Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling

PCKT GD WILDRNESS MED & 1STAID

Turn on any television or log onto any news website on the internet and you are bound to hear about global warming and alternative energy sources. Alternative energy is currently developing at a rapid pace and one of the biggest and most popular forms is solar power.So what is solar power?

Solar power is a method of taking the power of the sun and transforming it into energy. Mother nature has been using solar power for millions of years to heat and power the earth reliably and effectively. This natural solar energy can be transformed into cleanly produced electricity or heat for use by anyone anywhere. So how is solar power being utilized around the globe?

Common Solar Power Methods

Photovoltaic Solar Energy: This method involves the use of special solar panels that absorb the sunlight and though a series of events produce electricity for your home, car or office building. It is by far the most popular form of solar power in use today and will continue to be developed and implemented around the globe.

Indirect Solar Heating: Many new homes and office buildings are being designed with indirect solar heating in mind. With this method the rays from the sun are magnified through special windows that transfer and hold in the heat. This method basically mimics the way the earth is heated and it is a very efficient and popular method to reduce the cost of energy bills.

Solar Powered Turbines: A newer method of solar power generation is the solar turbine. With this method a liquid is heated with solar energy and the steam will spin a turbine that produces electricity. Although relatively new this method does show promise in certain areas of the world.

With rising energy prices and the threat of environmental damage from fossil fuels alternative energy is the wave of the future. As science and private industry invest more time and money into research the possibility of mainstream solar power is a real possibility.

Learn more about Advantages Of Solar Energy and How Solar Energy Works by visiting http://www.solarenergyadvantage.com

dehydrator

Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker

This convenient dehydrator makes great tasting, healthy snacks & jerky! Introducing the Snackmaster?? Encore???. It's Grey top and marbled design features 500 watts of drying power, and generates maximum speed and quality for dehydrating fruits, vegetables, beef jerky, and venison jerky. Helps dry food in hours, not days like ordinary food dehydrators. The top mounted fan eliminates the worry of liquids dripping into the the heating chamber!You can make delicious beef jerky, turkey jerky, fish jerky, trail mix, homemade yogurt, apple snacks, banana chips, dried soup mixes, dried tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, mangoes, papaya and other dried fruits at a fraction of the cost. Make dried herbs and spices; also make potpourri and dried flowers for any occasion.

I have not always been a chef. In fact, I was a very picky eater
as a child. My interest in food and cooking began as an adult.
During my first pregnancy, I started eating tomatoes. It was a
breakthrough in eating for me and since then I have more than
made up for the "picky years."

In 2002 after taking various cooking vacations with my husband,
I decided to go to culinary school and learn the basics of food
preparation from a professional chef. In class, and after
performing various cooking demonstrations, my teacher pulled
me aside and told me that I really should start teaching.
With my family growing,I knew that working in a restaurant
or hotel would not fit into our lives for a long time. So
I opened up a school out of my home and began sharing my
experience and passion.

I am not sure if this happens to other chefs, but one of the down
sides about cooking and teaching is that friends seem hesitant to
invite me for dinner. I know it is not my personality because I do
have lots of friends. I even shower regularly! However, some
feel intimidated by my skills and do not want their abilities to
be critiqued or judged.

In fact, I love going to other peoples' homes. Like every other working
mom, I get tired cooking for my family day in and day out. At times, I
even feel uninspired and order Dominoes. What does get me excited is
trying new foods and learning about other families' culture and
traditions. I do not judge but I enjoy the opportunity
to take a night off and let someone else do the work. And I am
so easy to please. I eat almost anything!

For me, eating out in a restaurant is rather boring. Most reasonably priced
restaurants serve similar dishes using highly processed bland ingredients.
It amazes me how many people do not have the confidence in the food
they prepare in their home and its worthiness of any guest, let alone me.

And making friends with a chef and cooking for him and her will be
repaid. Most chefs and cooks I know are so appreciative of the
invitation and the rest from their own cooking woes, they repay by
cooking and cooking for those who have shared.

