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Hehehe! Take a look at what I’m going to prepare for the Santa Clause this year… :o)

He will be soooo happy when he’ll taste one of my brownies that he’ll leave all your gifts at my place alone… hehehe… :o)

FROSTED CHRISTMAS BROWNIE

Serving Size: 12

Ingredients for Brownie:

~ 1-1/2 Cups Sugar
~ 1-1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
~ 1/2 Cup Cocoa
~ 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
~ 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
~ 3 Large Eggs
~ 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
~ 3/4 Cup Margarine — Melted
~ 6 Each Red M&MS Plain Chocolate Candy
~ Green Tube of Frosting (Piping Jel)

Ingredients for Butter Cream Frosting:

~ 3 Tablespoons Margarine or Butter — Softened
~ 2 Cups Powdered Sugar — Sifted
~ 3 Tablespoons More or Less Milk
~ 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Here are the instructions:

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line up 12-inch pizza pan with aluminum foil. Stir together margarine, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl. Add the 3 large eggs. Beat well with spoon.

Mix baking powder, flour, cocoa and salt. Slowly add to egg mixture, stirring until well combined Spread butter in prepared pan. Bake around 22 minutes or until you see the top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Trim off the edges that may have gone over the side of the pan. If desired, remove brownie from pan. Unwrap foil, or serve in pan. Spread frosting over top. Sketch holly leaves on frosted brownie and put red candies in proper place so that they look like holly berries.

For frosting:

Beat margarine in a small bowl. Slowly add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat until it becomes consistent.

CHRISTMAS CREAM CAKE

Serving Size: 10

Ingredients for Cake:

~ 1 Cup Buttermilk
~ 1 Cup Coconut
~ 1 Cup Shortening
~ 1 Cup Walnuts; chopped
~ 1 Stick butter or marg (1/2 c)
~ 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
~ 1 Teaspoon Baking powder
~ 1 Teaspoon Baking soda
~ 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
~ 2 cups Flour
~ 2 Cups Sugar
~ 5 Eggs; separated

Ingredients for Icing:

~ 1 Box confectioners’ sugar
~ 1 Cup Maraschino cherries
~ 1 Packet (8 oz) cream cheese; soften
~ 1/2 Cup Butter or margarine; soften

Instructions for the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut waxed paper to fit the bottom of three 9-inch cake pans. Grease lightly and flour the paper. Beat the egg whites well until they form peaks in a small bowl and then it set aside.

Cream together the butter and the shortening then the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a larger bowl. Add the baking powder, salt, buttermil flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Add the nuts and coconut and then stir thoroughly. Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites. Spread butter into the prepared pans. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Before removing the pans let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Cool thoroughly before making the icing.

Instructions for the Cream:

The fist things that you should do is to drain, rinse and chop the maraschino cherries. Set them aside. Combine the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and butter. Cream together thoroughly until smooth. Add cherries, mix well and use to frost the cake.

And I hear The Santa say: “YO! HO! HO! HOOOOO!!! MERRRYYYYY CHRISTMAS!!!”
Jonathan Is The Webmaster Of Quick Easy Recipes & Author Of A Famous Cookbook Called America’s TOP Secret Recipes. Also check his new website:Favorite Recipes Here!

One of the terrific ways to decorate a cake is with scenery. This can be achieved systematically as will be shown. The cake is first iced in a thin layer of buttercream and then poured with a lukewarm fondant. Before painting the scene, the cake should dry for one hour. Scenery painting in icings can be practiced on corrugated cardboard circles before attempting an actual cake scene.

A thinned down boiled icing and vegetable paste colors are used for this type of painted cake top. In painting a scene such as the boat, clouds and land in background, a picture may be obtained and copied in the following manner:

With a brush approximately 11/2 inches in diameter, a small amount of thinned down boiled icing is placed in the skyline area. Using the brush in a back and forth motion, the skyline is painted in.

With a tiny brush, place four or five small dots of blue paste color in the skyline area. Using a larger brush in a series of back and forth motions gives the skyline a blue variegated effect.

A large cone of white boiled icing with a 1/4 inch opening at the tip is used in a zig-zag motion at various intervals to obtain the cloud effect. Go over this cloud area with a clean brush to give it a smooth realistic look.

