The first rule of use for your kitchen knife is to be sure that your blade lands on a soft surface, such as wood or plastic, instead of a hard surface like ceramic or metal. Striking your kitchen cutlery against hard surfaces will rapidly dull the blade and hinder the performance of your kitchen knife, even if you are using high quality ceramic or stainless steel cutlery.

It’s sometimes tempting to use the kitchen knife to pry something, use it as a screwdriver or chisel and many other actions for which the kitchen cutlery is not intended. Even using the handle of your knife as a hammer is not recommended, unless it is specifically built for that task. The pins, springs and handle can loosen or break, rendering your kitchen knife useless.

You should keep your kitchen cutlery away from sand and gritty materials. Be especially aware when you are using your knives outside, for instance if you are camping, fishing or just barbequing outdoors. Be aware of your kitchen knife and if it gets wet, you should immediately dry it. When you are washing your kitchen cutlery, do so in mild, soapy water and then dry it completely with a towel, instead of allowing it to drip dry. You should always wash your kitchen cutlery by hand and dry it immediately after.

Wood tends to swell, so it you have wooden handled knives, it is best not to immerse them in water for any period of time. You can rub mineral oil on wooden knife handles to help them keep their luster. You can also increase the lifetime of your wooden handled kitchen knives by rubbing lemon oil or furniture polish into the wood handle occasionally.

Stainless steel cutlery should not rust in the humidity and it can withstand acids that it is exposed to in daily use. However, stainless steel does not mean 100 percent rust proof. The coarser the stainless steel surface is, the more likely it is to corrode. To ensure your stainless steel cutlery is corrosion resistant, you want to purchase knives with finely ground or polished surfaces.

Another option for kitchen cutlery is ceramic knives which are durable and long lasting. However, ceramic knives should also not be put in the dishwasher. They are very easy to clean; a wipe and a rinse is all that is needed to keep them in great condition for years to come.

When storing your knives, it is best to choose a knife block to protect the blades. Never put your knife into the wooden knife block wet – wood absorbs water and you could introduce mold and mildew into your knife block which could effectually ruin your kitchen knives. If you are going to keep them in a drawer, be sure that they are not tossed around too much. Jostling against other knives or instruments could cause your knife blades to chip or dull unnecessarily. It is fine to keep them in a drawer, but they should be sleeved or in compartments to avoid colliding with other utensils or inadvertently cutting you as you search in the drawer for the knife you need. Forged cutlery or stainless steel cutlery should be properly stored to ensure it lasts a long time.

Taking care of your kitchen knives is quite easy if you follow the steps outlined above:

- Keep knives out of the dishwasher
- Wash kitchen knives right after use and dry them immediately after washing
- Store them in a wooden knife block, in sleeves or in a compartmentalized drawer

1. Cook and bake as many dishes as you can in advance. I have an Easter baking recipe that I share with you below that is easy and can be done up to a week in advance. I highly recommend baking your Easter desserts the day before. It really helps me cut down on the stress on Easter day.

2. Organize your kitchen into baking/cooking stations the night before. I know this might sound crazy but I have found it helps me whenever I am making a holiday meal. I put out all of the ingredients for each Easter recipe that do not need to be refrigerated. I put the recipe out and put all of the ingredients that go into that recipe right next to it, along with any pans or measuring cups or spoons I may need for it. I also try to organize them from longest to shortest cooking time so that I know what to start with first.

3. Select the Easter recipes that you want to use a week in advance. This helps me make a grocery list of all the ingredients that I need. That way I can get to the grocery store and get everything that I need well in advance of the day itself.

4. Use or borrow appliances to help make the job easier. I still remember the first Easter I hosted at my house. I must have spent at least half an hour slicing potatoes. If I had just asked to borrow a food processor with a slicer from a friend, it would have made that day so much easier. If you do not have the right appliance for the job or cannot borrow it, find a different recipe.

