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
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
Tatte’s Fine Cookies, Cakes, Pastries and Tarts
Tatte Fine Cookies & Cakes is a Massachusetts-based bakery and cafe specializing in cookies, cakes, pastries, and tarts made with all natural and top quality ingredients including butter, flour, eggs, vanilla, chocolate, cheese, nuts and fresh fruits and vegetables. With two storefronts in the Boston area – the original bakery in Brookline and the newest shop in Cambridge – an on-line mail order business and high quality gourmet shops (i.e. Dean & Deluca) carrying the bakery’s products, Tatte’s sinfully delicious creations can be enjoyed by virtually anyone. Read more
La Maison du Chocolat Confret Maison
The French chocolate house La Maison du Chocolat makes some of the most decadent, expensive and best tasting chocolate in the world. The “Coffret Maison” is loosely translated to mean the “House Box” – the signature box of chocolates which contain an assortment of praline, ganache, and mousse in milk and dark chocolate – all of which are exquisite and provide a sampling of the famous French chocolatier. Read more
The Health Insurance Exchange – What’s the Big Deal?
The governor of Arizona let the federal government know the state does not plan to set up a Health Insurance Exchange by October 1, 2013 – the deadline to have the exchanges operating to allow consumers time to purchase policies for 2014 coverage. 17 states and the District of Columbia plan to create their own health insurance exchanges and the remaining states have until December 14, 2012 to decide what they are going to do. For those states that decide not to set up a Health Insurance Exchange themselves, the task will be left to the federal government who has the authority to step in and create the exchanges. Read more
Organic Candy Canes
Candy canes are as much a part of our holiday season as the festivities. We hang the red and white striped sweets on the tree, smash them up with a hammer to use as a topping on cookies or to make peppermint bark, and we eat them in their natural state. The refreshing peppermint taste and the nostalgic shape draws most kids (big and little) to candy canes even though most of these seasonal treats contain corn syrup, artificial colors, and flavorings. TruJoy Sweets makes an organic candy cane using natural colors and flavors to create a healthier and better tasting candy cane using only four ingredients: organic evaporated cane juice, organic brown rice syrup, natural peppermint flavor, and organic fruit juice. Read more
The Yoku Moku Holiday Tins
Every year, famed Japanese cookie maker Yoku Moku commissions an artist to design a holiday cookie tin to be filled with the company’s light crispy buttery minimalist cookies. The essence of a Yoku Moku cookie is in its simplicity – both in ingredients, design, and taste – so the exterior design of the annual holiday tin is louder, more colorful and meant to draw attention to a cookie that doesn’t rely on adornment for attention. Read more
Nate the Great and 538
Nate Silver, the quant jock who created the website: www.fivethirtyeight.com (538) has proved his detractors wrong once again and accurately predicted the outcome of the presidential election (Obama). Despite the conservatives claiming the presidential election was too close to call and trying to spin Romney as the front-runner (especially after the first debate), the race had never been that close, according to Silver. Obama always had a strong chance of winning: ranging from a low of 63% on Oct. 9th to a high of 91% the day before the election. In terms of electoral votes, Silver predicted (on election day) Obama would obtain 313 electoral votes while Romney would obtain 225. The actual outcome was 303 electoral votes for Obama and 206 for Romney, with Florida too close to call. And yet numerous news stations, talk shows, radio programs, and newspapers predicted the 2012 presidential election too close to call. Why is that? Read more
Paddock Post 