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You are here: Home / Archives for Home and family / Food and Drink

How To Make An In-Home Bar, Your Friends Will Never Leave!

by Trish



Staying in is the new going out; and what better way to make sure that yours is the house people choose to stay in then to create your very own in-home bar. The question is where to start and what items should you add to ensure that your friends never want to leave. Jukeboxes, cocktail table arcade games, TVs and memorabilia are always good things to consider.


The Basics

Every good bar starts with the basics; you need drinks, somewhere to serve them and something to sit on while you enjoy them. While the liquid refreshment is the most important item in the bar- it is probably the last item you will add. Start with the bar and the seating. A good bar needs to be solid, at the right height to lean on and easy to clean. A varnished hardwood is the perfect material to choose and can be stained before varnishing to fit the decor of the room. How big of a bar you aim for depends greatly on the size of the room, whether you want a long bar or a corner set up, and how much room your other amenities are going to need. Bar stools need to fit in with the overall theme of your bar and more specifically be the right height for your bar or tables; there is nothing worse than not being able to reach your beer.

Making it individual

You have finished your bar seating, but, your in-home bar is a little flat and not very exciting; you need to personalize it. Decide on a theme; do you want sports, rustic, or disco themed bar? It’s good to hang memorabilia or pictures that relate to you theme; it will give it character and give your friends something to talk about over their drinks. It is also a good idea to make odd changes and then to see if your guests notice them; you can do this by updating sports cuttings or changing the color of the lighting over your bar area.

Music, television and games

Think carefully before you spend a fortune on items and consider the amount of space you have and the theme you have chosen. If you have decided on having a games bar then cocktail table arcade games and a pool or foosball table will be perfect. Adding a jukebox is an easy way to add atmosphere, which could also cause outbursts of out of tune singing late at night. If you are having a sport themed bar then a television that you can watch sports on with your friends is perfect.

And Finally

All that is left to do is make sure you are stocked with your friends’ favorite drinks; don’t forget something for the drivers, and invite your friends around for an amazing evening in with you, your new bar, and your cocktail table arcade games.

Chuck Stevens is a part of an elite team of writers who have contributed to hundreds of blogs and news sites. Follow him @chuckstevens12.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Food and Drink, Home and family, Recreation Tagged With: arcade, bar, bar stools, basics, cocktail, drinks, friends, hardwood, jukeboxes, memorabilia, Music, party, refreshments, serve, theme, tv

The Best Entres to Match Your Meal

by Trish

Entrees are not something that appears only when you invite guests for dinner. They can be a terrific way to try new flavours. When paired with your main meal, entrées can be a tasty way of satisfying hunger.

Steak – Prawns and Broccoli with Brew

Seafood and beef have always been a terrific combination. If you are thinking of serving steak, then this recipe will be the perfect entrée for your meal!

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

30 prawns, peeled and cleaned (five per serve)
5 clove of garlic, minced
1 shallot thinly diced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 cup of tea, brewed and cooled (use 2 teabags)
Pepper
1 broccoli cut into florets
3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method:

Combine 4 minced cloves of garlic, minced ginger, the cooled tea, pepper and diced shallot then add the prawns. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Mix together the olive oil, garlic and parmesan and coat the broccoli well. Place the broccoli onto a lightly greased tray and place it into a 350’F oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the prawns from the marinade and measure out ½ cup of the liquid. Take the broccoli from the oven, mix through the ½ cup of marinade and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

While the broccoli bakes, grill the prawns quickly. When ready, toss the prawns together with the broccoli and serve.

Chicken – Chorizo Couscous

Any chicken dish will love this entrée. It is sure to have people wanting more!

Serves: 4

You Will Need:

2 chorizo sausages finely diced.
1 sliced onion
2 cups of French beans
1 diced tomato
½ cup pitted black olives (can be omitted)
A little olive oil
Couscous

Instructions:

Follow the direction on the packet for couscous and make enough to provide 2 servings.

Top and tail the fresh green beans and blanch for only a few minutes. Drain.

In a frying pan, heat a little olive oil and brown the chorizo sausage. Add the onion and stir until the chorizo is crispy, fragrant and falling apart and the onion is soft. Add the black olives and the tomato. Stir through. Add the green beans and warm through.

To serve, spoon couscous onto the center of a plate and pile the chorizo bean mix on top.