5. Enlist helpers! The friends and family who have come to your Easter feast are usually more than happy to help out with any small last minute things. My husband has become the official potato masher for all of the holiday gatherings we hold at our house! Those last 30 minutes before your meal is ready can sometimes get a bit crazy. It is okay to ask for help.

Bonus Easter Recipe: Chocolate Easter Nests

These have been a favorite Easter baking recipe of mine for as long as I can remember. I loved helping mom put jelly beans in these for the “eggs.”

1 box shredded wheat cereal (10-12 biscuits)
1 – 12 ounce package chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter

Crush the biscuits so they are fairly fine. Melt the chocolate chips in bowl in the microwave until they are soft. Add the peanut butter to the melted chocolate. Mix together, put into a large bowl, and add the shredded wheat. Put mixture by tablespoon on a piece of waxed paper. Shape each into a nest. Chill until firmly set. Store in the refrigerator. When you are ready to set them out, put a few jelly beans in each nest. It is a cute, tasty Easter treat.
 

Low saturated fat, low cholesterol dishes are what we’re after here, and hold the butter and other added fats. The unhappy fact is that certain ingredients and preparation methods can add unwanted saturated fat and cholesterol to your food.

One can bake without fear, broil to the heart’s content and microwave all day (just don’t stand too close). Poaching is cool and steaming is even better. Seafood, chicken and vegetables are all good candidates for grilling. Lightly stir-frying or sautéing foods in cooking spray, small mounts of vegetable oil or reduced sodium broth are other healthy options. When roasting even skinless meats it’s wise to place meats on a rack so fat can drip away.

There are lots of ways to cut out unwanted saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet that don’t take the fun and flavor out of meal time. Butter is not your friend, what with its 8 grams of saturated fat and 11 grams of fat per tablespoon. Salsa is your good buddy though, with 0 grams of saturated fat and 0 cholesterol found in 1/4 of a cup. Creamy salad dressings are notoriously loaded with the bad stuff, while a reduced fat Italian sports only 2 grams of fat and tastes just as good.

There are many fine and tasty herbs, spices and condiments that can add zest to some of the more bland heart health dishes. Herbs include oregano, basil, cilantro, thyme, parsley, sage, rosemary. Cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and paprika are all acceptable spices. Along with the reduced fat or nonfat salad dressing and salsa there are old standbys like mustard, catsup, horseradish, reduced fat or nonfat mayonnaise, reduced fat or nonfat sour cream, reduced fat or nonfat yogurt and reduced sodium soy sauce. That’s to say nothing of Parmesan cheese, fruit preserves and simple red pepper flakes, none of which will harm you heart.

And there you have it. With a little planning, a bit of knowledge and a smidge of extra effort anyone, can eat right for their heart without giving up a healthy enjoyment of food.

Here are a few of the best chicken cooking tips available.

• You must take care to always wash your hands, knife, and cutting board in
hot soapy water after preparing raw poultry.

• You should never use the same utensils and cutting board for other
ingredients without thoroughly washing them first and after use. This
prevents cross contamination.

• You should always marinate poultry in the refrigerator. Never leave it out
in the open.

• Do not use the poultry marinade for basting.

• If the marinade is to be used for the basis of a sauce, bring it to a boil
and boil for 2 minutes.

• Never put cooked poultry on the same plate that was used to transport raw
poultry. Again, this prevents cross contamination.

Here are some chicken cooking tips for storing your poultry:

• Fresh poultry is a very perishable food. You should not leave it out in the
open air. Instead, wrap it in plastic as soon as you get it home from the
store and always store it in the coldest part of your refrigerator. You
should use it within two days; if this is not possible, place it in a freezer
bag and freeze for up to three months. You should always freeze giblets and
livers separately from the whole bird.

• Cooked poultry dishes can be frozen. However, you should not freeze poultry
dishes that contain mayonnaise or hard-boiled eggs.

• Allow small poultry dishes to cool completely before wrapping and freezing
them. Allow larger items to cool in the refrigerator and then wrap airtight
and freeze.

• You should never freeze stuffed poultry.

Some of the most important chicken cooking tips involve proper thawing of the
bird.

