Tag: <span>Freezing food</span>

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If you are in the mood to make ice cream with your ice cream maker, these three easy strawberry ice cream recipes can make a nice summer treat. Each are different, so you have options depending on the ingredients you have at home.

Recipe #1 – NON-DAIRY STRAWBERRY

2 teaspoons kosher gelatin

1/4 cup apple-strawberry juice

2/3 cup all-fruit strawberry jam

3 cups vanilla soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over apple juice. Let sit, stirring occasionally, until gelatin is dissolved and softened, about 10 minutes.

2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together jam and 2 cups soy milk. Cook until just hot, stirring frequently; remove from heat. Add softened gelatin to hot milk mixture, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in remaining soy milk and vanilla; let cool, cover, and refrigerate until very well-chilled.

3. Spoon chilled mixture into the canister of an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Makes about 1 quart.

Recipe #2 – OLD-FASHIONED STRAWBERRY

1 pt Strawberries

1 c Sugar

1 Egg

1 c Half and half

1 t Vanilla

3 c Heavy cream

Hull the berries and cut the larger ones in half. Place the berries in a double boiler and add 1/2 cup sugar. Heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is very soft. Puree the fruit in a blender. Transfer puree to a bowl and cool in the refrigerator.

Put the egg, half and half, remaining sugar and vanilla extract in the blender and blend on medium speed till mixture is smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Slowly add the cream and continue blending on low speed for 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to your ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

When the ice cream is about half frozen, add the strawberry puree to the mixture. Continue freezing. Makes slightly more than 1 quart.

Recipe #3 – STRAWBERRY SORBET

You might make extra purée and use it as a sauce under the sorbet. A fresh mint spring makes a pretty garnish.

2 pints strawberries, washed and hulled

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Purée the strawberries in a food processor. You should have about 3 cups. Stir in 1 cup of the simple syrup and the lemon juice. Taste and add remaining syrup if necessary. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the machine and freeze.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

Enjoy!

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Source by Kara Kelso

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Obviously you may can your tomatoes, but that means dragging out pans, jars and lids for maybe one or two jars worth of tomatoes. Consider making stews and spaghetti with all your tomatoes. You can freeze and label smaller portions of your stew and spaghetti and have it last through the winter. It makes for a great “emergency” meal, when you don’t feel like cooking or you get home late and everyone is hungry.

Even though you may lose some of the nutrients by skinning them, skinned, garden fresh tomatoes are still better than buying them in a can. Just put several in a metal sieve, dunk them in boiling water for thirty seconds and then rinse them in cold water. They should peel easily.

Cut them up and place them in a crock-pot for stew. I like to add a half-pound each of hot Italian sausage and either lean pork or chicken to the pot, along with a couple cans of Great Northern beans. If you’re in a hurry, brown and cut up the sausage and other meats before adding to the pot. If using canned beans, just read the label to make sure the contents don’t have a lot of sugar, fructose or other stuff.

Add a whole cut up red onion if you like. Stir-fry the onion in a little olive oil to speed up the cooking. What really makes this a special stew is the addition of 3-4 sliced parsnips. Their nutty flavor complements the white beans and lean white meat. Use Italian spices, some fennel and a little molasses for a smoky flavor. Let simmer on low or high, depending upon how quickly you want results. You can stick the crock-pot in the refrigerator and let the flavors soak into the meats and then cook it on low the next day. Let it cool and then place it in containers for freezing. Adjust the recipe for your own needs. Beans have protein and are a great filler, so you can easily add another can or two.

Spaghetti sauce is equally as good, although the sauce can taste too sweet with fresh garden tomatoes. The Italian sausage helps here also or you may sprinkle them with a bit of cayenne pepper if you dare. Once again you can stir-fry your ground beef, add sliced tomatoes, a small can of tomato paste and the Italian spices. Add extra oregano. The sauce can seem thick, so you can easily expand it by adding additional tomato or spaghetti sauce. That works very well when you underestimate what you might need or you find you have some neighbor kids staying over. It also helps if you think the sauce might be too spicy for the younger crowd.

Freezing can strengthen the cayenne flavor and diminish the Italian herbs. To combat the acidic nature of tomatoes and cayenne, add just a pinch or two of sugar. Perk up the Italian spices by adding more to your defrosted batch of sauce or stew.

