Important Ingredients And Supplies For Baking

Great dinners do not always require advanced planning. Sometimes, you just have to wing it with what you have on hand. If you keep your pantry and refrigerator stocked with some basic supplies – and a few surprises – you will never be at a loss when you have to whip up something great for dinner with very little notice. Here is a list of baking supplies to keep on hand at all times so that you will never be caught by surprise without something to cook for dinner.

In the Pantry

At a minimum, you should have unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour and cake flour stocked in your pantry. In addition to being the base for breads and cakes, flour can be used to whip up a batch of fresh pasta, spaetzle or dumplings in no time at all. Use it to make gravies and sauces that can transform a meal from commonplace to sublime.

Cornstarch makes smooth gravies and is an ideal thickener for sauces, stews and stir fries. In addition, when you need an emergency dessert, cornstarch, milk, vanilla and sugar or sweetener make a quick, impressive “from-scratch” vanilla pudding.

Sugar substitutes are convenient to have on hand, especially if you are trying to cut down on sugar in your meals. They are ideal for use in sweet and sour sauces, desserts, drinks and other recipes that call for sugar.

Flavored oils have been popular in gourmet circles for years, and they have finally made their way to the supermarket shelves. Chili, lemon, pepper, orange and basil are just a few of the flavored oils you can tuck into your cupboard to add flavor to simple dishes. Try using them in stir fries and salad dressings, or as a base for marinade. Also consider olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil and grapeseed oil.

Flavored vinegars, including balsamic vinegar, red and white wine vinegar, herb or fruit infused vinegars and cider vinegar are all great additions to the well-stocked pantry. Pick up one or two each week when you do the grocery shopping, and you will soon have a full selection of vinegars to experiment with.

Other baking ingredients to keep in your pantry include canned unsweetened juices, unsweetened fruit spreads, raisins, dried fruits, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, cocoa powder, salt, kosher salt and sea salt, whole peppercorns (so much better freshly ground than pre-ground), cream of tartar, baking soda, vanilla and other flavored extracts as well as cooking sprays. Canned tomato paste is incredibly versatile and can be used in a huge variety of recipes from soup to dessert.

Dried beans, especially lentils, cook up quickly with brown rice and vegetables. A variety of grains like couscous, quinoa, cornmeal, rolled oats and kasha make delicious sides or alternatives to rice and potatoes.

Pasta in a variety of shapes – bow-ties, angel hair, linguine, shells and elbows may all be pasta, but they each show off the flavor of different dishes best.

Rice is another 'bland' ingredient that has a lot of character, especially if you branch out to some of the more exotic varieties. Basmati and jasmine rice are just two varieties of rice that can elevate a rice dish to new heights. Of course, plain white rice is great as a side dish, under a stir fry, tossed into a soup or simmered into a delicious dessert.

In the Refrigerator

Eggs and egg substitutes are a must to have on hand at all times. They are one of the most versatile and useful ingredients in your kitchen.

Important dairy products to stock in your refrigerator include margarine, low fat or fat free sour cream and fat free plain yogurt. Low fat, skim or 1% milk is another ingredient that is important to have on hand.

A fresh lemon and a fresh lime, orange juice, applesauce and apple juice can be used to enhance flavor or sweetness.

Carrots and bagged salads are the two packaged convenience foods that can be worth the extra cost. Whole peeled baby carrots and matchstick carrots cost a little more than buying them and cutting them yourself, but you will save time and perhaps eat more carrots. You will always have them ready to be tossed into a simmering dish to add color and flavor.

Bagged salad is another convenience that is worth paying for – but skip the ones that come with prepared dressings. When all you have to do to make a salad is pull a handful out of the bag and add embellishments, the whole family will be far more likely to eat their greens more often.

In the Freezer

Stick with frozen fruits and vegetables with no sauces or seasonings. They make quick work of stir fries, can be added by the handful to rice dishes or quickly steamed in the microwave as side dishes.

Individually frozen chicken breasts and thighs, and individually frozen, unbreaded fish fillets are great for quick, delicious dinners.

Keep these baking supplies and basic food stocks on hand at all times, and chances are you will never be trapped without something to cook for dinner. Who knows, you might expand your diet and taste palette at the same time.

Know About Baby Shower Cakes

Baby showers are usually prepared and arranged by the relatives and close friends of the parents-to-be. They are a fabulous way to help parents get started with the things that they require for the new baby. Note, however, that there are some cultures and churchgoing notions that do not consider it proper and that it is considered ill luck to have a party and bring baby things in the house before the baby is born.

It is popular for a baby shower to have a theme, to which the entire party focuses on. Baby shower essentials typically include games, presents, and food and a cake! A party is not complete without the well decorated and yummy cake, and this also applies to most baby showers today.

Cakes are one of the great things about baby showers, and they can be made using several basic techniques, such as the following:

1. All-in-together - this is done by placing the dry elements in a food mixer before gradually adding the liquid ingredients.

