Encouraging Dreams

Today's show is pretty important to me. I do wonder why some people are encouraged, while others are dissuaded from pursuing their dreams.

What if no one had encouraged the likes of Barbara sher, Bryant Terry, Caroline Myss, Anthony Robbins or Julia Child?

The world would be a hungry and less happy place. Think about THAT statement for a moment.

If someone in your world needs love in support in pursuit of what makes them happy, providing only does both of you good!

The show starts @ 7 p.m. EST! http://www.radiodentata.com/RDplayer/lunaraven/

Luna's Pick of the day: Cornerstone Cellars 2005

Cornerstone Cellars 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

deep red color, ripe cherry/berry nose/

Soft, chewy mouthfeel with balanced tannins, medium, slighty dry finish.

I enjoyed this wine and can't wait to try the '04!

Embrace Sweets: Brownies!!

Sandra from Embrace Sweets was nice enough to agree to an interview here on Kitchen Magic, and I am delighted. This mother-daughter business has recently relocated from San Francisco to Los Angeles, but fortunately, we can still order these gorgeous treats online. Visit them today and get a sampler box!

Kitchen Magic: How did you start baking brownies?
What made you decide to turn Brownie baking into a business?

Embrace Sweets: I (Sandra) had been baking for years. My mother and grandmother were excellent bakers as well cooks. I was in good company. A few years ago I decided to go to culinary school (California School of Culinary Arts - Cordon Bleu) to sharpen my skills and learn the business side of the food industry. Brandi and I decided to start the business when she assisted me on a large catered event. Embrace specialized in specialty cookies and eventually started doing brownies. After submitting our brownies to CHOW Magazine, they voted our brownies one of the top 5 in the country and Embrace Brownies took on a life of its own. From there we won numerous awards.I recently realized that brownies were the one item I used to bake as a kid.

KM: Where do your flavor ideas come from?
ES: We have baked a lot of flavors over the years, traditional to a little creative. But, what we noticed was that our customers stayed committed to our traditional flavors. So today, our flavors are triple chocolate, chunky walnut, caramel pecan, toffee almond crunch and peanut butter blitz.


KM: Which one is your favorite flavor?
ES: I like them all, but chunky walnut is my favorite by far. As for Brandi, Toffee Almond Crunch is her favorite.


KM: Do you have plans for expansion on the flavors?
ES: We are always looking to expand our flavors, but for now we are sticking with the most popular flavors and offering our customer creative choices such as our Tall Stacks which is 5 tall tins each one filled with bite size nuggets. We also have brownie stixs and our bite size samplers, and of course our whole brownies.


KM: What is your ultimate goal with the business?
ES: We want to be a premier online gift business. Once we have a large enough following to justify a retail location we will open our brownie boutique.Our mission is simple, to bring joy and memorable experiences for our loyal customers and the people they love..

KM: What advice do you have for other women who would like start a business?
ES: Passion is crucial. Learn from people are succeeding in business. Its a lot of work but there is nothing more rewarding. You have to find a path that works for you to help you succeed. We have just completed an e-Book "Embrace The Possibilities" Quotes That Feed Our Spirit filled with quotes and books that helped us.


www.embracesweets.com

Biracial In Purgatory: Biracial Foodie

Where are all the black & multiracial foodies? Chefs? Food artisans? I know that you are out there somewhere, eating the best foods, enjoying the finer things without apology or regret.

I have worked with black chefs, though honestly, when I was in school, there was not one black teacher. The one biracial chef I worked with was arrogant, over confident & completely obnoxious. Honestly though, I would guess that is more a product of being spoiled than of race.

So why are there so many black cooks & not many chefs? Not many black pastry chefs? Multicultural food artisans? We are seeing more out there, black wine makers are now being showcased at groundbreaking places such as Harlem Vintage in New York.

My family (on either side) is pretty adverse to just about anything I enjoy, Caviar or Fish of any sort, alligator, brioche, a steak that’s not well done, foie gras, crab, lobster, wine, oysters, cheese…..this list could go on for a long time.

In the past, someone like me would be called “An Uppity Black”. If that is what you would like to call me, that is fine, I will wear the title with pride. Anyone want to join me?

Luna’s Pick of the Day: Scream Sorbet

Wandering the Farmer’s Market is always fun, and you can always count on finding good deals and treasures.

Today’s treasure was in the form of sorbet!

Lemon Sage, Blueberry Pomegrante, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Saffron Almond, Sweet Potato Pie and Chocolate Mint were all taste tested and throughly enjoyed.

Erin walked away with the Blueberry Pom & Lemon Sage, while I got the Lemon Sage & Sweet Potato Pie. As a sweet potato newbie, I was swooning over the lucious flavor, though I am throughly convinced that its was the coconut milk inside that put it over the top. The Lemon Sage was wonderfully refreshing and perfect even on a drizzly day!

Go immediately to http://screamsorbet.com/ to check it out. You won’t be sorry!!