I've been wanting to do a post about some raw food topics for some time now. I really enjoy eating raw foods, and experimenting and developing raw recipes. I talk about more about my raw diet feelings in my
new True/Slant post, and offer up a raw
Chocolate Cherry Brownie recipe.
Go get it!
In my article, I mention that I order raw ingredients from a local company. That company is
Real Raw Food. I've been wanting to share their link with your for a while, because they supply wonderful raw raw nuts, dried fruits, and more. I buy
raw cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts, goji berries, vanilla beans, coconut sugar - and more - from Real Raw Food. I have noticed a marked difference in the taste of their raw, organic nuts and raw nuts from a grocery store. Recently, I ran out of
brazil nuts and picked some up at my local health food store. When I tasted them, I noticed a slightly rancid flavor coming through. Never with these raw nuts. They taste fresh and clean. The
coconut sugar is my
new favorite unrefined sugar. It has a caramel color and flavor, and is simply a beautiful sugar. I buy in bulk, and it is no more expensive than unrefined sugars at my health food store (in fact, it's often cheaper). Their
goji berries and vanilla beans are also very reasonably priced, and both are softer and fresher than others I've tried. They also carry these
pitted herbed olives which are
freaking amazing! They are like a Moroccan dry olive - but far better. Very intense and pungent, and just a few chopped go a long, long way in a dish... if you like olives, you'll
love these! Finally, their
trail mix is a current obsession of mine. The walnuts in the mix taste particularly delicious, and with bitty pieces of mango, dried banana, and other fruits and nuts, it is not only healthy but entirely delicious. I don't know if orders will be economical if you live in the US, but if you are Canadian you should definitely check out
Real Raw Food and stock up on some goodies.
And, the final bit of raw business I have is about a cookbook. I received a review copy of
Raw for Desserts by Jennifer
Cornbleet. Since raw desserts are particularly enticing to me, I was well chuffed to receive this cookbook! I don't have a full review to share with you, as I have only tried one recipe (and it was lovely). But, I can tell you that this is a tidy, appealing book that offers recipes that are not overly complex. At times, raw recipes can appear intimidating and laborious with required soaking, dehydrating, etc. Jennifer has a collection of sweet treats in this book that allow home cooks to dabble in raw cookery without feeling overwhelmed. Most recipes use just a handful of ingredients, many of which are quite common. Only a small number of recipes use less commonly known and used ingredients such as young coconut. These are raw recipes that can be prepared fairly quickly and without too much advanced preparation (apart from some soaking of dates and nuts in certain recipes). So, if you'd like to try out some healthful, simple, raw sweets, look into Jennifer's
Raw for Dessert.
ta for now! :)
, Jonathan Safran Foer)
).)
I have a cool giveaway for you guys! Just before Christmas I was contacted about hosting a Top Chef giveaway as part of the release of the Top Chef Season 5 DVD. 
(obviously, this is not a vegan cookbook, but you can still expand your knowledge of cooking techniques, spices, food tips, etc)
(so you can take on all those root vegetables and winter squash)
in my article.)
So, to start off this year of posts, my latest true/slant piece is Stop Getting Sucked Into Diets. It irks me with every new year that the media plays into the guilt of holiday overindulgence with 'the best' diet tips and tricks. I think diets are largely unsuccessful. Sure, some folks succeed, but many (many) more fail - including those that have had temporary successes. That's the problem, diets are temporary fixes. We need to look at long-term sensible lifestyle and dietary changes. And, as I mention in my t/s article, if you haven't yet read The China Study
, do so! 
Want a couple of inexpensive and baking-themed gift ideas for the holidays? I've been busy, busy posting recipes for you guys! :)
If turkey is still on your table this Thanksgiving, at least try a vegan dessert on your menu.
And, the final bit of raw business I have is about a cookbook. I received a review copy of Raw for Desserts by Jennifer Cornbleet. Since raw desserts are particularly enticing to me, I was well chuffed to receive this cookbook! I don't have a full review to share with you, as I have only tried one recipe (and it was lovely). But, I can tell you that this is a tidy, appealing book that offers recipes that are not overly complex. At times, raw recipes can appear intimidating and laborious with required soaking, dehydrating, etc. Jennifer has a collection of sweet treats in this book that allow home cooks to dabble in raw cookery without feeling overwhelmed. Most recipes use just a handful of ingredients, many of which are quite common. Only a small number of recipes use less commonly known and used ingredients such as young coconut. These are raw recipes that can be prepared fairly quickly and without too much advanced preparation (apart from some soaking of dates and nuts in certain recipes). So, if you'd like to try out some healthful, simple, raw sweets, look into Jennifer's Raw for Dessert.
These are two new muffin recipes I've been working on. To the left we have Olive Oil Almond Muffins, which have a barley flour/almond meal batter, and are lightly seasoned with zests of orange and lemon.
And, to the right... Oat Bran Raisin 'n Applesauce Muffin. This one I created after receiving a request for a bran muffin, so I decided to focus on oat bran rather than wheat bran. It's very tender and moist despite being a 'bran' muffin!
