The Holiday feast wouldn’t be complete without some pumpkin! One great way to prepare it, if not making pies, is a tagine, a Moroccan stew traditionally cooked in an earthenware pot of the same name. We love how figs lend themselves so well to the spicy-sweet taste of this sublime North African dish. ·      2 tablespoons olive oil ·      1 small sugar or pie pumpkin, peeled and diced (about 3 cups) ·      1 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thin ·      1 large onion, diced ·      3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole ·      1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced ·      1...

Question: What do you get when you combine eggs, goat cheese, figs, and gluten free bread? Answer: The most scrumptious sandwich on the planet. We love the unexpected perfection of the combination of flavors. And if you like a little kick don’t leave out the cayenne pepper. It takes this sandwich to a whole other level. Thank you to our friends at Natural Food Exchange in Reading, Mass., for this great breakfast or lunch suggestion. Heck, it’s so good, we might even have breakfast for dinner.­ INGREDIENTS  ·      2 local pasture-raised eggs ·      2 teaspoons organic goat or cream cheese,...

I had such a craving for Indian spices. It happens to me, maybe once a week, where I’m yearning for the warmth and the brightness of these wonderful spices. This chickpea curry started out of a can of chickpeas, some fresh black mission figs, and some Fruit Bliss® Turkish apricots. I ended up with a sweet-spicy curry that everyone loved. Leftovers are perfect the next day. I served over rice because the kids asked for it, but you could easily serve over any other grain. 5 ounces dried Fruit Bliss apricots 1/3 cup orange juice 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil 1 medium...

Whether you follow a paleo diet or just want to eat healthier, date paste is a great way to impart sweetness to your baking without using refined sugar. Plus, it’s super easy to make. Just blend hot water and Fruit Bliss dates. And because our dates are moister than others you find on store shelves you don’t even need to soak them.The paste can be used in cookie and cake recipes. You can offset the increased liquid by slowly adding more flour to achieve the right consistency. This paste can also be transformed into a chocolatey frosting (see note below)....

Having a dinner party can be a lot of fun, but it’s always a ton of work. Whether you are hosting a few or many, feeding people requires a great deal of planning, shopping, prepping, and preparing.  Sometimes I invest so much in the appetizers and main course, that I have little energy to bake a cake or make a complicated dessert. Over the years, I have found a number of impressive ways to finish off the meal while barely lifting a finger. One such hack is chocolate covered fruit. This is perhaps the easiest crowd pleaser in existence. No...

Working out -- it’s so important for mental clarity, let alone physical well-being. Yet, with a family and a business to run carving out the time to get to the gym is really tough. Although I love the idea of getting my workout done in the morning, there is no way I am giving up my precious sleep to hit the gym. Plus, it’s hard to find an early morning Zumba class! That’s right, Zumba! I love it – so much that I find it hard to write about it without using an exclamation point. For me, Zumba takes me...

I am a big fan of fresh figs. I love to peel the skin and see that ripe sweet, pink interior. Off the tree, these tasty fruits are wonderful in salads, mixed with yogurt, and even on white pizza. But since their season is short, figs are often available only in their chewy, dried form, which is less optimal than fresh. That’s why I am thrilled to bring you our deliciously moist dried figs. Rehydrated with just water, Fruit Bliss’ organic Turkish figs are perfect any time of year and they work great as a fresh fig substitute. So now...