Pumpkin getting a bit seedy

              Let’s lead with your Pumpkin Update for the week. Beyond the Equator has released 5 Seed Butter varieties that are nut free. Then what is in there? I pick the crunchy and rich flavor of chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower and hemp as my top fave.

              Unsweetened comes with a green label and creamy goes blue. All three have been fun and filling on apples, crackers, bananas and even some rice. After farming in Louisiana for years, makers went beyond the equator to Bolivia for pure soils and got into Andean superfoods. So there. These are labels to read, because you’ll be carrying your 5 Seed Butters around with you. Hope you love your pumpkin as a health food, too. More holiday finds:

              * Bailey’s Red Velvet is a natural for those who already love this flavor, so closely related to fall and perhaps childhood. Here’s your adult version in a pink pour labeled Georgetown Cupcake, limited edition. Have your cupcake and drink it to, they say, as they swirl Red Velvet into Irish Cream for your holiday hostess presentation. No calories, right? For those of you who serve French toast to your holiday guests, you’re gonna want a bottle of this for “marinade.”

              * Austin Cocktails – Grandpa Fred liked his 5 p.m. on-the-dot cocktail, and his granddaughters Jill and Kelly figure you might, too. On National Sister Day the two were inspired to create a ready-to-serve cocktail line and Austin Cocktails has blends perfect for sisters – and other relatives – to enjoy while hashing out the day or planning the next adventure. Got to give it to these women. Their New School Gin Mule with ginger, lime, spice, tonic flavor, agave and premium gin bottle of naturally-flavored goodness hit the spot. And my sister was states away when I enjoyed this convenient cocktail. Perfect Bergamot Orange Margarita, Peppered Maple Blood Orange Bourbon Cocktail, Ruby Red Cocktail and Cucumber Vodka Mojito are other flavors this Texas-based company has dreamed up through sister power.

                      Darragh Doiron is a pumpkin spice supporter, craving it baked, savory and  sweet. Bring on the season with her by contacting her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Mighty Sesame meets Caulilini

            Confess: have you ever played with sesame beyond the hamburger bun topping? What do they taste like by themselves? How many of those tiny little suckers would it take to feel satisfied? I have a jar in the pantry that could last for years. When I do remember to toast some a pan with a little olive oil I love to experiment with eggs and vegetables. But then I forget again. Tell me you have tried tahini to top your foods. This rich, nutty sesame sauce now comes in squeeze bottles thanks to Mighty Sesame. The convenience and possibilities are there before you. Open Sesame. (I’m sure all the food reviewers just have to go there.)

            Traditionally this stuff would squeeze right on carrots, falafels and sandwiches. Now it’s an easy squeeze into exciting dips and marinade and salad dressing… Let’s keep going. Try it for your next PUMPKIN season fix.

            How easy is it to keep around to squeeze onto crackers or apples? If your lunch is a Bento box, reserve a space for this tahini. You can quickly whip up hors d’oeuvres for a party now, too. I love the flavor alone and how you can altar it with lemon, pepper, etc. into something new and fun. (vegan, keto friendly, dairy and gluten free) The company has TahiniBars, that are also in amazement to me. Little snack bars have a delightful sandy texture that melts in your mouth and get this: Flavors are vanilla, pistachio and cocoa nibs. It is very much on the healthy side but does not come off like health food.

Caulilini

CAULILINI® baby cauliflower is dinner and a show, as it the stems go very green when cooked. But I like this Asian-style variety raw. It’s flashing uslong edible stems and blonde, open florets that are sweet. I get that they'd put you in the mind of broccoli. Some people love their veggies, especiallly when they're this fun. Mann Packing reps sent me  CAULILINI® Baby Cauliflower to promote a variety of prep options, including plant-based tacos for your next Taco Tuesday. Why wait? Try them as soon as you can with tahini.
Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie deep into the pumpkin spice season. Share your ideas and questions with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Pecans deserve a festival

 

Pecans get to play in Groves

                      It’s the big 50 for the Groves Pecan Festival and we’re all ready for some pecan pie, and fun.

