Month: August 2018

Social Enterprise Drives First Harvest Nut Spreads

I discovered two new nut spreads while I was shopping for baking supplies at one of my happy places, All About Baking in SM City East Ortigas: First Harvest’s Coco Sugar Peanut Spread and Peanut Crunch with Rice Pops. At first, I was attracted to their packaging: it looks quite premium and artisanal. Upon closer inspection, I was happy to discover that First Harvest is a homegrown brand.

First Harvest Peanut Butter

The production and sales of First Harvest’s offerings provide employment and skills development to the mothers in the Gawad Kalinga village in Angat, Bulacan. All ingredients used in the products are grown or sourced locally and prepared into these artisanal nut butters using traditional methods, and without the use of artificial preservatives. Furthermore, the enterprise’s profits also helps fund college scholarships for local youth.

Being a peanut butter aficionado, I just knew I had to try these out. The variants below are the ones stocked at my nearest All About Baking outlet.

Coco Sugar Peanut Spread (Php160/250g)

First Harvest Peanut Butter

First Harvest Peanut Butter

It has a smooth and creamy texture that spreads well and evenly on white bread, perfect for my son who likes his peanut butter just so. Churned with less oil and made using coco sugar as sweetener, it is a relatively healthier nut spread at 50 calories per 2 tbsp serving.

Ingredients: Peanuts, Coco Sugar, Canola Oil, Iodized Salt

Peanut Crunch with Rice Pops (Php170/250g)

First Harvest Peanut Butter

First Harvest Peanut Butter

I prefer some texture in my nut butters so this crunchy variant is a winner for me. Sweetened with honey and made crunchy with pinipig bits, it goes well with wheat bread. The additions that give it a sweeter taste and a popping crunchy texture do take their toll however; a 2 tbsp serving is at 170 calories (but it was worth it!).

Ingredients: Peanuts, Rice Pops, Canola Oil, Iodized Salt

These nut spreads are of high quality, comparable to imported products that I have tried recently. I had to expend some effort to remix the nut spreads before applying them to my toasts due the separation of the oil from the rest of the mixture. I didn’t mind, though. That’s the consequence of not using artificial stabilizers, etc.

First Harvest Peanut Butter

And since the products are made with much love by the nanays of a rural community, I wouldn’t mind supporting them by regularly buying First Harvest nut butters so I can help spread the love to my family. (I even hounded the staff of All About Baking to inform me of when they restock their First Harvest Peanut Crunch.)

If you like peanut butter whether as a spread or as an ingredient for your culinary masterpieces, do give First Harvest a try.

I’m looking forward to trying out the original First Harvest Peanut Butter (the one sweetened by honey instead of coco sugar) and the brand’s Salted Coco Caramel (a twist to my childhood’s classic coco jam).

FIRST HARVEST

Address: GK Enchanted Farm California Street, Brgy. Encanto Angat, Bulacan Philippines 3012

Mobile: +63 90538-24447

Instagram: @firstharvest

Twitter: @firstharvestph

Facebook: FirstHarvestFoods

E-mail: inquire@firstharvest.ph

TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens” to be released in 2019

The creatively twisted minds of two of Britain’s greatest modern fantasy writers produced Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (or more commonly known as just Good Omens). The fruit of a very successful collaboration between Neil Gaiman (“American Gods,” “The Graveyard Book,” and “Stardust“) and Sir Terry Prachett (“Discworld“) published in 1990, Good Omens is a quirky and entertaining novel that tells of the coming of the Apocalypse. The book is chock-full of humorous situations: from a witch’s super-accurate predictions of her execution, the birth and childhood of the AntiChrist in the English suburbs, the coming together of the Four Horsemen, and the mad antics of the legions of Heaven led by Aziraphale the Angel and Hell led by Crowley the Demon (both of whom happen to treat each other as friends) as they prepare for the endtimes.

I first read the book in the late 90’s and I did think the story would translate well onscreen.

A film adaptation was in fact planned in 2002 in which Robin Williams and Johnny Depp were set to star as Aziraphale and Crowley respectively but financing fell through.

A radio dramatization was aired in BBC Radio 4 in 2015, wherein Gaiman and Pratchett had cameo appearances.

Nearly two decades after first reading the book, I’m thrilled to find out that a TV adaptation is finally in the works, starring no less than Michael Sheen (“Underwold: Rise of the Lycans,” “Midnight in Paris“) as Aziraphale and David Tennant (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Broadchurch“) as Crowley.

This TV series couldn’t have come at a better time, being the new Golden Age of Television, and judging from the recent success of the TV series based on another Neil Gaiman novel, American Gods.

The 6-episode series will be released on Amazon Prime in 2019, followed by a conventional broadcast on BBC Two.

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