If you hate to waste food, using up the garden tomatoes in a stew or with spaghetti sauce is a great way to put those tomatoes to immediate use and make you feel better. You might even get an extra hug at bedtime, too.

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Source by Linda Murdock

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Hi, there. I’m so glad you came back! Today’s post promises to be a yummy one! It’s a bit involved but so worth the effort. There is nothing quite like a batch of homemade ice cream, regardless of the country of its origin. So, here goes:

Typically, the ice cream is placed in a mold that resembles a “bomb”…the cherry cream being in the center, the pistachio next and the chocolate layer on top. If you don’t have a mold, you can use a large loaf pan or large Tupperware or plastic container to freeze the ice cream as you assemble it. The loaf configuration is referred to as terrine. You’ll also need an ice cream freezer to freeze the ice cream as you make it.

Spumoni Ice Cream – Terrine style

• 3 cups each of chocolate ice cream, pistachio ice cream and Spumoni cherry ice cream – all three recipes will follow.
• Get a large loaf pan or Tupperware or plastic container and line it with plastic wrap, being sure to overlap it in the pan and allow for some overhang around all four sides.
• Spread the 3 cups of chocolate ice cream onto the bottom of the pan / container.
• Cover this with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 30 minutes or until slightly hardened (you may wish to freeze it longer to allow the layers to be more solid when adding the additional ones on top).
• After appropriate freezing time, remove the top plastic wrap and repeat the above steps with the pistachio and the cherry ice creams, freezing between each layer.
• To serve, run a sharp knife under hot water and wipe dry. Slice down through the layers to get a multi-colored / flavored slab of Spumoni.

Chocolate Ice Cream

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons Dutch-process Cocoa powder
• 5 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 cup whole milk
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder.
• Whisk this to completely mix the cocoa powder.
• After bringing the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the mixture at a very low boil for 30 seconds while you whisk continually.
• Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate, mixing until smooth.
• Add the remaining 1 cup of cream, stirring to blend.
• Place the mixture into a large bowl and place a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.
• Be sure to scrape the saucepan as thoroughly as you can.
• Using the same saucepan, add the milk, sugar and salt and heat to just warm.
• Using a separate mixing bowl of medium size, whisk the egg yolks and slowly add the warmed milk mixture to it stirring continuously with the wire whisk.
• Return the now warmed egg yolk mixture to the saucepan, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as you can.
• Heat the mixture over medium heat with a heat-proof spatula or spoon until the mixture coats stirring utensil, or until an instant-read thermometer shows 170 degrees. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan as you stir it.
• Now, add this mixture into the chocolate mixture by pouring it through the mesh strainer you placed over the first bowl in the earlier step. You’ll need to stir it until it is smooth.
• When this mixture is smooth, you can then add the vanilla.
• Prepare an ice bath by running cold water in your sink or a larger container than the bowl you’re now using and then place ice cubes in it. Place the bowl into the ice bath and stir until it is cooled as it will be pretty hot at this point.
• Once the chocolate mixture is cooled, the next step is to chill thoroughly it in the refrigerator.
• Once thoroughly chilled, it can be frozen in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer instructions.
• If you find that your chocolate mixture is too thick to pour into the ice cream freezer machine, just whip it vigorously until it thins out.
• Once the ice cream is churned, stir in the chopped hazelnuts with a rubber spatula.

Pistachio Ice Cream This recipe doesn’t make a really green colored pistachio ice cream because it uses all natural ingredients. If you want the brighter green color, feel free to add a couple of drops of green food coloring to the mix.

• 1 1/3 cups shelled pistachio nuts
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• Pinch of salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ¾ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• Using your food processor, process the 1 1/3 cups of pistachios until finely ground, but not to a paste. Set this aside.
• Heat the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt in a medium saucepan, stir constantly to dissolve the sugar.
• Add in the ground nuts and stir to blend.
• Cover the saucepan, remove from the heat, and let the mixture steep for at least 30 minutes.
• Strain the warm nut mixture — press on the nuts to extract as much liquid as possible, and then discard the solids.
• Place the milk and cream mixture back into the saucepan.
• Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
• Whisk the egg yolks together in a separate medium sized bowl.
• Slowly pour the heated mixture into the egg yolks, continuously whisking. Be sure to scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
• Using a heatproof spatula or spoon, stir the mixture continuously over medium heat, be sure to scrape the bottom as you stir. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula or spoon.
• Add the custard through the strainer and mix it into the cream with your spatula or whisk.
• Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix until combined.
• Refrigerate until cold.
• Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.
• Once the churning is completed, fold in the ¾ cup pistachios with a rubber spatula.

