Food Share

Established in 1983 the non-profit FOOD Share organization is a critical member of our community in providing food and support to the hungry faces of Ventura County. FOOD Share distributes over 9 million pounds of nutritious food per year via our 150+ non-profit partners, government programs, and outreach programs. This great organization receives food and monetary donations via individual donations, corporations, foundations, grants, the USDA, and the generous Ag community. FOOD Share, the community of Ventura County, and our partners are dedicated to alleviating the critical issue of hunger.

This month, we are pleased to partner with FOOD Share in making donations that will benefit the hungry. For every person who purchases an Orchard Fresh Gift Basket/Box and mentions FOOD Share in the comment section of their order, Limoneira will donate $2.00 to Food Share. This donation will be made in the giver's name.  

Limoneira Lifestyles

Limoneira Lifestyles is a celebration of the best in almost 120 years of sustainable California agriculture. Our ranch headquarters in the Santa Clara River Valley (affectionately known around here as the Heritage Valley) offers some of the most spectacular scenery and beauty in the world. As the largest grower of lemons and avocados in the United States, we have a great deal of experience in sustainable agriculture, and we take pride in treading lightly on the land. Over a century of farming has enabled us to make significant strides in water conservation, soil enrichment, green materials recycling, and the use of beneficial insects to create a natural, healthy, growing environment. Our solar orchards harness the sun for clean energy and our research on new citrus varieties keeps us at our industry's cutting edge. Limoneira Lifestyles products reflect these ideals. A few of these products are discussed here and many more can be found by visiting www.limoneiralifestyles.com 

Limoneira's avocado and Lemon skin care products are lemon and avocado based. They are natural and dermatologist tested. Almost all contain a new compound which is a natural promoter of skin metabolism. An ethno-botanical research project in Central America revealed this new compound from the avocado. We're sure you'll experience a number of benefits from this line.

Delectable Lemon Pack

The country's leading chefs use sweet Meyer lemons. You can too. This unique hybrid has a soft skin that blushes with an orange hue when fully ripe and is very aromatic. Meyers are perfect for souffl�s, lemon tarts, or garnishing a Moroccan casserole. This pack comes with 8 Meyer lemons, 1 lemon sugar candle, 1 Lemon Avocado Body Butter, and our Limoneira Lifestyles Organic Lemon Balm Moisturizer. This daily moisturizer with its light, elegant, acid-free skin-softening formula uses natural and organic ingredients centered around an essential avocado extract.

Packinghouse Aprons

Modeled after Limoneira traditional packinghouse aprons, these 100% cotton versions have 2 convenient pockets. The Limoneira logo is embroidered in hunter green on the white apron and embroidered in white on the hunter green apron. Choose which aprons best fits your needs. Both aprons will provide comfortable protection as you undertake your task, either in the kitchen or garden.

Limoneira Fleece Jackets

We stay snug on cool mornings at Limoneira Ranch with our great fleece- quarter zip jacket. This classic style offers good looks, warmth and it's water resistant!

Santa and Paula Citrus Art Coasters

Liven up any tabletop or desk with our set of Santa and Paula coasters, printed on square tiles with a beautiful gloss finish. Each coaster measures 4�" x 4�" x �".

Leather Coasters 

We've been using these great coasters for picnics and orchard dining at the Ranch for some time, and we love them. They provide a touch of simple class, yet they're casual enough for everyday use. Black leather 4 coaster set with white contrast stitching and matching holder.

Lemon Sugar Candles 

Imagine the scent of fresh lemons out in the orchard on a nice spring day. This candle captures that fresh and rejuvenating fragrance and blends it with sweet and subtle hints of vanilla and sugar. Each candle is 4 oz. and also makes a great decorative piece with its brushed aluminum casing. Limoneira's citrus candles make an ideal gift for any occasion and bring the aroma of our fresh citrus to your home.

