For Thanksgiving favors, Christmas stocking stuffers, or good food for your pantry, purchases from Women’s Bean Project help women trying to get back on their feet.

By giving employment to the chronically unemployed: convicted felons, recovering addicts, victims of domestic violence. Many were teenage mothers and high school dropouts.

Your purchase creates jobs for women (donations are very welcome). In just six to nine months, the women are trained to be great workers for other employers. The women learn to find a purpose, break the cycle of poverty, become self sufficient, support their children and feel good about themselves.

Supporting them will make you feel good, too.

The nourishing products they make include:

 
Everything is nutritious and delicious, but our current favorite are the Instant Meals single-serving rice and bean cups.

Simply add water, microwave for 60 seconds, let stand, stir and dig in. They can serve as a side dish or a light meal.

Beans are a superfood, a low-glycemic-index food that makes a person feel full, so they eat less of other things. They are full of fiber, potassium, folate, iron, manganese and magnesium, and they are cholesterol- and fat-free. Add some vegetables and fruit for vitamin C.

The Instant Meal cups are our current favorite way to eat more beans. Flavors include:

[1] This Instant Meal cup of rice and beans is a nutritious stocking stuffer or party favor. All photos courtesy Women’s Bean Project.

[2] Delicious popcorn, already seasoned with your five different options.

[3] Great training in work skills leads to economic opportunity.

For stocking stuffers, we love the popcorn, pre-seasoned with seasonings, including Chocolate Peppermint, Coconut Curry, Garlic Parmesan, Pink Himalayan Salt & Black Pepper, and Salted Caramel.

Order at WomensBeanProject.com.

If you use place settings at Thanksgiving, or party favors, an Instant Bean Cup or tube of popcorn will make everyone feel truly thankful for their family and bountiful dinner.
  

[2] Brown Turkey figs, a popular variety (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Fig fondue (photo © California Figs).

[4] Ham and fig sandwich with arugula (photo © The Model Bakery | St. Helena, California).

 
 
TYPES OF FIGS

Buy whatever is plumpest and most visually appealing. Or, buy as many varieties as you can find, and have a comparison tasting.

In the U.S., commonly-found varieties include:

 
 
THE HISTORY OF FIGS

Wild figs have grown in Africa, the Mediterranean, West Asia, and South Asia beginning around 100 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs.

Many primates eat wild figs, and the first humans ate them as well. They discovered that figs could be dried and stored as winter staples.

In hot climates, fig trees produce two crops every year. The leaves of the fig tree are also edible.
 

 

This variation of classic roasted figs was created by Chef Ida Rodriguez of Melissa’s Special Produce.

Serve it with a glass of muscat or other dessert wine.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F, setting a rack in the center. Coat a shallow baking dish with the butter and place figs in it, stem up. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of the sugar and add the wine.

2. BAKE in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, basting occasionally.

3. ADD the pecans and sprinkle them with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Lower oven temperature to 300°F and bake 6 to 8 minutes longer.

4. TRANSFER the figs and pecans carefully to a serving dish. Add the honey to the cooking juices, and cook over low heat to blend. Spoon the syrup over figs and sprinkle with lemon juice and pepper.

5. SET aside to cool and then refrigerate. Serve cold with crème fraîche.

[5] Roast figs with pecans and honey (photo © Karcich | Dreamstime).

[6] Fig tree (photo © Serjan Midili | Unsplash).

[2] Creepy Bonne Bouche (for Halloween, it’s Bone Bouche).


3] Got brains? Coupole cheese is one big brain.

4] Cremont, dripping with honey.

Something wrinkled this way comes…with a beautiful Halloween Cheese Board from Vermont Creamery.

What are a cheese connoisseur’s fantasy for most of the year become creepy cheeses for Halloween.

Wrinkled, moldy and dusted with ash, these geotricum-rinded cheeses are a perfect cheese treat for the holiday (along with some wine, hard cider or beer, of course).

Geotricum candidum is a yeast—not a bacterium, fungus or mold, as is often written. Call it “geo” for short.

