Nutmeg has already described some of her spicy friends in and earlier post. She thought it was time to provide some detail on some of the others and a bit of history at the same time.

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Recipes & Travel:
food info, Food Nutritional Facts, Health Benefits of Spices

Curry Murray loves beets and asked Nutmeg specifically for an article on beets.
So here are some of the facts right from Wikipedia:
The beet (Beta vulgaris) is a plant in the amaranth family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is probably the red root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet. However, other cultivated varieties include the leaf vegetables chard and spinach beet, as well as the root vegetables sugar beet, which is important in the production of table sugar, and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop.
The beet has a long history of cultivation stretching back to the second millennium BC. The plant was probably domesticated somewhere along the Mediterranean, whence it was later spread to Babylonia by the 8th century BC and as far east as China by 850 AD. Available evidence, such as that provided by Aristotle and Theophrastus suggests that the leafy varieties of the beet were…

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Food Nutritional Facts, Recipes with Beets, Side Dish Recipes

Nutmeg loves this idea for an open house – invite people over for a bowl of soup and a drink on New Year’s day.  It is a great way to hear all the stories from the night before and toast the New Year with your friends.  One additional bonus, is there is a very good chance no one will stay late as they were up the night before…

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Recipes & Travel:
Dinner Parties, Recipes with Lentils, Seafood Curry, Seafood Recipes, Soup Recipes

Nutmeg has tested this chocolate desert recently and confirms it is quick and easy to make.  Great for the holidays with seasonal ingredients (nuts and dried fruit) and Nutmeg is very happy to confirm it is nothing like traditional fruit cake.

Print Chocolate Nut and Fruit Tart Recipe type: Dessert Prep time:  2 hours 15 mins Cook time:  12 mins Total time:  2 hours 27 mins Serves: 6-8   Try this quick chocolate dessert and you are bound to impress your friends and family. Enjoy! Ingredients 1 Pie crust, refrigerated ¼ Cup Raspberry preserves, or jam of choice ½ Cup Heavy whipping Cream 12 oz Bittersweet Chocolate Chips 1 Cup Assorted nuts (pecans, sliced almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts) toasted, chopped coarsely 1 Cup Assorted dried fruit (cherries, raisins, cranberries and blueberries) 1 Large pinch Kosher Salt ½ Cup Toffee bits, for…

Recipes & Travel:
Chocolate recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Recipes with Dried Fruit, Recipes with Nuts

What are the ingredients for a great dinner party?  According to Nutmeg this is the list:  great food, interesting people and good wine (lots really good wine if the people are not interesting).  Ginger would add a full iPod, cleansing ales, dark rum and ice cream as must haves.

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Dinner Parties, Food and Travel Blog, What are the ingredients for a great dinner party

Nutmeg as you already know is quite black and white on most issues and this is definitely one of those.  Chocolate only comes in one acceptable format – dark and really dark.  White “chocolate” is about as real as marshmallows and about as good for you as MSG, trans-fats and saccharin.  For those interested here are some fast facts:

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Biscotti Recipes, Chocolate recipes, Easy Cookie Recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Easy healthy snack recipes

Nutmeg would like to introduce some of her friends and family.  Without a doubt, they are a spicy bunch and that is what she loves most about them.  There are a few who have not quite defined themselves yet (more on them at a later date).
In no particular order…
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Recipes & Travel:
Food and Travel Blog, Health Benefits of Spices

Just a quick note to say Nutmeg has many failures in the kitchen but those are never published.  She looks forward to your feedback!

Recipes & Travel:
Food and Travel Blog

Nutmeg loves fennel, which is a bit strange because she hates anise, sambuca and black licorice.  In any case, this fennel mustard recipe caught her eye.
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Recipes & Travel:
Fennel Mustard, Recipes with Fennel

Nutmeg has a bit of time on her hands this fall and this soup one of her new favorites:

Print Pear, Fennel and Acorn Squash Soup Recipe type: Soup Prep time:  15 mins Cook time:  30 mins Total time:  45 mins Serves: 4   This is an easy soup to celebrate the best of fall produce. Note: mild curry can be added as well (optional). Enjoy! Ingredients 1 Small Fennel bulb, diced 3 Shallots or ½ onion, diced 1.5 Tbsp. Olive oil 2 Pears cored and cubed 5 cups Vegetable or chicken stock ½ Tsp. cinnamon 1 Tsp. Fresh ginger, crushed 2 Medium Acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes ½ Cup Coconut milk Salt and Pepper, to taste Instructions Saute fennel and shallots in pan with 1 Tbsp oil until lightly…

Recipes & Travel:
Acorn Squash, Quick and Easy Soup, Recipes with Fennel, Recipes with Pears, Soup Recipes