- Organic Chocolate - A Trip Along the Assembly Line
There is an intangible something about watching the creation of chocolate, from beginning with raw cocoa beans to the conclusion, delivering the finished product to the consumer that sets all my senses a-tingling. The smell wafting teasingly through the air, your mouth salivating at the very thought, the texture of the cocoa beans, even the sight and sound of the beans tumbling through the machinery, moving along the assembly line. There are 16 steps in the manufacture of organic chocolate. - Potato Chips - Just One More
Potato chips are now the favorite snack of Americans, who eat more potato chips than any other population in the world. In the mid 1960s, there was a television commercial extolling the golden, crunchy goodness of potato chips. Its catch phrase was "I bet you can't eat just one!" Truer words were never spoken. It is generally thought by food historians that George Crum was the inventor of the potato chip. - Jokers Wild - April Fool's Day
April 1st, otherwise known as April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day, is a day dedicated to foolishness and hoaxes. Hopefully, the worst thing that can fall upon a hapless victim is a case of profound embarrassment. But beware! You might never know what hit you. Several speculative view points, as to the origin to this innocent celebration, exist. - The White House Easter Egg Roll
The White House Easter Egg Roll is one of the oldest and most unusual traditions in presidential history. It has gone through many transformations over the years, with new surprises with each presidential administration coming into office. - The Easter Parade - One Of America's Beloved Traditions
New York City's Easter Parade has been called, variously, a conglomeration of religious observances, reality TV, and haute couture. Of course, this is a 21st-century rationalization of 19th-century values. However, the 19th-century version must have been rather flamboyant to be remembered so vividly after more than 150 years. - Matzoh Balls - Floaters or Sinkers?
With the possible exception of the finest European dark chocolates, I think with all my heart and soul there is no finer food than the lowly Matzoh Ball. What's the big deal, you might ask? Isn't a matzoh ball just a dumpling made out of crushed matzoh crackers? On one level, I suppose the uninitiated could logically make this assumption. However, all it takes is one tiny nibble of a chicken soup-soaked matzoh ball for your senses, with gusto, to burst forth in a kaleidoscope of the warm fuzzies. - Fun Foods - Jawbreakers
There probably is not another candy anywhere that has the exceptional hardness of a jawbreaker or possibly as high of a sugar content. A jawbreaker consists of sugar, sugar, and more sugar. It takes 14 to 19 days to produce a single jawbreaker, from a single grain of sugar to the finished product. The jawbreaker rose to prominence due to the efforts of the Ferrari Pan Candy Company in Forest Park, Illinois. - Kissing The Blarney Stone Or How To Get The Gift Of Gab
What person has not wished to have eloquent powers of speech? I would say, with no doubt whatsoever, that we have known someone, somewhere, who has a silver tongue, with an articulate ability to sway opinion. Think about those individuals who are interact with our day-to-day existence,who have the talent to mold our thoughts and attitudes. - Not All Slow Cookers are Crock Pots
The initial slow cooker from Rival was called the CROCK POT; because of trademark considerations, only a slow cooker made by Rival was entitled to be called a Crock Pot. The name Crock Pot has become so familiar to the American public, many people do not realize that Crock Pot is not a generic name for all slow cookers. What you can cook in a Crock Pot is only limited by your imagination. - Ergonomically Correct Garden Tools - Your Back Will Thank You
Any gardener, beginner or professional, needs a basic set of tools. As is the case with any job or pastime requiring specialized tools or paraphernalia, to garden you must amass for yourself a set of good quality tools which will not fall apart with the slightest provocation. Plus, you owe it to yourself to obtain the most comfortable tools within your budget. Especially for people with physical limitations, but also for others who wish to retain their physical well-being, ergonomically designed garden tools are a must. - Beer Trivia #2
Beer is consumed all over the world by young and old. Countries, from ancient Babylon to modern Japan, are proud of their brews. Let us look at some additional beer trivia. - Beer Trivia #1
Beer is loved universally. Go to any baseball game, family picnic, or casual party and what do you see immediately? Happy people, talking and playing, holding cold, frosty mugs of brew. The enjoyment of beer crosses all gender and age lines, from 20 Somethings all the way to the retirement years. Here is some beer trivia to enjoy as you drink your next beer. - What a Can of Worms!
The art of worm composting is known officially as vermicomposting. The common red worm is needed to do the job.The worms can be bought at garden centers, mail order, or online. About 1,000 red worms are needed to start your compost heap. Feed and water your worms well and their castings will make fine compost for you. - Bar Tool Time
No matter what task is before an individual, you must have the proper tools to accomplish the job. If you want to tend bar, whether in the home or professionally, to make quality drinks which everyone will enjoy, you will need your box of bar tools, which will allow you to turn out delicious concoctions. Having the correct tools will ease the job of making good drinks. Let's take a look at the most essential tools. - Chocolate-Sweet Ambrosia
Chocolate, sweet chocolate, the most sublime of tastes. Whatever other edible delicacies may tease our senses of taste and smell, I cannot think of a single one that has the power to lure as does chocolate. There are several different tastes of chocolate. People have their personal preferences and will stand strong in their beliefs. Some of these forms of chocolate are as follows. - Conversation Hearts - Let's Talk
Do you remember the excitement and anticipation that came with every Valentine's Day when we were kids? It became almost a competition to see which kid in your classroom managed to garner the most of the flimsy punch-out Valentine’s cards with their even flimsier envelopes. In spite of the enthusiasm for the cards portraying the cultural icons of that particular year, the biggest attraction of the day was getting Conversation Hearts, the more the merrier. That’s what Valentine’s Day was and still is for most kids. - Fannie Merritt Farmer - Mother of the American Cookbook
When a person, whether a foodie or just someone appreciative of good, well prepared food, thinks of delicious, innovative meals, the name Fannie Merritt Farmer springs to mind. If for nothing else, she was revered by millions for her innovations in the manner in which a recipe was written. Her successes led to the public calling her the "mother of level measurements" or "the pioneer of the modern recipe." Her story is one of determination in teaching the public that one did not have to be a professional chef to live an ideal life in the kitchen and around the house. - New Year's Around the World
From food to various cultural practices, one thing is a certainty: No matter where or how we live, the one constant in all our lives is that of a new year, of a time blossoming out into spiritual and physical rebirth. We are the same yet we have refreshed ourselves. As people are different, so are their ways of greeting the new year. Reaching back centuries, a great many of these celebrations involve food to insure a good, strong harvest. Many center around family and children. - More Christmas Trivia Stuffed into My Stocking
By now, as the days approaching Christmas are fast upon us, the Holiday Trivia Elves (better known as librarians) at the Smithsonian Library in Washington, D C, are ready to bounce from wall to wall in an attempt to keep up with all the requests for information, great and trivial, about this popular holiday. - Dad and the Menorah
Holidays are for renewal. Family reunions on the Fourth of July. Family and friends gathered together for Thanksgiving. Picnics on Memorial Day. And then there are those days on the religious calendar which draw us together in faith and spirituality. For me, Hanukkah was the holiday that that gave validity to the concept of family. - Eggnog, Wassail, Hot Wine -- Oh My!
