Wood chips are very small pieces of wood that are added to your BBQ to create smoke. If you’re not already using wood to cook your food, the only way you’re going to get true smoke flavor is to add wood to your grill fire.

Using BBQ wood chips can send your grilling into the stratosphere. Whether you use a charcoal, gas or electric grill, wood chips will give you authentic barbecue flavor. There are special smoker boxes that can be placed in your gas and charcoal grills to add that special wood smoke flavor. Read the instructions for your particular grill before you try doing this.

When you use wood chips, take care to keep them burning quite slowly. This creates intense bursts of smoke that can make food bitter. If you soak wood chips in water for about 15 minutes before you use them, you’ll slow down their burn and make them smoke more. Make sure you let the wood drip dry for a few minutes before you add it to the fire. Ideally, your wood chips will be damp but not saturated.

When using a small smoker in your grill you don’t necessarily have to soak your BBQ wood chips first. Soaked wood chips will burn longer, but if you’re cooking a steak, you probably don’t want a long, slow grilling.

Wood chips are available in a large range of varieties that cater to all tastes. You can try cabernet, hickory or mesquite. The stores that sell BBQ wood chips will have flavor guides to help you wade your way through the new age of wood chips.

In general, the lighter the meat, the milder the wood chip you need to use. You can also try “heavier” flavors with lighter meats, though, such as using mesquite with chicken, but start with fewer wood chips.

If you choose alder wood chips, these are great to use with pork or seafood. The flavorful fruitwoods go best with veal, poultry and pork. Fruit woods include apple and cherry.

Maple and hickory BBQ wood chips have a strong flavor and are best used with beef, pork and poultry. Lamb, duck and beef also are great meats to use with mesquite wood chips, while beef or ham go well with oak wood chips, which is another strong flavor.

But remember that barbecuing is all about the meat. A substandard cut of meat is not going to be improved significantly by the wood chip you use. Make sure your meat or chicken is fresh and from a reputable butcher.

Don’t settle for just a plain old grilled steak or bland chicken breast cooked on bare coals - cook like a pro and enjoy the vibrant aromas and flavors that come from cooking with BBQ wood chips.

Learning to use a variety of fresh ingredients instead of canned, packaged or frozen can not only make your meals taste better but they will also be healthier. A cooking school also teaches how to properly slice, dice, and chop (without loosing a finger!)  A cooking class will add to your vocabulary many new words such as “demi glace,” “gratineed,” and “braising” etc. If you have the right tools and techniques you can serve up some top notch dishes.  Won’t your family and friends be surprised.

Several well known and respected chefs now have many of their recipes available online or in beautiful cookbooks.  Many cooking schools have been started by some of these cooks allowing you to learn more about them as well as their unique styles of cooking.  A creative cooking school will encourage you to step out of the box and develop your own fine cooking skills. Perhaps someday we will see you on TV slicing and dicing your way to fame.

Many of us do not have all day to prepare dinner for our families because of work and other obligations. A cooking class provides you with new shortcuts and other techniques to use to help improve the quality and taste of the food and the time it takes to prepare it. Instead of marinating all day on low heat, you could use a crock pot and set it on low when you leave for work in the morning. There is very little to do to finish preparing the meal when you arrive home.

Cooking classes also offer you a way to learn how to shop for and prepare many different ethnic foods. Recipes from far away places are a great way to bring your family together while enjoying preparing and trying them right in your own home. Save the money that would have been spent at a an ethnic restaurant and cook together as a family with the tools and techniques taught at a culinary class.

Main courses are not the only recipes taught at these classes but also classic and impressive desserts. Cooking schools also offer many dessert classes as well. Perhaps all you would like to do is learn how to decorate a cake like a pro. Sign up for a cake decorating class. Cooking classes also emphasize the social aspect of cooking. Sharing a large kitchen at the school with several other students who also enjoy cooking and have a desire to hone their skills is a great place to meet people.

There is another added bonus to cooking classes and schools that you may want to consider. If creative cooking is your passion, these classes could open you up to a new career or business idea. I have met people that came for a specific purpose which had nothing to do with a business, ended up taking what they learned in class and put it to work for them. While at first they did it part-time, they eventually found they had their own very successful business.