Limoneira Kids

Grow Your Own Garden Kit

Let your kids get a jump start on gardening success with this fun, educational and "green" kit. Each garden kit contains one pack of Lemon Mint Seeds, Lemon Basil Seeds, 2 small eco-friendly biodegradable pots, garden gloves, Agromin soil, small garden shovel, garden rake, garden trowel, and a kid's educational activity book. Children will love watching their own herbs spring to life with this easy- to -plant-and-grow set. Limoneira has been growing sustainably for 118 years. This kit provides a fun way for learning about life cycles, plants, and responsibility.  

Kids Coloring T-Shirts

Van Gogh never had it so good. These 100% cotton tee's with Limoneira lemon, avocado, and orange characters can be colored with the 7 fabric friendly crayons.  

Master Chef Kits

Limoneira lemons, oranges, specialty citrus, and avocados are shipped to restaurants around the world. These delicious little Master Chef Kits ensure that your child gets a jump start as the next celebrity chef. Little chef hats and aprons provide the professional career touch. Miniature rolling pin, whisk, wood spoon, spatula, and scraper --- the necessities that got Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters off and running are also here. Limoneira Kids recipes are included for preparation for the next nutritious fun family feast.

Healthy Kid's Recipes

Crispy Fish with Lemon-Dill Sauce

By oven-frying these panko-covered fillets, you can get the flavor of crispy fried fish for far fewer calories. When keeping sustainability in mind, consider Alaskan cod, or substitute halibut or even budget friendly tilapia.

Ingredients

•          2 large egg whites, lightly beaten 
•          1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
•          1/2 teaspoon paprika
•          3/4 teaspoon onion powder
•          3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
•          4 (6-ounce) skinless cod fillets
•          1 teaspoon black pepper
•          1/2 teaspoon salt 
•          Cooking spray 
•          1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
•          2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle 
•          1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 
•          1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
•          Lemon wedges 

Preparation

 

1. Preheat broiler.   

2. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Combine panko, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder in a shallow dish. Sprinkle fish evenly with pepper and salt. Dip each fillet in egg white, then dredge in panko mixture; place on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.  

3. Combine mayonnaise, pickle, lemon juice, and dill. Serve with fish and lemon wedges.  

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and about 2 tablespoons sauce)

Lemon-Ginger Fried Chicken

You can up the flavor profile of chicken fingers by offering fried chicken (a kid favorite) with a combo of non-traditional flavors. The technique here still skips deep frying, but the double coating of flour creates a golden crust. A sweet glaze infused with ginger and lemon is, admittedly, not what the kids are expecting, but it is a delicious surprise.

Ingredients

•          1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 
•          1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons) 
•          2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
•          1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic 
•          2 bone-in chicken breast halves, skinned 
•          2 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
•          2 chicken drumsticks, skinned 
•          4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup) 
•          2 teaspoons ground ginger
•          1 teaspoon paprika
•          1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
•          1 teaspoon kosher salt
•          1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•          1/4 cup peanut oil
•          1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 
•          2 tablespoons brown sugar 
•          1 lemon, thinly sliced 

Preparation  

1. Place rind, juice, and next 5 ingredients (through drumsticks) in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake to coat. Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning bag occasionally.  

2. Sift together flour and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper). Place flour mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Remove chicken from marinade bag, reserving marinade. Sprinkle salt and black pepper evenly over chicken. Add chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture; seal bag and shake to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour mixture. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Place chicken on a wire rack; place rack in a jelly-roll pan. Cover and refrigerate 1� hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.   

3. Preheat oven to 350�.

4. Return chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture; seal bag and shake to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour mixture. Discard remaining flour mixture.

5. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, turning once. Arrange chicken in single layer in a shallow roasting pan. Combine broth and reserved marinade in a small bowl; carefully pour broth mixture into pan. Sprinkle chicken evenly with sugar, and top with lemon slices. Bake at 350� for 45 minutes or until golden and a thermometer registers 165�.

Recipe Sources: Cooking Light 

Health Benefit Corner

As we have noted in earlier issues, lemons have a number of health benefits in addition to providing a natural way of enhancing a number of food and beverage recipes.

