Coop’s MicroCreamery Hot Fudge
Always serve too much hot fudge on hot fudge sundaes. It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt.
Judith Olney
2009 is not a year that most people thought about opening a business but after 30 years in the ice cream industry, Marc Cooper who frequently answers to “Coop” decided to strike out on his own making super premium ice cream and dessert toppings. His company – Coops MicroCreamery based in Watertown, Massachusetts – makes ice cream (both dairy based and coconut milk based) sold throughout Massachusetts in premium ice cream shops and grocery stores while Coop’s Handmade Hot Fudge (Original and the Vegan version) are available nationwide at fine grocery and gourmet stores. Read more 
PowerBlend Omega 3 Seed Blends
When a well-educated professional pilot needed food with serious nutritional density to carry her through the fatigue of flying cross country and didn’t find it in the airports, food courts, or restaurants, Anne-elise Stern decided to create her own. Learning about the abundant nutrients in seeds, Stern started experimenting and came up with the Original PowerBlend Omega 3 Seed Blend: a combination of hemp, chia, pumpkin and flax combined with spices. Read more
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
Gina and May Umbrellas
Gina & May makes an eye-catching collection of durable, striking, and stylish umbrellas that have been known to cause people to croon “I’m Singin’ in the Rain” while splashing through puddles. Graphic shapes of vibrant color – red, blue, green, fuchsia, tangerine, black, white and charcoal – are displayed on a nylon, non-fade fabric with UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) protection of 25.
Spanning nearly 40 inches across, the fabric is fitted with a high quality windproof mechanism to minimize pressure on the frame, allowing the umbrella to easily flip back into place should the wind turn it out. The frame is made of fiberglass and aluminum with plastic fittings which make a Gina & May umbrella one sturdy and durable parasol. The simple yet bold look of these umbrellas can make the most miserable day a bit brighter…and drier. Read more
Bobbysue’s Nuts
Bobbysue Kobren has been making her family’s fantastic, generations-old recipe for spiced nuts – crunchy almonds, cashews, and pecans coated with a delicate meringue, and lightly roasted with a bit of sugar, and a special blend of spices – for years but waited until 2008 to follow her entrepreneurial spirit by opening Bobbysue’s Nuts in Chappaqua, New York. Savory, slightly sweet (but not too sweet), Bobbysue’s Nuts are addicting: it’s impossible to open a jar and eat just a few nuts because one taste of these scrumptious nuts leaves you wanting more…and more….and more. Read more
The Ice Cream Cone Dilemma
Where I grew up in northern New Jersey, there were two places to go for ice cream: Dairy Queen and Van Dyke’s Ice Cream. Dairy Queen, the local standby was the default choice when we wanted soft serve ice cream after dinner but on weekends or summer afternoons, we would ride our bikes to Van Dyke’s in Ridgewood for rich, creamy, locally made ice cream.
Scooped by hand into impossibly big round balls, the ice cream would be placed on top of a cake or sugar cone. The star of the show was the ice cream – summer cantaloupe, deep chocolate, minty chocolate chip – but the cone was best supporting actor. Within minutes, the ice cream was melting down the sides of the cone and we would be frantically licking the drips to keep the sweet cream from spilling all over our hands. The best bite was the last one: the semi-soft tip at the bottom of the cone – part melted ice cream and part crispy sugar cone and total bliss. Read more
Big Spoon Roasters
Big Spoon Roasters makes ten handcrafted nut butters from scratch in Durham, North Carolina. Each nut butter starts with freshly harvested nuts (peanuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, or brazil nuts) that are roasted, ground, and then blended with wildflower honey which enhances the flavor and serves as a natural preservative – eliminating the need to refrigerate the butters. A touch of sea salt, stone ground chocolate, organic cocoa nibs, organic coconut oil, cardamom, clove, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, black pepper, or crystallized ginger are also added, depending on the variety. Read more
Dr. Kracker Crispbreads
There is something deeply satisfying about eating Dr. Kracker Crispbreads – large rectangular shaped crackers loaded with whole grains and seeds that possess flavor, texture, and a nutritional punch in every bite.
The rich, toasty flavor of organically grown whole grains and seeds makes these European inspired crispbreads delicious to eat right out of the box or as vehicle for bolder foods – guacamole, cheese, nut butters, dips, and spreads. Deliciously crunchy, Dr. Kracker Crispbreads are a great alternative to ordinary crackers or bread.
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
Paddock Post 