101 ways with Homemade Chili Powder from Rasberrys

We are just completing our batch of chili powder in the kitchen.  It will accompany our ginger and garlic jars for sale at the Wood River Farmers Market in Ketchum. (Also for sale in the Bistro.) Spices add flavor to ordinary everyday food.  Here are a few suggestions for chili powder (it's not just for chili!.)

  • Meat rub
  • Enchilada sauce
  • Marinade (mix with oil, diced tomato, garlic and onions)
  • Soup
  • Dusting on potato chips
  • Tortillas
  • Salad dressing
  • Guacamole
  • Egg dishes
  • Braise tofu
  • Margarita salt: mix with kosher salt & lime zest for the rim 

Raising Rasberry's: Q&A with the Rasberry Mom

How can parents and grandparents foster the love of food in children?
I feel it's important to let your children be in the kitchen, in the garden, in the laundry room with you.  You can't know about food if you've never seen where it comes from.  Encourage them to do anything they want to do, as long as it won't hurt them.  Let them try different ingredients.  Teach them how important it is to be able to do everything, regardless of gender.  

Why do you think Rasberrys Catering & Bistro is so successful?
The girls have an amazing knowledge of food and how to mix things to taste just right.  What to put with what, how to serve it and how to enjoy what they cook together.  My favorite thing about the restaurant is how they have translated what they like into something they love, how they have taken their favorite foods and made somebody else's favorite.  How they have used growing up eating the best Mexican food and brought it to the Valley so you all can enjoy it too.  

Is there any food the girls do not like?
They were never picky eaters and will try anything.  There is only one thing they do not like. Celery.

What are the twins' interests, in addition to cooking?
Maeme has an incredible green thumb.  Her garden bounty is incredible.  They both crochet and knit beautiful creations.  Maeme has never taken a car ride without her latest project.  Callie loves to arrange flowers and has a knack for display and presentation.  They are both animal lovers and gatherers too.

Proud Mama comments
The girls can translate their thoughts into their products.  They are tireless and thorough.  They are amazing to watch.  I feel the girls have a reverence for food; it's not just a byline.  They feel food is fuel, is comfort, is entertainment and should not be abused in the way it is grown, processed or prepared and most importantly; in the way it is eaten.  

How to buy healthy eggs

HEALTHY EGGS: WHAT TO BUY

BEST CHOICE: Pastured eggs from a local farmer (aka Real Eggs). Chickens live their entire lives outdoors, in the pasture, eating bugs and grass and basking in the sun. Their feed may or may not be supplemented with what is provided in the field. If it is supplemented, a non-soy feed is best. 

Remember, when compared to the USDA’s nutrient data for conventional eggs coming from chickens confined in factory farms, the eggs of pastured hens usually contain:

  • 1⁄3 less cholesterol
  • 1⁄4 less saturated fat
  • 2⁄3 more vitamin A
  • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
  • 3 times more vitamin E
  • 7 times more beta carotene
  • 4 to 6 times more vitamin D

SECOND: At the supermarket, choose the eggs with the most Omega-3s and DHAs available. Those are the nutrients most commonly lacking in the eggs from “battery hens,” and some companies have specially formulated their chicken feed in an attempt to make up for the hen’s abnormal and unnatural living conditions.

THIRD: Organic eggs. Although they may not be nutritionally superior to your average “battery hen” eggs, you at least know these eggs came from hens raised without the use of antibiotics and that the hens were fed organic feed. So you at least won’t have any environmental guilt buying them.

HEALTHY EGGS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Real eggs are amazing to behold. The average egg is made up of three parts you need to pay attention to:

  • the yolk
  • the thick egg white
  • the thin, runny egg white

You can tell how nutrient-dense and healthy an egg is by appearance alone. You can tell if a farmer’s telling you the truth or scamming you. You can tell if the chicken who produced the eggs was happy or sad.

When compared to conventional, battery hen eggs, the eggs from pastured chickens have these differences in appearance:

THE YOLK is bigger, taking up a larger portion of the egg. It is also a darker, more orange color when compared to the pale yellow yolks of battery hens. (Note: The color may vary based on the season and how many bugs or green grasses the hen eats, but it will always be noticeably different than the pale yellow of supermarket eggs.)

THE THICK EGG WHITE is bigger and noticeably thicker.

THE THIN, RUNNY EGG WHITE is smaller.