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13. Serving Italian food? Softly play Italian music in
background.
14. Invest in several sets of dishes, as many as your budget will allow. Match "mood" of your meal you're serving with "mood" of dishes you'll be serving it on. For example, if you're serving seafood, either a "Lighthouse" dish pattern, or blue dishes would be perfect. Asian food is great on black or floral dishes. Hamburgers? Red, white and blue!
15. When making grilled cheese sandwiches, use a thin layer of cream cheese alongside your typical slice of cheddar. Serve with a knock-out salad or your favorite soup.
16. Set aside a Saturday for Candy making. Try out fudge, taffy and even molded candies. If you have someone in kitchen with you, it's even funner. If not, at least you don't have to share your spoils!
17. Make a tradition out of trying a new, challenging bread recipe on first Sunday of every month (or any day of your choice, of course!) Start out with basic loaf, then move on to Sourdough, Wheat, Irish Bread, French Bread, Twisted Loaves, etc.
18. Place sprigs of parsley on special dishes. Your family will appreciate extra-special thought and it looks really pretty!
19. Buy thick "Texas Toast" for making French Toast. Prior to dipping into egg bath, cut a slit in each of bread's corners, fill each with 1 Tablespoon of softened cream cheese. Prepare as you normally would. Serve with syrup, a dusting of powdered sugar and a few fresh, plump strawberries. Delicious!!!
20. When serving Refried Beans, warm a small amount of Sour Cream until it has consistency of whipping cream. Top each serving of beans with a teaspoon of sour cream and top with chives or diced green onions.
Remember: Cooking is an art, so get creative and have fun with it!
This article, and others, can be found at http://www.buttermilkpress.com, as can recipes, cooking tips, products, and more. Feel free to contact the author at joi@buttermilkpress.com
