June 28th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Looking for a great place in Charlotte to stop when you head out? This can be a mixed bag. mexican food is a hot ticket in this growing latino community. Qdoba Mexican Grill Harris Blvd University Area is a good choice for hybrid mexican cuisine. Well first off I am against this sort of trendy hybrid food in all its forms. I walked in skeptical and only did try this location bacause a UNCC student was on the patio eating an giant buritto that looked worth the tasting. This location is an open ai...
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June 21st, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Go Ahead---Have Some Coffee--- It's Not JUST COFFEE Anymore! As I sit here one the deck with my daily morning cup of coffee, I realize' just a few years ago I'd have had a cup of dark strong, stovetop brew with some milk to ease the taste. No more!! Now there's almost every kind of coffee available that you can imagine. Roasting Coffee at Home First, we'll start with the fact that you can buy green coffee beans and roast them to your liking right in you own home. One way to roast coffee beans a...
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June 14th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Looking for a great place in Charlotte to stop when you head out? This can be a mixed bag. Fiesta Maya Mexican Restaurant Cantina & Grill is a place to take a look at when in Area 1 Charlotte by University. Fiesta Maya Mexican Restaurant is close to our home and is by far the restaurant I have visited more than any other in Charlotte. As I have said mexican is my favorite, ecspecially when done right. Overall we have been happy enough to keep going back and that fact is very much on the great se...
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June 13th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Chardonnay This grape has been described as the happiest of all combinations and has expanded widely from its Burgundian roots, being now planted virtually world-wide. It is at its best on Chalky soils, but is liable to suffer from Chlorosis and powdery mildew. The yields are moderate and the wine can lose its character when these are pushed too far. It gives wines that normally age in wood, which gives it a round buttery flavour. Sauvignon Blanc A classic grape variety planted widely in Bordeau...
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June 12th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Go Ahead'Have Some Coffee' Many of us rely on coffee to get us going in the mornings, wake us up in the afternoons, and prepare us for that special business meeting. Go ahead, have a cup of coffee. It's much healthier than you may be thinking right now. Coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world. No matter where you go, coffee is usually available. Yet, until recently there's been very little research on the effects of coffee on our health. The researcher's are waking up however. There h...
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June 11th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Wine Tasting Component I: Look The first step you have to undertake in wine tasting is visual. 1. Fill up the glass up to 1/3 of its volume; never fill it more than half; 2. Hold the glass by the stem. Initially you may find this too pretentious but there are good reasons for it: а) by doing it this way you can actually observe the wine in it; b) this will keep your fingerprints off the bowl; c) the heat from your palm will not change the temperature of the wine. There's a good saying by o...
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June 10th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
In Nicaragua coffee cultivation began early but it did not dominate the economy as in Guatemala and El Salvador. Coffee cultivation began in the lands in the southern uplands in earnest in the 1860's where the transition from other commercial agricultural endeavors was smooth. But the prime coffee growing lands in Nicaragua turned out to be in the north central highlands, where Indians owned most of the land, and a familiar course of action that was taking place in other growing areas of the wo...
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June 8th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Wine Tasting Component I: Look The first step you have to undertake in wine tasting is visual. 1. Fill up the glass up to 1/3 of its volume; never fill it more than half; 2. Hold the glass by the stem. Initially you may find this too pretentious but there are good reasons for it: а) by doing it this way you can actually observe the wine in it; b) this will keep your fingerprints off the bowl; в) the heat from your palm will not change the temperature of the wine. There's a good sayin...
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June 8th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Don't listen to what all the self appointed wine buffs and wine snobs say ' it's what you like that counts. It's not what Mr X, Mrs Y or Sommelier Z says but what you personally enjoy that matters when it comes to wine. Taste is individual to you and must always be treated as such. If you like really 'unsophisticated' sweet German wines such as those 70s standards Liebfraumilsch or Hock (which incidentally almost put a whole generation off drinking wine) then that's great. Feel free to carry ...
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June 7th, 2009 | Categories: Food and Beverage
Every year, an estimated 7 million Americans suffer from cases of foodborne illness. Some cases are violent and even result in death. Of course this is commonly known as "food poisoning." The culprit is food that has dangerously high levels of bacteria due to improper cooking or handling. Food safety is usually taken for granted by the buying public but everyone's attention was recently directed to food poisoning involving some meat that was undercooked. It was determined that the problem never ...
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