Byrne and Carlson Palets des Fleurs
Byrne & Carlson opened up its doors 14 years ago (1999) in a historic brick building on State Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, just a few blocks from the Memorial Bridge (the bridge that separates New Hampshire from Maine). The company was founded with a commitment to make chocolate and confections in small batches by hand using only the finest ingredients. Read more 
Bamboo Utensils by To-Go Ware
We have bento boxes, thermo pots, soup carriers, sandwich carriers, cupcake holders and more so why has so little attention been given to non-disposable utensils on-the-go? Maybe because plastic utensils are so readily available and because so few of us are accustomed to carrying around our own flatware. Read more
Kitchens of Africa
Some people rely on pre-made sauces while others – like me – are suspicious because many shelf stable sauces contain unwanted ingredients which has led me to always read labels. At the Natural Products Expo this past September, there was a booth with a beautiful woman dressed in native West African clothing giving out samples of African sauces made with natural high quality ingredients. Her name was Jainaba Jeng and she hails from Gambia, went to college in Nova Scotia and then moved in 1997 to Raleigh, North Carolina where she eventually founded Kitchens of Africa, a company dedicated to producing flavorful and authentic African-inspired convenience foods. Read more
Peanut Butter by CB’s Nuts
Twenty-five miles northwest of Seattle, Washington is a small town called Kingston, home of CB’s Nuts, a family owned business that makes the best homemade peanut butter and it’s only $6 a jar. What makes CB’s so great? Fresh peanuts are slow roasted in small batches in old-fashioned (1920’s era refurbished) roasters and then ground to a smooth consistency in a refurbished grinder that has an 18-inch girding wheel before being jarred in-house. Silky smooth with little or no separation, CB’s Peanut Butter has no additives, sweeteners, preservatives, or artificial anything. There is just one ingredient: U.S. grown peanuts. Read more
Natural Food Colors, Sprinkles, and Sparkles
It’s that time of year when many of us start dreaming about cookies: rolled cut-out, springerle, snowballs, pinwheels, gingerbread, crescents and more. Most holiday cookies have some type of decoration which led me to start thinking about what I was putting on top of my cookies. As I went through my baking cabinet reading labels, I was surprised to learn that nearly all the bottles of food coloring and jars of sprinkles and sparkles contain artificial colors and additives so I tossed them in the trash. I knew there had to be healthy alternatives out there so I set out to find food coloring, sprinkles and sparkles made with natural ingredients. Read more
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
Those Dang Chips!
Dang Chips are toasted coconut chips with a strong, sweet aroma, a very satisfying crunch, and a sweet, slightly salty taste that will make you say “Dang, that’s good.” Made of three ingredients: coconut, sugar, and salt, Dang Chips are made in Thailand where Vincent Kitirattragarn’s mother, Dang (hence, the product name) grew up. Read more
Nature’s Path Qi’a Superfood Breakfast Cereal
Nature’s Path Organic Qi’a Superfood Breakfast Cereal is more aptly known as Qi’a (pronounced Kee-ah), a trio of seeds and grains – chia, hemp, and buckwheat – full of plant-based protein, fiber, and Omega 3’s. Certified gluten-free with no added sugar or salt, Qi’a is also certified organic, non-GMO project verified, and vegan. Loaded with protein – 6 grams per 2 tablespoon serving – Qi’a also provides 4 grams of dietary fiber per serving with no added sodium. 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
Millet: The Pearl of Ancient Grains
Millet – and specifically pearl millet – is a widely grown grass that gives off small grain seeds which are hulled and used as a cereal food. Creamy or yellow in color, round, and small, the tiny circular grains of millet hail from Asia where it has been cultivated for more than 10,000 years.
Able to grow quickly in dry, high temperatures, millet has until recently been used as an ingredient in bird seed in developed countries (but it’s really not for the birds as USAID recently – July, 2013 – awarded Kansas State University nearly $14 million dollars to research millet and sorghum). Millet is gluten-free and a complete protein, with 1/4 cup of dry millet providing 7 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, magnesium, calcium, B6, iron, folate, and zinc. Read more
Paddock Post 