Miss Maria keeping it real

FALL IS HERE......SO, LET'S CELEBRATE THE FLAVORS OF FALL!!🍂 Fall is my favorite time of year 🙌  The weather starts to cool .....(hopefully soon here in Sacramento Area 😓), the leaves start to change, and there are wonderful , delicious aromas in the air  😊 Here are my favorite seasonal flavors I enjoy this time of year: PUMPKIN It seems everyone is in love with   pumpkin this time of year.  There are so many ways to enjoy this vibrant squash but some of my favorite ways are: homemade pumpkin creamer with pumpkin pie spice in my coffee, pumpkin salsa with homemade tortilla chips, roasted pumpkin by itself, but my absolute favorite way is to enjoy a slice of my homemade pumpkin dark chocolate chip bread : A Fall classic featuring REAL pumpkin, dark chocolate, and warm spices for an added comfort to this hearty bread.......perfect for a light Fall breakfast or added to your Holiday dessert table  APPLES  Going to Apple Hill is my favorite Fal...

Enjoy the last weekend of Summer with the end of Summer seasonal produce 🍑🍒🍓 Here are my favorite Summer produce and my favorite way to eat them: ARUGULA :  Arugula is a spicy flavorful green that has a bold bite to it! 🌿  I like to add it to sandwiches in place of lettuce, make a pesto out of it with any nut, cheese, and oil you have, or simply make a salad out of it and add any fresh veggies you have to it.  It dresses up boring lettuce and adds a kick to  any sandwich or salad or side dish.....If you haven't tried, you must! BLUEBERRIES :  I love fresh blueberries in the Summer 🔵  They are so sweet and juicy and small which I love because I can eat more 😉 I eat blueberries straight, or add them to oatmeal or cereal, but my favorite way to eat them is to add them to my all natural homemade Blueberry Banana Bread:  A perfect summer time choice featuring fresh blueberries and ripe bananas making for a sweet, moist bread.......Miss. Mar...

Today's Featured Recipe of the Day is: Pepper Cilantro Cornbread 🌶🌿🍿🍞 This is a brand new bread for us that we created just for The Pepper Festival 🌶 but it was such a hit that it's going to be a permanent addition to our line 🙌  We sold out of this bread very quickly and was in still demand once it was gone.  One of my customers who bought 2 actually gave one up so someone else could buy it 🤗 We use all natural flour and cornmeal along with local, fresh chili peppers and cilantro.  Instead of using butter or lard to moisten the bread, we use creamed corn to keep bread moist, fresh,  and delicious without adding extra fat but tons of flavor 👏 The end result is a perfectly balanced sweet and spicy soft cornbread with a unique twist of cilantro making for a truly unique flavor.....which is what we do at Garcia Bread Co .  We shy away from boring and embrace unusual but complimentary flavors.....we Keep It Real by being true to our mission and using l...

What to do with end of summer peppers??  Make Homemade salsa....of course 🌶🍅 I was selling my breads at The Pepper Festival this weekend and came across so many different ways to use peppers and so many different pepper varieties.  Who knew how many peppers there are.....it's amazing!! A gentleman I have come to know grows peppers sustainably in his backyard in Auburn and gave me 2 California Reapers and 3 XXX peppers to try and create something with in exchange for one of my breads......good deal 🤝 I had the rest of the ingredients at home to make a salsa so that's what I decided to do......🔥 I blended tomatoes, onions, mint (homegrown in my backyard), garlic, cumin, chipotle powder, salt, and of course.....the peppers.  The result was not for the weak stomached let me tell you! The California Reaper Pepper is one of the hottest peppers around at 2,200,000 scoville units (heat scale)......Now, keep in mind that the jalapeno pepper has 8,000 scoville units...

I NOT ONLY EAT LOCAL, I DRINK LOCAL TOO 🍷 I have found this hidden gem that has been around for 6 years and I didn't even know about it.  Being a loyal wine drinker, I am very surprised and maybe a little disappointed in myself that it took me this long to find them.  I am talking about Cante Ao Vinho Winery in Rocklin.  This is a family owned winery that produces all of their wines locally in house and offers them to the public every weekend ( 7 tastings ) along with live music and a fantastic, cool vibe and ambiance.  I was there yesterday as a vendor selling my bread ( which I sold out of thanks to loyal regulars who loved my bread paired with their fantastic, authentic, old world style wines ) and I fell in love with the charm, space, band ( Albertson Duo.... who were fantastic and very talented!), conversations, and authenticity coming from the staff, and of course....the wines 🍷🍷 I tried 2 wines: Sangiovese and Barbera.....I prefer red wine over whit...

It's best to eat seasonally 🌻🍂☔🍀 because you are eating food at it's peak....it's best! When food is at it's peak, it's at it's highest quality.....it's fresher, tastier, more vibrant, and happier 😊 Here's what I am enjoying right now:  I love fresh herbs and greens and eat them as much as I can.  2 of my favorite things to enjoy right now are:  Arugula   and Mint 🍃..... not necessarily together....but hey, why not....you may discover something new 🙌 I love the spicy, crisp bite that Arugula offers.  It's bold flavor can kick up any boring salad 🥗and add a bright new flavor to any sandwich 🥪.  I, sometimes, just eat the leaves on their own because they're so flavorful 😋  If you haven't tried it, you must.....it's a game changer! Mint is something that I grow in my home garden.  It is such a hardy (robust and sturdy) herb that it grows easily with little care and can sustain many conditions.  Adding it to plain water...

