Photo © Fresh Tastes/PBS.org

When did PBS become so full of awesome sauce?

First they won us over with Downton Abbey. Then they made our hearts go pitty-pat for Sherlock.

And now they’ve got the food blog Fresh Tastes featuring chef Mark Matsumoto’s Vegan Mango Pudding which he assembles like an English trifle. It’s a four ingredient dessert: mangoes, silken tofu, agave nectar and digestive biscuits.

Click the link for the full recipe, or just drool over the photo and feast your eyes. But do make the recipe. It’s easy, healthy, and there’s no cholesterol. And oh yeah…it’s vegan.

Photo © foodiecrush.com

We know… we’re barely into spring, and yet we’re anticipating the summer ahead with u-pick strawberries and those fat sassy watermelons full of juice and flavor.

foodiecrush.com understands where we’re coming from with a recipe that tosses together so many unlikely items you might think there’s been a mistake. But noooooo…it works. It really does.

As foodiecrush writes, “This super simple salad with somewhat oddly paired ingredients melds so perfectly together that it creates a total flavor explosion. And it tells every one of your senses: baby, summer is on it’s way. Strawberries. Watermelon. Yum.”

Here’s their Strawberry, Watermelon, Arugula and Feta Salad — topped (of course) with a dressing containing agave syrup. An early taste of Summer 2013 — and we can’t wait.

Photo courtesy of BadassDigest.com

Sunday night we all found out what Don Draper and friends have been up to since the end of season five. If you’re a fan of Mad Men (and who isn’t now that you can watch practically the entire series on Netflix Instant Streaming?) you were glad — as we were — to return to the world of Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce and All…That…Drinking.

Last May over at BadassDigest.com, Bill Norris asked the million dollar question: Why has the gang never wasted away in Margaritaville? He writes, “it’s impossible to find a reference to a Margarita…an omission that seems glaring because the cocktail was certainly well known by at least the mid-1950s and would nicely serve as a character divide between the older generation and the young, between the buttoned down, crisp suit drinkers of whiskey and the batik clad, paisley tie new generation, unafraid of Mexican spirits and a burst of lime.”

Norris corrects this oversight by giving us “Cocktails with MAD MEN: The Margarita” — everything you always wanted to know about the tequila-based drink but were afraid to ask — and even allows that “for some palates the classic recipes will be slightly too tart. Go ahead and add a bar spoon or two of simple syrup or, better, agave nectar cut down with water in a 2-1 ratio.”

So there you have it. Agave nectar/syrup and Don Draper all in one blog post. Sweet.

Photo © EatingWell.com

You want to win over our hearts with one dessert? Hint — we’re a sucker for flan.

And this particular version is — dare we say it? — a relatively low-calorie low-fat dessert compared to the usual damage done by a full fat sugary flan.

It’s actually adapted from a dessert served at the world-famous Rancho La Puerta spa. Enjoy this EatingWell recipe from their January/February 2009 issue. And save some for us!

Photo © Whipperberry.com

As we post this on Superbowl Sunday, we’re groaning over the fact that they blew half the lights in the stadium and the game is delayed.  So in protest, we’re offering up an anti-Superbowl hors d’oeuvre,  a finger food with style, substance, and a certain savoir faire that pizza and chicken wings lack.

Courtesy of Feastie, this recipe for Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney and agave nectar drizzled on top is from Heather at Whipperberry. And unlike pizza and wings, if the power goes out these elegant bites will still taste good cold.