St. Patrick's Day Deal

Hey everyone! St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, so Harvest Moon wanted to present a special deal to all their loyal readers on the interwebs:

#1 The Most important thing for you to know is that YOU MUST wear green to get this deal. It can be green socks, a green hat, or perhaps your favorite green lipstick (oh my). Whatever it is, it must be green. Show us the green.

#2 The second thing to know is that this deal will last all day today and tomorrow.

Irish Coffee Cocktail

#3 The third thing to know is the deal itself:
~Buy a Nutty Irishman latte or frescante, or buy a Green Energy smoothie and get another one absolutely FREE.
~Buy an Irish Coffee and get 15% off your dine in food order (sorry, this 15% off deal cannot be combined with our 10% off facebook deal we're doing for tomorrow).

So there you have it! Put your green on, come on over to the Moon sometime today or tomorrow, and get yourself something green and/or Irish.

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

It has come to my attention that I haven't written much about the breakfast menu's plethora of selections. Upon asking the boss then what I should order to write about, he recommended the Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich, which traditionally comes on a flaky and slightly toasted croissant. I shrugged a "
"sure" and waited for it to come up.

My usual breakfast is a banana smoothie I make before heading out the door in the morning. Either that or a bowl of cereal. On occasion I'll make myself some scrambled eggs, but hey, I'm no Ferran Adria, especially when it comes to food!

Whenever I imagined a breakfast sandwich, I always pictured a piece of something kind of sort of resembling meat with bread-like styrofoam wrapped around it and served in a truck stop. What I was plated and given by one of our chefs was far from that fearful expectation.

A crisp and flaky croissant housed a medley of sauteed peppers, mushrooms, and caramelized onions tucked into the blanket-fold of fluffy eggs. On top and on bottom was warmly melted cheese which held the sandwich together, one side being provolone and the other side cheddar. In between the cheese and the croissant was their delectable veggie cream cheese, giving the sandwich a slightly sweet/tart taste to it. sprinkled on top was some decorative parsley.

I enjoyed the crispiness of the croissant, but if you're planning on eating a nice, clean breakfast, try it on some other bread such as the millet flax or toasted wheat. However you eat it, make sure Mr. Napkin is faithfully sitting by your side.

Regardless of its slightly messy behavior, it comes recommended with adjectives such as: warm, vegetarian (if you are ok with eggs), bready, eggy, sauteed, and crispy (only with croissant, which I would also recommend).

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cake

gluten-free

Take a look at this cake. No, really look at it. Have you ever wondered why images like these have such a sway on us? Isn't it intriguing how a slice of chocolate fudge cake can make us feel? The kitchen here has always exemplified, perhaps unknowingly, the philosophy that a good dessert isn't merely about taste, but also presentation. Consider the Food Network's show Chopped. Watching it with the in-laws a couple of times, I noticed that taste, texture and presentation were factored into the judges' overall verdict. Good presentation is a consideration of all true fine-dining facilities.

This evening, I ordered myself  a towering slice of fluffy, double-layered chocolate cake. Its top was of shadowy brown icing- rich, thick, and heavy- like the fierce cape of a dark and menacing villain threatening your waistline with a sinister "Muahahaha!".

Mint and blueberries not only garnished the top with a touch of deep color, but also added a little bit of palatable elegance. It mostly goes unnoticed though because of the richness of the icing, the cake's dominant sensation.

gluten-free

It is a seriously chocolaty dessert. So be forewarned, dear readers, that this is like the holy grail and is not for the moderate chocolate lovers but for the manliest and womanliest foodies out there. This is the kind of chocolate cake that would bump into your Hostess cupcake on the playground and mercilessly say, "Hey kid! Gimme yer icing!"

Like a lot of the food items here, it was very filling. It wasn't sweet to the point that it made me sick; it was just a lot of cake for $4.00 worth! Someone needs to muster up the courage to tell the Moon's kitchen that businesses usually rip people off when it comes to quantity and not the other way around.

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Buckeye Frescante

Looking like a malt from the 1950s, the Buckeye Frescante, or any frescante here, is the ideal treat for you and your date to split after the game. Seriously, it's huge.