The water area is made by piping on a thinned down white boiled icing and then adding a few drops of blue and green paste color. Then, with the use of the large brush in a series of sweeping motions, create the greenish blue water effect. Use the deeper colors for the distant water. The ship may be put in with the fill-in method or it may be outlined and then painted on with the brush as illustrated.

Before putting in the clouds and after the blue is put on, a few dots of yellow, orange and a tint of violet may be brushed right above the horizon to give a sunset effect. After practicing a few simple scenes such as these, you will see that scenery painting is simple and fast once you have acquired the technique of using the brush properly.

For a Western scene, the sky can be painted in first as previously described. The mountains can then be piped on with a white and brown icing. Then, using a small brush, a few dots of deep colored icing can be put on the crevices and then smoothed nut with a larger brush. The cowboy and horse can be painted on with a very small brush in deeper colored boiled icing thinned down to the consistency of oil paints.

A Halloween scene can be painted in chocolate, orange and yellow. In a scene such as that, you must keep in mind the angle of the moon’s shadows. This cake can be bordered with individual shells using the No. 30 star tube and was overpiped in a deep color with a No. 3 tube using a question mark design.
Discover The Cake Decoration Secrets Of A Master Baker! Click Here For A Free Online E-book: http://www.cake-decoration.net

These days, with several ways of cooking Chinese food being on hand, food aficionados have discerned a fresh cooking stage in the field of culinary arts. These new procedures provide cooks and chefs just the right combination of hues, flavours, essence and food texture of the cooking culture of China. Generally, there is no change is the essential ingredients but the cooking technique makes all the difference in preparing the dishes. Every food dish can be cooked in an entirely different manner by implementing varied cooking methods.

A few of the essential measures of Chinese Culinary procedures can be emphasized as frying, stewing, boiling, braising, simmering, sauteing, steaming and smoking. Frying has a prominent role to play in Chinese Culinary Procedures and it is thought to be amongst the most significant activities in recipe preparation.

Frying can be sub-classified as quick-frying, deep- and slippery-frying. In addition, this process involves taking into account many factors, which are dependent on the kind of ingredients that is utilized. For example, to retain the flavour and juiciness of meat, frying is preferred; whereas, where vegetables are concerned, frying makes them nice and crisp. In the arena of fast foods, the swiftness of the Chinese Culinary Procedures plays a predominant role in cooking Chinese food where the food ingredients are quickly stirred before frying.

Shallow-frying or sauteing is another regular feature of the Chinese Culinary Procedure. Sauteing consumes far less oil as compared with deep-frying and needs moderate temperatures as against stir-frying. This ensures that the food is soft in the inside and crispy on the outside.

Sauce making usually succeeds sauteing. In addition, boiling, simmering, stewing and braising are the other Chinese Culinary Techniques employed for food preparation. When parboiling, the cut and cleaned ingredients are placed in a big container to enable them to float. Then the ingredients are subjected to high temperatures. Boiling over a lengthy period of time not only kills the taste but also the food’s nutritional quality to a certain degree. In order to prevent this, a majority of food preparation is generally carried out over low heat to ensure that the nutritional value is retained.

Cold Mixing and smoking measures of the Chinese Culinary Procedures entail that the food is cooked in advance whereas roasting involves seasoning the raw marinated ingredients prior to barbequing them over an open flame.

In Cold Mixing, scalded or parboiled ingredients are blended in salads and subsequently chilled prior to serving. Lastly, the poaching process involves cooking the ingredients in a liquid, a degree under the boiling point. The poaching technique is most suitable for preparing fish dishes, wherein cooking is continued until the fish becomes soft and tender. In conclusion, these Chinese Culinary Procedures are a select few ways to enhance the flavour of Chinese cuisine and make them appealing to food buffs.
Abhishek is a cooking enthusiast! Visit his website http://www.Cooking-Guru.com and download his FREE Cooking Report “Master Chef Secrets” and learn some amazing Cooking tips and tricks for FREE! Learn how to create the perfect meal on a shoe-string budget. And yes, you get to keep all the accolades! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! http://www.Cooking-Guru.com

The use of animal derived products in alcohol production is considerably more widespread than most would imagine. Anti-foaming agents, colourants and clarifying processes all make use of animal products in some way or another.

It is not as if there are no real alternatives because there are. The problem lies in the poor information available to consumers and so no demand for a change is well established. One of the main reasons for this quite simply is a clause in the 1984 UK Food Labelling Regulations, which does not require any beverages with an alcoholic content higher than 1.2 percent to display its ingredients on the packaging.

