Halloween Treats for Adults
Most adults don’t go trick or treating unless they happen to be the parent of a primary school aged child. For those of us who embrace Halloween, this is a responsibility we take very seriously – enough to make some of us consider spacing our kids out far enough to ensure we are needed for decades. Yes, I mourned the day my daughter was old enough to go trick or treating without me but I don’t know if it was because she was growing up or because I wouldn’t be able to scarf candy out of her bag before she noticed or get free handouts by the neighbors. Read more 
Grateful Grahams
Nearly five years ago, Rachel DesRochers started Grateful Grahams – a company that specializes in making graham crackers that are not only delicious but vegan, too. Made with wholesome ingredients and without artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, Grateful Grahams come in two varieties: Original and Chocolate. Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle, these graham crackers are unlike any other graham cracker on store shelves. One bite and you will be forever grateful that DesRochers pursued her dream to show the rest of us what a graham cracker should taste like. Heavenly, comes to mind. Read more
Walnuts by Old Dog Ranch
The nutcracker sits under the holiday tree, a guardian of childhood stories. Feed him walnuts and he will crack open a tale…. ~Vera Nazarian
A big bowl of walnuts resting on a coffee table draws people together to engage in conversation while enjoying the thrill of cracking open a shell in search of the rich nutmeat inside. When I was a child, we would kneel around the table and struggle to apply enough force to break open the shell but not so much as to smash the nutmeat. Those of us who succeeded were rewarded with a large walnut half while those who used brute force were left with nutmeat crumbs – still tasty but more difficult to separate from the unwanted parts: the smashed shell and dry nut skin. Walnuts have a way of bringing people together and imparting lifelong lessons. Read more
Tradestone Confections
In the small town of Conshohocken (often referred to as “Conshy”) in eastern Pennsylvania 15 miles northwest of Philadelphia is an artisan chocolate shop called Tradestone Confections. Owned and managed by two local chefs – Chip Roman and Fred Ortega – Tradestone Confections, as their name suggests – makes exquisite confections and gourmet bonbons using high quality ingredients and locally sourced seasonal fresh fruits, herbs, and dairy products. Among the choices: hand-crafted ganache covered in milk and dark chocolate, creamy truffles, homemade buttery caramel, traditional bark studded with dried fruits, sweet sticky toffee, roasted nuts or pretzels, and more. Read more
Uncle Jerry’s Pretzels
Uncle Jerry’s has been making crunchy sourdough pretzels for 26 years the old-fashioned way: by hand. The original recipe (written more than 100 years ago) for these Pennsylvania Dutch pretzels includes no sweeteners, shortening, oil, preservatives, artificial colors or flavors – just simple ingredients like unbleached wheat flour, water, sourdough, yeast, salt, and baking soda. Today, the pretzels are made the same way in a cozy south-central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania bakery where each pretzel is rolled and twisted by hand and then baked to perfection: regular (special), dark, or lite. Read more
Bring Back the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon, Please!
Station wagons have a reputation for being about the most uncool car in the world among the younger generation but that wasn’t always the case. Those of us who grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s more than likely drove the family station wagon (affectionately referred to as the “draggin’ wagon”) which for all intents and purposes was a movable party mobile with a V8 engine. Read more
Frontier Soups
Now is the perfect time to make a big batch of soup but who wants to spend the afternoon searching cookbooks for the right recipe, shopping for the ingredients, chopping vegetables, and figuring out the right spice combination to make a flavorful pot of homemade soup? Frontier Soups offers an easy, healthy and delicious way to enjoy homemade hearty soups, chowders, and chills.
Made of dehydrated vegetables (non-GMO), dried beans, peas, and legumes, herbs and spices, Frontier Soups has no added salt, msg, preservatives, artificial flavors, or colors – just plain wholesome ingredients that can be combined with fresh vegetables, meat, poultry, water, broth, milk, or any non-dairy milk to make the ultimate comfort food on a crisp cool evening. Read more
Battenkill Brittle
Battenkill Brittle is a high energy snack with five major attributes: great taste, wholesome ingredients, high in protein, low in sugar, and low in sodium. Made with three types of organic seeds (sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin), organic brown rice syrup, Vermont maple syrup, and pecan meal, Battenkill Brittle is the perfect snack food – wholesome, crunchy, and full of flavor. Slightly sweet with the subtle taste of maple, the brittle stands out for making seeds and pecans the star of the show. Read more
Spreads and Beyond
If Buzz Lightyear were to quit his day job and promote real fruit spreads instead of space travel his signature statement would change from “To infinity, and beyond” to “Spreads & Beyond” because the company with the catchy phrase name has positioned itself as an innovator and visionary in the jams, preserves, and spreads industry. How you ask? By keeping it real – meaning their spreads are made using fresh fruit with no added sugar, pectin, preservatives, colors, sweeteners or fruit from concentrate – and giving customers what they want: fresh, wholesome fruit preserves, chutney, and spreads.
Spreads & Beyond makes three delicious fruit spreads – Strawberry Preserves, Blueberry Orange Peel Preserves, and Mango Star Anise Chutney – that scream “fruit” in every delicious bite. Read more
“The Days of Abandonment”
Already at eighteen, I had considered myself a talented young woman, with high hopes. At twenty, I was working. At twenty-two I had Mario, and we had left Italy, living first in Canada, then in Spain and Greece. At twenty-eight, I had had Gianni, and during the months of my pregnancy I had written a long story set in Naples, and, the following year, had published it easily. At thirty-one I gave birth to Ilaria. Now at thirty-eight I was reduced to nothing.
Paddock Post 