How to Make Great Potato Salad

Do you have trouble making potato salad? If so, you can be sure there are simple steps to follow in making it for that hungry crowd. Many people don't have a family recipe, or they just make common mistakes along the way and get frustrated. It really isn't that hard to make potato salad. These tips should help get you well on your way to pleasing everyone!

Determine first how many people will be eating potato salad. Remember, most kids turn up their noses at the thought of anything mushy with potato lumps in it. But men usually heap it on next to their other favorites, so they will eat the portions the kids chose to pass up. Also, potato salad is filling. Many serving sizes are smaller than you think.

Take advantage of the "bags" of potatoes in the store where the potatoes are medium in size. Large potatoes take longer to cook, so they usually must be cut in half. The Idaho white potato provides a great flavor and cook well. Don't make the mistake of using red potatoes since they get too soft and turn mushy. Five potatoes will make salad for about 8 or 9 people. Then, just figure on half of a potato for each additional person over 9.

Next, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Tip.....Do NOT peel the potatoes. Just add them to the boiling water right out of the bag. Be sure to cut the big ones in half! Boil for about 20 minutes and when a knife sticks through them easily, they are done. Hold the warm potato under cool running water and the potato peeling just falls off! All the flavor of the potato will be in your potato salad.

While the potatoes cool, chop half of a large white onion. In a large bowl, mix the onion, about 1 cup of mayonnaise to start with (I use Miracle Whip), 1/2 cup of sweet pickle relish, 1 tsp. salt, and a little pepper. Then chop the potatoes as small as you want and throw them on top of the mixture. Mix well and add more mayonnaise as needed to reach the consistency that you like. I usually add more than the 1 cup before it's all done. You can also substitute with fat free products like yogurt, fat free sour cream, or low-fat mayonnaise.

Another ingredient I like to add is chopped, hard-boiled eggs. I use 3 eggs in a batch of potato salad feeding 8 or 9 people. Add the eggs last so they don't get too mushy. Stir it all together and cool before serving. Potato salad is even better if left in the refrigerator overnight before serving. If you are close on time, it's even ok to throw the bowl in the freezer for about 45 minutes to get it cold quick!

Potato salad is a "crowd pleaser". After you make potato salad following these simple steps, you will be able to adjust the recipe easily for your own taste. Using these easy tips, you won't make mistakes, like peeling away all of the flavor, overcooking the potatoes, or adding ingredients you don't need.

When I cook my potato salad, everyone wants my recipe! This recipe isn't even written down anywhere, until now. So, make this your recipe and enjoy!

A Great Coffee Shake Recipe

Coffee is enjoyed by countless people on a daily basis. In fact, statistics have shown that fifty percent of the population in the United States of America that are at least eighteen years of age consume coffee or coffee drinks every single day. Also, independently owned coffee shops in the United States of America estimate a whopping twelve billion dollars in sales on an annual basis. Who does not love coffee?

Well, as most people are aware of, coffee contains a substantial amount of caffeine. Many coffee drinkers drink coffee not just for the great taste, but also for that extra caffeinated kick. For some, coffee is a great way to start the day. In fact, many people drink coffee throughout the day to enjoy a great tasting beverage that also keeps you up and awake.

Besides the traditional cup of coffee, there are numerous coffee drinks that are very tasty and delicious. Americano, Cappuccino, Latte, Mocha, Espresso. All of these coffee drinks mentioned are great! There also exist coffee dessert drinks, the ultimate tasty upper that combines the great taste of coffee with caffeine and sugar and your favorite topping in the form of a blended shake-type drink.

Now, you could get these great dessert coffee drinks either at your typical independent coffee shop or your favorite popular franchise coffee shop for a few bucks. But would not it be great if you could make these great coffee dessert drinks in the comfort of your own home?

Well, this is the part of the article that you are going to absolutely love because we are going to give you a great recipe for a coffee shake that you can make in your own kitchen at home!

The Ingredients

In order to make the Great Coffee Shake, you will need some vanilla ice cream, ice cubes, and either espresso or regular coffee. As an added bonus, you may also want to include your favorite flavor of syrup topping such as chocolate or caramel, and some whipped cream for a final topping.

The Appliances

The kitchen appliances and equipment that you will need are a coffee maker or an espresso machine, a blender, and some cups and eating utensils for the final product.

The Directions

This recipe makes two servings so if you need to make a bigger batch, just multiply the amounts of ingredients according to how many extra servings you will need to make.

