The fruits of autumn are truly my favorite.  Pears and apples are wonderful for snacking raw, yet they can so easily be transformed into various delights, including my all time favorite, apple crisp.  However, they really show their versatility in the form of "butters."  The traditional fruit butter has a creamy texture, hinting at jam in flavor, but more luxurious in texture.  On another butter front, pureed fruit can make a wonderful fat substitute in baking.  A rather handy tool for the dairy-free, vegan, or low fat foodie.  In celebration of its multi-tasking capabilities, here are a few fruit "butter" tips and recipes...

Cate O'Malley, Fit Fare - A recent study by the Swedes revealed that adding cinnamon to rice pudding will slow your digestion and steady your blood sugar. Well if that isn’t reason enough to eat rice pudding, I don’t know what is… although that’s probably not the end-result they were looking for.  In their study, healthy individuals who added 2-1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon to a 10-1/2 ounce bowl of rice pudding had blood glucose levels about half as high after 90 minutes than those who didn’t add the cinnamon. [Now, to test the theory, you will need some Dairy-Free Rice Pudding, or perhaps a Vegan version!  Cook, serve, and sprinkle generously with cinnamon.]

"This book should be purchased by every parent who lives with a severely food allergic child, that is a given.  What the author's title doesn’t tell us, is that her book is a must read for any friend, teacher, family member, or caregiver who may also be in contact with their child ...  Linda Coss addresses every detail from how to use an EpiPen to grocery shopping, school situations, and play dates.  Plus, to really send the message home, she includes stories and testimonials from dozens of parents throughout..."  Read Full Review / View All Book Reviews

According to a new report from the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) only one in seven people within the United States currently eats enough fruits and vegetables and gets enough exercise. Their survey of over 350,000 people found that he fairly relaxed targets of five or more fruits and vegetables a day, and moderate exercise (gardening, brisk walking or ... vacuuming!) for 30 minutes, five days a week or vigorous exercise (aerobics, running, heavy yard work, etc.) for 20 minutes, three days a week, were being met by only 14.6% of the population.