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2:18 PM

Thursday 01/01/09 - Wine Aficionado

Today's Wine Aficionado Article

Short of Money for Chrismas Gifts, Great Food & Fine Wine this Year


It?s this time of the year that the shops start to put their decorations up, and you start getting thousands of mail-outs in the post (or thousands of emails from online shops).

It?s a great time of the year ? isn?t it? Or is it? Well - for some people it?s not so great. It?s the time of the year when you have to fork out a lot of money (for gift shopping, for food shopping or for decoration shopping) ? and if you don?t have the money ? you can really get yourself in trouble. Especially ? if you need to be paying the bills at the same time (and the bills always seem to come right when you don?t need them!).

You want to be able to give your kids, your friends, & your family the best Christmas possible. You want to be able to shop for awesome gifts that will make their mouths fall open. You want to be able to lay out the best service possible ? turkey, ham, roast meats, roast vegetables, trifle, pavlova, the works? And most importantly ? you want to give them a Christmas to remember.

But ? the power bill & the phone bill are also due this week - so? what do you do? Well of course you have to pay the power bill, so the decorations, food & gifts will just have to wait?

There are some ways to get around the problems though:

They always say you could get the kids involved ? get them to make their own crackers, & decorations. But - I'm not going to pretty this "saying" up - generally this method will cost you more. You will pay around $2 for a six pack of crackers down the road. If you do this separately - , you have to buy the snaps (the centre bits that go BANG) , the paper for making them, the trinkets to put inside them, the paper to fill the crackers out etc?? Sure - you can get the kids involved - just do it wisely - they can make cards out of paper (with felt-tip pens etc) - but fancy things are generally more expensive than at the shops - remember that.

You could get cheaper meats (chicken instead of turkey etc..), sides (potatoes instead of kumara), and deserts (bread & butter pudding instead of trifle) ? but is this something you want to do? If you normally have a ?traditional Christmas?, it is sure to be a let-down if you have lesser foods.

And? you could get smaller pressies ? there is nothing wrong with this ? you could buy a whole sack of $2 pressies (or even $10 pressies), and the kids would enjoy them (maybe not your teenagers ? but the young ones will never know the difference).

So ? what do you do? You just have to spend the money unfortunately. There are two ways to do this:

a) Get your friends & family to contribute some money and have a co-joint christmas experience (we personally do this & it works out great ? we have a ?family? Christmas where everyone contributes something).

b) Get a loan, or a cash advance. There are several companies that will do this - so you can do plenty of online shopping for gifts, food & decorations. Just do a google search for "apply for loan online" or "apply for cash advance", and you will see lots of companies willing to help you out. Of course, you should try to avoid this measure. It's just going to end up getting you in more debt. If you are just looking for something to tide you over (until you get the next pay cheque), by all means - go for the cash advance. But the loaning of money is dangerous, so be very careful!

So in closing, yes ? there are options for xmas! Just make sure you make it a good one, and most of all - enjoy it!

Shirlene owns www.grizzlynut.co.nz - an online shopping network in New Zealand, where you will find thousands of NZ online shops & global online shops for a complete online shopping experience.



Short Review on Wine Aficionado

Short of Money for Chrismas Gifts, Great Food & Fine Wine this Year


It?s this time of the year that the shops start to put their decorations up, and you start getting thousands of mail-outs in the post (or thousands of...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Wine Aficionado Items For Viewing

The FTD Elegant Tribute Bouquet - Premium


This elegant bouquet lets family and friends know your thoughts are with them. Lilies and alstroemeria are mixed with greenery and delivered in a glass vase. S37-3120P


Price: 79.99 USD



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9:45 AM

January 2009 - Cheese Wine

Another Great Cheese Wine Article

Foggy Wine Glasses Are Not The End Of The World!


Perhaps one of the most troubling problems which usually occurs that takes the enjoyment out of having a glass of wine is when even though your glasses are clean, look very foggy. We have all encountered it at one time or another and probably all can agree that there is something detracting about a foggy wine glass. Before you decide to throw out your glasses or invest in a set of inexpensive ones with the thought that fogging is inevitable so you might as well be ready to throw them away when the time comes, there are a few things that you can do to prevent fogging and bring back the glorious sparkle and shine to foggy glasses that you remember from when they were first purchased.

I know that some think that it?s perfectly all right to put wine glasses in the dishwasher, and some machines even have special sections on the top rack to hold wine glass stems in place. We all know that crystal should never be put in the dishwasher, so I assume said stem holders are for everyday glasses. My dishwasher has them and I still won?t use it to wash wine glasses. Why? There are two main reasons for this, the first is that dishwasher detergent tends to be a lot more harsh and abrasive and can etch your wine glasses making it fog with repeated washing, and second is that the temperature in a dishwasher can become so hot that it can actually cause a glass to crack.

With that being said, when washing wine glasses by hand the best method is actually quite simple, especially since you should be able to simply rinse out yours glasses to clean them. First, it is important to remember to use lukewarm water and not hot water. Abrasive cleaning agents should be avoided at all costs; and if you feel the need to use soap it is best to only use mild liquid dish soap. Remember to never use hard scrubbing sponges and cloths and to rinse the glasses thoroughly or the soap will leave a film deposit which will fog with build up and time and thus defeats the purpose of taking care when washing your glasses.

If you have taken care of your glasses and hand-washed them and still find they are starting to fog, there is still something you can do. Soak the foggy glasses in straight white vinegar for two to three hours. Then wash with warm water and mild liquid dish soap and repeat the soaking process if necessary to remove the remaining residue. It might be a bit of a time consuming process, but it will be worth it in the end when you have sparkling glasses that look beautiful!

Finest Wine Racks is a major supplier of a variety of wine racks including wood wine racks, metal wine racks, counter top wine racks, floor standing wine racks and wine storage systems.

Ken Finnigan - CEO

Finest Wine Racks



Short Review on Cheese Wine

Foggy Wine Glasses Are Not The End Of The World!


Perhaps one of the most troubling problems which usually occurs that takes the enjoyment out of having a glass of wine is when even though your glasse...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Cheese Wine Products we recommend

The FTD Daisy Chrysanthemum - Standard


No one can resist the simple beauty of daisies. A favorite for more than just your "mum", this plant is a good gift for any occasion. A blooming plant that spread a lot of cheer. C36-3611S


Price: 36.99 USD



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Lots of people are making resolutions to lose weight, get in shape, or eat more healthily in the new year. Here is something that I've always found interesting to consider: food pairing. To get the most nutritional benefit from some foods, it helps to eat them with specific others or to avoid certain pairings. I'm not all into the synergy style diet, but for maximum health it's definitely worth considering a few combos. It's like 1 + 1 equaling 4 or 6 instead of 2, the total benefit is grea

Last Post of the Year

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