In this case, you’re grinding flaxseed. Why?

This superfood adds noteworthy nutrition to food (see the health benefits below), so much so that a growing number of consumers have been clamoring for it. An estimated 300 new products with flaxseed were launched in the U.S. and Canada in 2010 alone (the last year for which data is available).

Flaxseed is appearing in everything from crackers and breads to oatmeal and frozen waffles. The eggs that claim higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids come from chickens who eat flaxseed-enriched feed.

At home, you can add freshly-ground flaxseed to just about anything: cereal, cottage cheese, dips, eggs, fish, meat and poultry, salad, smoothies, soup, yogurt. It’s easy to add to batter and dough: cakes, cookies, pancakes, pie crusts.

Better nutrition is just a few grinds away. Photo courtesy Blossom.

You can use any mill or spice grinder to grind flaxseed for recipes; but the point of a separate flaxseed mill is to use it consistently as you sit down to eat.

Plus, the ceramic grinder in the Blossom mill (shown in photo) is specifically calibrated to grind tiny seeds, like flaxseed and sesame seed. It’s $24.30 at Amazon.com.

Then, pick up whole flaxseed at any natural foods store or online.

According to Web MD, flaxseed could be considered one of the most potent plant foods on the planet.

An excellent source of protein, fiber and minerals such as magnesium and copper, its top three benefits are:

Studies show that flaxseed may help to reduce risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and diabetes. It’s also a great source of fiber.

The tiny seed was cultivated in Babylon as early as 3000 B.C.E.

It’s time for a flaxseed revival. King Charlemagne would be pleased.

Tie one on! say the father and son team behind DressTiez, and we couldn’t agree more.

We fall into the category of unintentionally messy eaters. We don’t want to drip pizza, sauce and other runny foods down the front of our shirts and sweaters; but we invariably do.

During our teen years, when crisp white shirts were the fashion, our dry cleaner told us to switch to dark colors. He couldn’t get the food stains out.

THE WORK-AROUND

Dark colors still show all the food we’ve dropped on ourselves and require just as much dry cleaning. But the results are happier: Our washed and dry-cleaned clothes are returned with no stains.

We also learned to avoid eating messy foods—juicy burgers, fondue, powdered doughnuts, ribs, spaghetti—with anyone other than close friends and family.

DressTiez are an elegant solution for messy adults. Here, navy from the Classic Series. Photo courtesy DressTiez.

This new product, a sophisticated-looking, waterproof adult bib, keeps your clothing immaculate. You can eat with the confidence that your clothes remain completely protected, no matter how drippy your victuals.

The polyester bib with a Velcro closure is machine washable, but it’s even easier than that:

Returning after a messy dinner of pizza and Caesar salad, we simply wet a nail brush, ran it across the soap and scrubbed off the dried pizza sauce, strings of mozzarella and drippy dressing with ease.

DressTiez are $29.95 each ($39.99 for the Custom Series) and are nicely gift boxed. They easily fit in a handbag or pocket.

Our only wish is that the mesh drawstring bag provided to tote the bib were of a different design (we switched it out for one of the numerous zipper cases we had on hand).

But this is a new company, and we wish them lots of success. We’ll do our part by forwarding the website to other messy users of our acquaintance.

Get your DressTiez at DressTiez.com.
  

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Jelly Belly Candy Company has launched the first beer-flavored jelly bean, called Draft Beer.

Beer has been a oft-requested flavor for decades. After years of working on the formulation, the non-alcoholic product is ready for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter baskets and beyond.

Jelly Belly sent us a sample and yes, it does taste like beer. The irridescent pale gold jelly beans are alcohol free, yet deliver a beer aroma and subtle beer flavor.

 
Stock up for National Jelly Bean Day, April 22nd. (Here’s the history of the jelly bean.)

There’s a limited edition of the Draft Beer Jelly Belly, colored green for St. Patrick’s day, available exclusively at Jelly Belly Visitor and Tour Centers in California and Wisconsin.

All Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors are dairy free, fat free, gluten free, OU kosher, peanut free and vegetarian.

Bottoms up!

March 6th is National Oreo Day, honoring the world’s most popular cookie. It’s a simple sandwich cookie, yet it’s the passion of many cookie eaters.

