Brussels Sprouts and Hemp Milk

I'm in New York. My sister is getting married tomorrow, in lower upstate (not to be confused with places such as Utica, Rochester, Buffalo). It's very exciting. And it's also my father's birthday. So we'll have a double celebration. Heck, we can also toast to my anniversary which was less than a week ago.

I had planned to come east to go to the Natural Foods Product Expo in Baltimore anyway so it worked out great for me. Yesterday I saw a number of new products at the show. Perhaps the most interesting thing that I noticed was Hemp Milk. It has plenty of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, the kind of fat that we need, and it tastes good. I don't drink a lot of nondairy milk but when I do, I choose unsweetened soy or multigrain. I will likely switch to hemp when it arrives on the market.

There was also sprouted flax and hempseed, a soft hempseed (with all the shells removed), wonderful hempseed multigrain bagels from French Meadow, gluten-free tortillas from La Tortilla Factory made from teff, a new Flax Plus cereal from Nature's Path (my favorite morning cereal company) and lots of flavored waters, some with sweeteners and many without.

I had to speed through the show and still managed to stop and chat, seeing a number of surprised friends from Sonoma County. I mean, who would have expected to see me in Baltimore? It certainly is a long way to fly, just to check out new products. I was sorry that I couldn't have stayed longer. But it did leave me a day to rest in New York.

My mother took me to a local Italian deli where they prepare a variety of dishes from stuffed artichokes to eggplant florentine (which unfortunately contained proscuitto), lasagne, sausage and peppers and more. Although it is primarily meat-oriented they do have some beautiful vegetable and pasta dishes. I could have had a grilled veggie wrap but instead we got carrot and spinach cakes which were tasty. There was sauteed broccoli raab which we didn't get but we did buy the roasted Brussels sprouts. Oh my goodness -- those sprouts are almost as good as mine but much easier since someone else cooked them. So, if you're in New York and on Long Island, check out Iavarone Bros www.ibfoods.com. I was really surprised and pleased to get such tasty vegetable dishes there.

If you do any traveling, you know that eating well on the road isn't always easy. I'm glad that it has been this time. Still, just to be sure, I have my special trail mix, seaweed and Mary's Gone crackers crackers with me. On the plane coming, I had a salad and a large organic apple. I didn't go hungry although I do lament not being able to bring my own water on the plane (without the exorbitant $2.50 a bottle at the airport charge).

Please don't ask me about my cosmetics and what a nightmare that is, with quart ziploc bags and such. Have you ever heard of a mascara terrorist? You just might if the TSA keeps up the cosmetic nonsense. But that's another story.