Eleni’s Easter Cookies
Easter is just a few weeks away – Sunday, April 8th – so thoughts of jelly beans, malted eggs, and chocolate bunnies in a basket lined with green cellophane grass are on my mind. Instead of limiting an Easter basket to candy and chocolate, consider adding a few beautifully decorated sugar cookies from Eleni’s this year. Read more 
Raincoast Crisps
Vancouver, Canada is the home of Lesley Stowe’s Fine Foods, maker of some of the most delicious crackers ever made. Crisp crackers made with flour, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, figs, kalamata olives, dates, flax seeds, almonds, milk, hazelnuts, pecans, raisins,brown sugar, sesame seeds, rosemary, honey, baking soda and sea salt, Raincoast crisps are the best thing to happen to cheese in years. Read more
Bequet Caramels
Bozeman, Montana is the home of Béquet Confections, maker of three types of vanilla butter caramels (soft, chewy, and celtic sea salt) and seven butter caramels (chocolate, chipotle, espresso, salt-chocolate, pomegranate, butterscotch, and green apple). Each bite sized caramel is individually wrapped in decorated plastic covers with color twisted ends to unwrap when ready to devour, and devour you will because I have yet to meet anyone who can eat just one Béquet Caramel. Read more
Gagne’s Cream Cheese Biscuits
There used to be a restaurant called Robinhood Free Meetinghouse Restaurant in Georgetown, Maine, a small town in the southeast part of the state. The restaurant was located in a 19th century church that was restored and converted to a destination dining hall by Michael Gagné, a chef who had a vision: “to create decadent, flavorful biscuits made entirely from scratch, and use only the finest ingredients.” Read more
Papabubble Candy
My daughter was visiting her cousin in New York City when she discovered Papabubble which she pronounced “Papa Booblay,” a candy store that looks more like a chemists storefront from the exterior in Greenwich Village. Inside, the store retains its character with elegant two-tone bags with silver backing and transparent fronts bursting with colorful candies, all neatly lined up in rows along the wall. Read more
The Viennese Crescent Cookie
The Viennese Crescent is a cookie of near perfection with a bit of crumble, a hint of nutty flavor, and a buttery taste that makes cookie lovers swoon. According to legend, these cookies originated in Austria – and Vienna in particular – but there is debate as others claim Viennese Crescents were first created in Hungary and Germany. A cookie of few ingredients – butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds or hazelnuts, and salt – the Viennese Crescent has moved overseas and now commands well deserved space on bakery shelves in America. Read more
The King Arthur Flour Company: The 4 in 1 Baker’s Resource
There are an abundance of schools, supply stores, bakeries/cafes, and on-line resources dedicated to baking throughout the United States but there is only one place that combines all four: The King Arthur Flour Company. Located in Norwich, Vermont, a small town in central-eastern Vermont close to the New Hampshire border – the King Arthur store, bakery, cafe, and education center are easily accessible by car from the following major cities/towns: Read more
Levain Bakery’s Chocolate Chip Cookie
The quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie has ended. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I sent myself a gift box of cookies (this happens after 22 years of marriage) from Levain Bakery. Four monsterous 6-ounce cookies: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, and Oatmeal Raisin – wrapped in a beautiful white box with a blue bow were delivered to my door on one of my two favorite holidays (the other being Halloween). Read more
The Chocolate Source
There is no big mystery to chocolate except how luscious it tastes in every form. As with most creations, the quality of the ingredients – cocoa beans, butter, cream, sugar, and the endless selection of nuts, fruits, and products mixed with the chocolate – matter; the higher the quality, the better the flavor. Some chocolatiers go so far as to grow and roast their own beans, while others purchase high quality chocolates and blend them. We all have our preferences: milk, dark, and even white chocolate although some connoisseurs do not consider white chocolate to be “real” chocolate. In any form, most of those that indulge agree that chocolate is simply delicious. Read more
For The Love Of Caramel
My first introduction to caramel was in the form of those perfect little commercially produced squares wrapped in plastic. It was love at first sight and I realized that almost everything (apples, ice cream, popcorn, chocolate, cookies) tastes better with caramel. Even the Girl Scouts discovered the marvels of caramel when they started selling Samosas and there are a hundred variations of the “turtle” with chocolate, nuts, and caramel blended together. But, the real epiphany was when I tasted homemade caramel: creamy, buttery caramel that melts in your mouth and leaves a lingering sweet taste. Read more
Paddock Post 