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Lyrics adapted from the opening theme of the 1994-1996 Fantastic Four television show based on the comic book series.
Kombucha—that tart and trendy fermented tea beloved by hipsters and health nuts alike—can be an acquired taste, but it’s one I acquired long ago when “going raw” was all the rage and the only bottles of this beneficial elixir one could find on the shelves of natural foods stores were brewed by GT Dave.
At the time, I worked at an alternative healthcare center and had to pass by Whole Foods on my way home, so I’d frequently stop in for a bottle of GT’s Kombucha and enjoy a brief buzz from the fermentation. This was before most brands were recalled from store shelves in 2010 for reformulation to comply with alcohol limits. When they returned later that year, they had the same acetic zing and healthful probiotic cultures, but weren’t quite as fun anymore.
Until, that is, I caught the bouquet of this Bloom Spring Edition Kombucha from GT’s Living Foods. The blend of raw, organic kombucha with elderflower, jasmine, and violet hits all the right notes* while combining to create a unique floral flavor all its own. If you’ve been wary of trying kombucha or haven’t developed a taste for it—yet—Bloom might just grow on you.
While I feel a sense of well-being whenever I drink kombucha, the health benefits of this beverage are still being debated, but you can benefit Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation every time you post a selfie on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with your bottle of @GTsKombucha and the hashtag #InFullBloom. GT’s Living Foods will donate $5 to the organization for each post through the end of June, so drink up and help this flower empower youth while putting you #InFullSwoon.
Stuff Worthy Of Our Notice™ in this post:
GT’s Bloom Spring Edition Kombucha
GT’s Kombucha can be found in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and most major supermarkets and natural foods stores.
*If they’d also added rose, I might not be able to calm down.
This year, Easter arrives the day before Earth Day, which is a timely reminder to make sustainable choices when celebrating this holiday of rebirth and renewal. Consider one of these green alternatives to plastic Easter grass, then fill your basket with goodies from Natural Candy Store. Along with natural and organic jelly beans, lollipops, foil-wrapped eggs, and chocolate bunnies, this online emporium sells a superb set of Natural Easter Egg Decorating Colors.
These six vegetable powders from TruColor make potent natural dyes that are specially designed to color eggs (or alternatives). Ingredients like red cabbage and purple sweet potato provide a vibrant stain that deepens as it dries. Unlike the traditional method I learned growing up, which involved submerging eggs for five minutes in a mixture of boiling water, vinegar, and synthetic food coloring, dyeing eggs with these natural colors is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
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n just 60 seconds, the colors surpassed pastel and grew in hue, so play around with the amount of powder, water, and time for a basketful of options (such as diluting the dye mixture at intervals to create ombré eggs). You can also mix equal parts powder and water for applying color directly to the eggs with a paintbrush. Enter your “eggcellent” creation in the 2019 Easter Egg Natural Decorating Contest by April 21st (instructions and contest rules are included with your natural dye kit) and your artistry may be rewarded with a $100 gift certificate to Natural Candy Store. Sweet!
Once you’ve finished dyeing your eggs, you can use the leftover powder for cake and cookie decorating to make earth-friendly and people-pleasing holiday treats, so show your true colors on Easter while honoring Earth Day as you celebrate this spring awakening the natural way.
Stuff Worthy Of Our Notice™ in this post:
Natural Easter Egg Decorating Colors
Natural Candy Store is currently offering 10% off your entire order, including savings of up to 50% on overstock Easter-themed candy, plus a free gift for any $20 minimum purchase. Consult this chart for Easter shipping deadlines and get hopping!
My version of this recipe defies all raisin.
For as long as I can remember, my mother has made Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s Day. She is not Irish, nor is anyone on either side of my family (as far as we know), but every year in mid-March, I receive a freshly-baked loaf from her kitchen.
The recipe was found in a church cookbook compiled years ago from favorites submitted by parishioners as a fundraising effort. The Irish Soda Bread entry is credited to Pat O’Connor, whose name inspires confidence in the authenticity of the recipe, but neither the shape nor the texture of this bread resembles the traditional raisin-studded, round loaves with a cross cut into the top that I typically see for sale at this time of year.
