Planning the Perfect Halloween Party

Jack-o-latern

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Halloween starts the beginning of the exciting holiday season! Fortunately, this fun holiday isn’t just for kids – it can be just as much fun for adults. If you are planning a Halloween party, whether it’s for kids or your friends, consider these fantastic ideas for planning the perfectly scary Halloween party.

  1. Start with a theme. Will your party be scary? Traditional? Costume? You have to start with a theme when planning a party. First decide what type of party you want to throw and how you want your guests to feel while they are there.
  1. Think food. No party is a good party without excellent food. You need delicious food that will leave your guests wanting more. Don’t just throw out some candy and punch. Bake some “spider” cookies, “ghost” cupcakes, or even a “monster” cake. Be sure to search the Internet for some new and delicious Halloween dessert recipes.
  2. Make a guest list. Now you need to make a list of those you want to invite to your party. Think about the crowd and the kinds of people who will best get along with each other. Don’t shy away from mixing groups of friends or inviting completely new people. You could make some great new friends.
  3. Don’t forget the music. Music has a way of adding incredible atmosphere to a party. For your Halloween party, be sure to find some spooky – yet fun – music to play in the background. Who knows, your guests may even start dancing to “Thriller” or “Monster Mash.”

Are you ready to plan an awesome Halloween party?

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Healthy Family Meals on a Budget

Lamb shish kebab, Pleasanton, California, 2008...

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As chaotic as life is for the average person in this fast-paced, demanding society, it is difficult to plan ahead. Unfortunately, this concept is particularly true when it comes to family meals. To remedy this issue, many people turn to fast food and eating out to accommodate the lack of time. However, eating out consistently costs a great deal of money, and can be unhealthy over the long run. Fortunately, it is possible to make healthy family meals on a budget, regardless of time restraints. Doing so will put healthier food in your family’s bellies and save money to boot. Below are a couple of simple elements for making healthy family meals on a budget.

Find Recipes That Work and Stick With Them

There are many resources to find healthy family recipes that can be put together on a budget. When you find a recipe that stays within your price range and your family likes it, save it. Simply repeat this process for any number of recipes you see fit. By saving the recipes that work, you will create your own cookbook of familiar choices, making it easier to plan the meals.

Plan Meals Ahead of Time

When working with healthy family meals on a budget, planning ahead is crucial. Planning allows you to go to the grocery store at the beginning of the week and buy all the items you will need for a week’s worth of meals. When you become familiar enough with the recipes you want to work with, you can use a prepaid credit card each time you shop to make sure you stay within budget and easily keep track of your spending.

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Time-Tested Tips and Tricks for the Kitchen and Grill

Ask anyone who takes cooking seriously, and they will tell you that they have their own tips and tricks that they use to consistently prepare delicious meals: Maybe it’s a secret ingredient or an extra step during preparation or perhaps hours of watching direct.tv cooking specials. Many of these tricks have been passed down from generation to generation, and some remain closely-guarded secrets to this very day.

And some of them are, to be perfectly honest, complete nonsense. But while that may be true, and while it’s not uncommon to receive five different types of advice from five different people when it comes to cooking, there are some well-known tips that will not only make food preparation easier but will also make the end result tastier.

Grilling Tips

  • Use tongues instead of a fork to turn meat on the grill. Poking holes in the meat will cause its juices to run out.
  • When preparing kabobs, soak wooden skewers in cold water for 30 minutes prior to cooking to prevent burning. Also, for best results make sure pieces of meat, fruit or veggies are threaded closely together with no space in between.
  • Never place cooked meat on the same plate that held raw meat.

Healthy Cooking Tips

  • Don’t remove skins from fruits and vegetables: The skins contain lots of healthy nutrients.
  • To retain vitamins and nutrients, keep the lid on the pot while cooking vegetables.
  • When sauteing meat or vegetables, use chicken broth instead of butter to reduce fat.

Tasty Tricks

  • Use fresh herbs instead of dried whenever possible.
  • When serving roast, let it stand for five to ten minutes before carving so that it retains its juices.
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Ditching the Carbs and Fats

 

Red Meat Makes America Great 1

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Learning the tips and tricks to healthier eating is easy with an initial time investment. Constructing some simple rules about eating will give you an outline to live by and turn a diet into a new lifestyle. Don’t start a diet as diets are usually temporary. Instead, attempt to make food changes that are life changing.

Red meats are delicious for so many people. Cheeseburgers, steaks, etc. taste great but are best consumed moderately to prolong your health. Try consuming red meats only once a week and substitute lean meats over red meats. Lean meats like turkey and chicken contain far less fat than red meat and are better overall for your body. You get the protein and iron you need from red meat but without the artery clogging fat found in red meat.

