November 27, 2005
Wine Anyone?
Last night I attended a wine party. Honestly, I have never been too much of a wine drinker, but last night I really enjoyed myself. I had good laughs, good drinks, and even learned a little knowledge about wine.
When I was invited to the party, the invitation said to bring our favorite bottle of wine. Naturally, I had no favorite wine since I had never bought a bottle before in my life. I emailed the hostess and asked her for a wine suggestion or recommendation. She gave me a short little lesson on wine.
1. Blush: When people first begin to drink wine, usually the favorite type is blush. This is a fruitier wine that is agreeable to far more people than red wine.
2. White: Once people get accustomed to the blush wine, many move on to enjoy white wines. White wine is served chilled and is typically sweeter than red wine. According to the hostess, many woman enjoy white wine.
3. Red: I was told that red wine is for the more experienced wine drinkers. Red wine is much dryer than other colors. It has a rich, full bodied taste.
The only wine I had ever had was red wine at mass. I decided that I would take red wine since it is the flavor I am used to. Boy was I ever impressed by the selection. I sampled each and every wine at the party and came to the conclusion that on average, I enjoy red wines the most.
Posted by Kay Dee at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)November 18, 2005
Perfect Thanksgiving Beverages
If you are throwing a Thanksgiving get-together or just want to enjoy some seasonal cocktails, read further.
Steamed Buttered Rum
Ingredients:
Hot apple cider
1 clove
1 pat of butter
2 oz. Rum
1 cinnamon stick
Directions: Add spices and Rum in a mug first. Then, pour hot cider on top of the spices. Place the butter pat on top and let it float and melt away. Delicious!
Hunter’s Coffee Delight
Ingredients:
½ oz Tia Maria
½ oz Grand Mariner
Whipped cream to taste
Coffee of your choice
Directions: Brew coffee and pour Tia Maria and Grand Mariner into Mug. Then add the whipped cream on top and let melt. This is a yummy frothy delight!
Posted by Kay Dee at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)November 16, 2005
Perfect Thanksgiving Beverages
If you are throwing a Thanksgiving get-together or just want to enjoy some seasonal cocktails, read further.
Steamed Buttered Rum
Ingredients:
Hot apple cider
1 clove
1 pat of butter
2 oz. Rum
1 cinnamon stick
Directions: Add spices and Rum in a mug first. Then, pour hot cider on top of the spices. Place the butter pat on top and let it float and melt away. Delicious!
Hunter’s Coffee Delight
Ingredients:
½ oz Tia Maria
½ oz Grand Mariner
Whipped cream to taste
Coffee of your choice
Directions: Brew coffee and pour Tia Maria and Grand Mariner into Mug. Then add the whipped cream on top and let melt. This is a yummy frothy delight!
Posted by Kay Dee at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)November 07, 2005
Low Calorie Alcoholic Beverages
As we approach the holidays, food may come to mind. However, there is another thing that comes to the minds of many people: alcohol. The holiday season is filled with parties and family get-togethers. This usually means alcohol. Whether this means wine, beer, spiked punch, or party beverages, consumption tends to be great. This means that not only do we need to watch the caloric intake of foods, but also of beverages.
According to the Medical Foods News website, http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol06/issue4/drinks.htm, the higher the alcohol content, the high the calories. It is a misconception that hard liquor is low in calories. Ounce per ounce, hard liquor is higher in calories than beer.
Light beer actually has the lowest calorie consumption per ounce. If you are at a party and you plan on only having one drink, light beer would be the leanest choice. If you choose a beverage that has the same percentage of alcohol as beer, you also want to keep the sugar in mind. The more sugar there is in a beverage, the more calories. Wine coolers have significantly more calories than beer.
Some people merely drink at holiday parties to get a buzz. If this is you, a different caloric strategy may be in order. For instance, it would take you more ounces of beer to get a buzz than it would if you were drinking vodka or tequila. Even though tequila has more calories per ounce, it would take your less ounces to be intoxicated.
The Medical Foods News website (http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol06/issue4/drinks.htm) states that there are 8 calories per ounce of light beer and 64 calories per ounce of gin, vodka, tequila, and rum. You should do your own calculations to see what would make more sense for you to drink.
