Theo Salted Almond 70% Chocolate Bar
Seattle-based Theo Chocolate makes one of the best tasting dark chocolate bars on the market: the Salted Almond 70% Chocolate Bar. The company starts with the finest 70% dark chocolate made from organic, fair trade and non-GMO certified cocoa beans (that come primarily from the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Peru) and adds organic almonds and a touch of Fleur de Sel to produce the ultimate sweet and slightly salty chocolate bar that has a crunch in every bite. Read more 
Peppermint Peppies
Last summer, while attending the Fancy Food Show in New York City, I reluctantly tasted a sample of peppermint bark (after all, it was June) that made me stop, pause and reconsider my aversion to eating “holiday” candy in the summertime (it was dumb logic, anyway). The delicious treat was called a Peppermint Peppie: creamy white chocolate blended with peppermint oil, cloaked in rich, dark chocolate and then sprinkled with red and white peppermint crunchies. Rich and decadent, Peppermint Peppies give a new modern meaning to peppermint bark. Read more
Charles Chocolates Bars
Charles Siegel is the creative genius behind San Francisco based Charles Chocolates, a company with a total passion for producing the finest confections. Established in 2004, Charles Chocolates makes a variety of sweets: truffles, cremes, nuts, pralines, caramels, orange twigs, gourmet S’mores, chocolate covered nuts, edible chocolate boxes (really!), and my favorite: the Charles Chocolate Bars. Made by hand in small batches using the finest ingredients – chocolate, organic herbs, fruits, organic cream and butter, and nuts – and traditional artisanal techniques, Charles Chocolate Bars are decadent, rich, and deeply satisfying. Read more
Among Friends Hand-Crafted Baking Mixes
Walk down the baking aisle of any grocery store and notice there is more shelf space devoted to mixes than raw ingredients which could be good (if whole grains, natural ingredients, and real spices are used) or bad (if the ingredients include white flour, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives), People are busy so boxed mixes have a place – albeit a big place – in our lives but we don’t have to sacrifice nutrition and taste for time if Among Friends Hand-crafted Baking Mixes are chosen because these mixes are “free of all the bad stuff.” Read more
The Chocolat Moderne Bar
Chocolat Moderne Bars – six exquisitely flavored chocolate bars – are the invention of Joan Cuokos, one highly educated Chocolatier who earned a degree in French and Russian from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Chapel Hill before studying chocolate and confectionary arts with a coterie of French, Belgian, Swiss and American chocolatiers in New York and Las Vegas. 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
The Chocolate Covered Strawberry
Six pounds of fresh strawberries were staring at me on the kitchen counter and although I popped one of those luscious red fruits into my mouth every time I walked by, I was still faced with a mountain of ripe strawberries by late afternoon. With very little time to make dessert, I opted to make a family favorite: Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Using two 3.5 ounce Dark 70% Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate Bars (although I also use a 9.5 ounce bag of Dove Dark Chocolate Silky Smooth Promises from time to time) , there were 50 chocolate covered strawberries chilling in the refrigerator within 30 minutes. Read more
The Vegan S’More
July 4th is right around the corner and for most people the celebration will include a barbecue, fireworks, and hopefully, a campfire. Traditionally, we sit around the campfire, roast marshmallows and either eat the gooey mess au natural or pile the partially burned white blobs on graham crackers with chocolate bars to make the classic campfire treat: the S’More. But, when you have a vegan in the family, making a S’More is a challenge. Read more
Mom’s Organic Munchies
Mom’s Organic Munchies – Krunch Bars, Choco Fit Bars, On The Go Bars, and the Cookies – will make you stop in your tracks, pause, and grin with delight because Mom’s Organic Munchies are the best tasting new snack bars on the market – not an easy award to achieve in a society where everyone seems to be packing a bar. I don’t just like these bars; I love them. And, I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I hide them in the refrigerator so no one else finds them. Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and refined sugar-free, Mom’s Organic Munchies are a healthy but decadent snack bar. Read more
Sunspire Coconut Bars
Sunspire is one of the few companies with a reputation for making rich and delicious chocolate products that contain no refined sugars or artificial additives of any kind. A collection of chocolate confections – chips, powders, chocolate covered fruit and nuts, and bars – are organic, free-trade certified, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, and/or vegan. Two of my favorite products are the Coconut Bar and the Coconut Almond Bar – the health conscious consumer’s answer to the Mounds and Almond Joy bars – only better. Read more
Paddock Post 