Eating small controlled meals throughout the day makes it easier to eat food low in fat. Apples, fiber cars, and fruit make great snacks and are easy to pack. Peanuts can also fill your stomach without expanding your waistline. Portion off about 8 ounces of peanuts and eat them in tandem with a fruit or vegetable. This can serve as several of your six small meals throughout the day which will boost your metabolism and allow the pounds to melt off.

Eliminating processed foods and sugar drinks from your diet will be your greatest aid in ditching the carbs and fats. Turn to water and natural foods and you will be losing weight and feeling healthier even if you don’t exercise very often.

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Benefits for Your Customers

When you are traveling to different countries, one of the things you will likely be excited about trying is some of the native cuisine. Sampling the food in Venice, Italy, for example, will be a vastly different taste experience than when you go to your local Italian restaurant. You might be wondering which recipes the chef uses to provide such an authentic taste and whether you can prepare the dish in the same way when you return home.

Some restaurants provide postcards as a sort of souvenir for their customers. By providing these for sale or as a gift, the restaurant can build good business relations with its customers. If there is also a recipe on the back of the beautiful picture featured on the card, it will help the customer to recreate the wonderful meal they savored at the restaurant. Doing so will only enhance the memories that the customers have of their time in the establishment.

Another benefit of using postcards is that they can include all of the relevant contact information for the restaurant right there on the card. The customer can enjoy the beautiful card and know that the phone number, address, and website information of the restaurant are right there at their fingertips. This makes it highly convenient for those same customers to contact them again with any questions they might have. With such a vibrant and memorable souvenir in their hands, the customers will likely return again.

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Cooking for a Vegan

When you are dating someone new it is always an adventure when you cook for them for the first time. When cooking for a Vegan this adventure can be a little more exciting and possibly a little more dreadful (depending on how good of a cook you are).

The basic rule to stick by for our vegan friends is of course: no meat, no eggs, no dairy. For those who are now clinging to their good luck charm or desperately flipping though a phone book to find take-out that you can pass off as homemade don’t worry here are a few tips to use for your next meal.

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  • No Meat!: Vegan don’t eat meat or animal products (like milk and eggs) that come from animals.
  • Honey: Some vegans also do not eat honey. Make sure to clarify on whether or not honey is acceptable.
  • Pasta: If you are not a gourmet chef place a safe bet in pasta. MOST pasta is vegan friendly (be sure to double check ingredients in advance) and more than half of the canned pasta sauce you can find at a local store will also be Vegan.
  • Bread: Most bread is NOT vegan. The best bet here is either visit a specialty store, or check out crescent rolls.
  • Vegan desert: Desert is one of those areas that animal products are typically standard in. However, a few acceptions exist such as a few select brands of brownies and surprisingly enough Oreos.

Just remeber the best part of cooking for a Vegan is not the creative things you can eat but rather how much you enjoy eating with your vegan sweetheart.

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Superhero for the Day

Everyone loves to dress up and pretend they are someone else for a day or an evening. Adults, children, and teens all get into the spirit when it comes to choose their favorite “someone else” to be. Costume parties are gaining popularity, and not just for Halloween.

Kids costumes are becoming big business. There are all kinds of elaborate costumes available for kids who want to be a superhero for the day. Whether they choose to be Batman, Superman, Spiderman or their favorite Power Ranger, kids love to get into the spirit of dressing up. Costumes range from the simple to the very elaborate with all the accessories that can be imagined. Hats, wands, weapons, special effects, and masks are all accessories that can be added to that perfect outfit.

There are various places that costumes can be found for costume parties. There are many sites on the Internet, which is very convenient if consumers live in an area where costumes are nonexistent or limited. Arts and crafts stores also stock costumes and costume kits as well. Although they may not contain the latest and newest costumes, thrift stores are an option as well for purchasing costumes.

Costumes are a fun way to express someone’s creative side. They can be a great tool to act out a favorite fantasy or dream job such as a superhero for the day. A costume is only as creative as the creator. It is an exciting time to plan a costume party or a costume for a party.

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Cheese Spreads – The other Cheese Form

Cheese spreads are often viewed as a cut below cheese, because they are often cheese “products” that simply “contain” cheese along with other ingredients.  This is true of many American made cheese spreads.  One product – an aerosol cheese spread was even listed on Stem’s Encyclopedia of Bad Taste.

Kraft Foods has clearly had the edge in the U.S. cheese spreads for many years.  The recipe for Velveeta cheese spread was developed by Emil Frey in 1918 as an American-style cheese spread.  The Velveeta Cheese Company was formed in 1923and bought four years later by Kraft.  The company eventually reformulated the spread.