It is especially important that the poultry be properly thawed before cooking.
 Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator while it is in the original wrapper.
You can place it on a tray to catch any drips that may fall as it thaws. 

When thawing in the refrigerator is not possible because there is not enough
time, there are two other alternatives. For rapid thawing, you can put the
bird in watertight wrapping and then submerge in cold water. You should
change the water frequently as this will help quicken the process. Smaller
birds require about one to two hours. 

The other alternative is to leave the bird in its wrapper and put it into a
heavy paper grocery bag. Close up the bag and put it into a cool room. You
will need to check it frequently, and once the bird is thawed, you must cook
it immediately.

Now for the Turkey!

Turkey is a long time favorite of many families and now there are some great
cooking tips tricks that anyone can learn and use to better prepare these
wonderful birds.

Selecting the proper size:
You should plan on about 3/4 pound per person for generous servings. You
should understand that this will not leave much in leftovers. If you like to
have more leftovers, plan on 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person.

Hens or Toms:
It may surprise you but the only real difference between a hen and tom is the
size. Hens are classified under 16 pounds and toms are over 16 lbs. A
somewhat secret cooking tips tricks is that both will be a young turkey, just
a few weeks old at the time of processing. They will be equally tender and
moist.

Roasting your bird:
Remove the neck and giblets from the neck and body cavities. Rinse the turkey
inside and out with cold water. If you want to stuff the bird, you should
loosely stuff the body and neck cavities and then fasten the leg clamp back
onto the legs.

Cooking tips tricks:
Place the turkey in a roasting pan with the plastic timer unobstructed. Cover
with a lid, or fashion your own cover with a loose tent of foil. Remember to
remove the cover for the last hour for browning.

Cooking tips tricks for Roasting Times:
Roast in a preheated, 325 degree Fahrenheit oven. Roasting will take about 15
minutes per pound if the turkey is not stuffed. Stuffed turkeys require an
additional 1/2 to 1 hour cooking time. However, it is always best to follow
the instructions that come with the stuffing and the turkey. You oven
temperature may vary as well which will require you to adjust your time,
either upward or downward.

Cooking tips tricks for Basting:
One of the most useful tools you can have is a suction basting tube. These
inexpensive tools can make basting your turkey a snap and they can also help
decrease the time that the oven door is open, which leads to losing oven heat.
 Baste your bird about every hour or so. This will help make it brown and
tender.

Cooking Tip:
Get a set of measuring spoons. The set will usually have 1/4 tsp., 1/3 tsp., 1/2 tsp., 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon.
Dry measure cups look like little saucepans and can be leveled off with a knife or other straight-edged tool. They come in sets like the measuring spoons. Liquid measuring cups have ounce marking lines so you can measure however many ounces you need.

Cooking Tip: Some recipes require exact measurements to turn out right so learn to measure correctly.

2. Common Ingredients
Make sure you know what you need.

Cooking Tips:
Baking powder and baking soda are not the same.
Ask the produce manager at the market about fruits and vegetables, the meat manager about cuts of meat.
When trying something new, buy ONE. You can always go back for more if it turns out well.

3. Common Terminology
Bake:
Dry heat in the oven. Set oven control to the desired temperature while you’re preparing the dish to be baked. Once the light that says it’s heating turns off, the oven is at the proper temperature. Then put in the food–for best results, center it in the oven.

Boil:
Heat a liquid until it bubbles. The faster the bubbles rise and the more bubbles you get, the hotter the liquid. Some recipes call for a gentle boil–barely bubbling–or a rolling boil–just short of boiling over. Watch so it doesn’t boil over.

Braise:
A moist cooking method using a little liquid that barely bubbles on the top of the stove or in the oven. This is a good way to tenderize cheaper cuts of meat. The pan should be heavy and shallow with a tight-fitting lid to keep the liquid from boiling away. There’s a lot that can be done for flavoring in your choice of liquid and of vegetables to cook with the meat.

