Friday I'm In Love... with Krave Jerky

In an effort to eat more protein, I've been trying a variety of different jerkies. I'm fine with them tasting just like meat, but sometimes, they just taste off.

So I was intrigued when I came across Krave jerky at Target. They have more intense and interesting flavors than just about every other jerky company, and yet the flavors don't overpower the meat. I also love that they use gluten-free soy sauce.

I've only had the chance to try a couple of flavors (the ones my store carries), but I am head-over-heels in love with the Black Cherry Barbecue Pork. It's nowhere near as sweet as the name implies, but it's not overly smoky like so many "barbecue" jerkies are. It's not as spicy as some of their flavors, either, so I don't feel like I'm burning holes in my tongue.

Krave has eight different flavors, using three different kinds of meat, so if Black Cherry Barbecue isn't your favorite, I'm sure there'll be one to fit your palate.

Friday I'm In Love... with Coffee-Mate Creamer Girl Scout Flavors

As a Girl Scout (yup, like still - I think I even have my card in my wallet), I kind of love that Girl Scout Cookies have become a thing far beyond scouting in general. I mean, I still think scouting (and its relationship with cookie selling) is very, very important. My parents made me go door-to-door in our quiet neighborhood to sell cookies, teaching me confidence and poise from a very young age. But the idea of Girl Scout Cookies has become so infused in our culture that just linking a product to the brand will likely increase the chance that someone will buy it.

Coffee-Mate Coffee Creamer has paired with the Girl Scouts to make your daily cup of coffee taste like a cookie. I don't usually use creamer (plain cream only for me, please!), but I couldn't help but try Thin Mint creamer. Would I have looked at this twice if it had just been called chocolate mint? No, not at all. The Girl Scout Cookie marketing worked on me!

And yes, the Thin Mint creamer tastes just like the real thing! And I actually enjoyed the other flavor, Caramel Coconut, even more! These are overly sweet for me, but then, I don't use any sweetener anymore, but these definitely make a nice sweet treat in my ice coffee. I've even developed a drink to enjoy while on summer vacation.

Rum and Coconut Iced Coffee

Ice coffee (I've used Starbucks VIA blended with cold water in a pinch)

Coffee-Mate Girl Scouts Caramel Coconut creamer

Spiced rum (I like Kraken)

Fill a tall glass with ice, then fill 3/4 full with cold coffee. Add equal parts creamer and rum, then stir to combine. Best enjoyed on a lounge chair in the shade.

Full disclosure note: Samples of these creamer flavors were sent to me for free.

Friday I'm In Love... with Sucré King Cake

I had never had a king cake until a few years ago, when my friend Ann (who went to college in New Orleans) decided that we should try making one. It was a huge success (thanks mostly to Joanne Chang's brioche recipe from her Flour cookbook), but I didn't have much to compare it to.

But when Sucre Bakery asked me to try their king cake, I jumped at the chance. A real king cake, straight from New Orleans? Yes please!  (Here's some history on the king cake if you don't know it.)

I had a hell of a time getting a good picture of Sucre's king cake because it is just too beautiful. Coated in edible glitter (the ONLY kind of glitter I'll stand for) in traditional Mardi Gras colors, this cake will not allow decent pictures to be taken. But in person, it's gorgeous! It would make a stunning addition to a buffet or as a centerpiece (but we just ate it with our hands straight out of the box).

And the taste? Oh so good! I was a little worried about it having a cream cheese filling, but in truth, the cream cheese is very light and not at all cloying. In spots, it was almost absent, while in others, it was a bit thicker. The dough itself is light and chewy, like a perfect breakfast pastry. We enjoyed some of the cake at room temperature, but we also heated some for a few seconds in the microwave (as suggested by Sucre) and that was even better! In fact, I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I was worried that a king cake shipped from the land of Mardi Gras would be crazy expensive, but Sucre's cakes are only $20, so even with shipping, it would hard to find anything in the Boston area at a comparable price (not to mention the taste!). But they only make king cakes from January until Mardi Gras (which this year is only a week and a half away!!!), so order now!

Full Disclosure note: I was sent samples for free by Sucre, but the opinions are all mine.

Friday I'm in Love... with Crunchtables

Photo from Crunchtables

Fried. Pickles. In. The. Freezer.

I have found the most perfect frozen food, and it is fried pickles with a crispy pretzel crust! While wandering around the supermarket, I found an endcap freezer filled with Crunchtables, a new product featuring a variety of vegetables dressed in crunchy exteriors to make them more appealing. I mean, I'll eat veggies any time, but I know lots of people who won't. These aren't exactly a health food, but they're better than a lot of things out there.

