It’s 14 degrees right now in my part of Atlanta.  That’s just a little cold, right?  So to warm myself up, I’ve been dreaming of the farmer’s market and all the wonderful fresh fruits and veg that I’ll be enjoying in a few months.  And then I remembered a trip I made last summer to Ottawa for a friend’s wedding and the afternoon I spent wandering through the Byward Market – and I thought I’d share some of those images with you!

I can’t wait until this summer when I can start haunting our local farmer’s markets and stocking up on yummy fresh veg and fruit.  Until then, I’ll just keep looking at the photos from last summer and dreaming!

One of the things I hope to do with this blog is share some of my favorite things with people – and to explain why they are my favorite things.  I haven’t quite figured out what to call these posts.  Raves?  Faves?  What phrase hasn’t been done to death yet?

Anyway, this is the first of what I hope will be many posts about things I love and why I love them.

Onward to the peanut butter!

I went grocery shopping last night and had to stock up on some pantry basics, since after the holidays things are looking pretty bare.  As I was unpacking and putting things away, I noticed how different the results of my grocery shopping trips are this year vs. a few years ago – or even last year.  I’ve made some pretty significant changes to the way I eat, becoming more aware of the food I put into my body and exchanging some old standby foods for some new favorites that are healthier and “cleaner”.

Peanut butter is one of those foods – it’s something I eat every day, usually as a snack, often as part of my lunch.  Peanut butter is great on bread or toast or waffles or english muffins.  It’s also yummy spread on apple slices, into a stalk of celery, mixed with oatmeal, mixed with yogurt … heck, I even make a peanut and chicken stew with peanut butter.

For some things, like the chicken stew and Asian inspired sauces, plain ground peanuts from Whole Foods do the trick.  But for sandwiches, snacks, and treats … there’s some essential peanut-buttery element missing.  Some indefinable something that is the essence of peanut butter that doesn’t come through in plain ground peanuts.

So when I found this peanut butter / flax seed mix by Naturally More, I was sold.  Seriously.  This stuff is beyond yummy, tasting of peanuts in a way that the sugar-filled other brands just don’t, plus it’s all natural ingredients, no chemicals, no massive amounts of sugar, and a much better nutritional “bang” for my calories.  I did a quick comparison last night between the information on the back of my brand new jar of NM and the jar of a popular brand name’s extra crunchy variety.  Here’s what I came up with.

An additional little tidbit – Naturally More provides 58% of your RDA of folic acid, something that is really important for women who are of childbearing age.  (For more information on that topic, read this article:  Top 10 Facts About Folic Acid)

Naturally More also makes an Organic version and an Almond Butter that I haven’t tried yet, but I’m dying to.  You can also buy it by the 6-pack or by the case (12-pack) online at their website, which is something I’m considering.  The price in the grocery stores here is around $4.99 per jar.  Buying by the case brings it down to $3.99 per jar, including shipping.  Given that I go through a jar every 2 weeks, it might be worth while!

PB Tip #1:  Like most natural peanut butters, you’ll often have to give this one a good stir the first time you open the jar to mix all the oils back in. When you store your pb after opening it and giving it a good stir, store it upside down in the fridge.  I don’t know why the upside down trick works, but it does.  I’ve never had a jar of peanut butter re-separate on me.

PB Tip #2:  Peanut butters w/out chemical preservatives need to be stored in the fridge after opening.  The problem with this, is that it makes the pb hard to spread.  I’ve torn up many a piece of bread trying to spread rock hard pb.  So pop the jar in the microwave for about 10 seconds (not much longer – you don’t want to melt it, just soften it up).  You’ll get nicely spreadable pb, quickly and easily.

PS – I just wanted to add:  I am not getting compensated for this post.  No one has asked me to post this.  No one is providing me with free jars of peanut butter, free samples, or even a discount coupon.  In fact the folks over at Naturally More have no idea I’m writing this post.  I just love this stuff and want to share it with the world.

I know I’m a tad behind on this one, but I figured I’d post this meme that the Very Good Taste blog posted back in August of (wait for it) last year.  It’s a nice step into 2009 to get Kara Cooks off on the right foot.

Here are the instructions:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

(Here’s the FAQ about the list.)

What strikes me most (other than the number of things that I have eaten) is that there is nothing on this list that I’d strike out and never consider eating.  I’m not entirely sure I want to eat roadkill, but then again, I’m not entirely sure I haven’t – considering my grandparents lived in rural East Texas and we ate venison at their place a lot.  It’s possible, although not likely, that at some point I ate a deer that was hit by a car, rather than a bullet.  And I suppose if it were fresh, why not?  Also I might have eaten horse at some time in the past and not known it – I lived in Southeast Asia and China for a while and ate a lot of things that I just didn’t ask about.

But I digress.  Here’s the list … it was definitely a trip down memory lane!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (kaolin is actually an ingredient in a lot of anti nausea medicince)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake