The Sweet Beet

{A post I wrote for Attune Foods}

In college it was all about cereal for breakfast … and lunch and dinner, then I went through my bagel phase (raisin cinnamon, double toasted with butter AND cream cheese), now it’s heavy on the protein. (I lapse occasionally indulging in a sweet bagel and I feel like I’m having dessert!)

Unlike some people who have the same breakfast over and over again, I change it up pretty much every day.  Which either says something about my personality (novelty seeker?) or the fact that I live two blocks from one of the greatest farmers markets in the world. Lately five meals have been doing the rounds in my kitchen and here they are….

To read the rest, please go to the Attune Foods Blog, here.

I have a cooking show!  The audience is small (one), but the attendee is very enthusiastic and wants to not only know what I’m cooking, but requests to touch and taste each ingredient.  The applause is limited but the drooling is validation enough.

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{A post for Attune Foods}

There is nothing like having a major life change (in my case having a baby) to get you focused on what is “real” (ie. critical) and what can go by the wayside.  Any shortcuts I can take in life – I do (shampoo does not need to be fully rinsed out before conditioner goes on – trust me on this one).  When it comes to shopping, unless I’m prepping for a blog post, I’m shopping as quickly and robotically as possible which means buying a bunch of ingredients that I know well and which have multiple personalities that extend across many dishes.

My go-to ingredients are not the least bit exotic, in fact many are downright common, but I’ve found ways to bring them into every single meal of the day – and yes, eggs is one of them…

Keep reading on the Attune Foods blog for a list of those ingredients and what I do to give them many lives …

(The latest post I’ve written for Attune Foods...)

When a food is too colorful, juicy, and “fresh”, I get suspicious – especially when it comes to dried fruit that is not meant to be any of those things. Dried fruit is meant to be faded, dry and chewy, not succulent and vibrant.  So it was with a feeling of “ew” when I bit into a well known brand of “dry” mango (hint: there is a man’s name in the name of the brand/store)  that was neon orange, cotton ball soft and lollipop sweet. The culprits were right there in the ingredient list: sugar (as if mango needs any help!), glycerine (to add moisture and a silky texture), sulphur dioxide (to keep the color from fading) – ingredients to ensure that the mango would never become “dry mango” which is what I was looking for!

Read the rest on the Attune Foods blog, here.

I am a total sucker for a great looking bottle. I am also charmed by all things Chilean, AND I use more olive oil than most Italian grandmothers. So when the Chilean olive oil company Olisur asked me if I’d like to sample some of their award winning olive oil (O-Live and Co) in their super cool bottle,  it took me about 3 seconds to respond.  The bottle of oil was used up in under a week and I am a convert.

They’ve agreed to give a bottle away to a Sweet Beet reader so tell us in the comments what your favorite food is to eat with olive oil and you might win!

Here’s their website if you want to know more about this fab co …

Many cooks like to think about what they can add to a dish, I like to think about what I can not add.  When I mine my memories for the earliest experiences of falling in love with simple food, I’m taken back to the woods, a tent, a sleeping bag and a Coleman stove …

Read the rest on the Attune Foods blog…