Thick whipped cream (made in the cafe) mounded on top with rich chocolate syrup drizzled over it is just the surface of this dessert. Beyond the crown of froth, foam, cream, and syrup is a deep well of chocolaty and peanut buttery taste. The ingredients are blended into a texture akin to a thick and hearty milkshake with a tinge of coffee evident in every sip. If you like coffee, you'll like the frescante. If you tolerate coffee, you'll like this frescante still because of its richness in other flavors. You could always ask them to make it without the coffee.

Very filling. I couldn't finish it actually! Looks can be deceiving though. The frescante in a glass cup looks beast compared to its little brother, the frescante in a to-go cup, but did you know that there's actually the same quantity of frescante in both? I heard the barristas talking about the way something looks being a psychological influencer on people. Most customers, when given their frescante in a glass, won't be able to finish it, but if they are given it in plastic, they drink it down like a glass of water. Now isn't that interesting?

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Cafe Salad

Okay, okay, okay. I finally consented, dear readers, to breaking my anti-salad pledge. I'm not saying that I'm going to start eating salads every second of the day or anything; I'm just opening my mind to giving salad a chance to redeem itself.

If you're vegetarian or vegan, the salad you'll want to choose is the Autumn Harvest Salad, which I can  confidently say looks good (I haven't tried it yet). For those of you who like meat with your veggies, pick the Cafe Salad, which is what I went for.

Coming with sides of ranch and guacamole and laden with strips of juicy chicken breast, this salad brings a flavor-combination unique. I've never thought of using guacamole as a dressing before, but it turns out that it go excellent with the ranch and poultry. I feel that these two were a killer idea for sure.

Also on the plate were lush and earthy lettuce leaves (it wouldn't be a salad without lettuce!) as well as a sensational smattering of feta cheese and tomato. For you vegetarians out there, this is an idea you should try on your own: Feta cheese and sliced tomatoes with ranch and guacamole.

While the chicken, egg, bacon, and feta cheese give it a fullness, and the leaves of lettuce add a good earthy taste to the mix, it was the guac and ranch dressing combination that brought the two worlds of meatiness and leafy-ness harmoniously together, leaving me scraping nothing off of my plate and into the trash can! Well done, Harvest Moon!

But I'm still not a salad kind of guy.

~The Harvest Crier~ 

Why So Gluten Free?

Gluten-free Raspberry Vanilla Cake

If you've spent any time around the Moon, you've probably noticed the trend of gluten-free baked goods coming out of the kitchen. The Harvest Moon Crew has two motives for doing this:

~The first motive is because they love customers, including those who have celiac disease which causes a severely adverse reaction if the person eats gluten. I've come across a number of people who have this problem, and it always makes me thankful for my ability to, unlike them, eat quite liberally. I mean, doesn't it just break your heart when you see a child eyeing a brownie and then his parents tell him, "No no dear. I know that looks good, but it will hurt you if you eat it."? Because some- well, most- things have gluten, there are people who can't enjoy what the rest of us take for granted.

Gluten-free Raspberry Chocolate Cake

~The second reason why they continuously churn out gluten free products is because of a growing awareness of gluten intolerance in the general public and not just those with celiac disease. There's a trend of people researching gluten-free living and starting to question if that may be the solution to many of their present health problems. Research on the topic of whether gluten is harmful or helpful seems to vary. I'm not sure who to trust on this topic and therefore leave it to your discretion and research. But I will say that the popular consensus both professional and lay health-nuts give is that a gluten-free life is a happy life.

So there you have it. Go out and tell your gluten-free friends (either by choice or requirement) that there is a place that is baking up a storm of appetizing, edible, gluten-free stuff to stuff yourself with! And that place is called The Coolest Place on the Planet (a.k.a. Harvest Moon).

~The Harvest Crier~

Partners in Crime With Honeyrun Farm

For years I had been employed in major chains. While in that line of work, I often heard people talk about small businesses and tight-knit communities as if it were fable, something that didn't exist anymore. But I have found that such things still do exist! You simply need to know where to look- and no, it's not found in the mall parking lot.

I always imagined small businesses as these struggling mom & pop shops independent and cautious of one another, but now my eyes have been opened to the real sense of community that binds these shops together. Case in point is the Garden Herb Shop's relationship with Honeyrun Farm, the organic and local-ish (Williamsport) family business that provides us delicious honey.

What connects small business owners like these together most is the ingredients of kindness and consideration for kin, a sort of, "They're a small business. I'm a small business. Let's help each other out," kind of mindset. Assisting one another out via word of mouth is the old old-school form of Google.

