Here’s another tasty recipe from my private collection. Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS

4 chicken leg quarters, skinned

2 large cans chicken broth

1 small package saffron yellow rice

1 small package Velveeta cheese

1/2 pint heavy cream

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground rosemary

1 tsp. poultry seasoning, preferably Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic

2 tsp. dried minced onions

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tblsp. flour or cornstarch

In a large pot place chicken broth, garlic, rosemary, poultry seasoning, minced onions and pepper. Add chicken. Cover pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to active simmer. Cook for 40 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, prepare rice according to package instructions.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

When chicken is done, remove from pot and save pot contents. Place chicken in lightly buttered baking dish and put in oven to crisp for about 15 minutes – keep an eye on it to avoid overdoing the crisping.

While chicken is baking, strain liquid in the pot, then return the liquid to the pot. Pour off all but about 3 cups of the remaining liquid.

Cut Velveeta into small pieces to aid melting. Add cheese to the pot. Add the heavy cream. Over medium heat, stir thoroughly until the mixture is smooth. Mix flour or cornstarch with a small amount of warm water to smooth, then add a little at a time to thicken the sauce, while stirring constantly. Mixture should be thick enough to pour slowly.

Place a bed of rice on each plate, place 2 leg quarters on top of the rice and smother thoroughly with the sauce.

Serves 2.

Once upon a time, in a different world,  housewifes would have to watch the most basic coffee brewing process as water was heated till pressure forced it up a little tube and over a basket full of grounds. Well, it was entertaining to observe whether or not the coffee could not be amazing. Boiling coffee and running the liquid over grounds more than once can each produce a brew less than ideal.

Then in the 1970s, as with so many things, the life of the coffee lover changed forever. The drip technique - cheap, quick and even an improvement in taste - came to dominate the scene. A cup of grounds thrown in a plastic container over filter paper, a little while of virtually boiling water dripping over the result and - voila. In the ’90s, espresso makers became the rage, with the importation of EU culture and the appliance of Yankee ingenuity to lower the price tag without ruining the flavour.

Hot water is forced under stress thru finely ground dark roast and in a little while, out pours a tasty, savoury drink. Add steamed, frothy milk and you have got a cappuccino or latte, depending on the proportion of milk to coffee. A definite improvement and the variety of espresso coffee makers makes for pleasant experiments in chemistry. The French plunger is another device assisting the growth of EU techniques, anywhere open-minded coffee pioneers are seeking the new. A metal rod extends through the middle of a glass cylinder, where it is crowned with a handle. At the other end is a filter, fitting snugly within the container. Put grounds into the container and pour almost boiling hot water in. Unlike the drip technique, the grounds steep till the plunger is pressed. The result’s a dark, full-bodied brew served right from the device.

One of the more esoteric brew strategies uses the vacuum coffee maker brewer : 2 glass or metal bowls, one on top of the other. Heat causes water to rise into the higher, like the percolator principle. Take the heat and as the liquid cools a touch a partial vacuum is made, drawing the hot water thru the grounds and into the lower chamber. The method is a nice show at a dinner party and a splendidly fresh cup, since it can be carried out right at the table. Naturally, none of these techniques is actually new - most go back centuries in one form or another. Water is heated in a brass or copper container with a long handle and a grooved tongue. Finely ground coffee is added directly to the hot water and then poured, unfiltered. Any of these will produce a tasty cup, but all bring out particular facets of the ground. You’ll find a history lesson may also be a tasty taste tour.

When coming up with recipes and a menu schedule prior planning prevents future problems.  That is, if you take some time to think about the menu in advance, you’ll find that your recipe selection becomes a lot more varied and exciting.  Sure the food is important, but so is the atmosphere around the meal.  Everyone can enjoy the same basic food if it’s made into a variety of different meals.

Try ground beef.  Add some flour, vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and lettuce.  That’s a hamburger, right?  Well, it’s also tacos.  People consider them quite different even though hamburgers and tacos share a lot of basic food elements in common.  A single food can result in a lot of different recipes.  Let’s try another one.  We’ll consider chicken with potatoes.  Fried chicken and French fries aren’t too healthy.  Roasting both will save the waist line.  More riffs on the same basic song.  Chicken salad and chips make a good lunch.  Then there’s chicken pot pie.  There may not be potatoes with Chicken Teriyaki but the rice is also a starch.  A few basic foods can lead to great variety.

