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Dine in Style Every Day With a Few Simple Steps

In Italy, stylish dining has long been embraced as a relaxing way to unwind after a busy day. So before you order takeout and eat in front of the television, take a cue from the Italians and make each meal a treat.

Whether dining alone, with family or with your closest friends, turn an otherwise hurried meal into a chic expression of style with these tips from Ecco Domani Italian wines.

* Determine the dcor. Whether you are dining at the kitchen table or in a more formal setting, it’s easy to add some pizzazz to your surroundings. Candles cast a warm glow once the sun goes down. Strands of small lights also enhance the mood; string them around the room or even bunch them in a Mason jar for a funky tabletop display.

* Master the art of mood music. Mellow jazz will help take the edge off a long day, and classical music can help lift your mood. Consider tailoring the music around the type of cuisine you are serving. For an Italian meal, for instance, play an assortment of Italian opera.

If you’re dining with family or friends, get them involved by inviting them to bring their favorite CDs. Set your disc player to shuffle so that everyone’s music selection gets played during the meal.

* Create a stylish menu. To help you unwind, it’s best to keep your meal simple. Luckily, delicious meals are a snap to make with fresh, easy-to-prepare foods. And you can add flair to any basic dish with just a few additions.

For an Italian meal, a tomato, basil and mozzarella salad is always a crowd-pleaser. Drizzle chicken and fish with olive oil and lemon for a fresh, light flavor. And dust colorful veggies with Italian seasonings to bring out their natural flavors.

Whatever your menu, be sure to select a delicious wine to accompany the meal. Ecco Domani 2003 Pinot Grigio is a perfect wine for everyday dining because of its crisp, fresh flavor, which pairs perfectly with today’s light cuisine.

It is easy to infuse any setting with glamour by adding a few small touches. In the end, nothing says style like taking the time to make each meal special. – NU

What’s Special about Rachel Ray Receipes

Rachel Ray receipes are special because they’re recipes that almost everyone can make. You don’t have to be an expert cook to make many of her 30 minute meals recipes. And even her more complicated recipes are much simpler than you’ll find with some other TV chefs.

With Rachel Ray’s meals, you get a very basic recipe at the core. While some recipes do have a few exotic ingredients that everyone won’t have in the pantry, most do not. This shows that Rachel understands what the average home cook is looking for.

How many times have you been watching a cooking show and been disappointed, This is a common problem with many recipes you’ll find on television. The finished product is beautiful and looks delicious, but only a chef can actually make it!

Often, the recipes are exotic things that few ordinary people would even try. When there are more than a couple of ingredients that you don’t already have, it’s easy to get discouraged. And when there are expensive ingredients that you would buy and never use except for that recipe, it’s unlikely you even want to try it.

Rachel Ray recipes, however, are full of ingredients that are common. Basic ingredients like pasta, vegetables, fruits, cheese, milk, extra virgin olive oil and things you probably have on hand are the staples in her meals.

This makes her recipes easy for almost anyone to try. And usually, when there is an ingredient that you might not have on hand, it’s one that you can use in many other things. Capers, for instance, aren’t something everyone buys. But if you buy them for one recipe, she’ll have several others that use them, too.

This gives even the most inexperienced cook a chance to try something new. Done this way, you won’t be stuck paying a lot of money for an ingredient with one use. This is all too often what happens when you follow other top chef’s recipes.

With Rachel Ray’s recipes, you also don’t have to buy any of her pre-packaged products. While she does have some food products available, like chicken and beef broth, her recipes don’t require that you use them. Rachel Ray’s meals are truly recipes that you can use without special knowledge or brand-name purchases.

It’s also fun to cook along with someone who’s really enthusiastic about the recipes. She actually makes the meals in 30 minutes on the television show. Unlike other cooking shows, nothing is pre-chopped or prepared in advance. So you could actually do the same thing she does and follow along.

If you’re looking for a simple and fast meal, Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals can’t be beat. You can make a main dish, a side dish, and usually a salad and a dessert all in a half an hour. And since the ingredients are mostly common ones, you can find the exact things she uses.

With Rachel Ray receipes that are so simple and easy to follow, everyone should be able to enjoy her fun and healthy 30 minute meals.

Tasty Low Calorie Recipes

There are so many websites and cookbooks focused on offering low calorie recipes, there is anything but a shortage of meals to try. However, just because low calorie recipes are healthy, does not mean they are tasty! Many of those recipes featured in various places taste like cardboard! Worse yet, they call for a bunch of ingredients that you and your grocer have never heard of! Where can you find tasty, low calorie recipes with all the ingredients you can pronounce,

The palatability of any meal is most often based on what you are accustomed to eating. If your primary food staple has been fried chicken and bon bons for the last few decades, you will likely have a hard time altering your eating habits or accepting low calorie recipes. Unless you can find recipes that call for bon bons, which is unlikely, you will have to make some sacrifices. If this is the case, you would be better off, instead of jumping headfirst into diet world, by gradually altering your diet by adding low calorie recipes and slowly removing the fatty foods. If you jump in to it too quickly, you are more likely to give up and go back to old habits. Another consideration, if you are making a drastic change, is to try to make the foods you already like in a different, healthier manner. You can broil meat instead of frying it, use fat free salad dressing, and other low calorie alternatives.

