Back when I lived in Morgantown, WV I stumbled upon the Forks of the Cheat Winery. I had been out picking wild blackberries with my mother, who was in town for the summer from Florida. We decided to go to the winery and pick up some local wine and the owner, Jerry, asked what we had been out and about doing, since we were all smudged and rumpled from being out in the wild berry patches.

When I told him we had been picking berries all morning and still did not have enough for a pie, he took us up the hill and showed us the Vineyard’s lovely cultivated blackberry patches. In the end, he and I had made an agreement that I could come out and pick berries anytime I wanted and all I needed to do in return was leave half the berries in the vineyard’s freezer.

That was an amazing summer, filled with amazing blackberry pies and blackberry ice cream. I remember, in particular, hosting a blackberry ice cream party at my apartment for a bunch of my friends.

Anyway, today as my dad and my daughter and I were driving back across the state from my grandmother’s house to my dad’s place on the Shenandoah, we made a little side trip to the Vineyard. A few years ago my dad stopped and bought some of their Bad Cat and Airmail Jones (both sweet whites). He wanted some more and I wanted to pick up a bottle of their Niagara. She tasted it that day when we had been out picking berries and tells me often that it reminds her exactly of the grapes that used to grown in front of her childhood home.

Of course, I ended up with two bottles for myself – Reisling (my favorite) and a bottle of their Schwarzer Bär, which they categorize as an off-dry white. Both were outstanding.

The Forks of the Cheat Winery has changed a lot, but the wine is just as great as I remember. Now the grounds have terraced gardens and areas to sit and look out over the mountains. Apparently they have a lot of food and wine events there now. No wonder, it’s one of the most lovely places in the area.

Now, the challenge will be to get all of the bottles safely back to Florida in my suitcase, because the winery is unable to ship to Florida.

I have been thinking lately that my daughter and I dine out too often for my budget. We eat at places that are reasonable and I’m not breaking the bank, but I had a food epiphany today.

My dad took me to a little place in Charles Town, WV today called John’s. It’s right up the road from the old Rainbow Room bar, where Patsy Cline used to perform. It’s unassuming to look at and advertises country cooking, but it is anything but. The menu is expansive and everything on it is high quality and absolutely amazing.

My epiphany is basically this – I have no business dining out at all unless the food I am paying for is at least as good as the food at John’s, and that is not something you are going to find all that often in the price range of John’s. Therefore, I really have no business spending my money of food that is only mediocre when I am really rather a good cook on my own.

John’s is no particular style. It’s just skillfully prepared food at about the same prices you might expect to pay at any given chain steakhouse. I had an almond crusted chicken tonight that actually had me scraping the pan-drippings off my platter. The crab cakes and breaded shrimp were better than any seafood I have had in all my years of living in Florida. My daughter had vegetable soup that was more like a stew and a meal unto itself. I could go on and on, because I shamelessly sampled from everyone’s meals to make sure I had a taste of everything. I kid you not, if you are within 50 miles of this place you need to take the time to give it a try.

I’m looking for a good link now, but they must not have a website. So, here is the information:

John’s My Pappy’s Place
U.S.340S (south of Charles Town)
Rippon, WV 25441
Map
304-725-4348

I’m a fan. With my low-carb diet, I feel like I am missing out on a lot of the desserts I really low. I have been using ricotta cheese, sweetened with Splenda or Truvia, to get my dessert fix, but the texture of the ricotta is not always as luxurious as I might like.

However, Sorrento Velvety Smooth Ricotta Cheese is amazing. It’s not any different than other ricotta cheeses when it comes down to substance, but the velvet texture makes it feel richer, more decadent. I still just sweeten it with Splenda and top it with a few fresh berries, and it’s more satisfying than almost anything else I am allowed on my diet.

The only downside is that I have been unable to find it anyplace other than Super Wal-Mart. It’s not available at Target, Publix, Albertsons or even the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. So, I buy four containers when I have the time to trek over to the Super Wal-Mart.

After a stressful day, it’s an emotional band-aid.

It is SO comforting to finally see science and the media outlets talking about Oral Allergy Syndrome. I have had it since I was a pre-teen and my daughter developed it by age two. I had to learn about it years and years ago by reading obscure allergy journals and other scholarly publications I would find in the moldy stacks of university libraries.

