Good Press

I was surprised to find what I consider an upscale product at the Terra Alta Shop 'n Save. I am intrigued that there would be enough demand for a small grocery store to stock almond milk. But they have pleasantly surprised me before with products like acini di pepe, which I couldn't find at Wal-mart in larger neighboring towns. A half-gallon carton of the Blue Diamond Almond Breeze lactose-free, vitamin-fortified almond milk cost $2.99. I splurged. I made a kheer-like concoction (kheer is an Indian rice pudding) by mixing the milk with a little sugar, cardamom and vanilla extract and putting it over cooled basmati rice. It was OK but I made more than we really wanted to eat. I would much rather drink just the spiced, sweetened milk -- especially at bedtime. Just pour some almond milk into a glass and add a little granulated sugar, vanilla extract and cardamom to taste. Stir and enjoy. Good night!

Chef Harv died before I got to make his acquaintance. Harvey Christie could've gone quite far, but was just getting companies and concepts off the ground when he crashed his van in December 2006 and died. He had founded a gourmet company in the Eastern Panhandle that served The Greenbrier Resort among others. But his most intriguing concept was a company that handled the overhead for people who wanted to make and package their own products to sell. For example, let's say I had what I thought was a great recipe for Granny's apple butter but opening a commercial kitchen and getting the proper permits was too overwhelming. I could call Harvey Christie's Gourmet Central, take my apples and spices to their kitchen and use their equipment to prepare, package and even label my product before marketing it. Harv's wife and partner are still running it last I heard. What got me thinking about Chef Harv? I caught a 15-minute cooking show he hosted on our local public televisio...