Phytonutrients with Antioxidant and Antibiotic Effects

Lemons contain unique flavonoid compounds that have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. In addition to their unique phytonutrient properties, lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C, one of the most important antioxidants in nature. Vitamin C is one of the main antioxidants found in food, and is the primary water-soluble antioxidant in the body. Vitamin C travels throughout the body neutralizing any free radicals with which it comes into contact in the aqueous environments in the body, both inside and outside cells. Free radicals can interact with the healthy cells of the body, damaging them and their membranes, and also cause a lot of inflammation, or painful swelling, in the body. This is one of the reasons that vitamin C has been shown to be helpful in reducing some of the symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  

Since free radicals can damage blood vessels and can change cholesterol to make it more likely to build up along artery walls, vitamin C can be helpful in preventing the development and progression of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease. Vitamin C is also vital to the function of a strong immune system. The immune system's main goal is to protect you from illness, so a little extra vitamin C may be useful in conditions like colds, influenzas, and recurrent ear infections. Owing to the multitude of vitamin C's health benefits, it is not surprising that research has shown that consumption of vegetables and fruits high in this nutrient is associated with a reduced risk of death from all causes including heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Limonins Support Optimal Health

In animal studies and laboratory tests with human cells, compounds in citrus fruits including lemons, called limonoids have been shown to help fight cancers of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach, and colon. Now, scientists from the US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have shown that our bodies can readily absorb and utilize a very long-acting limonoid called limonin that is present in citrus fruits in about the same amount as vitamin C. In citrus fruits, limonin is present in the form of limonin glucoside, in which limonin is attached to a sugar (glucose) molecule. Our bodies easily digest this compound, cleaving off the sugar and releasing limonin. Limonin's bioavailability and persistence may help explain why citrus limonoids are potent anti-carcinogens that may prevent cancerous cells from proliferating. The ARS team is now investigating the potential cholesterol-lowering effects of limonin. Lab tests indicate that human liver cells produce less apo B when exposed to limonin. Apo B is a structural protein that is part of the LDL cholesterol molecule and is needed for LDL production, transport, and binding, so higher levels of apo B translate to higher levels of LDL cholesterol.

Protection against Rheumatoid Arthritis

While one study suggests that high doses of supplemental vitamin C makes osteoarthritis, a type of degenerative arthritis that occurs with aging, worse in laboratory animals, another indicates that vitamin C-rich foods, such as lemons, provide humans with protection against inflammatory polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis involving multiple joints. The findings, presented in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases were drawn from a study of more than 20,000 subjects who kept diet diaries and were arthritis-free when the study began. The study focused on subjects who developed inflammatory polyarthritis and similar subjects who remained arthritis-free during the follow-up period. Subjects who consumed the lowest amounts of vitamin C-rich foods were more than three times more likely to develop arthritis than those who consumed the highest amounts.  

Source: World's Healthiest Foods Organization

Winter Holidays Around The World

The month of December, or rather the winter season, is viewed by people in many parts of the world as a time for observing many seasonal days. Most of them are linked to the winter solstice in some way, especially in the northern hemisphere. This is due to, on that day because of the tilt of the earth's axis, the daytime hours are at their shortest in the northern hemisphere, and the nighttime hours are at their longest. (In the southern hemisphere, the reverse is true. For this reason, most wintertime seasonal holiday traditions have their roots in the northern hemisphere.)

But, these winter holidays are also associated with religiously linked holy days. In fact, the very word 'holiday' has been derived from 'holy' and 'day,' because originally holidays demarcated special religious days.

Here are some of the winter holidays that are celebrated around the world:

Christmas: Christians all over the world celebrate this winter holiday on December 25. They go to church, decorate Christmas trees, give each other gifts, and have a traditional dinner with families spending the day together. In certain parts of Europe, "star singers" sing Christmas carols while walking behind a large star strung on a pole.

