As the weather starts to cool off and the days become shorter, the walnut harvesting season starts to wrap up as well. The season usually begins in early October and lasts a few weeks. This time is extremely vital for the farmers and landowners to get all the harvesting finished in order to ensure great productivity. And boy does our spotlight this month really know what he’s doing! Bella Viva Orchards walnut farmer and provider is Bruce Beard from Modesto, CA who’s not second, not third but a fifth generation nut tree farmer! Yes, you read that correctly – fifth generation. In fact, Bruce’s
Walnut Pastila with Bella Viva Prunes: With the holidays quickly approaching, you can never have too many recipes on hand. Sure, prunes are excellent all their own, but throw them into a dish and you’ve taken cooking to a whole new flavor level. The following recipe is for two scrumptious walnut pastila but beware, you might find yourself surrounded with family begging for the recipe after just one slice: Total time: 30 min Serves: 6 Ingredients: 2 cups Bella Viva Dried, Pitted Prunes, finely chopped 1 cup sugar ¼ cup Topanga Quality Raw, Unfiltered Honey Grated zest of 1 orange ½ cup fresh orange
Differences and History: One question commonly asked is “aren’t dried plums called prunes?” The answer to that is yes and no; all prunes were plums but not all dried plums are prunes. That might seem confusing at first, but some of the main differences to distinguish between a plum and a prune are through their physical appearances. When fresh and ripe, the color of skin a majority of plums possess is a deep red while plums that become prunes have a purple or blue skin (01). Even the shape of each of them show their individuality as most varieties of plums are flattish shaped
Health Facts: Perhaps those who have overeaten them is what has given prunes a false bad reputation. However, if you push that prejudgment aside, you might be surprised to find out they’re actually super yummy and good for you. Plump and tender, prunes are a good source of terrific nutrients including calcium and Vitamin C. Furthermore, each serving carries 12 percent daily value of fiber which acts as a great digestive agent and a whopping 17 percent daily value of Vitamin A. That’s just a small number of the healthy nutrients prunes hold. Yet one of the most absolutely amazing health facts the prune
As Autumn approaches, so does plum harvesting season and, for Bella Viva, pleasing plums mean pleasant prunes. The season only lasts around 30 days total and it’s vital to get the fruit picked before they over-ripen and start falling on the ground – especially before fall and winter rains – yet still right when they’re ripe enough. This year’s harvest season is right on target! Every step to ensure the plums are cared for thoroughly and to their full potential takes ultimate dedication. Bella Viva makes certain we know our farmers, and who’s more passionate about Bella Viva than owner Victor Martino himself! That’s
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Almond Flour: Another great thing about almonds is that they are able to be used in so many different ways. Almond flour and almond meal are made when the almonds are finely ground into powders; the flour consisting only the insides of the blanched meats and the meal consisting of the powdered whole almonds, including the skins. In many cases and especially in most cookie recipes, almond flour along with almond meal can be used in place of wheat or other flour in baking recipes. They are both naturally gluten-free as well. The following is a recipe for some super
Health Facts (NUT-rients): Grown on trees in a great number of orchards, the hearty and crunchy almonds are jam-packed with nutritional value including high amounts of good fats and proteins. There are roughly 130 calories per 23 almonds, or one ounce (1)(2). While that might sound like a lot, the amount of health benefits you can gather from the earthy, bite-sized snack is outstanding, making the calorie count small in comparison. You can also check out what medicalnewstoday.com has found in a recent study regarding the link between almond consumption and heart disease. Almonds are even filled with Vitamin E which carries antioxidants (3).
August and September are extremely busy harvesting months for almond crops. As a result, our growers easily find themselves with little time on their hands outside the orchards. Bella Viva makes a point to build firsthand relationships with our passionate farmers. This way you can rest assured the product you’re receiving has been loved since day one. One of our partnering almond farmers, who is also the nephew of Bella Viva owners Victor and Angela Martino, can be found in Oakdale, CA – one of the many valley towns where the almond trees flourish thanks to an ideal habitat. He’s Henry Colombo and he’s
This past month of August sadly closed off an era for The Martino Family, owners of Bella Viva, that became near and dear to many hearts; we have ended our participation in farmers markets, which we started partaking in during the early 1960s. Since then, we would be able to be found almost every single Saturday morning up at the crack of dawn and ready to sell our greatest products to you so you would be able to delight in them. Two of these farmers markets that made a huge impact in our lives and our company were the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and
California Pears: The Scully Family With over 3,000 different varieties of pears worldwide, the choice on which is the most delicious might be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully we’re here at Bella Viva to help you decide! We partner with local growers who we know will provide us with only the best of the deliciousness found through Bosc and Bartlett Pears. Both of these specific pear varieties are full of extreme bursts of flavor pockets throughout their entirety, making them perfect for us to bestow you with handfuls of the hearty and velvety fruit. We supply the options of conventional as well as natural and
