News & Suggestions

• Raw potatoes are better preserved and do not sprout, if we place 1-2 apples amongst them.
• Bread is preserved for a longer time if we place a celery stick or a potato thoroughly washed and dried in the bread bin.
• Cheese does not go mouldy, if we place 1-2 cubes of sugar into the plastic bag in which it is kept and then close it tightly.
• If you are fans of light cooking, you don’t have to completely banish fresh cream from recipes. Just replace half of the quantity of fresh cream suggested in the recipe with an equal quantity of full – fat milk.
• When you have guests for dinner, prepare the salad dressing at least an hour before serving and keep it in a closed jar in the fridge. In this way, you not only save time, but also give the aroma of the various aromatics and spices used a chance to be released. Therefore, the dressing will be tastier.
• When cooked, spinach releases many liquid. Therefore, add some rice or grated toast to absorb the liquid.
• If you intend to use raisins in a meal, you can soak them in little water for approximately an hour so that they become juicier.

If you are preparing a dessert, soak the raisins in Cognac or rum. In this way they will acquire an additional and special aroma.
8.    Rice should not be stirred whilst being cooked. Frequent stirring brakes the grains, thus making it soft and sticky but not fluffy.
9. When we put salt on tomatoes it gradually absorbs their water. This makes them wither and the tomato – sauce becomes watery. Thus, it is best to add salt when we serve them and not beforehand.
10. The puree will become white and smooth if you use hot instead of cold water for its preparation.
11. If you want roast potatoes to be crispy, add some grated toast on top of them with the rest of the ingredients.

Useful secrets for your cacti! 

Because cacti have the potential of storing water for survival during long droughts, which are usual in their natural environment, watering should be done with caution. Most cacti are spoiled mainly due to excess and not too little watering.

So, until someone has adequate experience regarding how often and with how much water he / she should give cacti, it is better done with caution: that is, less water should be preferred.

Start watering cacti in spring time, when temperatures start to increase. Stop watering when autumn approaches and the weather becomes colder and wet.

During winter it is better to leave the cacti completely dry. In this way, they can also endure the very low temperatures of winter, even those under zero. Never place a small plate under the pots of cacti, because there is a danger of the plant rotting.

Never water cacti during midday and if the sun is directly on them. Together with watering, give them a special cacti fertiliser. On the market some fertilizers are labelled ‘for floriferous flowers’. These usually have a similar proportion of elements with special cacti fertilizers. The first ingredient of fertilizers is nitrogen while the other two are phosphorous and potassium. Generally, search for a fertilizer which is low in nitrogen. Nitrogen favours the development of a mass of the plant. But, because cacti have a naturally slow development in relation to other plants which continuously grow new leaves, too much nitrogen harms the cacti rather than benefiting them.

When you are watering make sure that the earth is completely soaked with water. That is, do not only water the surface of the earth. Otherwise, the roots do not develop normally and they might grow towards the surface instead of the bottom of the pot, as they should. Thus, when you have to water it, make sure that water comes out of the pot. Remember that cacti are adjusted to endure drought. So, they might also absorb the humidity that exists in the air.

The best rule: if you are not sure whether the plant needs watering, do not water it. In general, from April to September, we water the cacti approximately once a week or twice at the most.

Most cacti prefer the ph of the earth to be slightly acid (6 – 6,5). Unfortunately, even if someone buys the best earth, watering with tap water usually gradually makes the earth alkaline (you will usually notice salts at the bottom of the pot). So, rain water is preferable and can be collected in a bucket or, remember to replant the cacti using new earth after 2 – 3 years the most.