The genial host grandly sets down a huge bowl of Christmas cheer on the table near the fire. What is this? If it is eggnog, then we are celebrating the holiday party-filled days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. When thinking about eggnog on a cold winter night, we should always remember the joys of wassail and hot mulled wine, as well as their companion, hot hard cider. Reaching back in history to about 1775, eggnog enjoyed popularity on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, from England to America. - Turkey Time Thanksgiving Trivia
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it is time once again to start preparing for the fall season. Besides dreaming of succulent turkey and the trimmings, this means readying holiday dinnerware, organizing cookware, polishing silver, and searching for new and exciting recipes and great holiday trivia! Liven up your Thanksgiving holiday with Turkey Trivia #1 - Turkey Facts, and Turkey Trivia #2 - Cranberry Facts. Did you know - Oven Mitts - Space-Age Materials for Safer Cooking
There are many different types of oven mitts available today. Which type you choose depends on what features you are searching for in a mitt. Probably the most fascinating and unusual oven mitts are made of the versatile space-age Silicone, and can withstand very high temperatures anywhere from 280º F ( 138º C) to over 600º F (316ºC). Some oven mitts are made of Neoprene, the same material used to create wetsuits. Other types include the type of fabric oven mitts your mother used. - Fond of Fondue
It seemed as if a fondue pot was considered de rigueur in gift giving back in the 1970s and then these versatile pots found themselves tucked away in some far corner of your kitchen, never to be seen again. Three decades later, fondue has returned to its rightful position in things culinary. - Please Pass the Candy Corn
What brings back fond childhood holiday memories for almost everybody? The overpoweringly sweet taste of those golden pieces of Halloween delight. Yes, candy corn, the Nirvana of gustatory bliss. Believe it or not, candy corn has been around since the 1880s. Back at the turn of the 20th century, producing candy involved backbreaking labor. Candy corn production is very similar in the present, except that it is virtually a totally mechanical process. - How the Jack-O-Lantern Came to Be
Like many legends about Halloween, the name Jack O’Lantern finds its origins in old Irish folk tales. Read about the history of the Jack-O-Lantern, along with hints for carving your own Jack-O-Lantern, and more about Halloween superstitions. - Choosing Fresh Fruit or Who Put the Worm in My Apple
It is fairly easy to judge the quality of most fresh fruits by just looking at their external appearance. With the following list of many of the most frequently eaten raw fruits, you will be ready and able to properly choose fresh fruit to titillate your tongue. - Pressure Cookers, Their The Care and Feeding, or Is That My Dinner Hanging From the Ceiling
No more than a generation or two ago, cooking dinner “under pressure” had turned into hand-to-cooker combat with mops, rags, and sponges against dripping walls and puddles. Basically, the modern pressure cooker is a kitchen pot with an elaborate lid making a tight, complete seal so that the explosions of yore are not even a condition that might present itself to an absentminded chef. - Tea through the Ages
A tea plant is actually an evergreen tree. The domesticated plant is pruned to bush size and maintained at a height of five feet. Teapots were not immediately used after the introduction of tea leaves. Beginning around 800 CE, tea leaves were hand-rolled, dehydrated, ground into a powder, mixed with salt and shaped into cakes which would be dropped into bowls of hot water to create a thick mixture. The early days of the Ming Dynasty brought popularity to the leaf infusion as we now know it. - Types of Coffee Grinders
One of the things a coffee drinker can do to insure a great tasting coffee is to grind their own fresh beans. The are two basic types of coffee grinders: those which have burrs and those which have blades. Which type of grinder you buy should depend upon the grinder’s intended use. - Types of Coffee Makers
There are many methods of coffee preparation. Each method has its own unique traits suited to a variety of tastes and lifestyles. Here are some of the more popular and interesting coffee preparation methods, and the types of machines or apparatus for each. - Pots and Pans - Bring Them On
Remember the joy you felt as a toddler when Mom let you play with those shiny, and noisy, pots and pans? You have grown up to covet the pots and pans you see online. Your time has come. Bring them on! You will need to carefully plan your budget. Sometimes it is better to buy fewer high-quality pieces rather than grabbing every piece of cookware in sight on the bargain table. What will you need to start? Everyone, from novice to master chef, needs the basics: Roasters, Saucepans, and Skillets.
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