Dairylea cheese spread is a Kraft owned British product that is sold as triangles primarily in England and the Republic of Ireland.  The spread was criticized in 2008 by the Food Commission, an independent consumer watchdog group, for containing unacceptable levels of the suspected carcinogen 3-MCPD.

Laughing Cow cheese spread is marketed in France by Fromageries Bel.  The spread was developed by Leon Bel in 1921 and has grown in popularity throughout Europe over the years.  The spreads are made in with a number of different flavors and is also made in bite size cubes that are marketed world-wide.

Cream cheese is another form of cheese spread that is eaten fresh rather than allowing it to age and usually has a sweet, mild taste.  References to cream cheese are found as early as 1651 in France and 1754 in England.  Philadelphia Cream Cheese is considered to be first American cream cheese and was first made in New York in 1872.  In 1880, the cheese was branded as Philadelphia Cream Cheese and the name is still used as a generic reference to cream cheese.  Today, the product is marketed by Kraft Foods.

Liptauer originated in Slovakia as a spicy cream cheese.  It was called Liptor cheese and every family had its own special recipe.  Today the Liptauer recipe can be made with any cream cheese and the required ingredients.

While cheese spreads may be looked at with disdain by some cheese aficionados it is still a popular form of cheese.

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Little Known American Cheeses

Cheese is an international food that has its roots in Asia Minor.  The art of cheese making made its way to Europe and was introduced to America as early as the Mayflower’s landing in what is now Massachusetts.  Over time new and original cheeses were made by American cheese makers.

Everyone is familiar with Cheddar, Provolone, Colby, and Monterey cheeses.  Here are some of the little known and truly American cheeses.

Bergenost cheese is a little known mild semi-soft cheese that was developed from a Norwegian recipe and sold almost exclusively at Yancy’s Fancy in Massachusetts.  In spite of its lack of notoriety it has won a number of awards.

Government cheese was a processed block cheese distributed by the U.S. government through food stamps during the 1980s and early 1990s.  It also became a derisive term used in reference to people on welfare.

Liederkranz cheese is an American version that is similar to limburger cheese and was introduced in 1891 by the same cheese maker who came up with the recipe for Velveeta cheese in 1923.

Maytag Blue cheese was a product of Newton Iowa, the home of the Maytag Corporation by members of the Maytag Corporations family.  It was produced in Newton until 1985 when the recipe and factory was sold to another company by the Maytag family.

Pinconning cheese originated around 1915 in Pinconning, Michigan, a town that was at one time considered Michigan’s cheese capital.

Provel cheese is a recipe that combines Cheddar, Swiss and Provolone cheeses.  The recipe came into being in St. Louis, Missouri specifically as the cheese for St. Louis style pizza.

Teleme cheese is a semi-soft cheese was first made by Serafino Iacona in a small northern California town shortly before the America’s entry into World War II.

Each of these cheeses is part of America’s cheese history and part of the legacy carried on by American cheese makers today.

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The Use of Cheese in Literature

Along with providing a great addition to meals, cheese has made its mark in literature as well.  There are a number of books in which cheese plays a part in the story line.

Stephen Crane is one of America’s literary icons.  His 1897 story, “the Open Boat,” follows four survivors of a shipwreck in a small boat as they search for a way to get to land.  In the story line Crane refers to the “sacred cheese” – one of the few foods they have to share.

In Samuel Beckett’s 1934 novel “Dante and the Lobster” the award winning author’s main character walks into a fromagerie to buy some Gorgonzola cheese to eat with his lunch.  To his disgust he discovers that the cheese is not moldy enough for his taste.  In spite of an argument with the cheese maker, he ends up taking the cheese.

Avery Ames has written two novels as part of her Cheese Shop Mystery series.  The first book, “The Long Quiche Goodbye” (2010) establishes the heroine, Charlotte as the fledgling owner of a cheese shop in a small Ohio town.  The book intertwines the cheese shop and the cheeses she sells into the story line.  Her second book, “Lost and Fondue” (2011) continues Charlotte’s mystery solving adventures in the same cheese laden setting.

“I am the Cheese” has been described as a young adult’s novel.  Written by Robert Cormier, the book tells the story of a young man who finds himself alone after his parents’ deaths.  Throughout the book, the main character recites the same verse from the children’s song, “The Farmer in the Dell” – “the cheese stands alone” and recognizes that, like the cheese, he stands alone.

In “Who Moved My Cheese?”  by Dr. Spencer Johnson, cheese becomes the author’s metaphor for dealing with change in life and at work.  He uses cheese to show readers how to anticipate and react – or be proactive – to the inevitability of changes in a person’s life.

Good cheeses, like well written books, take time to be prepared and enjoyed.

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