First, make your coffee or espresso. Prepare your coffee as strong or light as you want depending on your personal choice. Let your coffee cool a bit as you will not want to melt the ice cream with it.

Next, get your blender and drop two heaping scoops of vanilla ice cream into it. Drop in a shot of espresso or a quarter cup of regular coffee along with a small handful of ice cubes. Blend these ingredients together on high until you see that all the contents are mixed together forming a thick and icy shake.

Now, take the cups that you will be serving the Great Coffee Shakes in. Decorate the inside of the cups with your preferred syrup, adding as much or as little as you desire.

When you are done applying the syrup to the inside of the cups, transfer the blended ingredients from the blender to your cups. Finish it off with whipped cream on the top, and you can even add more syrup on top of the whip cream if you wish.

And there you have it! A Great Coffee Shake!

Is an Omelet Maker Really Necessary?

Combined with other ingredients or garnished with a sandwich, an omelet can be a satiating and tasty alternative for a bowl of cereal for breakfast. The simplest omelet is made of scrambled eggs and salt, but just about anything else can be added. Diced bacon, peas, corn, mushroom or banana slices are fine keep trying if you feel some creativity.

Omelet makers are cutting some cooking time, or allow you to do something else meanwhile, but considering that a basic model is about or under $10, I see no reason why anybody would want to avoid buying one. If you already have a sandwich maker you will want to buy a basic model, advanced omelette makers cost more and add redundant ability to make sandwiches.

There are three different kinds of omelette makers. All three are designed to be closed when the omelette is cooking, and to circumvent leaks of egg.

The second least expensive type is the electronic. Think sandwich maker here, it's the same thing with slightly different electronics and deeper pans. They can be used to grill sandwiches, make waffles or pancakes.

A microwave omelet maker is the simplest and least expensive of all three. Its two crescent shaped pieces of non-stick plastic put together. Scramble eggs, add salt and ingredients, and put it into the maker. You won't have concerns about the end result or ease of use. Cleaning is as simple as flushing the device under hot water.

Oven top omelet makers are twins of a normal pan. It's basically the same thing as a pan only it's split in half to be able to be closed. These are the most expensive of all three, but their non stick surface makes them perfect for pancake making. Handle with care, metal objects can ruin the non-stick surface.

If you happen to have no omelette maker, preparing an omelet in a regular pan is as easy as making a sandwich.

Break three eggs into a bowl, add salt and mix with a fork. Add other ingredients if you'd like something else than a plain variation. Preheat a pan and add the mixture. After about twenty seconds using a wooden tool push the edges towards the center to allow liquid scrambled eggs to flow to the bottom and touch the surface directly.

After a few repetitions you'll have still shaky but solid scrambled eggs. Fold it in half and slip it to a plate. Garnish with vegetables, or a sandwich and use pepper to taste. It's not as hard to make as this description would let you assume, a few attempts make perfect.

On the other hand if you don't want to guard your egg as it cooks, or like scrambled eggs more thick than it is in a simple pan you will have to buy an omelette maker. Going for a more advanced electric version adds versatility to your kitchen and considering how cheap these things are, you probably won't regret getting it.

How to Get Kids to Love Veggies

The only vegetables six-year-old Heather eats are French fries and ketchup-and that's using the term "vegetable" loosely. What's alarming is that she's not alone. Today over 60 percent of children ages two to nine don't consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

Children require proper nourishment to be healthy-including eating vegetables. Unfortunately, faux food (fast food and junk food) have replaced whole food. Public health officials warn that unless there is a change in the way our children eat, health problems are sure to plague them. Increasing at alarming rates are heart disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes. In addition, childhood obesity has more than tippled over the last forty years.

Even the most resistant child can learn to love healthy foods. Kids discover that whole foods (including veggies) are yummy when you engage all their senses. By making a few simple changes, you can teach your child to love veggies!

1. Stock Healthful Foods

It'll be difficult to convince your picky eater to eat nutritious foods, if sugar, white flour, and trans fat are common ingredients found in your kitchen. To effectively encourage children to eat whole foods, whole foods must be readily available. Read labels! When you purchase crackers, chips, and cookies, look for items made from whole grains and without hydrogenated oils (trans fat). Even better is to replace processed snack items with nuts, fruit and veggies slices. Obviously, you must control your kid's snacking. A child who has eaten less than two hours before a meal will not eagerly eat a food predetermined to be "yucky!"

