Fun with boudain and toasting Barefoot

So my mom heard a restaurant offered a boudain breakfast pizza and set out to make her own. When my aunt came for brunch, she toted a crust, boudain, mozzarella cheese, eggs, green onions and olives to my house and we played with it to great success. We still don’t know how the restaurant does it, but we ate all of ours.

Toasting Barefoot

Ten bucks could make your new year Barefoot Bubbly good. It made a couple of my December nights quite festive already. Barefoot has six varietals of bubbly in this price range. And to think, years ago I didn’t even care for Champagne. (I was in the $6 range back then). But I wasn’t looking for tasting notes like these:

Brut Cuvée, is crisp with hints of green apple and jasmine. They’ve’ also got a new Pink Moscato, with fruity aromas of fresh berries, candied cherries and sweet citrus leading to a creamy finish. My fave was the Brut and my husband picked the Pink. Try toasting 2012 with some of these: Extra Dry, Pinot Grigio, Rose Cuvée and Moscato Spumante.

Mamma Chia

A lovely woman’s silhouette graces sexy curved bottles of Mamma Chia filled with berry-shaded blends of cherry lime, blackberry hibiscus, raspberry passion and cranberry lemonade. What’s the star of these organic, vegan and gluten-free drinks? The same chia seeds we grew on clay “pets” in the ‘70s. If you’ve ever had bubble tea, you can relate to what a first-time may refer to as a thick slime. Culinary Thrill Seekers can move beyond that sensation to try something new. While I did enjoy experimenting with these drinks, I’d consider them again for health more than craving. I felt full and healthy after drinking just half a bottle of the beautiful stuff. By the way, the seeds are whole and suspended in the red juice. Seeds offer omega-3, antioxidants, protein, calcium and more.

BagWell

Here’s a little plastic gadget that works better than I even expected. Billed as an extra set of hands, the green plastic BagWel arms swing open to hold a cuffed food bag so the bag sands open and you can fill it with food for the freezer. This helps you avoid spills that get zipped up in the seal and make everything messy. It’s so easy, that’s all I have to say about it.

Clean green

My guests commented on the fresh scent they whiffed while I was cleaning the table and I told them it was parsley. Earth Friendly Proucts offers a pump spray with good stuff that works and plant-based Wave, high-efficiency auto dishwasher gel that smells of organic lavender and removes coffee and tea stains. I’ve been using Eco Breeze fabric freshener with lemongrass and washing clothes in the detergent. It’s good to find a company that cares.

ddoiron@panews.com