Home Made Nutritious Food For Pet Cats & Dogs

Pets are supposed to be part of our family. They also deserve to be given the same kind of dietary consideration which we give to the other people in the family. There are multiple choices about the packed pet food which is being promoted by many brands in the market. These foods are recommended by most veterinarians and pet lovers. It is supposed that these packed foods are developed by experts in the field of veterinary nutrition and contain all the right ingredients needed for a pet’s healthy diet.

There is another school of thought which confers upon the idea of giving the pets home cooked food. Even though the packed foods are promoted as being wholesome, yet they are not as fresh and nutritious as home cooked ones. According to these experts, pets too get bored with the daily intake of the same food everyday and definitely need a change. One of the vets affirmed that his pet pup started losing appetite after a few days of ready mix food which resulted in bowel malfunction and weight loss. But when he shifted the dog to human ingredient food, there was a positive change in the animal. Continue reading “Home Made Nutritious Food For Pet Cats & Dogs”

Seasonings Tips – Old Bay Seasonings and Spike Seasonings

Out of the types of celestial seasoning tea, the bilingual teas seem to appeal mostly to Hispanic communities. These teas are called bilingual because they blend two different flavor like banana and apple, or cinnamon and apple, or honey and lemon, and so on. Another popular category of celestial seasoning tea is the dessert one. Some of the types included in this category are almond, English toffee and vanilla hazelnut. Whichever the category or the type, one thing is clear: celestial seasoning tea appeals to a wide range of consumers because quality and variety.

What are old bay seasonings? How can old bay seasonings be used? Just before answering these questions about old bay seasonings maybe we should see what old bay seasonings are. Well, old bay seasonings are blends of herbs and spices currently marketed in America by McCormick & Company. These old bay seasonings are made in the state of Maryland, in the Chesapeake Bay area where they were developed by a german immigrant called Gustav Brunn. The beginning of the old bay seasonings was in the 1940s. These seasonings are still very popular in this area. At the time, crabs were so abundant that bars in Baltimore, Maryland used to offer them free of charge and seasonings like old bay seasonings were created to get patrons to drink more beverages. Old Bay is just one of many crab seasonings created during those times, yet it is one of a few that survived to the present. Continue reading “Seasonings Tips – Old Bay Seasonings and Spike Seasonings”

The Health Benefits of Cheese at Your Mexican Grill

Cheese is delicious. It’s one of nature’s greatest gifts, we think. Cheese fills everyone’s heart with happiness, your mouth will delightedness, and your soul with goodness. That’s probably one of the reasons you’re likely to find at your local Mexican grill hard-working, dedicated employees banded together in the kitchen to hand-grate piles of fresh, delicious, nutritious cotija cheese. Mounds of it! Mountains of it, even.

At the Mexican grill they grate enough cotija cheese to make the Pied Piper lose control of his mice. And the Pied Piper isn’t going to let those mice eat all his cheese. Why? Not just because of the previously noted superior qualities of cheese, though that clearly has quite a lot to do with it. But the real reason that cotija cheese is a beloved staple at the Mexican grill is because cotija is among the greatest possible of all cheeses.

We know that’s a bold statement. It’s hard to take at face value when there are so many other cheeses available, in all kinds of cultures and all kinds of food. Even Mexican grill food occasionally embraces other kinds of cheese, though we suspect it’s a slightly begrudging kind of foray into the world of cheeses that aren’t the beauty and perfection that cotija is more than happy to bring to the table. Continue reading “The Health Benefits of Cheese at Your Mexican Grill”

The Columbian Exchange Beginning With Spanish Colonization

The Europeans’ so-called discovery of the so-called New World goes down in history as one of the most important and earth-shattering moments in human history, ranking right up there with the advent of agriculture, the domestication of animals, and the discovery of the use of fire. Although the Vikings made it to Newfoundland around the year 1000, they apparently decided that Greenland would make for a much better colony and scrammed, leaving the Spanish with all the glory almost five centuries later. The ensuing exchange of plants, animals, people, and diseases has since been named the “Columbian Exchange” after the charismatic Christopher Columbus, who bumped into the Bahamas thinking he’d made it to India.

Over the next few centuries, different groups of European explorers brought crops such as corn, potatoes, cassava, tomatoes, peppers, cocoa, peanuts, strawberries, and tobacco back to the Old World from the Americas – meaning that the potato is no more Irish than the tomato is Italian, the pepper is Spanish, or the cigarette is French. In particular, carb-rich corn and potatoes helped ease the killer food shortages that were all-too common in Europe; Ireland’s population alone swelled 800 percent in 200 years – only to be devastated by the potato blight in the mid-1840’s. So much for putting all your potatoes in one basket. Continue reading “The Columbian Exchange Beginning With Spanish Colonization”

History of Salsa Sauce – The Mexican Connection

The history of Salsa sauce originated with the Inca people. Salsa (combination of chilies, tomatoes and other spices) can be traced to the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. The Spaniards first encountered tomatoes after their conquest of Mexico in 1519-1521, which marked the beginning of the history of Salsa sauce. Aztec lords combined tomatoes with chili peppers, ground squash seeds and consumed them mainly as a condiment served on turkey, venison, lobster, and fish. This combination was subsequently called salsa by Alonso de Molina in 1571.

