Mooney Farms, producers of Bella Sun Luci and owned and operated by the Mooney family, began in 1987 as a kiwi farming operation in Northern California. Struggling to save the family farm during the 1980s farming crisis, the family began to sell kiwi fruit on the side of the road. Surprisingly, this generated enough cash to save the ranch and launch a whole new idea.
Introducing tomato jerky, a healthy and delicious snack!
This is the last Honorable Mention recipe I'm cooking for this year's contest. The next contest's deadline is July 1st so if you're reading this after 7/1/20, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until 2021 for us to consider your recipe.
This amazing dish, submitted to last year's Bella Sun Luci recipe contest by Mark Engelhart, is a masterpiece.
Belli amici! Cooks and chefs! Food lovers! Here comes more springtime fun! Divertimento della primavera! This recipe is truly a winner. Flavor, texture, visual, professional technique and originality. In fact, I’ve come up for a new name for it…it’s a spinach and sun dried tomato ROUXFFLE! The ingredients for a soufflé go into a roux, it puffs up in the oven and comes out beautiful.
Belli amici! Cooks and chefs! Food lovers! Here comes springtime! La Primavera! For your celebratory Easter/spring feast and because uncomfortable times require comfort food, here is a recipe that, ideally, uses spring chicken (wink!).
Belli amici! Cooks and chefs! Food lovers! Love is in the air! And Chef Richie says, the way to everyone’s heart is through their tastebuds! So we chose this romantic recipe for February’s Bella Sun Luci recipe contest honorable mention, Southwest Shrimp by home chef Sharyn LaPointe Hill.
Felice anno nuovo! Happy New Year! Another year to learn and cook wonderful recipes from around Italy, the USA, and the world. In a way, this month's honorable mention recipe from the Bella Sun Luci recipe contest, Sun Dried Tomato Crab Cakes by chef Roma Campanaro, covers all of that. Chef Richie says: Think global, cook local. And...seasonal.
Tis the season for comfort food…long-cook braises that warm up the house and remind us, especially if she isn’t with us, of grandma. I’ve always aspired to cook like all of the grandmas who have taught me over the 30+ years I’ve cooked. This month’s Bella Sun Luci recipe contest honorable mention winner from chef Gina Bravo is, Chef Richie Says, a tribute to the Northern Italian “nonna”. Nice work chef!
October means a lot of things to me and my kitchen. It’s the end of tomatoes and their summer brothers and sisters. The harvest moon and the cornucopia. Autumn squashes, Halloween, the Great Pumpkin and root vegetables are coming in. And autumn has inspired me to choose Toni Sevenhouse’s Bruschetta Vegetti as this month’s honorable mention recipe. Congratulations chef Toni, you win a Bella Sun Luci gift box full of our products! And, as you can see, we’ve immortalized your recipe through the magic of video.
Amici, foodisti and lovers of the Bella Sun Luci good life… Fall has officially fallen! Each season brings its own unique culinary treasures and I love fall for its persimmons, pomegranates, and citrus. I eat 50 pounds of tangerines every autumn-winter in addition to oranges, blood oranges, tangelos, and grapefruits. I loooove citrus. My taste buds AND my body tell me I do.
This month (and Happy June!...to you and yours!) is the beginning of summer, the solstice, and my favorite time of year…FOR FOOD! Sun dried tomatoes pack a flavorful punch, they add flavor and color to almost any dish, and they have abundant lycopene, an important antioxidant. So use sun dried tomatoes YEAR ROUND! That’s what home chef Kim Patterson has done with her recipe for Freshest Pasta Salad. Congratulations Chef! We’re sending you a deluxe gift box of our products so you can play with/work on a new recipe for next year’s contest!
I was strolling through the park one day, in the very merry month of May…when I was taken by surprise…by an amazing recipe that has become this month’s recipe contest honorable mention winner! GREAT job, home chef Julie Love! Congratulations! Your Bacon, Pimento and Sun Dried Tomato Stack is DELICIOUS! You’ll receive a big Bella Sun Luci gift box full of our products so you can work up a new recipe and hopefully win next year!
Spring is swinging! Flowers are blooming! Birds are singing! Bees are pollinating! And people are planting their summer gardens…now. Now is the time ladies and gentlemen. But until fresh tomatoes come…during these other 8 months, sun dried tomatoes are the best choice, for flavor and nutrition. Somehow, Joanne Schmidt, this month’s recipient of the Bella Sun Luci Recipe Contest Honorable Mention Award, knew that. This is actually a nourish bowl recipe! You’ll see when you go to cook this that the cutlets are cut up “bite size” and tossed in with the grains. Congratulations Chef Joanne! You’ll receive a big Bella Sun Luci gift box full of our products so you can work up a new recipe and hopefully win next year!
Here comes springtime! La Primavera! And for your celebratory Easter/spring feast I’m giving you two recipes for the price of one! We had two different cornbread recipes (one is muffins) entered into our contest and I thought, why don’t we have them compete against each other?! Then I thought, why don’t we COMBINE them into one…