                      I turned straight to the pecan section when I received the book “Cork and Knife: Build Complex Flavors with Bourbon, Wine and Beer and More.” Matt and Emily Clifton, founders of Nerds with Knives blog, have done a little science – and genius contemplating -  to create some flavors that won’t quit. She’s from the Upper West Side and he’s from Britain, so, they’re open to a whole wide world of goodness.

                      A twist that caught my eye is Bourbon Sloppy Joes with Cheddar and Pickled onions. Don’t stop there. Gaze at photos and recipes for pears poached with hibiscus and rose, plum and rosemary galette with red wine syrup, chicken thighs with white wine, Meyer lemon and fennel and seared scallops in gin with brown butter and tarragon. Learn to cook with brandy, rum, tequila, wines, beer, sake, gin and more. They view the liquor cabinet as an extension of the pantry.

                      Back to the pecans, please. Turns out this couple would make Bread Pudding with Cinnamon-Whiskey Apples, and that sounds just like what we’d do with them in Southeast Texas. Now, they make Cheesecake Bars with Pecan Crust and Bourbon Caramel for the holidays. They claim that holiday gifts of the bites will make your neighbors forget about all the times you put out recycling while dressed in less than your best.

                      Get the book and make some of these delights to celebrate the Groves Pecan Festival, Oct. 24-27 in Groves.

                      More delish:

         * Jarlesberg Cheese Snacks – You know how there’s real, simple yogurt, and that conveniently packaged, sugary and colored stuff geared to kids? You really have to read the labels. Now cheese can be cheese, and go easily in your lunch. Jarlesberg has added individually wrapped mild, mellow and nutty cheese sticks to their line. I’d pack one of these to go anywhere. They taste a little more gourmet than you may be used to in this format.  There’s a 60 year old Norwegian recipe that makes it taste so good. I read up on this cheese, which has holes like cheese from other countries. Now I’m on board with the Norwegians. Remember, just as in a fine wine, it’s good to read your product’s tasting notes. That’s where I got the nutty note. Once you read about it, the “nutty” really comes out. Learn more at www.jarlesberg.com

                      * Borden Kid Builder -  I still don’t know if Mom ever knew my lunch money was going to chocolate milk. That was a little carton of fun for a stretch of elementary school. If you still crave it, Borden how has little packable bottles of Kid Builder, which is 2 percent reduced fat, no sugar added milk with 50 percent more calcium and protein. Parents and kids should love that in glorious chocolate. I’ve tried it and it’s so rich and creamy I made 1 12-ounce serving last three days in an attractive juice glass. Felt classy drinking chocolate milk from a glass in the morning. Like I was on vacation. And guess what? There’s strawberry, too!

                      Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who is on board with kid foods and big-kid gourmet foods, too. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Not so hard to get into a pickle; Tuesday desserts

 It's not that hard to get in a pickle.

                      Okay, so maybe they’re not real pickles, but they sure look good in a fall kitchen display. And they could impress visitors. Just look how much time you must have spent growing, harvesting and pickling your produce. Or not.

                      I like the idea of pickles more than eating them. There’s such a thing as quick pickles but the ones I just “put up” are even quicker. I raided my mom’s condiment pantry and found a jar of “fire and ice” pickles she made some time ago. That’s the sugar and hot sauce trick on store-bought pickles. Love them.

                      There were only two pickles left in a jar of spicy liquid. I further consolidated other jars of capers, peppers, etc. and then cut up a store-bought squash my sister brought over. I packed the yellow slivers into the “new” liquid and have a jar full of fresh something to admire before I crack it open to enjoy.

                      If you have more faux pickling ideas, share them with our readers.

                     

              It’s Tuesday. How about desert?

                      For 20 years Mary Younkin has remembered how a berry sauce concocted of nothing but frozen berries and sugar transformed bowls of ice cream. She shares Five-Minute Berry Sauce for your own pleasures, including cheesecake, brownies, cakes and yogurt.

                      She follows up her book “The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook” with “The Weeknight Dessert Cookbook” giving readers a grip on coconut lime cookies, brown sugar peach cobbler and pretzel avalanche fudge. Need something to take to all those school and church dinners? Younkin can make you popular. But tell everyone where you got this recipe. It’s a Page Street Publishing Co. book subtitled “80 Irresistible Recipes with Only 5 to 15 Minutes of Prep.”

