Sometimes it takes very little to add a gourmet touch to your food and drink. For example, consider hot chocolate; it can be tasty, but boring. To add a little more zing, place a sprig of milk in the bottom of your cup before you add the chocolate.

To add a touch of class to your devilled eggs, mix your yolks, spices, and other ingredients together and then, instead of spooning them into the egg-halves, put the yolk mix into a pastry piping bag with a star tip and squeeze it into the eggs that way.

You can easily jazz up your appetizers and canapés with edible decorations. Green peppers, carrot slices, and pimentos, among other things, make excellent decorations, once you use a sharp knife on them. It'll take a little patience and a deft hand, too.