What makes a restaurant great? Ask Traca Savadago!

What makes a restaurant great? Lighting, location, service, food? YES!

Think of why you love your favorite restaurant, what keeps you as a regular or what makes you stop going to a beloved spot.

The delightful Traca Savadogo is my guest for a two part show on what makes a restaurant great and so much more! It was a fun and exciting conversation, so make sure to listen to the show!

Luna's Kitchen Magic airs at 4 pm PST and 7 pm EST!

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side note: it was mentioned that @humphryslocombe has 300,000 followers, it was mistakenly quoted as a million+.

What makes you special?

In November, I was asked by a man I not only like immensely, but trust absolutely "What makes you special?"

This is the sort of question that, when asked by the wrong person, can shake up your entire world. Instead, it made me contemplative. The reason is that I recognized that what he was asking was "I know why you're special, do you?"

So, flash forward to a few days ago. I was feeling tired, agitated and just wrung out. An opportunity came up that I considered passing on. When I presented it to my friend Kelly, her response was "You can sleep when your dead. This is your career!"

With that in mind, I was able to interview the amazing and very interesting Warren Brown. This was a truly invigorating conversation. He has a passion for cake, but a passion for life as well.

The other thing that had been worrying me was if I am a good interviewer or not. Am I too relaxed, too unprepared?

This interview made two really valuable points for me. 1) I am a great interviewer and 2) What makes me special is, well, me.

My natural verve makes an impact on people that I don't always recognize. People can just be themselves around me, although that doesn't always make them comfortable. I am very open and always just myself.

 My conversation with the Cake Love man himself showed me that even when I am feeling a bit shy and in awe of the subject, by just allowing the conversation to flow I allow each of us to shine the way we need to.

I am so excited about writing up this article and it will be in next months Cuisine Noir, which has some unbelievable features you will not want to miss! Thank you for all your love and support!

Now...what makes you special?!

Luna's Kitchen Magic talks the Sandwich!

I love a good sandwich. Flavorful, fresh warm bread and the right ingredients make for an unbeatable combo.

If you want to know what it takes to make a sandwich good, well, that's too bad, because I want you to make them great!

Join me as I talk the best ingredients, eating seasonaly & by color, even when you have to be on the go. Being busy is no reason to sacrifice flavor and quality. Luna's Kitchen Magic will help you break down the fundamentals of a delicious and underrated food, the sandwich!

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Luna's Kitchen Magic airs 7 pm EST, 4 pm PST on Radio Dentata

Lunch In a Box, a great, green way to eat

Biggie, the writer of Lunch in a Box, lived in Japan for nine years and was resistant to the bento box.

Here she is years later, a bento box blogger extrodinare. Her kitchen a bright fun place filled with bento boxes and accessories galore. So much galore in fact, that some of it was falling on her when she opened the very neatly organzied cupboards!

I realized that a bento box is one of the greenest meals you can ever create, and we both grew more excited as we talked about the possibilities that exist for making a healthy, well rounded and filling lunch.

This is one of the funnest chats I have ever had, with one of the coolest, most amazing women I know.

I purchased all the stuff for the Bento box test but have only done one so far. On the other hand, I am really being more conscious of eating by color, so thanks Biggie!

She also reccommends Kawaii Bento Boxes for help, since most of the other books are in Japanese. Oh yeah and she sings th cutest song....!

Sit back, relax and listen as Biggie teaches how to make Lunch in a Box!

Luna's Kitchen Magic airs 7 pm EST, 4 pm PST on Radio Denata! podcast

The Duo Dishes on Luna's Kitchen Magic!

We are two young, passionate eaters and experimental cooks based in Los Angeles. We are not professional chefs, as our culinary training solely stems from our ability and desire to cook fearlessly. With roots that span from the North and South tips of the East coast, we love to mix and match everything that speaks to family traditions, regional fare and new ethnic flavors when we create meals for ourselves and others. We have catered graduation parties to baby christenings, and we host frequent dinner parties for 10-15 of our closest friends.



In the last year, we have been able to give thousands of people a glimpse into our kitchens. The most recent showcase was a live demonstration of our winning recipe selected by Bertolli Test Kitchen chefs at the 1st Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival on November 7, 2009. We also won First Place in KCRW's 1st Annual Good Food Pie Contest in the "Savory Pie" category.


We are also food bloggers with a popular cooking and recipe blog, www.duodishes.com, that has become the easiest forum for us to share what we cook with friends, family and other readers. For us, cooking is meant to be a pleasure, and food is meant to be enjoyed. Everyone is invited to grab a fork and sit down at our table.

Luna's Kitchen Magic airs 7 pm PST, 4 pm EST www.radiodentata.com/RDplayer/lunaraven/
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Almond Muffins with Stephanie Stiavetti

I really know very little about baking Gluten Free, and since so many of my friends are gluten free I thought I better get a handle on the situation. I called upon my friend Stephanie the force behind Wasabimon.

She delightfully agreed to come on the show and teach us how to make these wonderful Almond Muffins with blueberries and peaches. She also throws in a fast easy lesson for you on how to make vanilla extract!

