Food & Beverage

A New-Old Captivating Culinary Class – Cauliflower

Cauliflower. As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! HISTORY OF CAULIFLOWER Cauliflower originates from the Brassica oleracea family that also contains broccoli, brussel sprouts, Kale and several other. It is an ancient vegetable that has been around since the 12th or 13th century. Native to the Mediterranean and Asia Its first documented location was Cyprus. From there is was documented in Italy and Rome along with its sister vegetable broccoli.…

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pomegranates thrive! fruits and veggies month

Perfect Pomegranates

Pomegranates. As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! HISTORY The pomegranate can be traced far back into time. It is named in numerous ancient texts, such as the Quran and the Torah, and the pomegranate originated in Persia (Iran today). The pomegranate continues to sweep across the continent and could even be found along the Silk Road, one of the richest trading routes in history. Pomegranates were extremely valuable in…

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Cherries (831626178) thrive!

Cherries: Sweet and Savory

Cherries. As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! HISTORY OF CHERRIES Cherries were once prized fruits, tasty enough to make it to the finest meals. They were featured at Roman conquerors’ meals and fancied by the Chineses noblemen. They were soon enjoyed by the common man when they were brought over to America in the 1600s. However, it wasn’t until the French colonists brought cherry pits over to America did…

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eggplants-thrive!-sized-IMG_4218 2

Eggplants: The Most Misunderstood Nightshade

Eggplants. As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! HISTORY Eggplants are one of the fruits most commonly mistaken as a vegetable and have been documented as a part of the world’s agricultural landscape since early BCE. Originally reported in China and India, there is speculation that the eggplants earliest uses were medicinal rather than for food. Eggplants grow from the nightshade plant and were originally thought to be poisonous because…

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Foodimentary

Basics Aren’t Boring – Its Foodimentary!

My Dear Watson, it’s Foodimentary! As event professionals, it’s easy to get caught up in making everything grand. Dressing things up and making fancy upgrades is impressive, but it can also get complicated. Especially when it comes to designing event menus. That’s where foodimentary comes in. What is foodimentary? According to Urban Dictionary, food blogger John-Bryan Hopkins created the word foodimentary, defining it as “a specific way of looking at food or a food item.” And, that’s what we’re going to do—look at our food through the eyes and stomachs of those with food allergies and other dietary needs. We’re going to…

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Meeting Menu Makeovers

Meeting Menu Makeovers

Meeting Menu Makeovers – Let’s do it! In honor of ANTI-boredom month, I want you to think about how you can banish boring buffets and makeover your meeting menus. We need to stop serving foods that are lifeless, drain our systems and are full of sugar and artificial ingredients (see picture). It is a waste of money, energy and food. Buffets and meeting menus should be inviting, healthy, and full of life. The food we serve at meetings and at work should invigorate us and help us get through the day. Food is so important — it sustains us, it delivers a social focal point, and it is…

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Squash

Sit Down for Some Squash!

Squash! As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! Summer squash is known as Cucurbita by its scientific name. It’s s a term that some scientists can’t agree on because of variations of its genus. There are between 10 and 30 species, and they’re probably all delicious enough to make it onto your menu. HISTORY Squash were cultivated as long as 10,000 years ago, and serve as an important vegetable…

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Papaya – One of the World’s Healthiest Foods

Papayas! As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! Papaya is a delicious, juicy fruit, known for its uniquely sweet flavor and its vibrant sunset colors that encapsulate the tropical, warm places it grows in. HISTORY Papaya is one of the many fruits that is not originally from the many places we find it. It’s largely a part of the culture of these places as a result of natural migration,…

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Cucumbers fruits and veggies month

Get Some Cucumbers!

Cucumbers! As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! How do you take your cucumis sativus? Personally, I prefer it in water and separately dipped in ranch, but there are a million ways to eat this simple, yet refreshing vegetable more commonly known to our dinner tables as the cucumber. HISTORY Cucumbers were first discovered by humans in India over 4,000 years ago. People who we may today call Indians,…

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Olives fruits and veggies month

Oh My! Olives!

Olives! As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! The fruit of the olea europaea has been gracing Mediterranean food, from pastas to pizzas to breads and martinis for centuries, but you probably know this fruit better as the olive. This small fruit is famous the world over, and for good reason. HISTORY The olive tree, to the best of our knowledge, was probably developed somewhere around Turkey and Syria,…

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