If you want learn how to make and decorate a special cake for a family member, cater small dinner parties or possibly do something big like open a restaurant start by enrolling in a creative cooking class.  You will gain all the skills needed to fulfill your desires.

The Dry Forces

The dry forces were led by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. They argued that alcohol was responsible for a number of serious social problems, including child abuse and wife beating. Then the industrialists butted in. For one, Henry Ford was concerned about alcohol cutting down labor productivity. The dry forces succeeded and thus, the ratification of the 18th movement. But that wasn’t for too long. There’s no stopping the silent public from fighting for their booze.

Failed Enforcement

The advocates of the prohibition made a mistake. They felt that a small administrative apparatus was enough to keep the law running, with the federal government setting up a team of only 2,500 agents. They proved themselves wrong, with bootlegging and smuggling going widespread.
And there was the issue of budget. The Congress appropriated only $5 million for enforcement. But the government later estimated that the enforcement would need $300 million.

A Few States Tried to Help

A number of states tried to contribute to the enforcement of the Prohibition. Vermont required identification of the source of alcohol for those who were found to be drunk. Indiana went as far as to ban the sale of hip flasks and cocktail shakers.

The Supply Kept Going

Speakeasies, rum runners, bathtub gin, moonshine, speakeasies and bootleggers made sure that there was a constant supply of alcohol. The total number of speakeasies overran that of the legal bars (those that operated before the Prohibition). And people at home learned to concoct their own wine and beer. It was also easy to get a doctor to sign prescriptions for medicinal whiskey available at drugstores.

Noble Experiment

The Prohibition eventually proved itself to be nothing more than a noble experiment. Some even refer to it as the government’s misguided effort.

Pre-Prohibition Levels

Everything inevitably went back to pre-Prohibition levels. And I’m certainly happy that I get to enjoy these sunshiny times. I get to carry my flask around without worrying about getting caught. My cigar flask is just too fabulous to be left in some closet. And I just love how flasks make for cheap groomsmen gifts. They’re heaven-sent for someone who attends a lot of weddings.
Bottom line is, I just can’t live without booze.

Seltzer water is a cheap alternative to all the different bottled sparkling water that is currently on the market. The initial outlay for a seltzer machine may be quite high but it is more environmentally friendly as the number of plastic bottles being thrown away is significantly reduced, plus the canisters that contain the carbon dioxide care sent back to SodaStream who recycle them so they can be used again and again.

Flavoured sparkling water has become very popular over the years as more and more people move away from soda because of health issues associated with their ingredients. Soda Club are the company behind the seltzer maker known as SodaStream, they also produce a range of 25 different flavoured syrups called SodaMix that can be mixed in and enjoyed with the sparkling water. These syrups are a great alternative to low calorie pop. Although they taste good they contain artificial sweeteners that are not good for you. If you are looking for a healthier option, there are a large assortment of calorie free flavourÕs to flavour sparkling water for a great taste sold at http://allfreightfree.com. Unlike SodaMix, these flavours contain absolutely no fruit concentrate or sweeteners, just the flavour so you get great refreshment without any extra calories.

Fizzy water is a healthier beverage than other carbonated drinks such as soda or its diet equivalent. You can keep homemade seltzer water fizzy for long periods of time by investing in a seltzer dispenser. These bottles are pressurized in order to keep the water inside from going flat. They use a valve to release the water a bit like an aerosol can.

Seltzer water has a number of things going for it: The technology has advanced considerably since the 1980Õs and now seltzer machines are far more capable of producing good sparkling water, It is very easy to make as the seltzer machines do everything for you, it is very environmentally friendly, it is economically viable as the cost of the machine is offset by the fact that you can make as much seltzer water as you like, the flavours have got better over time with more and more companies entering the market with their own even healthier brands, and of course the fact that it is better for your health compared with traditional sodas.