For a peak into Chef Dawn's professional home kitchen, visit http://www.chefdawn.com Sign up for her newsletter and get a FREE must-have kitchen gadget list including discounts from Pampered Chef, Nordic Knives and Amazon.com

Dawn
Your Personal E-Chef Live: Everything about Cooking, Food, and Family. Bring back dinner parties!

dehydrator

dehydrator

dehydrator

A Healthy Menu for your Birthday Party

Your Birthday Party does not necessarily mean that you need to binge on junk food on that day. You and your guests can have healthy and tasty food and enjoy it, as everything depends on the preparation. Normally the food served at birthday parties are candy, chips and dips, soda and cake. You can go for an innovative menu that will be kind to your friends, family and everyone you care about.

Treat Yourself Better on Special Occasions
We need to use the knowledge that we learn from health articles and apply them to our lives, so that we can make life-style changes. The choice is ours, whether we would like to continue with junk food or go for a diet that is kind to our bodies, particularly on special occasions. In fact, we need to be kinder to ourselves on special occasions.Firstly, we need to choose foods that have some nutritional value - if it has none at all, we are doing a disservice to ourselves. Making a change on special occasions by providing a menu that is not only healthy and nutritious, but also tasty and scrumptious, will be an eye-opener to all friends and children alike.

Healthy Cooking Ideas
It is not difficult to come up with a healthy menu. Why go for onion dips that are fattening - why not go in for low fat yogurt instead, and have fresh strawberries, bananas and apples as a fruit for the dip. Apart from being healthy, it is also delicious. The usual hamburgers, pizzas and hot dogs that are thrown in at birthday parties can be substituted with tasty turkey sandwiches and an unusual salad. This would cut out the junk food.

Now, we come to the dessert, which needs to be carefully thought out, as children love desserts and cake. Instead of piling up the fat on the cake with creamy icing, you would do well to go for a low fat dessert. You could either make or get a low fat cake, and use yogurt instead of butter, margarine and other fatty ingredients. The cake will be equally tasty and nutritious. It could be decorated with chocolate strawberries, which will be popular with kids and adults alike. Jello can be made in different shapes which again is popular with kids. There are so many juices in all flavors to choose from, which can be frozen. This is another popular item with kids.The list is endless - all it requires is a little imagination and time to create a delicious spread. It is true that the easier way is to order pizzas and cake, but with that extra effort and care, you can turn that birthday party around to make it a wonderful spread that is healthy, enjoyable and delicious.

Abhishek is really passionate about Cooking and he has got some great Cooking Secrets. up his sleeves! Download his FREE 88 Page Ebook, "Cooking Mastery!" from his website http://www.Cooking-Guru.com/770/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.

dehydrator

Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker

This convenient dehydrator makes great tasting, healthy snacks & jerky! Introducing the Snackmaster?? Encore???. It's Grey top and marbled design features 500 watts of drying power, and generates maximum speed and quality for dehydrating fruits, vegetables, beef jerky, and venison jerky. Helps dry food in hours, not days like ordinary food dehydrators. The top mounted fan eliminates the worry of liquids dripping into the the heating chamber!You can make delicious beef jerky, turkey jerky, fish jerky, trail mix, homemade yogurt, apple snacks, banana chips, dried soup mixes, dried tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, mangoes, papaya and other dried fruits at a fraction of the cost. Make dried herbs and spices; also make potpourri and dried flowers for any occasion.

French chefs plunge them into boiling water; English ones, in an attempt to appear more humane, drive kitchen knives through their skulls before doing the same thing.

No wonder the miserable creatures go red. Theyre mad as hell. What a way to treat the king of crustaceans.

Lets make a pact. From now on lets treat the lobster with the respect (and humanity) it deserves. Heres how:

Use a pan deep enough to hold 6 liters of salted water to which you have added some shredded onion, a garlic clove or two and a bay leaf. Purists who live by the sea also like to add a pint of seawater. People like me, whove seen what gets washed up as a result of coastal run-off, dont.

Put a trivet or round roasting rack in the bottom of the pan, on which you will place the lobster. You do this so that it is not touching the bottom of the pan and will not be burnt as the metal heats up.

Does this improve the flavor? No, its purely for the comfort of the lobster.

So, this is what you have a pan of cold brine, seasoned, in which a lobster sits on a trivet as happy as a sand boy. How do I know this? Because lobsters have two states of being theyre either happy or theyre dead.

Now, using a gentle heat, gradually raise the temperature of the water to around 90F, at which point the lobster will be fast asleep and sweetly dreaming. It will never wake up.

You can now turn up the heat until the water reaches a gentle simmer and cook the lobster for around 8 minutes a pound.

