5 Herbs and Spices You Must Get to Know! Diane Gray / Associated Content
Using herbs and spices in your diet and in remedies to alleviate ailments, will help you to eat and live a more healthy life. Herbs and spices are fragrant and delicious additions to your foods, and also can help you to sooth your physical maladies. Use these wonderful plants in your dishes for both extra nutrients, and pretty garnishes! Here are some of the most popular.
Parsley has been known for more that 2,000 years and was best known as a medicinal herb. It originated in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and was used by the Ancient Greeks for kidney and bladder ailments. We still use parsley as a diuretic. It also helps with stomach and liver problems. For women, it can ease the bloating that some experience before their menstrual cycle.
But parsley is also a good source of many vitamins and minerals especially iron. It is mostly used as a garnish for dishes, especially in restaurants. Don't throw it away! Eat it! The sprigs as we've explained are very good for you. It's best not to cook parsley because the heat destroys many of its valuable nutrients. If you want to use it in soups and stews, just chop it up and add it at the last minute.
Oregano is a sweetly scented spice and was valued by the Ancient Egyptians. They used it as an antidote to poison and also as a preservative. But oregano is most popular for its spicy, minty flavor. Used in the kitchen, it is sprinkled on pizza, and stirred in spaghetti sauces and soups. Oregano is also delicious in egg and cheese dishes.
One of the most flavorful types of oregano is Mexican Oregano. You can store the fresh leaves in the refrigerator in a zip-lock bag. If you want to dry oregano, tie the stems together and then hang in a dark, well-ventilated place. After they're dried, store the leaves in an airtight container.
Cayenne or red pepper is a member of the pepper family, which includes the familiar bell pepper and the hot and green chilies. Mexico alone grows over 150 varieties of chilies, and the cayenne pepper is one of the hottest. We use it mostly in our recipes calling for a hot, spicy flavor, especially in Mexican dishes.
But did you know that peppers were once only used as ornamental plants and not eaten? They were also used in medicinal purposes externally to stimulate the circulation in the skin. The symptoms of rheumatism could also be soothed using the red pepper.
Today we use this pepper typically as pepper spice or pepper flakes to zip up the flavor in our foods. Also these peppers are used whole in many Tex-Mex and New Mexican cuisines. The hottest part of the pepper is the seeds and white ribs. If you want your food milder, but still have that pepper flavor, scrape out the seeds and white ribs. If you want it real hot, leave them in!
Chives are a member of the onion family and they grow from small bulbs. In the Middle Ages chives were once thought to drive away evil spirits! The stems and even the chive flowers (you can eat them!), are high in vitamin C, folic acid, and potassium. Chives are a great addition to recipes as they help restore the nutrients that may be lost in cooking.
When you use chives in your dishes, try not to heat them, as they will lose their vitamins and minerals. Sprinkle them instead on any dish that you would like a nutrient boost. And a sprinkling of chives also makes a pretty presentation!
We hope that these little tips and hints will encourage you to use these wonderful, healthy herbs and spices every day in your cooking.
Kitchen Island Design
The kitchen island is a stand alone cabinet or grouping in the middle of the kitchen providing counter space, convenience, and storage space. In larger kitchens where there is adequate space there are often double islands. Most often the island used to separate the kitchen from the living room will have seating to be used much like a breakfast table. If the kitchen island has a cook-top, sink, under-counter microwave or other appliance then it also accommodates the convenience of preparation while socializing with guests. There are endless uses and endless design options for kitchen islands.
According to the National Association of Home-builders (NAHB),
· kitchen islands are one of the most popular kitchen design features among today's consumers.
· 80% of New home buyers consider a kitchen island to be an absolute must.
Kitchen island ideas include rolling islands that can be used where a larger island won't fit, breakfast bars, furniture like features, counter tops of granite or butcher block with shapes from traditional rectangle to square, rounded or oval. A kitchen island can have the same design as the main counter or it can have its own unique design, color or wood species.
New home buyers aren't the only ones that should consider a kitchen island design for their kitchen. Some older homes with limited space can also benefit by having a more open looking kitchen by lowering existing walls halfway to form islands between the kitchen and other living spaces.
Some features to consider in adding a kitchen island that include the oven or cook top as the main component
· you might want to consider a kitchen exhaust hood over your island or if possible one of the new down draft exhaust fans
· The island should be well lit. Your kitchen island plan should provide locations for lighting in the ceiling as well as around the kitchen exhaust hood.
