Chocolate For Your Health... Plus Beer

Pretty much everybody is now aware of the health benefits of dark chocolate.  But for those of you who aren't aware:

 Chocolate is good for your heart.  Eating a little bit of dark chocolate every day can lower blood pressure and cholesterol.  Chocolate is rich in antioxidants, which help prevent aging.  It contains serotonin, which is good for mental health, and aids in the production of endorphins, which are good for emotional health.

My current favorite kind of dark chocolate is from Trader Joe's.  It has toffee with walnuts and pecans.  I like it beacuse it is cheap, and the packaging is awesome, and it tastes really good.  It is perfectly sweet and salty and satisfying.  I recommend it highly.

And what could go better with chocolate than beer??  (Probably a lot of things, actually.)  This summer I am enjoying Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.  It is a lemonade-flavored beer from Wisconsin. 

 

Summer Picnics

My sister just had a potluck picnic in the park near her apartment.  The theme of the picnic was "local": every guest had to bring a dish that included at least one local ingredient.  My contribution was a quinoa salad with local cherries (the ones I picked a few days ago!) and mint from my friend's garden.  It also had feta, shallots, and toasted pecans:

My sister made a delicious pasta salad with orecchiette and pesto (using basil from her own container garden):

A prize was offered for the most "local" dish... and guess who won?  :-)  I got a cute little package of three decadent truffles by a local chocolaterie called Honest Chocolates (www.honestchocolates.com).

Cooking summery dishes is fun in and of itself, but how much more fun would it be to do it in style?

I came across these completely cute aprons at a little shop called Wisteria Chic. Made by Funktion, they are one hundred percent cotton, and would be appropriate to wear while baking summery tarts or cupcakes. They are thin cotton, though, and therefore are best suited to gentle kitchen work. If you want an equally-cute, heavier-duty apron, I recommend this painterly canvas one from Anthropologie:

Cherry Picking!

Mid-July is the best time to pick cherries in Oregon.  Today I went to a "U-Pick" orchard about five minutes away from my house, and got eleven pounds of plump Bings.  I brought them home, rinsed them, and pitted most of them (with a glass of sangria, of course) and put them in freezer bags.  I'm sure that a lot of my baking ventures over the next few weeks will involve cherries!

I highly recommend picking your own cherries.  As much as I love to spend money at farmers' markets, I really don't want to spend $4 a pound for pre-picked cherries when I can pick the cherries myself and pay only $1 a pound.  Of course, I'm still supporting the farmer when I pick in his orchard.  Plus, picking cherries is a fun, productive way to spend time outside. 

Just remember to use sunscreen!  I use and recommend Alba's SPF 45 sunblock for kids.  I got the stuff a couple weeks ago at my local natural foods store.  I stood in the aisle for a good half hour comparing ingredient lists on the backs of various sunscreens.  The ingredients in Alba's kids' sunblock are almost exactly the same as the ingredients in Alba's facial sunblock, so I figured that the kids' version would be fine to use on my super-sensitive face as well as my whole body.  I love it because it doesn't have that typical sunscreen smell, and just a little bit really goes a long way.  And, it's packed with organic herbs!

While we're discussing Alba, let me also say that I love (and recommend) Alba's coconut cream lip balm.  It's amazingly soft and smells like Hawaii.  I like to put it on every night before bed, and when I wake up the next morning, my lips are still super soft and moisturized. 

Farmers' Markets

I love summer because it's the only time I can buy my fruits and vegetables locally.  I like to know where my produce comes from; somehow I feel better buying tomatoes from the farmer down the road than from the grocery store.  I'm fortunate enough to live in an area with dozens of beautiful, bountiful farms and orchards.  And now that it's summer, I can do myself and the local farmers a favor by shopping at the farmers' market.  The stuff I buy at the market tastes much better than the stuff I buy at grocery stores -- even the good grocery stores -- probably because it is picked just an hour before I buy it.  And supporting the local economy is always in style!

I love seeing vegetables in baskets... country charm at its best.

Last Thursday I bought a big bunch of kale and an equally big bunch of Swiss chard from an overflowing produce stand.  For purchases like this, I recommend the use of a reusable produce bag.  We all know that plastic bags are outmoded.  So why not go for a cute, eco-friendly tote?  I love these two totes from Etsy seller zenthreads:

These cotton bags are hand printed with earth-safe inks.

This cotton string bag says (and holds) it all.