St. Lucia's Day: This is a winter holiday celebrated on December 13 in Sweden in honor of St. Lucia, who lived in the third century and is regarded as the patron of light. Young girls bedeck themselves in white colored long dresses with red sashes, and wear a wreath made of lit candles on their heads. They sing songs in order to wake their families up and bring them twisted saffron buns, known as 'Lucia cats' and coffee.

Channukkah: Also known as Hannukah, is one of the most important Jewish holidays. The history of this festival chronicles the Jewish people celebrating the revolution against the suppression and assimilation of the Jewish religion. It is a weeklong holiday that begins on December 26 and lasts up to January 1, with the menorah, or seven candles, being lit.

Kwanzaa:Literally meaning 'First Fruits', this has its basis in an ancient harvest festival of Africa which celebrates ideals like collective responsibility and work; self-determination; cooperation; purpose; creativity; faith; and unity. The celebration begins December 26 and culminates on January 1, during which time African Americans bedeck their homes with vegetables and fruits, don special clothes, and light the 'kinara' which is a special candleholder.

Mardi Gras: This holiday, which actually means 'Fat Tuesday' in French, occurs one day prior to Ash Wednesday, and is also known as 'Pancake Day' or 'Shrove Tuesday.' Mardi Gras is the last day of Carnival, which begins twelve days after Christmas, hence is also referred to as Twelfth Night, which falls on January 6 and ends on Mardi Gras day, exactly forty-six days before Easter. Some of the cities that are most famous for celebrating Mardi Gras are: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil: New Orleans in Louisiana; and Venice, Italy.

Hogmanay: This is a Scottish word which means the last day of the year and celebrates the New Year, according to the Gregorian calendar, in the Scottish way. It begins on the night of December 31, lasting all through the night and continuing until the 'Ne'erday' or January 1, and sometimes even to January 2 (a bank holiday in Scotland).

St. Nicholas Day: This holiday is celebrated in Northern Europe on December 6. St. Nicholas was the protector of the weak against the rich and the strong. St. Nicholas is treated like Santa Claus, and in fact, St. Nicholas is thought to be Santa Claus' original name. Children place boots on their windowsills or at the fireplace so that St. Nicholas can fill them with candy.

Bodhi Day: This holiday is celebrated by the Buddhists on December 8 in commemoration of the enlightenment of the Buddha. This is considered the most important holiday for Buddhists.

Lunar New Year: This is a two-week winter holiday celebrated in the latter part of January, or early part of February, or during the first lunar moon, by the Vietnamese, Koreans, and Chinese. People wear their best clothes and exchange gifts and food.

Eid-al-Adha:This is a feast that is celebrated by Muslims following their pilgrimage to Mecca. It lasts for three days, and begins on January 10. It is a commemoration of Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, at the behest of God. Muslims consider Ishmael to be the Arabs' forefather.

Las Posadas: This is a traditional winter holiday celebrated in Mexico between December 16 and December 24. In English, the term Las Posadas translates to 'the Inn,' and is a reenactment of Joseph's search for a room at the inn. Every Christmas, there is a procession carrying a doll, which represents Christ as a child, and the images of Mary and Joseph riding a small donkey through the streets.

Japanese New Year: New Year's celebration is one of the most major events in Japan. New Year's Eve is known as Omisoka in Japan. The Japanese spend a lot of time shopping and cleaning their houses in preparation for the New Year. This symbolizes getting rid of the past and starting afresh. The celebration on New Year's Day is known as Shogatsu. The Japanese decorate their houses and give their children gifts of toys and money and greeting cards to friends and family.

Source:  Rita Putatunda 

Limoneira Winner's Block   

This month our lucky winner is Anna Spiegel of Washington, DC. As our monthly winner,  Anna has won a Limoneira Orchard Fresh or Lifestlyes Gift.

Congratulations Anna!l!   

For your chance to win, make sure you're on our mailing list to be entered into our monthly drawing. To join click here or visit our website at www.Limoneira.com    

Be sure to check out our other contests and drawings for additional changes to win prizes.