whole foods

Fans of the deep-yellow, grass-fed butter from Pastureland dairy co-op have had a tough spring. At several of the Twin Cities dairy cases where it’s usually found – from Seward Co-op to Whole Foods – a big gaping hole has replaced its one-pound packages for the past month. Who knows how many plans for fettuccine alfredo and pound cake and rent-a-movie-night popcorn have had to be shelved for lack of their star ingredient.

The movie Fresh is one of our favorites. Compelling, entertaining, warm, funny, and unabashedly hopeful, the documentary aims to forward the cause of good, sustainable food by making it accessible. As director Ana Sophia Joanes put it in our interview last summer:

About 40 years ago, on April Fool’s Day, I secretly dumped all the white sugar out of my mother’s sugar bowl and filled it with salt. When she poured her first cup of coffee that morning, and added her spoonful of “sugar,” she tasted, for the first time, her daughter’s love of practical jokes.

I wanted to play a joke on all of you today, too, to commemorate that one date every year when we are encouraged to lighten up and not take everything so seriously. But I don’t have legal access to your sugar bowls -- and even if I did, what are the chances that you, my fellow “eat-real-food” aficionados, would have them filled with white, processed sugar?

So my April Fool’s joke for you is a collection of five food-related stories that sound preposterous enough to be fake.

But only one is. The rest, believe it or not, are true -- to the best of my knowledge.

See if you can figure out which is which. And no cheating!

I'm sure I've never looked forward to a doctor visit. Maybe it's because I've never hit my ideal weight (or my doctors' ideal weight for me), so I expect a talking to each time I go. Maybe it's because I passed out one time when I gave blood in high school, and the idea of my doctor's office taking blood is too close to the idea of giving blood for comfort. More likely, I've never looked forward to going to the doctor because nobody looks forward to going to the doctor. What's to look forward to?

“Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
  - Harriet Van Horne

I’ve always said that Valentine’s Day isn’t for the faint of heart. Between the overpriced roses, over-pinked shopping, and overly dramatic search for restaurant reservations, it’s enough to give any girl – or guy –  indigestion. And more than ever, I’m really thinking about the true value of gift giving, because, frankly, I just don’t need any more stuff.

What I truly want to give – and receive – for Valentine’s Day is a great experience to share with the one I adore. So, how about cooking at home this year?

With this in mind, I set out to find some great gift ideas for you, your honey and your home that just might lead to a romantic evening in. Let’s get started!

There’s nothing like the taste of raw honey. That musky, grainy, slightly tart explosion of sweetness is the most important part of my morning routine. Thickly spread between a slice of toast and a thin schmear of almond butter... and, ahhhh, who needs coffee?

It’s because I’m half-Greek, you know. We Greeks grow up with the taste of honey in our mouths. We get honey in warm milk to help us sleep; honey and lemon juice in hot water to soothe our sore throats; honey straight up to calm our coughs. All that honey almost makes us look forward to the next cold or flu season.

Fish is good for you! It’s low in saturated fat, good for your heart, and tastes great. It’s true that large ocean predators are high in mercury and chemicals from plastics. But the benefits of fish are bigger than the risks, according to studies. So we should eat it, right?

Forget the politically correct notions about what constitutes healthy eating. Foods devoid of fat, salt, and/or healthy microorganisms are not fit for human consumption, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Adam Anderson, former chef at Lucia's (currently at Whole Foods), creates Simple, Good, and Tasty recipes using the ingredients from our Harmony Valley Farm CSA boxes each week.