And so the crew at the Garden Herb Shop and at HM wanted to express their gratitude for Honeyrun not out of obligation but out of sincere appreciation. When you come across something of really good quality, you tell your friends about it, right? Well that's what we'd like to do now. :)

HONEYRUN FARM
Their blog: http://www.honeyrunfarm.blogspot.com/
Their website: http://honeyrunfarm.com/
Their location: 9642 Randle Road Williamsport, OH 43164

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

What has become rather popular here in the square of Historic Canal is Harvest Moon's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Snapping pictures of them coming fresh out of the oven usually leads to them being gone in a matter of a few hours. There have even been instances where I thought to myself, "Eh, I'll grab one a little later," and then they're gone... with only a wake of crumbs remaining on the tier! Darn.

But have no pity, I've also been able to eat many a cookies here, and let me tell you that your grandmother has some serious competition going against her! Especially when they're fresh out of the oven would I recommend these *puppies! It's kind of unpredictable as to when fresh ones come out, ergo the reason why we try to announce it ahead of time on our facebook page, but I would say the best time to get one would be an early afternoon (lunch break?).

The best part of the cookie, other than the fact that it's big (not the biggest cookie, but big none-the-less) is that it tastes, looks, and feels whole-grain. I know it's a little silly to be health-conscious while eating a cookie, but if you want to make a wise choice when it comes to dessert, go for this one. Take a look at link 1, 2, and 3 for more info on the health benefits of oats.

And in case you're wondering, they are not prepackaged frozen discs of corn-syrup that they just pop into the oven. They make these cookies with their own awesome, miracle-working, Harvest Moon hands!

~The Harvest Crier~

*(puppies not included in Oatmeal Chocolate Chip recipe)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Our sprouting chia at the Garden Herb Shop

All of us remember when Chia Pets were the rave. It's yet another reason why we wag our heads in shame at the 90s, that awkward decade of, um, interesting tastes and fashions. But there is a little bit of sunshine peaking out of a relic from that dark age. Do you remember Chia Pets? They're still around you know. In fact, there's actually a Barack Obama Chia Pet available on eBay!

That shimmer of sunlight is found in the sprouts coming out of your Mr. T Chia Pet ( pity the fool who actually got one of those as a gag-gift). It turns out, dear readers, that chia sprouts and chia seeds are actually really good for you! Chia recently went through a sort of renaissance of its own where people started realizing that it's more than cheesy 90s decor!

Its benefits include, but are not limited to:
~ Rich in protein,
~ Excellent substitute for eggs in baking (And all the vegans rejoiced!),
~ Assists in weight loss,
~ Fibrous,
~ Great for boosts of energy before and after workouts (and all the athletes rejoiced!),
~ Said to be the richest source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and water soluble dietary fiber (supplements that we commonly add to our diets for their health benefits),
~ Rich in calcium

So there you go, the chia is now redeemed. It's an excellent plant to start growing on your kitchen counter or window sill, seeing how you can throw it in practically everything! Don't worry, you can grow it in a simple flower pot. It's still chia even if it's not sprouting out of a Homer Simpson head! Nutrition tends to come in simple packages now doesn't it?

Oh, and it's a superfood. So there.

~The Harvest Crier~

Sources:
Andrew Weil M.D.
Yahoo Voices
Huffpost
Washingtonian

The Harvest Moon Tea

These days when winter seems to be dying hard and stepping out into the Ohio cold feels like an arctic experience, it's a good idea to get yourself something warm to drink. In light of this, the owners told me to get a pic of a hot cup of the Harvest Moon Tea seasoned with a cinnamon stick. Not only did I get to take this picture, I was also able to drink it!

If I could compare it to another kind of food, I would say that it tasted like baked apples with cinnamon and brown sugar. A sweet tea at its base, I wouldn't recommend it with a dessert item. I would say give it a shot with a light lunch (a salad perhaps) or stand-alone like an afternoon treat.

It comes either hot or cold.

~The Harvest Crier~ 

Miso Happy!

The Garden Herb Shop tends to transform from a shop to a school in the blink of an eye. Just today, not too long after I stepped out of the blustering outdoor weather, I was handed a book and recommended (ordered) to write a post on the wonders of miso (mee-so). So how could I say no to that? I mean, it's miso!

