Newsbriefs
Gingerbread Adventures Teaches and Entertains Children
In the interactive Gingerbread Adventures exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden, children learn about the different plant parts used in creating one of their favorite holiday snacks, gingerbread. The Everett Children’s Adventure Garden is home of Gingerbread Adventures, through January 10, 2010.Vibrant vignettes of a gingerbread town deck the halls of the Discovery Center. A gingerbread jazz band, ice skaters and a gingerbread farmer are among the colorful characters displayed in the exhibit.
Popularity: 39% [?]
Localgreens: Sweet Holiday Treats
By Robin Mattson
Okay, here’s the thing…I could have come up with another way to use winter root vegetables for holiday entertaining. And it would have been great. But let’s be honest. That’s not what any of us really want, certainly not at this time of year. After the Thanksgiving leftovers are cleared out, my culinary thoughts turn to visions of sugared (anything) dancing in my head.
Every family has their favorite holiday cookies. This is the time of year we all dig up our long-cherished recipes that have been handed down from one generation to another. Eventually some cookies become tiresome, and are rotated out of the roster. But other recipes stand the test of time to become standards, replayed every year like classic holiday carols.
Popularity: 30% [?]
consciouseating: Better by the Dozen Bake up Holiday Cheer with Decadent, yet Healthy Cookies
by Melissa Williams
Whether chewy or crunchy, eaten straight or dunked in milk, cookies are a perfect accompaniment to holiday parties and chilly nights gathered around the fireplace. This year, indulge family and friends with a batch of these tasty treats, updated by using unrefined flours, natural sugars, and nutrient-boosting ingredients, including dried fruit, heart-healthy nuts, vitamin-rich pumpkin, anantioxidant-laden organic dark chocolate. To cut unhealthy fats, these recipes also substitute unsweetened applesauce and egg whites for some of the butter. Such creative twists gladly transform cookies from a guilty indulgence to a healthier treat—true comfort food for a joyous season.
Popularity: 5% [?]
healthbriefs
November is: National Diabetes Awareness Month
and Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
BROCCOLI HELPS KEEP PROSTATE CANCER AT BAY
An Institute of Food Research study now shows that eating one or more portions of broccoli every week can reduce the risk of prostate cancer and prevent localized cancer from becoming more aggressive. It turns out that broccoli, as well as other cruciferous vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts, affect genes by changing cell-signaling pathways, thereby reducing the risk of developing and spreading cancer.
Popularity: 5% [?]
localgreens Over the River and Through the Woods
By Robin Mattson
As Thanksgiving draws near, I begin to put the menu together, daydreaming about the various culinary possibilities. This year, as in so many years past, I will journey to Crescent City, California to visit with my family. It’s a beautiful, sleepy little town on the northern coast, where the few remaining members of my tribe have chosen to live. If we’re lucky we will catch the beginning of the Dungeness crab season before we leave. It’s a great location if you like things pulled from the cold Pacific Ocean or caught in the cool clear waters of the Smith River, which happens to be one of the cleanest rivers in the country
Popularity: unranked [?]
consciouseating Don’t Fence Me In Go with a Free-range Gobbler
by Jordana Gerson
For most Americans, memories of Thanksgiving focus on succulent, brown, juicy birds and a week of turkey sandwiches and cranberry sauce leftovers. While these images are typically guilt-free, the truth is that most turkeys come from industrial farms, where producers are more concerned with quantity than quality, raising the fowl under often foul conditions.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Consciouseating: Posh Squash
by Anjela Boyd
What vegetable may be round, oblong or spherical, smooth or bumpy and comes in a variety of rich autumn colors? Hint: It can sit prettily on the kitchen counter through March, waiting for someone to figure out its full range of possibilities.
The answer is winter squash.
The most common types of winter squash are butternut, acorn and spaghetti. Others include buttercup, banana, Cushaw, delicate, Hubbard and turban. A plentiful variety exists within each type of squash, with a choice of sweetness, color and size.
Winter squash differ from summer squash in part because they are kept on the vine to full maturity, when the seeds are completely grown. Winter squash tend to have a harder exterior that helps to maintain their freshness when stored in a cool place over the long winter months. The most notable difference between winter and summer squash is that winter varieties are only served cooked, while most summer squash can be eaten raw, as well as cooked.
The most unusual winter squash is the spaghetti squash. When fully cooked, the 
scooped-out flesh resembles spaghetti and can be used in place of noodles in a savory dish
or sweetened up with a bit of honey, cinnamon and butter
for a sweet, spiced treat.
Butternut squash, with a more traditional texture, is generally beige on the outside, with rich, orange flesh inside. This squash makes for a tasty soup or may be simply split in half, drizzled with honey or maple syrup and butter or olive oil, plus a pinch of salt and pepper, and baked until soft. Other varieties have a flesh similar to that of the butternut, kind of like a pumpkin that is rich and creamy when cooked.
The many rich fall colors of winter squash add a piquant touch to any holiday table with little effort. Treating the squash like a Halloween pumpkin by cutting a hole in the top and scraping out the majority of the flesh is the first step. This flesh can be baked in a casserole, cubed and added to stuffing, creamed into a wonderful side dish or even made into soup. More ideas on how to cook up squash turn up in an Internet search.
A vegetarian cookbook may also offer other innovative recipes. A fun bonus comes in using the squash shells as soup bowls. Save each squash top, garnish the tasty winter soup and add the natural lid to surprise guests with the wonderful treat within. Smaller varieties can be used as bowls
for dips or as creative containers to serve salad dressing
at the table.
For strictly decorative use, winter squash make a long-lasting base for a seasonal flower arrangement, either as a place accent or centerpiece. Another special touch comes in carving small shapes into different-sized shells and placing small glasses with tea lights in the bottoms. To add extra sparkle, press small crystals or other light-reflecting stones into the outer rind. Now, that’s a posh squash.
Anjela Boyd is a freelance writer based in Wrightwood, CA. Connect at Mail4Anj@hotmail.com or AnjelaBoyd.com.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Localgreens
COOL TOMATOES
By Robin Mattson
To many people the tomato is clearly the “poster child” of summer vegetables. Ripe tomatoes are readily available all year in our stores and markets, but no one will argue the merits of summer-fresh, local-raised varieties. This year, due to rain, tomato crops came in late. And because of this, it looks like we’ll keep getting fresh tomatoes throughout the entire month of September.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Consciouseating
SPICE OF LIFE
Sizzling Hot Healthy Peppers
by Amber Lanier Nagle
Habanero, banana wax, jalapeno and other members of the chile pepper family have added a kick of flavor to otherwise bland food for hundreds of years. These spicy dynamos not only make our tongues sizzle and our faces sweat, they also deliver an array of health benefits.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Localgreens
THE HEIGHT OF CORN SEASON
By Robin Mattson
Before I head over to my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery point, I gather my reusable fabric bags. This welcome and required CSA practice has helped cement a habit that now serves me in all my shopping trips. Bringing our own bags to the store is such an easy thing all of us can do to help the environment. On the walk over to the Seaport, I start to wonder what my farmer has in store for me this week. I know the walk back to my apartment will not be as easy, since the deliveries that arrive this time of year are sure to be plentiful.
Popularity: unranked [?]