For well over a century professional cooks have known that adding bicarbonate of soda to cooking vegetables enhances their color; greens turn bright green and old carrots look like new.

It's a chef's trick that has crept into some recipe collections and often appears in lists of cooking tips and hints. It is not a good practice.

The main use of bicarb in the kitchen is as a raising agent for things like cakes and some types of bread. It makes them lighter.

This happens because bicarb reacts with liquid and gives off bubbles of carbon dioxide, which are then trapped by the cake mixture. It's like filling your dough with lots of tiny balloons.

Forget about the 1960's Flower Power credo: "Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll." Toss out your DVD of the steamy 1989 erotic thriller "Sex, Lies, and Videotape." In the health-conscious, food-obsessed, "bling"-oriented 21st Century, we seem to have stopped hurtling forward and started to move backwards Everything old is new again and we're returning to a kinder, gentler era when gentlemen and ladies enjoyed sex, chocolate, and jewelry as the language of love.

Our Love Affair with Chocolate

3,000 years ago, Indians of Central America poured molten chocolate from one pot to another to create bitter drink with a froth on top, the part they liked best. Spanish conquistadores and missionaries took the beverage back to Europe, where it became fashionable with the aristocracy, who added sugar to it. Today, three centuries later, hot chocolate remains a favorite drink shared by friends, family...and lovers.

Short on cash? Are you a starving student? Or maybe you're saving up for that next tank of gas!

Whatever the case, sometimes we all need to cut corners until the next paycheck rolls in.

These meals will fill you up without emptying your wallet. They should feed four hungry mouths.

While prices vary widely depending on your part of the country and your grocery store, you'll still find these dinners will stretch your food dollar to the max.

Lentil stew. One package of lentils, a couple of carrots, a couple of potatoes, water. Place the package of lentils in a large soup pot and add the appropriate amount of water (one and a half cups water to one cup of lentils works best). Peel the potatoes and carrots, and slice to bite size. Add to soup pot. Season to taste. If you have it: Add a ham bone, a bit of leftover beef, bacon bits, bay leaf, or favorite herbs.

I have been an avid fisherman since I was a child, which was quite awhile ago. I have been fishing regularly for over 30 years and I have seen a lot of people who cannot properly clean their fish after catching it so I thought I might offer a little guidance.

First, it is absolutely crucial that you have a very sharp knife. I personally use an electric filet knife a lot, but you really have to have some experience to be able to use one properly. Using a standard filet knife, I prefer to use one with about an eight inch blade unless I am filleting a large gamefish in which case I will break out my "Crocodile Dundee" Alaskan Filet knife.

One of the greatest inventions for the food industry and consumers alike has been the refrigerator. What would we do without it? The modern refrigerator enables us to shop less frequently and keep larger quantities of food fresh. Foods are kept in the refrigerator to preserve freshness and keep it safe.

While colder temperatures do keep food fresh and inhibit bacterial growth microorganisms that cause food spoilage can still multiply and grow when food is left too long, so you cannot leave food in a refrigerator for an indefinite period of time. Some foods have a longer shelf life than others while some will need to be discarded more quickly. If you follow these guidelines it will help you a great deal with keeping your perishable foods safe and fresh.