Humans aren't the only ones who should eat sustainably......Our fur babies should get the same benefits too! 🐶🐱 We love our children and want them to get the best nutrition possible...right?  So, why not give the same nutrition to our pets....they're a part of our family and we want the absolute best ingredients to go into their body as well....right? Of course! Our fur baby..... Pepper ......turned 11 years old yesterday and I wanted to give her something special but also really nutritious and homemade . I decided to try out a " pupcake " which is a cupcake for dogs. 🎂🐕 I wanted the ingredients to be all natural and human grade but also something she would enjoy eating.  Here is what I came up with and she absolutely LOVED it!! I mixed flour, milk , honey , all natural peanut butter, baking powder, baking soda, 1 egg white, vanilla extract, and pumpkin  (all of these are edible ingredients for dogs), poured into a small baking dish or ramekin and ba...

September is not just for Pumpkin Season 🎃......it's also the start of Apple Season 🍎🍏 Apple Hill has been up and running for weeks now and I've gotten some fresh, delicious Gingergold Apples from there and there's so much to do with them.  They are sweet and slightly tart with a spiciness added to them....hence the name: Gingergold  You can eat them raw which is one of my favorite ways to enjoy this seasonal fruit You can bake them in the oven with warm fall spices stuffed with nuts and raisins You can put them into your favorite apple pie or crisp recipe.  They hold up very well in baking You can bake them in your favorite bread recipe as I do in my Apple Cornbread   But, probably my most favorite way to use up these unique apples is to make Apple Wine with them. 🍏🍷 Making Apple Wine  is so easy and fun to do.  All you do is:   Get a bottle of your favorite white wine or even an inexpensive one since we're going to be adding ...

Today's Featured Recipe is: Rosemary Olive Artisan  This bread is our most popular artisan bread: Our most popular item features fresh, local hand picked rosemary and nutritious green olives which compliment each other beautifully in this bread.......it can and should be enjoyed throughout the year We use fresh organic home grown rosemary paired with green olives instead of the traditional black or kalamata olive....(my husband's idea).  It adds a more tangy flavor that compliments the fresh rosemary in this bread.   Since we have access to  fresh rosemary and green olives all throughout the year, this bread is popular all year round.   It comes in a 10 oz round or in artisan roll form.  You can slice the round loaf and add to your dinner table with grass fed butter or use the rolls in the same way. Miss Maria's favorite way to enjoy this bread is in roll form in a sandwich.  It takes the ordinary sandwich to extraordinary 🥪🌿 T...

SUMMER IS COMING TO AN END AND SO ARE SUMMERTIME BERRIES 🍒🍓 Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries have just about finished their season 😕 To celebrate these delicious, juicy summertime fruits one last time, I am keeping it real by highlighting the blueberry today in our Banana Blueberry Bread  🍌💙🍞: A perfect summer time choice featuring fresh blueberries and ripe bananas making for a sweet, moist bread.......Miss Maria recommends enjoying for breakfast 🍽or even as a summertime dessert with it's cake like consistency Both of these fruits are full of antioxidants and potassium making them very nutrient dense foods.  Together, they are superfoods for your body 👏 Other fruits that are coming to an end are peaches, blackberries, and boysenberries To take advantage of the optimal flavors of these fruits, in addition to our Banana Blueberry, I recommend trying our: Raspberry Lemon , Ginger Peach , and Dark Chocolate Cherry breads before these seaso...

WHETHER YOU LOVE IT OR HATE IT, IT'S HERE: PUMPKIN SEASON 🧡 The Garcia Bread Co . and Miss Maria is joining the party and keeps it real with our Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Chip Bread 🍫🍞:  A Fall classic featuring REAL pumpkin, dark chocolate, and warm spices for an added comfort to this hearty bread.......perfect for a light Fall breakfast or added to your Holiday dessert table We use the same high quality, rich, fair traded, non GMO dark chocolate as in our Dark Chocolate Cherry Bread which apparent in it's taste. We use real pumpkin that adds freshness and keeps bread moist and delicious.  Warm Fall spices adds a satisfying comforting addition making this a comfort food you can enjoy any time of day 🌅🌃 Both Dark Chocolate  and Pumpkin  have health benefits in addition to being delicious:  They are both antioxidants which helps reduce risk of chronic diseases They are full of vitamins and minerals adding nutritional value to their profile T...

Today's featured recipe of the day is: Dark Chocolate Cherry Artisan Bread 🍫🍒🍞 In this favorite of mine, I pair rich fair trade non GMO dark chocolate with sweet juicy cherries that are just about ending their season right now.  This is one of the most classic and loved pairings around.....🍫🍒.....and for good reason: It's the perfect sweet and tart compliment The darker the chocolate and darker the cherry, the richer the flavor which is why the two compliment each other so nicely It's an elegant pairing but casual enough to put into my bread recipe DARK CHOCOLATE CHERRY ARTISAN BREAD:  A summer and Winter delicacy featuring rich dark chocolate and fresh, sweet cherries with a hint of sweet almond flavor making this a sweet and savory treat which is perfect for Valentine's Day as well the warmer months.......it's a treat you can enjoy all year long.......A Miss Maria favorite We are ending  cherry season so now is the time to order if you want to ...