Geo is in the air around us, and under the right conditions, it grows on a fresh cheese to develop an opaque rind that wrinkled as it ages.*

Many of the traditional cheeses of France are made with geotricum rinds. The yeast is used to make the non-wrinkled rinds (no “brain” texture) on cheeses such as Camembert, Saint-Nectaire and Tomme de Savoie.

In the U.S., geo cheeses have been called ghostly little cheeses, franken-rinds, and beautiful brains—the highest of compliments on All Hallows’ Eve.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re altogether ooky…and delicious.

Yes, you eat the rind.
 
 
MORE HALLOWEEN CHEESES

Not a goat cheese fan?

Check out this article for spooky cheeses:

 
Also consider:

 
MORE HALLOWEEN CHEESES RECIPES

*On the down side, the mold also acts as a plant pathogen, causing sour rot on carrots, nectarines, peaches and tomatoes.
________________
 
PUTTING TOGETHER A HALLOWEEN CHEESES BOARD

1. Start with a selection of frightful cheeses. If you’re not a goat cheese fan (maybe you’ve never had one as good as Vermont Creamery’s?), see the “More Halloween Cheeses’ paragraph above for other suggestions.

2. Set the tone with a dark cheese board. We love the “gravestone” look of a gray slate board (see photos above).

3. Add pairings such as dark olives (especially wrinkled ones), dark dried fruits (cherries, cranberries, raisins) and toasted pumpkin seeds. Slices of dark rye bread and crackers studded with dried fruit and seeds suit the scary season.

4. Decorate with dried moss and these simple DIY ghostly maple leaves (or oak, or elm, etc.) from the wonderfully creative folks at Sweet Paul.

5. Drip some honey (consider spicy honey!) over the edges for more creepiness. This works best with one board or platter that sits on top of a larger one, so the honey drip has a neat landing spot.

6. Place the crackers and breads around the larger platter.

The Craft Beer Association has applied its expertise to pizza pairing.

Why not? Wine connoisseurs match the flavors of wines to dishes, to the nth degree (we know: we’re one of them!).

Their chart below can be hard to read, so here’s our adaptation of the recommendations…

…along with our recommendation for a tasting party (photo #2).

While you may not be able to taste all six pairings at once, break down the list, perhaps into pairs: two pizzas, four beers.

See what you think about the recommended beer pairings, versus the other two beers.

The Different Types Of Beers
 
 
PIZZA & BEER PAIRINGS

1. CLASSIC CHEESE PIZZA

 
2. MEAT LOVERS PIZZA

 
3. MUSHROOM PIZZA

 
4. ROAST VEGETABLES & OLIVES

[1] Plain cheese pizza with a Pilsner (photo courtesy Men’s Fitness).

[2] Tasting different beers with the same pie at Bowery-St.

 
6. MEAT & HEAT

 
Have fun with it!
 
 

[2] You can top your pizza with anything you like—just as with a wheat crust. This Shrimp Caesar Salad pizza is from HealthyMood_SF | Instagram.

[3] Kevita Master Brew kombucha has great flavor plus probiotic benefits (photo courtesy KeVita).

Typically, we have a weekly Top Pick and runners up.

But we feel so strongly about all four of this week’s picks—all “good for you” options—that we declare a four-way tie.

The products are presented in alphabetical order.
 
 
1. CALI’FLOUR FOODS

If you miss conventional pizza because of a diet plan, check out Cali’Flour, gluten-free pizza crusts made from…fresh cauliflower! (The business is based in California; hence, Cali’Flour.)

Add cheese and your favorite toppings, pop the pizza into the oven, and you’ll soon snack or dine on a crisp, totally satisfying low-carb, low-glycemic pizza.

You can also use the crusts more creatively, for example, to make gluten-free grilled cheese sandwiches and panini.

The all-natural, grain-free crusts have 60 calories and 1 net carb per serving, and are hand-crafted from simple, fresh ingredients: vegetables, mozzarella, eggs, basil. There is no added sugar.

There are three Cali’flour options:

 
There are also gift cards.

