"Fun With Food Friday" - Spooky Pumpkin Seed Edition!

So, the countdown to Halloween has been on in my house since, oh, November 1, 2010.  My three little goblins LOVE to dress up....oh, and I suppose that the ample availability of free candy possesses some type of draw for them too ;)  As much as I'd love to send them out with one of my large reusable produce bags and say "that's your candy limit!", I know that'll never fly.  So this weekend, I'm going to whip up some "regulation-size" trick or treat bags out of unbleached muslin for them and then let them go nuts decorating them on their own.

One of my favourite parts of Halloween is carving the pumpkins.  Scooping the gloop out is considered beyond disgusting by every member of my family but me, so I always get that glamorous job.  For me, the holiday isn't complete without roasting up some of the delicious seeds from each pumpkin we carve.  Growing up, I only ever had them roasted with plain old salt.  A couple of years ago, I stepped outside the box and tried seasoning salt (wild stuff, I know).  After a few years of that taste sensation, I really took a leap and tried something completely different.  Here's my recipe for candied pumpkin seeds:

Candied Pumpkin Seeds

1. Separate seeds out from pumpkin flesh and wash well.  Pat dry with paper towels.
2. Coat the seeds with melted butter (or margarine); the amount will depend on the number of seeds you have.  Just use enough to coat them evenly.
3. Spread the seeds out evenly onto a cookie sheet.
4. Sprinkle seeds with a mixture of brown sugar, chili powder, salt, and cinnamon (again, the amounts will depend on the number of seeds and your taste preference, but the majority of the mix should be brown sugar with perhaps 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of each of the other ingredients).
5. Bake for one hour at 250F.  

You can try to ignore the fact that the nutritive value of the pumpkin seeds is fairly offset by the ample amounts of brown sugar, and just keep in mind that this is a once per year kinda treat. 

This year, I'm also going to give a few other recipes a go.  I found a few interesting recipes at one of my favourite blogs: www.toneitup.com.  This particular entry also details the many health benefits of pumpkin seeds as a great "on-the-go" snack.  And what better way to pack them up than in a small, trendy reusable produce bag?  Perhaps you can take some with you while you make the neighbourhood rounds on Monday night!  As always, it is so nice to get feedback from others.  Let us know what you think of these recipes and feel free to comment and leave your family favourite!

Have a wonderfully SPOOKY Halloween!

Shantelle

"Fun with Food Friday" - Yogi Tea

Don't let the title of today's post fool you: this entry isn't only for the yoga fans in the audience....it applies to everyone!  I recently started taking yoga as a complement to my usual workout routine to cross- and strength-train (plus the fact that I have ready access to some incredibly functional and chic yoga mat bags doesn't hurt).  At this past week's class, one of the students asked if there was anything beyond yoga poses that can help ease symptoms of the common cold.  My instructor happily launched into a discussion of "Yogi Tea" and raved about how this simple tea really helps to clear the circulatory system and alleviate symptoms.  Personally, I was too busy trying to hold the "toppling tree pose" to actually remember the ingredients he rattled off but I was able to find a similar recipe on KundalingaYogaBootcamp.com.  This recipe calls for slices of fresh ginger which is usually found in small-ish branches in the produce section.  I often get asked what kinds of things will fit into our small reusable produce bags; they are perfect for fresh ginger as well as some of the other spices in this recipe!  Check it out:

Original Yogi Tea Recipe

Yogi Tea

1 Gallon Water
30 cloves
30 whole green cardamon pods
30 whole black peppercorns
1 lg finger of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
5 sticks cinnamon
1 teabag, Black Tea
*Milk and Honey to taste (*optional)

1. Bring water to boil.
2. Add all spices except black tea bag. Boil 30 -45 min. Longer is stronger.
3. Finally, add black tea bag and boil another 5 min. **The black tea is added last because it amalgamates the spices and sort of seals them. Also the tannins help assimilate the spices into the body.
4. If adding milk & honey, do so after adding the tea bag and letting it steep– OR BETTER add milk and honey to individual cup or a small batch. That way you can store the raw tea in the fridge and prepare with milk and honey as you go.
5. After adding milk and or honey, bring to a boil again, then shut immediately or keep on lowest flame to keep warm.

**Milk helps to ease the shock of the spiciness on the stomach and intestines so drink with milk if you’re sensitive.Note: for a stronger tea you can let the spices sit and sink to the bottom. If the tea gets really strong you can cut it with milk or reconstitute with a little water.

Hopefully this simple recipe will help ease the sniffles of the season.  Leave a comment below if you have other recipes to share or if you've given this one a try!  Until next time: Namaste.

Shantelle

Trader Joe's....please come to Canada!

I'd wager that most of the canucks reading this post have never heard of "Trader Joe's".  A few years back, when we lived in Boston, we got to know this quaint little chain mostly because it was darned near a religion for most of the folks we hung around with.  Back in those days, I worked as a market analyst for a consulting firm so, to this day, I love reading about what makes a company tick and succeed.  This article in the LA Times caught my eye and is a really fascinating portrayal of a company that started small but stuck to a core set of values and has thrived.

For the uninitiated, Trader Joe's is a chain of specialty grocery stores with a focus on providing great value and options.  For the health-conscious (and really, why aren't we all??), this store is a bit of heaven as there are some really great snack foods that will keep you in line with your healthy eating program on the run.  In addition, there's produce!  And the fact that one of the tag lines on their Twitter page is "I find your lack of bags disturbing" really appeals to In the Mesh, of course, as well as the Star Wars fans in the audience.

So for this week's "Try it Tuesday", why not swing by a Trader Joe's if you have one nearby?  Pack along your reusable produce bags and shop til you drop.  If you live in Canada (like we do!) keep this chain in mind if you ever have a chance to check it out across the border.  And in the meantime, we'll just keep hoping that they take the leap and expand to the north.

Shantelle

"Try it Tuesday" - Wine and music!

I was all set to do a post about a harvest produce recipe that I tried over the weekend until I came across this article by winefox.ca. Jim Cuddy is a prominent Canadian musician, and has fronted the band Blue Rodeo for many years. He just released a new solo album and took some time to talk to winefox.ca about how his interest in wine developed.

I can't tell you how many hours Jim has serenaded me while I've been sewing produce and wine bags so it absolutely fit to post this article today! So for today's "Try it Tuesday", we're going to try the wine that is mentioned in the article: Peter Lehmann Layers Red 2008. And to celebrate two of our favourite things (wine and music!!), we're introducing three new fabric patterns for our wine gift bags:


Plus our "Guitar Aficianado" fabric: see our website for a look at the fabric.

With Canadian Thanksgiving coming up this weekend we're sure to open a bottle with dinner. What is your favourite wine to have with dinner? What is your favourite wine to give as a gift? Please leave a comment below and also let us know if you've given today's suggestion a try!!

Shantelle