International

  • Ability First Food & Wine Festival

    (Photos by Gerry Furth-Sides. AbilityFirst Food & Wine Festival content)The Historic Laurabelle A. Robinson House in Pasadena, one of the most, if not the most gracious sites in the world was home for a to the  AbilityFirst Food & Wine Festival presented by CHUBB. The garden grounds with ponds are the...

  • Halal: Quality + Healthy = Delicious

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) As common a sign as it can be in both Muslim and non-Muslim ones, the term Halal can be a mystery to the public. This is just like it’s close relative, Kosher. Both basically mean eating select meats, foul and poultry on a certification list that you can trust to be clean, and […]...

  • Live! AbilityFirst Food & Wine Festival 2022

    (Photos by Gerry Furth-Sides. AbilityFirst Food & Wine Festival content)The Historic Laurabelle A. Robinson House in Pasadena, one of the most, if not the most gracious, old-school and fun event sites in the world, will be home for a day to the  AbilityFirst Food & Wine Festival presented by CHUBB. Th...

  • Magical Ojai Pixie and Flamingo Pear Bake

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) We just had to see if our “must-try” galette stands up as a favorites. The bake combines a spring and an autumn fruit: Ojai Pixie tangerines and Flamingo pears from Chile. Each are still perfect to eat on their own. It does indeed. We start with a bag of medium-small size Pixies. And […]...

  • How to Celebrate Ramadan in All Its Parts

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) We were so fortunate to visit Forn Al Hara and Le Mirage bakeries in “Little Arabia” leading up to the first of two month-long Ramadan holiday celebrations, Eid al-Fitr.  The second arrives in about two months, Eid al-Adhar. The joyous bakes made specially for the h...

  • Carrot Cake and other New Easter Traditions

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) Easter has become for so many the holiday that celebrates the easter basket and the easter bunny with its traditional stuffers rather than a religious one. And rightly so, because it goes so much farther back in history by thousands of years. To ancient cultures, Easter was known as the spring equinox-the tim...

  • Happy New Year – Four Times Over!

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) You can wish friends and family a “Happy New Year” four times over this month. The reasons include religious and secular traditions following of either the sun or the moon. Let’s start with with the Persian holiday, NOWEUZ, which falls on March 20. It begins with the new moon in an astrologi...

  • New Scrappy Ways to Fight Food Waste

    (Gerry furth-Sides) “Waste Not, Want Not” describes the work of Imperfect Food. We experienced a lively, inspiring experience learning about it at Cafe Gratitude in Los Angeles. The combination of he Launch Dinner Menu currently offered to diners this month and motivating conversation is the perfect Rx this session. The atti...

  • The Most Royal Fried Version Ever: Andras Chicken Majestic

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) Say the words, “Fried Chicken” in any language and you have an instant favorite. Like the Chicken Majestic, new on the menu at Banana Leaf in Culver City. We use the term, “wildly popular” throughout this report because it IS accurate for all of the fried chicken dishes here. And the s...

  • In Love with Garcia de la Cruz from Soup to Nuts, and Why!

    (Gerry Furth-Sides) I was so happy to attend the Garcia de la Cruz Tribute to Spain products. Why? Garcia de la Cruz turned me into a virgin olive oil lover. Before this I only used grapeseed oil. The gift-to-go was the chance for guests and anyone in the United States to win a a gift […]...