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.
Byrne and Carlson Palets des Fleurs
Byrne & Carlson opened up its doors 14 years ago (1999) in a historic brick building on State Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, just a few blocks from the Memorial Bridge (the bridge that separates New Hampshire from Maine). The company was founded with a commitment to make chocolate and confections in small batches by hand using only the finest ingredients. Read more 
Askinosie Peppermint Bark
Springfield, Missouri may be the birthplace of Route 66, but the town is also the home of Askinosie Chocolate, a small batch, bean to bar chocolate manufacturer who sources 100% of their cocoa beans directly from farmers throughout the world. Although the company specializes in single origin chocolate bars (whose beans can be traced to the source), Askinosie also makes a truly scrumptious peppermint bark of single origin dark chocolate, buttery white chocolate, and all natural crushed peppermint candy. Read more
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
Kitchens of Africa
Some people rely on pre-made sauces while others – like me – are suspicious because many shelf stable sauces contain unwanted ingredients which has led me to always read labels. At the Natural Products Expo this past September, there was a booth with a beautiful woman dressed in native West African clothing giving out samples of African sauces made with natural high quality ingredients. Her name was Jainaba Jeng and she hails from Gambia, went to college in Nova Scotia and then moved in 1997 to Raleigh, North Carolina where she eventually founded Kitchens of Africa, a company dedicated to producing flavorful and authentic African-inspired convenience foods. Read more
Peanut Butter by CB’s Nuts
Twenty-five miles northwest of Seattle, Washington is a small town called Kingston, home of CB’s Nuts, a family owned business that makes the best homemade peanut butter and it’s only $6 a jar. What makes CB’s so great? Fresh peanuts are slow roasted in small batches in old-fashioned (1920’s era refurbished) roasters and then ground to a smooth consistency in a refurbished grinder that has an 18-inch girding wheel before being jarred in-house. Silky smooth with little or no separation, CB’s Peanut Butter has no additives, sweeteners, preservatives, or artificial anything. There is just one ingredient: U.S. grown peanuts. Read more
“The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay”
We have an idea of what it is to be French or Italian, or to live in Paris or in Florence, based on a certain familiarity with those cultures and the writings of English-speakers who’ve lived there, but we have little idea of what it is to be Persian or what Iranian society is really like. Read more
Natural Food Colors, Sprinkles, and Sparkles
It’s that time of year when many of us start dreaming about cookies: rolled cut-out, springerle, snowballs, pinwheels, gingerbread, crescents and more. Most holiday cookies have some type of decoration which led me to start thinking about what I was putting on top of my cookies. As I went through my baking cabinet reading labels, I was surprised to learn that nearly all the bottles of food coloring and jars of sprinkles and sparkles contain artificial colors and additives so I tossed them in the trash. I knew there had to be healthy alternatives out there so I set out to find food coloring, sprinkles and sparkles made with natural ingredients. Read more
Theo Salted Almond 70% Chocolate Bar
Seattle-based Theo Chocolate makes one of the best tasting dark chocolate bars on the market: the Salted Almond 70% Chocolate Bar. The company starts with the finest 70% dark chocolate made from organic, fair trade and non-GMO certified cocoa beans (that come primarily from the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Peru) and adds organic almonds and a touch of Fleur de Sel to produce the ultimate sweet and slightly salty chocolate bar that has a crunch in every bite. Read more
KUR Delights
KUR Delights are, for lack of a better word, delightful organic individually wrapped sweet treats that are easily packed in a lunch box, backpack or purse. Ideal as a mid-day snack – with absolutely no added sweeteners – Delights are naturally sweetened with organic raw dates (a fruit with a natural sugar content of about 80%) to which four to seven other raw and organic ingredients are added to make the three flavors: Brownie, Dark Chocolate Mint, and Coconut Cream. Certified USDA Organic, Gluten-free, Non-GMO verified, and Kosher, Kur Delights are a pure and healthy product for those who have a passion for dates. Read more
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