2. Creaming technique - this is done by 'creaming' butter and sugar together before gradually adding the remainder of the ingredients.

3. Rubbing technique - this is accomplished by 'rubbing' the butter into the dry ingredients before adding the liquid ones.

4. Melt-and-mix - this is accomplished by first mixing the dry ingredients together, adding the dissolved butter and the different liquid ingredients later on to complete the cake.

5. Sponge-making - this is done by whisking the eggs and sugar into a froth, with the flour slowly merged in. Making a light sponge cake requires some skill; there are no raising agents or fat involved as it does not use any. Completed cakes are usually heightened with the aid of frosting or toppings such as sprinkles or decorative icing as well as candy pieces.

Apart from the cake assortments above, there are likewise a lot of baby shower cake themes that can make a baby shower festivity more special to the mother-to-be:

1. Belly Cake Theme. One super thought is to design a baby shower cake and make it seem like a pregnant mother’s stomach belly. This can be achieved by putting a roundish cake in front of a rectangular cake and frosting them together to look like that of an expectant stomach.

2. Toy Blocks Baby Shower Cake. Another idea is to design a baby shower cake and make it look like babies play blocks (either one big cube or 3 to 4 smaller blocks). Toy block cakes can be even more exaggerated by fencing them with lollies or small toy motorcars.

Of course, you can also experiment and strive to come up with inventive thoughts of your own. Think that the 'goal' is not only to create a tasty sweet, but as well a special centrepiece that will stand out in the thoughts of the parents-to-be.

Feed Your Family On A Budget

We could save a lot of money if we just did not need to eat. Unfortunately, that is not an option. Eating is a very critical part of our well-being and is unavoidable. Therefore, shopping for food is a necessary part of living. There are many things we can do, however, to help cut the food bill and keep as much of our hard earned money in our pockets rather than in the merchant's cash register.

Here are just a few tips to help you save money when you shop for groceries.

1) Plan your menus: Whether you shop weekly, biweekly or monthly having your menus planned in advance will help you save both time and money. Check your pantry for items on the list that you already have. This will cut down on the unnecessary expense of purchasing an item you don't need.

2) Stay organized: Organizing your pantry and checking expiration dates will help determine what you need to stock up on.

3) Stick to your list: Be sure everything you need is on your list and stick to it. The only exception to this is if you find an unadvertised sale for items that you normally use.

4) Clip coupons: Combining grocery coupons with weekly sales can make a huge difference in your grocery bill. Watch the prices though because sometimes you will find another brand cheaper even without a coupon.

5) Cut back on meat: One or two meatless dishes a week is a great way to stretch your budget.

6) Buy in bulk: Stock up on big packs of meat and poultry and divide into meal size portions to freeze.

7) Be creative with leftovers: Finding creative ways to serve leftovers is a great way to stretch your budget.

8) Cook for a month: Set aside one Saturday a month and prepare all your meals for that month. You can cook them or just prepare them for cooking. Package them in freezer bags or air tight containers and store them in the freezer. This will save you money as well as much of your valuable time.

Use some or all of these tips to help you stretch your budget each month. Then you can use your hard earned money for more important things.

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Tasty and Healthy Italian Food

Nowadays Italian food becomes popular day after day in the world. People of each country started to like this food. If you are one of them that as pastes much then you must like this making cook because it is one of the principal ingredients of the majority of the receipts. As with all ethnic foods, this which eats employs its own group of spices. They are a certain number of the most popular spices which are employed in this cooking; these spices are garlic, oregano, basil and thyme. If you will then employ fresh spices in your cooking of him will add really a special contact to any dish, but if you cannot find fresh and then you can employ dry spice. You can buy these spices in minor amount and you do not need to maintain them stored in a fresh and dark place, not above your furnace on a support.

The heart of this which makes cook or which eats is the use of the ingredients. These ingredients are available in every season. These ingredients are employed to change the ordinary articles into soup and desert, principal dish, sauce, bread, side dish, works of art in the form of pastes. The possibilities are gathering without end and very enthralling. If you are in love really Italian with food then you must buy cookbooks so that you can easily increase the taste of your food. They are a certain number of books of receipt which have images of the dish carried out so that you able knowledge so that to resemble it would have. These books can help you much if you never saw the dish anywhere. It is really the best to follow a receipt when you initially start to learn a new receipt but to don't either panic to be started to downwards try out once you to have the foundations.

Following are some ingredients that you need to have in your grocery list.

1) Tomato Sauce:
The tomato sauce is one of the important ingredients. You do not need must buy the expensive tomato sauce. The national mark or the mark house with your close local grocer will be good in your Italian dish. Try not to buy from the "pre-seasoned" blends, as you will be adding your own spices and herbs.

2) Pasta:
They - are strongly recommended that you should buy an enormous quantity of no specific paste. It is preferable to keep a minor amount of the most regular types such as broad egg noodle, the large ones and small shells, the macaronis of elbow, the linguine and sheaths it. It will be good if you have storage so that you can maintain long noodles in a long container. Moreover, you can find much manufacturers of Tupperware who are particularly design to preserve the pastes to maintain freshness inside.

