As far as most cooks are concerned, standard distilled vinegar is a rarely used item. We tend to gravitate toward flavored vinegars or those made from ingredients that will lend a certain flavor profile to the foods we cook, and aside from being the perfect tool to help a poached egg from spreading too far into the poaching liquid or coloring Easter eggs, it is almost never used in food preperation.

does that mean we don’t have a big ol’ jug of the stuff hanging out under our kitchen sinks? Of course not! Plain vinegar may not be all that great for cooking, but it has a ton of other uses that I find incredibly useful. Most of you probably know that vinegar and water are great glass cleaners and tah vinegar can help clean your coffee maker, but ther are other tricks to be found in that bottle.

Let’s explore a few of them, shall we?

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But what if you could owe less? All of us want to find a way to reduce what we spend every month, unless of course you’re independently wealthy or have very rich relatives.

Getting a little debt relief is one way to cut your outgoing expenses, but the idea sounds daunting to a lot of people. It really shouldn’t. If done properly, debt consolidation can help your credit in the long run and it’s not as difficult as a lot of people think it is.

Finding out if debt consolidation is right for you doesn’t cost anything. Companies like NoDebtToday offer these services for free. The process is fairly painless, quick and secure. You simply point out what you owe and they offer a possible solution. The decision at that point is yours.

While consolidating can give you a pretty big hit on your credit score in the short term, the long term benefits are that you’ll be able to fill that credit report with positives over time, which will bring you back up. If you’ve been making late payments, you’re not going to be any worse off than you were.

I just report the facts here. The choice is yours. If you’ve got debt collectors calling, or worse… If they’ve stopped calling, then debt consolidation is probably something that is going to do you a world of good overall.

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What’s not to love about food on a stick?  Anything that breaks the stereotype of a fork and knife at dinner time is something I look forward to, and if you’re planning an outdoor party, skewers are the way to go.  Your guests don’t have to bother with place settings or even tables, they can simply wander and mingle.  Which is what makes a great party, after all.

I didn’t make this dish for a party, though I probably will before the summer is over, along with kabobs and anything else i can think of that can comfortably be skewered and cooked over coals.  This was made at the request of my lovely wife, and i was more than happy to oblige her.

I’ve seen a lot of recipes that call for using whole breasts or chicken thighs, but i find that for satay, chicken breast tenderloins fit the bill perfectly.  Prep is simple, as you only have to cut larger tenderloins in two before marinating and it’s almost impossible to end up with a dry piece of chicken.  The flavor of the marinade works magic.  this may just be the prefect satay recipe.

As for sauce, I tend to simply heat my left over marinade thoroughly in a saucepan and use that.  If the idea doesn’t sit well with you, feel free to either make more or to use a thai peanut sauce from your local market.  You won’t hurt my feelings either way.

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For some reason I just can’t get the thought of the Islands out of my head lately. It’s odd really, since I’ve never visited them before. I just really want to sit on a white sand beach somewhere with the aroma of a pig cooking in the ground mingling with salt air, pineapple and a good Mai Tai. It won’t go away, no matter what I do.

So at various times of the day I find myself browsing websites on Hawaii Vacation Info. There are Kauai condos available and I wonder what it would be like to wake to ocean breezes and the smells of tropical rain. I stare at the pictures of the water and the sand, but invariably I return to the food, digging through recipes and wondering how I could interpret them with local ingredients.

I won’t be making a trip to Kauai anytime soon, but you can be sure that until whatever reason that has me wanting to venture there, I’ll be looking over the Kauai Travel Blog on a regular basis and wondering if it’s the food or the scenery that’s calling to me. It might also just be the call of the beach. I was a sailor after all, and I’m one that’s been too far from the sea for far too long.

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Winter has already left most parts of the country, but i have somehow missed posting this recipe each time I’ve made it throughout the chilly months of the year. My wife thinks I kept missing the shot or forgetting to take pictures as an excuse to have to make this dish again.  She may even be right! (But then I saw her hide my batteries once too, so I don’t really think she minded much.)

To be honest, this is the first year I’ve really played around with roasting root veggies, though I wish I’d tried it sooner.  They quickly became a favorite of my family, right down to Mr. Seat of his Diaper, who is anything but an un-picky eater.  To be able to make something that all of us can enjoy together is refreshing, especially in our current whirlwind life of several businesses colliding with home life.

These veggies really start out as braised, due to the fact that I tend to make enough for two days at a time.  I add a bit of stock to the bottom of the roasting pan to help speed the process along.  While this might change the texture of the vegetables a bit, I find that I prefer them this way and that if they are stirred frequently they are less likely to burn.

This dish really does embody the flavors of fall and winter, but if you think that’s going to stop me from making it throughout the year, you’re wrong.  That’s what grills and pouches are for!  This summer will see several variations on this healthy dish, each tailored to the grill and its strengths, so stay tuned!

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Today’s marriages aren’t the same animals our grandparents were accustomed to. In most cases the ’til death do us part’ portion of the ceremony has gone away and does not exist in most people’s eyes. The deal now is ’til you really annoy me’, or ’til things get rough’.

What ever happened to lifetime commitments? I believe in them, though I’ve had several partners who did not. In the end, they won out and even though I can admit that these things were probably for the best, I never walked out without fighting to keep things together. Usually until well past the point that I should have known better.

I really think that counseling could have helped in these previous relationships, even though I’m so happy now that I would never dream of going back. I know that if my wife and I see issues in our relationship that I will be the first to run for help, and I hope that other people will do the same. Marriage is supposed to be forever.

