If it’s fine wines and great food that you live for, then it’s all about Food and Wine Magazine. This magazine has dedicated itself to the individual who cannot eat his food without the taste of a good wine. Here you can find the best unknown restaurants across America. There are recipes galore and the latest in the newest grape. Food and Wine Magazine also has numerous auctions to benefit charities and group trips to benefit the select palate. If your hobby is wine or if your hobby is food, or if you genuinely enjoy both, than Food and Wine Magazine will become your periodical of choice.

It is always a good time to make something with chocolate. When the mood seizes you, discovering you haven’t got a crucial ingredient can ruin the mood. Knowing its equivalent or substitution can save the day. Today, Mom helps cooks and chocoholics with tips on chocolate and includes the world’s easiest dipped strawberry recipe.

Cooked wild rice, barley, brown rice or other whole grains make wonderful salads when combined with fruits, vegetables and seasonings. Here are four recipes to get you started. Experiment with your own combinations and favorite flavors; it’s hard to go wrong!

Wild Rice Fruit Salad
2 cups cooked wild rice
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 cup seedless grapes
1 bunch green onions, sliced

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 T. lemon juice
1 t. curry powder
1/2 cup no-fat mayonnaise, or enough to moisten grains

Combine all ingredients and chill.

4 servings

Hamburger recipes are pretty easy to come by. The following recipes are crockpot specific, and are recipes for dips.

CROCKPOT HAMBURGER-SAUSAGE DIP

* 1 pound ground chuck
* 1 cup picante sauce
* 1 can cream of mushroom soup
* 2 pound Velveeta cheese…cut into pieces
* 1 pound pork sausage
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 can Rotel tomatoes
* 3/4 teaspoon oregano

Combine picante sauce, garlic powder, soup, tomatoes, oregano and cheese in Crock Pot. Brown ground chuck and sausage until it is done. Drain very well and place in slow cooker/Crock Pot. Cook on low until cheese is melted. Serve with your favorite chips.

Like many folks, you may not realize what a difference cooking with first rate cooking equipment can make. The lowest priced cooking utensils and equipment might be great for initially keeping money in your pocket, but will probably take more money out as you replace your equipment, time and time again.

What can first rate cooking equipment do for your cooking? Here are a few ideas to help you determine what the best equipment is for you.

Know What Is Essential

I will publish some recipes which other people have provided. Most of these dishes begin with onion, garlic, celery, and bell pepper. New Orleans Cooks like my mother, grandmother and wife, and of course myself use plenty of these ingredients. I don’t understand how anyone can cook without starting with these as staples.

This is a creole pasta dish that my wife makes all the time. Crawfish are seasonal down south but there is an abundance of frozen crawfish tails sold in most stores that you can buy year round.

Get the taste buds going with this Caribbean recipe

INGREDIENTS
2lb Red Snapper Fish
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Green Pepper
Some Parsley
Spring of Thyme
1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon of Fish Seasoning
6 Green Bananas
1 Cooking Onion
Salt & Pepper

METHOD
Have fished cleaned – scaled and gutted at the fish market. Cut fish in half and clean with lemon.
Fry onions, garlic and green pepper finely cut, until onions go golden brown

Add other ingredients with 2 cups of water or enough to cover then

Southern cooking is about the history and past economics of the South. Many individuals made do with what the could grow from the ground. This explains why cornmeal was a popular grain in the south largely because not much wheat could be grown. Native Americans taught Southerners how to use plants and game for food. African Americans taught them how to use black eyed peas, sweet sorghum, okra and watermelons which are still popular today in southern recipes.

Other favorites of southern cooking that are simple recipes to create are sausage dressing, fried green tomatoes, sorghum syrup, country ham, catfish, hush puppies, squirrel food, southern style pork cassuolet, and sauerkraut. In fact, most southern recipes are not complicated and taste great!

A hearty meal of shepherds pie will give you that warm glow during the colder months. This recipe features ground beef, potatoes, cheese and mushroom soup.

5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 pound ground beef
6 slices American cheese
1 (10.75oz.) can condensed golden mushroom soup
3 teaspoons butter (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the potatoes into a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain and mash.

Have you ever thought about making your own homemade pasta from scratch. No, I don’t mean the whole dish. I mean the actual pasta noodles. Oh, I know. Why bother with all of that when you can just buy a package of dried noodles in the store and spend time on the important part–the sauce.

How many of us have spent hours next to a beautiful, finely manicured pot of bubbling goodness only to dump it on some old dried out noodles that have been sitting on the store shelf for a year. I know, the store bought stuff has always tasted pretty good in the past. I think most of us wouldn’t even think of making our own because we’ve grown accustomed to just grabbing a package of noodles and the stuff to make a sauce, and we’re on our way.