It is pretty obvious that many of us drink. Why not make the best caloric decisions while we do it?
Posted by Kay Dee at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)September 22, 2005
The Miracle Beverage
Similar to the earth’s surface, the majority of our body is made up of water. It is no surprise that consuming water brings about great benefits. Water consumption improves your skin, your weight, and your breath.
Skin is the first organ people see when they first meet you. Skin shows the effects of the happenings within our bodies. When we drink the recommended eight glasses of water a day, our bodies are happy. The water rids our system of toxins and waste. This creates a natural glow to our skin. Splashing water to clean our skin on the outside is not nearly as effective as consuming water to clean our skin from the inside.
Getting adequate amounts of water is important for weight loss. When we do not get the recommended amounts of water, our bodies go into survival mode. The body instinctively lowers it’s metabolism because it thinks there is not enough water or food to survive. By drinking the correct amount of water, we can prevent this from happening.
Bad breath is a condition that plaques millions of people. Many times bad breath is the result of odor-causing bacteria making a home in the mouth. By drinking plenty of water, this bacteria will have no time to smell. It will be washed away instantly.
Water is a miraculous beverage that is overlooked by many people. Perhaps if everyone knew the various benefits of water, consumption would be higher. Water can improve your health, appearance, and well-being.
Posted by Kay Dee at 04:26 AM | Comments (0)September 20, 2005
Soda Pop Splenda Craze
Recently Splenda has started to replace the potentially harmful sweetener aspartame in diet pop. Splenda has no calories and is actually made from sugar. It has no side effects and no after-taste. Recently more and more brands of diet pops have listed Splenda as the sweetener.
In the late 90's Pepsi came out with a brand new product: Pepsi One. Many people, myself included, thought "What's the big deal? It's diet pop with one additional calorie." Pepsi did not push the fact that Splenda was the sweetener as opposed to Diet Pepsi's aspartame sweetener. The great benefits of switching from aspartame to Splenda were not stressed and sales reflected that.
In 2004 7UP came out with a Splenda sweetened drink called 7Up Plus. Not only is this soda sweetened with an safe sweetener, but also includes added vitamins. As Americans become more and more worried about health, 7Up has tried to accommodate the growing health need.
Finally, Coke came out with a Splenda sweetened beverage simply called, Diet Coke with Splenda. They have advertised the benefits Splenda provides and actually heightened the Splenda craze.
Other sweeteners such as aspartame have potential health risks that Splenda does not have. It is my hope that eventually all diet colas and sodas will switch to Splenda. There is no point in unnecessarily putting your health at risk
Posted by Kay Dee at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)August 27, 2005
The Coffee Wagon
I'd been on the coffee wagon for eight years, until the rich aroma of organic French Roast my husband was brewing wafted my way one Sunday afternoon a couple of months ago. Maybe it was the stress of having moved across the Pacific Ocean to an island in the middle of that ocean from California. Or maybe the loneliness I was feeling from being a stranger on a strange island. Maybe it was just plain weakness, but I fell off that high roasted wagon and have been falling ever since. Though I noticed an increase of agitation and nervousness on the afternoons of coffee sipping, I continued my occasional cup. Even brewing my own small pot of organic coffee on those frequent lazy tropical afternoons. The word organic helped make it okay. Once I tried a morning cup, but it was too intense for my fragile stomach. Sometimes the coffee tasted fantastic, other times not so good.
Yesterday, under the guise of pressure to produce some creative writing, I made a hefty brew. Ah, the comforting small glass of coffee sat next to me as I struggled through imaginary demons. Until the real demon appeared in my writing hand. I looked at it shaking. I continued to write; fully aware of the tremendous energy it was for me to control the shaky writing. "Look at my hand shaking," I said to myself. "Yes. I see it", Myself replied. "It's the coffee." "Yes. I know." "I cant drink coffee. Look what its doing to me." " Yes. I realize that." " What are we going to do about it?" " You're asking me?"
Later I looked at the fantastic tea selection collected from Ye Olde King's Head Shoppe in Santa Monica California. It's my favorite place to purchase real English tea, something lacking here in the middle of the Pacific.
I haven't had a cup of coffee today. I think another eight years can pass by before I do.
Posted by wavingcloud at 04:01 AM | Comments (0)