I don’t know about you, but I love nuts. Over the years I’ve made a lot of spiced nuts myself at home, but these are actually honey-roasted mixed nuts from Walgreen’s. They are quite good, and once they’re put into a nice dish, your guests will never know what a bargain they were. CVS also … Continue reading
Filed under Grazing …
Bread & Friends
This lovely apricot-walnut loaf is from the Blue Rooster Bakery & Cafe in Cranbury. I went to Cranbury to drop off a couple of items I’d bought at the Indian market for some friends who live there. Of course, I could not leave town without stopping into the bakery to see which of their fabulous … Continue reading
Seitan
Time to pay the piper for holiday indulgence. Actually, this photo is from November, when I finally broke open the frozen package of vegan black-pepper sauced seitan from Vegetarian Plus I had in the freezer. Every now and then I can’t resist trying one of these meat alternative meals. It was actually quite tasty, with … Continue reading
Behold NJ Cheese
This year I used all New Jersey cheeses for my cheese trays on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. These five cheeses got rave reviews; each one had something special to offer. Even that little mouse on the Cherry Grove Brie in the upper left was excited! (The sixth, in the bowl, was my homemade ricotta. I … Continue reading
Female Food Power!
Just got back from a very convivial holiday open house put on by four area women in the food business. If you act quickly, you might still be able to place orders for some of the delicious goodies I sampled this afternoon, if not for Christmas, maybe for New Year’s entertaining. Chris Crawford of Wooden Spoon … Continue reading
Fruitcake
Don’t laugh at me, but I love fruitcake like the one pictured here that’s made with good ingredients. So how could I resist the pretty and organic (at least mostly so) fruitcakes on display in the Whole Earth Center bakery? These are made with whole wheat pastry flour, and organic dried fruits instead of the the heavily sugared and … Continue reading
Golden Egg Nog Truffles @ Donna & Company
I’m always going on about the fine artisan chocolates that come from Donna & Company in Cranford. Owner Diane Pinder also operates the Donna Toscana Chocolate Lounge in Cranford, and I have my fingers perpetually crossed in hopes of being able to buy her exquisite chocolates in the Princeton area some day. Meanwhile, you can order online … Continue reading
Holiday Gifts for Foodies
What to get that foodie friend of yours…here are some quick ideas that landed in my Inbox: Got a barbecue fanatic in the family? Maybe it’s time for a home smoker. At left you see a Bradley Smoker. They run $399 to $599. They’re electric, they use specialized wood, and there’s no actual smoke, tar, … Continue reading
Kallari Chocolate at Whole Foods Dec. 5, 11:00am
Look for this leaf on a chocolate bar near you. I’ve sampled Kallari‘s chocolates at Whole Foods once or twice before, and really liked them. Their cacao beans are organically grown (Rainforest certified) and harvested by a cooperative of family farmers in the Amazon. The beans travel less than 7 hours to Quito for chocolate production. 100 percent … Continue reading
Artisanal Soy Sauce
I love it when someone reimagines a standby food product, making it special. Take soy sauce. A very basic commodity that most of us take for granted, maybe looking for a lower-sodium version. But even the low-sodium is quite salty; my Japanese Marukin premium low salt soy sauce still has 460mg of sodium per tablespoon. … Continue reading
NJ SPICE 