Hello from California! It's been a long time since I've contributed to the site. I'm not making excuses but rather explaining that in 2015 I made the very big decision to move across the country from New York to California, and while I knew it would take a lot of preparation and work, I had no idea just how much until it actually happened. Despite the many months of figuring out logistics, closing up ties in New York, settling in to a new area, starting a new job, making a new home, etc. etc., I haven't looked back once and can say this change was more than worthwhile. ​

March is National Nutrition Month®. So it's the perfect time for me to get back on track with blogging for you all and also share something that is very important to me.

Long before I knew I wanted to become a dietitian, I volunteered at food pantries because at least I knew I wanted to help address the widespread issue of food insecurity and hunger in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 49 million Americans (about 16 million of those are children) live in food insecure households. About 62% of these households use one of these three federal assistance programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) (1). However, that still leaves a lot of people without assistance in securing food!  
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Back in November, once I finally felt settled in my new position at work and able to start volunteering once more, I joined a project co-run by New York Cares and Citymeals-on-Wheels. Citymeals-on-Wheels provides meals seven days a week for homebound older adults, and this particular project delivers meals to participants belonging to three senior centers in Brooklyn, New York (my home for the past seven years). 

When I went to sign up again in January, I jumped on the opportunity to lead this project for the year, because I had such a good experience in November and believe this is a vital resource for members of the community. On the first Saturday of each month, my team of New York Cares volunteers meets at Borinquen Plaza Senior Center to package lunches that get distributed later in the week. Depending on how many volunteers we have, we make about 800-1500 packages each time!  

Volunteering has so many benefits. Aside from the core purpose of helping to provide nourishment to those in need, you get to meet the most incredible people from all over the country with all sorts of interests and personalities. Even though you are all strangers, you unite and create a hard working team fully focused on the same goal. It's pretty amazing. 

If any of you are interested in volunteering, especially for this cause, check out both of these resources as each of them offers numerous opportunities to get involved. And if preparing meals doesn't catch your interest, New York Cares has an array of volunteer opportunities ranging from tutoring children, cleaning up and landscaping local parks, teaching computer skills, leading arts and crafts projects, assisting people with resumes and job applications, and much more. 

If you don't have any extra time at this moment and still want to contribute to the cause, here is a link for making a donation to Citymeals-on-Wheels: https://www.citymeals.org/support-us. 

Thanks for reading about one of my passions! I would love to hear about yours! 

Best,
Maxine

to Whenever I have poached pears, I think about Rémy Fünfrock, the pastry chef who changed my life forever. He took a just graduated girl (who was trying to figure out how to combine her passions with a job) under his wings, forbid her from applying to culinary school and jump started her career in the food industry. Rémy is also the first person to introduce me to poached pears. 

Around this time ten years ago, on the Le Voyage section of the Café Boulud Palm Beach dessert menu, we featured a Frozen Hazelnut Parfait with Warm Poundcake and a Poached Pear. 

Ridiculously delicious! Not to mention that all of Rémy's dessert looked like pieces of art. 

Rémy taught me so many kitchen techniques and introduced me to new desserts from which I realized for the first time in my life I preferred fruit desserts over chocolate (gasp). I am forever grateful for the care and time he put into sharing the beauty of this fabulous trade, training me and answering all of many many MANY questions I had (even if he had to ask me to shut it once in awhile!). 

When I was at the store the other day there was a great deal on organic Bartlett pears, so naturally I jumped on it and went straight home to poach. There are numerous ways to poach fruit, but I swoon over red wine poached pears likely because of the great memories from Café Boulud. Also, poached pears can be used for both sweet and savory dishes and look so elegant while being so easy to prepare. For this recipe, I added some citrus flavors and seasonal spices to go along with the fall mood.

In addition to the pears, I tried something new this time since I knew I was going to have the pears with my almond milk oats and sweetened up the red wine reduction by adding maple syrup. DELISH! 

