfect for everyone. You can put what you like in it and adjust flavours to suit your favourite flavours. For example if you are someone who loves tropical flavours a white wine based sangria with a banana schnapps and melon or pineapple might be the perfect sangria for you, or if you prefer the idea of a traditional sangria a little red wine, cognac and some citrus fruit are all you need.

With a few months until the arrival of summer now is the perfect time to begin experimenting with flavours and creating your own signature sangria. Watch as your guests are amazed at the intricate and beautiful flavours you have created for their enjoyment on a warm summer evening. And remember, whether you create your own unique flavour, modify an existing recipe or prefer the traditional sangria recipes, sangria is supposed to be a fun and social drink so relax and have fun.

Kitchen table and chairs every kitchen needs one

In today’s hectic world, it can be hard to find the time to spend with the people we love. Like, you have to take your son to baseball practice, your daughter to dance, and then grab your husband’s dry cleaning. Since your family’s life is so crazy, it is important to designate a chunk of time each day to be together and that is usually at the dinner table. So, you want that dinner time to be relaxing and to do that, it is essential to have a comfortable kitchen table and chairs set in place.

There are many kitchen table and chairs sets to choose from so you can find the perfect one for your space and your family’s needs. For example, maybe you have a larger family, a lot of young kids, and a big dining room. A great choice for you then would be a table that is larger in size, probably a long, rectangle table that has an extension feature to make it even longer and bigger if some unexpected guests should happen to stop by for dinner. Or, you might not have any kids at all in your family and have a fairly decent sized dining room. Sometime you like to entertain in it, but for the most part it is just you and your husband sitting down every night to a good meal. Then, a nice choice for you would one that has a round design that seats between four and six people or another nice option would be a smaller, square one too. With both table options, you can get comfy chairs to match. Like ones with plush, padded seats, and even armrests. Basically, there are many sizes and shapes available with the tables and other options include ones that have drop down leafs, some that are oval shaped, and many, many more.

Along with the different styles and designs of kitchen tables and chairs that you can get, they can also be crafted from a wide variety of materials. You can get ones made out of wood, like oak or pine, which would be a nice choice for if you have small children around. It is a surface that is easy to clean and maintain while being safe for kids to be around. Another material option is metal and glass. Like, you will see one that has a metal leg and base that supports a glass table top. This is a nice choice for people without kids, again, it is easy to clean and maintain, but sometimes glass breaks and that is not a good choice for small children. All of these materials are also available in a number of lovely finishes, which would really enhance the appearance of your dining space. If you want to check out all the different options that you could get, just hop on the internet for some online shopping.

So, in today’s hectic world, it is important for to set aside some family time each and every day. This usually happens during dinner, which is why you need a comfortable kitchen table and chairs set in your home. It creates a relaxing atmosphere that will have everyone excited about eating those family dinners.

Great cappuccino

If you want to get a great cake for dessert, you would go to a bakery to get it wouldn't you? That is, unless you are a great baker yourself. So if you want to have the best coffee beans, shouldn't you go to a coffee bean baker? Well, perhaps they won't be called coffee bean bakers, but these specialty shops are in the business of baking coffee bean nice and fresh. If you have ever used freshly baked coffee beans in your cappuccino maker to make cappuccino, you will know what the fuss is about. Many of these stores are real specialty locations and employ skilled roasters who roast the beans by hand, ensuring consistency and perfection throughout.

This type of roasting is truly an art, and the specialists who do it consider themselves artists. Each coffee bean is examined for size, shape, color and density. Each of these factors will affect how the bean roasts. A larger bean needs to be roasted longer, for example. When each bean is treated individually in this way, the result is a perfect blend of flavor. You cannot compare a supermarket cake to a cake from a master baker; you cannot compare beans roasted individually with mass roasted beans.

These specialist coffee roasters also specialize in deep roasting. All coffees are roasted, but an expert coffee roaster will know the exact way to roast a particular bean so that every quality of the bean is brought out to its fullest extent. This method will bring out the most of the flavor of the bean while reducing its acidity. It results in a perfectly roasted bean and a perfect coffee, one that you can feel by its unique combination of smoothness and energy on your tongue.

