Cios Pizza

The scoop on ice cream is that it’s an excellent choice for simple, delicious and, if desired, elegant entertaining. Whether it’s a birthday, graduation, summer holiday or family celebration, ice cream and novelties can make any occasion special.

Sundaes, root beer floats, banana splits, milkshakes and ice cream cones are always popular favorites. Serve an ice cream cake for a birthday or holiday celebration and see your guests smile. Add a scoop of ice cream on warm apple pie and you will delight everyone at the table. Serving ideas for ice cream are only limited by your imagination.

Other popular entertaining ideas, particularly for children, are the many novelties selections in the frozen food aisle. Novelties are separately packaged single servings of a frozen dessert, such as ice cream sandwiches, fudge sticks and juice bars. Today’s novelties offer fun, tasty, convenient dessert options for you, your family and guests.

June and July of each year mark the annual Ice Cream & Novelties Promotion, sponsored by the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA). That’s when you will find special promotions and prices on your favorite summer treats.

NFRA has these suggestions on storing and handling ice cream and novelties:

• Make the ice cream aisle your last stop.

• Put ice cream products in a separate section of the grocery cart or place on top of other groceries.

• When your groceries are packed, request a freezer bag or additional brown paper bag to insulate your ice cream for the ride home.

• At home, don’t allow the ice cream to repeatedly soften and refreeze.

• Store ice cream in the main part of the freezer, not on the door, where it is subject to more fluctuating temperatures.

Here is an elegant yet simple dessert for your summertime entertaining.

Peaches & Cream Shake

16 oz Frozen Sliced Peaches

1 cup Frozen Non-Dairy Creamer, thawed

1 large scoop Vanilla Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Place all ingredients in a blender and process on high for 1-2 minutes, or until well-blended. Pour into serving glasses and garnish with a peach slice.

During June and July, you can play Family Freezer Pleasers Online Instant Win Game.

The European Teapot has become an American heirloom that most of us thought originated here. Craftsmen and glassblowers from Europe have immortalized their craft for the American market where most European Teakettles are sold as gifts.

A teapot makes an attractive gift selection that adds character to a kitchen and is practical for daily purpose. A vast amount of history and culture is attached to the teapot. Its invention dates back to the sixteenth century. The aim behind creating this kitchen staple was to provide a vessel to brew and serve tea.

Tea has been a popular beverage since its discovery in the third century. The tea plant was first cultivated in the fourth century. This plant is actually a tree of evergreen variety and can grow up to a height of about 50 feet. However, for cultivation purposes, it is usually pruned into bushes and allowed to grow up to a height of five feet.

The discovery of tea has debatable origins. Some give credit to the Chinese Emperor named Chen Nung who reigned during the third century. It is said that he once sat under a tree to boil water for drinking. The leaves of the tree Camellia sinensis dropped into his bowl. The resultant mixture was so tasty that it prompted tea making.

Some attribute the discovery of tea to a Dharuma Buddhist monk who went to India from China in the fifth century. It is reported he discovered a brewed drink from the leaves of the tea plant which assisted in keeping him alert and awake.

Tea making, as practiced in ancient times was not as simple as it is today. In the eighth century, tea leaves were rolled manually and then dried. These dried leaves were ground into a powder, mixed with salt and shaped into cakes. To make tea, a cake was dropped into a bowl of boiling water to form a thick fluid. In the later years, the loose powder began being used. The powder was mixed with hot water and a froth was whipped up, steeped, and the mixture was poured.

Teapots were first introduced in China during the Ming Dynasty. They were made of purple clay called “zisha”. Teapots were also known as teakettles and used in Europe only after 1610, when the Dutch importers introduced tea there. In the eighteenth century teapots were made of porcelain and contained artistic paintings on its rounded surfaces. The English added their touch by mixing bone ash with porcelain clay to give it a freshly distinct look. The evolution of the teapot spanned hundreds of years to attain its present form. Today teakettles can be found in large varieties ranging from clay, porcelain, glass to even stoneware.

There are certain factors to be kept in mind while selecting the right
teapot. The European Teapot is the most sought after of all teakettles. Do remember to check the following:

1.. Looks – A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Selecting a European teapot that is visually appealing is the first step. It should look good enough to make a person long to use it. An attractive teakettle becomes a conversation piece and makes you want to show it off to your guests.

2.. Material – The right material is based on the use you want to put it to. A clay or porcelain teapot is a good idea if you only want something to serve tea in. A special glass teapot is ideal if you want to avoid unnecessary hassles as you can brew as well as serve tea in it. It is sturdy enough to be used on the stovetop and at the same time, it makes for pretty tea ware for your guests.

3.. Handle – Ensure that the handle is of a material that does not get heated making it difficult to hold. This should be especially looked into while buying a stovetop teapot. A handle that gets hot on heating will only serve to increase your troubles and the risk of burning your fingers.

4.. Flow – A good teapot is one in which the liquid will flow out smoothly through the spout without any risk of leakage. If the teapot is equipped with an infuser, its even better, as the tea will automatically be strained on pouring.

5.. Tightness – Keep in mind to check that the lid of the teapot is
tightly fitted. This will ensure that tea will remain hot longer and is an essential for brewing good tea (in a glass teapot only).

