If you love expresso

Coffee is grown in over seventy countries, from Indonesia to Brazil. Yet the total production of coffee is relatively small because it is such a fussy plant. Even though we call it a coffee bean, this is a misnomer. The little pod that is roasted, ground and brewed is actually the seed of the fruit that grows on the coffee tree. The coffee tree grows to twenty feet as a rule, but can reach heights of 45 feet. Most of these seeds come in pairs. There is one, called the pea berry, that looks like a cranberry with a sweet pulp and covered with a silvery membrane. Coffee grows in a band of about 25 degrees to the north and to the south, near the equator that encirlces the world. The reason for the concentration in this area is because coffee requires temperatures between 60F (15C) and 70F (21C) and a rainfall of six inches per month or more. In addition, coffee needs a specialized soil that is loamy and well drained. High humidity, found in mountain areas is also ideal. Diffused light and light breezes are also part of ideal conditions. Since oxygen is scarce at these altitudes, the trees mature slowly. All of these conditions cause the output of coffee to be low.

There is a coffee bean that can grow in lower altitudes, robusta, or coffea canephora, and it is also disease resistant. For these reasons, it is used for the majority of coffee. But coffee gourmets will insist on high altitude coffee arabica.

A coffee tree will take five years to produce its first crop of coffee, and a single tree only yields about 2,00 beans, about two pounds of coffee.

The beans have to be manually harvested by coffee pickers. This is a highly specialized skill, since pickers need to be able to differentiate between the good beans and the bad beans. They choose each bean individually. No wonder coffee is expensive.

Coffee trees have broad dark leaves and produce a flower that blossoms over a six to eight week period. This long blossoming period, the longest being in the areas closest to the equator, such as Kenya or Colombia, means that beans are ripening at different rates and mature beans can be right next to immature ones. The coffee picker has to be careful.

From first blossom to final harvest can take as long as nine months for coffee. This cycle will repeat over and over for the life of the tree, 20 to 25 years. Even under the best conditions of cultivation, a hectare will yield only between 6,600 lbs (3,000 kg) and 8,800 lbs (4,000 kg). Then the beans have to be brought down from these inhospitable growing areas to the processing areas and shipped out at a rate that makes coffee the second largest volume commodity.

You will no longer wonder why that delicious cup of coffee that came out of your expresso machine costs so much when you consider the journey it took.

Gourmet chocolates make a fantastic gift

A wonderful box of chocolates would make a fantastic gift for your sweetheart or good friend, but if want to make a massive impression on them try buying a assortment of chocolates that are made in many countries. This is great way to create a gift that is out of the ordinary, and is sure to impress.

Foreign chocolates are simple to buy these days.

Finding chocolates that are manufactured in different countries of the world is not really that difficult. There are a lot of good supermarkets and gourmet chocolate stores who have selections from all around the globe. In Chicago there is a store called Treasure Island which is a fantastic place to looking for international types of chocolates. The store is laid out in different sections, with each section selling a different countries products[c] its just amazing.

It can be said, the most famous manufacturers, other than Hershey's found in the market, will be Swiss chocolate, in particular Lindt chocolates. Swiss chocolate is so popular and prevalent, not only will it be sold in the supermarkets, but it'll probably be shelved in the general aisle with all the other chocolates (as opposed to the specialized sections). So finding gourmet chocolate and gourmet chocolate products is very simple.

Belgium, French and Polish chocolate is also relatively natural to come across when visiting the stores, but a great variety to search for is German, in particular Kinder chocolate. Fairly more daunting to find (though I've found some in local supermarkets), Kinder chocolate is very good, and the different varieties are particularly interesting most notably the Kinder eggs a hollow chocolate egg (like for Easter), with a small toy inside. The egg is a cute variation on the usual chocolate egg, and could be a fun gift for adults and children alike.

Also another cool place to look for chocolates from other parts of the world is to go the different areas in your city. Chinatown is an absolute treasure trove of amazing, colorful chocolates, very often wrapped and sold in cool designs including a adorable line of cookie koala bears filled with gorgeous chocolate. Mexican stores are also a great place to find unusual chocolates that may not be on sale at the local candy store.

One point to consider when buying your chocolates from your local gourmet chocolates store, is that not only do you have many choices of chocolates to choose from, you will be supporting the local economy as well.

Gourmet chocolates candy and much more.

Quality gourmet chocolates are most often created by master chocolate makers, so can you imagine the taste of their creations like chocolate truffles, butter creams, pralines and much more. Now stop imagining, and go out and buy yourself a real treat.

Pick your poison

Are you tired of always having to go to the beach or to a bar to enjoy your favorite drink? Instead of spending so much money at a bar or club ordering these exotic drinks, we've provided you with some recipes and tips on how to make them yourself. They are easy and quick to make and they are great to use for pre-gameing or even when you just want to relax with your friends. These are five of the most popular alcoholic drinks, and remember, you can add as much alcohol as you desire according to your taste.

Mojito

Ingredients

-Fresh mint

-Limes (one for each drink)

-Clear rum (Havana Club is preferred, but if not you can get Bacardi Superior Light, or Captain Morgan's Silver Edition)

-Club Soda

-Pure granulated sugar

-Bitters

How To

-Start by making some simple syrup. To do this, put equal parts sugar and water into a pot and cook it on high (stirring the whole time) until it mixes together (you do not want it boiling!). **Make enough of this so you don't have to make it every time you need to make a mojito.

-Place some of the fresh mint in the bottom of the glass, just enough to cover and a little bit more.

-Pour in about a finger of the simple syrup.

-Add a little granulated sugar into the glass to aid the muddling of the mint. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved before serving.

-Squeeze the juice of a whole lime into the glass, leaving half of the empty lime shell in the glass.

