I come across with an article about how to choose wine, and I listed some of them as follows:
1. Read the wine label – it will help you know the type, variety, flavour, region, brand, sometimes food pairing suggestions, and vintage of the wine. There are wine label which includes Wine grades- the higher the rating, the better the wine. A quality wine has more than 80 points.
2. When was the wine made? – According to the author of the article, there are certain years that produce better wines than others depending on the weather during the year when grapes are close to harvest time. He said that it is believed that 1990 was a great year for all wine – so choose wine which was manufactured in 1990. Sometimes it’s not true that the older wine is the better wine, especially if it was produced during bad vintage.
3. Where to buy? – buy from store which takes proper care of the wine. Wine is affected by extreme temperatures and direct sunlight.
4.  wine barrels used for ageing process – Oak barrels used for ageing process imparts a good wine flavour
5. Are there leakage? – Inspect the bottle of the wine and make sure that it is filed up to the neck of the bottle, the cork is intact and there are no signs of leakage.

Hope that these tips would both of us to decide which one to choose whenever we buy one.

Having said this, I bought cookbooks so that I can start cooking, my goal is to cook all healthful food. Food which is not just delicious but it should nourish and heal. One must understand that a lot of foods today are packed with preservatives,trans-fat, GMO ingredients, flavorings, etc.  So for now, I must decide when to start  :-D and I’ll learn how to poach egg first.

here it is!

Lesson from the movie – egg should be fresh so that its albumin (white part) is presentable.

How to poach egg:
1. Boil water for 2-3 minutes
2. Crack the shell of the egg and drop its content into the boiling water till cooked
3. Serve the poached egg.

Mangosteen fruit is one of the most delicious fruits that is usually seen during the months of July to September. It is covered by a deep purple rind which is a bit hard and a knife is needed so that you can eat what is inside. The saying, “no pain, no gain” is true for mangosteen.

The mucilage, the pulp and the rind

Beyond the delicious fruit, lies a powerful antioxidant component of mangosteen, and guess what, you don’t get it from the mucilage part of the fruit but from the pulp. The pulp is contains XANTHONE, a phytochemical which is a potent antioxidant, which strengthens immune system and improve overall well-being.

As posted in another website, mangosteen has many uses and benefits, please read below:

Medicinal Benefits of Mangosteen:
• Anti-tumor & anti-cancer
• Anti-inflammatory properties
• Prevents & treats infections
• For treatment of diarrhoea, cystitis, eczema, gleet and gonorrhoea.
• Anti-proliferative activity against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line.
• Anti-micro bacterial activity
• Inhibitory activity against histamine release

Uses of Mangosteen:

• Dried and powdered mangosteen rind (skin) is given to cure dysentery. The powder can be made into a cream and applied to skin to treat eczema and other skin disorders.
• A decoction of the rind (boil in water) is cure for gonorrhoea, cystitis, diarrhoea and gleet.
• A decoction of the whole fruit, bark and leaves of the mangosteen tree can also be used.
• Eat the flesh of the mangosteen fruit for overall good health.

Mangosteen extract

To make mangosteen drink, you need

1/2 kg mangosteen
1/2 gallon water
sugar
citrus fruits

Procedure:
1.  Remove the outer hard rind of the pulp and crush the soft rind.
2.  Soak it in 1/2 gallon water overnight.
3.  Add sugar and citrus fruits to drink.

I can cook.  Maybe not that well but I can and it can get so delicious sometimes. I learned to cook 2 years ago when I thought someday I would be the best wife who would serve the best meal to her husband and still dreaming about that. I discovered that the basic of cooking is sauteeing, boiling and burning LOL.  In cooking, imagination is your only limit. You can experiment and mix all the ingredients that you see and discover how it would taste later on.  One of my latest cooking invention is a fish steak (I used blue marlin) which I fried in butter together with lots of garlic, onion and ginger and I think it was one of the best that I ever cooked.

Thanksgiving day is coming soon, have you got any idea about what to prepare for the occasion?

photo taken from http://find.myrecipes.com

See the picture above? That is called Streuseled sweet potato casserole, which is very ideal to prepare during Thanksgiving day. Sweet potato casserole is easy to prepare and most imimportantly, it is nutritious.