The Changing of the Guard
Sometimes seemingly normal events have a way of putting people in their place, which is what happened to me this past Sunday. During the week, my subscription to the Wall Street Journal arrives Monday through Saturday but on Sunday I buy the New York Times and spend the morning reading all the sections (except Sports and Automobiles) with special attention given to the Real Estate, Metropolitan, Styles, Business, and Sunday Review sections. Both newspapers provide a different perspective (read: conservative and liberal) on the events of the week with the Sunday Times providing a lighter, more entertaining read on the most relaxing day of the week. Read more 
Simple Squares
There are few foods more gratifying than the simple ones: raw nuts and honey among them. Add vanilla, sea salt and herbs and simplicity becomes deliciousness with Simple Squares: natural, organic snack bars made with non-GMO verified ingredients. Made primarily of nuts (cashews and almonds), Simple Squares contain no wheat, gluten, dairy, corn or soy and are made without refined sugar, brown rice syrup, or agave. Honey is the sweetener of choice in the six savory flavors: Read more
Lilly’s Coconut Macaroons
One of the great advantages of being American is being exposed to the foods of diverse cultures. When I was a child, I had my first “aha” food moment when I went to a friend’s home for a holiday dinner. She was Italian and there was an abundance of food but what caught my eye was a table piled high with homemade Italian cookies with strange names: Pizzelles, Pignoli, Anisette, Strufoli, and Italian Wedding Cookies. One bite into these cookies and I knew Fig Newtons, Chips Ahoy, or Oreos were no longer my idea of a cookie. Read more
OCHO Organic Candy Bars
Step aside Mounds, Reese’s, Snickers, Milky Way and Three Musketeers..there’s a new bar in town.
Most candy bars fall into two categories: inexpensive chocolate bars made with all sorts of undesirable additives or expensive gourmet bars made with fresh high quality ingredients. With both ends of the chocolate bar market well covered, Oakland, California-based OCHO Candy realized there was an opportunity to provide consumers with a delicious, organic alternative to the traditional candy bars made with preservatives, additives, and artificial flavoring, and the pricy specialty bar. Read more
Ladurée in Soho
Most people go to Ladurée for the macarons – sweet, meringue-based confections – but the restaurant/tea room has always been the draw for me. Located throughout Paris, the restaurant/tea rooms (as illustrated below) are the perfect place for lunch or a late afternoon pick-me-up but since I don’t live in Paris, my visits have been limited…until recently.
Two years ago, Ladurée opened its first US retail store on Madison Avenue in New York (they’ve since opened up another storefront in Miami Beach) but the long-awaited Ladurée restaurant and tea room (illustrated above) just opened this past February in Soho, and looks like the Parisian salon was moved over from Paris.
Taralli by Terre Di Puglia
Taralli are round Italian breadsticks, similar in texture to a crumbly cracker with a savory or sweet taste, depending on the ingredients. A delicious, crunchy pretzel-like snack that can be eaten on its own, Taralli are traditionally made with flour, extra virgin olive oil, white wine, yeast, and salt although the savory Italian rings are often flavored with fennel seeds, onion, pepper, sesame seeds, oregano, tomatoes, anchovies or poppy seeds. Read more
A Prom Dress Registry?
Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
-Gibran Khalil Gibran
Decades ago when I was going to proms, finding a dress was as simple as going to the mall and buying a gown that would match a date’s tux (yes, it was the 70’s). Nowadays, my daughter tells me things are different. Girls buy a dress and immediately post a picture of the dress on-line (usually a Facebook page set up for this purpose) so that no one else even thinks about buying the coveted frock because there really can’t be anything more catastrophic than two or three girls wearing the same dress to a prom. And, if an independent-minded teen dares to defy her peers and not conform, she is criticized, shunned, or runs the risk of subjecting herself to a fashion face-off of “Who Wears it Better?” Read more
OXO Pop Containers
One of my dreams is to design my own house with five rooms on the first floor: a mud room with a dog bath/shower, a laundry room, a massive kitchen with a casual dining area connected to a family room, and a walk-in pantry with adjustable shelves lined with nearly everything a cook or baker needs to make scrumptious meals.
The pantry of my dreams will have a section for flours, sugars, beans, rice, pasta, grains, snacks, cereals, jams, sauces, chocolate, nuts, dried fruits, baking and cooking supplies – all organized for easy access. Until then, I’ve focused on organizing my limited cabinet space to maximize every square inch by using OXO Pop Containers: BPA-free containers made of clear heavy-duty plastic that are airtight, stackable, and space efficient. Read more
“What You’ve Been Missing”
Never judge a book by its cover…..
The cover art of What You’ve Been Missing is a painting by Roger Brown called It’s a Wonderful Lie and is as telling as the short story collection written by Janet Desaulniers. A rectangular piece of art divided into eight sections, It’s a Wonderful Lie depicts life as we live and the impending disaster ahead: we come together and marry; we divorce and part; we enjoy a drive in a convertible and unexpectedly get hit by a truck; we run our businesses and we go to jail; and finally, we exercise and strengthen our bodies only to succumb to death. Read more
Vega Savi Seed
The Savi Seed is the trademarked name of the Sacha Inchi Seed – the richest, plant-based source of Omega 3 on the planet (17 times more per ounce than Sockeye salmon). Grown in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru, the Sacha Inchi plant bears a star-shaped inedible fruit (as illustrated below) that darkens from green to brown, with an edible seed (once roasted) within a dark brown shell.
Light brown and oval in shape, the Sacha Inchi Seeds look similar to a marcona almond, and are known for their high protein, essential fatty acids (Omega 3 and 6), Omega 9, and iodine. A complete protein, Sacha Inchi Seeds have 9 grams of protein per ounce – more than most nuts and seeds – and 5 grams of fiber. Read more
Paddock Post 