Order yours at CaliflourFoods.com.
 
 
2. KEVITA MASTER BREW KOMBUCHA

KeVita, known for its artisan fermented, probiotic, kombucha beverages, are a delight to drink. Made with green and black teas, they’re naturally energizing, with organic caffeine and kombucha green and black tea.

Effervescent, light and delicious, they’re also good for you.

We recently received samples of four new energizing Master Brew Kombucha flavors, available at retailers nationwide:

 
We liked them all, but the Citrus gave us such refreshing energy, we went out purchased a dozen bottles.

The company says that Kevita Master Brew Kombucha has six times more beneficial organic acids than leading brands.

Each bottle 450-ml bottle contains more than 4 billion colony-forming units of live probiotics, 80 milligrams of organic caffeine and 20% of the daily value of B vitamins.

Even better for the casual kombucha drinker: It’s just 35 calories per 8-ounce serving.

For those who avoid even tiny amounts of alcohol, the line carries Verified Non-Alcoholic certification. It is also certified organic, gluten-free, non-GMO and vegan.

Discover more at KeVita.com.

Coffee lovers who find themselves diagnosed with acid reflux, heartburn, ulcers and other stomach issues typically get a “no coffee” directive from their healthcare professionals.

The acids in coffee irritate the condition (see more about this below). And while we’ve tried Coffig (a caffeine-free, acid-free product made from roasted figs) that is pretty satisfying, it’s close but not the same.

Lucky sufferers: You now have Trücup low acid coffee. (EDITOR’S NOTE: The company spells it trücup, without an initial capital letter. THE NIBBLE doesn’t use that format: To editors, a proper name with no initial cap looks like a typo.)

We tried two of the five low-acid blends, and pronounce them to be excellent cups of coffee. You might not notice that the acid has been removed, unless you specifically seek a cup of coffee with that bitter edge. Removing the acid makes the brew very smooth and rich, a bonus for some people.

As a drinker of black, French Roast coffee, we loved Trücup.

Premium coffee beans from the best growing regions are blended; then, using a natural, proprietary process, the stomach-upsetting acids are removed.

There are five low-acid options:

 
There are bags of ground coffee and K-cups.

There’s also a decaf, Fake It To The Limit; but it’s not low acid. Evidently, you can create decaf or low acid coffee, but not both.

Order your Trücup at Trucup.com.
 
To set the scientific record straight about the acidity of coffee:

According to an article in Scientific American, the acidity of the coffee itself doesn’t cause stomach distress. Coffee’s pH is similar to potatoes.

It’s the gastric acid secreted by the stomach cells in response to the coffee acids, chlorogenic acid and caffeine, stimulate the secretion of gastric acid. Here’s more about it.
 
 
4. VEESTRO VEGAN MEAL DELIVERY SERVICE

We don’t typically review meal plan services, and we’re not vegan.

But Veestro is a great delivery service for those carnivores and pescatarians who want to eat more sustainably. A few vegan meals a week is no sacrifice, especially when they are delicious as those from Veestro.

We only tried a few items, but were ready to head to the store and buy more—until we realized they were subscription only.

You choose what you want. Order a few items à la carte, or sign up for a plan. Give a subscription as a gift.

Fully prepared, hand-crafted meals arrive on your doorstep, in eco-friendly packaging. Just heat up (as needed), and dig in.

For all friends and family reading this: Send us as many Ahimi™ Poke Bowls as you like. We’re addicted and can’t wait to clear out the freezer so we can lay in even more.

By the way, the vegan tuna sashmi, delicious and sustainable, is the first-of-its-kind alternative to raw tuna. Along with other vegan sushi and sashimi, it was created by Ocean Hugger Foods, based in New York City.

There are gluten-free and kosher options as well. Check them out at Veestro.com.

[5] K-cup users: Trücup’s got you covered (photo courtesy Trücup).

[6] Our latest passion: a vegan poke bowl (it’s called “Ahimi”) from Veestro.

[7] Country-fried Chick’n is one of 50 Veestro options.