Spumoni Cherry Ice Cream

• 1½ cups pitted ripe sweet cherries (from about 3/4 lb cherries)
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 1¾ cups heavy cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons Amaretto, cherry liqueur, or rum (optional)
• ¼ cup chopped maraschino cherries, patted completely dry
• ¼ cup pineapple chunks, coarsely chopped and patted completely dry
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped almonds
• Into a medium saucepan, place the cherries, milk, 1 cup of the cream, sugar, and salt.
• On medium heat, cook the mixture until it is steamy.
• Reduce the heat to warm and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring with a rubber spatula and scraping the bottom of the pan.
• Cover the saucepan and let the mixture steep for at least 30 minutes.
• Add the mixture into a blender or food processor, or an immersion blender, and carefully purée. Be sure to be careful because you are dealing with a hot liquid. Be sure you hold the cap down securely on the top of the blender while puréeing.
• Strain mixture into a large bowl.
• Mix in the remaining 3/4 cup of heavy cream.
• Chill this mixture for several hours in the refrigerator. It needs to be completely cold.
• Put the chopped maraschino cherries and pineapple chunks on a plate on a single layer and freeze until the ice cream is churned.
• Before placing the mixture into your ice cream maker, you’ll need to stir in the lemon juice and the Amaretto or other liqueur if you are using these. Note… that you can skip the alcohol if you want, but the addition of it will help keep the ice cream from getting too icy, and the amaretto can add a nice flavor boost to the ice cream.
• Churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Once the churning is complete, add in the cherries, pineapple and almonds with a rubber spatula.

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Source by Vicki Fassler

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Ice cream makers are great additions in your home, especially if you love the soft cold treats. There are so many models to choose from and by looking at the different features you should be able to select the most suitable for your needs. After investing in a reliable equipment for your ice cream making efforts, you will need to use the properly and also accord it the care and maintenance it deserves so keep getting the best from it.

With proper usage you will enjoy smoother finished textures instead of soupy ice creams. Regular washing and proper care on the other hand ensures food safety, your ice cream maker needs proper cleaning and sanitization and it helps to know how to go about it.

Tip 1 – Read the directions of use that come with your machine. Even if you have used one before, it is still very important that you go through the manual because models can be s little different. Using manufacturer guidelines keeps your machine in top shape and ensures you enjoy perfect desserts every time.

Tip 2 – Chill your ingredients before you churn. Pouring warm ice cream base into the machine only means that you have to wait longer for cooling and churning to take effect and this can affect finished product quality depending on the type of machine you have. To enjoy smoothest textures it helps to first refrigerate liquid before freezing.

Tip 3 – Freeze your canister ahead of time. Some machines require that you freeze bowl or the canister before the process. Ensure therefore, that you give it a full day in the freezer so by the time you make your next batch it is ready.

Tip 4 – Let your mix-ins come last. If you love your ice cream with nuts or chocolate chips or other kinds of mix-ins, do not add too early. It is best that you add them when your ice cream is about done. Remember the machines are not designed for the harder ingredients so only add a few seconds before you stop the process.

Tip 5 – Never overfill the machine. Air is needed during the churning process to give it that light, soft texture instead of ending up with a solid block. Ensure therefore, that you only fill canister halfway.

Tip 6 – To clean the machine, start by emptying and wipe any hardened ice cream off the scraping blades. You should then flush water until you can clear water coming out.

Tip 7 – Take the machine apart following the manual so you know which parts are detachable for washing. You can then use warm soapy water to clean freezing chamber. If it does not have wash cycle setting, you can use a kitchen scrub brush to clean inner moving parts. You can add bleach to kill bacteria, but then you must soak all parts for at least 30 minutes, then rinse with clean water and dry on clean towels.

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Source by Satvik Mittal

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There are some things in life I just can’t do without. These 10 organizing tools are a must in my house and really help to keep us organized.

Notebook and pen

I have notebooks all over the house, one next to my bed, one on the entrance hall table, one in my handbag, one in the car, etc. It is easier to jot some notes down immediately without losing the thought than to have to try to remember it.

