By Karen Zabel

There’s no doubt about it, small kitchen appliances have made life a lot easier. And they’ve also helped to make diets a lot healthier and more diverse. Here are a few appliances that can dramatically simplify your time in the kitchen.

Coffee Appliances

Coffeemakers are among the most commonly purchased small kitchen appliances and, like coffee, they can vary widely in quality. Both the Cuisinart DCC-1200BW Brew Central 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker and the West Bend Programmable 12-cup Coffee Maker brew an entire pot of coffee at a time, and can be programmed to perk whenever you’re ready. Similarly, the Zojirushi Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker offers the same options, but drips into a convenient thermal carafe.

For those who prefer to brew a cup at a time, the Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee on Demand Programmable Coffeemaker does just what its name implies: serves up fresh coffee, one cup at a time, as you need it. The Cuisinart DCC-450R 4-cup Stainless Carafe Coffeemaker offers four cups at a time, and is ideal for couples whose busy morning routine requires that second cup of Joe.

Not a fan of drip coffee? The Cuisinart Classic Stainless Percolator or stove-top Coffee Percolator are still available, and are an attractive option ideal for serving coffee at the table.

If coffee is not your brew, maybe you prefer creamy cappuccino, or the full-bodied kick of espresso. For you, there’s the Hamilton Beach Cappuccino Plus Espresso Maker with its 15-bar pump and adjustable steam and frothing option, allowing for speedy steaming of milk for both cappuccinos and lattes. Or the Kalorik Black 4-cup Espresso Maker that offers a stylish, compact design. Kalorik also offers a stainless steel option with its popular Kalorik Aqua 15-bar Espresso Maker, combining power and speed with sleek good looks.

Once you’ve made the coffee, keeping it warm is a snap with the Arco 1.9-liter Chrome Pump Pot or the 3-cup Stainless Steel Travel Thermos, a great option for on-the-go coffee consumption.

If tea or cocoa are more to your liking, the Kalorik Silvertone Jug Kettle or the Kalorik Sunny Morning Tangerine Electric Kettle in vibrant orange will boil water and keep it warm for you.

Enjoying your coffee at home? Why not couple it with fresh, hot waffles? Both the Waring Pro WMK300 Stainless Belgian Waffle Maker and the Kalorik Heart-shaped Waffle Maker, with its romantic heart-shaped waffles, are excellent choices.

Personal Grill Appliances

Convenient kitchen appliances don’t stop after breakfast. Personal grills, like the George Foreman Next Grilleration Standard Grill, can create healthy, restaurant-style entrees using seafood, chicken or beef. The unit’s 72 square inches of grilling surface allows you to cook as much as you want, from a single serving to family-size meals.

The Better Chef Panini and Contact Grill Sandwich Maker brings another restaurant favorite into the home kitchen. These crispy, flavorful, grilled sandwiches are great as a snack or as a meal, and with a home panini maker, creating these popular gourmet deli specialties is a snap.

And, of course, midnight snacking will never be the same, since the introduction of the toaster oven. Once relegated to heating frozen entrees, today there are entire cookbooks devoted to cooking healthy, complete meals in these countertop wonders. Cuisinart offers two compact yet powerful models: the Cuisinart TOB-50 Classic Toaster Oven and its near-twin, the Cuisinart TOB-50W Classic Toaster Oven Broiler, which offers broiling as well as toasting and baking options.

Food Preparation Appliances

Maybe it’s not the cooking but the preparation that keeps you out of the kitchen. If your inner chef is yearning to break free, treat yourself to a food processor to take the hassle out of tasks like chopping, slicing and blending. Unlike earlier food processors, which were heavy and cumbersome, today’s smaller units offer convenience in both size and function.

Wolfgang Puck’s 4-cup Continuous Flow Food Processor lets you process large amounts of food in a short amount of time, while the interchangeable attachments of Cuisinart’s FPB-5CHBPC Duet Blender/ Food Processor let you perform two tasks with only one machine. Even homemade pasta is a snap with the Large 180mm Pasta Machine with Two Cutting Dies. This stainless steel machine employs adjustable rollers that can let you vary the thickness of your dough, helping you create gourmet-style meals at home, simply with the turn of a handle.

Small kitchen appliances can turn grown-up chores into pleasant tasks, but what about kids? Thanks to popcorn poppers like the Nostalgia Electrics KPM-508 Vintage Kettle Popcorn Maker, we can satisfy the kid in all of us. Sure, this vintage-style popper makes great popcorn, up to one gallon at a time, but you’ll be tempted to buy this eye-catching conversation starter for its looks alone.

No matter which appliance you’re looking for, one thing holds true: small kitchen appliances can help home cooks everywhere get big results.

Karen Zabel is a freelance writer who writes about kids furniture.
Article Source: Karen Zabel == Appliances That Make Life So Much Easier

Tags : coffee maker, george foreman grill, kitchen appliances, panini

As you look over a couple of prime rib recipes you’ll notice a wide range of prime rib cooking times. Some recipes call for a cooking time of one hour and some recipes say that the roast should be cooked for six hours. Very confusing! Well, there’s a reason for this discrepancy — prime rib cooking times depend a lot on the cooking temperature and the size of the roast.

There are two basic methods for cooking prime rib roasts — high temperature and low temperature. Each method has its advantages and there are people who swear by a one cooking process or the other. Prime rib cooking times are mostly determined by whether you are cooking the meat at high temperatures or low temperatures.

Some people love the slow cooking methods that is used in smoker barbecues. It can’t be denied that smoking brings out wonderful flavors in the prime rib and produces some of the juiciest roasts imaginable. The low temperature of smoker barbecues means that prime rib cooking times can be extended to five or six hours.