So far, I've tried the zucchini, green beans, and pickles; I also have a box of broccoli waiting to be eaten.  (There are also mushrooms and carrots, but I couldn't find those.) Everything except the pickles have a "crouton crust" which is tasty enough, but the "pretzel crust" on the pickles is phenomenal! These pickles are as good as any I've had at local pubs, and knowing that I can pop them in the oven at any time of the day makes me very happy.

I only wish the pretzel coating were available on all the other veggies.

Friday I'm In Love... with Cuppow

A few years ago, I got REALLY into canning. I made pickles and jams and butters and processed pretty much whatever I could get my hands on. Some of the stuff I made was really good, while others were just fine (thankfully, I had no horrible disasters). A lot of it, though, just wasn't worth the effort.

That left me with tons of Ball jars laying around. I mean, I use them for all sorts of stuff, but how many Ball jars does a girl need?

Now that I've found the Cuppow, apparently I need them ALL again. This magic piece of plastic turns a glass jar into an adult sippy cup that can handle hot or cold with no problem. My favorite part is that the cup can then go into the dishwasher!!! Try doing that with a fancy coffee thermos!

That being said, canning jars aren't the easiest thing to carry around. My pint jars don't quite fit into the cupholders in my car (which may or may not have resulted in me destroying my garage door opener - it was already pretty damaged before that), and the jars still need some kind of sleeve when they're hot, or they'll burn your hands. I think I need to start knitting jar sweaters...


Photo borrowed from the Cuppow website because I'm too lazy to take a picture of my own.

Corn & Co, Burlington

I can't quite remember how I heard about Corn & Co a few months ago, but from the moment that I did, I was super excited. Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks, and flavored popcorn? Even better! And then I learned that they would be opening in the Burlington Mall, not too far from my house - what more could I ask for?

I've chatted with the owners a few times online since then. They've sent me samples of flavors, and I bugged them about when exactly they'd be opening. Every sample I received was AWESOME, but it left me wanting more! Finally, they told me that they'd be opening up on Black Friday. Ugh. No way I was going to the mall then.

But since I have mondays off and everyone was busy buying goods online and not in stores, I managed to make my way into the mall. Corn & Co has set up shop upstairs in the food court wing, where the newsstand used to be (for those of you who are as intimate with the Burlington Mall as I am. Yes, I was a bit of a mall rat in my day.).

When the corn is popping, you can smell Corn & Co from a ways away. The store is still a little bare right now, but they're clearly on their way to getting all set up for the holiday season. Flavors are listed on signs throughout the store, as well as in bowls behind the counter (above). There are pre-packaged flavors if you just want to grab and go, or you can get one of three sizes (small comes with one flavor, medium with two, and large with up to four). Feel free to ask for samples, because they clearly want you to find the flavor that you love.

Case in point: I am a savory girl when it comes to popcorn. I sampled the Corn & Co cheese, and it was AWESOME! Seriously, all-caps awesome. In fact, writing about it, I want more right now. But I was intrigued by the mixes they have on their menu also. I asked for a sample of the caramel apple (green apple and caramel mix, natch) and was equally blown away. Caramel is caramel, fine, but the green apple? Tart and sweet like the real thing. Mix them together and I am one happy girl. I bought some of this one and it was gone in no time.

I would much prefer to grab a snack of popcorn at the mall than a greasy pretzel. I am quite happy that Corn & Co is in town now. And I can only start to imagine the gift-giving opportunities here...

Friday I'm in Love... with BetterOats oatmeal

I am NOT an oatmeal kind of person. In fact, it usually grosses me out with it's disgusting texture. But somehow I found myself drawn to the hot cereal aisle, and the packaging of BetterOats lured me in. And considering they were only $1.50 for 5 servings (once I tried and loved them, I went back for more, only to find them on sale for $1!), I decided I wouldn't be breaking the bank to try them out.

First off, I love the packaging. Tall and thin boxes filled with tall and thin bags (which double as the water measurement system), decorated with bright colors - they're easy to spot on the shelf. Plus, the top front of the box pops off, making it easy to see how many are in the box and easy to line up a whole bunch of boxes at once.

And the taste? Well, I wouldn't be writing about it if I didn't like it. The pomegranate was my favorite - tart and sweet, especially when I added fresh pomegranate arils on top - until I tried the cinnamon plum spiced. It's SO GOOD - fruity with just a hint of floral, well spiced but not overpowering, and just plain tasty! I guess I can't say I'm not an oatmeal kind of person any more.

