NOURISH HEALTH + TASTE + STYLE

The Cutest Darn Granola Bar

I've expressed my love of 18 Rabbits granola and granola bars many times over--great ingredients (organic, sustainably-sourced and delicious), great packaging and design (come on, we all know it helps) and great minds behind the brand (my close friend Alison and her savvy team of granola ).  The San Fran-based team has now introduced Bunny Bars, petite 120 calorie versions of their bars made with kiddies in mind--no nuts included.  The bars are just as tasty and energizing as the full-size version and are quite satisfying for the adult who's hit the wall around 4pm and needs an afternoon pick-me-up.  The bars come in 4 flavors, or rather 4 rabbit-eared friends (Mimi Merry Mango Strawberry, Rocco Choco Banana, Squeaky Cheeky Choco Cherry and Deedee Dot Cherry Apricot) to make them that much more kid-friendly, healthy and fun at the same time.  Given their commitment to encouraging healthy eating in kids and to nutrition education, the brand has partnered with the San Francisco Food Bank to give back more than 1% of sales from bars to local SF urban schools.
You'll find 18 Rabbits's big bars at various Whole Foods locations nationwide, Wegmans, Fairway, Cibo (in a number of airports) as well as online.  For a full list of stockists or to snag them online, click here.
Happy weekend!

Travelogue :: Scones & Cocktails Via SF

Before I delve into a post about my recent weekend in San Francisco, I wanted to say a gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who supported Nourish's Kickstarter campaign.  We exceeded our goal last week and continue to move ahead towards Nourish Kitchen + Table's official brick and mortar launch (stay tuned....)!   

I was able to decompress a bit with a mini-work/pleasure trip to SF just as the final Kickstarter pledges rolled in.  A few days scouting the city with 18 Rabbits founder Alison Bailey Vercruysse + ridiculously gorgeous weather + some excellent eating had me wanting to linger on the west coast a while longer.  And if you're unfamiliar with 18 Rabbits, you should definitely familiarize yourself.  It's hands down the best-tasting granola with the most-consciously sourced ingredients on the market.  Thankfully, corner delis, Whole Foods, Dean & Deluca and other shops have started stocking it in NYC, so keep your eyes peeled.

A few quick highlights of the trip: 

*The famed farmer's market at the Ferry Building. Local strawberries, kumquats and pixie clementines that taste like candy, Scream Sorbet with their addictive line of dairy-free sorbets (pistachio and tangelo....wow!), green garlic that'll have you breathing fire but you won't care it's so tasty, and countless artisan food vendors and local farmers.

*Nopa. The food and cocktails were so good that we did dinner and brunch there. 

*Tartine Bakery.  Lovely and delicious bread.  And a pretty darn good lemon tart too.

*Saturday afternoon cocktail hour with the expert bartending skills of Alison's husband.  The SF Cooler is pictured below.  Rum + cointreau + club soda + lime juice.  Tart and sweet, simple and refreshing.   

*Grass-fed lamb chops from the Fatted Calf butcher shop, fava bean-mint crostini (recipe below) and radicchio salad with kumquats and fresh goat cheese.  A home-cooked dinner doesn't get much better.  

*The smell of Alison's perfectly light blueberry-lemon scones baking on a Sunday morning.  Sorry, no recipe, it's under lock and key.