Drain and plunge into iced water. Let it cool in there before draining again and transferring to the fridge until needed.

The lobster will reward you for this kindness by being succulent and tender. It wont be stuffed with adrenalin and its meaty fibers will not have contracted into something resembling India rubber.
The next step is to cut the lobster in half and to clean it.

Lay it on its back and use a strong, very sharp, knife to cut it in half from tail to head. You will easily see the stomach bag at the back of the head and the blackish gut running the length of the body. Remove these and discard.

You may also, if you wish, discard the greenish liver, although aficionados hold this to be a delicacy. Its certainly edible, but personally I chuck it because I dont like the color.

And thats it. You can now serve your lobster cold with some freshly made mayonnaise, or indulge in one of the more fanciful hot dishes for which some restaurants have become famous.

This article by former head chef Michael Sheridan was originally published in The Cool Cooks Club forum. There are more cooking tips and a free cooking course at http://thecoolcook.com

dehydrator

Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook

A guide to food dehydrating shows readers how to make preservative-free dried apple rings, candied apricots, beef and fish jerkies, sun-dried tomatoes, corn chips, herb seasonings, dried fruit sugars, and more. 100,000 first printing. Tour.

Essential oils are highly concentrated aromatic oils derived from plants, widely used in aromatherapy for their medicinal and mood-enhancing effects. Some essential oils also have culinary uses, however, and these powerful plant essences can be used to rejuvenate, or in place of, dried herbs and spices, which can lose aroma and flavor over time.

A number of essential oils have been designated as Generally Regarded As Safe [GRAS] to use as food additives by the US Food and Drug Administration. These include those listed below.

• Basil ......Ocimum basilicum L.
• Bergamot (bergamot orange) .......... Citrus aurantium L. subsp. Bergamia Wright et Arn.
• Bitter almond (free from prussic acid) .........Prunus amygdalus Batsch, Prunus armeniaca L. or Prunus persica (L.)
• Cinnamon bark, ............Ceylon Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees.
• Coriander ...........Coriandrum sativum L.
• Cumin .............Cuminum cyminum L.
• Ginger ............Zingiber officinale Rosc.
• Grapefruit ..........Citrus paradisi Macf.
• Laurel leaves (Bay) ..........Laurus spp.
• Lavender ...........Lavandula officinalis Chaix.
• Lemon Citrus ..........limon (L.) Burm. f.
• Lime Citrus ...............aurantifolia Swingle.
• Mandarin Citrus ...........reticulata Blanco.
• Marjoram, sweet.............. Majorana hortensis Moench.
• Nutmeg ...........Myristica fragrans Houtt. Origanum Origanum spp.
• Parsley ............Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Mansf.
• Pepper, ...........black Piper nigrum L.
• Sage ............Salvia officinalis L.
• Rosemary .............Rosmarinus officinalis L.
• Thyme ................Thymus vulgaris L. and Thymus zygis var. gracilis

Boiss.

When using essential oils in your cooking, it is important that they are 100% pure and of therapeutic grade. Essential oils are highly concentrated and, consequently, very potent, and so should also be used sparingly. The recipes below give suggested amounts, but probably the best way to establish what suits your taste is through trial and error.

Here are just a few simple ideas that you could try. Like herbs and spices, different essential oils provide good accompaniments to different ingredients. Generally, essential oils that go well with poultry include basil, dill, fennel, lemon, marjoram, mellisa, orange, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme. For red meat, try basil, clove, dill, fennel, marjoram, mellisa, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon and/or thyme. Essential oils that go well with fish or seafood include black pepper, fennel, lavender, lemon, lime, orange, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.

Meat

When cooking joints of red meat, simply add 1 drop of essential oil to a vegetable oil and brush over the meat before cooking. Essential oils can also be added to the cooking oil when browning mince meat (lamb or beef) - use 1 drop per half-kilo of meat.

For chicken, add 2 drops each of lemon and orange essential oils to 4 tablespoons of honey and 1 dessert spoon of mustard. Make a paste and brush over the chicken before grilling or baking.

Fish

Add 1 drop of essential oil to 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Brush over white fish steaks and grill.

Vegetables

Try stir-frying your vegetables in an essential oil (diluted 1 drop to 1 tablespoon of olive oil). Cardamon, cumin, nutmeg and ginger are good choices.