The main secret of this is slow roasting. Slow roasting is more time consuming and therefore more expensive, but a master coffee roaster will watch over the beans he is roasting and make sure the process is unfolding as it should. A bean will not be over roasted since he is watching so closely, and under roasted beans do not make the grade.

If you would like to learn how to test for proper roasting of beans, just crack one of your roasted coffee beans open. A properly roasted coffee bean will be darker inside than outside. If a bean has not been properly roasted, the bean will be darker on the outside than on the outside since the whole process was rushed. Do this test yourself, and you will make sure you have properly roasted beans.

A coffee cup- a gift for all occasions

Purchasing a coffee cup is a great gift idea for all occasions. You may want to consider giving someone you care about a coffee cup. It makes a great gift because it is so unique and can be customized to accommodate every occasion. The coffee cup can be purchased in a variety of shapes and sizes, in all sorts of colours and patterns, including slogans and logos that are bound to impress or get a laugh from the recipient of this excellent gift idea. Try giving a coffee cup to a loved one today and watch their face light up as they begin to enjoy a hot steaming cup of tea in their brand new specialty mug.

The coffee cup or mug could that would be bought for a birthday or anniversary could be printed with the date of their special day printed on it or the coffee cup could have Christmas designs embellished on it to make a unique Christmas gift. Giving a Christmas cup near the holidays is a great way to get people to feel that Christmas spirit year round as they drink from their gift cup. Another great way to give a coffee cup would be a christening gift as you could commemorate the occasion with a photograph of the child on the coffee cup to give to the child when they are older.

There are also cups that represent local sports teams, organizations and charities. These make great gifts and can also be used to raise money for the sports fan or social club. You can choose a colourful and creative design featuring their favourite sports team’s logo and work from there to create an awesome gift experience.

Personalized cups: These types of coffee cups can be made personal to whatever extent you want to. They can have a photograph of someone or some special place printed on it or even a love poem or a picture of your pet. Imagine the exciting humour of drinking a cup of coffee from a coffee cup with your face on it!

Great Additions

Along with your coffee cup, there is a variety of coffee-related gifts you can consider giving. Easter is a good time to give a coffee cup as you can fill the cup with an egg or chocolates. You could also add coffee beans or tea in the mug as part of a package and string it together with a special bow. You can also give matching coffee equipment or other items that work well with the cup such as coffee makers or specialty coffee tools such as a grounds press that helps crush those beans into luscious ground coffee. The possibilities are endless in terms of giving a gift to the coffee lover in your family, so try it out with a basic coffee cup and work your way up. Your friends and family will be impressed at how thoughtful you can be!

Boost your energy levels

If you woke up last Tuesday feeling tired and are still feeling run down, do not think that this is the end of the world and that your energy levels have been exhausted completely or that your age is catching up with you . Everyone has at least once felt too tired to get up, dress, drive, work, and come back to the house ten hours later after performing a variety of functions, only to continue cleaning up, filing, cooking, and execute all those routine activities we have learned to complete on a daily basis. But although you tried to sleep your tiredness away, the feeling of fatigue has prevailed and you are now in a worse state than ever before. Do not panic, but instead seek a doctor's advice and perform a medical check up. If all seem to be fine on the physical level, apart from the low energy levels you have been experiencing, then follow these tips and boost your energy to skyrocket heights.

People that experience a low energy period usually comfort themselves by resorting to sleep and adding extra hours of bed time in their attempt to find their lost energy somewhere in-between their bed sheets and covers. This is usually not the right strategy. If you have maintained a steady sleeping schedule, prior to this recent development, which suited your needs perfectly, the extra sleep you are planning to have will not help you increase your energy levels and take control of your life again. On the contrary, if you decide to sleep when your body does not need that extra sleeping time you are increasing the feelings of being tired and lethargic. Thus, instead of sleeping, try to exercise. Energy needs energy to be produced. By performing simple exercises, like walking or swimming, your body will increase its metabolism which will help you get your energy levels again up. Try introducing exercising as part of your daily routine and you will be witnessing a tremendous change in your energy levels as well as mind awareness.