You can use the pears and sauce for a variety of dishes: serve with some yogurt or ice cream, slice and add to a sandwich or top off a salad. I fanned a pear and drizzled the sauce over my morning oats (see first pic) and had one of the best breakfasts ever!! Check out the recipes below! 

Red Wine Poached Pears 
& Maple Syrup Red Wine Reduction
Yields: 4 servings

• 4 each pears (peeled)
• 2 cups red wine (used Malbec in these)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons orange juice
• 3 each cinnamon sticks
• dash of ground cloves
• dash of ground allspice

For the reduction:

• 1-1/2 Tablespoons maple syrup

In a small pot, bring all the ingredients (except the pears) to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer.

Place the pears on their sides (yes, only half the pear will be covered). Let simmer for 5 minutes and then flip the pears so the opposite side is covered. Repeat for about 20-30 minutes until the pears are a rich red cover and cooked yet firm. 

Remove the pears from the heat and cool. Transfer the pears and red wine broth to a storage container and chill overnight (or at least 3 hours). 

To make the reduction, remove the cinnamon sticks and pour the broth into another small pot. Simmer the broth for about 20 minutes until it starts to thicken to a desired consistency (note the maple syrup will thin it out a tiny bit). Stir in the maple syrup. Drizzle on top of your dish or let cool to use later.

Cranberry Cacao Nib Oatmeal Cookies 
(with vegan sub suggestions)
Yields: 2 dozen cookies

• 1-1/2 cups oats
  
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
  
• 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup)
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 each egg (or flaxmeal egg)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 tsp almond extract 
  
• 3/4 cup cranberries, dried
  
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs
  
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts 
  

Preheat the oven to 350*F. 

Combine the coconut oil, honey and brown sugar in a bowl (if it doesn't fully mix it is okay and will become more cohesive in the next step).

Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix well. 

Stir in the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until combined. 

Mix in the cranberries, cacao nibs and hemp hearts.  

It's easy to see that I don't really contribute too much to the savory recipe world but this little concoction is something I'm not afraid to share! 

Last weekend I vowed to not leave the house for one day because I'm always on the go and was beginning to feel homesick. And it was one of the best days I've had in a long time. I played in the kitchen for hours, cleaned and organized a long awaited list of things too boring to mention and just simply chilled out with the big screen. For which I needed some snacks...

I'd been jonesing for some sweet potato chips (because anything sweet potato is my vice) but similar to my cookie rule: if you want chips, makes chips. So I made chips! Just a basic paprika spiced sweet potato crisp with some olive oil and Maldon sea salt. But I figured if I'm eating chips, I should pair them with something a bit more nutritious for me and that would provide some protein since meals and snacks should be a nice balance of protein and fiber. Given this time of year, it's only natural I needed my chip dip to be seasonal so I shook up a simple white kidney bean dip with my left over sweet potato puree, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm!!  Tasty treat loaded with protein, fiber, healthy fats, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, iron, magnesium, potassium and more. 

So why the pesto if the 'hummus' was so yummy? I was Sunday meal prepping and made pesto to use in a pasta dish. After tasting it, I quickly realized it really complimented the 'hummus.' 
You never know until you try, so always try because you might be pleasantly pleased! :) 

For the Basil Walnut Pesto, I sort of just used what I had in the house and didn't really measure the amounts. It was probably about 1 cup of fresh basil, 2/3 cup walnuts, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Just threw everything but the oil into the food processor and blended until nearly smooth. Added the olive oil and kept processing the pesto until it was smooth. 

Then seasoned to taste and voilà! 

Sweet Potato Cannellini 'Hummus'
Yields: ~2 cups

• 1 16 ounce can cannelliini beans (drain and rinse)
  
• 1/2 cup sweet potato puree
  
• 1 clove garlic (diced)
  
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (bit more to drizzle)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Puree all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth (or desired consistency).

Pour into a bowl and drizzle with additional olive oil if desired. Serve with crudité or freshly baked chips.