Steaming your vegetables over water containing an essential oil can also be interesting - try nutmeg and lemon for greens.

Dishes that don't require cooking

Of course, some recipes don't need 'cooking', and essential oils are ideal for this kind of thing.

Marinades

Essential oils are ideal for making marinades - simply add a few drops of your selected essential oil(s) to honey or olive oil and brush on the meat. Place oiled red meat in a bowl containing red wine, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 chopped onion and 1 drop of orange essential oil. Season and leave for up to 8 hours.

Salad dressings

Essential oils also make great salad dressings. Add 1 drop of your chosen essential oil to 10 ml of vegetable oil and/or vinegar. Basil, clove, lavender, lemon, lime, rosemary, sage and thyme are good choices for salad dressings.

Herb butter

Add 1 drop of the essential oil of your choice to 1 cube of softened butter. Mix gently and add to potatoes, other vegetables, toast...

Drinks

Citrussy oils (e.g. grapefruit, lime, lemon, mandarin, orange and tangerine) and minty oils (e.g. peppermint, spearmint and mint) can add zest to drinks of all kinds. Try adding one or two drops of a selection of essential oils to water for a simple thirst quencher.

Herbal teas: add a few drops of essential oils to boiling water: some to try are lavender, roman chamomile, peppermint, orange, tangerine and lemon.

Mulled wine: add 2 drops each of mandarin and orange essential oils and 1 drop each of clove and cinnamon to 2 tablespoons of honey. Heat 1 litre of red wine slowly, add the flavoured honey and stir. Take off the heat just before the wine starts to bubble. Serve with slices of orange and lemon.

This short article gives just a flavour (sorry!) of the uses that essential oils can be put to in the kitchen. Many more recipes are available in books and on the internet, so why not start searching now and explore the taste explosion that essential oils can provide.

Sources:

electricscotland.com/food/donna/recipe12.html

aroma-essence.com/cooking.html

zhealthinfo.com/recipes1.htm http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fcf182.html

Worwood VA. The Fragrant Pharmacy. A complete guide to aromatherapy & essential oils. Bantam Books, 1996

Alix Williams is a regular contributor to the holistic website Aroma4u.co.uk a home based UK business providing Eco-friendly hand made Aromatherapy Stress Relieving Gifts.

Alix Williams also writes about using unique Essential Oil Gift Ideas for Stress Relief.

For more information regarding Stress related matters (stress in the Workplace), Stress Busting Gift ideas with pure Essential oils, please visit: http://www.aroma4u.co.uk

copyright 2008 Alix Williams (CUS Busting Ltd)

dehydrator

Excalibur 2900 9 Tray Dehydrator

Features of the Excalibur Model ED-2900 Dehydrator * Controlled environment for a wide variety of uses, i.e. making fruit roll-ups and trail mixes, drying flower arrangements and herbs, plus various uses for art and crafts, and photos * 9 Trays with 15 square feet of drying area * Includes 9 polyscreen tray liners * Includes 28-page dehydrating guide * 7" FAN/600 WATTS * 1-Year warranty

Sausage and mash is considered one of the best English dishes. Whatever your budget, there is a sausage out there that you can afford, that will taste delicious and that can be utilised in many ways to serve up as a reasonably impressive dish for guests or simply as an everyday meal or snack.

Sausages made from premium cuts of meat are mixed with rare spices and a degree of fat and fashioned into the typical sausage shape for those with plenty of money but if you're not wealthy then you can pop into any supermarket and pick up a packet of sausages. Sometimes the meat content is dubious and it has always been assumed that sausages are made up of the dregs of an animal that can't be used for any other purpose. But this isn't always so and manufacturers are making more effort these days to fill sausages with better quality meat.

Sausages with vegetables, Yorkshire puddings and gravy, sausage and mash with liquor, sausage and chips or sausage and chips, even vegetarian sausages - mix it up any way you like but there will be a sausage to suit.

Nowadays, we have food processing equipment that makes the whole sausage making procedure swift and easy. Meat is automatically ground down to the correct consistency, mixed with fillers, spices and fat and fed through into skins and they are even divided into 'links' by the same machine. But it hasn't always been like this.

Sausages are not a modern food. Records date back to 500bc of kitchens that produced sausages in one form or another. People took great care in the mixing of special spices and the rarer the spice the better the sausage was considered to be. Of course, back then food processing equipment consisted of butchers who would create everything from the sausage skin to stuffing methods and sausage making became quite an art.