As of right now though, there is no hard evidence that the bottled drinking water company is aware of any true problems with drinking their water on a regular basis. But a person does have to wonder just where exactly are these companies getting their water and is it really any better then the water you would get through a filtered tap? There are a lot of products on the market for filters that attach to the faucet in the kitchen and they may do just as good if not better then the bottled drinking water company.

What You Can Do

If you want to be the judge for yourself and see if the bottled drinking water company that you are using regularly is better then the water you can get from your faucet, there are things you can do. There are kits out there on the market that can help you test not only your tap water, but also the water from the bottled drinking water company. You can take those two tests and compare to see how much better the water from the bottled drinking water company is for you and your overall health.

Then, if you get a filter attachment for your home sink and test that water, you can then test it against the water from the bottled drinking water company. In the end, you may be surprised to see which of the waters is better and safer for you to drink. You may find that you can save yourself a lot of money filtering your own water instead of paying the bottled drinking water company for water that you could have gotten yourself. Do the tests and make a decision for yourself and in the end you will be much better off health wise and pocket book wise.

Otherwise known as “The Green Fairy” or “La Fee Verte”, Absinthe was the drink associated with La Belle Epoque and Bohemian Paris. It was given to French soldiers in the 1840s to treat malaria and they brought the drink home with them. Absinthe bars opened all over Paris and special Absinthe hours or “L’heure verte” took place daily. By the middle of the 19th century Pernod, distillers of Absinthe, were making over 30,000 liters of Absinthe every day for the French people to buy!

About Absinthe History

Legend says that Dr Pierre Ordinaire created Absinthe in the Swiss town of Couvet in the 18th century as an elixir or tonic for his patients. The Absinthe recipe eventually got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who first distilled Absinthe in Couvet and then later in Pontarlier, France under the name of Pernod Fils.

Pernod used a wine base and various herbs including common wormwood (artemisia absinthium), aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica, dittany, star anise, nutmeg and juniper.

Famous drinkers of the Green Fairy were Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Degas, Gauguin, Verlaine and Baudelaire.

Absinthe became more popular than wine, In France, and the prohibition movement campaigned to get Absinthe banned because:-

- Thujone, in wormwood, was thought to be similar to THC in cannabis and thought to be psychoactive.
- Absinthe was linked with the loose morals of the artists, writers and courtesans of Montmartre.
- Absinthe was thought to have psychedelic effects, to cause hallucinations, convulsions and to drive people insane.

It was even claimed that an Absinthe drinker murdered his whole family – just the excuse that the prohibition movement were looking for to persuade the government to ban Absinthe. The buying, selling and consumption of Absinthe in France was made illegal in France in 1915 and in many other countries around this time.

Many studies have shown that Absinthe, including vintage Absinthe, only contains very small amounts of thujone and is perfectly safe to drink. Absinthe has been legalized in many countries since the 1990s and here has been an Absinthe revival in many countries, including the USA who have only recently allowed a few brands to go on sale.

About Absinthe Essences

To enjoy Absinthe, you can either order bottles of Absinthe online or you can make your own Absinthe using essences from AbsintheKit.com. These essences are used by the Absinthe industry and are made using traditional herbal ingredients such as wormwood, aniseed and fennel. Simply mix with either Everclear or vodka to make your very own Absinthe. There are four different types of essence available.

About Absinthe Preparation

The correct way to prepare Absinthe is to follow the ritual:-

- Pour 25-50ml Absinthe into an Absinthe glass.
- Rest a slotted Absinthe spoon on the top of the glass.
- Place a sugar cube on the spoon.
- Drip iced water over the sugar using an Absinthe fountain or pour slowly from a carafe.
- Watch the Absinthe louche.
- Drink your wonderful Absinthe drink.

I hope you have now learned all about Absinthe, the mysterious drink with a very interesting past and a great taste.

A closet can easily be turned into a mini wine cellar to store your growing wine collection.

Before you begin converting your closet into a wine cellar consider the position of the closet relative to the rest of the house.

It is preferable to not turn a closet built against an outside wall into a wine cellar. The outside walls of your house or apartment can often be subject to wide fluctuations in temperature from summer to winter. Select an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a stable atmosphere.