Try more than one meat.  Some vegetables along with chicken and steak grilled on skewers are yummy kebabs.  Steak and lobster can be very elegant for a parents only dinner date, or pretty basic to include the kids too at a family meal.  Some people even like to fry a turkey and serve fish and chips as an early appetizer.  It’s all made in the same deep fryer.

Where can people find more of these?  There are a lot of food shows on television, even an entire channel dedicated to food.  The shows have lots of cooking ideas, and even associated web sites where more cheap recipes can be found.  Try searching for dinner ideas on Yahoo or Google.  Nobody could every get through all the available info online.

You can find more info on preparing cheap meals.

For people without the space to build a wine cellar for wine storage a wine refrigerator can provide an ideal solution. A compact undercounter wine refrigerator will keep wines at the ideal wine temperature and it should be remembered that even those wines that are best served at room temperature should be stored in a cool environment to protect the integrity of the wine.

The advantage of dual zone wine refrigerators is their ability to store different types of wines within the same unit. It is recommended that white wines be stored between 46 and 54 degrees F and red wines at 54 to 64 degrees F. In addition to offering optimum temperature control, a wine refrigerator will also maintain the ideal humidity for wine storage.

The Best Way To Store Wine

All wine lovers understand that they must look after their wines and treat them with respect; this includes avoiding any vibration of the bottles to protect the wine. All quality wine refrigerators are vibration free and some will have LED interior lighting to further protect the wine from premature aging.

Even a low wattage bulb can increase the temperature in an enclosed space like a wine refrigerator. Wines should ideally be stored in darkness, so the use of LED lights that do not emit any appreciable heat will assist in creating a cooler and darker environment. However, it is always recommended that you only open the wine refrigerator when necessary.

Most wine refrigerators have metal racks on which the bottles can lie tilted slightly towards the opening end to ensure the corks remain in contact with the wine. Depending on the space available for a wine refrigerator – from compact undercounter units that can hold up to a dozen bottles to larger furniture-style units with a capacity to store many hundreds of bottles – a wine refrigerator can protect your wine collection from the temperature, humidity and vibration hazards that can alter taste, hasten aging and reduce the appeal of your wine.

From time to time you can purchase a discount wine refrigerator at a substantial saving at a closeout sale.

Remember that you can always look inside the oven to see how things are looking. Do not be afraid to pop the top. Usually this will not spoil the food. We aren’t dealing with a ‘pressure cooker’ here! Just remember not to do so too frequently as you will be releasing a lot of heat that is necessary for the food to cook properly.

Usually, steam escaping out from under the lid will imply that the heat is too much. Either reduce the heat or remove the pot until the coals have reduced some. Remember that heat regulation is often key with dutch oven recipes.

Try to turn the dutch oven about every 15 minutes. This will usually help reduce the browning of the foot in central areas and/or overcooking certain areas while undercooking other.

When you do rotate the dutch oven, turn it about 90 degrees. Try to stay rotating clockwise so that you do not accidentally rotate clockwise once, then counterclockwise the next. Effectively negating the rotation.

Always use caution when handling the dutch oven. Use mits or a thick towel to touch the pot as it can often hold heat for long periods of time and no one wants to burn themselves now do they?

Slightly more advance dutch oven cooking tips can involve using the briquettes properly. Adding, removing, or moving them usually be a way to adjust and/or monitor heat levels in the oven. This was the effective method when dutch ovens were frequently used, and we should learn the same if we want to be excellent campfire chefs!

When you become more comfortable cooking with dutch ovens, you can learn to stack and/or shuffle multiple ovens. This can be a bit advanced so keep it for later if you are new. But this ability will greatly increase food variety and decrease time spent cooking.

If you really want to become proficient at cooking easy dutch oven recipes, then you should take the time to watch how ‘old timers’ cook with dutch ovens, and take the time to learn from good old fasioned experience. The best way to learn is to do, and this is definitely true when it comes to easy dutch oven recipes

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There are some basic chicken nutrition facts that can be found on the Internet but they are really just educated guesses because there is no one set of chicken nutrition facts that are the same for all products.