Flip files

Flip files are so useful – in the kitchen alone, I use two – one for my favourite recipes and one for my household organising file. You can buy your own household organising file at my website. We also use a flip file as our travel file and put all our printables from the internet of tours we want to take, checklists, etc.

Masking tape

I got this excellent tip from Confessions of an Organized Homemaker. I use masking tape for labels everywhere. The tape is really easy to write on with both a pen and a marker. Use in the kitchen to label your leftovers in the fridge and also on your storage containers in the cupboards.

Permanent marker

Use a permanent marker to label virtually everything. This is one of the main tricks to keep your home organised. It is all good and well to have everything nicely sorted but if you can’t remember what’s in each container without having to look inside then it’s a bit useless, isn’t it? My house has a permanent marker in the kitchen, one in my handbag and a couple in the study.

Post-it notes

I use post-it notes for labels on storage boxes. If you use the proper branded ones, they stick on everything and last forever. Don’t waste your time with the cheap stuff. My fridge is labeled with post-its – the same ones have been in there for about 6 months now and are as good as new. There is no sign of non-stickiness. Use in the fridge, on shelves, shoe boxes, trays, magazine holders, etc.

Clear square or rectangular plastic storage containers

Once you start using clear containers, you will never go back to the opaque stuff. You’ll always know what’s in there and find your food doesn’t waste as often. You can pack more stuff into a space if you use square or rectangular containers than if you use round ones. Use them in the kitchen for food and in the study for paper clips, staples, etc.

Ziploc bags

Use Ziploc bags for sandwiches, freezing food, holding vegetables, for toiletries when travelling, for all your camera or MP3 player attachments, if you’re going on a day trip and need to take some sunblock and mosquito repellent, etc.

Prestik

I use Prestik to stick up shopping and menu lists in the kitchen, a recipe on the cupboard when I’m baking (so it doesn’t get dirty), Christmas cards on the side of the wall unit (so they don’t take up space on a shelf) and to stick up a pen and my goals list in my wardrobe.

Elastic bands

Use to close bags of chips, sweets or vegetables or to keep your gift wrap in a neat roll. They are easier to use on freezer bags than those clips you get in the packets.

Perpetual calendar

Set it up once with all the birthdays, anniversaries and special events, and you use the same one, year in and year out. Diarise to check it around the 27th of every month for upcoming birthdays and you are all prepared! I’ll tell you a secret – I even set up all my birthday emails beforehand and then postpone them to only deliver on the person’s birthday.

Happy organising!

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Source by Marcia Francois

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When we left off last, we were safe and sound in Tacoma and the Christmas holidays were fast approaching. I promised you that we would let you know how the RV handles freezing weather.

Lessons in Cold Weather RVing:

It was December, but temps below freezing in Tacoma are rare. So, when the temperature the first night there got down into the 20s (-9 C) we were totally caught off guard.

Here’s what happened:

• The hose connecting us to water froze
• The plastic pipe leading to the fresh water tank froze
• The gas/propane furnace ran most of the night

I need to tell you, our Rexhall Aerbus is a good quality motorhome and all the pipes are enclosed and access is through a sealed exterior bin. We thought that would be enough if the temps got down to freezing or just below. Truth is, had is only been a couple of degrees below freezing, we probably would have been OK. The problem was that it got more than just a little below freezing!

Lesson #1 – How to Keep Pipes From Freezing

If your water connections or any of your water lines are exposed to the outside, even temperatures just below freezing can freeze and crack your lines. Even if your lines and fill points are enclosed in bins or compartments, if those areas are not heavily insulated and heated, just having the sewer line or water hose coming up through an access hole can bring in the freezing temps and problems… as we found out first hand.

Our simple solution was to wrap a heat tape with a built in temperature sensor (about $20.00 US) around the exposed pipes and valves. We got it from the local hardware store. It’s the kind meant for outside or crawl space water lines. It looks like an electrical extension cord that has no plug at the end.

When we are in an area that has possible freezing temps, we just plug the heat tape into our full hookup power box via an extra extension cord (heavy duty) and the sensor takes care of turning on when needed.

That’s all we needed to keep the bin and connections from freezing. We don’t connect the water hose in freezing temperatures, we just fill the fresh water tank as needed. If you were staying in one place for the winter, you could use another heat tape and some insulation wrapped around it on the hose to keep your hose from freezing too.

For boondocking or dry camping, you could also stuff the compartment full of insulation or heavily insulate your exterior water lines to keep them from freezing in all but the coldest of temps.

