Posted on February 16, 2016
The
almond has been a favorite food since ancient times. It's actually
considered a “super food” because it is so healthy: almonds
provide fiber, protein, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and
even iron!
Researchers
say that evidence suggests that eating most nuts, such as almonds,
may reduce the risk of heart disease and regulate blood pressure.
They can make you feel full, compared to other foods with similar
numbers of calories, and therefore they can control your hunger
pangs.
Almond
oil and almond milk can help your skin and hair, even!
And
of course almonds are soooooooo yummy. Almond is even one of my
favorite smells in things like liquid soaps, shampoos, and candles!
Here
are some great ways to eat almonds:
Whole
almonds
make great snacks. You can probably find them raw, roasted, salted,
unsalted, and flavored. For example, Blue Diamond sells whole almonds
in the following flavors:
salt
'n' vinegar- honey Dijon
- sriracha
- habanero
- jalpeno smokehouse
- wasabi & soy sauce
- honey roasted
- smokehouse
- toasted coconut
Almond
milk is a delicious substitute for cow's milk or soy milk.
Marzipan
and other forms of almond paste are often a yummy part of candy
or baked goods. Marzipan is easy and fun to roll or pinch into a
variety of shapes. Making teeny tiny marzipan fruits is traditional,
but some people make figures out of marzipan. My question is...do
they then EAT them???? |
| (I'd rather eat marzipan snowmen than marzipan babies!) |
Sliced
almonds are super yummy in cereals and salads, and as a coating
for a cheese ball or a cake.
Slivered
almonds are my favorite way to add a nutty texture to green
beans.
Chopped almonds are great in cookies and sweet breads.
Almond
extract is my go-to flavoring for many desserts. I make sure to
include plenty of almond extract in my spritz cookies, and I often
frost many or even most of the cookies with homemade buttercream
frosting with a delicious dollop of almond flavoring! Yummers!
By
the way...
Even
though almonds have been eaten and enjoyed in so many places in the
world, throughout history, my own state of California produces a
surprisingly large percent of the world's supply.
I'm
talking 80%!
Yep,
the U.S. is by far the largest commercial supplier of almonds in the
world, and California is responsible for pretty much all of
the U.S. commercial crop!
Unfortunately,
last year's drought affected the California almond supply and
affected prices worldwide. And demand for almonds is going up and up
– even though prices are higher.
Australia
and Spain are the two nations that follow the U.S. (California) in
production...but get a load of these numbers:
U.S.A.
- 1.8 million tonnes of almonds
Australia
– 0.16 million tonnes of almonds
Spain
– 0.15 million tonnes of almonds
Also on this date:
Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays's birthday
Plan
ahead:
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out my Pinterest boards for:
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