Month: February 2018

Olive Oil – Facts and Myth

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Seriously, when I saw this article about olive oil, my jaw dropped – what do you mean  “Light olive oil” is a misnomer and a marketing ploy that actually means the oil has been refined and treated with heat to strip away odor and flavor.” Although I do not ever consider “LIGHT’ for the olive-oil I buy for my house-hold – I do go for the extra-virgin on the label because…. Extra-Virgin or Bust “Extra-virgin” is the highest designation of quality given to olive oil, meaning it’s unrefined, free of chemicals and other “defects” like rancidity, and never treated with heat. Quality can still vary within the extra-virgin category, but without intimate preexisting knowledge of individual olive oil brands, it’s as close as you’re going to get to an overall guarantee of purity you can get off a label. Look for those two words, and you’ve already eliminated a vast array of crappy bottles. Here’s where I’ve been going wrong  – when buying the olive oil – I assumed “Product of Italy” was enough to consider. Read the …

Travel: For The Adventurist at Heart

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For some people the norm is boring – you know the week long island vacation, sipping a tropical drink by the poolside, or a 7-day museum pass for Paris to spend a week indoors, staring at art and then there is the pasta lovers trip that’s been overdone – according to some. So, if you fall into the category of sitting across your travel partner over Saturday morning breakfast asking yourselves ‘where to go?’ consider the following adventure geared, from this list for best 2018 travel destinations:

How Do We Measure True Love?

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We all do this. When in a relationship, we question commitment when it comes to the matters of the heart. Mostly wondering if we are loved just as we’ve read in novels, or seen in movies and learned of fairy tales  about happily ever after. But on this Valentine season, I ask, past all the fantasy, how do we measure true love? And here’s what I found. According to the book The Seven Laws Of Love – these are the terms:   According to a psychologist  – these are the five things that will help you fall in love or lead you to love  And then there are these helpful reminders: The simple facts are – love should be: When someone truly loves you, they will make “face time” a priority. There’s no substitute for it. There’s no volume of text messages or emails that can equate to the moments you spend looking a loved one in the eyes. Simply put, when we love someone, we will make it a priority to be near them. …

Food: The Romance of Brioche

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I figured time spent in the kitchen creating these beauties is time well-spent – for my family, whether it be for Valentine’s Day/weekend or a simple birthday surprise. RECIPE Spiced Brown Sugar Diplomat Cream 100g egg yolks (about 8 yolks) 105g sugar 30g corn starch 412g whole milk 1 Tbsp vanilla paste, or the scrapings from one vanilla bean 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp ginger 20g unsalted butter, at room temperature Approximately 300g heavy cream Bread Dough 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, lukewarm 3 Tbsp brown sugar, divided 3 3/4 cups (565g) all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt 2 Tbsp ground ginger 1 tsp cinnamon 2 eggs, at room temperature 2 Tbsp unsulphered molasses 1 tsp vanilla bean paste 90g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature Neutral Oil, for frying (about 4-6 cups) Granulated sugar for tossing doughnuts  {more} {photo credit}