Friday I'm in Love... with Bantam Cider

How have I not written about Bantam yet?! (Oh, right, it was that whole not writing for months thing.) Anyway, I'm a HUGE hard cider fan, and although I don't drink beer, I can be happy that the whole craft beer movement has given rise to more and interesting ciders. Bantam, especially, is at the top of my list for great craft ciders.

Bantam, created by two wonderful women in Cambridge, is the real deal. It's not some overly sweet mess (I'm looking at you, Woodchuck!), and it doesn't have an overly yeasty taste (draught Magners - although the bottled stuff is good!). The flavor of Wunderkind, their first offering, is just the right level of sweet, and yes, it really does taste like apples, but not like you're just drinking regular apple cider. Oh, and the bubbles! It's almost like drinking champagne!

Bantam has another cider coming out soon, a still cider named La Grande. I'm not wild about still ciders, especially since the lovely bubbles are one of the best parts of Wunderkind, but I trust the Bantam ladies to make a good product. (They will also apparently have a seasonal cider with Tart Cherries only at the Drink Craft Beer Fall to Winter Fest. I'm hoping someone can smuggle me out a sample.)

Seriously, get your hands on a bottle of this stuff - you can thank me later. You'd be the hero of Thanksgiving if you showed up with a bottle or three. And if you want to give it a try, there are Bantam tastings quite frequently - just keep an eye on their website!

Friday I'm In Love... with Trader Joe's Candy Cane Coal

It's seeming like every Friday I'm In Love post is candy from Trader Joe's, and rightfully so. There are always new products every time I walk in, and I can't help but walk out with at least one new item to try. And Christmas time is an even better time for new products - you never know what kind of gifty thing you're going to find there.

Case in point: Candy Cane Coal. It's got kind of a stupid name, but I'll let that pass, because it tastes so damn good. The box is small (although I like the simple design of a fireplace) and holds about 3.5 ounces of the candy. Doesn't sound like much, but there's lots of flavor in each little bit. The candy is tiny bits of crispy candy cane covered in dark chocolate. That's, like, two of my favorite flavors in one food. How could I not love this?!

I've already eaten plenty of these straight, but I've also done a little baking with them as well. Stop back on Monday for the recipe. I'm thinking I might have to stockpile this stuff after Christmas because I don't want to not have this in my life.

Friday I'm In Love... with Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar with Caramel and Black Sea Salt

Recovered from your Halloween sugar coma? I would have traded all the Halloween candy I ate for just one of these bad boys. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar - Caramel with Black Sea Salt (say that 10 times fast) is just too damn good. It's a very good 70% chocolate with a nice snap, filled with a deliciously runny caramel and topped with giant flakes of salt. I'm a fool for anything salty/sweet, and if you add in chocolate, it's a perfect trifecta. This bar doesn't fail on any of its three components. Oh, that caramel... I've heard rumors of jarred salted caramel at TJs, and if it's the same stuff as this, I'm glad I haven't found it yet - I would eat it all with a spoon.

This is not a pretty chocolate bar, though. I know, I took about 50 pictures of it. One side of the bar is nice and smooth, but the opposite side, where the salt is sprinkled, is more unruly. Between the salt, which could stand to be distributed a lot more evenly, and holes where the caramel had oozed out a bit, it becomes clear that the reason Trader Joe's can sell this bar for a very, very reasonable $2 and something is because it's pretty hideous. This isn't something to give as a gift, as it will win no beauty pageants. But then, I'd have a hard time giving one away. I want to keep them all for myself.

Friday I'm in Love... with Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack

Like any good Boston girl, I love my ice cream. It's not uncommon around here to find people lined up for ice cream on a cold winter's night. I also love desserts that are both salty and sweet, so when I heard that Ben & Jerry's had come out with a flavor in honor of Jimmy Fallon's Late Night Show that involved potato chips and salted caramel, I searched high and low to find it.

(Truth be told, I'm more of a Craig Ferguson fan than Jimmy, but Craig doesn't have his own ice cream flavor...yet. This is my favorite clip from the Late Late Show.)

Supermarket after supermarket didn't have Late Night Snack on the shelves, but I eventually found some and dug right in. The ice cream base itself is a premium vanilla, flecked with Fair Trade vanilla beans, and is sweet and smooth. The caramel runs in ribbons throughout, and its saltiness is more pronounced when eaten with only a small amount of the ice cream. And the chocolate-covered potato chip clusters? Crispy and salty (although the caramel is saltier), but not all-together what I was expecting.

These clusters are more like rice crispies - airy and crackly - than like real potato chips. So after a slight disappointment in not finding real chips, I started to get into the texture of these clusters.