Do not forget to consume fluids and particularly water. Additionally, by adding more vegetables, complex carbohydrates and proteins into your diet, you will see your energy increase and you will feel much better about yourself and be actually healthier than before.

Another tactic to boost your energy levels is to start working on something you have been postponing for a long time, but would love to see yourself doing. Hobbies, interests, volunteer work or house improvement projects can help you get rid of boredom, which can be a very good reason why you feel the way you do. You can invest time in doing things that are fun and relax your body and mind. Going camping, fishing, playing with your or the neighbor's kids, can assist you increase your recently dropped energy bucket and become involved again.

Most importantly, you have to get started. If you begin doing something that can take you away from that couch or bed, you will witness the difference in your energy levels instantly. Do not procrastinate. Act today and boost your energy levels back up where they belong.

Gluten inedible products

A common question among the newly diagnosed with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition triggered by the presence of gluten (wheat, rye, barley and oats), is whether you should be concerned about gluten found in inedible products—products that you don't eat but only use. The answer is yes. After using inedible products that contain gluten, make sure that you wash your hands well with non-gluten soap and water so that any residue found in the products will be washed away and not later find its way into your food. Inedible products include shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, cosmetics, lip balms, nail care, soaps, lotions, sunscreens, laundry and household cleaning products, pet foods, arts and crafts supplies, etc.

The rule for these inedible products is the same as for any product containing gluten. Your food must not come in contact with it! Neither should your mouth. If you touch any product containing gluten, wash your hands with soap and water before eating your own gluten-free food. The tiniest bit of residue left on your hands can cause an adverse reaction. The fact that a reaction can occur with such minimal ingestion is the reason that inedible products can also cause a reaction and should be avoided or treated properly.

Most people with celiac disease do not get a reaction from merely touching gluten. The reaction occurs when the residue on your hands makes its way to your lips or into your mouth. This can be easier than you might think. There are many ways to ingest gluten. Take hair products. Unfortunately, a majority of hair care products contain gluten. Although you don't intend to get any shampoo or conditioner into your mouth, the water that comes out of your hair with the shampoo can bounce off the shower wall or shower curtain and land on your lips. You won't even notice yourself licking it off. Cosmetics, especially lipsticks, lip balms, nail polish and artificial nails, can also be a source of gluten. While lip balms and lipsticks are the more obvious sources for ingestion, nail polish and artificial nail products can also make their way to your mouth as you touch your food. Foundations, powders, blushes and bronzers can settle on your lips during application. They can also be a source of gluten if you absent-mindedly touch your face and then forget to wash your hands before eating. Washing your hands with confirmed gluten-free soap and water before you eat and getting into the habit of not touching your lips or mouth with your hands, may help keep you from ingesting the gluten in this manner. When you feed your pet, be especially careful. Many pet foods, especially dry pet food and treats, contain gluten. Make sure that you use the same precautions as you would use in handling any other type of gluten-containing food. Unfortunately, inedible products don't have the same labeling laws and restrictions as food does. Sometimes a product will contain gluten without it appearing on the label.

Many manufacturers simply don't have the ability to fully verify all of their ingredients because one ingredient can come from several sources. You can get some good advice and information on whether or not the products you use contain gluten from on-line celiac support groups. A quick search of the message board archives can pull up information on the specific brands and items that concern you. If nobody has any experience with the products that you are concerned about, you can either switch to products trusted to be gluten-free by others in the celiac community or withdraw from using all of the unknown products.

You can then slowly reintroduce them, one by one, to determine which one, if any, is causing a reaction. It is like adding new foods to your newborn baby. Individual products should be reintroduced several days apart from each other because reactions can sometimes take a few days to manifest. The bottom line is that if you suffer from celiac disease, it is your personal lifestyle and habits which will help you decide whether or not to take the chance of using inedible products containing gluten.

