Archive for the ‘ life ’ Category

Apple Spice Cake

Recently I ate at one of those small neighborhood restaurants whose fame spreads beyond the quartier and people come from other neighborhoods, as well as from other countries, to eat at because it is très reputé.

cake dusting

Le Repaire de Cartouche (99 rue Amelot) is one of those restaurants in Paris. It’s known for very good food and an especially compelling wine list. The prices aren’t too high (although not too low, either) and you can eat very well without spending the equivalent of a three-star restaurant.

dishofapples

Almost immediately after we sat done, something seemed up. Within moments of handing us our menus, the waiter asked if we were ready to order. I was with Maria Helm Sinskey, a well-regarded chef from the Bay Area and co-owner of a vineyard, with her husband. I’d chosen the restaurant because they’re known for excellent game dishes and I figured it was something she couldn’t easily get back in the states.

As she pondered the wine list, the waiter told us we had to order our meal before we could order wine. When we said we needed a moment to scan the interesting wine list, he quickly turned and scampered away in a huff.

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Thanksgiving in Paris…and above & beyond

olivier winetasting instructions

When folks ask me what the French do for Thanksgiving, I don’t think the word they’re expecting to hear are “Um, nothing.” And why should they? It’s not as though America shuts down for le 14 juillet.

Still, a few places around here do get into the spirit and you’ll see a few bags of cranberries at the market, a few more sweet potatoes piled up, and smart volaillers stocking whole turkeys, normally a rare site in France.

wine taster

Since it’s pretty much life-as-usual around here on the fourth Thursday of November, when a message from Olivier Magny of O-Château popped up in my Inbox earlier in the week, asking if I’d like to go to a wine-tasting, at 30,000 feet that day, I said, “Sure!”

So there I was, stepping out of my apartment, at 7:15 am Thanksgiving morning, heading to Orly airport to meet up with Olivier and his team of sommeliers.

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Learn How To Make Your Own Herbal Home Recipes

Evelyn Lim asked:


It is easy to learn how to make your own herbal home recipes. Herbal remedies are definitely a great way to treat any minor or common ailments that your family members may have. Just imagine the ease and convenience if you know how and what to do about treating open cuts, runny noses, fever, insect bites and back pain and best yet, in a natural way. You can, instead of reaching for your drug medication cabinet ever so often, be making your own herbal remedies that come right out of your kitchen or from your garden.

Here are a couple of basic herbal home recipes that you can try:

1. The easiest way to derive benefits from herbs is with consuming a herbal tea infusion. Herbal tea infusions can be made within a few minutes. Usually an infusion is made just like hot tea. Simply put the herb (or herbs) that you are working with into a pot that has a closed, tight-fitting lid. Then, pour hot water over the herbs and let them soak there for at least 10 minutes. Next, strain this by pouring it through a nylon sieve or a strainer into a coffee cup. Store the leftover infusion in a cool place so that you can heat it up again later. Nevertheless, you should try to drink herbal infusions fresh.

2. Herbal home remedies can also be made in the form of a decoction. Here, the active ingredients from the plant have to be more vigorously extracted than with an infusion. These herbal remedies are actually made from the twigs, barks, roots and berries. In order to make a decoction you will need to mash the herbs and then simmer it in water for about an hour. Next, remove the bark, twigs, roots or berries with a strainer. This can be drunk either hot or cold. Decoctions must be always consumed fresh.

3. Herbal remedies in the form of tinctures, are more difficult to make than the other methods of preparation. Place the herb that you are working with in a large jar and cover it with a mixture of vodka or rum and water. Please ensure that this mixture contains at least 25% alcohol. Seal the jar and then store in a cool, dry place for 2 weeks. You will also need to shake the jar occasionally. After 2 weeks, press the mixture through a wine press and collect the tincture in a jug. Once you have all of the mixture, use a funnel to strain the liquid into a dark bottle for storage.