Are you saying to yourself, "Miso confused"? Are you insisting, "Permiso, can you tell me more about the miso?" Well fear not. Click any of the misos in this post and you'll find yourself in a swamp of miso-info. I'll just give you a light sampling of the information available out there, most of it taken from the book I was handed: The Way of Chinese Herbs, by Michael Tierra.

Miso is essentially soybeans aged to flavor by being fermented with salt and sometimes other ingredients such as rice. It's beginnings are from China, where its predecessor (chiang) originated sometime during the Chou Dynasty (722-481 B.C.). The use of soybean became more popular during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) through the spread of Buddhism and the vegetarianism therein. Today, it is a staple of consumption in Japan.

Learning from my reading, miso is one of the most perfect foods, reason being because the fermented soybeans are rich in easily assimilated high-quality protein. It also aids  the assimilation of other foods and should therefore be eaten with something else (pretty easily understood, seeing how it's a paste. I'm not too  partial to eating straight paste myself). You can make sauces with it (add almond butter, a little bit of water, and ground sesame) as well as salad dressing, or even a base for your soup.

The consensus around here, due to its rich nutritional wonders, is to eat it with everything! Just make sure you look up how to cook or prepare it correctly so that your experience is a positive one in both taste and nourishment (it is not to be boiled, for example).

Because the salt is fermented, it has less of a negative effect on the individual as table salt does. This is peculiar for those of you who've had miso before, because you know that it has a pleasantly salty flavor to it (making it an excellent condiment). But that's one of the insistent beauties of this dish. Its pungency in positive flavor does not come at the loss of healthiness.

Give it a shot and you'll most certainly be squealing "Miso happy!" by the end. Unless you absolutely hate it.

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Turkey Chili and Half a Grilled Cheese

So there's this deal going on now: a bowl of soup and half of a grilled-cheese sandwich for somewhere between seven and eight dollars. I ordered it under the recommendation of the crew behind the counter. After giving them the go-ahead, they asked me the peculiar question of what veggies I wanted on my sandwich!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! I thought. How dare they desecrate the sacred grilled-cheese! I mean, how can you put anything other than cheese on it? But it didn't take longer than the first bite for my eyes to be opened to how scrumptious veggies in a grilled cheese sandwich truly is! My taste buds were seriously jigging it out!

The sandwich was crisp and grilled with cheese melted just perfectly in between thick wheat bread speckled with oats on the crust (I loved the crust). Cool tomato and curls of red onion were trapped in the melted goodness of the cheese, giving the sandwich an incredible new flavor I've never experienced before. Really, I'll never eat grilled cheese the same thanks to this place!

After getting half way through the sandwich, I decided to spladoonk it into the bowl of turkey chili. It was phenomenal!

The turkey chili has a lot of pep to it, making me sweat after only a few sips of the sensationally potent broth. I hadn't even gotten to the chili's  meat and whole veggies (beans, tomatoes?, corn, and onions) and I was already experiencing so many strong flavors! Dipping the spoon down to the bottom (it's a big bowl), I excavated the quarry of veggies and ground turkey and enjoyed the bounty!

Really, the chili is hot! Really hot! I was sweating! And while it has a fair amount of broth to it, it's also a very big bowl. I assure you, dear readers, that most of you will be full before the end.

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Truffled Mushroom Flatbread

This flatbread pizza I would recommend for those who like to sing Born to be Mild while driving their mother's station wagon down the road at a heart-racing 5 miles below the speed limit. Is it flavorful? Yes. Bold? Yeah, kind of. It definitely has a perk to it with certain ingredients, but I would say its primary adjectives are: calm, unique, chill, and flavorful.

Don't get me wrong, it was an excellent flatbread. I thoroughly enjoyed it particularly because I feel that it's ideal for a soothing meal. Need a relaxing entree by chance? Give this one a shot.

While it's not intense in spice or pep, it is unparalleled in taste. You'll need a desire to taste something different if you want to enjoy it. I only recommend this to those who want to branch out and try something new. Let me tell you that the reward of curiosity is discovery! Bleu cheese and oven roasted tomatoes aren't like my favorite things to eat, but I would have never known how flawlessly they go together unless I sheepishly said, "Truffled Mushroom Pizza, please."

~Very strong yet cool flavors.

~The mushrooms have a very thick and meaty texture to them.