There are luckily some brands out there that have the chicken nutrition facts printed right on the packaging. For those truly trying to watch what goes into their bodies, these brands are probably the best to go with some the facts are right there in front of you. The same goes for fast food nutrition facts, as it is always better to eat chicken from these places where you have easy access to the chicken nutrition facts. If you are not able to find the exact information in the chain, visiting their website may prove to be helpful.

More Things to Consider

Besides just thinking of the brands to pick from when shopping for chicken, make sure that you are remembering that chicken with the bone and skin tend to be a lot higher in fat then the other kinds. If you are not sure, just compare the chicken nutrition facts from two different brands as see for yourself.

Also, be careful of the serving size that is listed on the chicken nutrition facts, as it is not always the same for every single brand of chicken out there. No two brands are exactly the same so you have to be aware of the small print.

Since the chicken pieces in a package are not the same exact size, the serving size listed on the chicken nutrition facts is going to by weight instead of quantity. This means the only real way to figure out your exact serving size is to weigh the chicken. Only then can you properly use the chicken nutrition facts and be on your way to a healthier lifestyle. Within a few weeks, you are bound to notice the difference that paying attention can make in your life. Not only will you start to look a lot better but you'll also start to feel better too.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008  enacted November 12, 2008 by Spotajava Coffee is an Act of your gourmet coffee snob providing for several kinds of economic stimuli intended to boost the United States economy in 2008 and to avert or ameliorate an abuse or neglect of your taste buds.

The stimulus package was passed by the owner of spotajavacoffee.com on January 29, 2008, and in a slightly different version by the U.S. Senate on February 7, 2008. The Senate version was then approved in the House the same day. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on February 13, 2008.

The law provides for coffee discount codes to low and middle income U.S. coffee drinkers, discounts to stimulate coffee gift giving investment, and an increase in the limits imposed on coffee purchases eligible for purchase by you, new and current customers of spotajava coffee, your family members, friends associates and any/all others.

The total cost of this bill was projected at $152 billion for 2008 with an additional $124 billion to be spent over the next 10 years. This figure is subject to change depending on the economic climate and total participation of those involved.

So what can you do with it…I know…how bout you buy some great tasting coffee from spotajavacoffee.com, your taste buds will thank you with every sip.

Get your money saving discount codes for great tasting coffee right now by sending your name and email address to: customerservice@spotajavacoffee.com

Use subject line:  Economic Stimulus Act of 2008

In addition to being a current project, your economic stimulus package is also a path for ongoing and continuing savings.  The codes are subject to change from time to time, however it’s a simple matter of sending an email to get any discount code updates to be able to continue your savings for great tasting coffee

The word ‘beans’ is purposely in single-quote marks, since the thing that gets roasted and ground to make the drink isn’t actually a bean at all, it is a seed. Especially , it is the seed of a fruit that grows on trees that will simply reach twenty feet or more. Some wild varieties grow to over forty five feet or 15m.

The majority of those seeds come in a pair, though there’s a selection that produces only one ( the peaberry ). The berry resembles a cranberry, with a sweet pulp covered by a surface called a silverskin. In a band round the equator from roughly twenty-five degrees north or south, comes the overpowering majority of the Earth’s coffee output. Temperatures of between 60F ( 15C ) and 70F ( 21C ) are best as is rainfall of 6 inches each month or more. Loamy, good-draining soil is required and also useful is high humidity - lots of mist and cloud at the high elevations, over 3000 ft ( 915m ) for the good stuff.

At these elevations the oxygen content is lower, so that the trees take longer to grown up. The robusta, or coffea canephora, goes into making the bulk of coffee as it can be grown at lower altitudes and is more illness resistant. But it is the high-altitude coffea arabica that forms the base of a gourmet cup. Diffuse light and moderate winds are beneficial, both of which are occasionally produced by purposely growing in the shelter and shade. Against this, wine grapes like hot sun and plenty of it. Once planted, the tree takes about five years to grown up to first crop and even then a single tree will only make plenty for about 2 pounds ( one kilogram ) of coffee.

