Handwoven Cotton Throws
Several years ago, I restored my husband’s great grandmother’s farmhouse in Iowa: a 2-story 900 square foot 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom little brown house that sits on a hill overlooking rolling hills of corn and soybeans. The project took nearly two years to complete but when finished, the “Little Brown House” looked like the little farm house my husband remembered visiting as a child.
With softly pleated green and white pinstriped curtains covering every window, multicolored braided rugs on the old wooden floors, and an upholstered sofa and rocking chair swathed in shades of “sage” and “celery” colored fabric, the Little Brown House was nearly perfect when the final touch was added: a handwoven apple green cotton throw by Nantucket Looms. Read more 
Bring Back Home Economics
Why is so much classroom time spent on Math, Science, English, and History and so little on Health and Nutrition?
Kids and teenagers are overwhelmed with homework, standardized tests, AP courses, sports, and extracurricular activities – all of which require the brain and the body to perform at an optimum level for success. Yet, time is rarely allocated to learning about what it takes to properly nourish the body because parents, schools, and outside sources (i.e. McDonald’s, Five Guys, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle) provide the finished product (food) to our kids. Read more
Veggie-Go’s
Most fruit leathers are made from fruit puree concentrate (usually apple) combined with juice concentrate but not Veggie-Go’s by Naked Edge Snacks of Boulder, Colorado. Made with whole organic fruits and vegetables, spices, and organic flax seeds, Veggie-Go’s are delicious snack leathers with no added sugar and only 2-4 grams of naturally occurring sugar in each serving (most fruit leathers have 8-12 grams of sugar per serving). Gluten-free, non-GMO verified, kosher, vegetarian, and vegan, Veggie-Go’s are a delicious snack for both kids and adults. Read more
The Yogibo
Bean bag chairs were first introduced into the American consciousness in the late 1960’s by a group of Italian designers at a company called Zanotta who believed people would find it comfortable sitting in a bag filled with styrofoam beans. Nearly 50 years later bean bag chairs are still the chair of choice for most kids who find them comfortable to sit in while gaming, reading a book, watching television, or using a computer. But what about adults who don’t find the old-school bean bag comfortable or kids who haven’t discovered real comfort in a bean bag chair? Say hello to the Yogibo, the new generation of bean bag chairs that both adults and kids love. 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
Hand Woven Merino Wool Blankets
Most people are not thinking about wool blankets this time of year but they should be because now is the time to buy a new hand-woven lightweight blanket from the Nordt Family Farm – a 400 acre working farm, 30 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia on the banks of the James River in Charles City, Virginia.
Owned by Dianne Nordt and her orthopedic surgeon husband, Nordt Family Farm has all kinds of animals including a small flock of three dozen sheep who supply the merino wool used to make beautiful soft hand-woven blankets. Warm and cozy yet light enough for year-round use, the Nordt Family Farm Merino Wool Blanket has hand-hemmed edges to give a clean, modern look to a traditional favorite throw. Read more
Siggi’s Yogurt Tubes
Siggi’s of yogurt fame has been making Icelandic style yogurt for nearly a decade using milk from local dairies in upstate New York who do not inject growth hormones into their cows. Icelandic style yogurt or skyr is made by incubating skim milk with live active cultures and then straining the mixture to make a much thicker, creamier and concentrated yogurt. Naturally fat-free, the yogurt is either left as is to make fat-free yogurt or blended with pasteurized cream to make a 2% yogurt that is referred to as rjóma-skyr or cream-skyr yogurt. 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
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.
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
Paddock Post 