Please come join Sweet. and a host of local food and art vendors at the first Bsuhwick Farm and Flea this Saturday! We’ll be selling our cookies as well as a whole slew of new treats including chocolates, jam sandwich cookies, fresh tarts and more!

http://www.bkfarmandflea.com/

• SM&KK Studios (www.smkkstudios.com), ImpactDash (www.impactdash.com) & Sprout Skincare (www.sproutskincare.com) invite you to a night of networking with eco-friendly businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals. Meet the new green kids on the scene, share your challenge and success stories, discover a new partnership opportunity, or simply find out what your favorite local businesses are up to! 
  
  Enjoy green drinks, sample great products, and connect with:
  
  - B Corporation | www.bcorporation.net
  - Krrb | www.krrb.com
  - The Mutual | www.themutual.com
  - Plan Tea | www.drinkplantea.com
  - Little Duck Organics | www.littleduckorganics.com
  - omilk | www.omilknyc.com
  - Maimonide Of Brooklyn | www.mob-usa.com
  - Raaka Chocolate | www.raakachocolate.com
  - Sprout Skincare | www.sproutskincare.com
  - Steve’s Ice Cream | www.stevesicecream.com
  - Sweet by Jana | www.sweetbyjana.com 
  - Meow Meow Tweet | www.meowmeowtweet.com
  - Brooklyn Brewery | www.brooklynbrewery.com
  
  This is a unique cross-industry opportunity for small businesses, entrepreneurs and people who share similar core values in any industry to network with each other.

The Yard

New York, NY

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Sweet. by jana now  available online at New York Mouth! http://www.newyorkmouth.com/collections/all/products/gluten-free-cookies

We’re excited to announce we are now selling Sweet. by jana cookies at Perelandra in Brooklyn Heights(175 Remsen st.) and will be selling ONLINE soon with nymouth.com (details soon)!!!!

These are the first attempt in what i hope to be the perfecting of a low temperature, sugar and gluten free version of the Girl Scout classic(and my personal favorite): the Somoa. Described as, “vanilla cookies coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and laced with chocolate stripes”, I’ve decided to reinterpret base with my preferred ingredients. Starting with an almond flour/palm sugar cookie, an almond butter caramel, dehydrated non sugared coconut, and raw chocolate, these are a good start in the right direction.

Spread and flatten until smooth and uniform, an almond flour cookie base.

Make an almond caramel: almond butter, agave, water, salt(blend until thick and creamy), and pour over dried coconut.

Spread coconut caramel base over cookie base, and dehydrate until thickened.

Once dehydrated, cool and then cut to desired shape.

Dip in tempered chocolate and let set.

For the next round, I’m thinking i need a crisper cookie base, thinner caramel layer, and maybe a little more salt. I like the chocolate to caramel ratio as the chocolate is bitter and it helps cut the sweetness of the caramel- but i think there’s just too much caramel- a thinner crisper layer might work better…Maybe a coconut based caramel instead of almond? More salt- always a touch more salt. Well, until next round…

Don’t forget to come by Soho today!

The following is from Brendan’s Brazier’s book Thrive.  Its a great explanation of the effects of stress on the body on a multitude of levels, especially in how stress can effect and contribute to weight gain. I think this serves as a great reminder to continue to find ways to create balance in our lifestyles, with whole foods based nutrition and exercise to help reduce the harmful effects of stress however we can.

Stress is something that we are all familiar with-our modern world is a breeding ground for it. Yet, many of us aren’t aware of how expensive its reach can be and just how deeply it can effect every aspect of our life. Simply put, stress is anything that causes strain. Mental or physical, and regardless of origin, stress, with its far-reaching consequences, affects everyone in some way. The sources of stress in modern life are many; everything from pollutants in our drinking water and poor nutrition, to relationship concerns and job dissatisfaction, to overexercising or under exercising-all are stressors.

Stress is like fire: when controlled and used for a purpose, it serves us well. Left unbridled, it can consume us. In amounts that our body is capable of adapting to, certain stresses are beneficial. Exercise, for example, is a stress. Exercise and then rest, and your body will grow stronger. However, stress has become, now more than ever, a real threat to our health and livelihood, often overwhelming us and, in some cases, even controlling us.

Located on top of the kidneys, our two adrenals are small triangular glands that play a large role in the body’s response to stress. During times of elevated stress, regardless of its source, the body’s adrenal glands kick into action, secreting the hormone cortisol into the blood-stream. Cortisol is sometimes referred to as the “stress hormone” for the simple reason that its release is triggered by stress.