Want to drink a great beer go german

One of the various things the German people are known for is beer. Beer is an essential piece of their tradition and heritage, with over thirteen-hundred varied breweries spanning the country. As far as per capita beer consumption, the Germans are only behind the Czechs and the Irish. The history of Germanic brew spans back to the beginnings of the nation when monks started to experiment with brewing around 1000 A. D. The country's leaders eventually started to legislate the manufacturing of beer as brewing started to be more and more profitable. The most well-known and significant component to effect Germanic brewing came in 1516 with the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot, or the purity standard.

To make sure that Bavarian beers were only the highest quality the Duke Wilhelm IV authorized the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot. Hops, barley, and water are the only ingredients that should go in in beer according to the law. The Reinheitsgebot is the oldest regulation placed on food in the world and has remain unchanged in nearly five-hundred years. Yeast is the only inclusion to the list of crucial ingredients in the act. Yeast found naturally in the air was what manufacturers before used. Bavarian breweries were soon considered the superior makers of beer because of the strict standard of quality following by the purity requirement. As the prominence of the Bavarian breweries spread around the nation other manufacturers started to follow the proclamation as well.

German beers have a long-standing reputation of making quality brews made only from the purest ingredients as a result of the Reinheitsgebot. As time passed and Germany began to ship out beer, some cities became famed brewing locations. By fifteen-hundred, Scandinavia, Holland, England, and as far as India principally recieved their beer from one of the more than 600 breweries in the city of Bremen. Two more famed brewing cities were Einbeck and Braunschweig. In modern-day Germany, the majority of the country's drinking people still choose fabbier, or draught beer, over bottled beer because of it's robust flavor and perfect amount of foam. In an effort to curtail more outbreaks of the bubonic plague German beer steins became popular about the time the purity standard came about and are still used today.

During the time of the bubonic plague, Germany originated a lot of laws to prevent its citizens from getting ill. Massive amounts of infected flies would land in people's food and spread the infection. This led to the German beer stein, a beverage container with a hinged lid that could be used with the thumb so a person could stop infection and still be able to drink with one hand. Beer drinking rose exponentially as citizens started to realize the disease spread in unsanitary conditions with brackish pools of water. Originally made of stoneware with pewter lids, steins grew in popularity. Steins began to be manufactured entirely of pewter for nearly 300 years as the pewter guild grew. Eventually, porcelain and silver German beer steins were introduced and are still produced today.

Nowadays there are over 1350 breweries within Germany's lands that produce over five-thousand brands of beer. The Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan, which has been producing beer since one-thousand and forty, is reported as the oldest brewery in the world. The most concentrated area in Germany for beer makers is the Franconia region of Bavaria by the city Bamberg. German breweries produce a wide variety of tastes and brands of beer with the majority of them able to be placed under ales or lagers. Some brands of beer may have an alcoholic content as high as 12%, making them more potent than a lot of wines even though most beers have an alcoholic content ranging from 4.7% to 5.4%.

A bakers guide to chocolate

What’s the difference between bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate? Can I use Dutch cocoa in all my recipes calling for cocoa? Understanding the difference in chocolate and how they are used is essential to baking. In this guide, we’ll identify the characteristics of those chocolates used in baking.

Cocoa is the dry chocolate powder derived from chocolate liquor. It comes in two types: natural and Dutch process. Dutch processed cocoa is processed with an alkaline. It is slightly darker, smoother, and more easily dissolved than natural cocoa. In many recipes, natural cocoa and Dutch cocoa are not interchangeable. Natural cocoa is slightly acidic and will therefore chemically react with baking soda to create carbon dioxide bubbles and some leavening power. Dutch cocoa is slightly alkaline, will not react with baking soda, and must rely on baking powder for leavening.