That suits me just fine, though, since—unlike most Irish Soda Bread I’ve tried—this version is super m-word (I’m not allowed to write or say it!), with a light, sweet flavor and an unusual texture that I’d describe as slightly, though not unpleasantly, “rubbery.” In any case, it’s SO easy to make that why would you buy one of those dry, rustic-looking loaves when you can pull this church-sanctioned knockoff from your oven in no time?
Like St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, my mother drives the raisins out of my Irish Soda Bread each year and replaces them with chocolate chips, so I ask you: who’s the real saint? It may not be traditional, but it’s tradition in my family. Every March 17th, along with the wearing (and sharing) o’ the green, my mother and I enjoy an Irish coffee with a slice from this recipe. Erin Go Bread!
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IRISH SODA BREAD
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 cups sifted flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350°. Cream sugar and egg. Add sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in buttermilk. Add raisins (or chocolate chips!). Bake for one hour.
As I’ve written before, I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker until a few years ago. Even then, I’d only indulge a couple of times a week and would often take a break from coffee altogether for a month or more, but over the past year my boss has developed an addiction to Starbucks’ Chai Tea Latte—and addicts don’t like to drink alone.
She began bribing me to pick up her tea by offering to buy me a coffee, so each time I went I’d order whatever was featured on the board that day. Eventually, I moved through most of the menu (recently finding a favorite in their seasonal Juniper Latte), so when my mother informed me that she’d read about Starbucks’ new Rose Hazelnut Latte, I jumped at the chance to try it…only to discover that it’s actually available from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (mothers, amirite?).
Most people have taken sides in the Battle of the Brew, with SEAL* Team Starbucks in one camp and the “Bean” Berets in another, but I see myself as a sip-lomat—able to reconcile both. Since there’s a Coffee Bean location less than one mile from my house, I raced right over and HOLY HAZELNUT, THIS LATTE IS DELICIOUS!
Rose and hazelnut is not an obvious pairing, and I had been dubious about this duo, but it was like magic in my mouth. The rose dominates, while the hazelnut provides a subtle note of warmth. A common complaint with floral flavors is that they can taste like soap or perfume, but this rose is strong and sweet without being cloying. My mother, who doesn’t typically enjoy florals, declared this drink to be the best latte she’s ever tasted. Kirsti gave it an A+.
I have since tried both the iced and Ice Blended® versions (although I prefer it hot) and gained name recognition among the baristas, who informed me yesterday that this is a seasonal flavor—presumably for Valentine’s Day—which will only stick around for another week! Once I picked myself up off the floor, I began to gear up for a campaign to rescue Rose Hazelnut from retirement, because this is BREW LOVE, and brew love is supposed to last forever.
So get your latte while it’s hotte (or iced) and join me in contacting the company before this delightful drink becomes a has-bean.
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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Rose Hazelnut Latte
★“Stellar” Espresso And Lattes
A few months ago, I was baffled when my boss gave me a book about beekeeping for my birthday. While I enjoy honey and have always had a healthy respect for bees, my interest has never gone beyond that, so I wasn’t sure how to react to this unexpected gift. But my boss has an otherworldly knowing and assured me that, once I perused these pages, I’d never look at bees or the natural world in the same way again. As usual, she was right.
In Song of Increase, author Jacqueline Freeman tells the story of how she became an accidental beekeeper when a friend offered her some bees to tend on her farm in the Pacific Northwest. Having no prior knowledge about beekeeping, but possessing a keen intuitive sense, Jacqueline sat quietly next to the hive for a time to simply observe. As she did, she began to experience a feeling of joy emanating from the bees while they went about their work.
Over time, as she learned the rhythms and routines of the hive, she started tuning more and more to the bees’ frequency and began receiving direct and detailed messages about the inner workings of the colony, its vital purpose on the planet, the magic of the hive mind, and the various songs the bees sing as they carry out their tasks, including a celebratory anthem of abundance known as the “song of increase.”