Final verdict? I'm hoping this flavor doesn't go away anytime soon. Much like its sibling, Chubby Hubby (vanilla malt ice cream with fudge and peanut butter and chocolate-covered peanut butter-filled pretzels), Late Night Snack appeals to those of us who like a little savory with the sweet. Unlike Chubby Hubby, where the pretzels are a bite in themselves, Late Night Snack's potato chip clusters are just the right size to enjoy in conjunction with the rest of the ingredients.

Friday I'm In Love... with Snow Soda

I know it's not in fashion to drink soda these days, but sometimes you still want something bubbly that's not just seltzer. That's where something like Snow comes in - made with cane sugar and loaded with vitamins, Snow is a slightly more virtuous version of the stuff we love to drink.

Snow comes in three flavors - Lemon Lime, Cranberry PomRaz, and Cola. I really loved the fruit flavors. The Lemon Lime was tart and crisp, not just sweet. The Cranberry PomRaz, combining cranberry, pomegranate, and raspberry, tasted fresh and light, like a fizzy version of cranraz juice. The Cola, on the other hand, did not work for me; it tasted almost watered down, but then, I'm firmly a Coke Zero girl, and nothing else tastes right to me. But those fruit flavors - I enjoyed them on their own, but they make even better mixers!

I am also happy to see that Snow will soon be releasing a no-calorie version of their drinks, flavored with (I assume) stevia. I'm looking forward to giving them a try.

Snow is available throughout southern New England.

Full Disclosure note: Samples of Snow soda were provided to me free-of-charge.

Cilantro Lime Dip

I read the other day that Cape Cod Potato Chips were turning 30 this July, and almost immediately, I found myself craving potato chips. Just call me Pavlov's dog.

I grew up going to Cape Cod every summer with my family, and for the longest time, Cape Cod Potato Chips were something we ate down there, or back home while remembering our vacations - and I assumed it was only a local thing. I don't know when it clicked that this brand has a wider appeal, but it was well before my favorite exchange from last summer's True Blood:

Sookie: Sorry. I'm usually good at placing people's accents, but yours I can't get a handle on. Where are you from?
Maryann: Cape Cod. Best potato chips in the world.

I nearly doubled over laughing when I heard that. Either that writer was from Massachusetts, or these chips have a wider audience.

I've been to the factory a few times, and my nephew and nieces now think a summer isn't complete without a visit. Frankly, there's not much to see - much less than other factories that have made it almost a tourist attraction - but if you're in the neighborhood of Hyannis, it's worth a stop. The "tour" won't take more than 10 minutes, and you can try a few of the newer flavors at the small shop at the end. Last summer, I bought this canvas tote that is now my favorite shopping bag, and someone comments on it every time I carry it. Oh, and the best part of seeing the factory? The air around it smells heavenly from the frying potatoes. At least, it's nice when you visit - I'm not sure I'd want to come home smelling like that every day.

My favorite of the Cape Cod line of potato chips (actually, my favorite potato chip anywhere) is the Robust Russet (it used to be called the Dark Russet, which made a little more sense). The chips almost look burned, but they're not, it's just the sugars in the particular type of potato. They're a touch sweet, and plenty salty, and I love the ones that have curled up on themselves in the frying process.

I usually eat my Dark Russets by themselves, but this craving called for dip.

Cilantro Lime Dip
2 cups Greek yogurt (fat-free is fine)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime, juiced and zested (use 2 if they're small)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 scallions, greens only, chopped
Cayenne
Salt

Combine yogurt, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, garlic, and scallions in a bowl and mix to combine. Add cayenne and salt to taste. Refrigerate for at least one hour for flavors to meld.

Cheesy Pan Rolls with Ile de France Chaumes

I think I'm like a lot people - I love cheese, but there are probably millions of varieties out there besides the ones I'm familiar with. I could probably count the types of cheese I buy on both hands. So when Ile de France offered to send me Chaumes, something I'd never heard of, I jumped at the chance.

Chaumes is a bit unique, but it's not wholly unlike other cheeses that I was familiar with. It's soft and creamy, much like brie (a tad harder, though), and has a bit of bite like a sharp cheddar. It has a great nutty flavor and a smell that is harsher than its taste. The orange rind is edible, but I wasn't wild about it.

The package arrived when I was babysitting my nephew and nieces, and they were eager to know what was inside. Luckily, they were more interested in the bubble wrap than the cheese itself, and I quickly stashed my goods in the fridge while they weren't looking.

Flash-forward to last night, when I offered to make dinner for my friends who were busy playing Dungeons and Dragons (I've played with them, but I'd rather be cooking than rolling the dice). I knew the group liked bread and cheese, and I was already making a cheesy pasta dish for dinner, so I decided to experiment with the Chaumes I had been sent and make rolls. The resulting bread had everyone clamoring for the extras, and there was discussion of when I could make them again. Fact is, they were so simple, it's only a matter of getting my hands on some more Chaumes!

