By Tolly Canon

classic pumpkin bread recipe and holiday pantry gift
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Traditional Pumpkin Bread Recipe

How to make classic pumpkin bread, and an adjusted recipe that you can give as a pantry gift. I’ve noticed a trend in bakery pumpkin bread. It seems to be getting sweeter, with more fat added, resembling a ginger cake more than a traditional pumpkin quick bread. Here is a recipe for classic pumpkin bread…
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Soy Anise Braised Oxtail With Preserved Plum

Here’s an easy and delicious recipe for braised oxtail, an often overlooked cut in the US. This recipe can also be made with bone in short ribs, but I hope you’ll take this opportunity to experience how tender and flavorful oxtail can be. Ingredients Oxtails (pasture raised and 100% grassfed beef); here I’m using almost…
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Alchemy Raw Vegan Restaurant Ubud Bali
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Shanti Allen of Alchemy Bali Raw Vegan Restaurant

Meet Shanti Allen, Executive Chef and founder of Alchemy, Ubud’s first completely raw vegan restaurant. Shanti meets me for our interview in a sundress and sandals, her long blonde hair loosely braided to one side.  I follow her through the kitchen, where a bank of food dehydrators are concentrating flavors, and creating the textures raw…
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Ben Ripple Big Tree Farm Bali
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Sustainable Farming in Bali | Ben Ripple of Big Tree Farms

On the forefront of developing sustainable, community enhancing food systems in Bali, Indonesia Expats Ben and Blair Ripple left their organic farming jobs in Washington and moved to Bali, Indonesia, in the late 90s. Since then, they’ve been become somewhat famous in their efforts to bring artisinal Indonesian products to a larger market and to establish and…
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Cardamom Scented Grassfed Lamb Stew With Prunes Recipe

What do you think of prunes? This amazing pairing of lamb and prunes is guaranteed to give you a new perspective on this humble ingredient. Many people in the US aren’t familiar with prunes as a gourmet ingredient. Prunes are something old people eat to stay regular, right? We can take a cue from the…
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Chicken Ginger Broth for Spring Colds

Many people come down with colds, flu and sinus infections when the seasons change.  Here is a recipe for Chinese ginger chicken broth that, with a little bed rest, will have you feeling better in no time. Ingredients One organically raised, ethically sourced whole chicken (giblets removed).  For guidelines on buying healthy, humane chicken, check…
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Sheep milk curry and rose petal marinade for heritage breed turkey breast

Rose Petal And Indian Curry Heritage Breed Turkey Breast

Heritage breed turkeys taste richer, but can dry out when cooked. Here is an easy and delicious marinade that delivers a flavorful, moist turkey breast without a lot of fuss. I am excited to see BN Ranch heritage breed turkey at the market, a real seasonal treat. The BN stands for Bill Niman (of Niman…
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West Marin Community Caring For Fire Evacuees

Nearly a week into the firestorm that has ravaged Sonoma and Napa counties in Northern California, fresh evacuations are being ordered. Marconi Conference Center, which overlooks Tomales Bay in Marshall, CA, continues to take in evacuees fleeing the fires. read related story Even with a scheduled conference taking place, the Marconi staff continued to extend…
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make your own coconut yogurt from whole coconuts
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How to Make Yogurt From Fresh Whole Raw Coconuts

Thick, creamy homemade coconut yogurt made from coconut flesh—without the fillers and thickeners found in store bought coconut yogurt. If you do this entirely from scratch, it takes time and labor. In my opinion, the result is unquestionably worth it. There are also some shortcuts that will let you make this yogurt quickly. Many people…
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small scale organic farming
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Small Local Farms Producing Humanely Raised Quail Eggs

Quail eggs are a common street snack in Peru, and often used in Thailand and China. In the US, however, quail eggs are just hitting the food scene. You’ll find them served raw in sushi restaurants, atop a bed of tobiko and wrapped in nori; pickled and served as cocktail snacks; poached and served on…
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Drink Tulsi Tea and Ward Off the Flu

Tulsi, also known as Holy Basil, is a remarkably delicious way to ease stress and boost your immune system this flu season. Many of you are familiar with the health benefits of echinacea and goldenseal, especially their ability to strengthen the immune system and ward off the flu. But if you’ve ever drunk them in…
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braised escarole with mustard and bacon recipe
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Braised Escarole With Bacon and Mustard Recipe

This warm, easy and satisfying dish is perfect as lunch or a light dinner, or as a side dish. Braised escarole with bacon and mustard There are so many leafy greens to eat, and so little time! Don’t get stuck eating the same rounds of spinach, chard and kale. Perhaps you’ve never eaten escarole, or…
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Cooking From Scratch: Cilantro Lime Sauce

