Category: Food

Automatic Espresso Machines

Commercially used espresso machines can be broadly divided into two kinds: semi-automatic and fully automatic. Fully automatic machines are also termed ‘super-automatic espresso machines’. These machines are fast gaining entry into the commercial as well as the household use.

In a semi-automatic espresso machine, the amount of water used for making coffee can be determined by either the user or the machine. Also, the user has to dispose and dose the coffee grounds. The user also steams the milk using a steam wand.

An automatic espresso machine may offer automatic brewing, in which the machine defines the amount of water to be used. These machines typically have two settings, single and double shot.

Various automatic machines also offer automatic dosing, in which the machine takes in the proper amount of coffee, and discards it after brewing. Coffee is ground, dosed, brewed and discarded automatically in a maker which offers automatic grinding. The bypass doser feature in some machines allows one to use ground coffee and adjustable dosage.

Semi-automatic espresso machines are those used at homes or a small scale office or restaurant. A heat exchanger or distributor is used to heat the brewing water. This is one of the most important differences between automatic espresso machines and good home espresso making machines. The boiler is used for the steam, and is kept at a higher temperature. This also ensures that the steam is available at all times.

While single boiler machines use only one boiler for preparing steam and heating the brewing water, the heat exchanger or extra boiler makes it unnecessary to switch modes while using automatic espresso machines.

After the coffee is brewed, the pressure in the portafilter is automatically released through a valve.

Some companies manufacturing semi and fully automatic espresso making machines are Gensaco, Krups, Pasquini, Brasilia, and Europa.

An Introduction To Wedding Cake Designs

The wedding cake design should not only reflect personal style, but also ideally be in sync with the menu and the décor of the wedding reception. The wedding cake should fit in the theme of the wedding reception.

Wedding cake designs can come in many forms, from the usual cream or white icings in conventional designs, to wholly non-traditional designs laced with vibrant artistry.

With the passing of time, wedding cake designs have evolved. Couples are now choosing cupcake trees with greater frequency, which was one of the foremost wedding cake ideas. Yet, some still have a preference for the conventional cakes for their wedding cakes.

The size and design of the wedding cake may depend on a number of things, like the size of the wedding budget or the availability of other desserts in the reception.

Today, one can find pastry chefs who offer infinite wedding cake ideas on icings, decorations, construction, and flavors.

A wedding cake’s design can be a reflection of personal taste. A couple with a passion for cars or motorcycles can have wedding cakes reflecting the same; a small motorcycle accompanying the miniature figures of the couple atop the cake, for example.

The flavor of the wedding cake is another important aspect. No flavor is off-limits for the modern wedding. One can have cheesecakes, mousse-filled cakes, pound cakes, vanilla, chocolate or sponge cake.

Today, one can find competent bakers with the ability to create the lacy look of the bride’s dress with frosting or the use of pearls. With frosting, these bakers can duplicate the look of any part of the reception’s décor. Also, couples can have their initials entwined in the cake with frosting.

In Bermuda, wedding cakes have a little green tree as a cake topping. Following the wedding, the newlyweds can plant the same tree in their garden, and symbolically watch it grow with time.

Then there are other options like adding edible fruits, chocolates or nuts around the cake. This will augment the designs on the guests’ plates. For that matter, one can also use edible roses, lavender or oregano as designs, or non-edible flowers as cake toppings.

An Introduction To Gourmet Coffee

Over five hundred billion cups of coffee are consumed each year making it the most popular drink on this earth. For centuries, this aromatic, spirit-lifting drink has been the beverage to serve at any and all events. Many board meetings and friendships have thrived over a cup of coffee. Extracted from the seed of cherries growing on coffee trees, coffee is grown extensively in fifty-three countries across the equator.

Specialty gourmet coffee is very popular among coffee drinkers today. As a matter of fact, statistic show that it is one of the fastest growing food retailers netting approximately $8.5 billion a year. People enjoy the taste of the sophisticated beans used in the making of this delightful gourmet drink. The beans are grown at very high altitudes on Arabic trees and feed on volcanic ash. A cool climate and lots of moisture result in a high quality bean group. The soil the beans are grown in produces the very distinct flavors of the gourmet beans. Gourmet coffee has a more balanced flavor and richer taste than the standard mass-produced coffee. The beans go through a rigorous process of certification that is very strict to help keep the quality high. To help keep standards high, the Specialty Coffee Association of American was created in 1982, for the specialty coffee trade.

You can find gourmet coffee in most grocery stores, specialty shops, restaurants and coffee shops. If you are a true connoisseur, you might compare gourmet coffee to a wonderful bottle of wine.

Affordable Corporate Gift Baskets

Affordable corporate gifts are a simple, economical way to convey greetings, be it for the holidays or for more formal occasions.

An acrylic illusion plaque, made to order, with a message inscribed on it, given with a paperweight and a few pens or a tiny reading lamp, is a creative assortment, which is easy on the pocket as well. A seven function knife coupled with a table clock and a diary with a pen attached is yet another example of inexpensive, but functional corporate gifts that can be made into a package.

Magnetic calendars, desk-top calendars, appointment calendars….just a bunch of calendars with different functions given with a few markers and pens would be the busy business person’s delight. Try giving a key chain calculator, a pad calculator or a ruler calculator with a diary or an accounts ledger, elegantly bound, with an invaluable, no-such-thing-as-too-many piece of stationary – the pen.

A pen torch, key chain and diary combination, arranged neatly in a canvas bag or a cap with a personalized design or inscription with a box of golf balls, golf tees and markers, and golf drink ware, packed together in tote bag, would be a combination of innovative, yet inexpensive corporate gifts, sure to please the right set of people.

