"Ingredients alone can offer no more than their individual properties, but combined with some ingenuity, effort and care, they can become a symphony on a plate."

- Robinne Collie

Links and Tips

Here are some of our favorites at Passionate Food:

Links

TABLE Magazine (TABLEmagazine.com) check out this fantastic new magazine dedicated to the role food plays in our lives and lifestyle. Passionate Food is thrilled to be a part of its debut. Look for us in the Holiday 2006 edition and in the future!! (HINT: a subscription to TABLE makes a fantastic gift...so what are you waiting for, make your reservation!!)

Penzey's Spices (penzeys.com) - while you can shop online, going into a Penzey's store is like a kid going into a candy store... the aromas are intoxicating!!

Our local grocery stores offer so many WONDERFUL ingredients... almost every recipe we create at Passionate Food uses items that can be found at your local grocer.

McGinnis Sisters Special Food Store (mcginnis-sisters.com) In the Pittsburgh area no one is more PASSIONATE about food than the McGinnis sisters (and yes, there are three of them!). For the freshest, local ingredients visit one of their two locations (a third to be added in Fall 2007!). If McGinnis Sisters doesn't have it...you don't need it!

Giant Eagle (gianteagle.com)...and be sure to check out their new Market District stores in Shadyside and Bethel Park, PA (marketdistrict.com)

Costco (costco.com)

...BUT, don’t forget your local farmers... when available, the freshest, LOCALLY GROWN, seasonal ingredients CANNOT be beat!

Local Harvest (localharvest.org) lists Farms, Farmers Markets and other sources of locally grown/produced fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, cheeses and other products across the U.S.

Buy Fresh Buy Local (buylocalpa.org) provides a guide to farm fresh products and local food across Pennsylvania. A program of the Pennsylvania Assocation for Sustainable Agriculture.

Tips

Nutritional tip: "Only Irish Coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."

- Alex Levine

Seriously...

Pumpkin – A Super Food!*

Pumpkin is rich in vitamin A (one of the plant forms is beta-carotene). It's an excellent source of fiber and a packed with a wide variety of vitamins and minerals – especially when the pumpkin comes right out of a can.

Pumpkin Puree: You can easily make your own pumpkin puree. Cut a medium pumpkin in four sections, remove the seeds and membrane with a metal spoon, and place in roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for about 1 hour in a 375-degree oven. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the skin and puree in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

BUT WHY DO THIS when canned pumpkin has achieved it’s own “superstar” status and makes adding this nutrition-packed ingredient to your pantry so easy?

* Dr. Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews have named pumpkin, with its “synergistic concentration of carotenoids” one of 14 "SuperFoods" in their best-selling book, "SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life" (William Morrow, 2004). Beta-carotene in pumpkins converts to vitamin A, which promotes good circulation and a healthy heart, eyes and lungs. The presence of alpha-carotene in pumpkin enables it to interact with other key nutrients and is suspected of slowing certain biological effects of aging. As an added bonus, according to a study by the USDA, diets high in pumpkin as a fiber source tended to curb the appetite, yet provided more food for the same calorie count may also help your body absorb less fat and calories from food.

SEE OUR CURRENT RECIPE & WINE PAIRING FOR AN EASY & DELICIOUS HOLIDAY DISH MADE WITH THIS SUPERFOOD!

You really only need three knives: A chef's knife, which is between 8 to 12 inches, a serrated knife that is used to cut bread, and a paring knife for smaller jobs like slicing strawberries or peeling a kiwi. With these three knives you should be able to tackle any kitchen task.
Or, as Tyler Florence says: "Three knives is all you need to be a rock star in the kitchen."
AND, always make sure your knives are sharp... a dull knife is a dangerous knife!

...a healthy obsession

"Ingredients alone can offer no more than their individual properties, but combined with some ingenuity, effort and care, they can become a symphony on a plate."

Links and Tips

Links

Tips

Nutritional tip: "Only Irish Coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."