It could be that my French-Canadian blood is actually gushing maple syrup, but I’ve loved the stuff since I was a kid.  I really love it and would gladly incorporate it into any meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  And, it’s got to be the real deal - pure maple syrup from Vermont or Canada, none of that squeeze bottle business.  No, thanks.

So I was thrilled when my friend came back from a trip with a souvenir: the Maple Syrup Cookbook: Over 100 Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.  Mmmm…maple heaven!  I don’t believe in reprinting people’s recipes without permission, but I will share a few fun maple tips from the book to give you a glimpse into why this cookbook is so great.

There are some ingenious ways to use maple syrup in this book.  For example, incorporating it into hot chocolate, using it in the actual batter for French Toast (in the egg and milk mixture), and tips for substituting it for sugar in recipes (which involves decreasing the main liquid in the recipe).  There is also information on the different grades of maple syrup and some stories about maple syrup producers.  The anecdotes that accompany the recipes are charming and sweet.  (They’d have to be sweet, now wouldn’t they?)

I already use maple syrup when I roast sweet potatoes or butternut squash, but there are several new recipes in this cookbook that I can’t wait to try:  Sweet Potato and Bacon Bisque, Maple Bacon Strata, Maple Balsamic Dressing, and Maple Fudge, to name a few.  Mmm, there’s something so comforting about drizzling real maple syrup!

I try not to drink too much soda, and I mostly stay away from the hype of “fortified” drinks, especially fortified waters.  I don’t know what category to place Izze’s drinks in, but I adore them (the company calls them “sparkling juices”).  They’re a little pricier than what I normally buy to enjoy at home, so they’re kind of a special non-alcoholic treat. 

Izze isn’t juice, although they contain 70% fruit juices, and they’re not soda, though they do contain sparkling water for a bit of fizz.  They’re fortified, though I kind of ignore that fact (again, avoiding the hype).  Though they have 20 grams of sugar in a small 8.4 ounce can, the first ingredients are juice derived, which I like.  (Izze is also available in larger bottles now).

Better yet, the taste.  They taste like fruit, but they’re lightly carbonated and oh-so refreshing.  I’ve tried several flavors, but my favorites are clementine, pomegranate, and blackberry.  They contain a blend of juices, so the pomegranate, for example, might contain apple and white grape juices, but it tastes like what it’s labelled as unlike many juice drinks and flavored sodas. 

Given the high juice content, I feel Izze is healthier than many “juice drinks” on the market that contain little or no juice.  Case in points – V8 Splash drinks which contain 10% juice, and Jones Soda’s Naturals line that masqueraded as juice but contained little to no juice (and tasted horrible, to boot).

It might be an irrelevant side point, but I also like the cute cans that Izze comes in.  I guess I’m a victim of good marketing, but Izze is good, isn’t it? 

In addition to grabbing some inexpensive J.L. Jardine’s Peach Salsa on my recent trip to Marshall’s, I found Organic Apple Sauce with Cinnamon by Grandma Hoerner’s.  I bought a jar, but I was a little leary, only because I’m picky about apple sauce – I don’t care for unsweetened, though I’ll eat it, but I don’t like it oversweetened or overspiced, either. 

I like having apple sauce in the house because I’m allergic to many fruits when they’re raw/uncooked (weird, but true) so I’m always trying to sneak  more fruit into my diet in other ways.  Apple sauce counts as a serving of fruit (though I know it’s not as nutritious as the real deal), and since the apples are cooked, I’m good to go!

This is one of the best apple sauces that I’ve tried, and it’s organic, which is great, too (apples are thin-skinned so they easily absorb pesticides).  It has just enough cinnamon to add a nice flavor but not become overpowering.  It also  has just the right amount of sugar.  And, Grandma Hoerner’s apple sauce has a great texture, too – pureed, of course, but it seems to be more coarsely pureed than most apple sauces.  Even the color is more appealing than most jarred apple sauces.  T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s are supposed to be carrying more of the company’s products, including preserves, so I’ll be buying more apple sauce and maybe trying some of their other treats, too!

