Innovative, creative and quality are our ambitions. With the many different huckleberry products on the market these days we at Northwest Wild Foods want to create new products that are superior to ou

When asked about what you think of when some one says ‘Cornwall' you are more than likely to get ‘Cream teas', ‘Cornish Pasties' and the ‘Eden Project' as a response. Yet Cornw

Spring's seeds are finally turning into the fruits of summer! We've already worked our way through some of the leafy greens, such as chard, mustard and butter lettuce. Now we're waiting on our heirloom tomatoes and carrots. Since last year's blueberry success, you're confident in this year's prize of the garden: juicy peaches. Regardless of what specialties you're nurturing this year, the long months of summer make us pause in gratitude for what the earth offers us each growing season.nnFor much of the year, our produce is trucked in from far-flung farmlands. Once summer arrives, though, everyone gets the opportunity to claim their birthright as gardeners and cultivators of their own food. What's best, local summer harvests allow us to experiment with simple, nutritious meals. With very little effort, a meal of fresh vegetables and summer fruits can become a decadent feast. And if your simple cuisine asks for a hint of the exotic, you can harvest a bouquet of flavors from the most unlikely of places: your aromatherapy medicine chest.nnYou already know that when using essential oils, it is always important to find therapeutic-grade oils. Because oils are concentrated substances, distilled from mass quantities of plant matter, you want to find the highest quality oil you can. While this makes sense when you think of essential oils being absorbed into the body through the skin, always sticking with therapeutic-grade oils has an added benefit: these powerful oils can easily be incorporated in cooking, too. Never thought of it that way before? Scent has a stronger influence on our perception of flavor than our taste buds do! With that in mind, here are a few simple ways the repertoire of essential oils can add a splash of flavor to your simple summer menu.nnFirst and foremost, let's address the issue of food safety. Essential oils are, obviously, plant-derived substances. While you may not want to eat a hunk of frankincense resin straight from the tree, frankincense is still a naturally occurring substance. It is not poisonous in small quantities, but it may make you want to brush your teeth immediately. Many essential oils are expressly dangerous for internal consumption, such as wintergreen and birch, but other oils can be used in small quantities for internal health as well as for cooking. In fact, the FDA has qualified many of the common essential oils as GRAS, Generally Recognized as Safe, substances. This means that, although they are not categorized as food additives, they can be consumed without apparent side-effects. When considering which oils to cook with, this is a good rule of thumb: essential oils of citruses, spices and other commonly-eaten foods are probably going to make excellent additions to your cuisine. Just be cautious when using essential oils that are known to irritate mucous membranes, such as cinnamon, oregano and peppermint.nnNow that you have the beginnings of a delicious summer harvest, take a moment to consider how essential oils might enhance the bounty. Citrus oils, like lemon and grapefruit, mix well with olive oil for salad dressings. Just add a couple of drops to two tablespoons of oil to zest up a summer salad. Lime essential oil can be blended with avocado for guacamole, and mandarin orange oil makes a great addition to spinach salad. And don't forget beverages! Citrus oils give juices and bubbly waters a great twist. Using equal parts lemon, lime and grapefruit, club soda becomes a refreshing citrus drink without the sugar or artificial sweeteners found in soda. Just remember, as with all essential oils, less is more. This rule applies to cooking, too, so use a light hand when sprinkling in these potent flavors.nnEver thought about those essential oils derived from the bouquet of cooking herbs you've planted in your garden? Oregano, ginger, thyme, marjoram, bay and basil are ideal for cooking. If you love basil (and most of us do!) add a few drops of oil to a simple pasta of red pepper, olives and red onion, and your taste buds will dance. Or maybe you're a stir fry fanatic. Ginger oil, which is extremely powerful, adds kick to Asian food and is great for aiding digestion, too. Ever considered trying coffee with cardamom? A single drop of cardamom turns coffee into a feast for the senses. Try this blend iced on hot afternoons for a refreshing treat or even after meals. When cooking with these oils, though, remember that an excess of oil could potentially make your food inedible because they are so strong. Go easy, and consider tossing the oils in right at the end of cooking so they don't evaporate prior to mealtime.nnNot surprisingly, essential oils also enhance desserts. Two of the most well-loved dessert flavorings come as essential oils: vanilla bean and cacao. The aromatic oils, however, do not come laden with sugar, nor are they soaking in alcohol, the process used to create extracts. If you find yourself craving a sweet vanilla, try blending your essential oil with honey instead of sugar and see if your craving is curbed. The same can be said for cacao. This bitter, dark essential oil is not a candy bar, but it signals the brain the same way chocolate does. A decadent way of indulging your sweet tooth without jeopardizing your diet is to drip two drops of cacao or vanilla into yogurt and eat like ice cream.nnWe think of summer cuisine, and its accompanying picnics and patio parties, year-round. The season's harvest helps us eat right and participate in the cultivation of our own food, a rare treat for many living in urban environments. Using aromatic oils to add variety and spice to our diet is easy and often enables us to forgo unnecessary trips to the grocery for specialty items. This summer, when a friend stops by unannounced and you're down to rice milk and coffee, don't despair. Take a drop of grapefruit oil and turn water and ice into a refreshing citrus drink. After all, that's how it's done in the summertime!