Bitter (unsweetened) baking chocolate is made from pure chocolate liquor. By specification, it must contain 50 to 58 percent cocoa butter though with inferior products, vegetable oil may he added. Depending on the producer, milk solids, vanilla, or salt may be added. I have a package in front of me that contains only chocolate and milk solids. Unsweetened chocolate has a bitter taste and relies on sweeteners in the recipe to make it palatable.

Sweet baking chocolate--bittersweet, semisweet chocolate--has sugar added. These products must contain 35 to 50% cocoa butter but may have as little as 15% chocolate liquor. Because unsweetened chocolate has twice the chocolate liquor, we prefer to use unsweetened chocolate in most of our baking.

Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate can be used interchangeably in recipes though there is a difference in flavor. Often, bittersweet is a more expensive chocolate and to many, a better, richer-flavored chocolate.

Milk chocolate is made with ten percent chocolate liquor. It contains a minimum of twelve percent milk solids. Because it has such a low percentage of chocolate liquor, rarely is it melted and added to batter or dough.

White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor but is made with cocoa butter. Historically, the FDA has not regulated the manufacture of white chocolate so you need to read labels carefully. If the product was made with vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter, it will not perform the same as a product with cocoa butter.

Chocolate chips are made with chocolate liquor with only minimal amounts of cocoa butter. Instead, they are made with vegetable oil and stabilizers to help them hold their shape. Without the cocoa butter, chocolate chips have a different taste and mouth feel. Chocolate chips will have a firmer set in puddings, pie fillings, and sauces than baking chocolate. Chocolate chips can be purchased in milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate.

How to make your own cider

People here in Chicago stepped outside this week to falling leaves, (rapidly) cooling temperatures, and that crisp scent in the air that could only mean one thing: Fall is really here. And with the brisk weather, falling leaves, and Halloween decorations comes another fall staple: apple cider.

Yes, cider! That sometimes clear, sometimes murky, dry-or-sweet-or tart libation that Americans drank by the gallon before beer came along and screwed everything up. Yet despite its seasonal charm, and despite a recent surge in popularity (no doubt thanks to my tireless efforts), for some people this drink is still hard to find. That’s why I’ve put together this helpful guide. Whether you’re like me and lament the downfall of hard cider as America’s beverage of choice or you’re thirsty for something different and our Beverages section holds no temptation, you’ll find the information you need in here.

At its core (no pun intended), cider-making is all about patience. Beer’s paltry one month aging time pales in comparison to the (at least) three month commitment required to ferment a batch of cider. In terms of physical effort, as well, it takes far less to prepare beer’s wort than it does cider’s juice (“must”). However, any home brewer familiar with the experience of sipping homemade cider and watching leaves fall can tell you it’s well worth the trouble!

Get your juice.

As cider is nothing more than aged apple juice, you’d think it’s as easy as buying a bottle of Indian Summer at the store and drilling in an airlock, but you’d be direly wrong. The preservatives in commercial apple juice ruin cider production—your average bottle of juice will rot before it ferments—and the lack of yeast means you’d need to add your own (discerning brewers can do this anyway, but it’s not strictly necessary). If you must buy commercial juice, buy a brand without preservatives or other weird chemicals; otherwise, head to your nearest apple orchard and buy some fresh apple juice.

More experienced brewers—or those looking for a challenge—can start completely from scratch by going to an orchard and obtaining fresh apples. This method is time-consuming and difficult; in addition to picking the right blend of apples, you must mash (“scrat”) and press the apples yourself to get your juice. Small volumes of apple juice can be obtained through juicers and small presses, but it’s advised you buy or you’re your own equipment for larger amounts. All this can be tough work, but it offers something premade juice does not: total control over your cider-making experience. If you do decide to start from scratch, you’ll also need to carefully balance your apples. To create a dry cider, use a balance of 2:1 tart apples to sweet. To create a sweet cider, do the opposite. And never use cooking apples.

The nice thing is, once you’ve obtained your must, the process gets simple.

Store the juice.

