In these days of superior awareness of the shortages in the world and the recent economic problems in the whole world, but particularly in the wealthy Western countries, which are the powerhouses of most Third World countries’ expansion, people are more aware of waste. It is a sin again to waste food, like it was 50 years ago.

This can only be a good thing although it is a shame that it took an international financial crisis to make us remember the lesson. These days, waste of any kind is greeted with public disapproval and so it is at home too. Most people spend a very high percentage of their outgoings on food and so anyone who wants to cut back, has to first look to this quarter to make a saving.

However, saving does not inevitably mean ‘not buying’, it can and should mean ‘not throwing away’. In other words, prepare your food and do not let your food go off. Preparation and storage are the key words. With that thought in mind, here are a few of my tips for preparing and storing food correctly.

Bread – tons of bread is thrown away every day, because it has gone stale or mouldy and yet it is completely unnecessary. Keep your bread in the deep freezer and not in the bread bin. A whole loaf will slice frozen with the proper knife and sliced bread will come away slice by slice. There is no need to defrost as it only takes a minute or two at room temperature.

Bananas – most people understand that banana skins turn black if kept in the fridge, but most people do not know that bananas can be frozen solid. Yes, the skins will still go black, but the fruit will be undamaged.

Cake – to stop cake from going stale, store it in a tin with an apple. The moisture in the apple will stop the cake from going hard.

Watercress – to keep watercress from wilting, store it upside down in water, that is stalks up.

Salt – salt often gets damp, especially if stored in a steamy kitchen without sufficient ventilation, but you do not have to worry about that if you put two or three grains of rice in the salt cellar. They will soak up the moisture before the salt.

Cereal – stop cereal from going soft by resealing the bag with a few clothes pegs. Your cereal will last weeks more.

Jam – boiling jam produces a scum which has to be skimmed off and thrown away. This wastes jam, goodness and flavour. However, if you whisk a knob of butter into the mixture at the last moment the scum will not appear, saving time and goodness.

Funnel – you always seem to need a funnel when you do not have one. Then you vow to get a funnel for the next time. Do not bother. Just cut the top nine inches off a plastic bottle of cola. It makes an ideal throw-away funnel. Some of the larger bottles even have a handle on them which is even better.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching the programmable crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

There are few festivities celebrated around the world on the same fantastic scale that the Chinese New Year is enjoyed. This is an event that affects people all around the world. The celebrations are quite exotic and a lot of fun for everyone involved. One thing that many outsiders may not realize is that the majority of the aspects of the Chinese New Year celebrations have a very specific purpose and meaning. Even the food.

Whether you are Chinese are not, I ‘m sure that you could use a degree of good fortune to make things run a little more smoothly in your life.

When it comes to cooking for a Chinese New Year celebration there are a few things you should bear in mind. The foodstuffs that are prepared each have their very own meaning and a specific reason for being prepared.

Dumplings are believed to bring riches in the New Year to those who eat them on this particular day. Of course, wealth is something that most people want to have and there are many means of doing so. Other foods that symbolize the attainment of riches on the Chinese New Year are bamboo shoots, black moss seaweed, egg rolls, and oranges. This is just the start of the tutorial in the symbolic nature of dishes for the Chinese New Year.

Longevity or long life is something else that the Chinese famously long for. Eternal youth some may term it. The secret, they say, to a long life is the consumption of the right food as part of the New Year celebrations. Those foodstuffs include: noodles, Chinese garlic, chives, and peanuts.

Prosperity is attributed to foodstuffs such as lettuce, whole fish, and pomelo. In addition to success whole fish and pomelo are believed to bring abundance and togetherness (as in marriage or romance) during the coming year.

Chicken is the main course if happiness is the goal. In addition, chicken is associated with marriage, particularly when served with foods, which are considered to be dragon foods, such as lobster.

Those planning on having children in the near future should add eggs, seeds (such as watermelon seeds) and pomelo – especially the last two, if you want a couple of children.

To end with, if good luck is what you most require, try to add a tangerine or some seaweed to your plate on this special day. If your run of luck has been really very bad recently, you may want to double up on your serving of both.

The Internet contains loads of delicious recipes to help you commemorate the Chinese New Year as traditionally as you can. Recipes for foods such as Jiaozi (Chinese noodles) and egg rolls are to be found online and they will go some way towards creating the correct atmosphere. Add a few lettuce wraps and longevity noodles and you will have a good basis for a Chinese New Year meal.

The only other thing you need then to make your Chinese New Year celebrations go with a bang (quite literally) is fireworks. The Chinese New Year would not be the same without them, so choose your food carefully, either buy it or cook it (or both) and then let off your fireworks safely for a great winters evening’s entertainment.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the programmable crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

In the West, alcoholic beverages are never far away from the arena at festive times, but do we aways know how to get the most from these expensive luxuries? Too many people these days just think its a question of ‘getting as much down as possible in as little time as possible’. This is the wrong attitude.