With strong and rich flavors, Irish teas are extremely popular across the world. But one Irish Tea stands out from the crowd. Barry's Classic Tea truly is for the connoisseur. Barry's Tea of Cork,

One of the biggest benefits of buying British food online is that you can take advantage of a large selection. There are many types of food that you can find online. In fact, the selection is so big t

Are you thinking about buying British food online? If so, you have many options for doing so as well as many reasons for wanting to move forward. When you buy British food you can take advantage of qu

If you love to eat British food you are not alone. The British know how to make their food, and this shows in almost everything that is available for purchase in today's day and age. No matter where y

What is it that you like about British food? There are many answers to this question. Two reasons why you may want to consider eating more British food is the nutrition and great taste. There are many

Coffee and drinks vending machines have long been a regular sighting in offices, institutions, hospitals - pretty much anywhere that is visited by lots of people on a regular basis. As vending techno

Soup: The Big 3 Soup has been a popular foodstuff since around 6000BC. However, its longevity doesn't mean that the nature of soup and the ways it can be stored or consumed has changed considerably

Here in England, soups are a staple of the diet and subsequently available in many formats such as tinned, packaged, and even available as a warmer from the coffee vending machine. Elsewhere, in coun

Chilled drinks bought from vending machines, shops and cafeterias are increasing in sales due to an increasing social awareness of wanting to stay healthy. This not only means a more competitive mark

Whether it is from Starbucks, an Aeropress, or the vending machine down the hall, the beans that make your cup of coffee are likely to have come from just a handful of countries. However, the importa

Researchers have found that consuming three to four cups of tea a day is healthier than water. With their findings, drinking tea is actually better than water as it has many health benefits.

Chef Erich Soll has been pairing meats and woods since the early 1970s. He is now the Corporate Executive Chef for Adapt Core's two restaurants, The Kingsport Grocery and BONE FIRE Smoke House. Adapt

We are a nation of seafood lovers! According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service, people in the U.S. consumed a total of 4.9 billion pounds of fish and shel

Good taste doesn't always mean good for you. But in the case of seafood, flavor and increased wellness often go together. And, as if the delicious taste of seafood wasn't reason enough to eat it regul

First of all, what is Vitamin D? nnVitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, and the only vitamin that can be produced by the body. nnVitamin D helps your body absorb and use calcium, a mineral that gives strength to your bones and teeth, and helps your nerves and muscles function properly. Vitamin D also helps your immune system work effectively, and reduces inflammation. nnA growing body of research now indicates that adequate levels of Vitamin D in our blood stream can also provide protection from hypertension, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Because of Vitamin D's ability to help the body regulate absorption of calcium it's also showing it's ability to assist in reducing the severity of fractured bones. nnNew research is showing Vitamin D's important role in defending against cancer. More than a dozen different cancers are linked to a less than adequate level of Vitamin D according to a number of studies. Finally, the newest research is showing that proper levels of Vitamin D can help in the battle with diabetes and help reduce heart disease and occurrence of heart attacks. Many people, however, have difficulty getting enough Vitamin DnnnWhat is the proper level of Vitamin D?nnAccording to scientific research the proper level of Vitamin D in the blood stream is 40 to 60 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter). The only way to determine your Vitamin D level is through a blood test. nnThe testing can be done locally through your primary physician, or by the use of labs that can be found by searching the Internet. Prices at the time of this writing were in the $40 USD to $90 USD range. If you use an Internet lab you receive a kit in the mail along with detailed instructions. In general, you simply prick your finger, apply drops of blood to the test strip, mail back, and wait for the test results.nnIn early tables, it was recommended that an average adult between the ages of 14-50 intake 200 IU of Vitamin D daily. At that level, a couple of glasses of fortified milk or a serving of tuna fish would supply that need. At age 50, it was suggested this amount be doubled.nnNew recommendations place these daily levels at 2,000 IU daily for anyone over the age of 14. At this level it becomes difficult to get adequate amounts through diet or sunlight alone. If you live south of a line drawn from Los Angeles to Columbia, South Carolina it's possible to simply get your Vitamin D from the sun. Draw a line from San Francisco to Philadelphia, and anyone north of that line will find it almost impossible to get adequate amounts from the sun for six months out of the year.nnSources of Vitamin D.nnIf you live south of a line drawn from Los Angeles to Columbia, South Carolina it's possible to simply get your Vitamin D from the sun. If you're fair of skin or your job or lifestyle keeps you out of the sun, diet and supplementation may be in order. Draw a line from San Francisco to Philadelphia, and anyone north of that line will find it almost impossible to get adequate amounts from the sun for six months out of the year.nnGood dietary sources of vitamin D are butter, margarine, cheese cream, yogurt, milk eggs and fortified orange juice. The richest sources of vitamin D are fish-liver oils, particularly those of the halibut and the cod. Other fish sources are tuna, salmon, and mackerel. At most however, you generally won't receive more than 200-300 IU from a helping of fish, which has the highest level of Vitamin D. Fortified milk for example only has around 100 IU's per 8 ounce serving.nnAs you can see, you would have to consume a great deal of food to achieve adequate levels of Vitamin D on a daily basis. nnWhat About Supplementation?nnThe Linus Pauling Institute recommends that generally healthy adults take 2,000 IU (50 mcg) of supplemental vitamin D daily. Because of variables in diet, geographical locations, skin types, age, among others, supplementation is the only way to insure that you are getting adequate amounts of Vitamin D. nnThe most viable type of Vitamin D for consumption is Vitamin D3.n

Buying a fair trade organic black tea not only gives you a high quality tea but help you gain personal satisfaction of knowing that the tea is produced without any chemical used and fairly traded.

We need to ensure that how we prepare them does not wash away vitamin contents and benefits of consumption. Overcooking can also break down the essential fiber which we need to clean our internal orga