Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. You can be a sweetheart and purchase gorgeous artisanal chocolate from Virginia’s own Gearharts Chocolates, made with Shenandoah valley cream and butter and finished by hand. Or, you can get ambitious and impress your beloved with homemade fruit and nut chocolate bars with today’s easy to follow directions. Or, you can do both, doubly endearing you to your chosen recipients. Continue reading
There is nothing more satisfying than eating a meal that sticks with you for hours and makes you feel just right : invigorated and not drowsy, satiated and not bloated, comforted, yet knowing you have eaten your carbs virtuously. Today’s vegan meal is brain food. High protein black lentils and red quinoa, paired with the antioxidant power of cashews and dried cranberries, plus the beta-carotene of kabocha squash, et voila! Food for the brain, and the hungry belly. Sure, it all sounds healthy, but what you really want to know is…does it taste good? The answer is a resounding yes. Chewed thoughtfully (this meal cannot be fully appreciated on the run, as both lentils and quinoa require some jaw power) with a wispy side salad and your favorite beverage, this dish satisfies and uplifts the spirit. I call this dinner, but you may offer it up as a filling side dish; it would be welcome at any dinner or brunch buffet, enjoyed by diners of any persuasion.
lemon caper caesar dressing
Folks are deeply into New Year’s resolution mode : salad green mixes are flying off the shelves and merchants cannot keep up with the demand. So. You have resolved to eat more salads and fewer French fries. And what are you putting on your colorful, crunchy salads? How about propylene glycol alginate, high fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate? Not quite what you had in mind when you signed up for better health in 2013, huh? I thought so. These keep your commercial salad dressings shelf-worthy, but who knows what they do to our bodies, our temples. I would love to convince you that making your own salad dressing is easy, cost effective and a healthier choice overall.
When winter’s chill is in the air, your fireside alcoholic beverage of choice may be hot cocoa with a splash of Kahlua, mulled wine or hot spiced apple cider with a splash of rum. I love to warm up with a hot drink but a chilled, tart and not-too-sweet cocktail hits the spot and whets my appetite for the piping hot dinner feast to come. My favorite beverages live among the innovative cocktail offerings of Acacia Mid-town here in Richmond, Virginia. Alas, evenings out on the town are limited, so if I have a hankering for a cocktail the mixologist must be me, or perhaps my neighbor Janie, who makes fabulous themed cocktails for dinner gatherings with friends. For this autumn’s outdoor viewing of the film noir classic Gun Crazy, Janie prepared sidecars, the vintage mixed drink, authentic and refreshing, with her usual verve and enthusiasm.
End of summer means that field peas are in season. Sure, you could purchase frozen field peas, but nothing compares to the earthy taste and toothsome bite of those that are freshly shelled. You will pay a little more, but these are not mechanically separated from their shells; a labor intensive act of love has delivered these beauties to the market. Field peas are technically beans, not peas. They are cousins to the Asian Mung bean, traveling to the new world in colonial times with African slaves who recognized their value as drought resistant, nutrient rich, portable foods.