Because of the release of cortisol in reaction to the onset of stress, our body actually gains energy. We become more alert, out strength may increase, and we are able to process information more quickly and react slightly faster than usual. This is an innate defense mechanism. Drawing on its primal roots, our body assumes that if it is stressed, it must be in danger. By summoning its hormonal resources to temporarily improve strength and reaction time, the body will improve its odds of getting out of a prehistoric bind- early humans, for instance, would have increased odds of survival when confronted by a predatory animal. Not enough nutrient-supplying food would have also been perceived as a stress to early humans and therefore a threat to survival. The threat would register, evoking the same hormonal response. Greater strength and more energy would have improved their ability to search for food.

The threats to early humans may have been more immediate threats than ours, yet our stress-response mechanism today remains much the same. In modern Western society, rarely is it put to its original use of self-preservation. Our daily threats pale in comparison to being attacked by an animal or having to scour long and hard for food. But although our threats may be less dire, they are greater in number-far greater- and cumulative. SInce our primal response to dealing with threats is outdated, stress slowly eats away at us. In fact, our stress response mechanism worsens the situation because of its overreaction.  Wanting to protect us when we are confronted with stress-to get us out of even the slightest bind-our adrenal glands release cortisol to spring us into action. Out adrenal glands are taxed daily, even hourly.

Of course, the amount of cortisol released varies, based on the body’s perception of the severity of the stressor. But reacting frequently or overreacting to an event as mundane as working over time is in itself stressful, and as such, stress producing. Cortisol will eventually “eat away” at the body by breaking down muscle tissue. And while corisol stimulates us to deal with an apparent threat, regular simulation brings about fatigue: since our adrenal glands were not designed to be used as often as they are today, they become over worked, resulting in exhaustion. Adrenal burnout, as is commonly referred to today, is a widespread problem.

Many, if not all, of our modern day health problems are caused by stress. Obesity, fatigue, mental fog, sleep disturbances, digestive problems, prematurely wrinkled skin, depression…the list goes on. If stress, and therefore cortisol, remains elevated, several problems arise to hammer out body’s smooth functioning. One is that the body shifts fuel sources. INstead of burning fat as a fuel, a stressed person’s system will burn carbohydrate in the form of sugar, and the body begins to store the body fat instead of using it for energy. Stress-free people are fat-burning machines. Stressed people, on the other hand burn and in turn crave carbohydrates. And cravings themselves are a form of psychological stress, as I discuss later in this chapter. Stress can also cause hormonal imbalance. When cortisol levels change rapidly, the hormones symbiotic relationship with other hormones is altered. Hormone imbalance may, for instance, affect electrolyte function, reducing the body’s ability to stay adequately hydrated. This results in muscle cramping in the short term and, if neglected, wrinkled and less elastic skin. When the body has difficulty maintaining optimal fluid levels, the delivery of nutrients to its cells is compromised. This leads to a host of problems-basic malnutrition being the most obvious. Even if the diet is ideal, the nutrients are of little use if they don’t get distributed. Hormone imbalance can also cause slowed mental ability and impair the delivery of messages from the brain to other parts of the body slowing movement.

Another health concern that regularly crops up as stress mounts is the inability to sleep soundly. We have all likely had difficulty falling asleep after a traumatic event, or perhaps even after taking on a new, uncertain project at work. As you probably suspected, high cortisol levels are again to blame. And lack of sleep further raises cortisol levels. Its a vicious circle: the body has an increased need for sleep at heightened times of stress yet is unable to get it. 

Initially manifesting as fatigue and weight gain, stress, if untreated can lead to much more serious conditions. Now accepted as one to fate leading causes of illness, stress has been shown to precipitate many diseases. The ability to weaken the immune system is one feat stress is renowned for, and compromised immune function leaves the body susceptible to sickness.

Have you ever noticed that when you work to meet a deadline-as the pressure mounts and stress rises- sickness is least likely to strike? Then, once you’ve met the deadline, you get sick. Or perhaps a day or two after a long, taxing race, illness sets in. The body is capable of rising to the occasion in a stressful environment; indeed, the more stress, the better the performance-short term. But when the project is finished and the stress is alleviated, the body lets itself get sick. We are equipped with a mechanism that is quite effective at warding off infection until we rest. It assumes that our immune system will be better able to deal with sickness when we are resting and relaxed than if we are int eh midst of a pressing time, and its right. From this, you might conclude that high stress all the time is the solution. Not so. The severity by which the immune system is suppressed is directly linked to the duration and intensity of the stress. Meaning, the longer the body is stressed, the greater the potential for a high problem.

