Baking Is A Slice Of Cake

By Judielee Lawson

As a child, I have always watched my mother cook different dishes at home. I would know that there is an upcoming occasion since I could smell something yummy is cooking in our kitchen. She will always cook pasta, meat stews and also other local delicacies that will make us really excited simply because of the flavorful aroma that the air inside our home brings when she cooks.


I have always already been curios how her dishes tend to be made and I prefer to be able to cook something like that when I grow up. My grandmother will also cook similar dishes to what my mother makes but I think my mother's cooking tastes better. Maybe since we got used to it and my grandmother's way of cooking is very traditional as in comparison with my mom's modern approach with all the brand new different kinds of components. I assumed to myself that I would want to cook something better to impress my mother and my grandmother when I am old enough.


As I was growing up, I've managed to get numerous instructions and tricks from my mother when she cooks something. There aren't any secret recipes or virtually any secret herbs and spices that she uses. It's all in the technique how you cook it. Patience really pays off when you're cooking an excellent meal simply because you simply can't hurry it up while you want it to come out virtually perfectly. That also applies so much more on baking. You cannot just mix your cake batter just as much as you want because you will be pushing a bunch of air into your cake batter and it will come out too flat or too fluffy. You can't force your cookies to come out in the oven immediately because you are too impatient to taste how they are. All you can do it wait and to make sure that you time the baking process according to the instructions.


Baking is so much different from cooking a meal. Once you cook your meals, you may add more spices to taste if it is a bit bland or you could just add more substances or more water if it tastes too strong. In baking, everything should be calculated and all the substance needs to be measured exactly as it's indicated in the recipe. If you're baking bread and you put in a lot of flour in it, it can either be too difficult to eat or too crumby to piece. If you put a bit too much water in the dough, it might turn out just like a soggy and tasteless cake. It is really difficult to experiment on baking unlike cooking.


Given the fact that baking is too complex for me, I have really found my niche in baking because it gives me a different feeling of accomplishment when the pastry you've baked turns out very well and everyone appreciates it so much more. I have managed to master the art of baking cookies and brownies and I can say that baking is so much easier than you thought if only you have the drive to go for the results that you want to achieve.


I know that the results of your first attempts may be disappointing but if at first you get a flat, tasteless piece of bread, do not be troubled because you are generally on the right track. Next thing you know, you are baking your way in the pastry industry and you certainly will say that it is only a piece of cake. - 31832

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Eggs Are Good For Us

By Adriana Noton

When you go to the supermarket to buy eggs, you are faced with a variety of different sizes and colors. The shape, well, that is generally the same. You think of what you will make with them, as far as recipes, to decide whether to purchase medium sized or large ones. Maybe you will need the jumbo size.

You rarely think of what the farmer and the chicken went through to get them. Well, if you have ever seen the little chicks they sell at certain times in the spring, you can see what happens when they are fertilized. If you want them, all you have to do is to buy a chicken. If you want more chickens, you need to buy a rooster.

So the chicks are brought home to the farm, and they are set up in a very warm environment. The more the farmer buys, the warmer they will keep each other. A bright light needs to be on them all the time at this point, and they will eat a lot of chick feed. As they grow, they become the age to lay eggs. Different types of chickens lay different eggs.

If you have bought them from a home or farm that has all types of chickens that produce them, you will see from the variety that they sometimes look like they are for Easter. There are actually light blue and light green ones in the egg carton.

They will taste a bit different from a chicken farm than when you buy them at the store. The yolks are so bright, deep yellow. You can see the difference. You can see which is, of course, healthier. And the small farmers do not generally feed or inject their chickens with hormones, as they are not producing for grocery stores, and they are eating them themselves.

There are others that can be eaten also, not just that of the egg. Ostrich is also are edible and one will probably feed a family of six for breakfast. From ducks they are also acceptable. And if you ever get to try them from a quail, they are considered a delicacy to all. They do not taste too different, but the presentation is elegant, as they are tiny and speckled.

Eggs are generally thought of for breakfast, because there are so many ways to make them for breakfast. Scrambled, sunny side up, omelets, poached, hard boiled, soft boiled, and over easy are a few simple breakfast recipes. But they can be eaten at any meal. They can be the entree, if they are rolled around something else, like ham and cheese, or they can have a Mexican flavor, such as huevos rancheros. The omelet themselves can be made in an endless number of ways to be the center of a lunch or dinner meal. And other people think of eggs as a brunch meal, as their breakfasts are usually simple, like coffee and toast. Around 10 a. M. Or so, it is time for brunch, and this is when they enjoy a nicely cooked egg.

They are also the one ingredient that often holds all of the others together. This is true for cakes and pies, and many other dessert items. They are often one of the main ingredients in a recipe, like custards and crepes. It is safe to say, without eggs, we would be missing some of the finer things in life. - 31832

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Why You Need A Bread Maker Machine in Your Kitchen

By John Ashley Stephens

Bread making machines are one of the common appliances used in most household kitchen. Just like any other electrical appliances, its role is to assist or make life easier and comfortable for our whole family. Bread machine has comes a long way since its debut in the 1980s. It has helped women across the globe to make fresh and tasty homemade bread every morning for their husbands and children.

