Category Archives: Foods

Instagram’s Effect on the Food Industry

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Everyone loves looking at pictures. Whether they are photos of nature or wildlife, photos of family and friends, cooking experiences, or even pictures of fun events, people take pleasure in living vicariously through other individuals via these photographs. This has come to include the interest of seeing a delicious meal that another food enthusiast was able to sit down and enjoy. Over the previous few months, I have really begun to see the affect that Instagram has had on the food industry, whether it is home cooking, eating out or trying new restaurants, people’s photographs have proven to be a unique promotional tool for anything food related. Often times, I have had to make a mad dash towards the kitchen cupboards in order to satisfy my cravings after seeing one of these mouth-watering photographs. Chefs that are cooking from home or individuals that have visited a certain restaurant are able to snap quick photos from their phone and post them to social media resources like Instagram for the world to see. As a result, it can spark another’s interest in trying that recipe, visiting that food establishment or it may just simply activate that person’s hunger for any food.

I have been on Instagram for about one year now and during this period I have really enjoyed seeing the lives of friends and family through pictures and short videos. However, during this time frame, one trend that has really stood out to me was how proud these cuisine fanatics were about their food orders they put in or the meals that they had prepared. Eating is one hobby or activity that is going to be a part of everyone’s life and why not share your favorite recipes or cooking experiences with the social world? Any individual with access to the internet can snap photos of their appetizers, main dishes, desserts or even fancy beverages that they were able to consume, upload it to Instagram and within seconds, that tasty photo will be potentially visible to thousands of followers on some of the largest social media resources around the world. In addition to that, there are numerous different apps that will enhance these photos or even dozens of filters that will make the food and beverage item look even more mouth-watering. Even the most unappealing of food items can be made appealing through some of these fancy advancements in technology.

Another fun perk of using Instagram for meals is that this photo app also works with another app called Foursquare, which allows the user to share their location on a map with their followers. Individuals can “check-in” at certain food venues, buildings or other locations to let their friends know what they are up to. From this partnership, I see Instagram as being a unique marketing tool not only because restaurant goers and food consumption specialist are able to take appealing photos of their food and drinks, but they can also attach a location with that photo so if other interested parties want to experience that same menu item then they know right where to find it. Even if Instagram is not considered one of the most effective forms of media right now, I would recommend the free application to any chef, group or small business owner that is looking to promote any product or service.

Over the past year, this unique photo-related application has at times, proved to be sort of a motivator for me by seeing others accomplishments, it has helped me better engage in people’s lives that I do not see on a regular basis and it has even brought some awareness to me on certain things like local events or charity information. For example, I have found myself saying things like “well I didn’t know they served that food there”, or “wow that healthy meal plan has really paid off for that person” or maybe even “dang, I did not know that bar had that fun promotional there last weekend!” and by seeing photos of individual’s experiences in this situations, it has lead me to want to try new things, get more involved or not miss another similar event. Now is this going to be the feeling that everyone has who sees these photos? Not likely, but for being a free tool that anyone can use, why would groups and businesses not want to use Instagram as a marketing method? It definitely would not hurt the business or group at all!

Instagram can be a fun tool to utilize for any small business or non-profit that may not be looking to spend tons of money on marketing. For example, I began a kitchen related retail business recently with a blog, Twitter and Facebook page and as a fun marketing method I created a separate Instagram account from my personal account that was strictly for this ecommerce business. It allowed me to upload unique photos to all my other web sites as a way of interacting with my followers and visitors and my website has seen an increase in activity and engagement because of it. Now showing fancy photos of recipes that I prepared or menu items that indulged in will not necessarily sell products or make me a ton of money, but it can promote user engagement on all my pages and that is something that I want for my business.

The promotional photo options are endless and that is why I would really recommend including this resource in one’s marketing plan. Business owners like myself can snap and upload pictures of basically anything associated with their business, such as people having a great time using their products, the reactions of individuals tasting new foods, specials or discounts that are being offered for a period of time, or just photos of all the different menu items or product lines that managers and owners want to promote more. In my opinion, Instagram has not become as utilized of a free marketing tool as Facebook and Twitter, but I do think it could eventually reach that point, especially with the ease at which these users can integrate their Instagram with these other major social media sites. From all of this, restaurants and bars can promote their menu options through their visitors at no cost as long as those hungry patrons enjoyed their meal.

Responsibilities Of A Food Handler!

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A Food borne illness is any illness caused by consuming foods or beverages contaminated with disease-causing microorganisms, hazardous chemicals or physical hazards. A food borne disease outbreak is when two or more people have the same illness after eating the same food. The food service industry regularly experiences tremendous financial losses due to food borne illness. Such losses can be significantly reduced, however, through knowledge and education.