Illustration by Melissa Elliott
Skeptics and cynics may doubt her story or even question her sanity, but these insights have given her a unique perspective on how to care for a colony of bees. Much of what she learned runs counter to the practices of conventional beekeeping, and this “bee-centric” method—focusing on the bees’ needs rather than our own needs from the bees—restores the sacred trust between human and hive, helping both to thrive.
This book gave me a glimpse into a world of industry, harmony, and beauty that I’d never fully appreciated or understood before. The eloquence of the bees is expressed in both action and awareness, as they comprehend the interconnectedness of all things and embrace their role within the whole. We have much to learn from them.
I don’t think I’m up to the practice of beekeeping—yet—but now I’m more likely to pause and acknowledge the bees in my own backyard, taking a moment to radiate gratitude for their tireless work and wisdom. And in the midst of a rainy winter week here in Southern California, I’m already dreaming of the bee-friendly flowers I plan to plant in the spring, because a garden in full bloom and buzzing with activity—that’s the bee’s knees.
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Song of Increase is also available on audio as read by the author. You can learn more about Jacqueline Freeman and her bee-centric approach to beekeeping at Spirit Bee.
Happy New Year, Swooners! Unfortunately, I spent much of my time over Christmas and New Year’s recovering from illness, so I wasn’t able to schedule our annual holiday posts, but I found comfort in sipping my new favorite drink: the Juniper Latte. I swoon over the scent of evergreen, but never thought it would grace my Grande until I saw this seasonal brew on Starbucks’ menu. Once I experienced the flavor of winter foliage, I wanted MORE of this “treet,” but adding pumps of the juniper syrup to my coffee order also meant adding unwanted sweetness, so I began to look online for a juniper extract to jazz up my java. That’s when I discovered Nature’s Flavors.
I ordered juniper in the form of an organic flavor concentrate (which works like a charm in my latte), but fell down the rabbit hole while exploring the many extracts, oils, syrups, powders, and other natural and organic flavors offered by the company. There were so many to choose from in such a variety of forms that I had to create a spreadsheet to make sense of them all! In addition to evergreen essences like juniper and pine, they have an endless assortment of fruit, vegetable, herb, spice, floral, liquor, and baking flavors, as well as surprising options running the gamut from acorn to zabaglione.
I wanted to try them ALL, but before I broke the bank buying up bottles, I found that they offered many of their flavors in the form of “floss.” Cotton candy may be referred to as candy floss or fairy floss in some parts of the world, but it’s still the same fairground staple we know and love, and it provides a light and (f)airy vehicle for sampling all types of tastes (Alfredo, anyone?). Naturally, I gravitated to the florals: jasmine, lavender, orange blossom, rose, violet…and one I’d never tried before—apple blossom. Awesome!
Nature’s Flavors also carries juniper cotton candy floss, but next time I might try something more daring, like dragon fruit, or bold, like bay. With their slew of selections, I won’t need a reminder to floss daily.
Stuff Worthy Of Our Notice™ in this post:
Nature’s Flavors Cotton Candy Floss
For the do-it-yourselfers, Nature’s Flavors offers all natural and organic cotton candy sugars. Click here for some more fun ways to floss.
One December afternoon many years ago, my high school English teacher, Miss Weakland, announced that she would be reading a story aloud for the entire class period. Miss Weakland was my favorite teacher, in part because she liked to intersperse drilling grammar and parsing Faulkner with days like these where the class could relax and enjoy some literary entertainment. That same year, she caused a minor stir when she decided to screen Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. There’s some brief nudity in the film, so the administration of our private Catholic school required that students bring a signed permission slip from their parents in order to watch. This created an awkward anticipation during the screening, which grew in intensity until one student let out a loud wolf whistle when Leonard Whiting’s ass-ets finally made an appearance, breaking the tension amid gales of laughter.
But this day’s presentation was free from controversy. Miss Weakland would be reading A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. I’d heard, of course, about the famous author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, but hadn’t read this short story about a memorable holiday from his youth or seen the 1966 film starring Geraldine Page. “Imagine a morning in late November,” it begins. Just two paragraphs later, I was already drawn in by the time the author’s elderly, childlike cousin and best friend exclaimed that “it’s fruitcake weather!”
