The Benefits of Juicing

You have undoubtedly seen photos of Harvest Moon staff members pouring a rich colorful blend of juiced fruits and veggies into a skinny glass or convenient to-go cup; you most likely know that their juicing machine is always available morning, noon, and night for their beloved customers, but do you know the benefits of juicing?

Consulting The Garden Herb Shop, they gave me these points to consider when pondering the question, does juicing really make a difference? The answer was a resounding yes, and here is some reasoning behind their answer:

1. Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables, which is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your bodies ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet.

Consider it like an organic IV that puts the nutrients directly into your bloodstream. If your body is in dire need of nutrients, drinking juiced veggies is the best option.

2. Juicing allows you to consume an optimal amount of vegetables in an efficient manner. If you are a carb type, you should eat one pound of raw vegetables per 50 pounds of body weight per day. Some people may find eating that many vegetables difficult, but it can be easily accomplished with a quick glass of vegetable juice.

Eating a plate of vegetables is much easier said than done, right? The way is made easy by juicing.

You can add a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. Many people eat the same vegetable salads every day. This violates the principle of regular food rotation and increases your chance of developing an allergy to a certain food. But with juicing, you can juice a wide variety of vegetables that you may not normally enjoy eating whole.

A person's approach to vegetables may be indicative of how health conscious they truly are. It is my opinion that the person who is truly health-conscious will, in part, gorge themselves on a broad variety of veggies. Peas, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, all kinds of beans, eggplants, cabbages, olives, onions, asparagus, artichokes, garlic, peppers, spinach, squashes, turnips, and anything else I forgot to mention. There is a great list of veggies out there with numerous nutritional benefits (including protein) that unfortunately get overlooked.

Do some research for yourself and give it a try. I implore you to also come into Harvest Moon and try a juice or two before you spend the money on a juicer (You can watch them juice it yourself!), and be sure to talk to The Garden Herb Shop folk about juicing as well. 

ABC News on juicing
Livestrong on juicing
NaturalNews on juicing

Until next time.

~The Harvest Crier~

Chai Tea

The weather outside has been kinder to us the past couple of weeks than it has been for the majority of the summer it seems. Now that the chilly months are faintly knocking on the door, you may be wondering what the GHS has to warm us up. Won't be long until we're wrapping ourselves up in bundles of scarves and hats and sweaters and the like. So what treat do we have to drink during the colder seasons?

Kelley pointed me to a shelf on her "wall de teas" in the herb shop. The shelf included these four types of chai tea on them:

~Rooibos Chai (rooibos, cinnamon, ginger bits, cloves, cardamom, fennel, aniseed)
~Green Tea Chai (green tea -Sencha -daarjeeling, cinnamon, ginger bits, cloves, cardamom, fennel, aniseed, almond flakes, rose petals, vanilla bits)
~Chai Black Tea (black tea, ginger, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, cloves)
~Kama Sutra Chai (black tea, ginger, coriander,cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, rose petals, jasmine, lavender blossoms)

Come and check them out sometime soon. I strongly recommend, for the colder months especially, the comforting warmth of chai tea with organic honey and milk poured into it. On a cold winter's day, what else could you ask for?

~The Harvest Crier~

Cocktail of the Week: Stone Fruit Martini

One morning a couple of weeks ago, a gentleman came in for breakfast and ordered four Screwdrivers (vodka and orange juice). What resulted was a brainstorming session between our owner and the bartender to create an all-new breakfast cocktail menu! One of those creations is being featured as the "Cocktail of the Week".

It's called the Stone Fruit Martini - our own spin-off of the more commonly known "Seabreeze". A combination of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, house made simple syrup, Cointreau, and OYO's Stone Fruit Vodka is mixed and nestled perfectly in a chilled martini glass.

The bartender sugared the rim, and after pouring the peachy-pink colored drink, she spritzed and torched a grapefruit peel right over the cocktail! Quite exciting! My first impression was that this is definitely a breakfast drink, or otherwise for anyone who really loves juice. Grapefruit and vodka are the prominent flavors. A cool and refreshing initial sip finishes with the bite of the vodka on the back of the tongue.

Speaking of the vodka, OYO's Stone Fruit Vodka is their newest addition to this Ohio-made line of specialty spirits. It packs a punch with Montmorency cherries, sweet peaches, apricots, almonds, hibiscus, Ohio's finest wildflower honey, and Ohio's soft red winter wheat - in short, it's definitely a treat worthy of coming in and trying a shot or two by itself!

Red Wines

Among the countless wines on the rack for sale at Harvest Moon, the cafe pours nine of those represented by Wine Trends. Tonight, I tasted each of the four red wines:

Mark West, Pinot Noir

California

A basic, red table wine, this Pinot Noir is simple and will go well with any food you might order at the cafe. It is a top-seller here as well for those who want to take a bottle home.