Charles E. Erath of New Orleans was the first person in salsa sauce history who began manufacturing Extract of Louisiana Pepper, Red Hot Creole Peppersauce in 1916. A year later, La Victoria Foods started Salsa Brava in Los Angeles. Continue reading “History of Salsa Sauce – The Mexican Connection”

Sazon Seasoning Ingredients – Goya Sazon Seasoning

Sazon seasoning is a combination of herbs and spices that carries Latino and Caribbean flavors specific to those areas of the world. Usually this type of seasoning can be found in local supermarkets. In case it is difficult for you to find it, then you should oriented using caterers which deliver food to Hispanics because they will most likely sell sazon seasoning. Goya foods is one such food company that has become quite an authority Caribbean, Spanish, Mexican, Central and South American food. So, sazon seasoning is actually seasoned salt based on Spanish and Mexican spices and herbs meant for cooking meat, fish and poultry. It also works in cooking soups and stews.

Sazon Seasoning Ingredients

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Lost Your Pet – To Do List

Listening to the voice mail from my brother-in-law, on our cellphone, my stomach dropped, and my mouth was suddenly dry. We had just finished a glorious morning of hiking with some good friends in the California desert. After hiking, we had indulged in some delicious Mexican food, including fresh salsa, real guacamole and some ice-cold beer.

Now, I was listening to a message that our 11-year old black Labrador had been missing for 24-hours!

My heart sank. We were spending Christmas and New Years in California with friends. She was staying in the comfort of her Calgary home with her favourite dog-walker. She is a dog a well-loved dog that enjoys a good life. What inspired her to sneak out of the back gate on a sunny afternoon, the day after Christmas, we will never know. She is a pure bred Labrador, driven by her stomach and her love of people. So it is possible she left in search of Christmas left-overs. Continue reading “Lost Your Pet – To Do List”

Snobbism and Barrel-Aged Mezcal: How the "Experts" Get It Wrong in Oaxaca and Globally

It’s an issue which on a daily basis adversely impacts the consumption of mezcal. Many owners of and staff in Mexican restaurants, bars and mezcalerías, in Oaxaca and throughout the rest of Mexico, and in fact worldwide, tell patrons to not drink barrel-aged mezcal. It doesn’t matter if it’s reposado (in oak for at least two months) or añejo (at least one year); they say just don’t do it. Even some export brand owners fall prey to the mis-step. The Mexican agave distillate, mezcal, is the relatively high alcohol content spirit which has taken the global spirits consuming community by storm since the “mezcal boom.” The craze began about 2005, then caught on in earnest about a decade later.

The folks who should know better, and who purportedly are motivated in their entrepreneurial endeavors at least to some extent to promote the mezcal industry, are simply trying to raise their patrons’ perception of them as agave distillate experts. Oaxaca is the southern Mexico state which produces upwards of 85% of the nation’s mezcal. Both aficionados and novices alike flock to Oaxaca to learn more and to pay homage. And so it should be incumbent upon the experts, particularly in Oaxaca, upon whom the consuming public relies, to give the arriving pilgrims the straight goods. Many do not. Continue reading “Snobbism and Barrel-Aged Mezcal: How the "Experts" Get It Wrong in Oaxaca and Globally”

Key Into Lime Pie

Key West Florida is famous for two things: the Ernest Hemingway house (with its 6 toed cats) and Key lime pie, named after limes which grow in the Florida keys. A favorite American dessert made with Key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks, the traditional “Conch version” uses the egg whites to make a meringue topping. Key limes are smaller, more tart and aromatic than the common limes we buy year-round in grocery stores and grown abundantly in other regions of Florida and California. Key lime juice, unlike regular lime juice, is pale yellow, which, along with the egg yolks, produces the filling’s pale color.

Appearing in the early 20th century the exact origins are unknown, but the first recorded mention of Key lime pie may have been made by William Curry, a ship salvager and Key West’s first millionaire. Supposedly his cook, “Aunt Sally”, created the pie for him. It seems his crews of sponge fishermen at sea did not have access to ovens but the original version allowed the creamy pie to be prepared without baking. Early writings state that Aunt Sally’s version called for a graham cracker crust and softly whipped cream.

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Five Surprising Ways To Pair Craft Beer With Food

As long as there has been a meal on the table, there has also been the need to have an accompanying beverage on hand. While the ins and outs of what is on the menu have changed over the course of time, right now, the hottest beverage around is craft beer. The small-batch, hand-crafted, detail-oriented world of craft beer has not only drawn many admirers of great beer, it has also piqued the interest of foodies the world over regarding the possible pairings that could be made with their favorite foods.

It’s easy to see why the idea of pairing a good craft beer with certain foods would be of intense interest. Think of craft beer in the same way you’d think of wine. In the same way that certain flavor notes in wine go really well with certain foods, so, too, does well-made beer.

Here are five beer and food pairings you should really take into consideration for your next get-together: Continue reading “Five Surprising Ways To Pair Craft Beer With Food”