CookingDiva

Certain flowers are not only for decoration, they could also be in your salad and satiate your thirst with an invigorating, magically sensual brew. Do I have your attention now?

The benefits of cooking with tea seem endless. In many cases, when you cook with tea, it retains many of the essential vitamins as well as the antioxidants. Tea is not only a refreshing and delicious beverage, but also very versatile and exotic ingredient that is hitting the kitchens of the adventurous cooks all over the world. How about cooking with tea today? Here we are sharing a simple, yet fantastic recipe to tickle your creativity. It could be prepared with fresh hibiscus petals, or red hibiscus tea.

Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 4 tablespoons red hibiscus tea (or the petals only of 4 red hibiscus, washed)*
• 1 cup sugar or honey (or to taste)
• 3 cups original flavor yogurt (regular or low in fat)

Preparation

Pour boiling water over hibiscus tea, or hibiscus petals. Brew 5-10 minutes, or until it has reached a very intense red color. Remove tea bags, OR put the liquid through a very fine sieve to remove solids. Discard solids / used tea bag.

Combine tea with sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool completely and then add the yogurt and stir until the tea has been distributed evenly. You will get a pink beautiful yogurt. So sexy!

Pour mixture into ice pop molds and freeze until firm. To serve, press firmly on bottom and sides of molds to remove. If using paper cups, freeze mixture until almost firm and then insert Popsicle sticks into centers. Freeze until firm.

Recipe yields 6-8 Popsicles.

Important: if you are using fresh hibiscus petals, make sure they have not been exposed to pesticides.

Related posts:

• Cooking with Saril = Jamaica = Roselle, Hibiscus Sabdariffa
• Edible Flowers: The Marvelous Hibiscus
• Edible Flowers: The Red Velvet Rose of Love
• Hibiscus: More than just a Beautiful Flower

This post is my contribution for this week's Kalyn's Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging. Don't forget to visit her blog on Sunday night to check out all the other great posts that always get submitted for this event!

Tags: weekend herb blogging, hibiscus, cookingdiva, cooking, panama

It has been a very intense work-and-life week. As I always remind my mom "If I do not call you it's because I am cooking up a storm, ...unable to stop, visiting or sending text messages via cellphone. You are free to call, but if I do not answer you know what is going on: I am creating my next masterpiece! (Ha! I know, it sounds sooo obsolete! text messages?, well, yes...that is still very much used here in Panama, but to tell you the truth I would rather call, send an e-mail, AND...if I am really, really, really inspired, I'll pay you a visit and take over your kitchen!) How about that? It sounds like a threat, doesn't IT?

Using some of my mind-reading super powers (and by reading your e-mail requests...of course), I know you have been waiting for the latest event-update and at least ONE luscious recipe. You see what I mean??? Am I right or what? Anyhow, it is good to know that you miss our cooking adventures, AND no! I didn't bake myself. LOL. Well, just a little bit Due to my temporary absence, one of our readers inquired if I have baked myself into an "empanada." Although I WOULD rather prefer to be wrapped in a home-made delicacy and delicious puff pastry, I have to admit that the whole empanada idea is kind of sexy.

To kick UP the spice, this is what we have been cooking recently:

• A great article on International Food Blogs , by Chef Elena, has been published in Revista Mosaico (Mosaico Magazine from LaPrensa newspaper in Panama). The internet edition is available HERE: Food Blogs - Gastronomía en Internet (ES). In her article she makes reference to the following, well known food blogs in English: Jamie´s Diary, Benjamin Christie, The Traveler´s Lunchbox, chez pim, Peru Food, Cooking Diva, Nordljus, Slashfood. In Spanish: Apuntes de Cocina, Mil Sabores, El Amor por la Cocina, Sumito Estévez, Cocinalia, Historia de la Gastronomía
• Sadly enough, I was NOT able to make it to the Panamanian Chefs Club workshop on Coconut. I just got there in time to enjoy what they had all prepared. The first Laboratory was on CORN. The theme this time: COCONUT, one of my very favorite foods. Take a look at the next two videos: the first is on HOW TO HANDLE, OPEN AND GET THE FOOD FROM A COCONUT. The second is Chef Charlie Collins preparing traditional Panamanian Cocada with a twist: Coconut Candy with Banana.

Come on, do not be shy...we KNOW you LOVE coconut! Get the scoop on how to handle it here:

A video on how to prepare Panamanian Coconut Candy with Banana:

If you are nuts about coconuts as much as we are, take a moment to learn about THE FACTS, and  enjoy some of my delectable creations: Coconut Meringue Pie, Cococnut-Chocolate Flan, Orange and Coconut Pudding, Pan de Coco ES (Coconut Bread), Keki de Coco y Miel ES (Coconut-Ginger Cookies), Cake de Zanahoria y Coco ES (Carrot-Coconut Cake), Delicia de Coco ES (Coconut Delight).

Tomorrow I'll report on a fantastic TEAM BUILDING event that took place a few days ago for DELL Panama.

Now, ...back to the kitchen

M

Let's celebrate BlogDay2006! It is going to be a fantastic event, do not miss it. The deadline: August 31, 2006. To participate, read the guidelines HERE, and let's cook up something yummy for that special day...

Do not forget to Visit:

• Tasty Recipes - Chef Melissa's recipe and post index
• Blogs that Cook - A delicious, international food Blog Directory
• Paladares Unidos - Chef Melissa's Cooking blog en Español

Tags: coconuts, food blogs, cookingdiva, cooking, panama, recipes, food & drink, food, video blog

Despite the overwhelming evidence, the problem is only going to get worse. Right now, it’s estimated that 60 percent of the refined foods on store shelves and foods sold in fast-food restaurants have some kind of harmful soy protein in them.

In the January 2006 Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers at the University of Colorado reported on the devastating effects of soy. When the researchers fed soy-protein-based feed to mice with a swollen heart, the mice developed heart failure and died. But when other afflicted mice were fed raw milk, they made a marked recovery. Dr. Leslie Leinwand, head researcher of the study, made a remarkable statement: “At least in mice, diet can have a more profound effect on heart disease than any drug that we could imagine.” YES!

Back in September, 2005, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality issued a report saying that much of the research carried out on soy is “inconclusive” and that soy products appear to exert “a small benefit on LDL cholesterol and triglycerides” but that those effects are of “small clinical effect in individuals.”

That is a euphemistic way of saying soy is useless as a nutrient. “Clearly soy is not the solution for people at risk for heart disease,” says Dr. Daniel. “Possible benefits are outweighed by proven risks. People at risk for cardiomyopathy should avoid it altogether.”

Soy keeps (you from) multiplying!

The second study, published in January, showed that a plant estrogen found in soybeans, called genistein, can lead to reproductive problems and infertility. It also showed that the severity of these problems is directly linked to the amount of genistein that a person ingests. Perhaps most alarming is that the adverse effects were found at doses comparable to the amount of genistein found in soy infant formulas given to human infants. (And who knows how many other adverse effects the genistein has, such as feminization of the male pups, heart disease, and cancer.)