Eydie asked me to create a recipe for a Spiced Apple Pie ice cream, which sounded good to me!  I started with my favorite apple, Honeycrisp, and made it even sweeter with healthy dates.  Now I wanted a “plant based cream” so I used full-fat coconut milk.  All that was needed was to add some warming spices and yummy, this unfrozen ice cream base was so delicious.  Then we froze it, and it turned icy….still delicious, but too crunchy. The solution—turn it into a milkshake!  Eydie & Michelle (Eydie’s CGTO—Chief Go To Officer for Garden of Eydie) went wild for it. And guess what…no ice cream maker needed!

Just like life…when something isn’t just right one way, pivot and who knows….something amazing can happen.

I created another vegetable stock recipe to go with the Unforgettable Kabocha Squash Soup.  Our “house” veggie stock is a little sweet, as it has fennel and tomato. I wanted a more “warming” stock to be the perfect accompaniment to making this fenugreek spiced soup.

Seriously, this is everyone’s favorite soup–a recipe from my Chef mentor, Alfred Portale, but made with the “Eydie” treatment:  subbing out veggie stock for chicken stock, cooking without oil and using minimal salt. When I first made this soup, I followed the recipe to a “t,” but I promise you, giving it the “Eydie treatment” made it healthier, and did not alter the flavor one iota! 

I love to entertain, and I also love to have something special and unexpected waiting for my guests when they sit down at the dining room table.  Of course flowers and candles are important, but how about a homemade little gift at each person’s place. This is what inspired me to make these mini sweet and savory bread loaves.  Sweet potato, rosemary and garlic are a delicious combination. Suggestion: Wrap the bread up with some parchment paper and a little twine, and write each guest’s name on the paper…making it a fun idea for a place card!

On certain Fridays, Garden of Eydie reaches out and asks everyone what favorite recipe they want us to Plant Base for them.  Our very first friday, we got a request to create a recipe for Mac & Cheese with no gluten, no nuts and no nutritional yeast.   I said “No problem, just one question, can you have seeds?”

She said “yes”.  So I was able to use my secret weapon—Spero foods plant based smoked chipotle goat cheese, made out of sunflower seeds.  I used gluten-free brown rice pasta. Seriously…this is so good!