~The oven roasted tomatoes complement the crumbled blue cheese. The crumbled bleu cheese causes the tartness of the tomato to come out, giving a sweet taste to the meal.

~The green onion and red onion were for garnishing but also enriched the texture of the meal.

~It also has Ricotta Aioli in it, but I couldn't taste that part.

~Recommended if you're the cool, calm type who doesn't want your mouth to feel on fire yet wants to try something new and exciting. :)

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Almond Vanilla Custard Cheesecake

In light of the March Muffin Deal we're doing here at this olde shoppe, I was going to order a fluffy cappuccino muffin and write about it. Instead, our dear readers, I decided at the last minute to try a dessert item many are fond of: Cheesecake.

Crafted by the hands of the boss himself, this almond vanilla custard cheesecake is excellent if you haven't had a slice of heaven recently. Homemade, and just a few doors down, you may never have to take  the trip up to the Factory of the Cheesecake ever again. :)

This cheesecake's appeal is that it's not overbearingly sweet (that is loaded with behemoth amounts of sugar), but fluffy and light, deriving its sweetness from the subtle vanilla almond custard on top and bits of candied cherries baked into the crust.

Having a high quality dessert isn't about bombarding the taste buds with sugar (if that's your idea of a good dessert, then go pick up a pack of "donuts" from the gas station), but about adding just the right sweetness to a collection of complementing textures and tastes.

I feel that this dessert item hits on that principle just right. It seems most fitting to have with some wine on a date night. You could always get the cheesecake to go, pick up a bottle of wine from the Garden Herb Shop, and head home to set something romantic up before she arrives. Pretty suave, eh? See, we're not just foodies here at HM, we're also killer romantics. ;)

~The Harvest Crier~

Hummus and History

There are two topics which rank the oldest to study about in human history: religion and food.

In regards to food, hummus is thought to be one of the oldest staples in man's history of consumption. About.com and Helium states that it dates back to Ancient Egypt. Other websites say that its origins are much older. While we may not know when exactly and where exactly it was first invented, we know that it's an old recipe tried and true.

The basic element of hummus is cooked and pureed chickpeas. Follow that up with one or more of these ingredients:

~lemon juice
~sesame paste (tahini)
~olive oil
~ garlic

From there you can blend all kinds of seasonings and spices. The list of combinations is as great as the maker's imagination. Try something crazy, like cinnamon with something else (cooked and pureed sweet potato? Freshly chopped apple?) You can look up a plethora of recipes online, or you can be bold and make your own. The point is to not limit yourself. Many people have thrown a recipe together while fighting against the cultural norm of food, but after doing so, their concoction was widely accepted because of its deliciousness. So don't be hurt if people don't accept your idea off the bat. People in general seem to be xenophobic in regards to their food. Give them time to warm up. :)

Unless you make something disgusting, like Lard & Raisin Hummus. That's just gross. Some hummus ideas are big no-nos. :(

Finally, did you know that hummus is the Arabic word and garbanzo the Spanish word for Chickpea? Fascinating, isn't it? It's the little things you learn that make you smart around the water cooler at work.

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Chicken Salad Sandwich

At the end of a rather quiet shift at HM, I asked one of the employees if they could make me something to eat. Though I've never been too fond of chicken salad, the tasty track record of Harvest Moon convinced me to give it an optimistic go. Perhaps I simply have optimistic taste buds, but it was the best chicken salad sandwich I've ever tasted! Sorry, Mother. :(

A buttery and flaky croissant was sliced open and toasted. A layer of green lettuce is placed on the bottom, followed by generously large slices of cucumbers and tomatoes seemingly just picked from the good earth.

On top of that is the homemade chicken salad, which is rather sweet tasting. The sweetness can be attributed to the hint of fruit the recipe calls for, also contributing to the crunch you'll feel as you bite into the sandwich. All of this, as well as the blend of seasonings, is mixed into the boiled chicken breast which is pulled apart into shreds of protein packed deliciousness.

Topping it off is semi-melted provolone above the cool chicken salad and tucked underneath the flaky croissant's top bun. Biting into it was a cooling experience, a meal recommended for those of us who sweat at the very sight of bottled BBQ sauce. Timid in the taste bud region? Take a bite of the Chicken Salad Sandwich with a side of potato salad and you'll be as cool as a cucumber!

~The Harvest Crier~