First of all, get a glass or wooden fermentation container to store your juice. This can be anything from an airtight jar to a full-sized barrel, depending on the volume of cider you’re looking to produce. As with all brewing tools, your container must be sterilized before use. Pour in the must, and be sure the container fills to the top. Leaving extra space for air virtually guarantees you’ll end up making apple vinegar—not that apple vinegar is a bad thing, but it’s not what we’re trying to make!

Once your must is in its fermentation container, check the gravity of the juice. This is the density of the liquid, and it’s an indicator of just how alcoholic your drink will be—the higher the number, the more potent the brew. It’s not a critical step, but if you’re going for predictable results, pick up a hydrometer (owners of a brewkit like Mr. Beer should already have one). Gravity should ideally be between 1.050 and 1.080.

Pitch the yeast (maybe).

Traditional cider is made using only the yeast present in the skins of the apples. If you’ve got fresh-pressed must or untreated juice from an orchard, you don’t need to add any yeast at all. However, if you’re using store-bought juice or want to more exactly control your fermentation, pitch in a vial of champagne yeast (available from brew supply stores). Then close your fermentation container, seal it, connect an airlock (partially filled with water), and play the waiting game.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Store your containers in a dark place between 40 and 60 degrees and proceed to twiddle your thumbs for at least a month, preferably three. You should check on the containers regularly—once the bubbling stops, the yeast has consumed all the sugar in the juice, and it’s time to bottle, or rack, the resulting cider. You’re almost done! After sampling the fruits of your labors to make sure disaster hasn’t struck, use sterile tubing to siphon your cider into bottles.

Now, before you cap the bottles, a question: do you want carbonated cider? Traditional ciders are almost always flat, but most popular modern cider has at least some carbonation. If you want sparkle in your sip, pitch in a little extra-fine sugar for the yeast to continue chowing down on. Otherwise, simply bottle the cider.

If all this looks too intimidating but you still want to try some fresh-made cider, kits can also be purchased from Mr. Beer.

Now that you’ve got hard cider of your own, consider these fun applications:

Apple Cider Corned Beef and Cabbage

Buttery Mulled Cider

Baby Back Ribs with Spiced Apple Cider Mop

Apple Cider Punch

But make sure to save a bottle or two. Some days, there’s nothing better than cracking one open, drinking deeply, and watching those leaves fall.

Let them eat anything but cake

Think of dessert at a wedding and you get a pretty iconic image: the wedding cake. Tall as the flower girl! Frosting thicker than your ring finger! And inside, endless bits of fruit; oozing berry syrup; maybe (we’ve all been to these weddings) some Jell-O.

The wedding cake has, in one form or another, been a celebratory staple for centuries. In its earliest form, in Roman times, it consisted of simple barley bread which the groom broke in half above his bride’s head; throughout the years it has evolved into the expensive, expansive, and complicated monstrosity we must devour.

When a food’s around that long, people are going to get tired of it sooner or later. Foregoing the wedding cake for something cheaper or smaller is nothing new, but now a whole industry is growing around the folks who can’t stand to see one more triple-decker fondant work of art. So whether you just got a ring and you’re hoping to do something unconventional or you’re just tired of wedding cakes in general, let’s look at some of the options available to today’s bride and groom:

Brownies.

Think brownies can’t be glamorous and celebratory? Think again. Any baker worth his (or her) confectioner’s sugar can create a wonderfully complex, tasty brownie. It’s not all Betty Crocker with vanilla ice cream; imagine thick brownies laced with caramel and macadamia nuts, dark chocolate squares dotted by molten white chips, or skillfully-sculpted brownie bowls filled with vanilla gelato and topped with shredded chocolate. Yum.

Fake cake.

Ever been to a wedding where that majestic, head-high cake was wheeled into the kitchen “to be cut and served?” Ever noticed, then, that the served cake tasted suspiciously like what you’d pick up at your local Costco? Congratulations; you’ve tasted the bait-and-switch of rental cake. The process works like so: you go to a website and pick a cake. The site sends you an elaborate mockup, covered in real fondant and containing one real slice for the bride and groom to eat. Make a big show of consuming this slice, really sell it, and then wheel that beautiful cake into the kitchen. Then just cut and serve any old cake and mail your rental back the next day. It ain’t exactly classy, but it’s certainly cost-effective.