Fining is the process by which certain impurities held in suspension, such as excess yeast, are removed from ale and other alcohols. To remove these impurities something must be added to the liquid to cause unwanted particles to precipitate.

Alternative non-animal additives used in the fining process are bentonite, kaolin, kieselguhr and silica gel. Modern methods such as centrifuging and filtering are also becoming more common.

A large number of breweries employ a substance called isinglass during the fining processes of virtually all cask ales. Isinglass is a kind of gelatin obtained from the swim bladders of certain fish, especially the Chinese sturgeon.

If cloudy particles show up in a pint of real ale when held up to the light, it is a sure sign that it had been recently disturbed, was brewed in a cask and more likely than not contains isinglass.

Occasionally the additive glyceryl monostearate is used instead of 900 dimethylpolysiloxane as anti-foaming an agent in the production of beers produced in kegs. Sometimes glyceryl monostearate is derived from animals

Most of the main cider brands are fined in a similar fashion but use gelatine instead of isinglass.

Wine is fined using a variety of different animal derivatives, isinglass, gelatin, egg albumen, modified casein and chitin (which comes from crab or lobster shells). Some manufacturers even use ox blood though that is generally considered an antiquated technique nowadays.

Fortified wines like ports and sherries should be treated similarly to wine. Port also uses gelatin during its fining process.

In addition to using isinglass in its production, red wine also contains E120. The red colourant, E120 is produced from the pregnant body of the cochineal insect (Dactilopius Coccus). Campari and some soft drinks also use the cochineal insect for red colouring.

Most malt whiskies, blended whiskies and Spanish brandies are conditioned in casks, which previously held sherry, which in turn may have been treated with animal derived finings.

Some imported vodkas may have been passed through a bone charcoal filter.

A number of these animal products leave only tiny amounts in the final product and a few of them do use other non-animal alternatives, but the fact remains that without a change in the UK Food Labelling Regulations, vegetarians and anybody else who cares to know the contents of what they are consuming are largely kept in the dark.
Colin Didcott is a life long vegetarian and collector of authentic vegetarian recipes from around the world. Visit Vegetarian Recipes Realm to see his collection of low calorie vegetarian recipes and join in the friendly vegetarian community.

More people drink coffee daily than any other drink, apart from water and soda. That’s a lot of coffee. It’s estimated that 60 per cent of the world’s population drink at least one coffee a day. That means lots of coffee beans, lots of grinding, lots of peculating and lots of coffee cups!

The more you drink coffee the more you begin to like it in a certain way. Some people drink it black, some white, some with milk, some with cream, some a latte some a cappuccino, the list goes on and on. As does the list of accessories, the grinders and coffee pots, the peculators, the coffee machines - but the one think that we all seem to get really personal with is our favourite coffee mug. We have different shapes and sizes, some with cartoons on, some with quotes, some are big and some are small. What ever your preference, there is a mug out there for you!

Material

There are lots of different materials that mugs are made from these days, including plastics, glass, and stainless steal and of course porcelain.

Hybrid coffee mugs are usually made from plastics, while stainless steal is usually used as an outer shell for a protected plastic lined cup, often used as travelling cups to take a coffee to work, or to the beach. If you go for one of these mugs, make sure it has a string watertight lid too and is of strong construction.

The more traditional porcelain mugs work so well as they retain heat. The down side of this is that they are no as durable, and prone to smash if knocked or dropped. Also, the do not usually come with a lid, so tend to be house or office bound mugs.

Size

The size for cups and mugs is based around a standard size for a single serving, which is usually 12 ounces. This tends to be the stating point for cups and mugs, which can range up to 20 ounces or even more for novelty coffee mugs. It used to be sad that if you are a coffee addict you should get the biggest mug you can, but a counter argument is that if you have a standard size mug, then you can drink more smaller freshly brewed hot coffees a day!

Shape

There are lots of different shapes of mugs to choose from, from the more traditional simple porcelain cup, to the heavy armour of a protected stainless steal travelling cup. Depending on size and weight, these different cups will suite different people, and offer different levels of comfort while drinking. The best thing to do is to experiment. Go on, drink come more coffee, you know you want to!
For more information on coffee and coffee cups and mugs, please visit coffeebite.com

This delicious recipe makes a gourmet quality pizza that is much better than any you will find in a restaurant - even the most expensive restaurants. This delightful, flavorful pizza is not hard to prepare, and is a sure hit for any meal or special gathering.