4. Lastly, you can consume herbal remedies in the form of syrups. This goes well with kids! First, you need to heat about 2 cups of a standard herbal infusion in a medium-sized saucepan. Add approximately 500 grams of sugar or honey and then stir this mixture until the sweetener has completely dissolved. Let the mixture sit and cool. Then, pour the syrup into a dark bottle, seal it with a cork stopper and store it in a cool, dry location. You must not omit the cork stopper as syrups ferment quickly.

You can always seek the guidance of your local herbalist if you need more detailed instructions in the herbal home recipes. Your herbalist can also help you with your herb supplies. Of course, it will be useful to know what herbs to use for treating the various ailments. As a mother, there can be many unexpected crisis that I have to deal with on a day by day basis. Learning about how to make my own herbal home recipes has helped me save trips to my family medical doctor several times already!



Body for Life™

Shane Crafton asked:


When purchasing any weight loss product, it is important to do your research. Many people are exchanging their opinions about Body for Life on DietBlogTalk.com

For an additional source, check out Body for Life on the very popular Sensational.com

Overview of Body for Life™

Body for Life™ is a complete diet system designed to provide the dieter with the tools of exercise, nutrition, and supplements to accomplish weight loss goals. The Body for Life™ website is an important tool in their program. One can find recipes, exercise plans, and even quick tips about the program are available on the site. The recipes cover all three meals, deserts and snacks. There are articles about nutrition, recipes from other dieters, testimonies, and a blog by other users. Body for Life™ also offers a toll-free hotline for one to call and receive advice about the diet. Finally, one is free to shop online from Body for Life™ website.

Body for Life™ Products at a Glance

Body for Life has a plethora of products available including weight loss supplements, strength building supplements, proteins, videos, equipment, and books. These products range from infant nutrition to adults.

Body for Life™ Products in Detail

The main product in this diet is food. Body for Life™ devotes several pages of their website to helping the dieter build a healthy shopping list and cook healthy food. Some of the food includes whole wheat bread products, and lean meat such as chicken breast and turkey breasts. Other ingredients include low-fat dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables. Snacks include nutrition bars and shakes. The other main component is exercise. Body for Life™ delivers a serious workout regimen that is designed to help one burn calories and fat naturally. Exercise is probably the most difficult part of dieting—most of time people don’t know how to work out correctly. Body for Life™  provides a roadmap for the dieter to follow.

Positives

•    Body for Life™ is a complete diet and exercise program.

Negatives

•    The food and supplements can be quite expensive.

•    Following an exercise program without the help of a training partner is difficult.

•    Following a strict program often leaves people with a lack of motivation and allows one to grow bored with dieting and exercise.

Final Thoughts on Body for Life™

Body for Life™ is a systematic in its approach and has a proven track record. It helps people learn about diet, exercise, and provides a support community. There website is full of answers about exercise and nutrition. There are countless recipes to keep nutrition at the front of the diet. The supplement products endorsed by Body for Life™, namely Myoplex®, are known for their taste and price. One of the keys to Body for Life™ is keeping the dieter motivated; they do this by creating a dieting lifestyle as opposed to just a diet.

Don’t forget that there are weight loss supplements available that can assist with any diet program you may choose to follow. Look for one which uses ingredients that include a proven fat-burner and an ingredient for appetite control.



The Secrets To Overcoming Obstacles and Accomplishing Their Life Goals

Thomas Turner asked:


Occasionally, we come across obstacles and challenges as we work towards attaining success in our lives. In fact, the hurdles that life throws us sometimes can be rather crippling especially, if we don’t have the necessary skills and attitude to overcome them.

Do you realize these hurdles are actually life’s way of encouraging us to rise above the challenges and improve our own selves in the process?

Unless you are honestly satisfied with permanently staying where you are at this point, you should definitely find ways to efficiently overcome these challenges in order to move on to the next phase in your life.

Surviving the Obstacles

There are different techniques that you can use to survive and knock down the obstacles that stand on the path between you and your life goals. Some of these obstacles can be like bumps in the road that you can simple go over with a little bit of inspirational thought.

