Buttery jam goodness

Helloooooooooo everyone!

How are you doing today? I'm doing just fantastic thank you.

The last few posts I opted to go without including a featured section, and instead I had a giant beginning monologue. Although this was a nice little break from my usual daily blogging grind, I think I owe you guys a stellar featured section - don't you?

Today I'm going to keep this beginning monologue fairly short, so we can hurry up and get to the good stuff. Just a few rad products I'd like to talk about and then we'll be on our way.........

Sunbutter Natural Sunflower Seed Spread....

::First of all - what is sunflower seed spread?::

Sunflower seed spread is a seed butter that is made from roasted sunflower seeds. It is a wonderful alternative to peanut butter because it is peanut free, tree-nut free, and gluten-free as well! So those of you who steer clear of peanut butter due to health issues have nothing to fear when it comes to Sunbutter or other sunflower seed spreads! This product is a great source of protein, and contains almost thirty percent of ones daily recommended vitamin E. Compared to peanut butter, SunButter has less saturated fat not to mention a greater iron/fiber content!

So what is the difference between this natural Sunbutter and the creamy Sunbutter I spoke of previously?

There isn't really much of a difference between the two to be quite honest. The most obvious differences are: the natural sunbutter has a layer of oils on the top that need to be stirred in, whereas the creamy doesn't - and the natural kind doesn't have as thick/hard of a consistency as the creamy kind. Another difference that I think would be less obvious to everyone else, but is very obvious to me, is that the natural kind has a stronger sunflower seed flavor and taste more buttery and sweet than the creamy.

I went about tasting this jar of natural sunbutter in the exact same manner as I did with the creamy sunbutter. I stuck my spoon (err.... finger) into the jar and popped that bad boy right into my mouth. Then grabbed a very large spoon and had a few spoon fulls for good measure lol. It's safe to say that I find this product to be utterly delicious. But don't take my word for it. Try it for yourself!

Check out their product availability to see where you can purchase some of your very own!

Amish Wedding Food Products......

I discovered this brand during a special trip to my local produce market. Thanks to one of the helpful employees, I learned so many wonderful things about Amish Food Wedding.

What did I learn?

- I learned that AW products are distributed in thirty eight states

- AW is a family owned business, and their customers are family owned businesses as well. (how cool!)

- All Amish Wedding foods, jams, and jellies are 100% "all natural"

- All of the juice, jams, and jellies are sweetened with white grape juice.

- Not only do they sell jams and jellies, they also sell noodles, salsas, pickled baby beets, fudge, bread and butter pickles, gummies candies, etc.

I also learned that this company is located in the heart of Ohio's Amish country (which is also largest Amish community in the world)! Being a native Ohioan - I was pretty jazzed to see all of the Ohio love going on in a tiny Florida produce market. I had to represent the good ol OH and buy a few jars of this amazing product! It was my duty as an Ohioan to do so :) And it's my duty as a foodblogger to tell you all about them! So here we go......

APPLE BUTTER

I have two words for you. Apple pie & applesauce.

This jar of apple butter taste exactly like ground up apple pie, mixed together with applesauce. The consistency is that of applesauce, but the flavor is that of apple pie. There is an apple explosion in my mouth to say the least. So delicious.

I've come to find that this pairs wonderful with foods such as bread, crackers, sliced apples, sliced pears, oatmeal, etc.

F.R.O.G. JAM

Why is it called F.R.O.G. jam? I have absolutely no idea lol - but I like it!

First of all - let me start off by saying that this is visually a beautiful jam. Just look at the color!

What I love so much about this jam, besides it's appearance, is that I can taste every single ingredient. It's not just a big mashup of flavors that in turn makes on giant flavor. Oh no no no. I can taste the orange peel, the figs, the ginger, and the raspberries individually. Each spoonful I take has a little more of one flavor than the other. One bite could taste strongly of ginger, while the next could taste strongly of orange. It's a very interesting flavor combination to say the least!

I really enjoy the texture this jam has as well. It's texture comes largely from the raspberries, so it has a bit of a crunch from the seeds, but it's very smooth at the same time.

What does this jam pair well with? I've paired it with bread, rice cakes, apples, pears, crackers, vanilla wafers. But my favorite combination is the one I threw together last night. I paired one tablespoon of this jam with 2 cups of frozen blueberries - and it was just delightful! Such a wonderfully healthy and guilt free late night treat.

PUMPKIN BUTTER

OH. MY. GAWWWWWWWWWWD.