Those 2 pounds equal about two thousand coffee beans, ( correct or not, it is the standard term ), typically hand-picked by manual workers. Manual they could be, but ignorant they aren’t. Coffee bean cropping is a talent developed over time, where the picker learns to select good beans and drop the bad. The trees have broad, dark green leaves and produce a flower that resembles Jasmine. Some - in Brazil and Mexico, as an example, - blossom over a 6 to 8 week period. In nations that lie along the equator like Kenya and Colombia, though, a tree can have grown up berries growing alongside still ripening ones.

That is part of what makes picking such a specialty. Blossom to crop may cover a period of nearly 9 months depending on the weather and other factors and the cycle will be carried out for the life of the tree - about 20-25 years. With the best cultivation technology, a good crop will be between 6,600 lbs ( three thousand kg ) and 8,800 lbs ( four thousand kg ) per hectare. So, the next time you savor that brew, think about the long trip these coffee beans journeyed to reach your cup. It would make that high price appear less steep.

Organic certification for coffee beans, as well as other food products, is based on how the crop is grown.  There are strict standards for organic products that begin even before the crop is planted. 

Fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, and other chemicals can’t be used to protect the crops from damage, or to promote growth.  However, there are some organic products that can be used instead, as long as they’re on the approved list provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The soil being used must also be free from chemicals for three or more years.  This keeps the crop free from the chemicals and additives that may have been used in previous crops.

There must also be a buffer between the organic crops and any non-organic crops, which prevents any chemicals from cross contaminating the organic crops.  The site is also subject to routine inspections to make sure the standards are being maintained.

These are the most common standards for organic products, and there are others that may vary depending on where the coffee is grown.  Organic coffee is also often grown in the shade.  This prevents the sun from bleaching out the nutrients in the coffee, and a cover of shade helps prevent the erosion of topsoil, which occurs in many traditional crops.  The trees also provide homes to birds that can control the insect population without the use of pesticides.

Most people know organic coffee is better for the environment because of how it’s grown, but it also has health benefits that not everyone knows about.  Since coffee grown organically is free from chemicals and additives, the pure antioxidants and nutrients in the coffee are preserved, and then passed to you when you drink it.

Some people don’t buy organic coffee because of the cost difference, but since more and more companies are providing organic alternatives for their coffee, the cost difference is minimal.  The popularity has also provided a variety of coffee blends and flavors in organic, even decaffeinated blends.  Fortunately, most coffee companies now offer organic alternatives for popular blends, so it isn’t as difficult to drink green coffee as it once was.

For those who seek to live a greener lifestyle, coffee fits in nicely.  More and more coffee companies are growing organic beans to roast into different blends, and working to grow crops that are better for the environment, provide better coffee for their customers, and follow the evolving tradition of organic coffee.

If you’re a newbie to great tasting gourmet coffee or you just happen to like the taste of coffee from work, your local gas station, or even worse, starbucks,  the gourmet coffee snob suggests that you make like a tree…an leave…

I’m gonna drop a nugget of knowledge on you that if you want to keep your coffee innocence intact you may need to look away…you’ve been warned.

Most nearly all the coffee out there is stale.

The good news is that stale coffee is drinkable if you’ve never had truly fresh coffee. The bad news is that once you’ve tasted truly fresh coffee, you’ll be forever hooked…or put another way…

The difference between a rut and a groove is determined by how you feel about being in it…can I get a full coffee mug please!

It will make you weak-kneed every time you go to make a pot. Tingle right down to your toes. Thunder around your head like a funky aura. That’s because coffee, just a few days out of the roaster, is nature’s most flavorful drink - more complex than even wine - containing well over 900 flavor compounds to dance on and thrill your taste buds. But after a few weeks, you’d be lucky to see half that number.

Coffee is actually known by connoisseurs as a ’sweet’ beverage. If it’s bitter or flat, it’s too late.  But shush… you’re not supposed to know that. And who doesn’t want you to know? Coffee companies who make their living on convenience. Truly fresh coffee is a pain because you have to order it frequently.

~~Sherrill~~
the gourmet coffee snob sez
Always Drink Better Coffee
SpotaJava Coffee