2. Involve All Senses

A common misconception is that a veggie is rejected because of its taste. But according to current research, dislike of various foods most often results from the texture, smell, or even the color of what is to be eaten. Eating vegetables doesn't usually come naturally: it's a learning process. Learning involves all the senses. Discuss the attributes of various foods with your child. Pick up and feel its texture. What is the aroma? How does it feel in the mouth? What color is it?

3. Make It Fun

Involve your child with grocery shopping and meal preparation. Have your toddler hold an item from the produce department while you're in the store. Discuss the value of the foods you're purchasing with your child. Give your youngster a job to do such as reading the nutrition facts on labels (i.e.: look for the sugar content) and placing items in your cart. Encourage your kid to pick one item from the produce department, which he has never tasted. Then prepare and eat it together.

4. Make Mealtime a Happy Family Time

The table should be a stress-free zone. It's vital that both dad and mom keep the conversation around the table happy. A good way to transition from a hectic day is to begin the meal by thanking God for what he has done. Always discuss how wonderful the food smells and tastes. Take every opportunity during the meal to educate your child about healthful foods.

5. Be Positive

All family members (including older siblings or even Daddy) may make only affirmative comments about the food at the table. Negative remarks cement the idea that some food tastes bad. Phrases such as "I don't like that" "It's disgusting" and "It's yucky" are forbidden. In addition, praise for eating whole foods and vegetables is vital for success.

6. Employ Stealth Health

Stealth health is changing from an inferior brand of bread to a nutritionally packed one. It's adding spinach to casseroles and soups. It's making pancakes with whole-wheat flour and topping with applesauce or peanut butter. Use brown rice in casseroles and slip flax seed oil and barely green into a breakfast fruit smoothie. Other times, it's making a healthful puréed vegetable soup for the vegetable-challenged child.

7. Don't Give Up

Be patient. Food, which your child has previously refused, most likely will be sampled between ten and twenty times before acceptance. Don't rush the process. Explore all the food's attributes with your child. Give your youngster time to learn how the food feels and smells. Tiny bites of formerly rejected foods are steps in the right direction.

From Buttermilk Pancakes to Blueberry Pancakes

During the spring of the year when lent is at hand and Easter is a mere 10 weeks away pancakes are on many peoples minds. The Tuesday before lent begins is traditionally pancake Tuesday. The origins of pancake Tuesday go back to when eggs, sugar and butter were not allowed during lent so people needed to use up these ingredients before lent began. Since eggs, sugar and butter are primary ingredients in pancakes we now have pancake Tuesday.

Pancakes are one of those foods that are found cross culturally around the world. They can be found in Egypt as a sweet deep fried treat, in England folded in half with lemon juice and sugar and in the United States stacked high on a plate topped with butter and maple syrup.

The variations are endless when it comes to pancakes. Two of the most popular types of American style pancakes are the Buttermilk Pancake and the Blueberry Pancake. Buttermilk pancakes have a sweet tang to there taste that comes from using buttermilk in the batter. If buttermilk is not on hand in your refrigerator you can easily substitute 1 cup of milk with scant tablespoon white vinegar for the buttermilk. Simply whisk the vinegar into the milk and allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes. The milk will thicken slightly and then be ready for mixing in the batter.

Blueberry pancakes are tricky when trying to mix in the blueberries. Blueberries have a tendency to break when mixed in pancake batter so care has to be taken or your pancake batter will turn purplish grey in color. An easy solution for this is to leave the blueberries separate and simply sprinkle them into the pancake batter just after the batter has been placed on the griddle.

Here a Zucchini, There a Zucchini, Zucchini is Everywhere - 5 Ways to Use Zucchini

It is that time in summer. The zucchini is overflowing from the back yard gardens and farm baskets. Zucchini (summer squash) is called a vegetable, but is really a fruit. Zucchini can be bright green, light green, or yellow and look like a cucumber or be round like a globe. It is an interesting vegetable with a delicate flavor and its blossom is also edible. It is low in calories (on its own) and does contain nutrients important to our bodies.

The zucchini has a delicate flavor so pan frying with a light olive oil and a bit of seasoning is a wonderful way to prepare it. This is fairly traditional. I also like to steam the yellow variety when I cook broccoli and carrots. It is a colorful addition to the dish. But that is only one way to cook zucchini, Let's consider some other ideas.

Egg Rolls: Mix shredded zucchini with the traditional cabbage, carrots, and green onions to your egg roll filling.