Early American colonies were fond of sausages because meat was an expensive commodity and they were instructed to use every part of the animal except the snout. To do this, they would use up the intestines, bladders, uterus, stomach and all parts of the pig to grind down, mix with spice and then cover with a layer of melted fat. This produced a sausage that could then be smoked and thus preserved, lasting for quite some time in cold cellars and providing family food for months.

Smoked sausages were also a favourite with soldiers. These were one of the few foods that they could be sure wouldn't go off too quickly and would provide, in their basic form, a pretty good source of sustenance. They would also have taken black pudding, which is a form of sausage made from pigs blood and this is still a popular dish today, proving further that no part of an animal is wasted.

Over the years, people have found ways round the fact that food processing equipment had yet to be invented. Sausage fillers were made from funnel shaped objects and these made the whole process a little easier as the less handling of the delicate sausage skins, the better. One of the most frustrating things about making a sausage would have been the splitting of the skin whilst filling as this skin not only acted as a way of holding the contents together but would also have been used as a preservative.

So, whatever the method, whatever the animal part, whatever the spice and whatever the price, there is a way for everybody to enjoy sausages.

Culinary expert Catherine Harvey looks at how sausage making is so much easier with the use of food processing equipment and how they did it in the early days.

dehydrator

Excalibur 5 - Tray Dehydrator

Excalibur 5-Tray Dehydrator for great tasting and long lasting fruits, veggies and jerky! Save the flavor, save the nutrition, SAVE BIG BUCKS! Eating healthy can get expensive... especially fresh produce that seems to go bad the moment you get it home. The Excalibur is a compact Food Dehydrator with plenty of room to make jerky or dry your favorite fruits and vegetables so you can keep them edible longer while still maintaining almost all the taste and nutritional value! Excalibur! Holds 5 to 6 lbs. of meat; 5 trays with 8 square feet of drying area... means BIG CAPACITY; Easy to clean with removable doors and trays; Trays roll out easy so you can check on drying process; 8 1/2"h. x 17"w. x 19"d. with 5" fan. Order Now! Excalibur 5-Tray Dehydrator

Cheesecakes are a heavenly dessert, but they may not always turn out just the way you want. Here are some quick cheesecake baking tips to help your next cake come out looking like they were baked by a professional.

When baking the cakes, always remember that softened cream cheese is a prerequisite and is used in most cheesecakes today. You'll need to leave the it out at least 30 minutes before using it, but it's best to let it get to room temperature. The softer the cream cheese, the easier it is to mix.

Keep in mind that the cakes can also be made from ricotta, havarti, quark and twarg cheese among others. Although most of the recipes use cream cheese, occasionally you'll find recipes that require one of the latter. Be sure to let them also warm up and to follow whatever other directions the recipe may recommend for using them. For instance, if you use ricotta cheese, you may need to drain it if it is watery.

Don't over mix. Your filling should be custard like as oppose to cake-like. This is another cause of for cracking. Add ingredients such as berries and nuts last.

When cooking, always preheat the oven 15 to 30 minutes beforehand, 30 being better. This insures the oven will have an ambient temperature which also helps to prevent cracking.

And resist the urge to peak. You want the temperature to stay as consistent as possible. If you oven doesn't have a window, wait at least 30 minutes before you take a look and do it quickly.

Never go above or below the recipes recommended cooking temperature. If the temperature is too high or if you cook too long, you'll over cook and get a crusty topping--which also leads to cracking-- as oppose to a nice creamy top with a slightly brown appearance.

Springform pans are the perfect pan for baking cheesecakes. With a release clamp on the side, the cakes can be lifted out without cracking or crumbling. I also recommend wrapping the bottom with aluminum foil before any baking. The butter used to make your crust may start to slightly leak even when using a small amount. Before taking the cheesecake out, it's best to loosen the side of the pan with a spatula. Also the pan's non-stick coatings makes clean ups a breeze.

Follow these tips and you're sure to see improvements in your next great cheesecake.

Cedrick White is an avid baker and publisher of http://www.I-Love-Cheesecake.com which offers an assortment of delicious and delightful cheesecake recipes. Be especially sure to check out the large selection of chocolate cheesecake recipes. Go ahead and find one to bake today.

dehydrator