Even when I try to explain to people that I can eat cooked apples, but not raw apples (and peaches, plums, pears, cherries, etc.) I get looks of disbelief. My own family struggled to understand. I went through years of assuming it was due to pesticides. Then, I finally figured out it was due to enzymes in the fruit — or proteins if that makes more sense to you.

 CNN is currently running the most concise explanation I have read to date:

Have you ever experienced itchiness or hives in your mouth area after eating raw fruit or vegetables? Do you also have seasonal allergies?

If so, you may have oral allergy syndrome, whose symptoms occur because the proteins in some fruits and vegetables are similar to proteins in some pollens.

“They’re not identical proteins, but they’re similar enough to confuse the immune system to have these reactions,” said said Dr. Robert Wood, chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

That’s not to say that everyone with pollen allergies has oral allergy syndrome. A person may sneeze all spring long and not have any obvious food sensitivities.

But oral allergy syndrome may help explain why some people have seemingly mysterious reactions to certain foods — for example, raw apples but not cooked apples. That’s because there are proteins in raw apples that are very similar to the proteins in birch pollen, experts say.

Cooking the offending fruits and vegetables will “denature” or change the shapes of these proteins, so people with oral allergy syndrome will usually be able to eat them without a problem, said Dr. Stanley Fineman, allergist with the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic.

Some people find that the peel of a fruit has more allergens than the meat, so peeling first helps, Wood said.

Because the reaction is usually localized to the mouth area, including lips, tongue, and throat, some people will choose to ignore the symptoms and continue to eat offending foods, Wood said. For people with reactions confined to the mouth, this is a “reasonable” choice they could make.

“Patients will typically decide on their own, without any discussion with a doctor, whether they enjoy the apple enough to put up with an itchy mouth, or whether they hate the itchy mouth enough to avoid the apple,” he said.

But in rare cases people with oral allergy syndrome experience anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction that may include blocked airways, hypertension, anxiety, vomiting and diarrhea. The most severe reactions require the use of an injection of epinephrine to subside, which is why many people with food allergies carry auto-injectors for emergencies.

Over-the-counter antihistamines alleviate symptoms of reactions for some people, experts say.

Studies have shown that some people who undergo allergy shots for pollen allergies will experience relief in oral allergy syndrome, Wood said, but at this point no one should get shots just for that reason, since they don’t work on most people’s food allergies.

“If you are a good candidate for allergy shots otherwise, this may be a side benefit,” he said.

While other kinds of food allergies present in the first two or three years of life, pollen allergies that contribute to oral allergy syndrome develop more slowly, Wood said, peaking in the teenage and young adult years. Some people may develop allergies even later in life, he said.

A person who moves to a new part of the country, having never been exposed to the native pollens there, may become allergic to those pollens and have some spill-over into food allergies, Wood said.

Typically, once people start to react to some foods, they will also react to other foods in the same group. People may find that their allergies to raw fruits and vegetables subside during the season when the associated pollen levels are low. For example, a person may react to raw apples from March to October, but feel fine when eating them from November to February, when birch pollen is low, Wood said.

About half of people with pollen allergies have improvement from puberty through adulthood, which correlates with associated food allergies, Wood said.

“The better the pollen allergy gets, in most people, the less the food allergy will occur,” he said.

All I hear on the local news is Super Bowl this and Super Bowl that. Tampa has been taken over by Super Bowl fever. The fans are swarming, both teams have been in town since yesterday, and you can almost feel the vibration of excitement in the air. I’m not so sure it’s actual football mania as much as having the spotlight on our region.

Anyway, the Superbowl means time to get out your best game day recipes. For me, it means Emerson Lanes Hot Dog Sauce. Emerson Lanes is a bowling alley where my dad bowled on a league for years and years. They have, hands down, the best hot dog sauce I have ever tasted. Thankfully, they are not secretive about the recipe and hand it out if you request it.

Emerson Lanes Hotdog Sauce
This recipe makes enough to feed an entire bowling team!

5 pounds ground beef
1 onion
5 teaspoons chili powder
5 teaspoons dry Italian seasoning
5 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons red pepper
5 teaspoons garlic salt
2 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 can (#6) tomato paste
2 1/2 cans (46 ounces) tomato juice

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Lower heat and simmer two to three hours until thick.

Add 1/4 pound cooked pinto beans or kidney beans ground or mashed near the end of the cooking time.

NOTE: I add cumin to taste and think it turns out best this way.

It’s funny that I would look at current headlines and see a peanut butter recall due to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in 42 states since September. OK, not Ha Ha Funny, but the kind of funny that makes you grimace uncomfortably.