Lesson #2 – Heat Guns and Plastic Water Lines Don’t Mix

My dad had a heat gun he used for heat shrink on wires and windows. We decided to use that to heat up the pipes and get the water pump working again.

BIG MISTAKE!

Well, using the heat gun was a good idea, we just didn’t know how warm and how fast it could work. Instead of just slowly warming the whole compartment, I made the mistake of blowing directly on the plastic water lines.

In less than two minutes, I had heated up the plastic water line so well that it became soft and with the water line pressurized from the pump… It formed a bubble just like bubble gum and popped.

I was lucky, my dad had just been remodeling his kitchen and had just the right size plastic water line on hand. So, all I had to do was finish thawing things out, slowly, and then fix the popped water line. That was just two fittings, about 8 inches of new plastic water line, the heat gun to warm the ends and it all screwed back together in less than 30 minutes. Like I said, I was lucky to be where I had the tools and supplies to fix it myself.

It easily could have been a couple hundred dollars of repairs if I had to have a repair shop do it.

In Conclusion: Motorhomes, 5th Wheels and other RVs can handle below freezing temperatures. You just need to use a little common sense and have a back up plan for when things don’t work out.

• Don’t let the colder weather stop you from enjoying your RV year round.
• Do test it’s cold weather abilities close to home or family, just in case.
• Keep extra incandescent lights & insulation handy for backup & repairs
• Always thaw frozen pipes and tanks slowly – To fast and thinks can break

As we travel year round, we’ll keep you up to date on what we learn (the hard way) and how you can avoid the same mistakes (the easy way).

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Source by Wes Waddell

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Thinking about starting a vegan diet but not sure where to begin? A Vegan-based diet means that you don’t eat animal products – meat, dairy, fish and even eggs.

For many people however, the thought of cutting out all dairy and meat can definitely be overwhelming – especially if you like to eat out and you’re not a genius in the kitchen.

One option that works for many people is to start gradually. The following 8 tips will make the transition easier and smoother – so you’re more likely to stick with the change:

1. Start with Cutting out Red Meat

The first step needs to be fairly easy. And for many people that starts with cutting red meat (we’re not as attached to it as we are to our cheese it seems).

Start by cutting out all pork, beef, lamb, and other red meat from your diet. Still allow yourself white meat like fish, chicken, and seafood.

You can also start trying meat-free versions of bacon and other meats that you can find in your local grocery or health food store, just to see which versions you like. When you begin feeling comfortable from not eating red meat, you can move to the next stage.

2. Chop the Chicken

Cut out the chicken – but still include seafood and fish like tuna, salmon, shrimp etc.

You can also start to try preparing some vegan meal recipes (you can find a lot online – and many times they are also reviewed by other vegans – so you can find the ones that REALLY taste good).

3. Cut out Seafood and Fish

By now, you’re pretty much at the vegetarian stage – congratulations! Now it’s time to cut the seafood and fish – but keep testing out other meat-alternatives like soy-based patties etc.

Your protein will also be coming from legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and black beans. There’s also whole grains, vegetarian mince, vegetarian patties, some other meat-free products like the vegan bacon.

4. Bid Farewell to Cheese

OK, this might be the more painful part for many of us. We love our cheese. But there are cheese alternatives like rice cheese and soy cheese. You’ll have to experiment here to find which kind of cheese works for you.

For example, I can’t stand soy cheese – but there’s a rice-based cheese I can buy at my grocery store that is fantastic – it even melts like real cheese!

5. Eliminate Eggs

This may also be a bit challenging – mainly because eggs are used in a lot of baked products and recipes.

But there are lots of egg-alternatives you can use in baking your goodies. Some people use gelatin-water mixes (which are OK for recipes using less than 3 eggs).

Other options include apple sauce and egg-replacement powders that you can often find at many specialty health food stores.

6. Cut out Cream and Butter

Again, this can be challenging since cream is often used in coffee – and butter is often used in recipes for baked goods.

But the good news is that there are great vegan alternatives. Coconut oil is an excellent replacement for butter in recipes (it’s basically a 1:1 replacement ratio). You can also use olive oil if you’re cooking dinner meals like stir-fry dishes.

And for cream there are some excellent non-dairy creamer-alternatives like soy milk, coconut milk (very thick and creamy) or even coconut butter.

