Chambre De Sucre
Chambre De Sucre is a Japanese sugar artisan company that sells decorative sugars in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and textures. The sugars have been manufactured for nearly 300 years by one of the oldest Japanese family owned businesses and are now imported to the United States through Web Japan, an international trading company based in California that is dedicated to importing and exporting the highest quality Japanese products. Read more 
Bavaro’s Italian Pasta Sauces
I’ve always been a big advocate of homemade tomato sauce but when there are no fresh tomatoes or boxed Pumi tomatoes in my pantry, or even a grocery store within miles (and miles), the jarred variety is the only option. Enter Bavaro’s Italian Sauces which could almost make me a total convert. These sauces smell and taste of summer ripened red tomatoes and make for an easy and delicious dinner for the family and a house full of guests. Stocked in my pantry three deep, Bavaro’s Italian pasta sauces are a staple I rely on when I can’t make homemade sauce and have 20 minutes or less to make dinner. Read more
The Tuna of Tunafish: Ortiz
Until I moved to Spain, I thought of tunafish as a relatively strong-tasting dry fish that needed to be toned down and doctored up with mayonnaise, chopped celery, onion, pickle relish, lemon juice, and mustard to be edible. Most tunafish sold in the US is packed in either vegetable oil or water (which does nothing to enhance the flavor of the fish) although tuna packed in olive oil (which does enhance the flavor) is now available in many markets. Still, most grocery store tunafish is nothing to get excited about. Then I discovered Ortiz Tuna (when I lived in Madrid) which is so unlike the typical grocery store tunafish that it’s hard to believe they come from the same family of fish. Read more
The Joy of Chocolate Sprinkles
Sprinkles – the sweet candy topping used on ice cream, frozen yogurt, cookies, cakes, donuts, and even bread – are called many different names throughout the world. In the United States and especially in the northeast, we refer to sprinkles as “jimmies.” In England, they are called “hundreds and thousands” and in Holland, sprinkles are called “hagelslag.” The French call sprinkles “decoratifs” meaning “decorations” or “nonpareils” meaning “without parallel” or “vermicelles.” Whatever you call this sweet confection, chocolate sprinkles are a delicious treat that shouldn’t be abandoned in adulthood. Read more
479 Popcorn
479 Popcorn is a premium artisan popcorn hand-made and air-popped in San Francisco, California. The company was founded by Jean Arnold whose love of popcorn began in her childhood when her mother used to make fresh popcorn in a hand-cranked stove-top popper. Jean grew up and attended Le Cordon Bleu in London before venturing out on her own in the organic popcorn business. Prior to starting her company, Jean discovered that 479 degrees is the optimal temperature for popping corn which is how she came to name her company. Read more
Why Not Brownies?
Products that are difficult to make at home or those that someone already does an incredible job of making are the ones to seek out: crispy potato chips made in olive oil (San Nicasio), caramel (Suss or Bequet), Viennese Crescents (Amy’s Cookies), delicious sugar cookies that look as good as they taste (Eleni’s), chocolate chip walnut cookies (Levain’s Bakery), chocolate (Tristan’s, Maison du Chocolat, Marie and Freres), croissants (Galaxy Desserts through Williams-Sonoma), cream cheese biscuits (Gagne’s), granola (Early Bird or Adirondack), hors d’oeuvres (Dufour Pastry Kitchens), specialty desserts (Galaxy Desserts), and jams (Sarabeth’s). Notice there is no brownie supplier on that list. Read more
The Lime in the Coconut
The Coconut Pattie has been redefined and reached a new pinnacle with the creation of The Lime in the Coconut – a candy bar with a chewy coconut center, chunks of toasted macadamia nuts, lime zest and a touch of white rum all enrobed in dark chocolate. For those of us who grew up devouring Mounds Bars and for those who just call themselves coconut lovers, The Lime in the Coconut is pure bliss and it all started with the culinary talents of two very talented pastry trained chefs with a vision. Read more
FAB
An artist friend of mine introduced me to a relatively new website last month called “FAB” – a design e-retailer that has four distinguishing characteristics: (1) the products are fabulous in design, taste, or use; (2) e-mails are sent daily alerting subscribers to new products offered; (3) the products are not widely available; and (4) the products are all offered at a discount. Founded in June, 2011, FAB was the brainchild of Jason Goldberg and Bradford Shellhammer – two West Villagers who believed they could build an e-commerce powerhouse through word of mouth, which is exactly how it’s grown (witness my introduction to the website by a friend who has an eye for design). Read more
The Molasses Clove Cookie
The Dancing Deer Baking Company uses all natural ingredients (unbleached wheat flour, cane sugar, canola oil, cage-free eggs, molasses, baking soda, spices, and kosher salt) to make an exquisite Molasses Clove Cookie that is thick and chewy. Originally thought of as a seasonal cookie for the holidays, the Molasses Clove Cookie dominated the company’s production when demand for this universally loved treat didn’t slow down after the holiday season. Read more
Seven Sundays Muesli
Muesli is a popular breakfast cereal that is predominately made up of rolled oats, fruits, nuts, seeds, and flakes (wheat, barley, and rye). More popular in Europe than in the US, muesli is often confused with granola, another healthy breakfast cereal. Whereas muesli and granola share many qualities, muesli is different in primarily three ways: muesli is usually a raw cereal meaning the ingredients are rarely baked or toasted before combined; muesli doesn’t have an oil to tie the ingredients together, and typically little or no sweetener is added to muesli because of the heavy concentration of dried fruits.There are, however many variations of muesli to appeal to a wide variety of tastes. Read more
Paddock Post 