Even if you find yourself face to face with a brick wall, you have to keep in mind that there is a way to beat this as long as you stay positive and motivated towards achieving your goals.

When you come to an obstacle and you can’t figure out how to overcome it, don’t give up! Ask someone more experienced for help. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed or that you are weak. It means this is a chance to learn something and better yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. It’s better to ask for help and be successful than to be afraid and be sitting still.

If you get discourage and want to quit, take a moment and bring yourself back into a positive mindset. One common way people do this is by using positive affirmations. Affirmations are short statements said to yourself that tell you something positive about you or your situation.

When these affirmations are used daily and you believe in them they reprogram your subconscious mind to have a positive attitude and help you succeed at whatever you are trying to accomplish.

For times of extreme stress people have affirmations they have memorized to use on the spot. Memorize a few positive affirmations for different situation that can be used in your time of high levels of stress.

For example: If you are in a stressful situation concerning a kids birthday party and your not done setting up 1 hour before the party starts. Say to yourself, “I’m skilled and ready for anything.”"I will get everything done in time.”

Nobody ever said that surpassing challenges will be a breeze. In fact, you will have to exert considerable effort and sometimes even perform some kind of self-evaluation and make lifestyle changes before you can rise above these challenges and move on with your life.

Each individual will have his own way of dealing with life’s hurdles but there is no doubt that positive thinking and determination will both play a major role in your continuing quest to fulfill your goals in life.



Entice everyone with your home cooking

Sunil Punjabi asked:


Their lives had become so stuck in a pizza-burger-coke groove that they had become oblivious even to the existence of wonderful home cooking recipes. Pizzas and burgers define their waking hours, and while they slept, these fatty foods worked to form layers of adipose in their bodies. Our current day lifestyle might have made some sort of dependence on fast food unavoidable. There is a mad scramble for better jobs, fatter pay packets, and a craving for the resultant material comforts. Amidst the pressures of this new recipe for survival, home cooking recipes of the olden days have been put on the backburner. But though belatedly, there is an awakening to wean people away from the dependency on the fast food ritual and bring them back to the culinary delights of their grandmother’s recipes.

Every family is a rich repository of recipes, especially vegetarian recipes in countries like India and other Eastern countries, which have been handed down through generations. Many of these recipes are now available through web sites and cookery books and can be used to the best advantage to make home cooking more interesting and more frequent. The benefits of home cooked are immense. Fat-dripping foodstuffs might suit your palate but will not suit other requirements of the body. Fast food invariably contains more cholesterol, more fat, and more carbohydrates than the body requires. They are high calorie foods that will aid to weight gain. As against this, home cooked foods have ingredients, which provide balanced nutrition.

You might have noticed that fast food chains have only a limited number of items, which they consistently offer to the customers. As different from this, home cooked foods have infinite variety with numerous recipes. There are simple ones that can be cooked easily, and instead of cooking the same thing every day, different variations can be tried on different weekdays. This will make cooking a pleasurable experience to those who engage in it, and will provide healthy home cooked food for the whole family.

It is said that ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’. Home cooking is a way not just to the man’s heart, but also to the hearts of the entire family. An enticing meal table peps up everyone, especially children. Once they get addicted to the pleasures of home cooked food, fast food eateries will become anathema to them. Let your whole family bask in the warmth of your hearth and your cooking. It will be best for everybody’s health and the family’s budget. And the money, which you save by not eating out frequently, can be used for throwing an occasional informal party for your friends. It is not just one’s family that can benefit by an individual’s cooking. Your friends can also benefit and enjoy your excellent home cooking with different recipes.

Please do visit our site for hundreds of Free Recipes for Home Cooking – http://www.veggievixen.com – Veg Recipes, Vegan Recipes, appetizers, salads, soups, main course dishes, chili recipes, desserts, Cookie Recipes, Chocolate recipes and an extensive cooking guide.