I was first introduced to the Flatbread Company by my friend Mary when I was living in Maine.  I didn’t know that many people in the area when I move to Maine, and I certainly didn’t know where to go for good food on the cheap.  Mary took me to the Flatbreads in Portland and I still remember the pizza I had, even though it’s been about seven years.  It was wonderful – the crust was thin, but not cracker-like, with a bit of heft and chew to it, and everything was natural and fresh, with many organic ingredients incorporated.  My pizza had potatoes, cheese, and herbs.  It was one of the specials that night, and it was fantastic.  iI keep hoping to see a similar one on special again, but no such luck yet!)

I’ve since been to several other Flatbread locations – Portsmouth, NH, Amesbury, MA, and Bedford, MA.  They’re all great, and despite being a chain (most locales are in New England), each location has its own personality.  Part of this may be due to Flatbread’s commitment to staying involved with their communities and using local, organic ingredients whenever possible.  Each location posts a listing of several ingredients and where they are sourced from, making Flatbread a localvore’s dream restaurant.  The atmosphere is casual and family-friendly and the service is always great – I’ve never had bad service at a Flatbread location.  The servers always seem happy to be there.  Each restaurant has a brick oven that’s visible from the eating areas, so you can watch the cooks baking the pizzas (kids especially love this aspect).

The menu at Flatbreads is a bit limited – they know what they do well, and they stick to it.  You won’t find much on the menu other than flatbread pizzas and salads, but you won’t want for anything more.  They also have great drinks and beverages, though, and they change a bit with the seasons – they often have lemonade in the summer and warm cider in the fall, for example.  The list of beers on tap is also great – I had a great Peak Organic Ale on my last trip.

Flatbreads typically has a vegetable and a meat-based special flatbread every night.  I typically order the vegetable special, but we did create our own pizza on our last visit with portobella mushrooms, caramelized onions and Great Hill Blue Cheese.  It was fabulous as always – their flatbreads satisfy a pizza craving without making you feel weighed down.  You can’t beat good, affordable, healthy pizza!

I try to eat healthy, but I have my guilty pleasures just like everyone else – and I’m not talking about an occasional piece of home-made cake, I’m talking about real junk food.  I don’t eat a lot of junk food, but I have an occasoinal craving for puffy cheese snacks like Cheetos.  This may be in part because I wasn’t raised in a junk-food house (thankfully) but cheese puffs were something I got at my birthday parties or as a very occasional treat.  I guess it’s sort of a nostalgia thing, and it’s a little embarrassing to admit to now.

So, when I was doing errands recently and found myself suddently starving and faced with the new Cheetos Flamin’ Hot cheese flavored snacks, I decided to try them.  I like spicy food and snacks, and we’ve established that I secretly (not so secretly any more) like Cheetos. 

I may have cured my Cheetos cravings for awhile with this one.  They are seriously bad.  I don’t know what the scary red-colored seasoning on these things is, but it doesn’t taste like any spice that I’ve had before.  It leaves a strong, almost bitter after-taste in your mouth and completely masks any of that fake-cheese flavor of the Cheeto itself (I know, I know, this probably doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but I wanted to taste the Cheetos).  And, for some reason, getting covered in red Cheeto dust seemed worse than getting covered in orange Cheeto dust (some things I just can’t explain).

My other beef with Cheetos is the website, and I guess Frito Lay is to blame for this one.  First off, the Cheetos direct website (which I’m not linking to as it slowed down my computer) looks like a scary video game.  The Frito Lay website looks like a health-food website.  Now, I’ve admitted to liking the occasional Cheeto but I’m not going to try to convince myself that they’re healthy – the snacks have little tag-lines next to them that say things like “Onion Free” and “Trans-Fat Free.”  But, seriously?  Trying to convince people that they’re healthy?  Showing a lady on a bicycle eating Frito Lay snacks does not make them healthy.  (The fact that they’re called cheese-flavored snacks and not cheese snacks should be our first hint).

Oh, well.  At least I won’t be reaching for any Cheetos – orange or red - anytime soon.