By Laura Drinon

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 TBS. maple sugar (or granulated sugar)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. Himalayan Pink Salt (fine grain)
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3 -8oz packages cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
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4 cups crisp apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 cup granulated sugar or vanilla sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
additional 1/4 cup + of chopped pecans if desired for topping.
1/2 cup of your favorite caramel sauce
2 TBS. Murray River Australian Flake Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). On the bottom rack, place a sided pan (such as a jelly roll pan) filled with water.

Slice apples, and toss with 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at full power for 60 seconds. Turn apples out into a fine collander or strainer over the sink and allow excess moisture to drain. If you are hoping for a smooth, finished apple design, use an apple corer/peeler/slicer and do not treat the draining apples roughly!

Blend crumbs and pecans with sugar and Himalayan Pink Salt. Stir in melted butter. Press onto the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and mixing well between each addition. Blend in vanillla extract. Pour the filling into the baked crust.

(You can wrap water-soaked teflon ‘cake strips’ around the pan at this point if using them, but you may omit this step)

Arrange the cinnamon-sugared and drained apples on the top of the cheesecake filling. You may arrange them in concentric rings if thinly sliced, or alternately spoon a “messier” apple mixture over the top. If using chopped pecan topping, add it now.

Bake on the middle rack (the rack above the water pan) in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until just the very center ‘jiggles’ when the pan is nudged. (If you wait until the entire cheesecake is set, it will be over-cooked!)

With a knife, loosen the cake from the rim of the pan. Let cool for 20 minutes, and then remove the rim of the pan. Drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce. Chill the cheesecake for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Prior to serving, liberally sprinkle at least 1 Tablespoon of Murray River Australian Flake Salt over the caramel topping. This is the perfect finishing salt, which lends gorgeous texture and the perfect balance of salt to sweet.

By Debbie Bloemker

Ingredients: 1 Cup Bokek Dead Sea Salt, coarse grain
½ Cup Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
½ Cup Himalayan Pink Salt, small grain
1 ½ Cups Ultra Epsom Salt, medium grain
32 drops organic Bergamot oil
8 drops each organic Orange and Grapefruit oils
4 drops each organic Mandarin and Vetiver oils

Directions:
Thoroughly blend all ingredients in a glass or non-reactive bowl and store in airtight glazed or glass container. I like to recycle, so I use a clean pickle jar. Makes approx. 3 ½ cups. Use 1 generous cup per revitalizing soak.

WOODINVILLE, Wash., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — You’ve heard of the war on drugs. But did you know there’s a war on salt? While some of the country’s leading politicians, government agencies and medical organizations deem salt the “number-one enemy” to health and want to ban it from dishes and diets everywhere, dissenting voices are cropping up in major news outlets like The New York Times and CNN. Mark Zoske, CEO of SaltWorks®, Inc., agrees that now is the time to speak out. read more: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/saltworks-joins-national-debate-sodium-120500175.html

SaltWorks is excited to announce our expansion into a new state-of-the art salt facility! As of December 2011, we have officially moved to our brand new, 100,000 square foot gourmet facility located at 16240 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE Woodinville, WA 98072. With increased storage capacity of up to 4 million pounds of salt, we are excited to be here. Please update your records, and feel free to visit our showroom weekdays from 8:00am – 4:30pm PST. As always, visit www.seasalt.com or call 1-800-353-7258 for the highest quality specialty salts and great customer service.