I was so charmed and deeply moved by this tale of innocent pleasures, selfless giving, true friendship, and pure love that I went on and on about it when I got home from school. That year, my mother gifted me with a special edition of the book for Christmas. I’d also told my own older (though not elderly) cousin and friend—a bibliophile who later became a librarian—about the joy and wonder of first hearing this story read aloud, so she enthusiastically suggested we hold a reading at our family’s Christmas celebration the following year, but it didn’t go over as well as we’d hoped. She’d read the story, but we hadn’t read the room—a captive audience of AP English students it was not.
Since then, I’ve pulled the slim volume from its slipcase each Christmas to reread on my own, marveling that it still has the power to bring tears of joy and sadness to my eyes, even though, after all this time, it is practically committed to memory.
I recently learned that Miss Weakland passed away exactly one month before Christmas…on a late November day that, perhaps, signaled the start of fruitcake weather. She will forever remain a special part of my Christmas memories.
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Incredibly, an audio version of A Christmas Memory is not available from Audible, but Barnes & Noble carries an edition of the book that includes a companion CD featuring the story read by Celeste Holm. Or, start a new tradition this year by downloading the ebook and reading it aloud at your own holiday celebration. Just make sure to read the room first.
One of Kirsti’s favorite scenes in the movie Throw Momma from the Train occurs when Billy Crystal’s character, Larry, declares that he’s going to kill the mother of Danny DeVito’s character, Owen. Before going after her, Larry asks Owen if he wants anything, and Owen replies, “You can get me a Chunky.” Pre-murder snack aside, this struck both of our funny bones, because who eats a Chunky?
I had personally never tasted the tubby trapezoid of Nestlé milk chocolate with peanuts and raisins, because 1) raisins, and 2) see #1. However, it became a running joke with Kirsti and me, and we started gifting each other a Chunky on birthdays and special occasions. I tried one and was surprised to find that I…liked it. I didn’t love it, and I never went out and bought one for myself, but the combination of creamy chocolate, crunchy nuts, and—yes—chewy* raisins tickled my taste buds.
Years later, I was introduced to Ritter Sport chocolate and swooned over their marzipan bar. It’s still one of my favorites, because the precise temper gives it a pleasing snap, and the chocolate-to-almond-paste ratio is just right.† Designed by Alfred Ritter and his wife Clara to “fit into every sport jacket pocket without breaking,” each perfect, 16-square grid of Ritter Sport chocolate is both sweet and satisfying to those of us chocophiles with OCD tendencies.
I’ve sampled many of their flavors, from Yogurt and Cornflakes, to Espresso and Caramel Mousse, so—despite the “currant” situation—I decided to give their Milk Chocolate with Rum Raisins & Hazelnuts a try. It tasted like a sophisticated Chunky and I found it delicious, raisins (gasp!) and all. It has the familiar smooth milk chocolate and crunchy nuts, but there’s a reason they call this bar “The Tipsy Chocolate.” Before mixing in the raisins, they are soaked for hours in Jamaican rum. There is also rum in the chocolate, and the boozy flavor is surprisingly strong. I like to call it a “drunk Chunky.”
I don’t come across Ritter Sport’s Rum Raisins & Hazelnuts very often, which is probably a good thing (chunky isn’t just the name of a chocolate bar). The combination of rum and raisins seems to have become associated with the Christmas season, because I only see this bar at World Market and my local German deli during the holidays, so if you’re going shopping for international treats, be a good sport and ask me if I want anything, but don’t laugh when I say, “You can get me a Ritter.”
Stuff Worthy Of Our Notice™ in this post:
Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate with Rum Raisins & Hazelnuts
*It seems that what I actually don’t like are “plump” raisins. If they are completely dried to the point that they’re dense and chewy, I can handle them.
†Try to get a fresh package, because the marzipan is sometimes dry in older bars.
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Poem adapted from the prologue to The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.
The Swoon Society 