Baked Pears with Bella Viva Walnuts: The hearty flavor of walnuts make them so versatile when using in recipes. The nutty crunch brings a regular meal to a whole new level. Don’t be surprised if your palette will be begging for more in no time. Walnuts pair so well with countless flavors. So many in fact you’ll probably never run out of ideas for using them and that’s great! They’re perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes. In fact, it was difficult to narrow what recipe to feature, but we decided on one that is a must try for the holidays. You would if
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
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
It’s that time of year again – the time all pie and preserves makers as well as any peach-lover in general anticipates all year long. The ninth annual Bella Viva Orchards’ Great Peach Event is just a couple weeks shy of arriving and it’s going to be flavorful. We’ll head straight from our orchards with truckloads of beautiful premium, fresh peaches and be at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and the Alemany Farmers Market in San Francisco on July 29, 2017. From there, it only gets better. We’ll be offering a one-day only sale of one layer LA lugs (about 12 lbs) of big, juicy peaches for around half the normal cost. Amongst
Stone Fruits & Thinning: At Bella Viva we have the best stone fruit around! This doesn’t happen by accident. Our team diligently cares for the trees all year, from soil and leaf testing to fertilizing and amending and finally pruning and thinning. Currently we are hard at work thinning the trees that will soon bare delicious stone fruit. This process ensures the maximum flavor, sweetness and size of each and every fruit left on the tree. Our passion for quality also means waiting for our apricots, plums, peaches and nectarines to reach their peak, prior to harvest. Last but certainly not least, proprietary drying