Look around your grocery store as there are specially formulated non-dairy creamer options in the health food section. (Sometimes regular coconut milk or almond milk will separate in your coffee – these creamers won’t separate in your coffee).

7. Letting Go of Milk

This may seem hard – but you have a LOT of options here so it’s really not that bad (I actually found cheese to be much harder!).

Vegan alternatives to milk include rice milk, soy milk, coconut milk and nut milks like almond or cashew milk.

You can also use these milks to bake or cook with, eat them with your cereal, or you can simply drink them from a glass.

8. Finding The Best Vegan Recipes – and Restaurants

Good news – you are now completely vegan. But you still have to live your life without being chanined to your kitchen.

And you need to maintain a social life – which means eating out!

Now it’s time to start finding more recipes that you love (so you can make them up to have on hand throughout the week). I usually pick one day like a Sunday and make all of my food for the week, freezing the meals that will be used towards the end of the week.

Also, start investigating what you can have at restaurants. Depending on your area, you may actually find a vegan restaurant or cafe.

Not sure what you can eat at a certain restaurant? Most places have their menus online so you can look up what’s on the menu. You can also call ahead and ask what they might have that you could eat. Many restaurants are more than accommodating if you give them a heads up (they want your business after all).

So those are 8 steps on how to start a vegan diet without losing your mind. Some people like to go gradually.

However if you prefer to jump in with both feet, another option is to use a vegan meal delivery service for a month or two. This will assure that you’ll eat delicious food (so the transition won’t be so hard) and you can slowly learn the lifestyle at your own pace.

Going vegan can be challenging – but there are ways you can make it a lot easier. Hopefully these tips have helped. Before long you’ll be feeling healthier and stronger! Good luck and here’s to your health!

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Source by Karen Johnston

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As you know, timing is everything when preparing a meal. The same holds true for spicing, that is, when you spice has an effect on the intensity of the flavor. Depending on the spice, cooking can increase potency, as you may have discovered when adding cayenne to your simmering spaghetti sauce. Or the flavor may not be as strong as you thought it would be. This is particularly apparent when adding herbs that are cooked over a long period of time, whether in a sauce or slow cooking in a crock pot.

Flavorings can be tricky when they come into contact with heat. Heat both enhances and destroys flavors, because heat allows essential oils to escape. The beauty of a crock pot is that slow cooking allows for the best results when using spices in a meal. The covered pot keeps moisture and steaming flavors and oils from escaping, and it allows the spices to permeate the foods in the pot. Using a microwave, on the other hand, may not allow for flavor release, especially in some herbs.

Common sense tells us that the baking spices, such as allspice, anise, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg and mint can be added at the beginning of baking. All hold up for both short term and long term baking periods, whether for a batch of cookies or a sheet cake. They also work well in sauces that need to simmer, although nutmeg is often shaken over an item after it has been served. Cinnamon, as well as rosemary, will wreak havoc for those using yeast recipes and both are considered yeast inhibitors. Caraway seed has a tendency to turn bitter with prolonged cooking and turmeric can be bitter if burned.

Most herbs tend to be a little more delicate when it comes to cooking. Their flavors seem to cook out of a sauce much more quickly. Herbs include basil, chervil, chives, cilantro, coriander, dill (the seeds can handle cooking longer than the leaves), lemon grass, parsley (flat leaf or Italian is better for cooking), sage, tarragon and marjoram. In fact, marjoram is often sprinkled over a soup after serving and isn’t cooked at all.

The exception to these herbs is the hardy bay leaf, which holds up very well in a crock pot or stew. Oregano can be added at the beginning of cooking (if cooking less than an hour) and so can thyme. Often sustainability of an herb’s flavor has as much to do with the temperature at which it is being cooked, as with the length of cooking.

Onions and their relatives can handle prolonged simmering at low temperatures, but are better added toward the end of cooking. Leeks are the exception. Garlic may become bitter if overcooked. The milder shallot can hold up well, but will become bitter if browned.

Peppercorns and hot peppers are best added at the end, as they become more potent as they cook. This includes chili powder and Szechuan peppers. Here paprika is the exception and it can be added at the beginning of cooking. Mustard is often added at the end of cooking and is best if not brought to a boil.