Be sure to use fresh ingredients, and do not skimp on quality. Use the best you can find - the taste is definitely worth it!

1 package pizza crust mix
1/2 teaspoon coarsely crushed peppercorns
12 ounces boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons chicken soup base mix
1 1/2 teaspoon coarsely crushed garlic peppercorn blend
1 teaspoon garlic liquid spice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Make the pizza crust according to package directions. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of crushed peppercorns to the dry mix. Form and place in pizza pan to rise.

While the pizza crust is rising, combine the chicken and 1/4 cup of the chopped red onion along with the white wine vinegar, water, chicken soup base mix, crushed garlic peppercorn blend, and garlic liquid spice. Mix well to coat the chicken evenly. Let stand about ten minutes.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet, and add the coated chicken pieces. Cook and stir until done, about three minutes.

Mix the cornstarch and water together and stir into the chicken mixture. Heat and stir until thickened and bubbly. Spoon this mixture evenly on top of the pizza crust. Sprinkle the top with mozzarella cheese, chopped green pepper, and the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped red onions.

Bake the pizza at 400 F for about twelve minutes. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top, and bake about two minutes longer until the crust is golden brown.

Makes eight servings.

Nutritional Information, Per Serving:

190 calories
18 grams protein
13 grams carbohydrate
8 grams fat
3 grams saturated fat
36 mg cholesterol
220 mg sodium
0 grams dietary fiber

Preparation tips:

The crust will rise well in an oven with the door propped open slightly, so that the oven light is on. This provides just enough warmth to get a good result.

For the coarsely crushed peppercorns (second ingredient) - choose a blend of black, white, and green peppercorns for a delicious treat. While some folks may not be able to tell a difference in the flavor of different color peppercorns, there are subtle differences that will enhance the taste of the finished pizza.

The garlic liquid spice is usually available in gourmet food stores or online from gourmet food ingredient catalogs.

If you can find one, get an “air bake” type pizza pan. These do a great job browning the crust, and minimize the chance of the crust burning.
Eldon Beard is a Manager with Watkins Products. Enjoy the finest gourmet cooking extracts, spices, pepper blends, soup bases, and dessert mixes. Visit our Watkins Gourmet Foods

Have you realized how much time you spend shopping at the grocery store? Are you sick and tired of having to waste this precious time, when you could be spending it with your family instead? If so then you need to start looking into food deliver services in your area. These services are catching on like wildfire and more and more communities are cashing in on these great deals and wonderful time savers.

There is a darn fine chance that your community has a food service that you can use. These are easy to find online, just do a quick search on your favorite browser and you are set. You will have to sign up or register with these sites and then you can begin your shopping right away, They are easy and fun and so convenient that you will find yourself with almost too much time on your hands!

You can buy all of your favorite groceries and more at these food services. You will find a vast selection of fruits and vegetables, both organic, locally grown and imported. You will find exotic fruits and vegetables as well as the old staples like potatoes and carrots. No matter what you need you can get it from these great food services.

You will also find a huge selection of dried and canned goods that you can have delivered right to your door any day of the week. Canned soup and dried pasta are just a few of the great items you can have delivered to you each week. Most of these services even have goodies like cookies and even some cakes!

You will get a choice of delivery. You may choose to have your food delivered after work or while you are at work. Many people choose to have their groceries dropped off while they are at work so that they are there when they get home. You can even ask that the goods be left in the backyard to that they do not get stolen.

Food delivery services are flexible and convenient and they are something that every one can benefit from.
S. Stammberger is editor of The Gourmet Blog. The Gourmet Blog offers gourmet food recipes, gourmet gift ideas and other gourmet tips.

First things first, wine is a kind of beverage - specifically the alcoholic kind - that is produced via fermenting grapes or other types of fruits such as elderberry, plum or blackcurrant.

Wines that are not made from grapes are called country or fruit wine, and those that are made largely from materials such as starch come out as rice wine, barley wine or sake.

Take note that beverages that come from other materials that are fermentable, such as honey, are not really wines.

Basically, wines are produced from one variety (or probably more) of the species Vitis vinifera from Europe. A varietal is produced when one of the varities like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot are used predominantly (between 75-85% minimum).

