Morning Sunshine Breakfast Cookie
There is a funky little coffee house about 30 miles north of Queens in Northport, New York on the Long Island Sound called Caffe Portofino. Owned by Lisa Harris, a truly passionate baker, Portofino is known for their eclectic menu – whole wheat scones, hearty oatmeal with pecans, walnuts, cranberries, granola, and fresh fruit, smoothies made with milk or soy, and the Morning Sunshine Breakfast Cookie – a scrumptious blend of all natural ingredients – for the health conscious consumer. Read more 
Crispy Green
Crispy Green was started in 2004 by Angela Liu who introduced the line of single ingredient products as a healthy snack choice. Made with real fruit and nothing else, Crispy Green freeze-dried fruit comes in six varieties:
- Crispy Bananas
- Crispy Mangoes
- Crispy Asian Pears
- Crispy Apples
- Crispy Cantaloupes
- Crispy Pineapples Read more
Regifting: Practical and Thrifty or Thoughtless?
Every holiday season, many people receive a gift where it’s obvious the gift is a regift: a gift that has been received and given in the guise of a new gift by the original recipient. Some of the country’s most respected etiquette experts claim regifting is acceptable if done carefully meaning both the original donor and the new recipient don’t know. However, the notion of regifting is abhorrent to some because it implies that someone did not put enough time and thought into seeking just the right gift for the recipient. Read more
The Christmas of ’51
Last year I posted a story about the Christmas holidays and the Christmas of 1951, when my husband was 4 years old. It’s a story worth reposting because its message conveys the real meaning of the holidays. Merry Christmas. Read more
Green and Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate
Most people have strong opinions about chocolate with the majority preferring milk over dark chocolate but times are changing. Americans consume about 12 pounds per person annually which equates to about a pound a month or 4 ounces a week. That may seem like a lot of chocolate but the Swiss consume nearly twice that amount which makes me feel less guilty when I tear the wrapper off my favorite candy bar – Green & Black’s Organic Dark 85% Cacao Bar. A 3.5 ounce bar molded into thirty small rectangles easy to break apart, this bar of chocolate is best enjoyed slowly by allowing a small piece to melt in your mouth releasing intensely flavored dark chocolate that will render you unable to speak lest the chocolate flavor subside. Read more
Young Males and Guns: A Lethal Mix
Last Friday, 20-year old Adam Lanzer shot his mother in the face killing her and then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where he shot and killed 26 people: 20 first graders (6 and 7-year olds) and 6 adults. We don’t know much about Adam Lanzer at this point except that he was a young male who had access to firearms – a seemingly lethal combination these days. Read more
Freddy Guys Hazelnut Granola
Freddy Guys is a well-known west coast based family run hazelnut orchard business who sells their raw or freshly roasted hazelnuts in the Portland area Farmer’s Markets and for those who aren’t local, the company’s products can be purchased via the company website: www.freddyguys.com. Famous for their commitment to deliver the most flavorful and freshest hazelnuts, the company handles every aspect of growing and roasting to ensure the consumer receives top quality hazelnuts. From that commitment, the idea to make Hazelnut Granola was born and for those who love hazelnuts, the Hazelnut Granola is a delicious nutty treat. Read more
Mama Jess Organic Pasta Sauces
There’s a new sauce on the market that warrants attention and is about to turn people’s idea of pasta (and enchilada) sauce in a new healthier direction. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free with no sugar added, no artificial flavors or colors, and no high fructose corn syrup, Mama Jess makes three organic pasta sauces that are delicious and wholesome: Read more
“The Box”
Günter Grass, the German writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999 for his collective body of work is best known for his literary masterpiece The Tin Drum which was published in 1959. The book was adapted into a film in 1979 and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nearly 50 years later in 2006 as Grass was approaching his 80th birthday, he published Peeling the Onion – an autobiographical novel that begins at the end of his childhood when World War II broke out and concludes in 1959 with the publication of his first and most famous novel. In 2008, Grass published The Box, a novel considered to be a continuation of where Peeling the Onion ended although the author claims the story is a work of autobiographical fiction. Read more
Cocomels
When my daughter was little, I would tell her stories that always had some kind of candy theme involved – chocolate rivers, caramel waterfalls, bedroom walls covered with edible 3-D wallpaper, red licorice tunnels, coconut snowballs – because I never outgrew my love for sweets or my interest in talking about candy. The possibilities were endless and I was never at a loss for words when it came to confections. At this stage in my life, it’s safe to conclude that I’ve tasted a lot of candy so it’s not often that a new sweet comes along and blows me away but this past week one did and they are called Cocomels. Read more
Paddock Post 