· Electrical switches and outlets. A kitchen island can be an ideal area for additional outlets for kitchen appliances.
· Storage and shelves.
You can create your own dream kitchen or communicate your design ideas to a kitchen design professional.
By Kathy Lloyd owner of Longhorn Cabinets Inc. For design assistance call 928-308-8631 or stop by 7485 1st St Prescott Valley (inside B & L Flooring) for style and options available.
Authors Note: kitchen islands have become a very popular feature. Depending on the size, islands are the perfect way of combining usability with design aspects. There are some things in this country that we as consumers will pay a lot to have, just because they are different. There also is a certain cachet as well to being the first one to have a NEW thing, but with that there is an inherent risk as well. You’ve got to “ let them work the bugs out first!" Concrete, or cement counter tops aren't really a new thing anymore, but they remain in the high cost range of counter top surfaces. 1. So, the questions remain: what were the initial "bugs" as the product developed, and have they been satisfactorily addressed; and is the surface really worth the added expense when completing a kitchen remodel? In 2000, a lifetime ago, concrete counter tops were the latest thing in old technology if you will. Builder’s were offering it as an upgrade, but the project managers were very discouraging, offering up advice that sounded quite logical at the time: concrete counter tops can be great in a settled structure, but the weight of them in a house that is just newly built can cause dramatic settling putting the tops at risk for cracking. Well certainly based on that information, and facing all the other decisions, most homeowners abandoned the thought; there wasn't any way they wanted to run headlong into that kind of an "I told you so". Keep in mind concrete is tremendously heavy, handling the tops is strenuous and labor intensive. Concrete weighs virtually the same as granite, but it is generally poured thicker that the typical 1 1/4" used for stone counters. The heavier visual weight is more luxurious & gives the top a more substantial presence. As it is, concrete is a mixture of natural aggregates, activated by water; therefore it is potentially susceptible to cracking, mostly by way of a few different but manageable conditions. Air bubbles in the mix weaken the material, therefore it is essential to loosen and release any bubbles when the top is first poured. This is difficult to do by hand, commercial manufacturer's use giant automated agitating tables to properly achieve the desired result. Factors which can contribute to cracking over time are shrinkage in the material due to continued drying over time, which is why professional fabricators store the tops in a humid climate controlled environment after they are poured. Lastly, the concern of handling and installation, the weight and the size of the tops make them difficult to transport and install. The proper equipment, shimming material, and epoxies ensure that all the hard work that went into making them won't be wasted if they are broken or damaged just as they are about to complete your entire project! All of these factors lead me to believe a few things: the guys building new houses just do not want to deal with the material: the weight, the temperament, and the service issues the counter tops we fall in love with in magazines and trade shows are not made in an hour or two making concrete counters is not for the typical DIY'er like all great art, there needs to be a passion for the subject Some of the benefits include: heat resistant(not heat proof) stain resistant(not stain proof) impact tolerant natural looking eco-friendly durable moldable available in an unlimited color palette many varied textures and finishing effects unlimited styling and design options When approaching any kitchen design remodeling project today, I naturally offer my clients sustainable "green" design options throughout the process. Concrete has properties that make it a valuable product offering in this category, it is a renewable material, it is durable and can be expected to last very long time, and it is a product that is manufactured in a closed environment with no harmful pollutants. Additionally, truly "green" concrete can be manufactured using silica fume and fly ash; these are byproducts of silicone metal manufacturing and the coal burning industry. Using these materials as a direct substitute for Portland cement makes use of a material that otherwise goes directly into landfills. 2. When I asked what the greatest misconception about concrete as a counter top surface was, I was told that"Due to the relatively high cost per square foot there are many masons, contractors, and homeowners who think ‘hey, I can do this'- most often with poor or even disastrous results. When a concrete counter top is made poorly, the initial perception is that concrete stinks-they (consumers) blame the material, not the fabricator. This situation can give concrete a bad reputation since it is innately dependant on proper fabrication. High quality decorative concrete is worlds apart from ‘sidewalk' concrete." My original question as a designer and a consumer, are they worth the extra investment when remodeling your kitchen? My answer: YES, if you are in love with the look, they are worth it, I would definitely recommend saving up and spending the extra money to have them professionally fabricated and installed, after all, you don't want a counter top that looks like a sidewalk, do you? If your idea is to personalize the top with family hand-prints, embedded embellishments, crystals, anything basically you can dream up, your fabricator will help you with that. This is a truly unique and custom element to add to a kitchen or bathroom remodel.
Concrete Countertops ?