Learning how to care for your teeth is possibly more important now than ever because of our diets.  In the past, people ate a lot more whole grains and considerably less sugar.  Sugar used to be incredibly expensive and only the rich could afford to eat it.  Nowadays is so cheap that everyone eats foods with sugar.  Sugar can also be hidden in savoury foods such as ketchup and chutneys.  So here are some tips on how to keep your teeth lovely and healthy.

First of all you need to make sure you brush your teeth twice a day.  Not only that but you also need to learn how to brush your teeth correctly.  Make sure you spend a good amount of time cleaning all over your mouth including your gums and tongue.  When choosing a brush, you should buy one that is small and has synthetic bristles.  You should also replace your brush every month.

Don’t forget to floss between your teeth because there are some places that the toothbrushes simply cannot reach.  Learning how to floss properly is also a good idea because you’ll want to make the most of your flossing efforts.  Either ask your dentist for advice or do a search on the internet for “how to floss properly.”

If you enjoy drinking fruit smoothies you should realize that they can actually do a lot of damage to your teeth and that drinking fruit is very different from eating fruit.  If you want to minimize the risk of damage to your teeth you should drink through a straw and/or eat some cheese to neutralize the acid.

You might not realize this, but drinking green tea is also great for you oral hygiene.  However please understand that you shouldn’t add sugar to your tea because the sugar will only counteract the benefits of the green tea.  Also, green tea is no replacement for brushing your teeth.

If you are a smoker you should really give up because smoking increases your chances of mouth cancer and also gum disease and tooth loss.  Not only that, but you will also end up with horrible yellow teeth.  You might fancy some cheap teeth whitening in Sacramento however it’s probably best that you avoid doing things that will cause you do end up with discoloured teeth in the first place.  .

It's funny how marzipan can really divide a room in terms of who likes it and who loathes it.  If you are the sort of person who loves marzipan then here are some quick and fun ideas that you can try out.  Of course, if you don't have the time to make the marzipan from scratch you can always buy a block from the supermarket!

Unboiled Marzipan

1 lb of ground almonds
4 oz of castor sugar
4 oz of sieved icing sugar
Juice of small lemon
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg white
Colouring

Mix up the dry ingredients and make a well in the center so that you can add the flavourings.  Make sure you use enough egg white so that the mixture can become a soft and dry paste.  If desired, you can need in any colouring.

Mock Marzipan

3 oz of butter
4 oz of sugar
 1/8 pint of water
Almond essence
6 oz of soya flour

Place the butter, sugar and water into a pan and allow to boil whilst stirring and then remove from the heat.  Add in a few drops of the essence and stir in the soya flour, little by little.  Turn it out onto a board.  If you need to you can add in more essence and then kneed it evenly.  Roll it out as desired.

Stuffed Dates

Dassert dates
Marzipan (coloured if you wish)
Nuts or glace cherries (if desired)

Take the stones out of the dates  and place some marzipan in the gap, the marzipan of course should be rolled out to the correct shape before placing in the date.  If you like, you can also place an almond, cherry or piece of walnut on top.  You can also roll the dates in castor sugar.

Neapolitan Bars

Marzipan
Colourings
Icing sugar
Egg white

Divide the marzipan into three equal portions and knead a different colour (eg pink, yellow and white) into each.  Roll them out onto a board that is well covered with icing sugar.  You need to cut them into strips measuring 2 1/2 inches wide and 1/8 inch thick.  Place the 4 or 5 strips on top of each other.  Make sure they alternate in color and brush each layer with egg white before adding the next layer.  Press the layers together and wrap them in greaseproof paper.  Put them in a cold place so that they become firm.  Then cut them into whatever shape you like, for example squares or triangles.

Marzipan Cherries

Marzipan
Glace cherries

Divide the marzipan into equally sized parts and then form them into strips.  You then use these strips to wrap around the cherries, making sure the top of the cherry shows.  Allow them to become fairly firm. 

Another idea is to cut the cherries up into small pieces and mix them into the marzipan.  Then form them into little balls and allow them to become firm.

You'll find that no matter what type of cake you are making you'll need to beat the eggs and sugar together so that they will thicken up prior to baking.  If you want a light finish then you'll want to be beating the mixture for 15-20 minutes.  When adding the dry ingredients they should be added in very lightly as this will prevent the air bubbles breaking up.  That's why a metal spoon is advised for this, it's also important that you "fold" the mixture rather than stir it.

Swiss Roll Recipe

3 eggs
4 oz of castor sugar
4 ox of flour (sieved)
1 teaspoon of hot water
Warm jam

In order to prepare the cake tin (about 9 x 12 inches) , you'll need to grease the tin and then put greaseproof paper into the tin and then grease the paper too.  Make sure that the greaseproof paper is bigger than the tin.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl over some hot water so that it is thick enough for an impression of the whisk to be left.

Sift in the flour then fold it lightly into the egg mixture along with the hot water.  Make sure you use a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the tin and then tilt is a bit from side to side so that it's spread evenly.

Place the tin into a hot oven that's been preheated to 425F for about 7-9 minutes so that it's golden-brown and firm.  Then turn it out onto some paper with sugar on it.

Cut off the edges so that it's nice and neat and spread over some warm jam.  With a knife, cut half-way into the sponge that  makes a long cut that is within 1 inch from the ends.  Then roll it up and place it on a wire rack to cool.

No matter what sort of cook you are, everyone should be able to do the above recipe.  It's a great one to try out with kids as it's a lot of fun and the end result is yummy.  Cooking and baking also teaches kids  the needed skills in the kitchen instead of relying on buying ready made meals from the supermarket.