-Take your bottle of bitters and just put a dash or two in. Mix that all together thoroughly.

-Fill the glass about 3/4 full with ice.

-Pour about 4 counts of the rum, and finish it with a splash of club soda. Make sure that you then mix the drink very well.

-Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Cosmopolitan

Ingredients

-1 oz vodka

-1/2 oz triple sec (curacao, grand marnier and cointreau are popular)

-1/2 oz Rose's lime juice

-1/2 oz cranberry juice

How To

-Shake vodka, triple sex, lime an cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice.

-Strain into a martini glass

-Garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.

Long Island Ice Tea

Ingredients

-1 part vodka

-1 part tequila

-1 part rum

-1 part gin

-1 part triple sec

-1 1/2 parts sweet and sour mix

-1 splash Coca-Cola

How To

-Mix ingredients together over ice in a glass.

-Pour into a shaker and give one brisk shake.

-Pour back into the glass an make sure there is a touch of fizz at the top.

-Garnish with lemon

**Blue Long Island Ice Tea**

-1 part vodka

-1 part rum

-1 part triple sec

-1 part tequila

-1 part gin

How To

-Mix all the drinks adding Blue Caracao (triple sec) last

-If made right, it will look fluorescent blue.

-Serve in a glass and garnish with cherry.

Margarita

Ingredients

-1 1/2 oz tequila

-1/2 oz triple sec

-dash of lemon or lime juice

-3 oz Sour Mix

-Lime wedge for garnish

-Salt to rim the glass (optional)

How To

-Pour the ingredients into a shaker with ice cubes

-Shake well

-If desired, salt the rim of a chilled margarita glass

-Pour contents, with ice, into the glass

-Garnish with the lime wedge.

Bloody Mary

Ingredients

-1 1/2 oz vodka

-3 oz tomato juice

-1 dash lemon juice

-1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

-3 drops Tabasco Sauce

-1 wedge lime

How To

-Shake all ingredients (except lime wedge) with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass over ice cubes

-Add salt and pepper to taste

-Add the wedge of lime and serve.

Salmonella in eggs

Let's face it, over the years eggs have gotten a very bad rap but are one food that always seems to bounce back (albeit not literally) onto the tables of nations all over the world.

In the mid-eighties an outbreak of salmonella broke in the UK causing nationwide panic, governments leap onto the bandwagon closely followed by cries of outrage from the press. It seemed like nothing could massage the publics fear of the egg.

Well, nothing but the taste and versatility of the egg (and it's resilience).

For thousands of years eggs have been included in the staple diet of almost every country in the world and we can safely assume that one of the first dishes on a caveman's plate would have been an egg - fried, scrambled or poached we can't say.

Studies show that eggs are preferred differently from nation to nation and a recent study by Egg Monthly magazine show the following preferences:

UK - Boiled egg

USA - Poached egg

Asia - Scrambled egg

Eastern Europe - Fried egg

Amazing that just like language our particular taste for egg recipes varies from continent to continent and country to country.

So what is in an egg that we so desire? Firstly although it is fragile it has other aspects which provide it hardy qualities such as it is totally waterproof and provides it's own handy packaging. By it's very nature it is rich in protein and contains a good source of 'good' cholesterol. Add to this it is easy to prepare - a meal with an egg can be made in under a minute but is versatile enough to be oven cooked, grilled and fried.

So when you next sit down to your breakfast, dinner or evening meal (what other ingredient sits happily at any time of day or night?) just remember that everyone from Cleopatra to Jessie Jayne has one thing in common - we all love eggs!

Why decaffeinated coffee was introduced

Being an avid drinker of coffee, I never could figure out the reason following decaffeinated coffee. People usually drink coffee or espresso for the caffeine fix, so I always wondered as to why anyone would drink decaffeinated coffee. Would it not just defeat the purpose of drinking coffee? However, I finally saw the light and managed to figure out why decaffeinated coffee existed. This helped me immensely to sustain some sort of extravagance during my pregnancy and I also found out that I was not drinking coffee just for the caffeine fix and that I quite rather liked the taste of different coffee types.

During my pregnancy I was one of those nutcases who had read up everything that could go wrong during a pregnancy and tried to avoid those possible causes like anything. For instance, I avoided aspartame only because they were unsure of the effects it might have on the baby and I stayed away from lunchmeat because it had a minute possibility of a listeria infection. Hence, when I got to know that caffeine had the possibility to cause miscarriages, I tried to avoid regular coffee. Now, to reach the parameters that were measured in the studies for miscarriages to happen, a person would have to drink at least three cups of coffee daily. However, after reading that I was scared enough to confine myself to drinking decaffeinated sodas and coffees.

When I was halfway through my pregnancy, there was an expose show on the T. V on whether the decaffeinated coffee that we order in restaurants and coffee shops are really decaffeinated or not. I knew that decaffeinated coffee was not totally void of the substance and had small traces of caffeine in it. I also knew that I was not taking in amounts that were close to regular coffee. However, in the T. V show they revealed that the caffeine levels in decaffeinated coffee was close to the levels of the caffeine in a regular brew. They also reveled that this was the situation in around sixty percent of the places. This happened mainly because the machines and pots were not properly cleaned before the next pot was used or because of cross brewing. This particular case would not affect most situations, but in cases where there are medical conditions this would have taken a serious turn.

It is a fact that this would truly affect my situation in any way and I also realize it. But, I am such a nutcase that I have completely cut out coffee (whether regular or decaffeinated) from my diet during my pregnancy. Unless I had brewed the coffee at home, I had totally removed caffeine free coffee during the fall and winter months. I should also say that during the last few months of my pregnancy this change had not helped my demeanor in any way.