Gourmet Culinaire and Cuisine

This Christmas Wreath Appetizer is easy to make and looks like you spent hours making it. Your friends and guests will love it and it's soooooo pretty!The holidays mean lots of parties and this easy appetizer recipe will be perfect if you are responsible for bringing an appetizer. You can make it ahead of time and when you serve it, watch it disappear!What you'll need:- 2 8-ounce tubes of crescent rolls*- 1 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese- 1/2 cup of sour cream- 1 teaspoon of dill weed- 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder- 1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets (freshly chopped)- 1 cup of celery (finely chopped)- 1/2 cup of sweet red pepper (finely chopped)- Celery leaves* found in refrigerator section of grocery storeWhat to doFirst, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.Next, remove the crescent roll dough from its packaging (make sure you don't unroll it). Cut each tube .. more»

Bread Dough RestDough rest is the amount of time that bread dough ferments after being mixed and before being shaped into loaves. Many bread recipes require only a single resting period. The more preferment and the amount of yeast generally determine the length and number of dough rests. The best breads use less yeast and have longer resting periods, some even overnight, in order to maximize the flavor that ultimately characterizes the bread. This is the stage where your signature as a baker is developed, and the richest and fullest flavors come from the longest fermentation.Punch and Fold Method for Making Bread DoughI like to call this technique "stretch and fold" since artisan bakers want to preserve the gases and bubbles rather than punching them out of the bread dough. The stretch and fold organizes the gluten and improves its ability to capture fermentation's gases.Proof Times and Bread Dough RiseHow .. more»

According to a Harvard University - Massachusetts General Hospital study of children in Philadelphia and Baltimore schools, students who usually ate school breakfast had better math grades, higher standardized test scores, decreased absences and tardiness, reduced hyperactivity and improved social relations in comparison to children who seldom ate school breakfast.The word "breakfast" literally means to break fast. As we know, fasting is the act of not eating over a period of time. We may not think of it this way, but we virtually fast while we sleep -- even if we dream about food. The act of eating breakfast is literally breaking the fast!The National Weight Control Registry is a database of more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 60 pounds and kept it off for at least 6 years. Seventy eight percent of these people in the registry found that eating breakfast daily was an excellent weight .. more»

For many people the beginning of the day is fast-paced rush to get ready and out the door to work on time. There are a lot of people who don't slow their mornings down and make time for breakfast, and if this describes you, you may be interested to know that you're losing out on a few serious health benefits. Long held as a healthy meal, breakfast is showing in modern studies to be more important than ever, and the effect it has on the human body is rapidly gaining more and more attention in the scientific community. Simply by giving your body a good meal before your workday you can receive these benefits, and best of all, it is totally free and has no catch.While it's true that most people avoid breakfast because of time restraints, there are also an overwhelming number of people who miss out on it .. more»