The speed and the degree of the temperature change are critical elements to successfully storing and aging wine. A gradual change of a few degrees between summer and winter won’t matter. A similar change each day will harm your wines by ageing them too rapidly.

The most important rule when storing wine is to avoid large temperature changes or fluctuations. You’ll notice damage of this nature straight away from the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. Over time the continual expansion and contraction of the wine will damage the integrity of the cork. It’s like having the cork pulled in and out again every day. When this happens, minute quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork (between the cork and the bottle neck) allowing air to seep back in. Once air comes in contact with your wine the irreversible process of oxidation will begin and your wine will be ruined.

At 55º to 58ºF the wine will age as the winemaker intended, enabling it to fully develop. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow the ageing process. Irreversible damage will occur if your wine is stored at a temperature above 82ºF for a month or more.

The most difficult part of creating a wine cellar in a closet can be finding other places to store the original contents of the closet! Be strong … sell / give away / auction / move all the present contents and start with an empty space!

Wine racks can be purchased quite inexpensively from a hardware store, online retailer or storage shop and you’ll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar.

Wine rack designs will vary in bottle density; price variations are more to do with aesthetics than efficiency.

Individual racking is generally thought to be the most convenient way of storing and selecting your bottles. If you have racks against only one wall of the closet you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case.

cooking vacations
Cooking vacations do not mean that you will be attending the best culinary schools in the country. On the contrary, these vacations do not offer you a certificate. They do offer you the opportunity to learn regional cuisine and have a fun time. The French tours will not be hosted in French cooking schools and neither will the Italy tour be hosted in Italian cooking schools.

Now for what these best culinary schools are and what they mean to you as the vacationer. You can expect several different programs and options when booking one of these vacations. They include: Italian tours, women only tours, Todd English tours, kids programs, corporate tours, couples and French tours.

le cordon bleu college
The website has a listing of each different location that is offered on each particular tour. You may want to visit Southern Italy and feast in the open air kitchens that offer far more than just a scenic view. The one thing in common with all of the programs is that each locale features an organic garden so that you will be cooking seasonal foods and foods indigenous to that particular region.

The website also offers recipes from the different regions, as well as travel tips and much, much more. If you are a fan of Italian and French cooking, then this may be the le cordon bleu college that you have dreamed of taking. It is a great opportunity to learn more about the regions and to have the chance to cook in the kitchens of such places as rustic farmhouses or luxurious estates.

best culinary schools
Lauren Scruncio Birmingham had a dream and a plan when coming up with her cooking vacations tours. It was a love of food and a way of life that she wanted to share with other people, and was passed down to her through the generations of her family.

People love the idea of learning simple yet outstanding dishes created by the people who eat them every day. It is that love of cooking that has people returning year after year to take the different tours. As she says, “la dolce vita is not just a special vacation it is a way of life.”

People who order a Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza are astonished when they get a pizza made with home-made mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and freshly-prepared pizza sauce, and that too within 20 minutes! So, you can imagine how eagerly people wait for a location of the franchisor to open in their vicinity! Hence, cash into the opportunity and buy a franchise from the company before the market is all sold out. At present, there are more than 47 franchised units of the company and it is poised to grow more in the coming five years. So, you can understand why Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza is getting such good reviews as a franchise concept from leading franchise magazines!

The training and support system of Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza is at par with any of the top franchises in the industry. You will get a 5-week long training program that will make you ready for the industry even if you don’t have any previous experience in this field. The expert teams of franchise representatives will take over the moment you sign the franchise agreement. There will be real-estate selection and lease negotiation help as well. The associated contractors of Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza will help you to get your location ready according to the designs and format of the franchisor.

brandEXPANSION is the leading full-service franchise opportunity company. We maintain four websites—brandEXPANSION.com, FirstPrizeFranchise.com, brandexpansionhotpress.com and FranchiseUltraLounge.com—designed to help franchisors maximize their brand exposure and reach potential franchisees. Franchisees using these sites can gain more information about the franchise industry and more than 400 of the hottest concepts.

For more information on this popular concept, look into http://pizza-franchises.brandexpansion.com/garlic-jims/