Broil:
Turn the oven to its highest setting. Put the food on broiler pan–a 2 piece pan that allows the grease to drain away from the food. In an electric oven on the broil setting only the upper element heats, and you can regulate how fast the food cooks by how close to the element you place it. Watch your cooking time–it’s easy to overcook food in the broiler.

Brown:
Cook until the food gets light brown. Usually used for frying or baking. Ground beef should usually be browned (use a frying pan) and have the grease drained before adding it to a casserole or meat sauce.

1. Cook and bake as many dishes as you can in advance. I have an Easter baking recipe that I share with you below that is easy and can be done up to a week in advance. I highly recommend baking your Easter desserts the day before. It really helps me cut down on the stress on Easter day.

2. Organize your kitchen into baking/cooking stations the night before. I know this might sound crazy but I have found it helps me whenever I am making a holiday meal. I put out all of the ingredients for each Easter recipe that do not need to be refrigerated. I put the recipe out and put all of the ingredients that go into that recipe right next to it, along with any pans or measuring cups or spoons I may need for it. I also try to organize them from longest to shortest cooking time so that I know what to start with first.

3. Select the Easter recipes that you want to use a week in advance. This helps me make a grocery list of all the ingredients that I need. That way I can get to the grocery store and get everything that I need well in advance of the day itself.

4. Use or borrow appliances to help make the job easier. I still remember the first Easter I hosted at my house. I must have spent at least half an hour slicing potatoes. If I had just asked to borrow a food processor with a slicer from a friend, it would have made that day so much easier. If you do not have the right appliance for the job or cannot borrow it, find a different recipe.

5. Enlist helpers! The friends and family who have come to your Easter feast are usually more than happy to help out with any small last minute things. My husband has become the official potato masher for all of the holiday gatherings we hold at our house! Those last 30 minutes before your meal is ready can sometimes get a bit crazy. It is okay to ask for help.

Bonus Easter Recipe: Chocolate Easter Nests

These have been a favorite Easter baking recipe of mine for as long as I can remember. I loved helping mom put jelly beans in these for the “eggs.”

1 box shredded wheat cereal (10-12 biscuits)
1 – 12 ounce package chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter

Crush the biscuits so they are fairly fine. Melt the chocolate chips in bowl in the microwave until they are soft. Add the peanut butter to the melted chocolate. Mix together, put into a large bowl, and add the shredded wheat. Put mixture by tablespoon on a piece of waxed paper. Shape each into a nest. Chill until firmly set. Store in the refrigerator. When you are ready to set them out, put a few jelly beans in each nest. It is a cute, tasty Easter treat.
 

The time since the coffee beans were ground;
The time since the beans were roasted;
How clean the brewing equipment is;
The quality of the coffee bean being used;
The quality of the water being used.

Some Interesting Facts About Coffee

The quality of the coffee bean is the most important of these factors, if you are going to buy “good” coffee. The very best bean will taste bad if any one of the other listed characteristics are out of place. Not all coffee beans are equal, but the other points listed above will even the field.

A lesser coffee that has been freshly roasted and ground is many times better than coffee that has been roasted and ground then left to get stale – no matter how good it was when it was fresh.

A can of coffee found in the supermarket often contains large amounts of robusta, low quality Arabica beans and past crop (old) beans. To make matters worse, there is no way for the major coffee companies that roast and ship all over the country to get you truly fresh coffee.

Once you have coffee that has been freshly roasted and ground, good water and brewing equipment free of oil residues from the last brew and the quality of the coffee beans makes a huge difference.

How To Tell Coffee Quality

Please note that a coffee can bought in the supermarket often contains a blend of Arabica and robusta beans, while most coffee houses sell only Arabica beans. Arabica beans are normally rich in flavor – while robusta beans have more caffeine, less flavor and are cheaper to make.

There is an exception to every rule, and the exception here is that some very good espresso coffees will have small amounts of the highest quality robusta beans available on the market. This should not, however, be taken as a guarantee that a coffee house will have any better coffee than the diner down the street.

If any of the previously discussed items, such as cleanliness or freshness, are not in order then even the very best coffee can be made to taste bad.