A blender is a quick cook’s best friend and sauces can be made in a snap.   Sometimes you just need a sprig or two of a herb, such as cilantro, and yet you have to buy it in a huge bunch. That’s one reason I grow nearly all my own kitchen herbs, but last…
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Green Jamu Recipe: Healing Indonesian Turmeric Juice

The health benefits of turmeric juice are many, it really is a superfood, even if it looks like an orange mummy finger.  If you’ve not tried it already, here is another jamu recipe that will also give you a solid helping of greens. Feel free to substitute other greens or herbs. It’s been unseasonably hot…
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Roast a Whole Cauliflower

A delicious vegetable side dish that takes nearly zero prep time.  Just throw it in whole. Here’s how: Buy an organic cauliflower, or better yet, grow one. Preheat your oven to 325 F Rinse, drain and pat dry your whole cauliflower. place head up on a baking sheet (with sides…if it’s a totally flat cookie…
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Roasted citrus slices

How To Eat Citrus: Roasting Slices

Next time you’re roasting veg or meat in your oven, throw in a sliced lemon or two.  You’ll be amazed at what heat and some good quality olive oil will produce. One way to enjoy citrus fruits is to roast them in olive oil, sprinkled with good sea salt.  You can slice them very thinly,…
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Amazing Pecan Banana Bread Recipe

Even though this recipe only uses a half stick of butter, the banana bread smells and tastes amazingly buttery. Chunks of high quality dark chocolate and whole pecan halves make this an indulgent treat with afternoon tea. This banana bread has a wonderful, tender texture and is not overly sweet. It’s better the day after…
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Easy Pot Au Feu

Cooking Notes Start with cold water. Put all your ingredients in a pot, fill with cold water and then bring to a boil. Don’t boil the water first. I’m not a big fan of long-cooked vegetables.  They make a tasty broth, but eating them? Nah. I throw out the veg once the pot au feu…
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You can cook sous vide lamb chops on the stovetop

Sous Vide Lamb Shoulder Chop

How to cook lamb chops sous vide without a sous vide cooker. You want a thick lamb shoulder chop that’s perfectly tender and medium rare all the way through, but you don’t have a sous vide cooker or any special equipment? I’ve found an easy way to cook sous vide on the stovetop with a…
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Death By Ratatouille: Are You Allergic To Nightshades?

Nightshade vegetables may be secretly making you sick Okay, Death may be a bit extreme here, but you would be surprised how many people have a sensitivity to common nightshade vegetables. You’ve heard of the Deadly Nightshade. Hikers and foragers learn to avoid the tasty looking, yet poisonous, berries on this wild growing plant. But…
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Ractopamine in Pork: What Is It?

What is ractopamine? Ractopamine is a beta-agonist, a class of agents acting in an opposite way to beta-blockers widely used in blood pressure medication. Ractopamine is not considered safe for humans and is not an approved drug for humans. It is approved by the FDA for use in animals. Why is ractopamine fed to pigs?…
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Drought And Our Staple Crops

Reading Labels: Sugar Where it Doesn’t Belong

You may think you know how much sugar you are eating, but if you buy ready made foods, even in so called health-food stores, you may be consuming more sugar than you ever imagined. Why wait for dessert when you can have sugar at every course?  Buying processed foods may mean you are bathing your…
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What to Eat After Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Removed?

My housemate recently had one of his wisdom teeth removed.  It wasn’t impacted, so the surgery was fast and clean. He needed to have soft, healing foods for the first two days.  Here are some suggestions on what to eat after getting your wisdom teeth removed.   Pumpkin potato soup Ingredients One small roasted pumpkin…
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What’s In Your Processed Food? Sugar.

When you see the label All Natural on a package of processed food, it doesn’t mean much. Another day of supermarket sleuthing yields yet more sugar in the form of a double hit of maltodextrin. Yum! So, how many of you actually keep maltodextrin stocked in your pantry? It’s highly processed, but not synthetic, so…
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Small Local Farms

Does Convenience Make Life Better?

When I first became aware of how my food choices were affecting my health, my community and the environment, I set out to make changes in my life to reflect my values, my desire to not participate in the exploitation and careless destruction that seemed to be built into our modern food system.  I felt…
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Panettone: Read the Label

Do cage-free eggs make up for mono and diglycerides in your baked goods? Panettone is a Milanese specialty that’s enjoyed throughout Italy as a Christmas treat. Making it takes a long time, and it’s expensive, since it’s enriched with egg yolks and butter. Needless to say, the resulting tall, round and flavorful bread is well…
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Gourmet Vegetarian Holiday with Deborah Madison