Sometimes not cooking has an effect on flavor. Many of the herbs mentioned above are used in salads. Cold, uncooked foods such as potato salad or cucumbers can absorb flavor, so you can be more generous with your seasonings and add them early in the preparation. Freezing foods can destroy flavors outright, so you may have to re-spice after reheating.

Once again much of the cooking process depends on how long and how hot you cook your food. It also has a lot to do with how you like your food to taste. My Midwestern relatives can’t handle the hot peppers like we Southwesterners can, and I can’t use cayenne in their presence. As you can see, spicing is not objective, nor is it an exact science. But that shouldn’t prevent you from playing the mad scientist and delving into hands-on experimentation.

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Source by Linda Murdock

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Environmental health is the science of looking for external potential hazards that can affect a person’s health and behavior. These external factors may be chemical, biological and physical. Environmental health care is the area which is gaining interest from around world. Environmental health issues arise mainly because of air quality, different radiation resulting from different nuclear reaction taking place for energy purposes. We can say that Environmental health is the study of how different environmental factors affect human health, and what the techniques are used to cope.

Following are some Critical Environmental Issues that need to be addressed and taken seriously for ourselves and for our country.

One of the major areas addressed by environmental health is the disease control. A lot of diseases are caused by polluted environment. The environment gets polluted by many ways. One is industrialization that increases air pollution. Air quality is getting worse day by day. Disease such as diarrhea, influenza, food poisoning, ringworm etc. is caused due to environment. Children are especially affected and are most likely to receive harm. This would include children of age 5-10 that are most likely in danger. Our responsibility is to make sure that the wastes from our homes does not pollute the overall environment.

Food management is another area of concern for environmental health. Our concern must be from how seed is harvested and what kind of fertilizer and pesticides are used for its nurturing. Food we take must be free from all types of germs and other nontoxic materials. Nano toxicology is the science of studying to what extent these properties poses threat to human beings. Food preservation can be a good idea in this case. In this process food is preserved from spoiling, through different methods such as canning, freezing, pasteurization, irradiation. Using organic methods of raising food and providing this food as soon as harvested to people is greatly valued.

Water quality is needed to make sure clean water is available to the community and is another environmental issue, because water is getting polluted day by day through various means. Among such processes are hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is the process of drilling and injecting fluid mainly water for fracturing shale rocks to release natural gas. Water is very much important for life and water must be handled perfectly, otherwise it causes a lot of diseases. Water used for industrial purposes gets poisonous after release and is very harmful for skin when not properly managed and can poison the main stream water as well. So there must be proper sanitation of water.

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Source by E. Kenney

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The Butterkase Cheese is one of the many kinds of cheese that can be used in many dishes. It originated in Germany and made throughout Austria. The name Butterkase literally means butter cheese, because it has butter like texture. It is a very mild and creamy cheese. There are endless appetizer recipes that incorporate this cheese

You can perfectly pair it with sliced ham for sandwiches. You can top this on your hamburgers or melt it over with your vegetables. Buying a high-quality cheese will enhance any recipe by adding great depth of flavor. The Butterkase Cheese dip from Germany is always a favorite. This cheese can be turned into an easy appetizer by adding a garnish or spread.

The Healthy Alternative

We know that butter is high in total fat, including saturates. Also, we know that the over consumption of saturated fat may lead to raised cholesterol in the blood and cardiovascular disease. A lot of us are concerned about this, especially to most of us who follow a strict healthy lifestyle. If you use butter frequently in most of your dishes, it is advised to start using Butterkase as your new healthy alternative to butter.

A Unique Cheese

Butterkase Cheese also goes well with sausages or cured meats. You can try it with fruits like grapes, melon and plums. There has been a misconception that all cheese is alike and can be handled or treated as such. The truth is every cheese is unique and how you store it greatly affects the flavor and quality of the cheese.

Proper Handling

For proper handling of the Butterkase Cheese, keep it refrigerated but for better taste make sure not freeze. It should be stored at 35 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. If the cheese you have purchased is in a plastic container, cover it tightly in storage. You can wrap it in foil or parchment paper then stored in a tight plastic container to keep its freshness.

Butterkase Cheese is not just an ordinary table cheese. Being the most delectable table cheese of all times, you can use this cheese with practically any dish. If you wish to add more creaminess to your dish, try using it instead of the usual cream or butter. Hurry and get this cheese in your local cheese stores now. You may also purchase it online. Start making a difference by using the Butterkase Cheese now!

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Source by Roy R Sencio