Once you ease into healthy eating, then it is time to really start making low calorie recipes. As stated earlier, there really are a lot of recipes available online and in cookbooks you just have to find some you like. You should start on the Internet and look for recipes with ingredients that sound good. Most likely, if the ingredients are good, the finished product will be good. When you are first starting out, you may not want to go out and buy a stack of cookbooks. You should get an idea of what you like before spending money on something that may very well end up collecting dust. Besides, individual recipes seem less obtrusive than bulky cookbooks that tend to always seem to big too read. No one wants to spend three hours looking through a book to decide what they want to eat. You can scan online and find something a lot faster.

Gourmet Cooking Recipes – The Basics of Gourmet Cooking Recipes

To many people, gourmet cooking seems like an inaccessible thing that only wealthy people are capable of enjoying, but with gourmet cooking recipes, this is no longer the case. There is no reason for you to feel as if you cannot take advantage of what gourmet cooking recipes have to offer, because these recipes are largely accessible and make it possible for you to create stunning gourmet meals for yourself and for your family. If you have never tried out gourmet cooking recipes or gourmet cooking before, you should not be intimidated.

With just a little bit of trial and error regarding gourmet cooking recipes, you can get a handle on this unique and enjoyable method of cooking. To begin with, you should understand what characteristics exist that make gourmet cooking recipes actually considered being gourmet. Gourmet cooking is designed to, for example, utilize ingredients that are fresh as well as of the highest possible level of quality.

For example, a gourmet chef will not call for dried or powdered garlic in their gourmet cooking recipes but rather they will demand fresh cloves instead. Herbs cannot be dried or powdered, but must be fresh and hand chopped or minced in order for the gourmet cooking recipes to be gourmet.

Another word that means the same thing as gourmet is epicurean, which is described as being someone that only likes the finest in food and in drink. Gourmet people, people who cook gourmet cooking recipes, are people that are like connoisseurs of food. Just like with an epicurean, these connoisseurs are people that understand what is good just as well as what is not good, especially in terms of gourmet cooking recipes.

The best way to learn about what makes gourmet cooking recipes actually gourmet is to go online and perform a search on the concept of gourmet food and gourmet cooking. The internet is filled to the brim with information that will benefit you on gourmet cooking and all other aspects of cooking as well. You should not be afraid to go online and ask around for help so that you can learn more about what gourmet cooking recipes are all about. There are a myriad of different communities online that are devoted to all forms of cooking and eating, and gourmet cooking and gourmet cooking recipes are certainly not exceptions to the rule.

Once you have decided to try out your own gourmet cooking recipes, you may find it enjoyable to try out specialty supermarkets and other grocers as you hunt down the unique and exotic ingredients that many of these recipes demand. Shop locally whenever you possibly can, and try an internet search for other ingredients that you cannot find nearby, like special herbs and spices for example, which can be delivered to your front doorstep quickly and efficiently when needed. Don’t be afraid to try new gourmet cooking recipes, you may find one that you really end up loving.

Finding Recipes, Low Calorie Style!

If you are one of the many people that have decided to take the low calorie leap, you are probably at a loss as to where to find recipes to cook. It is great to want to eat healthier, but sometimes you need a little guidance. If you need help finding recipes, low calorie style, here are few simple ways to locate recipes and shake up the recipes you have.

The easiest, most convenient way to find recipes, low calorie style, is to look on the internet. The information superhighway has thousands of recipes that you can access with a few clicks of the mouse. You can start your hunt by typing “recipes low calorie” in the search engine and watch the possibilities pop up. Just going through these sites will keep you more than busy and stocked up on ideas for sometime. However, if you want more, there is plenty more out there. Another idea is to look at specific websites that are focused on food preparation or have a recipe section. Look up your favorite cooking television show in the internet and see if they have a website. You would be surprised how many publish recipes they have aired or plan to air in the near future.

You can also take a stroll down the magazine aisle at your local store. There are hundreds of magazines that feature recipe sections. Pay special attention to magazines about women, family, and the home. Even if they are not specifically about cooking, many will at least throw in a few recipes. “Woman’s Day” is a perfect example of a magazine that targets women but always has several recipes inside, usually those that are low calorie.

Once you have done the first two suggestions, you should be swimming in recipes, more than you could cook in a year! However, there are still more available. If your thirst for recipes, low calorie style, is still strong, it is time to hit the bookstore. Be prepared there are roughly a billion books of cooking. Luckily, there are only several million on low calorie cooking. That may be an exaggeration, but it certainly will not seem so when you make it to the cookbook aisle! Try to focus on the healthy cookbooks so you will not be distracted by all the others on the market. Scan through a few books and look for something that may look good. This is mostly trial and error unless there is a specific chef or series of books you are interested in.