Prize includes full jars of: Mineral Essence™ Dead Sea Bath Salt Lavender Vanilla • Mineral Essence Dead Sea Bath Salt Tangerine Sage • Artisan Salt Co.® Durango® Hickory Smoked Sea Salt • Fusion® Spanish Rosemary Sea Salt • Fusion Habanero Sea Salt • Artisan Alaea Hawaiian Red Sea Salt (fine grain) • Artisan Bolivian Rose Sea Salt (coarse grain) • Bonfire Extra Bold Smoked Sea Salt • Artisan Yakima® Applewood Smoked Sea Salt • Artisan Cyprus Black Lava™ Sea Salt • Snowflake Pacific Northwest Sea Salt • Fusion Thai Ginger Sea Salt • Artisan Sel Gris Grey Sea Salt (coarse grain) • Fusion Black Truffle Sea Salt • Artisan Fleur de Sel French Sea Salt • Fusion Vintage Merlot Sea Salt • Artisan Himalayan Pink Salt (fine grain) • Artisan Cyprus Flake Sea Salt • Fusion Wild Porcini Sea Salt • Artisan Fumée de Sel™ Smoked Sea Salt • Artisan Murray River Pink Salt • Artisan Hiwa Kai™ Black Hawaiian Sea Salt

]]> http://www.grainofsalt.com/2011/10/saltworks-first-ever-salt-sweepstakes/feed/ 0 http://www.grainofsalt.com/2011/10/saltworks-first-ever-salt-sweepstakes/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/grainofsalt/fElc/~3/CMRWv1UyiXc/ http://www.grainofsalt.com/2011/06/bonfire-extra-bold-smoked-sea-salt/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:19:01 +0000 admin http://www.grainofsalt.com/?p=98 We here at SaltWorks are proud to announce the debut of Bonfire, our brand new Extra Bold Smoked Sea Salt! Already creating a buzz, we have been working for some time on smoking with the perfect wood combination to achieve a bold and delicious taste, and are happy to say we have found it. We can’t get enough of this delicious sea salt on or off the grill! Bonfire is naturally smoked for 14 days with a blend of 7 carefully chosen woods to create a uniquely hearty smokehouse flavor. Crafted with our own Northwest-harvested Snowflake sea salt and our proprietary real-wood smoking process, Bonfire is all natural, and deliciously rich. Bonfire will instantly transform your dishes with its deep, mouth-watering savory taste.

Our favorite discovery so far? This recipe for Bonfire Blue Cheese Burger! Tested and perfected on our own grills, this is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Especially with Dad’s Day approaching, this is the perfect burger to grill up at your next backyard BBQ. Mmm! Check out Bonfire online and purchase at SaltWorks. We can’t wait to hear what yummy recipes you discover with Bonfire!

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds ground beef

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 cup minced onion or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

• 1 pinch of Bonfire™ Extra Bold Smoked Sea Salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, garlic, onion.

2. Preheat grill for high heat.

3. Form 6 burgers into 1/2 inch thick patties. Lightly oil grate. Place burgers on grill. Cook for approximately 6 minutes, turning once.

4. Add Bleu Cheese a few minutes before burgers are done.

5. Top with Bonfire Extra Bold Smoked Sea Salt.

6. Add your favorite condiments to a toasted bun and enjoy!

Fusion Fresh Flavor Trio: Spanish Rosemary, Thai Ginger, Lime Fresco

Still feeling partial to the classic Artisan Salt Trios? Good, because they’re looking better than ever! Newly packaged in a clear display box, our smartly edited collections—Exotic Salts, Finishing Salts, French Salts or Smoked Salts—make for great gifts for those with sophisticated salty tastes.

Which Trio will be your favorite?

At some point we’ve all been told to take some bit of information “with a grain of salt,” usually by Aunt Janine when the info is coming from Uncle Jack after one too many cold ones. We generally take the phrase to mean accepting a statement but holding a degree of skepticism about its truth, but where did the phrase come from?

Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder

This being pumpkin season, I can’t help but also mention the related Italian phrase “avere sale in zucca.” This means “to have salt in your pumpkin,” (with pumpkin loosely translating to “head”) or to have intelligence, making “grain of salt” a reference to a small bit of intelligence. With a grain of salt is also a literal translation of the Latin phrase cum grano salis, which is often used with a statement that should be taken moderately, with care, or not too literally.