When you buy coffee, whether it be in a coffee house or in a supermarket, you want to get 100% Arabica – except for espresso blends, which may be a combination of both. Whether good quality robusta can improve the flavor of espresso is up for debate.

For absolute freshness when buying in a coffee house, it is better to buy popular blends that move fast – while buying in a supermarket, vacuum packaged containers with an expiration date are your best bet although all canned coffee will be stale to some extent.

It should be noted that in order to be able to vacuum pack coffee, industrial coffee producers actually let the coffee sit for a while before it is packed. As soon as coffee is roasted it starts to release CO2, in a process called outgassing. This can actually help to protect the bean from going stale. Unfortunately for the people vacuum packing coffee or putting coffee in tins, this also will inflate the bags. This outgassing is the reason that you may very well see one-way valves on coffee bags. These valves allow the CO2 to escape, while keeping oxygen from entering the bag.

Chances are fairly high that you will not get truly fresh coffee in a supermarket. This is an absolute fact if it is pre-ground. In a coffee house, look for a shop that roasts in-house and ask what was roasted that day. If the person behind the counter does not know, ask to talk to someone who does know. If no one knows, simply go somewhere else.

Additionally, it should be noted that coffee is at its very best after a few hours rest. This is one of those places where an expert in the field of coffee can advise you. As a general rule of thumb, most coffees are improved with a rest time of about 12 to 24 hours. Some coffees, particularly those that are musty or earth coffees, actually mellow for the first two to three days – making a much longer rest better.

A final point to remember is that for best results, grind your own coffee. Buying fresh and then having it ground completely defeats the purpose. Ground coffee only lasts a few hours or one day at the very most.

The active constituent in coffee that is responsible for its many health benefits is a compound called chlorogenic acid. It neutralizes free radicals, and addresses the problem of hydroxyl radicals, both of which can lead to cellular degeneration if left unchecked. Chlorogenic acid also helps regulate metabolism. Compared to green tea and grape seed extract, green coffee bean extract is twice as effective in absorbing oxygen free radicals.

One of the advantages of using the green coffee bean extract is that the negative effects of coffee are avoided. The chlorogenic acid is thought to boost metabolism by changing the way glucose is taken up by the body. And it does contain caffeic acids, which give a boost to energy levels like regular coffee does. But unlike boiled coffee, green coffee bean extract contains no cafestol, which is a diterpene. Along with its diterpene relative kahweol, cafestol increases concentrations of the ‘bad’ cholesterol, LDL, to levels that over a lifetime might increase the risk of coronary heart disease by as much as 20% These diterpenes also had an effect on the levels of liver enzymes measured. When these are elevated it is an indicator of stress on the liver. However the study that measured this found this was a transient effect, and also that the levels of liver enzymes were much lower than those with liver disease.

As a side note on the health effect of the diterpenes found in regular coffee, it was found that by simply drinking filter coffee, none of these effects on cholesterol levels or the liver took place. The coffee filter removed the offending diterpenes. And levels of these diterpenes in instant coffee are low.

Other benefits of green coffee bean extract include an increase in the effectiveness of pain killers, especially for migraine medications; a reduction in the risk of diabetes; and assisting the body burn a higher proportion of lipids (fats) compared to carbohydrates, which could help with muscle fatigue for athletes and bodybuilders.

Interestingly, on the subject of caffeine and liver disease, further studies have indicated it may in fact support liver health for some people. Those who were at high risk of developing liver disease due to drinking too much alcohol were found less likely to suffer liver damage if they drank more than two cups of coffee or tea a day. This was a population based study, not a clinical trial, and so is not conclusive on the subject. But it does offer some promising information. Those drinking in excess of two cups or more a day were half as likely to develop liver disease compared to those drinking less than one cup a day. Researchers do not know what caused this protective effect.

One of the criticisms of coffee in regards to health is that it leaches calcium from the bones. But this effect has been found to be overemphasized, at least in children. And adults who consume a diet with sufficient levels of calcium will be protected from the small amount of calcium that is lost due to coffee consumption.