The body can tolerate a certain amount of stress; there is a finite amount it can cope with. Strain beyond that point manifests itself in various ways. The first indications that the body is stressed beyond its ability to cope are relatively mild: fatigue, sleep disturbances, and mental fog. If stress overload is more severe, significant weight gain, intense food cravings, and depression become the telltale signs that stress has overwhelmed the system. If these symptoms are not dealt with, if they are allowed to become chronic, the chances of developing a disease such as type II diabetes, fibromyalgia, or even cancer greatly increase.

One reason why people become overweight is because they eat too much of the unhealthy types of fat. Why do people crave fat? Fat helps numb the receptors in the brain that regulate emotional responses; that is, eating foods high in fat will help diminish certain unwanted feelings-at least in the short term. The best way to stop fat cravings is to eliminate the cause of the sadness, and that’s easiest done once mental and physical well being is achieved.

Too much stress can result in depressed, low moods. In response, the ever resourceful brain attempts to self-medicate. Cravings are the first sign of this. To understand why our brain behaves this way, we need again to look to our primitive roots, to a time when forms of sugar could only be found in nutrient rich fruit. Early humans craved sweet foods, just as we do, yet these cravings were satisfied exclusively by eating fruit. When stress goes up, so does our need for high quality nutrition. Fruit provided it for early humans: the brain “assumed” that sweet meant nutrition in the form of fruit. However, most sweets that people eat today-in the form of refined carbohydrates and processed sugars-are nutritionally empty.

A sweet tooth also helps us maintain a positive outlook: the modern brain craves sugary or refined starchy foods(those foods whose fiber has been removed and therefore whose sugar component of the carbohydrate is relatively high) because they release serotonin, a chemical found in the brain’s pituitary gland. The release of serotonin has a powerful elevating effect on our mood. Continually low levels of serotonin can lead to chronic fatigue and clinical depression. People who have a regular supply of serotonin being released into their bloodstream feel better, and are therefore more productive an feel less stressed, than those with low levels of serotonin. Serotonin is plentiful and free flowing when stress is low; however, as stress rises, serotonin production declines. Cravings for sugary or starchy food are most likely an attempt by the brain to make it “feel” better. This is why such foods are referred to as comfort foods-they are foods that are craved afar a particularly tiring day. Ice cream and donuts, which are high in the sugar required to produce the subconsciously desired serotonin hit, are common comfort foods. Giving in to these cravings will satisfy the brain, but this satisfaction is short-lived. And so you eat more serotonin-releasing foods, which eventually leads to more stress, since these refined carbohydrates offer very few nutrients-not having enough nutrients in our diet is a form of nutritional stress and therefore produces a stress response. Simply by having lower levels of cortisol(meaning less stress), the body will naturally produce more serotonin. Natural light and healthy food are the best ways to naturally raise serotonin.

It is with great pleasure I would like to highlight my new head chef now working with me at Sweet, Melissa Christy, and some of her beautiful food. Melissa is currently also working as a private chef to a number of clients, catering diet and allergy specific menus tailored to fit clients’ needs and palates. Her culinary work is well informed by a diverse knowledge of health based principals, as well as a delightful love of pastry and all things sweet, having spent a better part of her culinary career focused and trained in Pastry work. Here is a delicious sampling of some of her work, and for more information concerning private chef work please check out her website: www.pigoutvegan.com.

borscht

mixed greens with pomegranate seeds and raspberry vinaigrette

linguine with white wine sauce and roasted butternut squash

apricot jam dot cookies

lemon thyme tea cake

vegan Krsipy Kreme doughnuts!

A raw take on the classic fruit and streusel bar, these are every bit as rich. Made with an almond flour base, a simple one-step low temperature fresh fruit jam, and a nut based streusel, to create the perfect balance of texture and flavor.

Grind whole raw almonds until just releasing their oil. Add dates, almond butter and sweetener if desired. Process in food processor until a dough forms into a ball. Spread evenly throughout lined pan by hand, and then smooth with offset spatula. Set aside.

make a very simple jam out of blending, in vitamix or blender, fresh or frozen strawberries, dates, and sweetener if desired. Blend until smooth and creamy, and spread onto date-almond base.

Make a simple streusel by combining a mixture of oat flour, hemp seeds, cinnamon, and ground almonds, and flax seeds. Add maple syrup and mix until dough begins to come together. Crumble mixture onto jam layer and dehydrate entire bar until streusel is dry and crisp and jam has thickened. 

cut into bars, or squares and enjoy!