                  Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who loves pickle and other ideas from readers. Share with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

How hard is it to get some cereal?

 

Shopping for my mom

She had a list of three ingredients. How hard could that be?

I joked that I had “issues” with every single item of her longer list, but this was for cereal, cheese and SPAM. What is my gourmand, cookbook author mother going to do with SPAM? I dunno. But I was IN this thing.

I had to call her twice and seek professional Walmart help for the third thing.

Cheerios came in a dozen varieties, but not the one she wrote down. Something about clusters. I thought they were just Os. The shelf offered frosted, chocolate, peanut butter, regular, peach, honey nut this and that, multigrain, maple, oat crunch, blueberry, apple cinnamon, very berry, gluten free and some other things.

I called Mom. We worked something out.

She actually wanted some Kashi, too, so I kept her on the line and we went through those many varieties.

Then there was SPAM, of which I’m not a fan, but can tolerate being innovative with whatever is left over from hurricane season. SPAM comes in jalapeno, turkey, hickory smoke, bacon, hot and spicy, classic, reduced sodium, lite and more.

I called her a second time, and we chose the reduced sodium. Win-Win?

There was a wall of cheese offerings, but I didn’t see the little individually-wrapped ones she asked for. Thankfully, an employee passed by and directed me to deli.

“Thanks, I was about to cry a little bit,” I told her.

“That’s what we’re here for,” she cheerfully responded.

                     

                             “Cultural Insurrection: A Manifesto for the Arts Agriculture and Natural Wine” may require that you have two things nearby as you ingest Jonathan Nossiter’s writing: a glass of wine and a dictionary. I haven’t heard some of those terms since Dr. Roth’s film genre class at Lamar University. Nossiter is in the cinema business and this book relates film to wine and “cultural wine” of our society. He discusses the threat of an ecological apocalypse, both environmental and cultural and he has rekindled and interest in my viewing some classic films I’ve not yet studied. He has also made me aware that my $7 supermarket wine isn’t cutting it. Here’s an FYI. He mentions the movie “Paris, Texas.” I’ hear they filmed a segment at the Keyhole Club in Port Arthur. Anyone here have a story about that?

              Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie ready for more pumpkin spice updates from readers. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Have a bog this rice month

             

                      September is National Rice Month. You may have already celebrated that 100 times already this month. This is where we grow it and love it. What do you think they might be doing about it in South Carolina? Make a chicken bog. Never heard of that? Me either and the book with the recipe explains it is relatively unheard of outside of the Carolina region. They call it kind of a gumbo but the thickness makes me think of kind of a jambalaya. Get the book and you can make it and tweak it to your heart’s desire.

            The book is Smoked: One Man's Journey to Find Incredible Recipes, Standout Pitmasters and the Stories Behind Them.” Ed Randolph, owner of Handsome Devil Barbecue took on this task. Are you kidding me? This book could be torture to read if you were hungry or could serve as a heavenly travel wish list because you’ll want to go to all the places mentioned. Texas sites include Truth Barbecue in Brenham. Are the cows happy about this place? Salt Lick Barbecue in Driftwood it's a place I've had the good fortune to try and love. Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart tells how they do giant beef ribs.  How about that with some creamed corn? Hardcore Carnivore in Austin deals with Texas smoked tri-tip steak in a deep mahogany color. Leroy and Lewis Barbecue in Austin has Smoked Confit Beef Cheeks. I don't want to see that I get made but I sure want to eat it. And they share a cucumber salad marinated in rice vinegar with sambal. Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas does smoked lamb chops and puts blue cheese in the cole slaw. The author managed to go from California to New York so you can eat all the way across the country. Be sure to enjoy the rice along the way.

Are you a Hueligan?

What do you have in common with people in 80 countries who want to be healthy?