Tiers.

What’s more elegant than a pastry? A plate of pastries. And what’s more elegant than one plate? A whole bunch of ‘em, stacked in a gorgeous tier, can make a hulking, monolithic wedding cake look like some lumbering dessert monster. Your guests will go crazy for the pretty little things, but bear in mind: classy pastries fetch classy prices, and if you’ve got a ravenous clan of a family, it’s not an efficient way to spend your money.

Not a pastry fan? Tier mousses. Or puddings. Or—well, virtually anything, as long as it looks pretty on a tier. Cupcakes are a favorite.

Fondue.

Few people in the world can resist the allure of taking something yummy and dipping it into something yummier. There lies the appeal of fondue. Imagine how impressed the guests will be when servers wheel molten chocolate to their tables—and how good you’ll feel about eating all that “healthy” fruit the next day! Of course, as the guest list expands, the logistics grow complex; how do you keep chocolate molten for thirty tables?

Ingenuity.

In the end, your choice of dessert is only limited by two things: cost and lack of imagination. Whatever confection you want on that table—be it ginger snaps, crиme brulee, or pure chocolate—can look as beautiful and memorable as your wedding requires. It just takes a little creativity!

Sources:

wedaholic. com/archives/discover_great_alternatives_to_the_traditional_wedding_cake. php

weddingvendors. com/planning/articles/wedding-cake-alternatives/

associatedcontent. com/article/26144/wedding_cake_alternatives_the_cupcake. html

buzzle. com/editorials/8-9-2005-74533.asp

Flavored coffee ..some great ideas for your next dinner party

On almost any occasion flavored coffee can be a delightful compliment to any meal. As someone who hosts many dinner parties for both business and pleasure, it has been my experience that coffee is really at its best when paired with anything sweet. This perfect pairing lets the relative bitterness of the coffee counter the sweetness of the dessert leaving the palate with a well-balanced finish.

Flavored coffee is nothing new but it has taken many years for it to gain mainstream acceptance to where it now sits in a prominent position on our supermarket shelves and niche corner coffee shops in a host of variations.

In recent years flavored coffee has come into its own and become a trendy drink which often displaces the traditional end of dinner coffee. Coffee connoisseurs are taking to these untraditional adventurous coffee types in droves with the possible combinations of texture and flavours being endless. Now the average coffee drinker is faced with an abundant choice of flavors including vanilla, hazelnut, almond, macadamia raspberry, cinnamon, chocolate, caramel, and coconut. As you will notice, the majority of the flavorings verge on the sweet side.

Macadamia coffee is my all time favorite and so easy to match up with many desserts. Another quite famous coffee-dessert pairings is delicious pumpkin pie with cinnamon flavored coffee. If you haven’t tried this combination before please do, I guarantee it will completely change your whole experience of eating dessert. Some people even have it for breakfast. The coffee enhances the pumpkin pie with the complimentary spice flavour of the cinnamon.

The exotic flavour of coconut with coffee is another way to create an entirely inspiring dessert. This is only a snippet of the countless ideas that are out there for you to try. No doubt flavored brews are not a passing fad.

With flavoured coffee increasing in popularity it isn’t hard to imagine some of the blends actually replacing traditional toppings that usually go straight to our waistlines. Wouldn’t that be nice for those of us who are counting calories? For example you will find vanilla flavored coffee is the perfect substitute for the usual fat rich frozen whipped toppings.

In this day and age if you look around there is an abundance of good quality flavored coffee blends available in flavors and styles that will suit almost every occasion and menu selection. Even vending machines at airports, hospitals and company buildings are hopping on the band wagon and supplying the consumer demand for variety.

So go on and be a bit adventurous. Try a flavored coffee today and you too will soon find out why it is such a taste sensation.

Enjoy!