Sensory Nutrition

Fearless Holiday Baking With Yeast Part 1 of 2

Are you a seasoned home baker who doesn’t hesitate to work with yeast dough, or does the thought of working with baker’s yeast make you nervous? Have you ever wished you knew more about yeast baking so that you would always be successful in working with any form of baker’s yeast sold to consumers? Have you ever wished you could get some yeast risings to go a bit faster to save some time making a recipe from start to finish? Have you ever wondered about the differences between fresh yeast, active dry yeast, and instant dry yeast? We’d love to

December 2012 Potpourri: Food Safety App.; CeliacNow site; FODMAPs update

Food Safety App Holiday time is a busy time for everyone. It is easy to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season that one can lose track of time and/or could easily forget some critical aspects of proper food handling. Staying on top of food safety awareness can mean the difference between a Happy Holiday or running the risk of needless food poisoning that could have been avoided. (Photo of fresh, whole, skin-on, bone-in, unbrined, plain, raw 6.63 pound turkey breast ready for oven roasting shown prior to adding any herbs and/or spices, basting, etc.

Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 3 of 3

Why not grab a cup of fragrant not-too-hot tea and we’ll wrap up this blog series on Christmas tea and how it can contribute to helping you and yours to stay healthier during the holidays. We’ve already mentioned in Part 1 of this series how tea can contribute valuable flavonoids to your diet, and then in Part 2 of this series shared some thoughts concerning brewing tea and its caffeine content as well. Now we’d like to share some other potential health benefits of drinking a not-too-hot cup of freshly steeped tea and mention just some of the supermarket accessible brands of

Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 2 of 3

It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and inadvertently forget about setting aside time to help keep yourself healthier during the holidays. Sometimes you need to just stop, catch your breath, and maybe even sit down and treat yourself to a wonderfully aromatic warm cup of tea! It’s important to keep up your antioxidant intake during the winter months and as we noted in Part 1 of 3 of this blog series, especially green and/or black tea made from the tea leaves of the Camellia senesis plant can be an excellent source of important

Celebrating Winter Holidays Including the Italian Legend of La Befana

This Winter, people celebrate some of the Winter Holidays starting with: Dec 20-28th Hanukkah Dec 25th Christmas Day Dec 26-Jan 1 Kwanzaa Jan 6th Little Christmas aka The Epiphany Let’s explore each of these holidays a little bit…

Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 1 of 3

Are you a tea drinker? As of the year 2010, the Tea Association of the USA estimated that there are at least 154 million people in the US who drink some form of tea. If their 2010 Tea Fact Sheet still holds true, then in effect before the year ends approximately 1 out of every 2 persons in the US will have consumed some form of tea this year. (Image of Christmas Tree + ornaments courtesy of dyet at rgbstock.com) In Part 1 of this 3 part series we’ll review a little background on tea and tea events, and mention

Tea: Lesser Known Facts, Customs & Sommeliers

(image 177225 High Tea courtesy of picgifs.com) Many people have heard of wine sommeliers as the trend to drink wine has increased in so many segments of society the world around, but did you know that there are also a group of people known as tea sommeliers?

Solar Panels Powered House: Pointers for Baking & Cooking

Preparing a holiday (Thanksgiving) meal using an electric stove provided a new twist for us this year. It turned out to be an eye-opening event. The stove’s performance was enhanced in an unexpected way! (Roof solar cell powered house photo ©2012 courtesy of DCH in conjunction with Sensory Nutrition.com)

Whole Food Focus Thanksgiving Preparations

Many people are considering the merits of a Whole Food focus basis for planning their upcoming Thanksgiving meal. Of course, the most important aspect of Thanksgiving is truly the opportunity give thanks for the blessings in our lives and to share that sentiment while being able to spend time with family and friends, so any food choices should enhance that overall experience. Memories of Thanksgivings past are connected to our emotional perceptions of those times, so there are sounds, sights, smells/aromas, tastes, textures that all contributed to the sensory perceptions we have locked in our memory banks of those special

Green Beans with Almonds and Rosemary

Sometimes called Green Beans Almondine, this is a classic vegetable side dish that has increased herb pungency and added punch to it with the inclusion of some fresh or dried rosemary sprigs. (Image of 1# of steamed green beans/haricots verts courtesy of webmaster ©2011).