Archive for November, 2008
by TT on June 22nd, 2011 | Food News
In my role, I receive many offers to sample products. These products range from obvious items that aren't of interest to items that would be interesting to try to items whose arrival is counted by the minute. About a month ago, I received an email offering to send
Organic Volcano Lemon Burst and Lime Burst. These two products fell into the middle category: worthy of my time but nothing that had me awaiting the mailman at the door.
When the package arrived, I noted the typical plastic packaging, shaped and colored appropriately for each flavor. I placed both of them
by TT on April 6th, 2011 | Food News
A recent weekend was spent in Boston, celebrating my husband's birthday. Although Boston is only an hour away from our home, it was quite delightful to have two whole days to explore different venues. One of those venues was Newbury Street, which is home to numerous high-end shops, one of a kind boutiques, and wonderful restaurants. While we enjoyed many different shops for art galleries to designer clothing shops, our favorite was
Boston Olive Oil Company.
Entering the store, our eyes were greeted with the site of an island and a wall counter covered with stainless steel tanks filled
by TT on March 31st, 2011 | Food News
I am not a popcorn fanatic. Of course, maybe that's because there are so many poorly done types of popcorn available. I don't eat popcorn at the movies, though most of my family and many of my friends adore it. Popcorn covered in "butter flavored oil" just seems nasty. Microwave popcorn tends to have interesting ingredients to give the popcorn its flavor. I also don't like popcorn that is doused in butter, even if it's real butter. So, rather than wrinkling my nose at most popcorn, I just pass on eating it.
However, when I was offered some samples of
by TT on March 21st, 2011 | Food News
Sometimes it is mere happenstance that brings about the most delightful of discoveries. Such was the case with my discovering
Craquelins. On a Sunday in January, my husband and I went to a winter farmers' market to purchase our weekly supply of vegetables. Exploring the various vendors' tables, we found some yummy flatbread crisp samples. Never ones to pass on a free food tasting, we gave them a try and were hooked. We added a couple packages to our collection of food. Returning two weeks later to the next market, we were pleased to see that Craquelins was there
by TT on March 10th, 2011 | Food News
One of my favorite work-related events is attending the
Boston Wine Expo. Every year I am amazed at the number of interesting product I discover and intriguing people I meet. This year was no different. Of course, the majority of the booths are filled with wineries, which are delicious in their own right, but there also are booths with food vendors. At one of these booths, I met
Mike Forbes, who is marketing director for
California Olive Ranch.
A favorite indulgence of mine when dining at a restaurant is enjoying fresh bread and dipping oil. Well, on a weekend that
by TT on February 16th, 2011 | Food News
I love attending the
Boston Wine Expo. The obvious reason may seem to be that there are thousands of varieties of wine to sample. While sampling a few wines is nice, the reason I love attending is the people and companies I discover there. From innovative chefs to interesting foods, there is much to learn. One of the great discoveries I made this year was
To Die For Dips. This dip is delicious and has an amazing story behind it.
I met with
Margaret Hammill, founder and owner of To Die For Dips on a recent winter morning at
by TT on November 27th, 2008 | Food News
This year's Thanksgiving is much quieter than last year's. Last year, we had approximately 20 people at our home for a traditional dinner. We made turkey, duck, cornbread stuffing, Parker House rolls, and much more. It was a 2-day cooking event.
This year we won't have any kids with us, as both sets are with their other parents. It will be just my husband, myself, and our best friends. As there are only adult palates to please, we have chosen a more gourmet and unique Thanksgiving menu.
Being the foodies, my husband and I have offered to cook the meal. Both of
by TT on November 26th, 2008 | Healthy Cooking, Recipes, Soups & Stews
I have a very dear friend that I have known for almost 20 years. We worked together for about half of that time, so we had the luxury of seeing other daily and eating lunch together. However, in the spring I decided to change careers, which has been great, but I don't get to see my friend as frequently.
With two busy schedules, it can be difficult to find an evening to sit and chat. Last week, luckily, we found a couple evening hours free of meetings, parenting responsibilities, etc. As my new career is home-based, I offered to make a
by TT on November 25th, 2008 | Appetizers, Breakfast Dishes, Main Dishes, Recipes
It dawned on me this morning that ours is a household of minis. In addition to our vehicles (a minivan and a Mini), there are other minis. My husband and I are both foodies, and thus, a couple of our children are mini-foodies. They love to cook and critique new foods, be it at a restaurant or home. We also have a mini-farm, with 15 egg-laying hens in a backyard coop.
When you have mini-foodies and a mini-farm, you sometimes need to find recipes that combine the two, which was the case last week. With our chickens hitting a daily high
by TT on November 20th, 2008 | Appetizers, Recipes
For soup night this week, our 12 year old chose corn chowder. As it is a heavier soup, we didn't need bread to go with it, but it seemed that some sort of cracker might work. Thinking about our options, I decided to try making cheddar cheese crackers.
So, on Tuesday night, my 10 year old daughter and I worked together, making the dough. The dough was too dry without any liquid added, so we used a little skim milk to help the dough bind. In hindsight, this addition produced crackers that were a little bit on the soft side.
Even though
by TT on November 19th, 2008 | Recipes, Soups & Stews
As the cold weather has arrived, and is staying, soup night has returned to our house. So, each week, one person in the house gets to choose the soup du jour. This week was our twelve year old son's turn to choose.
JP is the biggest foodie of our four kids, so you never know what he might request. This week he kept his choice simple and asked for corn chowder. However, he did have a request. He asked that I make the soup like my grandmother and add bacon to it.
I honored his request, though I did it with a