In the morning when you have your tea or coffee you can have your home made bread as well. The bread maker machine allows you to make and prepare bread at any time you want so it is all there when you want it. If you change your taste or want to try something different you just change the ingredients you put in and allow the machine to do the work for you.

Bread maker machines are always advancing in today's modern times, getting more functions and features allowing you to do other things with them. With their built in timers and automated controls it allows you to set it up for a time that you want it to bake no matter if its in the day or night. This machine gives you the time to do other things by taking all the effort and hard work out of making bread.

Bread making machines can give you much more than just baking bread, it also can make cinnamon buns, meatloaf, pasta dough, cakes, pizza and fruit jam. With the combination of the free bread recipes or those available online, you will have unlimited variety and choices more than you can imagine.

If you are a creative baker or a home bread maker and you want to make you own recipe you can utilise the bread maker machine to tweak you recipe to get the results that you desire. With the custom memory function that these machine have you program the steps for the machine and store it for use in the future.

For those bread lovers who are allergic to gluten, gluten free bread baking is also available for your safe consumption. - 31832

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Buying a bread maker machine

By John Ashley Stephens

The inciting aroma of freshly baked bread I feel is irresistible. For a lot of people bread is a necessity on the kitchen table. However going to get fresh bread from a bakery or supermarket is annoying most of the time. You''ll have to wake up early go to the shop and back so that you will have fresh bread. Using a Bread Maker Machine you can make fresh bread at home without the hassle.

With a bread maker machine you can create different shapes and sizes of bread. Many home-cooks use the machine to premix the ingredients and then they put the bread in an oven to bake. Contained in this article are some helpful tips for you when you are choosing a bread maker machine.

There are lots of setting on bread machines for all kinds of bread that you can make. You can vary the setting on the machine from light, medium and dark to suit the way you want your bread to be done. It is highly advisable to buy a machine with a side window or at least one on top so that you can monitor the progress of your bread while it is being baked.

There are servel different sizes of bread makers so you should take account of the space you need and where it can be stored. You may purchase a machine based on the bread consumption of your family. If you have a small family and will only be baking a small amount each time then you might choose a machine with a lower capactiy. However if you see that your family will start to eat more bread in the furture you may buy a slightly larger size machine.

If you desire adding different ingredients for example fruits or nuts, you might descide on buying a machine that will tell you the right time when to add them. There are loads of mahince that have many special features for adding fruit, nuts, cheese and so fourth. If you buy a machine which has a delayed timer you can go out and set it to make the bread for when you are getting back.

A keep warm setting will allow your bread to stay warm until you are ready to eat. However, having the bread in keep warm for a long period can make the taste flat. It is important to check on the warranty for any kind of machine that you will purchase so you can get replacement if there are damages.

Follow these step and you will be able to get the best bread maker machine that suits your need and that of your families, And I'm sure they will love the smell of your freshly baked bread. - 31832

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Bread Maker Machines - The Two Forgotten Ingredients

By John Ashley Stephens

In today's world of super highways and fast food restaurants many of us forgo the luxury of quality food for the sake of a take away. When it comes to a freshly bake loaf of bread it doesn't have to be that way. The bread maker machine is one of the best inventions in our modern kitchen today.

The bread maker machine is brilliant. it will make a loaf of bread in half the time it takes if you use the traditional methods. But there are some things they don't tell you in the recipe book. The Flour moisture content will vary depending on how old the flour is and the environment it is in. So no matter how you follow the recipe guide you will not get a perfect loaf every time. There is however two ingredients you can add that will give you a better chance of that perfect loaf.

Wheat gluten is a grain protein which you can add. This is because not all flour has the same protein content. Bread flour has the highest which is followed by all-purpose flour and at the bottom is cake flour. Bread flour costs the most but you don't have to have it. All-purpose flour works well for the making of bread if you add wheat gluten. So instead of buying all different types of flour for the different things you make why not buy all-purpose flour and use wheat gluten when you are making bread. Wheat gluten is not very expensive and you use a tiny amount when making bread. As little as two teaspoons per a loaf, so it will last a long time.

When you decide to add wheat gluten to your bread maker, you will get the very best results adding it to the pan with the flour. The manufacturer of my bread maker machine recommends adding the water before flour so I go and add the wheat gluten straight after the flour gos in as to keep it away from the water.


The second secret ingredient is dough conditioner. The different commercial dough conditioners contain different ingredients, which are commonly a combination of wheat gluten, yeast and other chemicals such as ammonium chloride, DATEM (an emulsifier),ascorbic acid (vitamin C), different calcium salts and sometimes soy.

It is a common problem with bread maker machines that have vertical pans to have a lighter crumb at the top of the loaf and a denser crumb at the bottom. Dough conditioners are here to help solve this problem by strengthening the texture and giving the bread a more consistent rise, leading to a more consistent crumb.

Just like wheat gluten you do not need much. As little as 1/4 of a teaspoon for a 1 1/2 pound loaf gives good results.