On the other hand, there are those who swear by cooking the prime rib in a hot oven. This method reduces prime rib cooking times to the minimum while searing the exterior of the meat so that it contains the juices. When placed in a 500° oven, a 12 pound roast will cook in less than an hour.

This fast cooking method, however, depends on the roast staying in the warm oven for at least one more hour after the heat is turned off. During this time, the meat is still cooking, so you could say that this method requires prime rib cooking times of three hours.

No matter which way you cook the meat, you have to check the interior temperature to make sure that it is cooked all the way through. A good-quality meat thermometer will tell you the temperature of the roast and you might have to extend the prime rib cooking times by an hour or two.

Hans is author of Steaks, Seafood and Barbecue guide at http://www.steaks-guide.com

Article Source: Hans Dekker == Prime Rib Cooking Times

Tags : beef, Cooking, prime rib

Looking for an easy recipe for Christmas morning breakfast can be interesting, especially if you are looking for something easy and satisfying.  I found this recipe at savorysweetlife.com by Alice.  It consists of sausage, tomato, mushrooms, sharp Cheddar cheese, eggs, and tater tots (yup and yum).  Get the full recipe here.

Tags : breakfast casserole, casserole, Christmas

By Faylee James

The ideas I am offering here are not new. I’m sure you have heard of most of them but are you using what your know, is the question?

(1) Making your own bottled tea

A one time buy of several water bottles or reusing the ones you have is an easy way of stretching your food dollar. Sun tea is better than any store bought bottled tea. You can easily make it to suit your taste. Any large clear container will work. Use up to 3 family tea bags per two-gallon container, (mine came from my local dollar store) fill it with water, add the tea bags and set it in the sun. Depending on how strong you like your tea let it set from three to five hours. The water will be warm but not hot. Add the sweetener of your choice…. yummy!

(2) Visiting a farmers market for fresher and, most times, cheaper produce.

If you see something you have not tried before, ask the salesperson how to cook or use it. People that grow food items are always the best source of advice on how to use their product.

(3) Using all that you cook or make with little waste.

Now that you have shopped for your food, you want to use it in a way that will give you the most for your money. When I’m making soup I save anything that I can put in my stock pot. Yes, even potato peelings. The ends of onions, celery, carrots and potato peeling all make for a better stock for your soups or stews. You will want to wash your potatoes before peeling, to make sure the dirt has been removed.

(4) Replace ice cream with frozen ripe fruits or juices.

Sometimes we throw away half eaten fruits because we do not know what to do with them. Freeze or dry them for future uses. Half an apple, banana, some berries or peach can all become the beginning of a great smoothie drink or home made pie.

Save enough pennies you will soon have dollars.

(5) Have a picnic dinner in the back yard once a week.

Kids love picnics and just because you can’t get to the lake or park doesn’t mean you can’t have one. If you do not have a picnic table, lay an old quilt on the grass and sit down to a meal. It could be the same hot dog or hamburger you were going to serve for dinner in the house but make it into a picnic and it becomes an adventure for the whole family.

Using what we know is the answer to most of our questions. We should listen to ourselves more often.

Faylee

Faylee James is a Life Coach/Writer/Speaker from Northeast Tennessee, who has an above average interest in cooking, people and living life to the fullest. Her website http://www.HassiesKitchenTable.com is in honor of her mother who passed away last October. Recently Faylee added a matching blog where you can get more recipes and thoughts on family life. http://www.HassiesKitchenTable.blogspot.com. Visit both and don’t forget to sign up for the twice monthly newsletter while you are at the website.

Article Source: Faylee James == Small Food Savings Can Become Big Bucks

By Sean Lannin

If your family is like ours, pizza is a favorite food. In fact, it is one of the most popular foods around the world and you can find it in almost every country. Besides being great tasting, making homemade pizza is inexpensive and we can all do with a few extra bucks in our pockets these days…right?

A great pizza starts with a great dough, this is the foundation on which the rest of the ingredients rest and will determine the success of your pie.

So, if you want to make a great homemade pizza for your family and friends, follow these 7 steps for perfect homemade pizza dough.

1. Get organized. Have your equipment and tools ready and have your ingredients set aside. Often it is helpful to pre-measure all of you ingredients.
2. Mix the dough. There are several methods you can use to mix dough, we prefer the wet method for best results.
3. Knead the dough. This is a critical element to making great dough. Don’t mix it long enough and the gluten does not form, but mix it too long and the dough will get ruined.
4. Dough Rise. Sit back and relax and let the yeast do its thing. This stage is when those great bubbles are formed that we love to see in our crusts.
5. Do not punch your dough. Many dough recipes call for punching down your dough – this seems like a waste of all the work the yeast just put in and don’t recommend this method.
6. Shape your dough balls. We get our hands dirty again shaping the dough balls that will eventually be our pizza crusts.
7. Form your pizza. Toss it, form it with your hands, shape if with a rolling pin! However you get it into the shape you want, after this step you are ready to add the final ingredients and bake.

There you have it, seven simple steps to making a perfect homemade pizza. We use these steps every time we are making a homemade pizza, and we also have fun in the kitchen. Making pizza at home is a great way to get the entire family involved in preparing a meal, and should be lots of fun for everyone as well.

Learning to make great dough is the key to making great tasting pizza. If you practice on getting this part right before you know it you will have a line of people down the street the next time you are making pizza all hoping to get a slice.

Check out our Pizza Dough Report for simple, easy to understand information for making great tasting pizza dough every time, and find more information about making homemade pizza at http://www.homemade-pizza-made-easy.com

Article Source: Sean Lannin == 7 Steps For Making Perfect Homemade Pizza Dough