Food borne illness and outbreaks are associated with such behaviors as poor personal hygiene, time and temperature abuse and cross contamination. These topics will be discussed in a later section. A food handler must report to their employer if they are diagnosed with,exposed to or exhibiting symptoms from Norovirus, hepatitis A virus, Salmonella typhi, Shigella spp. or shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli.

When a food handler becomes ill, proper precautions must be taken. To ensurethe safety of the consumers, the manager of the establishment will either restrict or exclude the ill food handler. Restriction is when a food handler(who does not serve highly susceptible populations) is allowed to work in the food establishment but is not allowed to perform tasks that would cause contamination of food or utensils. Exclusion is when a food handler is not permitted to work in a food establishment until they provide a written release from the proper authority.

The employer shall restrict food handlers that have been diagnosed with the following diseases: sore throat with fever, lesions containing pus, an infected wound, or discharges from the eyes, nose and mouth. Employees exhibiting these symptoms must report them to their employer.The employer shall exclude food handlers that have been diagnosed with the following diseases: Norovirus, hepatitis A virus, Salmonella typhi, Shigella spp. or shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. Employees exhibiting these symptoms must report them to their employer.

There are additional requirements for contacting ready-to-eat foods with bare hands. Food handlers may contact ready-to-eat food with their bare hands if documentation is kept, that the food handler has signed, stating that they have received training on hand washing and additional control measures and that the establishment requires that employees must utilize two or more safeguards. These safeguards include double hand washing, nail brushes, hand sanitizer (antiseptics) after hand washing, incentive program or other approved control measures. These safeguards, however, are in addition to proper hand washing.

Documentation must be maintained at the food establishment that corrective actions are taken when any of the food borne illness, good hygienic practices or bare hand contact of ready-to-eat rules are not followed. In Texas it is best to be aware of these protocols by obtaining your Texas Food Handlers Certification and Food Handler Permit Texas.

Home Wine-making Web page Review

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How To Enjoy Your Wine Experience More/p>

There is much to learn in terms of wines, including proper pairings and selections. There exists much literature when it comes to wines, such as the article below. Study the details presented here, and you’ll be a wine expert quickly.

Store your wine the right way. Very cold or hot temperatures can harm the flavor of wines. Carry on and allow the flavor to function its magic at a temperature of approximately 50 degrees. There are refrigerators designed to store wine, or possibly your basement is cool enough.

If you plan to purchase some wine, use a bottle than it out first. With such a variety of wines to chose from, you need to discover which ones you actually like. Don’t go all in and buy a case when you haven’t tried the wine first.

All cheap wine isn’t bad. Chile produces great wine. Quite a few are pretty cheap! Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderful wine for its price. Other regions offering bargains are New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.

There is absolutely nothing to be alarmed by with regards to sulfite warnings on labels. This can be common in every wine. America requires winemakers to provide this warning to labels. In rare instances, sulfites might cause a hypersensitive reaction to a particular individuals.

Certain wines age poorly, and also this can be something you ought to know before storing virtually any variety. Prior to achieve this, you have to learn whenever possible about each kind of wine. This allows you keep the bottle properly and without causing it damage. Bordeaux ages great, yet not all wines get caught in this category.

Experiment once you order wine when eating at restaurants at the restaurant. When it is your desire to create a good impression in your dinner companions, you must pick a wine that they are unfamiliar with. They will likely not have any expectations, and they will stop being surprised by the high cost.

A dessert wine is great for drinking after dinner. A California Port, an Italian Moscato or even a French Champagne makes an excellent dessert wine selection. Your dinner guests will enjoy sitting from a warm fire, enjoying their wine and having an incredible conversation.

The wine’s vintage is the year the grapes were harvested. Typically, the harvest time is throughout the same year that the wine is dated. After being harvested, the grapes would be permitted to ferment until being bottled and sold. That wine probably failed to hit the stores until at least 2011.

While you are buying wine, consider trying one you haven’t had before. Don’t receive the same type every time as it can become boring. Test out different wines before you learn what exactly you are doing and you should not like. Who is familiar with, it may even cost less.

Once you’ve got the essentials covered about wine, the others should easily follow. There are some guidelines, but it’s mostly preference. Inform yourself around the fundamentals of wine after which let your own tastes and preferences assist you on the road. Keep the following tips in mind at the same time.

For expert techniques for homemade wines generating, pay a visit to a home made wines resource to have the source The Complete Illustrated Guide to Homemade Wine You could read Mike Carraway’s expert techniques on wine and beer making that you can do in your house.