If you are going to use either of these two ingredient I have mention all ways real the label as different brands give different results. - 31832

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The Joy Of Collecting Recipes

By Adriana Noton

Recipes are used for making that special dish for the first time, enhancing a meal that you have made many times but now want to change, or for just adding to a marvelous collection of ideas for meals for the future.

A recipe can consist of only two ingredients or so many you cannot even fit them on your countertop. It can be as simple as simply stirring, or very complex, like dredging in flour, then dipping into a beaten egg, then covering with bread crumbs, quick-frying and then finally baking the port chop. Yes, for a simple port chop. But many times you will find that the more effort you put forth in preparing the meal, the better it tastes in the end.

Most cooks have several very important ingredients that are put in almost every dinner recipe they make. These may be onions and garlic. Or perhaps herbs like thyme and basil, or a combination of Italian seasonings. This same cook may also have ingredients in the cupboard that he or she bought for one special meal on an occasion, and it has been sitting in that cupboard ever since. This might be liquid smoke, or fenugreek.

Perhaps the greatest experiments with recipes are those from other countries. You can try something Greek, like moussaka, or Italian, like lasagna, or East Indian, like lamb korma, or Mexican, like carne asada tacos.

You will find that the main difference between the different ones of various countries is the spices they use. In Greece, they use a lot of cinnamon on their meat to sweeten it up. Italians like their tomato sauced spiced up with oregano, basil, and thyme, among other spices. In India, the use of turmeric, cumin and coriander go far. Mexicans use a lot of cayenne and chili powder. And the list goes on.

You will discover that the joy of collecting healthy recipes will easily take over your book shelves. You will have recipe books on fish, steak, potatoes, desserts, casserole dishes, meatless meals, poultry, crepes, Christmas, and wok cooking, to name a few. Then there are the recipe magazines that will overwhelm you. And do not forget about the recipes you cut out from the newspaper, because you know you are going to try them some day.

You can stumble on collections in thrift shops. These are from clubs that people were members of and received them monthly and put them in binders. Or you will run across other types of collections that resemble a set of encyclopedias. There are annual collection recipe books for the year. And you would not want to pas up some of those really old cook books. They usually have a couple of really great classic formulas that you thought you would never find. Then there is the kind of collection that can drive a cook crazy, when they put them all in the index box. The best thing about these 4x6 inch cards is that you do not have to mess with a book closing on you while cooking.

Yes, you can collect recipes your whole life, fill an entire room with recipes. But the best cooks in the world do not even use them. - 31832

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Healthy Recipes For Any Lifestyle

By Adriana Noton

In today's world, obesity and weight problems have become epidemic in many countries. Due to the augmentation of work and stress, and the lack of free time, people have started to rely more and more on "junk food". Everybody has their own excuse to avoid cooking good foods at home. But the truth is that healthy recipes are at everybody's hand. There are many different foods that are good for your body that you might not even know of!

You are getting up. You need to get to work, to feed the kids; basically you are in a rush, as ever. You want to eat healthy but you need something quick and easy. You like the whole "breakfast sandwich" idea, even though you know it is not the best thing to feed your body first thing in the morning... Well here is a fast alternative that will provide you with the nutrients your body and soul needs!

So for your next breakfast, try this: 30g of whole grain cereals and 175g of yogurt mixed together, with 125ml of orange juice on the side. You don't like orange juice? Not a problem! You can substitute for your choice of vegetable of fruit juice, as long as it is 100% pure. You can also add as many fresh fruits as you want to your breakfast. For even more delicious nutritious, add in some scrambled eggs. Now that is a quick and nutritious morning!

Then you get to lunch, and you are stuck again, not knowing what to eat, tempted by the restaurant around the corner... Well the solution is right here. Here is a simple idea of healthy foods you can mix together for lunch.

Blend together some tuna, fat free mayonnaise and some shredded cheese or your choice to make your own tuna spread. See? It is as simple as that! These healthy recipes are just an example of what you could eat. If for any reason you do not like what is suggested in those, here is a simple tip to remind you of what consists of a healthy meal. You should pick 3 food groups for a healthy breakfast, and 4 for lunch.

Also remember to take it easy on the protein. For a balanced diet, you need a little bit of everything. Unfortunately most people's daily protein intake in greater than what it should be. You need to know that there are the good proteins and the lesser good ones. Things like dairy products and eggs are a good source, but careful to the fat percentage. Nuts likewise, but careful on the portion, again because of the fat.

Here is a super quick and simple dinner idea for a quick beef stir fry: 1 lb of chicken breasts in strips, 2 cups of your favorite veggies, 1/4 cup of light Italian dressing and 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce. Fry the beef along with the dressing in a hot skillet. Add the vegetables and the soy sauce and fry for an extra 5 minutes. That's it, you're done!

So when trying your hand at healthy recipes, use your imagination! Just remember the big lines: lots of fruits and vegetables, more whole grain and not too much salt! Anything taken with moderation is acceptable; you just need to be careful! - 31832

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