How to Grow Your Own Food in Cold Winter Climates

If you live in a cold winter climate, you may think eating local in the winter means a lot of jarred, canned, frozen and dehydrated food. While preserving food is part of a well stocked winter pantry, you can grow your own fresh food in the winter as well. Here are some of our favorite…
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Compost, Not Packaging

While it’s better to recycle than send rubbish to the landfill, it’s even better to start with whole foods. That way you make compost, not recycled packaging. I enjoyed a refreshing smoothie today and when I went to clean up, I realized a happy fact: all I had was compost.
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chemicals sprayed on produce
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What you need to know about chemicals sprayed on produce after harvest

Are chemicals added to fresh fruits and vegetables after harvest? We know that processed foods often contain a host of unhealthy additives, from fake flavors and colors to chemical preservatives. What you don’t know is that sometimes chemicals are added to fresh produce after it’s picked and before it gets to the grocery store. When…
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budget organic meals

Eat Organic for Less: Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Here’s another example of how you can enjoy healthy organic food on a budget. When you think of eating organic, you probably don’t think of a meal for two for less than $5. Here is a real life example of what an inexpensive, nutritious and organic meal looks like.
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A1 vs A2 Milk: What’s the Difference?

Beyond the serious issues with animal and environmental welfare in the dairy industry, I have another problem: eating dairy makes me feel sick. I can have some, but not too much and not too often. I’ve been tested for allergy to dairy casein as well as lactose intolerance, and both tests came back negative. I…
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The End of Food Segregation

Or, when the lion dines with the lamb. I’ve been thinking a lot about food segregation for the past couple of years. And I don’t mean whether my minty peas are touching my mash. Rather, about the future of eating, preferably, eating together. The kids in my family were praised heartily for eating everything. Being…
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Dehydrating Potatoes For The Pantry

I hope all of you are putting up emergency stores against power outages, extreme weather events and natural disasters. I’d never thought about dehydrating potatoes until recently, when I read Maggie’s blog post. I prefer to eat fresh foods, so wouldn’t normally bother with dehydrated potatoes. But for an emergency pantry, or if I found…
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Real Food Kitchen: DIY Dried Fruit and Vegetables

Use an inexpensive dehydrator to make the most of a season’s harvest, and to make sure your pantry is stocked with high quality, real ingredients. It’s easy to dry your own fruit using an inexpensive dehydrator, and the taste and nutritive value are much better than store-bought dried fruits.
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Local Grassfed Lamb Shank Recipe

Join me in my kitchen for an easy autumn favorite made from local, organic and homegrown ingredients. Today’s real food lunch is a braised grassfed lamb shank with mint and delicata squash. Unlike most people, my main meal is lunch rather than dinner. That can pose a problem, since lunch transects my workday, but luckily…
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Vegan basil pesto recipe

Summer Is Basil Season: Try This Easy Vegan Pesto Recipe

It’s summer, which means basil season is in full swing. Either you are harvesting ample, fragrant basil from your herb garden, getting bunches of it in your CSA or buying it marvelously fresh at your local farmers market. Now is the time to make pesto, one of the most delicious and versatile sauces of the season.
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How to make pesto

Make Your Own Pesto

A hit of fresh pesto will liven up anything. It’s summertime now, which means it’s basil season. Here’s how to make an easy vegan basil pesto sauce in minutes. Do you make pesto? The best time to make pesto is when basil is in high season. One bunch of basil will make enough pesto to…
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make your own coconut almond milk

Eight Reasons To Make Your Own Coconut Almond Milk

  Taking a break from dairy? With a high speed blender, you can make your own non-dairy coconut almond milk. In an effort to avoid processed foods and all the packaging, preservatives, additives and the poor quality they generally offer, I started making my own almond milk and coconut milk. But by far my favorite…
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Fava leaf and red Russian kale salad with Point Reyes Farmstead bleu cheese and pecan

How to add more leafy dark greens to your diet

Getting more nutritious dark leafy greens in your diet doesn’t just mean extra helpings of cooked spinach. Here are some ways to not just eat more leafy greens, but to enjoy them. You can eat most dark, leafy greens by just sauteing them with good olive oil, some fresh garlic slivers and a pinch of sea salt. But the trick to incorporating more of these super nutritious vegetables into your diet is to expand your repertoire of leafy greens and how you cook them.
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Feeding Candy To Cows

Candy Corn: The New Cow Feed

In the face of higher feed prices caused by worldwide droughts, some livestock farmers have resorted to less than savory alternatives to keep their cattle alive and fat.
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Is Growing Your Own Tomatoes Cost Effective?

Eat Organic Tomatoes For Less

Is there any way to grow your own food without dedicating all your free time to tending a garden and spending as much as you would in a grocery store for organic veg and fruit? I sincerely believe so, and this ongoing series of articles is about me, a novice gardener with a sunny balcony.
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