After all, most people understand that a good meal does not consist of eating as many chips as possible in fifteen minutes, so why should that principle not apply to having a drink too? You will get far more enjoyment from a bottle of wine, if you spend an extra dollar on it and drink it slowly with a friend and some suitable food than if you gurgle down a cheap bottle of plonk on your own. It makes obvious sense, but not everyone sees it.

So, with that thought in mind, I have put together a few tips on how to get more enjoyment from your alcoholic drinks, if you are old enough and of that frame of mind.

Gin and Vodka – if these white spirits are your favourite tipple, always keep the bottle in the fridge, not the drinks cabinet. Keep the mixers in the fridge too. That way the ice will survive longer and you will not be tempted to have to swig it down before the ice melts. If you are having friends around, go one step farther and put the bottle in the freezer. It will not go solid. You can even cut the top off a plastic cola bottle, put the bottle of gin or vodka in that, fill it with water and then freeze it. Take off the plastic bottle and you have an attractive “collar of ice” around your bottle.

The Last Tot – five minutes or so after finishing a bottle of spirits, tip it out one more time and the bottle that you thought was drained will deliver one more tot of contents. It is not a lot, but it is a pleasant free surprise. The same works for many alcohol based products including underarm roll-on and scent.

White Wine – white wines taste best when they have been gently chilled over a prolonged length of time, but if you get caught out by surprise visitors, put the bottle of wine in a container of ice and cold water. Try not to have to place it in the deep freeze, it is too harsh, but if you have to, then ten minutes is all that it takes.

Port – it is always better to decant port and older, heavier red wines, because of the sediment that may be in the bottom of the bottle, which tastes horrible and because it assists the aeration of the wine. However, it is not always easy to see when the dregs are coming. The books say to use a candle, but they were written a hundred years ago. The concentrated beam from a torch is much better. Try using a Durabeam because its rotateable head allows it to be directed more accurately.

Decanters – sometimes the stopper becomes stuck fast. Tap it with another glass item and it should come loose. If not, run the neck of the decanter under hot water for a few seconds and it will come out.

Labels – if you store your wine in a damp place where the labels are likely to rot or fall off, spray them with hair lacquer beforehand.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching the programmable crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

There can not be many people who do not like their food, but the human race, being what it is, I expect that there are a few of them. However, for the rest of us, food is a font of daily pleasure and, like a beverage, it is often employed to commemorate a celebration. not only that, but different foods are served for the different meals or distinct celebrations.

Festive meals were indubitably considered around the seasonal foodstuffs on hand, but some foods were transported huge distances for the benefit of those who could pay for them. For instance, my father thought it a grand treat to be given an orange in his stocking on Christmas Day 60 years in the past. How the times have altered! Very few kids would judge an orange a present, special or otherwise, any day of the year these days.

Nevertheless, the preservation of foodstuff is still a daily concern and therefore, I have listed a couple of good guidelines on preserving foodstuff below, so that you will obtain the best from that which you have bought or grown in your garden even a long while afterward.

The Quickest Quiche: a quiche is the conventional healthy fast food and this is one of the finest quick methods to make one. Put one onion, four eggs four ounces/125 grammes of butter, half a pint/250 ml milk, baking powder, 2 ounces/60 grammes of grated Cheddar cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and whatever else you like into a strong food mixer/blender. Whirl it all up together and pour it into an appropriate dish, lined if you have it with some pre-made, shop bought, pastry. Bake at 190C/375F/Gas Mark 6 for 40 minutes. It serves four and is delicious.

Heavenly Hamburgers: next time you make hamburgers, do not salt the meat before cooking them. Use your traditional recipe and make the patties as usual. Then, put a handful of sea salt in your favourite heavy duty frying pan and heat it up to very hot. Drop the hamburgers onto the salt and cook as usual. The outside of the hamburger will go crisp and the grease will be kept to the absolute minimum.

Salmon In The Papers: a fantastic way to cook a whole salmon is to cook it in newspaper. You ought to try it. Prepare your salmon according to your favourite recipe. Then wrap in three or four thoroughly drenched sheets of newspaper (any name). Make a nice parcel out of it; as neat as you can. Place the soaking-wet parcel on a baking tray in the centre of a moderate oven. Bake until the paper is dry on the top and then turn it over. When that side is dry the salmon is ready. It’ll take about an hour. If you want to eat it hot, peal the paper off straight away and serve. If you want to eat it cold, leave the package until it is cold and then unwrap. Either way the skin will stick to the newspaper.

Off The Wall: if you are uncertain when spaghetti is fit to be eaten, through a strand at a tiled wall. If it sticks, it is done.

Cheap And Cheerful: for a quick, healthy, unusual summer sandwich filling, pick some fresh, young dandelion leaves; wash them thoroughly; dress if you wish and put between slices off a good loaf of bread.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching the Rival Versaware crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots