Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps has launched PureSport, his sports performance beverage of choice. Phelps owns shares of the company and helped develop the product, created by Dr. John Ivy of the University of Texas, with fellow U.S. Swim Team members. The athletes drank PureSport in training for, and during, the 2008 Olympics. Swim team colleagues Brendan Hansen, Ian Crocker and Aaron Peirso drink PureSport, as does Gold Medal gymnast Nastia Liukin.
The PureSport brand of patent-pending performance drinks features an optimal carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of 2:67-to-1. It is available in two formulations: PureSport Workout, to be drunk prior to and during exercise to improve endurance and reduce muscle tissue damage; and PureSport Recovery, to be drunk within 30 minutes of completing a workout, to speed the storage of muscle and liver glycogen and promote muscle tissue repair.
So, given the choice of a sports drink to maximize your performance, which would you use? The drinks come in a powder form and are made by adding water. One packet is 70g of powder, which creates a 12 oz. drink. A case of 20 oz. bottles (24 servings) and a 3-lb. tub (54 servings) of the PureSport Workout formula retails for a suggested $55 and $43, respectively. A case of 16 oz. bottles (24 servings) and a 3-lb. tub (19 servings) of the PureSport Recovery formula retails for a suggested $60 and $33, respectively. While THE NIBBLE doesn’t normally focus on sports drinks, we do look out for the best products of their kind. With the holidays upon us, this could be just the thing for your favorite athlete.
You can buy the product online at PureSport.us, and at Sports Authority stores.
Green & Black’s organic chocolate welcomes a new member to the family: Toffee, a bouncing 34% milk chocolate bar with crunchy pieces of (of course, organic) toffee. It’s a devilishly good combination, and we have yielded to temptation. But there’s even better news:
G & B has recently introduced special bags featuring 23 individually wrapped bite-size pieces of delicious organic chocolate. The bags are available in the solid Milk or Dark 70% discs at retailers such as CVS, Target and Rite Aid across the country. Nine discs equate to 1.4 ounces of chocolate (220 calories), but you can have half as many (or just one or two) and be satisfied. They’re perfect for that tiny indulgence, and much better to accompany that cup of coffee or tea than a Danish or muffin (much as we love those, too). For more information, visit GreenandBlacks.com.
Move over, Butterball, there’s a new hotline in town. For the third year, The Crisco Pie Hotline is helping bakers in “knead” of a little pie baking advice. Last year’s most commonly asked questions were:
-“How do I prevent the bottom of my pumpkin pie crust from becoming soggy?” -“How long can I freeze my unbaked fruit pie?” -“Can you give me step-by-step instructions for making a pie crust?”
With help from the Crisco Pie Pros, even a beginner can bake a pie with confidence. Just call 1-877-FOR PIE TIPS (toll free), to speak with a live expert about your particular pie challenge, or to ask general questions, including the latest baking and storage tips and time-saving hints—including recorded winning tips from the 2008 APC Crisco National Pie Championship’s amateur champions.
Perfect pies are a call or a click away.
Pie lovers can also visit Pie Centralat www.crisco.com to find useful videos with troubleshooting tips, step-by-step visual instructions to create delicious pie crusts and simple, yet tasty recipes using seasonal ingredients.
And speaking of Pie Lovers…if you’re not a current fan of Pushing Daisies, an ABC comedy about our favorite pie maker, Wednesdays at 8 p.m., please give it a try. This delightful show about love, supernatural gifts, pies and a weekly murder mystery, is in danger of being canceled! Learn more at Pushing-Daisies.com and abc.go.com/primetime/pushingdaisies.
Debrito’s, a NIBBLE Top Pick, makes
gourmet candy apples with top notch
ingredients. Read the review.
Our farmer’s markets are brimming with tempting apple varieties, and we’re enjoying more than one apple a day. Beyond a snack fruit, it’s easy to work apples into daily meals. Here are a baker’s dozen of ideas.
1. Lightly saute apple wedges and serve them with eggs, pancakes, oatmeal and other breakfast foods. Toss in some nuts, raisins and other dried fruits, too. You can serve this dish as a side with dinner as well. 2. Bake apples into muffins and breads. 3. Try a Waldorf salad, the classic apple salad, and go light on the mayo. 4. Make chicken salad with large chunks of chicken and apples. Add walnuts, pecans or almonds. 5. Add thin slices to a ham, chicken or turkey sandwich.
6. Applesauce is a great side with poultry or pork, and homemade applesauce is infinitely superior to the commercial product. We use McIntosh apples (Braeburns or Fujis work, too) and cook them with skins on, which gives the applesauce a beautiful, rosy color. Use a food mill to puree and remove the skins after cooking. Homemade applesauce is also a delectable dessert, with a small stream of heavy cream. 7. Stuff a pork roast with apples. 8. Serve apples with cheese, as a dessert course. Cheddar, Stilton and Roquefort are some of our favorite pairings. For the kids, make Cheddar and apple skewers. 9. Make apple sorbet. 10. Dip fresh apple slices in warm caramel sauce. It’s an adult riff on a caramel apple. 11. There’s nothing better than a warm, homemade apple pie or crumble. Our mother’s is the best (unless your mother’s is). She prefers tart apples like Winesaps, when she can find them, or else Granny Smiths. We prefer streusel to crust, so love to make crumbles. 12. Baked apples are terrific, whether warm from the oven or cold from the fridge. Try them with fresh goat cheese or goat’s milk yogurt, for dessert or for breakfast. 13. Serve an apple dessert course of four or six different varieties of apple. Give everyone slices of each (an apple slicer is helpful here). Discuss the different flavor profiles.
Enjoy apples while they’re freshly-harvested. While apples are available throughout the winter, you’re buying fruit that’s been put in cold storage. It loses its flavor and texture every day it’s off the tree.
Look for serving pieces that double as objets d’art. Bowls, pitchers and trays fall into this category: You can showcase them all year as room decor, then put them to use as needed during formal dinners. If you like to collect and have more items than room to display them, rotate pieces on a schedule so family and visitors will enjoy different pieces of your collection. If you want to read more, check out our article, “Fun With Tabletop.”
These blown glass pitchers from Orbitz
will make any table setting look
beautiful. Read The Nibble’s review