I was just with one of my students last week as he sat in his Nutrition and Wellness class learning about food borne illnesses. The kids were mostly shocked to hear that you can get salmonella poisoning from tainted peanut butter. They were actually surprised at quite a lot of information contained in that particular lecture.

And so here we are, looking at yet another food recall involving peanut butter. This time it seems to be centered in Ohio and King Nut Companies has recalled two brands of peanut butter after finding that an open jar tested positive for salmonella bacteria: King Nut and Parnell’s Pride with lot codes that begin with the number 8.

Although distributed by King Nut Companies, the product is actually manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America in Lynchburg, Va. The two brands in question are not sold in grocery stores, but rather used in institutional settings, including nursing homes, schools and colleges.

Keep in mind that the tainted contained was discovered in the kitchen of a nursing facility and very well could have been cross contaminated by another food source. That is something all of us should think about more often in our own kitchens.

Just about two years ago we had that big national peanut butter recall. ConAgra recalled all Peter Pan brand peanut butter (which included Wal-Mart’s “Great Value” brand), which caused at least 625 salmonella cases in 47 states.

So, just how does peanut butter become tainted with salmonella? While we know that poor hand washing, poultry, meat, and eggs are the most common source of the bacteria, fruits and vegetables can sometimes be infected if they come into contact with livestock fecal matter. Keep in mind that the FDA does not regulate the safety of produce. In the past, salmonella outbreaks in peanut butter have been most likely due to post-processing contamination with fecal matter.

Salmonella in peanut butter is actually very rare. You face a greater risk, in reality, from aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen. This toxin is produced by a mold that grows on peanuts while they are in the ground. The USDA allows peanuts to be certified and sold as aflatoxin-free as long as they contain less than 25ppb, or below 20ppb in peanut butter.

Every New Year’s Day I like to make my favorite pork loin recipe. I have missed making it the past couple of years, due to smaller family gatherings, but I am gearing up to make it again this year.

You want to make sure you buy a very high quality white meat pork loin. It’s going to be leaner, have a milder flavor, and a great texture.

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons course salt
4 & 1/2 pound boneless pork loin
1 Tablespoon bourbon, or to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped green onions

In small bowl, combine oil, thyme, oregano, caraway seeds, onion, garlic, and salt. Rub mixture onto pork loin. In roasting pan, chill the seasoned pork loin overnight.

Roast at 325 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until meat thermometer reached 155 degrees. Remove and let stand 10 minutes.

Bourbon Gravy: Add bourbon, chicken broth, and water to pan juices. Boil one minute, scraping up brown bits. Strain mixture into a bowl. In saucepan, combine butter and flour, cook the roux over moderately low heat, whisking for three minutes. Add the broth mixture in a stream, whisking. Bring to boil, whisking. Add green onions and simmer one minute.

I found a pretty great recipe for a low card, sugar-free cheesecake and I made it for our family dinner this evening. Aside from my brother-in-law, who just plain will not touch anything with strawberries, it was a huge hit. And, after a heavy meal it was a semi guilt free way to end the evening. I skipped the heavier parts of the meal personally, eating a VERY large green salad instead of the mashed and sweet potatoes. Plus, I opted for turkey breast instead of ham. I think that is how I justified TWO servings of the cheesecake.

I’m just going to link you to the recipe, since the person who developed it is pretty forward about how she feels about anyone using it on another website. So here you are – low carb cheesecake. Make this part of your New Year’s Resolution.

In a time when more Americans than ever are honestly concerned about the foods we put into our bodies, it is absolutely pathetic that Tyson Foods is spending time and money tyring to navigate the legal system to gain the right to mislead consumers about its chicken products.

I found this on Dr. Mercola’s website:

Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it.

Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics. But scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

After Tyson began labeling its chicken antibiotic-free, the USDA warned the company that such labels were not truthful, because Tyson regularly treats its birds’ feed with bacteria-killing ionophores. Tyson argued that ionophores are antimicrobials rather than antibiotics, and are not used on human patients. Tyson suggested a compromise which was eventually accepted by the USDA — they would use a label reading “raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans.”

Tyson’s competitors: Perdue Farms Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Foster Farms sued, and in May 2008, a federal judge ruled in their favor and told Tyson to stop using the label. Not long after, USDA inspectors discovered that in addition to using ionophores, Tyson was regularly injecting its chicken eggs with gentamicin, an antibiotic that has been used for more than 30 years.

