Hurray, Hurray for Pluots in May!

Small and super plummy, these early fruits are brimming with true summer sweetness. While they're still a little firm, today's stone fruit will wow you with its sweet/tangy side. We hope to keep these coming until our Wenatchee stone fruit arrives this coming month. You might let the Red Anjou pears sit out one day. The "Flame" red grapes are a crisp berry that's crisp and juicy. The Pink Lady apples are sweet and contain enough crispness to be included this week. Plus the strawberry baskets are very good, being both firm and sweet. The Mind-Altering Effects of Chocolate. Reading this article, I knew it was going to find a second home on my weekly blog. Need to do something important this afternoon? Don't take any chances – eat chocolate first. According to researchers from Northern Arizona University, brain scans show dark chocolate boosts attention and alertness so you perform better. In a study published in the journal NeuroRegulation[i] researchers used electroencephalography, or EEG technology to take brain images of 122 undergraduate students. Brain activity was measured before eating chocolate, then five minutes and 60 minutes after eating chocolate. Results showed that eating high cacao content chocolate – 60% cacao – made the brain more alert and attentive. The chocolate also increased blood pressure for a short time even though in the long run chocolate is known to be a vasodilator. It widens blood vessels and lowers blood pressure.