Believe it or not, wines that are blended are not inferior to varietals. A lot of winemakers all over the world use multiple varieties of grapes in order to produce different wines. The following are different types of wine and varieties you may encounter in your wine-tasting adventure.

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a variety that is considered as most famous among the producers of red wine. The best one comes from France in Bordeaux. However, there are already areas in the US that produce wines that are just as great-tasting in their complexity and richness and they are usually in California specifically in Napa Valley.

Chardonnay

This has been considered as the white dry wine that is most purchased all over the world. Chardonnay is actually grown in many parts of the world. This type of wine is aged inside barrels of oak resulting in an aroma and flavor that is strong and rich. This type of wine has a character that tastes fruity and has buttery and vanilla components.

Chenin Blanc

This type of wine has been considered as common and cheap. The grapes used for this wine are grown widely in the United States, specifically California. This wine is also fruity and blends well with the more popular Chardonnay thus adding to its acidity and fruity quality.

Grenache

This is considered as the grape plant variety that is most planted. Grenache actually tastes sweet but does not have much character unless if it is vinnified well. This variety is usually grown in areas where there is drought and heat that is quite extreme.

Merlot

This type of wine is ranked along the same lines as Cabernet Sauvignon, but it has more lush. Merlot’s flavor is actually full-bodied with various flavors available such as plum, cherry, chocolate.

Pinot Blanc

This type produces a dry, soft and fruity white wine the taste of which is compared with Chardonnay. Pinot Blanc actually has tasteful hints of spice and apple and has a high acidity. Unfortunately, Pinot Blanc does not age very well and is less complicated that Chardonnay.

Pinot Gris

The grape used for this wine is brown in color and is quite successful in a place called Oregon. This wine is white and is crisp and dry with a rich spicy flavor.

Pinot Noir

This grape is considered as one of the premier ones in France, specifically in the region of Burgundy. This grape, though a bit difficult to grow, when grown well actually tastes complex and rich. It tastes more like raspberries, cherries, mint.

Riesling

Considered as a great wine among the other wines in the world, Reisling need to grow in one of the cool climates such as Germany. Its acidity is quite high and is very fruity and floral in taste. This wine ages well.

Semillon

This type of wine comes from white grapes that contains acidity that is quite low and has a roundness that is peachy. This wine partners well with Sauvignon Blanc. This is an inexpensive wine.

White Zinfandel

This wine is light blush pink in color and is usually made in the United States, specifically in California. The grapes called Zinfandel are red in color and is separated quickly from the skins when they are crushed and fermented. This results in a wine that is light pink in color. Zinfandel white grapes are made in a style that is sweet in order to balance it with the grape’s acidity.

All in all, wines will always be available for those who value its exquisite taste, flavor, aroma and the process it goes through just to make it exquisite for the palate.
Lee Dobbins, an avid wine drinker, writes for http://wine.leisure-webzone.com where you can learn more about wine and how to use it properly.

Vegetarian food is often accused of providing a less than adequate source of nutrition. The human body is dependent on a great number of vitamins and other minerals and each of these can be attained in a vegetarian diet as well as any other.

In fact it may well be that a vegetarian diet is better equipped to provide for our protein requirements than any other.

Protein is any one of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds that form the structural components of body tissues. Often described as the building block of life Protein is the second most abundant substance in the human body, after water.

Proteins play a crucial role in the biological processes of the body and are essential for growth and repair. The immune system, the transmissions of nerve and muscle impulses are all dependent on proteins. Proteins also provide the structural support needed for our skin and bones.

During digestion, the human body breaks proteins down into smaller components, called amino acids. Once absorbed they are use to make new proteins as the body requires.

There are approximately 20 different amino acid types in proteins and the human body is able to make all but 9 of them itself. The 9 it cannot produce are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Histidine is essential for the healthy growth of children.

Unlike meat products, vegetables do not contain all the amino acids we need individually, so a varied intake of vegetables is necessary to ensure sufficient protein replenishment.

Good sources of protein for vegetarians include most beans and pulses, nuts, seeds, tofu, soya milk and textured soya protein, wheat, oats, rice, milk and cheese. Egg is also an excellent source of protein and is considered to contain the ideal composition of amino acids. Some of the poorer sources of protein are carrots, apples, sugar and butter.

The recommended daily intake of protein for men is 42 to 56 grams and for women 41 to 47 grams. As a general rule the older the person the more protein is required. Pregnant women require 51 grams and women who are breast-feeding require 53 to 56 grams. Also as a general rule, we are recommended to consume 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weigh.

