Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market
Many people start thinking about Farmers Markets during the early days of summer but Iowans living in the central part of the state have been patronizing the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market since early May. They haven’t forgotten about meat and potatoes (the market has plenty of these items) but instead celebrate the fresh local harvest of fruits and vegetables every Saturday from May thru October in the capital city on the west bank of the Des Moines River. Read more 
Andie’s Specialty Sweets
Andie’s Specialty Sweets makes some of the most picture-perfect beautiful candies including Vintage Candy Buttons, Sugar Butterflies, Hard Candy Sea Glass, Chocolate Antique Candy Keys, Chocolate Candy Winter Acorns, Chocolate Filled Candy Sea Shells, Nuts, and more. So exquisite as to take your breath away, each beautifully designed candy elicits wonder and joy in both appearance and taste. Chocolate, peppermint, vanilla, and fruit are just a few of the many flavors of these very special candies. Read more
The Robert Lambert Fruitcake
It’s that time of year when we are all thinking about decadent desserts so before David Letterman delivers his top ten list of fruitcake uses or the NRA suggests using slices of Aunt Martha’s fruitcake in the next skeet shooting contest, consider for a moment that fruitcake isn’t as bad as the masses make it out to be.
Most people believe there are two truths to fruitcake: people either love it or hate it but nearly everyone would love this traditional holiday dessert if they tasted a fruitcake made by Robert Lambert of San Rafael, California, a man totally dedicated to the art of making decadent, delicious fruitcake that can make even the most vocal critic grin and beg for seconds. Read more
The Piebox
Transporting a pie is never an easy task, especially if the pie is deep dish, warm or topped with chiffon. Cardboard boxes are flimsy, Tupperware containers seem to be better at storing a pie, and baskets are just impractical (as cute as they look).
Professionally trained pastry chef, Adrienne Blumthal along with co-founders Carol Blumthal and Steve Metzer solved the problem by creating the Piebox: a reusable wooden pie carrier that will keep your pie safe and intact whether you’re walking, driving, biking, or even flying (yes, TSA rules allow you to carry pies and cakes through the security checkpoint: TSA Traveling with Food or Gifts). Read more
How To Showcase A Cake
Seattle may be well-known for corporate giants (Microsoft, Amazon), Pike Place Market, innovative food companies (Theo Chocolate, CB’s Peanut Butter) but the Pacific northwest city is also home to Rosanna, a top home design company known for making beautiful tableware: plates and platters, bowls, teapots, mugs, flatware and especially cake pedestals to showcase that fabulous chocolate, coconut, or red velvet cake. Made of porcelain or stoneware in white, pink, blue and black, Rosanna Cake Pedestals are exquisite and make an elegant presentation on any table. Read more
Napa Cakes Panforte
The original power bar dates back to the Romans when the Italians combined fruits and nuts to make a moist, dense round cake called Panforte which literally means “strong cake” owing to the slightly spicy flavor. Some people would call Panforte a fruitcake but with the negative connotation that fruitcake conjures up – especially among young people – classifying this Italian creation with the often ridiculed candied fruit concoction does not do this cake justice. A slice of Panforte is truly heavenly owing to the concentration of dried fruit, nuts, honey, and spices. Read more
Sweetie Beans Many Cake Cake Mix
Sweetie Beans Many Cake Cake Mix is a gluten-free and vegan blend of ingredients – primarily white rice flour, sugar, tapioca starch, potato starch and potato flour – that serves as a base to make truly delicious cakes. Several months ago at a convention for health products, I was drawn to a booth with a crowd of people vying for samples of a variety of large sheet cakes – chocolate, spice, vanilla, and more. Read more
Food Websites: The A to Z Quick Reference Guide
Many readers have asked for a list of the food websites I rely on so when I found myself e-mailing numerous links, I realized I needed to make a quick reference guide. No pretty pictures or descriptive write-ups, just the links. All of the foods listed below have been written about on this website (and more than likely, photographed also) so if you want detailed information on a specific product, utilize the search function on the cover page or use the category bars, which are also on the cover page of this website to find detailed product information and photographs. Read more
Vegan Carrot Cake
For years, I relied on a carrot cake recipe from the The Silver Palate Cookbook, which was THE cookbook of the 1980’s. Full of carrots, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts, the Silver Palate carrot cake was my ideal of what a carrot cake should be: moist, sweet, rich, and mile-high. But, as I’ve gotten older, I’m less inclined to put 3 cups of sugar and a cup and a half of corn oil in a cake recipe; and with a vegan daughter, dairy and eggs are not optional ingredients. Read more
When Only a Perfect Ending Will Do….
Purists prefer to use fresh butter and eggs to make a homemade cake rather than buying a store-bought version but for those special occasions when an exceptional cake needs to be sent as a gift (and arrive as beautiful as it looks in a picture and taste better than a homemade cake), look no further than a Perfect Endings Vintage Cake. Perfect Endings of Napa, California makes a line of vintage cakes – Coconut, German Chocolate, Red Velvet, Banana, and Devil’s Food – reminiscent of what a layer cake should be: fluffy, moist, and delicious. That the cake looks as good as it tastes is….well….icing on the cake. Read more
Paddock Post 