If you aren't big into vegetables, hey, that's ok.  You can still support farmers' markets.  My local market (and I bet yours, too) has a booth that sells tarts and cakes.  As you would expect, the tarts are packed with organic, local eggs and vegetables, and the cakes are studded with local berries:

4th of July

Every year, my parents, sister, and I celebrate Independence Day at the Oregon coast.  Think three days of sunny beach walks, drinks on the patio, fireworks, amazing food.  This year, the weather was exceptionally nice (Oregon coastal weather can be iffy even in the summer -- we're lucky if we get a cloudless seventy-degree day), so we got to linger outside over food and good conversation, sans hoodies.

But before we delve into my 4th of July weekend (and my blog, for that matter), there is something you must know:

Food is very important to me.  I love great flavors, yes; but it's more than that.  When people eat together, something wonderful happens.  Sharing a meal establishes a common ground between people.  It breaks down barriers.  Pretenses are dropped.  At the table, people talk, laugh, bond.  This is natural and healthy! 

Consider the ways that animals eat.  Cows graze together.  Birds sit side by side at the feeder.  Even predatory animals, like lions, share their kill.  Scavengers hop around decaying meat like it's a treasure chest, ready to divvy up the loot.  And we are much the same.  Our very animal-nature begs us to sit down with one another and pass the gravy.  I recommend that you try it sometime!

So, if you see me write about food a bit too often, you will know why.  I love food because it brings people together. 

Having said that... let's get back to my wonderful 4th of July shenanigans!

I love the rows of colorful candy!

On the 3rd, I went into the cutest candy store ever!  Now, I'm not much of a candy hound, though every now and then I allow myself to enjoy some sour worms or a Reese's cup.  But I saw the rows of glass candy jars through the store window, and I just had to go in.  The store is in Manzanita, and is called Vintage Living.  If you're ever in the area, I recommend you go in and let your eyes be dazzled.  It's a small shop -- maybe twelve by twenty feet at the most, but it's over-stuffed with old-school candies that you can't find just anywhere.  Remember Clove gum?  Pop Rocks?  Scottie dog red licorice?  Yeah.  This store has all your old favorites (and your parents' old favorites) as well as your modern-day, go-to Snickers.

Can't you imagine this as a jigsaw puzzle?

  
Oh, and did I mention they sell chocolate-dipped Twinkies with sprinkles??

Speaking of chocolate, let me just say that the 4th of July wouldn't feel quite right without s'mores.  They're not just for kids!!  I made one over a candle in my living room, and I suggest you do the same.  It's easy!

For a more luxurious s'more, I recommend using Theo fair trade chocolate.  Theo has a number of delightfully questionable flavors that would certainly elevate your s'more's status (how about a spicy chile s'more?).

My mother, who happens to be a chef-extraordinaire, made us all a lovely chickpea salad for lunch.  The recipe came from an older Cottage Living magazine (April 2007, to be exact).  My mom always tears out recipes from magazines, which is a practice I highly recommend!!  I'm sure you all know how frustrating it is to rifle through piles of old magazines in search of that particular lemon pie recipe.  It's much easier to rip out the recipes you want and stuff them in a file box.  (Might I recommend getting these cute file folders to jazz up your file box?  They are from Etsy seller beyondher, and are printed by hand.)

 My mom said that making the salad was a little labor-intensive because of all the chopping involved, but it was definitely worth it!  At least, it was worth it to all those who didn't lift fingers to help.

If you happen to be in a small town on Independence Day, go to the parade! Parades in small towns are a hoot for one reason: the parade gaps.  If you've been to a parade in a small town, you'll know what I mean ("Was that the end?"  "No, I think I see another float coming.").  For the past several July 4ths, I have been going to the Manzanita parade, and I always enjoy watching glittered gorillas and flag-wrapped girls skip down the road in festive intervals.

Every year I ask myself how a small town like Manzanita can have this many bagpipe players.  ??

4th of July dinner: open-face pulled pork sandwiches, French potato salad, coleslaw, and baked beans.  This is a great alternative to firing up the outdoor grill.  We made the pulled pork a day or two ahead of time so that we could relax on the 4th. It was a snap to reheat it in the crock pot.  For extra-delicious pulled pork, I used and recommend Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar sauce.

The potato salad had fresh herbs from the container garden on the patio.  Let me make a plug here for container gardens: they are super-easy to maintain and, if you get a cute container, they add a cheery element to your patio.  I think this little pot from Anthropologie is lovely, and it's only six bucks:

My sister made a gorgeous rhubarb and raspberry crostata for dessert (recipe from Bon Appetit, May 2011).  I thought that the whole wheat flour perfectly complimented the tartness of the rhubarb.  I took some production shots for you to enjoy:

I recommend using local produce whenever possible.  It's good for your community, and good for your health!

Folding the edges over the cooked fruit

The end result!  Delicious with vanilla ice cream!