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 
Pascha Organic Dark Chocolate
Pascha Organic Dark Chocolate makes eight decadent dark chocolate bars in an allergen-free beans-to-bar facility to ensure the purity of their chocolate. Free of nuts, peanuts, soy, dairy, wheat, gluten, and egg with no genetically modified ingredients, the bars have full ingredient traceability. Rich, dark and delicious, these bars are the essence of simplicity, made with the firm belief that the less you touch a food product, the more delicious the taste. Read more
“Vegan Chocolate”
If someone told you a chocolate dessert could be unapologetically luscious, decadent and dairy-free, would you believe her? Fran Costigan, author, baking instructor, and vegan chocolate extraordinaire said just that and I really wanted to believe her but I had my doubts because most vegan chocolate desserts don’t taste as rich and scrumptious as those made with butter, cream, and eggs. How could they? Butter, like chocolate makes nearly everything taste better. But they can, and they do in a new cookbook called Vegan Chocolate. Read more
Chocolate Gifts
All you need is love. But, a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. -Charles M. Schulz
Finding the perfect chocolate gift for that special someone can be daunting with all the choices – dark, milk, or white, truffles, ganache, nuts, caramels, assortments – but zeroing in on the recipient can make the decision easier. Is the token of your affection an athlete, a baker, a Francophile, a chocolate connoisseur, a vegan, or a cookie lover? If so, consider the following possibilities: 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
Amy’s Holiday Cookie Collections
Amy’s Cookies of Brooklyn, New York makes fabulous cookies and during the holiday season, this star cookie maker creates exquisitely hand decorated cookies in a variety of shapes and sizes: sleighs, snowflakes, ornaments, gingerbread, winter caps, mittens, sweaters, and more. The cookies are wrapped, on a bed of brightly colored raffia in a beautiful box (or two) tied with a grosgrain ribbon. The six themed holiday cookie collections range from $45-$68 plus shipping and can be ordered on-line at www.amyscookies.com.
KUR Delights
KUR Delights are, for lack of a better word, delightful organic individually wrapped sweet treats that are easily packed in a lunch box, backpack or purse. Ideal as a mid-day snack – with absolutely no added sweeteners – Delights are naturally sweetened with organic raw dates (a fruit with a natural sugar content of about 80%) to which four to seven other raw and organic ingredients are added to make the three flavors: Brownie, Dark Chocolate Mint, and Coconut Cream. Certified USDA Organic, Gluten-free, Non-GMO verified, and Kosher, Kur Delights are a pure and healthy product for those who have a passion for dates. Read more
How ’bout a Date?
Several years ago while living in Switzerland, a friend gave my family a tray of dried fruits – figs, dates, and apricots – from the Middle-East where he often traveled. The jumbo sized dates formed my idea of what a date should be: sweet, moist, creamy and delicious. Unfortunately, the standard date available at grocery stores (and even Whole Foods) does not live up to the dates from lands far away, which led me to look for for a high quality date in the US. My search led me to a Indio, California which is about 23 miles southeast of Palm Springs, where Shields Date Garden is a major draw for locals and tourists alike. 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
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
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