The agency told Tyson that based on the new discovery, it would no longer consider the antibiotic-free label “truthful and accurate.” Tyson objected again, claiming that because the antibiotics are injected before the chickens hatched, the birds can truthfully be said to be “raised without antibiotics.” Tyson has filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of “raised without antibiotics” to include the treatment of eggs.

Sources:
Natural News November 9, 2008

We have been making this in our family for about 30 years and as Christmas gets closer, I start digging out recipes like this one. It really lends itself to the season.

Cake:
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup dark rum (80 proof)
Glaze:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark rum (80 proof)

Preheat oven to 325º. Grease and flour 10″ tube or 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool.

Invert cake on serving plate. Prick top. Drizzle and smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

FOR GLAZE: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil’ 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove heat and stir in rum.

Since yesterday was my birthday, I have been thinking about birthday cake. My mother took the time to bake me an old-fashioned heavy cake with lemon chiffon on top. Yum. That icing made me think about my Great Grandpa Watson and his favorite birthday cake – a traditional 1-2-3 Cake, with bananas and 7-Minute Frosting.

1 cup butter or Crisco
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
3 eggs
pinch of salt
3-4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients and bake in three greased and floured 9-inch layers at 350º until tester comes out clean (approximately 25-30 minutes).

Ice with Seven-Minute Frosting between each layer and on top. Slice bananas lengthwise to prevent turning brown and place them between the layers.

NOTE: With almost all of Grandma Watson’s cakes, she made a little “test cookie” to see if it needed more flour.

I almost forgot to tell you all about his funny story from last night. At Arigato, which is a Japanese Steak House, we were seated with two other pairs of women. One pair was obviously a mother and daughter. The other pair was there on business of some sort. They sat and shuffled folders and papers throughout the meal, talking about mortgage quotes and business plans.

Anyway, the meals must have been expensed. One of the women ordered a double filet mignon meal and did not touch a bite. She ate her pre-meal soup and salad, but as soon as her meat was done and placed on top of her uneaten rice and veggies, she asked for a box. Within minutes they were gone.

She is either a closest binger/purger, or has a husband at home who was looking forward to her bringing home that meal.

I’ve been looking through old recipes I have here at home as well as some cookbooks I got at the library. Since my daughter gets to be here with me this Christmas, I am going all out and cooking a fantastic dinner full of Christmas classics,… and some new recipes as well.

At the same time, I am thinking about the fact that our entire family needs to eat a more healthy daily diet. We need to load up more on fruits and veggies, intake even more water, cut back on snacks, and maybe even think about a orovo detox to get all the toxins out of your body that accumulate from regular, every day living. You have to keep your system flushed when this time of year comes around and all kinds of huge meals are being planned.

When I think of Thanksgiving, for example, I am mostly thinking of stuffing sand gravy. I like the other things, but if I have good stuffing and gravy on the table in front of me, I could quite happily load my plate with just those two items. Of course, they both need to be 100% home-made, nothing from a can or box for me.

Since it is Star Fruit season once again, I want to start posting some new recipes. I’ve been taking bags and bags of ripe Star Fruit into the school and the students are going nuts for it. I learned my lesson, though, and now they have to come to me either at lunch or after school to get the fruit. Otherwise, they are eating it all day and it’s distracting.

Sweet Star Fruit Relish

8 cups thinly sliced star fruit
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon whole cloves
4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Wash and thinly slice star fruit. Make sure you remove all seeds and tougher skin or membrane. Cover with cider vinegar and let stand overnight.

Drain off vinegar. Combine star fruit with sugar and salt. Add cloves. Cook gently to the consistency of preserves. Let stand overnight.

Remove spice bag and reheat mixture to boiling. Pack into hot pint jars. Wipe jar mouths and adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Makes about 5 pints.

Has anyone tried the Attune chocolate bars that a have a daily dose of probiotics? I found them in with the yogurt this week and picked up 4 of the dark chocolate bars. They taste pretty great and my daughter liked hers better than some of the tart liquids I have given her in the past.

I have not heard anything about this product outside of the testimonial from the girl stocking the diary shelf at the supermarket, so I am just looking for input from anyone who has tried the Attune bars.

I will say this. I knew there was soy in the product before I even looked back and read the ingredients. I am allergic to soy and my ears and throat and mouth all itch now. It makes me wonder why they needed to use soy in the chocolate.