3) Parmesan Cheese:
The coldly rectified Parmesan is always a welcome addition to the top of any Italian dish though it cannot always be necessary in the ingredients of the receipt which you make cook. The famous mark of cheese, Kraft, has a product with a block of cheese in its container with its grater.

4) Olive oil:
The olive oil is also one of the integral parts of ingredients. One of the errors that many Italian amateurs of food make employs the expensive olive oil for things like pan-making fry. Using the standard olive oil, which is yellow colors, is just very well for this.

Things To Remember for A Budget Travel

Nine Delicious Salmon Recipes

Boiled salmon.
Ingredients:- 6 oz. of salt to each gallon of water, sufficient water to cover the fish.

Mode:- Scale and clean the fish, and be particular that no blood is left inside; lay it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, adding salt in the above proportion. Bring it quickly to a boil, take off all the scum, and let it simmer gently till the fish is done, which will be when the meat separates easily from the bone. Experience alone can teach the cook to fix the time for boiling fish; but it is especially to be remembered, that it should never be under dressed, as then nothing is more unwholesome. Neither let it remain in the kettle after it is sufficiently cooked, as that would render it insipid, watery, and colourless. Drain it, and if not wanted for a few minutes, keep it warm by means of warm cloths laid over it. Serve on a hot napkin, garnish with cut lemon and parsley, and send lobster or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter to table with it. A dish of dressed cucumber usually accompanies this fish.

Time. 8 minutes to each lb. for large thick salmon; 6 minutes for thin fish.

Note. Cut lemon should be put on the table with this fish; and a little of the juice squeezed over it is considered by many persons a most agreeable addition. Boiled peas are also, by some connoisseurs, considered especially adapted to be served with salmon.

Salmon and caper sauce.
Ingredients:- 2 slices of salmon, 1/4 lb. batter, 1/2 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, 1 shallot; salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste.

Mode:- Lay the salmon in a baking-dish, place pieces of butter over it, and add the other ingredients, rubbing a little of the seasoning into the fish; baste it frequently; when done, take it out and drain for a minute or two; lay it in a dish, pour caper sauce over it, and serve. Salmon dressed in this way, with tomato sauce, is very delicious.

Time. About 3/4 hour.

Collared salmon.
Ingredients:- A piece of salmon, say 3 lbs., a high seasoning of salt, pounded mace, and pepper; water and vinegar, 3 bay-leaves.

Mode:- Split the fish; scale, bone, and wash it thoroughly clean; wipe it, and rub in the seasoning inside and out; roll it up, and bind firmly; lay it in a kettle, cover it with vinegar and water (1/3 vinegar, in proportion to the water); add the bay-leaves and a good seasoning of salt and whole pepper, and simmer till done. Do not remove the lid. Serve with melted butter or anchovy sauce. For preserving the collared fish, boil up the liquor in which it was cooked, and add a little more vinegar. Pour over when cold.

Time. 3/4 hour, or rather more.

Curried salmon.
Ingredients:- Any remains of boiled salmon, 3/4 pint of strong or medium stock, 1 onion, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1 teaspoonful of Harvey's sauce, 1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, 1 oz. of butter, the juice of 1/2 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.

Mode:- Cut up the onions into small pieces, and fry them of a pale brown in the butter; add all the ingredients but the salmon, and simmer gently till the onion is tender, occasionally stirring the contents; cut the salmon into small square pieces, carefully take away all skin and bone, lay it in the stew pan, and let it gradually heat through; but do not allow it to boil long.

Time. 3/4 hour.

Salmon cutlets.
Cut the slices 1 inch thick, and season them with pepper and salt; butter a sheet of white paper, lay each slice on a separate piece, with their ends twisted; broil gently over a clear fire, and serve with anchovy or caper sauce. When higher seasoning is required, add a few chopped herbs and a little spice.

Time. 5 to 10 minutes.

Salmon a la genevese.
Ingredients:- 2 slices of salmon, 2 chopped shalots, a little parsley, a small bunch of herbs, 2 bay-leaves, 2 carrots, pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 4 tablespoonfuls of Madeira, 1/2 pint of white stock, thickening of butter and flour, 1 teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, the juice of 1 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.

Mode:- Rub the bottom of a stewpan over with butter, and put in the shalots, herbs, bay-leaves, carrots, mace, and seasoning; stir them for 10 minutes over a clear fire, and add the Madeira or sherry; simmer gently for 1/2 hour, and strain through a sieve over the fish, which stew in this gravy. As soon as the fish is sufficiently cooked, take away all the liquor, except a little to keep the salmon moist, and put it into another stewpan; add the stock, thicken with butter and flour, and put in the anchovies, lemon-juice, cayenne, and salt; lay the salmon on a hot dish, pour over it part of the sauce, and serve the remainder in a tureen.

Time. 1-1/4 hour.