Pancakes: Make a savory pancake with shredded zucchini and potatoes (sweet or regular) to serve with a meal. You can top them with a bit of seasoned sour cream or applesauce.

Frittata: Frequently, this is a clean out the refrig dinner (or breakfast) and if I have zucchini, I will dice it and include with the sauteed potatoes, onions, and peppers. A little fresh spinach in there with some diced ham (or diced cooked Italian sausage) and cheese makes a meal in a pan.

Lasagna: Great way to get those veggies in the kids. I shred zucchini and mix it with the meat sauce as a layer in the lasagna.

Muffins: You can't complete the list without a zucchini bread or muffins. I like the idea of the muffins because you can add wonderful spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, a bit of lemon peel, as well as healthy ingredients like bran or chopped nuts.

Of course, there are many other ways to cook zucchini, such as adding zucchini to soup, baking it with a stuffing, or in an oven vegetable casserole, adding shredded zucchini to your carrot cake mix, or sliced and grilled. I add zucchini slices to my kebabs too. If you run out of ways to use your zucchini now, you can also freeze it, either in a dish you make in advance or whole. Check your local farm extension or garden guide. It is simple to do.

Pitta Bread Recipe

My kids love pitta (or pita) bread, those flat round breads that open into pockets that can be stuffed with anything and eaten in your hands, the ultimate takeaway food package. I first encountered it as a container for falafel, spiced chickpea patties and salad, a trendy urban street food in London way back then.

Now I use pitta bread as a freezer standby for lunch times when I discover we've run out of bread. Just pop a round into the toaster to defrost, then spread inside with cream cheese or ripe avocado and fill with cucumber slices or diced tomato, or cooked chicken and salad, to provide an instant popular meal. Recently though the pack of six breads, that I so casually toss into the shopping trolley and then into the freezer, seem to have got ridiculously expensive for such a simple food, more than twice the price of a loaf of bread and they vanish in an instant.

I turned to my Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook, the authority on all foods Indian and Middle Eastern, to see how complicated it would be to make my own pitas. It seemed no different to making ordinary white bread, just with the extra step of rolling the rounds and cooking them individually. Her recipe also makes twelve breads, so I had visions of having six for one meal and being able to stock the freezer again for another emergency.

I should have known my family better. The resulting breads were so delicious - warm, soft and fluffy inside, without the hard leatheriness of the bought ones - that they all disappeared in a twinkling, with just one half-piece left at the end of the meal and no photographs taken to show for it. The softer consistency made them a little less resilient as pockets than the bought pita, but we did eat them straight from the oven. I think cooling and then reheating them, or baking for an extra minute, would toughen the outside just enough to hold the fillings well without losing the inner softness.

Pitta Bread Recipe

450g / 1lb white bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 10g sachet (or 3 teaspoons) instant yeast or ¼ oz / 8g active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

Sift together the flour and salt. Combine yeast, sugar and 60ml / ¼ cup lukewarm water in a cup and leave for five minutes until it starts to froth. Mix the yeast mixture and 250 ml / 1 cup more lukewarm water into the flour and add the olive oil. Mix together to form a dough, adding another few tablespoons warm water as needed. Knead the dough on a floured surface for approx 10 minutes until it is smooth, springy and elastic. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp cloth or put the whole bowl into a plastic bag and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 ½ - 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

Punch the air out of the dough and knead briefly, then divide the dough into twelve pieces. Roll each one out to a ¾ cm / ¼ inch thick round and put on a floured baking tray. When they're all done cover the tray and leave to rise again for another 45 minutes. I use a black plastic bin liner for my bread to rise in - you can tuck it loosely around the tray leaving an air space above the bread dough so that it doesn't stick.

Preheat your oven to its highest temperature - about 220C / 450F if it will get that hot. Put a large cast iron griddle or frying pan in the middle of your oven to heat. (If you have a gas oven put it at the bottom where it is hottest). You can also use a heavy baking sheet or cookie tray. Once the dough has risen, put one or two pitta breads onto the griddle and return to oven to cook for 2 ½ to 3 minutes until they have puffed up. Bring the bread out onto a plate covered by a damp cloth to cool off. Once cool they can be frozen in bags. Reheat under the grill or in a toaster.

One of these days I'll be organised enough to make a batch especially for the freezer, so that I have my emergency bread back-up. I think I'll have to do it in secret when the kids are at school though, or the pitta bread just won't make it to the freezer!

Copyright 2007 Kit Heathcock