So the old axiom that caffeine can stunt a child’s growth is a myth. It was based on the fact that in older studies, caffeine was associated with low bone mass because those studies were done on elderly people who both drank a lot of coffee and had diets that were low in calcium. Recent studies in the US followed 80 teenagers over 6 years, and found no difference in the bone density of those with a high level of caffeine in their diet, compared to those teenagers who had little caffeine. Other studies determined that the amount of calcium lost from bones is small and can be balanced by having sufficient calcium in your diet.

References: Australian Healthy Food Magazine, January.
nutraingredients.com/news/n

Boca Java is one of the many suppliers who has “answered the call” and markets gourmet coffee beans and accessories from around the globe, via the internet. This article will provide an independent review of Boca Java products and service.

According to the suppliers, they pride themselves in using only handpicked, specialty-grade Arabica coffee beans, chosen from selected high altitude tropical regions. Each location produces coffee beans of distinct taste and character.

Their biggest claim is freshness. They don’t start roasting your coffee beans until after your order is received.

Boca Java also claim an interesting online shopping experience. You can choose your coffee blend by country of origin, by flavour (I counted about twenty different flavours), or if you’re just looking for a quick smooth tasting dark roast with full bodied satisfaction, they have a webpage especially for that.

They also provide coffee accessories, such as brewing and grinding apparatus, coffee pots and cups, coffee storage devices, scoops, filters, milk whips, coasters – you name it. You can also order tea and cocoa as well… with all the accessories to go with it.

Finally, there’s the “coffee club”. Here’s where you get all the specials and discounts and also earn “boca bucks” which can be exchanged for gifts and prizes. At the coffee club you can learn anything you want to know about coffee, including coffee’s health benefits. You can also place ‘standing orders’ and choose your own delivery terms, which can be changed at your whim. Just love it.

I’ve read that you need to be careful about accepting one of their introductory “special offers” for a “free” coffee grinder and sample packages.The claim is, that Boca Java take this as a green light to provide you a regular supply of their coffee and extract money from your account. Whilst I have not experienced this myself, I believe that if you want to avoid any misunderstanding, you need to join their “coffee club”. It costs nothing and you are given the option to modify or cancel your orders anytime. They notify you by email seven days before coffee is due for delivery and this is when you opt to cancel, change or reduce the order.

Their website looks very impressive. Just the pictures alone make you want to buy. You can almost smell the coffee coming out of your screen. All in all, it appears an attractive alternative for gourmet coffee lovers, with all the convenience of online orders and delivery to your door.
 

At higher elevations different factors come together in process of growing the best gourmet coffee. Late afternoon cloud cover defends the coffee plants from an undue amount of direct sunlight. The clouds comprises of moisture, which lightly waters the coffee plants through its leaves other than through its roots.

The best gourmet coffees are mainly rated with a SHB rating that means Strictly Hard Bean rating. The coffee bean full-grown at elevated altitudes is much stronger than those grown at lower elevations. This difference places the coffee bean in the group of the best gourmet coffee rating on world coffee markets.

The disadvantage of growing this coffee at much higher altitudes is the difficulty in agricultural process. Farms at this level are near the peaks of mountain formations that are very steep. You could even imagine the trouble of driving vehicles to these isolated locations with few paved roads. At times the ground is near about at a 45 degree angle making it very tricky to plant, farm, inspect and then pick the coffee beans from side of a mountain. More manual labor-intensive is necessary not only for farming but also for transporting the baskets important with the best coffee beans.

The distance of these locations also makes it a long and very difficult to transport them to the ports of allocation to world markets. The roads are frequently rough and stony winding up and down mountain sides and frequently beside an unsafe cliff. You could imagine the intrinsic danger concerned just in transporting a heavy truck load of the best gourmet coffee. The farmers would stride along side their ox drive cart dragging their payload. The farmers would paint multi-colored designs on the large wooden ox cart wheels that have become a sign of Costa Rican heritage even to this day.