Awards with accolades and honors imprinted on them such as “Best Manager” on a brass trophy, or plaques and medals, can be given with e-gift certificates or electronic gizmos like clocks, voice recorders, computer accessories, calculators, MP3 players or USB pen drives. The assortments could get pretty creative. The more varied the stuff, the more pleasing it will be. The real value of course, will lie in the functionality of the various gifts that comprise the basket.

Going with the functionality rule, giant paper clips that can hold a bunch of papers firmly in place given together with paper weights and other office supplies such as organizers or binders will make anybody happy who loves to plan and be methodical.

A Guide to Snack Vending Machines

Snack vending machines come in a number of different formats and styles. Most snack machines are see-through or glass-front merchandisers. This is because the customer likes to see what he or she is getting, and likes to be able to browse. Soda machines are usually solid, because most people know what a can of soda looks like and exactly how big it is; however, even that is changing as more manufacturers realize that most consumers think with their eyes. This is especially true of vending machines, where almost every purchase is an impulse purchase. On the other hand, some employees of companies that have vending machines on-site rely on those vending machines every day for a lunch break snack. Some snack vending machines have closed-faced interfaces, but that is rare.

You can buy snack machines that dispense only six types of snacks, or you can obtain a machine system with hundreds of choices, that can take up an entire wall. It is important to make note of how much traffic a location is getting. This will assist you in deciding what size machine to buy. It is also important to note the décor of the room or area your machine will be occupying, and to match up the style with its surroundings.

Most manufacturers offer snack vending machines, but not all. For the Cadillacs of vending machines, go with Automated Productions International, Crane Merchandising Systems, or Seago Manufacturing. These companies offer the most current machines, with sophisticated computer chips and mechanisms for ascertaining money validity, pricing, vend mechanics, sales tracking, ease of restocking, and more. These companies often offer lifetime warranties for parts and labor on their machines.

But these are not the only companies that offer snack machines. There are others that offer less-sophisticated models for a lesser price, and the snacks in them are just as good as in the other, more expensive machines. Customers know this too. So match your machine to the ambience, and you’re set.

A Guide to Fruit Baskets

There is almost no occasion, event or holiday gift that can’t be properly addressed by sending some kind of fruit basket. From humble beginnings as a device fruit growers used to expand their business beyond supermarkets, fruit baskets have become one of the most popular categories of gifts in the country. No longer is this merely a device for fruit growers to send out more of their freshly grown produce at retail prices.

Nowadays, many of the items advertised, sold and shipped as fruit baskets contain hardly any fruit at all. Fruit baskets have matured — come of age, as they say — and it’s possible to satisfy a gift giving need by ordering a fruit basket from any of literally thousands of suppliers across the country. You’ll find that many of the local retail stores in town have some form of fruit basket deal to ship their wares, if not all year round, then certainly at appropriate holiday times. For at least two major gift-giving holidays, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, fruit baskets surpassed flowers as the gift of choice on a national basis several years ago and have kept on growing ever since.

Built around themes for the holidays, fruit baskets can contain any type, and almost any amount of high quality merchandise designed to make the receiver very happy upon arrival. Christmas baskets specializing in winter fruits — especially popular in the colder, Eastern states — have been stuffing Santa’s bag for many years. Valentine’s Day brings chocolate-dipped goodies, especially cherries and strawberries, which really say “I Love You” to that special person in your life.

Baby baskets send the freshest of fruits for the new parents along with a few bottles of a healthy brand of baby food and other appropriate gifts for the newborn. For Mother’s Day, children delight in sending a choice selection of gourmet items to the woman who gave them life. And there’s no better way to say ”I Love You, Dad” on Father’s Day than by sending a basket brimming with Dad’s favorite items and a few new ones as well.

Even giant corporations have gotten accustomed to sending out appropriately stuffed fruit baskets to their highly valued clients and special employees, instead of more traditional fare. Fruit baskets containing all sorts of items have become the easiest and most personal way people can give something to one another that is almost always appreciated. In addition to being one of the easiest and most satisfying experiences, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’s ever returned a fruit basket for any reason whatsoever.

A Guide To Coffee Makers

Many people are dependent on their morning cup of coffee and the aroma of freshness that it brings to “perk” them up. The National Coffee Association has reported that coffee consumption has increased by more than 9 percent in the past six years.

A modern coffee maker is relatively a simple device with a reservoir that heats water, a tube to carry hot water to the drip area where it falls on the ground coffee and a container to hold and warm the coffee. The coffee maker has a resistive heating element, a coiled wire, similar to a light bulb. The heating element boils the water and also keeps the coffee warm after it is brewed. The heating element presses against the warming plate so that the heat transfer is uniform on the plate. The switch turns the power to the heating element on and off. A temperature sensor prevents the heating element from overheating and turns the coil back on, when it drops below the desired temperature. The coffee maker also has a one-way valve. The one-way valve allows cold water into the aluminum tube and forces the bubbles of boiling water to flow up the black tube.

When cold water is poured into a coffee maker, it flows from the bucket through the hole at the bottom into the tube. Due to gravity, the water then flows through the one-way valve into the aluminum tube in the heating element, and then partially up through the black tube. When the switch is turned on, the heating element starts heating the aluminum tube, and eventually the water in the tube boils. When the water boils, the bubbles rise up in the black tube. The tube is small enough while the bubbles are big enough to allow a column of water to ride upward on top of the bubble. The water flows out of the end of the black tube to drip into the coffee.

For a coffee lover, a coffee machine is an essential kitchen appliance that allows him/her to savor the pleasure of a refreshing cup of coffee with no fuss.