Whether you’re looking for Christian Marriage Counseling, counseling for another religious preference, or just someone that you can both bounce ideas off of, I think that the idea is sound and can help keep it all together for you and your family. If you really meant that it ws ’till death us do part’… don’t you think it’s worth working through the rough spots?

I do.

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For the first day in two weeks I greeted the day with eyes that were less than cloudy, a nose that worked well enough to take in the scent of a crisp spring morning, fresh cut grass and the remaining scents of late night rain showers and a body that was far less achy than has been the norm for a while. It was a beautiful thing indeed. Then of course I had to step back inside…

And I realized that one of the reasons I despise being sick is the amount of work that’s waiting for me when I start to feel better. dishes are piled up, the house needs straightening and dusting, the laundry is sitting half-done in a corner, my desk… Well, we’re not going to talk about that right now. Let’s just say I need to address a few issues.

Now I’m not saying this to put down my lovely wife. she’s been putting in her share and more with both a sick husband who, for the better part of a week has done nothing but sleep 15 hours a day and a teething kidling demanding her attention. Let us not forget that she works two full time jobs, even if the second is supposed to be from home. Simply put, she hasn’t gotten any work done in over a week on that second career.

So today’s order of business is catch-up.  I’ll attempt to get a recipe or two that I’ve had waiting in the wings posted here before their time is up, but I can’t stand the house in this condition, so it takes center stage today, before the sudden need for a nap comes rushing back in to meet me.

I hope all of you are feeling well.  It is cold season, and having had one, I’m wishing that each and every one of you get to move into the spring as hale and healthy as is possible.

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It’s this time of the year that I most miss my childhood haunts. With the weather turning warmer and the threat of sudden storms looming I find my mind wandering to mornings full of drifting banks of fog and a kind of quiet and peacefulness that can only be found in its embrace.

I know that for some there are other places they would rather be. The Miami Seaquarium or perhaps Yosemite Valley, but for me, it’s the call of the Bay and the fog that will never quite leave me, regardless of how long we’ve been separated.

There are a million things to do in San Francisco California and before I move on from this world, I’d like to do them all. I love the smell of the wharf, and of all the exotic and sometimes strange foods lining the shops in China Town and Japan Town. The wonder of Ghirardelli Square when it rises out of the mist is something I will never forget either. No matter how many times I visit, I just can’t seem to get enough.

Perhaps it’s time for me to take one of the ..sightseeing tours.. offered. Maybe then I’ll find that one particular spot in the City by The Bay that makes another trip unnecessary, though I doubt it. The view of the city buried in mist is one that never seems to leave me for more than a few years. I just can’t seem to forget the sight of it.

If you’d like to learn more about San Francisco and all the wonders it holds, sign up for the Trusted Tours & Attractions newsletter. You might even win a free GPS system in the process.. Who doesn’t love free stuff? And believe me, the fog in the city this time of year is absolutely breathtaking.

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Well folks, the iPod Touch giveaway is behind us, I’m finally coming off of this blasted sinus infection and the world is turning to spring. (Or straight to summer if you live in my part of the world. We’re expecting temperatures in the low 80′s today.) One would think I’d be in fine spirits and ready to dance a jig or two. Unfortunately, bad news tends to come in threes, and we’ve just been hit with number 3.

I mentioned a while back that I’ve been dealing with high cholesterol. My levels aren’t worrisome by any stretch and I’ve adjusted our diets to suit the moderate requirements that my doctor suggested. Unfortunately we got the news yesterday that the lovely Mrs. Seat of her Pants is dealing with levels in the *oh crap* range of high. The fact that she’s far more active than I am, as well as more fit is pointing to problems that are probably not related to diet but regardless, until we know better you can expect some changes around here… At least for a while.

I’ll be pumping out a lot more lighter foods. Low fat, low cholesterol, a lot of white meat and fish, lots of greens and super fruits. I hope you can all relate to my reasoning here. she’s one of the most important things in the world to me and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure she’s healthy, happy and all bundled up on chilly nights.

I’m not being an alarmist here. Her health is not currently at risk, but at several hundred points above normal, we need to do whatever we can to get things back where they should be.

Let the healthy eating commence!

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If you’ve ever wanted to take some time to learn more about wine but always thought it was something too complicated or boring for your sensibilities you might just want to pay attention. Gary Vaynerchuk is taking wine out of the world of haute cuisine and moving it into a venue that you might just understand.

How is that possible, you ask? Imagine a discussion on wine hosted John Madden. That is if the wine were the players and it was first down and 10. Gary gets that excited. For this man, it’s obvious that it’s all about the wine, but that he doesn’t feel that the quiet commentary of most somaliers is going to do it, an it shows. As the host of wine library, Gary’s sometimes outrageous antics had me chuckling while learning and I can’t think of a better combination of pastimes. His insight on wine is sharp, his language is down-to-earth and his attitude is in your face to the point of being a bit overwhelming at times, but in a likable manner. This is a guy I could have over for barbecue, I’d just let hime pick the wine

I grew up around wine and most of what I know I learned in the Sonoma Valley. for what I don’t know, I think I’ll ride along with Gary and see what he can teach me. Even if I learn less than I wanted to, it’ll be one helluva ride with a few good laughs on the way. If there’s a better recommendation for visiting a blog or podcast, I don’t know what it is.

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