A Cooks Best Friend

My wife just got me a pasta maker for my birthday and I am ecstatic.  She got it for me after my trip to Italy.  We would go to Italian restaurants, and every time, I would complain that the pasta was not the exact way that I wanted.  Rome really spoiled me.  So she got me the pasta maker and sort of said, ‘Here you try it.’ 

So perhaps the gift was partially for her as well because she was sick of hearing me complain, but we both benefit from it now.  To my credit, she actually made a point to say that my pasta was way better than any restaurant we had ever been to.
 

Stainless steel is a steel alloy that has amazing properties perfect for cookware.  It is more rust, damage, and stain resistant than regular steel.  It is also more lightweight.  With proper care, your stainless steel cookware set can last a lifetime. 
  
Another benefit of stainless steel is that is does not use Teflon as a coating.  Teflon is now commonly understood to be a carcinogen and it is known to affect cancer cells inside a person’s body.  Use a metal that is safe to increase the healthy of your friends and loved ones.

Here is a delicious treat that’s sure to be a hit with your family and no special bakeware is needed to create these treats. We could not make enough of them for friends and family. Give them a try. I am sure you will agree with me that they are a winner!

Crust

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Topping

2/3 cup corn syrup
¼ cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 (12 oz.) package (2 cups) peanut butter chips
2 cups crisp rice cereal
2 cups salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except marshmallows at low speed until crumbly. Press firmly in bottom of an un-greased 13 X 9 inch pan

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven and bake for another 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows just begin to puff. Remove from oven to cool while you are preparing the topping.

In a large saucepan, combine all topping ingredients except cereal and peanuts; heat just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cereal and peanuts. Immediately spoon the warm topping over marshmallows and spread to cover. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars.

Makes 36 bars.

Copper cookware was one of the first utensils used for cooking, because of its excellent heat conductivity. Copper produces roughly ten times the heat conductivity of stainless steel and glass, and about twice the heat conductivity of aluminum. Copper does have its disadvantages; copper is a very soft metal and is highly susceptible to scratches, food high in acids will cause copper to tarnish and it will react to some foods. However, manufacturers have found solutions to these shortcomings.

Top quality copper cookware sets use a manufacturing process that bonds or laminates copper to stainless steel or other metals making it completely safe to use. As a result chefs around the world prefer copper because it’s durable and it has excellent characteristics. A copper cookware set is one of the best heat conductors for all of your cooking. Heat is conducted evenly to the copper pan, therefore less energy is needed, so you may need to reduce cooking times and temperature.

Copper cookware sets are more expensive than other cookware sets, but they are well worth the additional cost.  A good copper cookware set will last a lifetime and can be handed down to several generations. This is what makes copper cookware so appealing to families and professional chefs. It will outlast most any other utensil in your kitchen.

Keeping your copper cookware clean and well maintained is simple. Copper pastes are readily available making it a snap to clean. Properly maintained, copper will always look fabulous.  It’s no wonder owners of copper cookware hold them in such high regard.

A copper cookware set is a great value with many exciting benifits. The combination of style and functionality is outstanding and will add that upscale look to any kitchen.

Experience the difference of a home ground fresh hamburger. With a meat grinder you can choose the cut of meat you want, you can season it the way you want and you can enjoy it the way you want. In today’s society we seldom take the time to see what is in the prepared food we purchase; we seem to think that if we don’t look all will be well. Take a minute and really read the package the next time you purchase frozen hamburger patties in the supermarket. The sodium alone may shock you! Now is the perfect time to consider a meat grinder and to start eating healthier. Here is a great recipe for you to try.
 

Makes 6 Servings
Ingredients

1/2 cup honey mustard
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
2 tablespoons sodium-reduced soy sauce
1 pound lean ground beef
2 cups of cooked rice
1 egg, beaten
1/3 of a cup finely chopped bread & butter pickles
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon each of salt & pepper
6 pineapple rings
Lettuce
6 toasted hamburger buns
3 roasted red peppers, halved

1. In a large bowl mix the first four ingredients. Remove half of the mixture and reserve. Stir the next six ingredients into the remaining mustard mixture. Mix gently using hands; form into six 3/4 inch patties. Set aside.

2. Grease your grill and preheat to medium. Grill burgers, turning once, for 12 to 14 minutes. Brush with some of the reserved mustard mixture before removing from the grill.

3. Brush pineapple with remaining mustard mixture and grill until marked and tender. Stack pineapple and lettuce on the bottoms of the buns. Top with burgers, roasted red peppers and then cover with remaining buns.

Processing your own fresh meat at home is a great way to have control of the quality meat you and your family eat. You control the fat, salt and additives in your meat. A meat grinder is the perfect kitchen accessory for processing meat and are available in either manual or electric. If you intend to process a large amount of meat, then an electric meat grinder would be your best choice. Likewise, if you were processing small amounts of meat you may choose a manual meat grinder. Of course the electric meat grinder is more convenient and easier to use than the manual.

Many meat grinders are very versatile and come with accessories that turns your grinder into a sausage stuffer, a cookie maker, a shredder and a slicer; you can make relishes and of course hamburger. Manual meat grinders are designed to be clamped to your counter, or bolted to your counter. Electric meat grinders are compact in design; therefore they won’t take a large amount of space on your kitchen counter.

When using a meat grinder, meat needs to be cut into relatively small chunks and gristle should be removed or you may clog the grinder. Meat is put into the hopper, the top of the grinder, and is ground through a disc plate at the front of the grinder. These plates control the size of the grind, depending on your requirements.

The 3mm (3/32) plate is used for a fine grind, ideal for making extra fine hamburger or relishes.

The 4.5mm (or 3/16 inch) is used for making standard ground hamburger.

The 6mm (or almost 1/4 inch) creates medium coarse ground meat for sausage making.

The 10mm (or just over 3/8 inch) is ideal for coarse ground meat for sausage making.

The 12mm (or almost 15/32 inch = almost 1/2 inch) creates heavy coarse ground meat for sausage making.

When cleaning your grinder there are few things to remember. First of all, when cleaning an electric grinder do not immerse in water, but instead clean with a damp cloth. The non-electric parts can be cleaned in hot, soapy water, then rinse and dry thoroughly. Parts are made of cast iron or steel, which will rust. After drying coat them with cooking oil or a recommended food grade lubricant. If rust does appear, scour it off and oil the part.

For grinding you may choose a #8 meat grinder which will grind approximately 1-2 Lbs of meat per minute, or a #10 meat grinder which will grind approximately 2-3 Lbs of meat per minute. Now we move up to the larger grinders - a #22 meat grinder will grind approximately 3-4 Lbs of meat per minute and a #32 grinder will grind approximately 5 Lbs of meat per minute.

So whether you are hunter, or if you track down your dinner in the supermarket isles, there is a meat grinder to suit your needs.