Montes, Malbec

Chile

This wine has a beautiful, rich color. It begins as a mouthful of berries and ends with a dry finish. Interestingly to note, Chilean wines are an up and coming surprise. Most Malbecs are made in Argentina, but Chile shares the Andes mountains that receive fresh air, crisp water, and fertile soil - resulting in a real treat. Goes well with meat. Try something new tonight!

Guenoc, Cabernet Sauvignon

California

My favorite taste of the evening, this Cabernet Sauvignon went down sweet and easily. It had a distinct, fruity scent, and caused my tongue to tingle with delight! Perfect with chocolate and meats.

Four Vines, Zinfandel

California

Wow! This red Zinfandel made me pucker for sure! As our bartender put it, the best and perhaps only word to describe it is "spicy". I couldn't agree more. If you're ready for an adventure, test it with chocolate and pretty much any food!

Drink Review: White Peach Sangria

Summer is still here, and Harvest Moon's new patio has been approved for alcohol consumption! Our summer cocktail menu, crafted by renowned mixologist, Chris Dehlavi, utilizes only freshly squeezed juices and house-made syrups, as well as beer, wine, and spirits that you won't find most other places. Think handcrafted, signature, unique, and totally natural - and those are the kind of cocktails that Harvest Moon delivers!

My first alcoholic beverage to review is the White Peach Sangria. Fruit-filled with a sunset-colored hue, this sangria is both beautiful and irresistible. The bartender combines Bacardi Rum with Cointreau (orange liqueur) and our New Age Mascato. She then squeezes in fresh orange juice and and Harvest Moon's house-made peach syrup (created in the kitchen from loose leaf peach tea straight out of the Garden Herb Shop). Seasonal fruit is muddled into a white wine glass and topped with ice, and you're well on your way to the Caribbean!

The initial flavor that will hit your tongue is the intense orange that both the Cointreau and and the fresh juice contribute. Then the satisfying bite of rum completes the sip. Come and try your own while it's still summer!

Foodview: Asparagus Flatbread Pizza

I love pizza! Nothing beats a good slice of oven toasted bread, a clobbering of flavorful seasonings and veggies, and a blanket of warm cheese melted over top of it all. Most certainly, a movie must happen simultaneously! Pizza + Couch + Movie = Awesome!

Of course, there is that knowledge that major chain pizza's have a tendency of being not good for you.  And oh the dilemma that betides you when you see cheese sizzling on top of a brick-oven toasted crust that has those pockets of air underneath the crunchy and soft dough. It's so delicious looking, but can your waistline take it? Why are the good tasting things commonly the worst things for you? If only there was someone who would provide the world with a healthy and equally delicious version of pizza! Won't somebody save us from this oppression?!

(climactic music)

Well, readers, Harvest Moon has answered such a call with their delicious selection of flatbread pizzas. Here is the list of choices:
The BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza,
The Truffled Mushroom Flatbread Pizza.
The Meatball Flatbread Pizza (made with bison meatballs that is),
and The Asparagus Flatbread Pizza, which I have just tried.

Here are my thoughts on the latter, The Asparagus Flatbread Pizza...

The highlight of the pizza, hence the name, is the asparagus on top, softened by the cooking process- but not like the stick of mush an overly-steamed asparagus becomes. Rather, the signature ingredient is warm with a little crunch. In addition to the asparagus are diagonally sliced green onions and chopped chunks of juicy red tomatoes, both putting a punch of fresh flavor into your bite. The veggies were patterned on top of the asparagus pesto spread over the thin, toasted bread. The crust is crisp and slightly darkened, which is how a pizza crust ought to be in my opinion, concluding each piece with a satisfying crunch at the end. And of course, to quite literally top it all off, there is a sprinkling of goat cheese crumbles as well as Parmesan cheese.

It's excellent as a meal for one, perhaps two, but it can also serve a party of people who want just a little something to go with their drinks. Now there's an idea! Or you can get two to go and have awesome pizzas while watching a film. :)

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Savory Scone

For months, dear readers, you may have seen photo after photo on the Facebook page of all different kinds of sweet scones. Savory scones, on the other hand, have been chilling out quietly at home not making an appearance at HM at all. Well recently, the kitchen has tried its hand at baking savory scones and I was able to sample one for myself. I haven't had many scones in my day, so I'm in no way a connoisseur of this triangular treat, but I'll give you my best recollection of it. Unfortunately, it was not gluten free, but I imagine that a gluten free option will be available soon. :)

It was appetizing just looking at it! I picked it up and took a bite of the acutely angled end. It had a warm, soft, and doughy texture, like the consistency of a dinner biscuit. The colorful flecks peppering the scone turned out to be tomato and basil and added a touch of herbal taste. For its many colors, I thought it was going to be loaded with huge pieces of veggies or something, but that wasn't the case. The colors serve more as a added touch of seasoning flavor, with the most evident on the palate being the soft dough.

I deem it an excellent breakfast bread. A heated up savory scone with your favorite cup of tea or a cold cup of milk is an idea highly recommended.

~The Harvest Crier~