Seafood – Savoury Pancaked

These tasty savoury pancakes are surprisingly simple and will definitely be the perfect way to herald in your seafood main.

ingredients:

¼ of a cup of all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons of milk
1 egg
1 sliced onion
A little butter
A splash of olive oil
1 packet of smoked salmon
1 tub of crème fraiche
Dill or chives to garnish

Method:

Slice the onion finely and sauté until soft. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, egg and milk to make a batter. Stir through the cooked onions.

Place a knob of butter in the frying pan and cook palm-sized pancakes. Put three pancakes on each plate.

Spread each with crème fraiche and top with a generous slice of smoked salmon and garnish with some dill or chives.

David is the manager of Flying Fish Restaurant in Sydney, Australia. David prepares the menu at Flying Fish each day with his head chefs, selecting dishes made with the freshest ingredients available, always making sure there is an entree to match the main meals on offer. For more information on Flying Fish, visit their website here: www.flyingfish.com.au

Filed Under: Cooking and Recipes, Food and Drink Tagged With: beef, chicken, chorizo, couscous, dinner, entrees, flavours, food, meals, pancakes, prawns, recipes, salmon, seafood, steak

Whoa massively salty soup!

by The Diva

I think I just had an overdose of salt! I had some soup early today – some Campbells Chunky soup and after I started eating it I noticed how salty it was so once I finished I looked at the label and nearly fell over when I saw how much salt was in it!

The salt they listed on the label was only for a 250 ml serving. That’s about a cup of soup. Now if you are only having soup for your meal I think you generally have more than just a cup, especially when the can has twice that much in it. Right? So the sodium listed for a 250 ml serving was 650 mg. It was even higher in potassium at 750 mg per 250 ml, yet if I’d only had a cup of soup I would have only had 130 calories which isn’t a lot when that’s all you are having, particularly if you haven’t eaten in several hours and don’t expect to eat for several more hours. So I had the whole can of soup and ended up having over 1300 mg of sodium.

That’s horrendous! That’s more sodium than some fast food burgers!

I’m in Canada and in a recent fast food study they said that Canadians have the most salt in their fast food and I’m starting to think that we might have the most salt in our canned and processed food as well. I tend to read labels and stay away from overly salted foods but this time I didn’t read the label before I purchased the soup. Shame on me. I certainly won’t be making this mistake again.

I feel bloated already! I’m going to have to stay away from anything salty for a couple of days. Hmmm it’s warm out … maybe I should go sit in my neighbors metal building and use it as a sauna to sweat out this overdose of salt? Nah that’d probably be as bad for me as the soup was!

Oh well – lesson learned – Read the label before buying or opening!

Filed Under: Cooking and Recipes, Education, Food and Drink, Health and Fitness, Home and family, Items to Try Tagged With: campbells soup, chunky soup, cup of soup, labels, potassium, salt, salt overdose, salty, salty food, salty soup, sodium, terrible, too salty

A belate birthday party for my niece

by The Diva

I think we’re going to the inlaws this weekend. My sister in law is going to be there with her young daughter and we’re going to have a belated birthday celebration for her.

I’m making a cake on Friday to bring with us and I have to remember to get some rc batteries for a toy that I bought for her too. I love parties for kids. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s really going to be any other kids at the party, but I’m sure my niece will enjoy her belated birthday party anyway … who doesn’t enjoy a second or third or forth birthday party?

Filed Under: Entertainment, Food and Drink, Home and family, Items to Try Tagged With: battery, birthday, cake, fun, inlaws, kids, party, sister, toys

A late, but a good dinner

by The Diva

Wow I’m full! We just finished eating a very late dinner. I made a baked boneless skinless chicken breast, a mix of wild and white rice, peas, and roasted red peppers. We also had a green salad with feta cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette. Yummy.

I think once our TV show if over I’m going to go upstairs and fill up the bath tub, have a half an hour soak and then go to bed. Hmmm … maybe on the other hand, after that big meal perhaps I should be going out for a walk or doing some research on the best fat burners because if we keep eating like that I might need them!

I’m pleasantly full. I just wish we’d eaten earlier. I hate eating so late.

Filed Under: Cooking and Recipes, Food and Drink, Home and family, Items to Try Tagged With: chicken, chicken breast, full, good dinner, late dinner, peas, peppers, rice, salad, tasty, white rice, wild rice

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