Our protein needs do not alter with activity levels, although protein intake needs to increase for the repair of tissues and during periods of rapid growth such as pregnancy or in children.

Almost all plants contain protein, so it is unlikely for a vegetarian to develop a protein deficiency while practicing a balanced vegetarian diet. Excessive protein can also causes adverse effects to the human body and may increase the risk of osteoporosis, heart and kidney disease and cancer. However it is now believed a vegetarian diet contains adequate yet not overly excessive levels of protein.

So vegetarians need not be overly concerned with their protein intake, simply practising a varied and balanced diet is more than adequate.

A vegan diet may need to be planned a little more carefully than a vegetarian, to ensure adequate protein levels are met. A good variety of grains, pulses, nuts and starchy vegetables are recommended.
Colin Didcott is a life long vegetarian and collector of authentic vegetarian recipes from around the world. Visit Vegetarian Recipes Realm To see his collection of low calorie vegetarian recipes and join in the friendly vegetarian community.

Down here in the south it’s a given that every red blooded male escapes the womb knowing how to make great barbeque. Give him a match and a bag of charcoal and he can make even the most sensitive of noses quiver with the aroma of a pork shoulder smoking over a pile of briquettes.

Unfortunately, the act of playing with fire often brings out the idiotic side of more than a few backyard chefs! It’s good to note that there is a distinction between outdoor cooks; city dwellers and country boys. City folks can’t really be expected to know a lot of things that their country cousins take for granted, such as what to do with your coals and ashes once you’ve finished using them.

It would seem that the removal of the ashes is a no-brainer, but the Fire Marshall in our town tells me otherwise. Some folks just do not like to get their grill wet and messy from dousing the coals with water. Firefighters I talked with had a few expletives to share with me about their latest call to a barbeque genius in our town.

By all indications, this hearty fellow would be classified as a southern gentleman and should have known better. In our part of North Alabama, it has been a dry year. It’s only the middle of April and we are already 12 inches below our normal amount or rainfall. Everything is parchment dry and susceptible to the tiniest spark! This is no place to leave charcoal on the grill and allow it to burn itself out.

We’ll call this fellow Billy Earl, (not his real name). After letting the charcoal burn until all the coals were cold, he shoveled the ashes into an old paper grocery bag and threw it into a large outdoor trash can. After the clean up from the party, the can was filled to over flowing with paper plates, napkins and an assortment of other paper material. Billy Earl keeps the trash can in his garage next to his automobiles.

Everyone went to bed that evening with the satisfaction of knowing that another outdoor cookout was a success and plans for the next one were already percolating in their dreams. About 3:00 a.m. the smoke alarm rudely interrupted those dreams. Smoke had engulfed most of the house by this time, but they could see no fire; only an eerie glow from the garage.

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Friends next door had seen the flames in the garage and called the fire department. Soon there was a small crowd of neighbors huddled together across the street from Billy Earl’s house, cringing at small explosions that occurred periodically. Paint thinner and gasoline cans had been stored under his work bench. Not anymore! Fortunately the fire was contained to the garage and the kitchen. All that was lost was the kitchen, a ‘78 Camaro and a new SUV.

The fire started in the bottom of the overfilled trash can by charcoal briquettes that were not completely out. This, I discovered was not an uncommon call to the fire department. Our local fire fighters are called out several times a year to put out fires that have been started by “cold ashes”.

While there are few restrictions regarding barbeque fires in residential areas of the city, there are definitely some that apply to apartment dwellers. For multifamily units you can’t grill on the porch or deck, balcony or breeze ways of the building. In addition, the barbeque grill has to be at least 10 feet away from the building. Our Fire Marshall told me that these rules are basically the same everywhere, with the space between grill and building varying depending upon the city.

No matter where you live, the idiocy factor comes into play. Nation wide, 45-50 people die each year from barbeque related fires, while a few thousand more are injured. If you plan on having a cook-out on a hot, dry Saturday afternoon on your deck, make sure you have some kind of covering on the deck and not expose the wood to sparks form the grill. Better still, move the grill away from the house so there’s no chance anything can catch on fire!

It’s sad, but most states now have barbeque safety tips. This implies that there are a lot of folks out there who do not know their way around a barbeque grill. That’s a sad commentary on our society!
Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at: http://www.redfishbob.com http://www.bluemarlinbob.com