Food Storage And Emergency Preparedness Are Now In Mlm

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Hundreds of different products are sold through the business of network marketing (MLM or multi-level marketing). Companies selling soap, cosmetics, vitamins, nutritional supplements, energy drinks, long distance services, water filters, gold, and almost everything imaginable have long used MLM as their method of distribution. Newcomers to the MLM business are often owners of companies which have been in existence for several years. They discover that the network marketing industry is a way for them to move more product and create more wealth.

Using MLM and the home party system, a new kid on the block in network marketing is in the area of food storage and emergency preparedness. Customers may buy the products on a monthly basis at affordable prices in order to develop family preparedness. MLM is a home based business concept which allows people to introduce others to the products and the opportunity. By signing up people under them to buy and sell the products, they may be able to earn money from their downline which consists of all those signed up under them to a certain level.

Each network marketing company sets its own compensation plan to pay their distributors. They decide what percentages can be earned and how many levels to go deep and how far to go wide. Width is usually determined by those personally enrolled as distributors under the person. Depth is how many levels on which they will pay.

It is generally well known and accepted that the products in MLM are higher priced than comparable products in retail stores. The companies need to be able to pay their distributors from their profits. The owners of the companies are often the people who become the richest as they earn money from all the distributors who buy the products but who never made a dime because they did not qualify for the payouts.

However, this industry remains one of the few ways that a person can start for a very small investment of cash and have the potential to become wealthy. MLM has been making millionaires for years by allowing people to leverage themselves. They sign up people once and can get paid on them for years as they continue to order. Additionally, they get paid on the efforts of many other people whom they never know. As long as people are buying products and the distributor is active in the pay plan by personally purchasing monthly, there will be money to be made.

With the many disasters around the world and the bad economy causing havoc in peoples life, it is plain to see that emergency preparedness and food storage are worthy endeavors for everyone. Being prepared can cause a sense of well being and security if and when problems arise. One never knows when a tragedy will hit.

People who are interested in food storage and emergency preparedness or who want to find a home based business might consider this new endeavor in network marketing. There are good possibilities, and there is money to be made in this area.

Spicy African Food

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As Kwanzaa approaches, African cuisine deserves some kudos on the cuisine scene. African food is a rich melange of dishes,

with regional takes on seasonings and preparation methods. Traditional foods combined in exotic ways reflect both native and

foreign influences, accumulated and integrated over hundreds of years. If you haven’t explored the world of African cuisine,

you’re in for a treat. A taste of this regionally diverse and rich cuisine may be just around the corner, in a family restaurant near you. If you’re not so lucky, there are a number of fabulous cookbooks available.

The staples of African food consist in the majority of tubers, starches and vegetables. Cassava, yams, okra, greens, tropical

fruits such as coconuts and bananas, corn, rice, millet, peanuts, sorghum and barley are mainstays of the diet, depending on

the region. Meat is used sparingly in some areas, but seasonings weigh heavily in imparting the distinctive exotic tastes

found throughout Africa. Mixtures of hot spices permeate traditional African food.

Foreign influences introduced the peanut, pepper, tomato, pineapple and cayenne pepper to local dishes. The Portuguese

introduced the domesticated pig, now an integral part of East African cuisine. French, British and Indian colonizers

nonetheless had a positive effect on traditional African food, bringing curry, chappatis, relishes and spicy lentil soups to

the African table.

To Ethiopia, in Eastern coastal Africa, the Arabs brought a number of spices, including cloves, cinnamon and saffron, used in

steamed rice combined with meat, vegetable, tuber, milk and honey dishes, enhancing the already rich and abundant

combinations. Pomegranate juice is an important ingredient in coastal Swahili dishes.

Western African foods reflect the heavy use of fish and meat, as these foods are plentiful in the region and are characteristically hot and spicy. Stews are highly favored, and pack a punch, especially for the Western palate.

The French influence is clear on the western coasts of Africa. Chiles, ginger and hot cayenne marinades are artfully combined

with local vegetables, peanut, palm and coconut oils, garlic and sharp marinades, making a definite food statement.

African food cannot be quantified in a word. Africa, the second largest continent, should not be discounted or dismissed for

lack of diversity. African food is as diverse as the continent, with an

array of imaginative and regionally unique dishes to tempt your palate.

Take a look on the net, or go to your local bookstore. The flavors of African food beckons. If you know someone who celebrates Kwanzaa, ask them about the rich heritage of African food. Bring your taste buds to the table, and enjoy!