"FruitSalad" news and stories

Last week, Scott and I filmed the first episode of Fork You Live. Half cooking class and half show, it was an opportunity to talk about food for nearly an hour in front of a live audience in the gorgeous demonstration kitchen at Foster's Homewares. A bunch of our friends came out, as well as some folks that had heard about the filming on the interwebs.

I did my best to to talk with most of the folks who came to watch us and one of the people I met was Diana Harman, who is a Philly baker who specializes in vegan cupcakes. We talked for a bit before we started filming and afterwards she waved goodbye and she and her friend were leaving. After she got home, she was inspired enough by my recipe for fruit salad with a coconut, lime and honey dressing that she created a vegan cupcake with similar flavors. I haven't tried them yet, but any cupcake with coconut milk, lime and banana has got to be good.

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Yesterday was a big day for fans. Which fans? Basically, any and all fans who wanted to celebrate anything, whether you were celebrating Cinco de Mayo, holding your breath during the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight, swirling your twirl for Tom Jones in Vegas, or cheering for the horses at the Kentucy Derby.

If it was the Kentucky Derby, then no doubt you were sipping on mint juleps all day long. If you happen to have some of the mint-infused simple syrup left, you might want to follow in the recipe steps of Ceres' Secrets and throw together a Mint-Juleped Fruit Salad. All you have to do is toss fresh fruit with the simple syrup, a splash (or more, depending on how you feel) of Bourbon, and garnish with fresh mint. I can't think of a better way to get over your post-Derby Day hangover!

After months or declining sales and despite a good deal of negative publicity, McDonald's announced that they hit a six year high in sales both in the US and abroad, with the best performances from stores in the UK. The company cites in increase in healthier menu items, including salads and less fattening kids' choices. At UK restaurants, the new options include deli sandwiches, free-range eggs, more fruit and beef that is only "from the forequarter or flank of a cow."

While some applaud the changes and point to these new options as the reason for the sales growth, critics point out that the healthier options account for only 10% of total sales and that the company "sells eight double cheeseburgers...for every salad." The critics seem to be failing to take into account that that 10% is a huge change in the past 5 or 6 years, when the company didn't offer that many options, and that it is still primarily a fast-food burger restaurant. A sales boost should reinforce the company's desire to retain healthier menu items - and that should be a victory for the critics in and of itself.

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Sugar High Friday is one of the most enduring of the food blog events. This month Sam of Becks and Posh has set the day as Sugar Low - after the excesses of the Holidays, this is most welcome. And most welcome to me following my excess of cookies, sweets and doughnuts recently.

Fruit Salad in a Passion Fruit infused non-sugar sugar-syrup may not be the most inventive of ideas but with half my stuff packed away in boxes (I mean just HOW long does it take to move?) I am really not in the mood for too much creativity. Still, chilled slices of Clementine and Sharon Fruit combined with yellow plum and sugar syrup were delicious. The syrup, incidentally, was made by dissolving 200g of the sugar replacement in 300ml water, brought to a boil with a large squeeze of lemon juice and then allowed to cool after the addition of the passion fruit.

[Photo Andrew Barrow]

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