We almost feel like ditching work to celebrate—with Oreo cheesecake, cookies and cream ice cream and an Oreo milkshake. Overkill? Some say yes, some say no.

The history of Oreos follows these links to delicious (and fun!) Oreos:
 
 
MORE OREO RECIPES

 
 
OREO HISTORY

According to Time magazine, the National Biscuit Company (later shortened to Nabisco) sold its first Oreo sandwich cookies to a Hoboken grocer on On March 6, 1912. They weren’t an original concept: Sunshine’s Hydrox cookies* (among others) preceded them in 1908.

There were two original Oreo flavors: original (chocolate) and lemon meringue. The original was far more popular, and Nabisco discontinued lemon meringue in the 1920s.

Today Oreo is the world’s most popular cookie, sold in more than 100 countries†. More than 450 billion Oreos have been sold to date.

Yes, there were other chocolate sandwich cookies. But what made Oreos stand out was the thick, creamy filling invented by Sam J. Porcello, the principal food scientist at Nabisco. (He also created the “stuf” in Double Stuf Oreos and the chocolate-covered and white chocolate-covered Oreos. Now that’s bragging rights for generations of kids, grandkids and great-grands to come.)
 
 
WHAT ABOUT THE DESIGN ON THE COOKIES?

Nabisco says that an unnamed “design engineer” created the current Oreo design, which was updated in 1952‡. Other sources name him as William A. Turnier, who worked in the engineering department creating the dies that stamped designs onto cookies.

Here’s the story of the design and its meaning.
 
 
THE NAME IS A MYSTERY

No one knows for certain the origin of the name “Oreo.” Some believe it was derived from the French word for gold, “or,” because the original packaging was mostly gold.

The bigger curiosity to us is from The Wizard Of Oz film. Why did the Winkie Guards at the castle of the Wicked Witch Of The West sing a chorus of “Oreo?”

They were chanting something like “Oleo-oh, yo-ho.” It was supposed to be a parody of the Song of the Volga Boatmen.

In fact, the costumes of the Winkie guards were similar to those of Czarist Russian guards [source].
 
____________________

*The Oreo became kosher in 1998, when the lard in the original recipe was replaced with vegetable shortening. Prior to then, Sunshine Bakeries’ Hydrox cookies had long been the kosher alternative. But most people preferred the taste of Oreos, and Hydrox cookies were discontinued by Keebler in 2003.

†In terms of sales, the top five Oreo-nibbling countries are the U.S., China, Venezuela, Canada and Indonesia. In some countries, like China, Nabisco’s parent company, Kraft, reformulated the recipe to appeal to local tastes, including green tea Oreos.

‡The current design replaced a design of a ring of laurels, two turtledoves and a thicker, more mechanical “Oreo” font.

[1] The classic (photo © Tijtan Adrndarski | Unsplash).

[2] You can dip Oreos in melted chocolate or confectioners coating of any color. Here’s the recipe. Check out more decorated Oreo recipes from Crafty Morning (photo © Crafty Morning).

[3] We love these chocolate chip cookies, stuffed with Oreo cookies. Here’s the recipe (photo © Bella Baker).

[4] A chocolate layer cake with Oreo filling. Here’s the recipe (photo © Kraft Heinz).

Although cheesecake isn’t a traditional Irish food, none of the traditional Irish desserts pop out at us. So we like to celebrate St. Pat’s with these Green With Envy Cheesecake Bars or this Irish Coffee Cheesecake with Irish whiskey.

But if you’re more inclined to click than bake, consider these cheesecakes from Harry & David.

A cream cheese-based New York style cheesecake recipe, these cheesecakes have a chocolate cookie crust and are covered with dark chocolate mint ganache and festive green swirls with a shamrock adorning the center of the cake.

Send them to friends, and they will indeed feel the luck of the Irish.

Each cheesecake is 5.5 inches in diameter—enough for sensibly small pieces for four people, a large piece for two, or a very big piece for a superfan. Get yours at HarryandDavid.com. The pair of cheesecakes is $29.95.

You can add a St. Patrick’s Day theme to any frosted cake.

Here’s a recipe for Irish Cream Liqueur Cheesecake—so yummy!
 
By the way, March 6 is White Chocolate Cheesecake Day, which you could make for St. Pat’s with green kiwi sauce instead of the raspberry sauce in the recipe.

Here are more of our favorite cheesecake recipes.