Beverages

Hard to believe we are flying through October and Halloween is almost here.  As the nights get shorter and the fires burn hotter it only makes me want to hang on to the fall harvest that much more.  The fall brings such wonderful colors and textures and I can’t wait to try each and every one.  For this edition I bring you the super sweet, super gorgeous Concord grape.  The little seeds inside don’t bother me at all.  These little fall gems are magnificent at satisfying a sweet tooth, and make a slightly spooky non-alcoholic cocktail. 

October has been a crazy month of traveling and things are just getting back to normal. Please don’t take my absence as anything personal.  It certainly is nothing more than a much needed break.  First, we were at Crystal Lake MI where we made these incredibly cute pumpkins.  This is a super easy craft and used left over wire and some little pumpkins.  That’s it!  The project was enjoyed by all, and we were amazed what you can do with some pumpkins, wire, wasabi peas, and a LOT of creativity.  I would like to remind you to Just Eat Food, but make sure to play with it first.  Wishing  you all a safe and Happy Halloween!

This was an experiment but turned out to be pretty tasty.  Want some fizzies without fake sweeteners?  This is the treat for you.  My aspartame loving husband even liked it (doesn’t mean much because he likes everything I make don’t you sweetest?).  So, try it for yourself.  Last winter I made Grapefruit Soda, which was great too.  This is the perfect way to cut the sweetness of juice and get some fuzzy little bubbles too.  If you don’t want to mess with juicing the grapes you could use an all natural grape juice which would be lovely too. 

GRAPE SODA 

• concord grapes – juice only*
• sparkling water

For each serving use (2) parts grape juice to (1) part sparkling water. 

*If you have a juicer use that to extract the juice from the grapes.  I had to use a food processor and then strain the seeds and skins from the juice.  Kind of laborious but the results were worth it.      

Refreshing, all natural, and not bad on the eyes.  If you're into the fizz but not the HFCS, colorings, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, etc, etc, etc...give this a go! 

GRAPEFRUIT SODA (SERVES 4)

• 1 grapefruit - juiced, strained
• 1 orange - juiced, strained
• sparkling mineral water

Combine grapefruit and orange juice.  Chill for about an hour.  Serve equal parts juice to mineral water, or to taste. 

Recently, I read an article where I learned of Mark Kastel.  Earlier in his life Mark had been exposed at work to agricultural chemicals.  This weakened his immune system resulting in allergies, symptoms included debilitating migraines.   The doctor prescribed organic foods, and eventually he was back to work again.  However, he chose a different cause, organic farmers.  After 20 years in the industry he co found The Cornucopia Institute with Will Fantle. 

After reading the article I hopped online and checked out their website where I found tons of valuable information regarding the organic industry.  The institute serves as kind of a watch dog group for family farms, and of course so us consumers can find valuable information.  I don't think we can expect the marketers to tell us what to buy. The Cornucopia Institute conducted a survey to find out which products have family farms behind them, and which ones don't.  Lets just say...I won't be buying Horizon® anymore.  I encourage you to take a look at this report and start buying dairy products from companies you can get behind.  We have a right to know where our money is going.  Thanks, to The Cornucopia Institute now we know.  Please check out www.cornucopia.org to get more information on the survey, and the findings.