So, here are the recipe and the photos, courtesy of Ms. Wasabimon herself. Enjoy the show... and the muffins!




Blueberry Peach Almond Flour Muffins (grain, dairy, and gluten free!)

This recipe was adapted from The Everyday Grain-Free Gourmet, by Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass. If you're interested in working more with almond flour, I highly recommend this book!

Makes 12 muffins.

2 1/2 cups finely ground almond flour (I use Bob's Red Mill, available in most grocery stores)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup frozen peaches, defrosted and diced
1/2 cup frozen blueberry, defrosted and diced

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.

In a mixing bowl, mix almond flour, baking soda and salt. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing until well incorporated. Add honey and fruit, stirring well.

Spoon the batter into your prepared muffins cups - you should fill them about 2/3 full. Bake about 30 minutes, or until muffins are slightly browned on top and an inserted knife comes out clean.



*we enjoyed them with real butter, but they would be fantastic with some really good jam!

Vanilla Extract

You can listen to the show here

For more on Stephanie, click here! Stephanie Stiavetti

Want more Luna? well great, go ahead and see what's up! podcast

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/

The Trends at the Fancy Food Show 2009

The trends have been clear: innovative, spicy, organic, and natural ingredients.

Foods that help heal, have low salt, are good (and fun) for you and your kids are the order of the day. There are some great new companies offering wonderful new products and old favorites rolling out new items.

Some of the highlights were: Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the first purveyor in the U.S. to hire a humane auditor in an attempt to change the face, and the reputation of the foie gras industry.

Zebra Mix, whose creators made healthy, easy to use cookie and cupcake kits for kids and their adults.

Coco-Luxe, whose Devil’s Food truffle is simply not to be believed!

Fentiman’s makes a delightful series of drinks: my own favorite was the Dandelion and Burdock which is just fantastic!

You need to try the Firecracker candy Bar by Chuao. It has chipotle chili, sea salt and popping candy! It was a really fun treat in the mouth. They also come in mini pods.

The Dry Soda Company has introduced two new flavors to their already fantastic set: Vanilla Bean and Juniper, each of which adds just that extra bit of yum to your drinking power.

A special shout out to the girls from The Dry Soda Company, who were delightful and let me hang out at their booth a lot.

There will be blogs on my favorite new items and even better ambush interviews with Dulcet, Zebra Mix, Fentimans and more!

Next week I will be unveiling a contest, so make sure you tune in to the show!!

Holiday Cookie Recipe

It makes me sad that the holiday has become so commercialized and is geared so much toward children. I wish to highly recommend a tradition that was alive for many years in my own family until she moved away. My older sister bakes cookies every year and was one of the inspirations for my foray into culinary school.

So, yearly I was allowed to help bake and decorate stockings, Santa’s, present and other cookie cut outs, which I remember fondly (oh, yeah and I always got to lick the beaters!) as we played with colored frosting and sugar. So you can imagine my delight when she actually agreed to part with her recipe! I nearly died. Then she said I could share with you! So here it is:

Carrie’s Sugar Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 F

2/3 c butter
¾ c sugar
1 egg
4 tsp milk
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp grated orange peel
2 c flour
1½ tsp baking powder

Thoroughly cream butter, sugar, orange peel & vanilla. Add egg; beat fluffy. Stir in milk. Sift dry ingredients; stir in.
Chill at least one hour, though two is best.
On a floured surface roll ½ the dough to 1/8” thickness, cutout with cookie cutters. Chill remaining dough until ready to use. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, making sure they are not touching. Bake 6-8 minutes until light brown.

Frost as desired.

You have to promise that you will make these with your kids, your favorite niece or nephew, maybe just your not so little younger siblings. The memories you create will be the best treasures of the holiday.

On That note, happy Christmas, Solistice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Yule Holiday!

Loft Liqueurs-Organic and Sustainable!

I recently had the enjoyable experience of meeting Lisa Averbuch, the brain behind Loft Liqueurs. These are organic, sustainable and kosher creations that enchant the tongue.

The three signature flavors are Lavender Cello, which is lovely, delicate and highly enjoyable.

The Lemongrass Cello is light with a golden colour and a very pleasant taste.

My own favorite was the Ginger Cello, a snappy bouquet & spicy, with a not overdone on the palate tingle.

The current seasonal flavor is Tangerine Cello, which brought to mind my Grandfather’s Tangerine tree which grew in the backyard during my childhood. The pop of the fruit was just like it was when I was a kid.

I was also lucky enough to try some of Loft’s future seasonal flavors, the Blueberry, which would by far be better mixed with Vodka than drinking blueberry vodka, and the Raspberry, which was sweet and tart, much the way a real berry is!

I highly encourage you to try these Liqueurs if you have a chance. And I suggest you check them out online. This is a product worth supporting. I want to drink the best of what there is on offer, and I hope you do too!

For more on Loft, make sure you check out my show (link)

www.loftliqueurs.com

To order: www.mondo.com
www.drinkupny.com

A votre sante!