6.. Gravity center of the teapot – Try this small test. Fill the teapot with water to three-fourths of its capacity. Lift and pour the water into a cup. If you find any difficulty or if the hand becomes unbalanced, the teapot’s gravity center is not right. Reject such an item immediately.

The style of European teapot is an ideal kitchen gift for any virtually any occasion – a birthday, anniversary or Mother’s Day.

Barbecue sauces have a uniquely Southern and Western U.S. history. Most experts agree that the practice of adding sauce and spices to meat and fish began early in our history, with Native Americans teaching the art to early European settlers. The natives probably developed the process as part of an attempt to keep meats and fish from spoiling quickly. Salt played a major role in those early barbecue sauces, and salt is a well-known preservative in the meat curing process.

Because the nations first European arrivals lived on the East Coast of America, that part of the country is credited with spawning the original barbecue sauce styles. First and foremost, there are the various Carolina barbecue sauces. The most widely known are East Carolina, Piedmont, and South Carolina varieties. East Carolina barbecue sauce consists of vinegar, salt, black pepper, and crushed or ground cayenne peppers. Its a very simple sauce that penetrates the meat nicely for a deep flavor. Piedmont barbecue sauce only varies from East Carolina in that it often includes molasses or Worcestershire sauce and thus clings to the meat more. South Carolina sauce is entirely different, using a mustard base instead, producing a much tangier and sharp flavor.

Then there is Memphis or Southern style barbecue sauce. This popular variety is typically more complicated (flavor-wise) and is built around mustard, tomato, and vinegar. Fans often point to the boldness of these flavor combinations as the hallmark of Memphis barbecue sauce. A saying often heard among hungry connoisseurs is no two bites alike.

Continuing our trek westward, we come to the acknowledged center of the barbecue universe Kansas City! Kansas City barbecue sauce is distinguished by its noticeably thicker consistency and emphasis on sweetness. Thats because this style of sauce is built upon thick tomato sauce, chunks of vegetables, and lots of sugar. Many popular commercial brands are based on this Kansas City recipe. It’s most popular among amateur backyard grillers because of the availability in grocery stores (Kraft, Heinz, K.C.s Masterpiece, etc.). And also because the thick sauce can be applied only once and enough will remain in place to please the happy recipients of the grilled meat.

Finally, there are the ‘Texas’ barbecue sauce styles. Now, Texas is one big state, and there are several regional varieties within it. The most common include thick and spicy sauces that are essentially spicier variations on the Kansas City sauces. These are found mostly in the north and east sections of the state (Dallas). In western Texas, thinner sauces that feature hot peppers can be found. These sauces are often added only at the very end of the barbecuing or grilling process. And then, in southern Texas, the barbecue sauce of choice features an emphasis on Mexican spices and, of course, jalapeno peppers! Make sure to have a cold beverage handy to put out the fire!

Beryl Cook is one of Britain’s most talented and amusing artists .Beryl’s pictures feature women of all shapes and sizes enjoying themselves .Born between the two world wars, Beryl Cook eventually left Kendrick School in Reading at the age of 15, where she went to secretarial school and then into an insurance office. After moving to London and then Hampton, she eventually married her next door neighbour from Reading, John Cook. He was an officer in the Merchant Navy and after he left the sea in 1956, they bought a pub for a year before John took a job in Southern Rhodesia with a motor company. Beryl bought their young son a box of watercolours, and when showing him how to use it, she decided that she herself quite enjoyed painting. John subsequently bought her a child’s painting set for her birthday and it was with this that she produced her first significant work, a half-length portrait of a dark-skinned lady with a vacant expression and large drooping breasts. It was aptly named ‘Hangover’ by Beryl’s husband and still hangs in their house today.

In 1964 Beryl Cook and her husband returned to the UK settling first in Cornwall and then later in Plymouth where, during the summer months, Beryl ran a boarding house for holidaymakers on the seafront. Beryl had now been painting for a number of years, basing her pictures on her everyday observations of people around her. By 1975 she had amassed numerous paintings that covered the walls of their boarding house. A friend took away a dozen or so and, to Beryl’s surprise, managed to sell them all for around £10 each. Beryl was delighted and quickly increased her production. Her success came to the attention of Bernard Samuels at the Plymouth Arts Centre who persuaded her to mount her first exhibition featuring 75 paintings. It was a sell out. The rest, as they say, is history.

An article quickly appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine, followed by exhibitions at the Whitechapel and Portal Galleries in London. Her first book ‘The Works’ was published in 1978. Her paintings were then reproduced as greeting cards and limited edition prints and soon her work was being featured around the world, tickling ribs from Kingston to the Cape, and generating considerable popular acclaim.

This popular acclaim has been accompanied by serious critical appreciation, most notably with the inclusion of her painting in the fifth Peter Moores exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where she was seen in the context of mainstream contemporary art, alongside Bridges Riley and Victor Passmore. The new Glasgow Museum of Modern Art has also recently purchased some of her original work, ensuring her a place in the annuls of British Art. Beryl Cook continues to paint and has recently moved from Plymouth to Bristol, to be near her family”