Maybe you never heard Huel, said to be the fastest growing nutrition brand in the world, that has sold over 50 million meals in 80 countries. The bottle is attractive and the people drinking it in the advertisements are beautiful. So what if I cracked a joke that was like a famous meal drink for much older people. This stuff, especially chocolate, has my attention. I gave a sample bottle to someone and he ended up buying a case of it in a day’s time. Get it in bottles or get it in powder to save more dollars. Your biggest question maybe why is it called Huel. That's a funny name. It stands for human fuel. See what they did there?

So what if you're not a straight up drinker? Just like I would do, people get all gourmet and cook with that stuff. I mixed it with egg and made a nice French toast. Lovers of this product pice it up with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Why here is your perfect opportunity for a annual pumpkin updates. Add pumpkin spice into some vanilla Huel. 

Here is more on Huel. You already know if you are into this kind of thing:

-      Nutritionally Complete: Huel Powder is a nutritionally complete food that is high in protein and fiber, low in sugar and salt, rich in phytonutrients and contains all 27 essential vitamins and minerals

-      Plant-based and Lactose/Soy/GMO-Free: It contains no lactose or any animal products, no soy and no GMO

-      Huel is Food:  Huel can replace any meal or even as a between-meal snack. In this way it can be an add-on improvement to your diet to ensure you’re giving your body what it needs.

-      Vegan/environmentally friendly: Being vegan and producing zero food waste means Huel has much less of an environmental impact on the planet than many other food products

You can also get more information at Huel.com.

            Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who is into rice month, or any and just about any other celebration of  food and the people who get it to the table. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Get relaxed with tea, then explore the world

 Zhi Tea
      I’d already had a pretty fancy Friday evening with inspiring art and tasty tidbits at the Dishman Art Gallery opening. I still had something “behind the door” as my grandma would say. I’d been invited over to try some new teas a friend had acquired. He was also excited about his new Mueller electric kettle that lights up blue. When the water boiled, it looked like a lava lamp in there with all those dancing bubbles.

                             The tall oval tea cans held fragrant combinations of colorful blends. Based on aroma, I chose Ambrosia and I chose wisely. Still more? The host offered honey to stir in and that put the treat over the top. But wait, there’s more. We all enjoyed two vintage Twilight Zone episodes that I’d never seen.

                             I credit the host and the Zhi, which asks drinkers to pause, reflect and connect. www.zhitea.com offers a lineup of the ways tea is very good for you. It’s even been known to fight bad breath and allergies. That’s something to reflect upon. And oh, we have a new electric tea kettle just like his, now. 

         eat2explore

                        Little foodies can grab their passports and discover the world. The last time you enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs, were you thinking of ibex and Corsican hare? Did you know Italy’s flag colors are green for pastures and valleys, white for snowcaps of the Italian Alps and red for the wars fought for Italian unification? Discuss all that with your children over Chicken Marsala and Chicken Milanese. A box of fun comes to your door with eat2explore. A little passport comes with ingredients instructions and facts. You shop a little and then create and learn. Explore Italy’s box includes Caesar dressing mix, panko, herbs, etc. There’s also a cool spoon rest and an even cooler flag pin to wear. Do you really need to have a kid to have fun with this program? Bring on the world. www.eat2explore.com will get you through customs.

         Smelly Proof a bold statement

                        It was red onions always for a friend of mine. She ate them daily, and had an elaborate system for lopping off the top and bottom for the choicest of rings and then wrapped the ends in what seemed like yards of foil then bagged them to keep the rest from smelling up her fridge. I couldn’t fathom her complaint that she could smell them through her plastic bags. Until the day she sent me home with her red onion surplus and I got a whiff.

                             That pungency on the plate is way different if inhaled out of context. Whew! Smelly Proof storage bags are here to help. They’re reusable, durable and lock in odors as they keep food fresh with airtight zippers, makers say. Use them for cooked foods, marinades, etc. Smelly Proof is sold on Amazon, at Walmart and directly on SmellyProof.com. They’re almost too good to use, because you want to make sure you have plenty. Go ahead, stock up for kitchen, camping, trave, home and fishing. Keep some BPA-Free and FDA Approved, made-in-America bags in your desk. The nylon re-enforced extra-strength Poly Seals in odors for months, the packaging reads. Bring on those red onions.

                      Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who loves finding new flavors and experiences. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com