::Pause for a moment of silence::

Words can't begin to describe how delicious this pumpkin butter is......I don't know if I can formulate words to even give you the slightest idea of how heavenly this really tastes.

It taste exactly like pumpkin pie in a jar.....PUMPKIN PIE PEOPLE! You're talking to the pumpkin pie queen of the North. The girl who, instead of eating cake on her birthday, eats pumpkin pie (or pecan pie depending on her mood).

Someone grab me some pie crust asap, because I'm going to make a pie out of this!

How? Easy: open the jar, empty its contents into the pie crust, voila pumpkin pie. Since opening (and photographing) this pumpkin butter two days ago.....I ate half of the jar lol. And I am not ashamed in the least bit! Why? Because there is eighthundred calories in the whole jar - and zero fat. I only consumed four hundred calories. Hey - that's not bad for a delicious non fat pumpkin pie dessert!

How have I been eating it? With a spoon, apples, bananas, pears, on my cereal, mixed with frozen blueberries, on toast, on my fingers etc. It pairs well with so many different things! :)

I highly advise you find the nearest Amish Wedding Foods distributor near you, and get your hands on these products fast. Why? Because 1. You're missing out, and 2. Amish people know how to make great quality foods unlike a majority of companies today. They're focused more on making a great tasting/great quality product than making money. Tasting even one of the aforementioned jars of goodness will make you second guess the crap in jars you've been purchasing from giant superstores....just sayin lol.

Well that's all you'll hear from me today! (Surprising hu?)

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderfully wonderful Friday.

Be sure to treat your body with the respect and love that it deserves.

You only have one!

Let us begin...

[[Today’s music]]

(1) EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS - HOME

Words can't describe how happy this song makes me. It radiates such intense positive vibes that I can't help but smile, and sing along like a fool. The world needs more positive music like this....and trumpets.....we could always use more trumpets....

.....speaking of positive vibes

(2) HALL & OATES - YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE

My favorite music of all time was the music I was listening to between the ages of five to nine. I was listening to: My dads favorite jazz music, TLC, Whitney Houston, Alanis Morissette, Color Me Badd, Vanilla Ice, Boyz II Men, Ace of Base, The Jackson Five, Michaels solo stuff, and my true loves - Hall & Oates.

Oh Hall and Oates....you made my childhood worth living.

.......wait......did someone say Ace of Base??

(3) ACE OF BASE - BEAUTIFUL LIFE

Someone was on drugs when they thought up this concept.

There is no doubt in my mind.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahah.

Oh my goodness I honestly can't stop laughing.

I'm so proud to be a 90s baby in this very moment.

[[Today’s restaurant]]

PETER LUGER STEAKHOUSE – BROOKLYN, NY

[[Today's kitchen gadgets]]

(1) WAFFLES ON A STICK

(2) TOVOLO ICE CREAM MOULD

(3) SWITCH SALT AND PEPPER SHAKER

[[Today's random]]

(1) FOOD BY STATE

I love this.

(2) WORDS

(3) ONLY HAVE EYES FOR DISNEY

(4) IN A PERFECT WORLD.....

This would be my every day ensemble.

(5) MOST EXTRAORDINARY SWIMMING POOLS

(6) TERRY MOORE: HOW TO TIE YOUR SHOES

::GASP::

I've been tying my shoes wrong my entire life!

(7) 1 LIMIT WATER SAVES WATER

(8) ACL: THE ICONIC GUCCI LOAFER

“As part of a new series entitled “Made In Italy,” A Continuous Lean gives us this behind-the-scenes look at the production of Gucci’s iconic loafer. Manufactured in a facility on the outskirts of Florence, each hand-sewn loafer passes through the delicate hands of a team of highly-skilled artisans who are involved in perfecting each and every shoe. After being sewn together and lasted, the shoes are then hand-stained and welted before going through a finishing process that includes polishing, drying, and the addition of the signature horsebit.
”

http://hypebeast.com/2011/05/acl-the-iconic-gucci-loafer/

[[Today’s food clip]]

(1) HILAH COOKING - HOW TO MAKE MASHED POTATOES

(2) CHEF VICTOR CASANOVA'S SPAGHETTI ALLA CHITARRA RECIPE

(3) THE PERENNIAL PLATE: FROZEN EGGS

The Perennial Plate Episode 39: Frozen Chickens from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

[[Today's curly head]]

DARREN CRISS

::Swoon::

Such a handsome fella with a such beautiful head of hair.