Cheesy Pan Rolls with Chaumes
1 lb pizza dough (I used the bagged stuff from the supermarket)
8 oz Chaumes cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush olive oil onto the bottom and sides of a square baking dish.

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces, and cut cheese into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten slightly in your hand. Sprinkle a few pieces of parsley on the dough, top with a piece of cheese, and wrap the dough around the cheese, pinching the edges to seal. Place the roll seam-side down in the pan. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Brush finished rolls with olive oil and sprinkle remaining parsley over the top. Grate parmesan over the top (as much as you'd like). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Friday I'm In Love... with Best Friends Cocoa

I'm not usually a big fan of cocoa - it gives me a stomach ache like nothing else - but there are times during the long, cold winter when you want something hot that isn't coffee or tea, or you just HAVE to have chocolate and there isn't a bar in sight. For years, I put up with the crappy box of packets from the supermarket when I needed a fix, but more often than not, I just went without.

A few weeks ago, though, I got an email from the folks at Best Friends Cocoa, and my thoughts changed drastically with one taste. By "folks," I mean Linda and Uri Guttman, who bought the company from its founder about 6 years ago when it was about to close. Since then, they've run the company from a small factory space in Arlington with just a few employees.

Like I said, Best Friends Cocoa changed my thoughts on cocoa as a whole. This stuff is smooth and sweet and comforting, while the supermarket stuff just tastes like dirty water in comparison. (It also doesn't give me a stomach ache - must be the all the chemicals in the mass-produced stuff.) It takes a little more effort to stir into your hot water (like I said, no chemicals means you have to do a little more work), but it's well worth it. If stirring is too much trouble for you, Best Friends Cocoa can also sell you a little battery-powered milk frother to mix up your cup of cocoa.

And did I mention flavors? Besides the traditional, which is fun to dress up with your favorite liqueur as a treat (I've enjoyed it with mint Bailey's as well as PAMA), they also offer Marshmallow Cloud (Linda's description is best: "a marshmallow toasting over a campfire, melting into your cup of cocoa"), Cinnamon Twist (a warm flavor with just a bit of kick), and Raspberry Truffle (Oh. My. God.).

Best Friends Cocoa is available to order through their website (including a sampler pack so you can decide which is your favorite), at Whole Foods Markets in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and through various markets and gift shops. Linda and Uri also have a table at Dedham's Indoor Farmers Market, held Sundays from 10am to 2pm in the Odd Fellows building at 626 High Street in Dedham. Above is Linda, Queen of Cocoa, holding court over her booth.

Pistachio Orange Peel Cacao Nib (Kitchen Sink?) Biscotti

Early in December, my father and I dropped my mother off at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education (for a class on gold leafing, which she has wanted to learn for ages), then headed off to tour the Taza Chocolate factory (along with roughly the entire chocolate-loving population of the greater Boston area). In pure Augustus Gloop fashion, we tasted everything they had to offer, including their cacao nibs (both plain and panned in chocolate). I could have bought one of everything in the store, but keeping my budget in mind, I grabbed a tin of nibs, intending to do some baking with them, and headed on my way.

Cacao nibs are chocolate that has been roasted and hulled but not yet ground into a paste, mixed with sugar and other ingredients, and formed into chocolate as we know it. They're not sweet, and they're not particularly chocolatey either. Instead, they're crunchy and nutty, and I usually taste an overtone of banana as well. I like Taza's a lot. They roast their chocolate carefully and in small batches - they know what they're doing.

Onto the baking. My father had been pestering me for a while about making biscotti, something I'd never done before, but he had seen on America's Test Kitchen and wanted to do. I quickly became hell-bent on including cacao nibs and pistachios (my father's favorite nut) in some way. I did a quick search and found these fabulous biscotti from Brownie Points.

These cookies came out perfectly, crispy and packed with flavor. I really like the combination of salty pistachios, crunchy cacao nibs, and sweet and chewy orange peel. I especially enjoyed eating them after they had sat on top of my coffee for a while, like in the picture above - the steam softened them up a bit without needing to dip them into the coffee. Feel free to play with the ratio of pistachios, cacao nibs, and orange peel - include as much or as little as you like. I prefer lots of little bits in my biscotti, so I added probably a little more than is called for in the recipe below. The base of the recipe is great, too, so you can use it with whatever mix-ins you feel like.

Pistachio Orange Peel Cacao Nib Biscotti adapted from Brownie Points
2 eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped pistachios
3/4 cup chopped candied orange peel
1/2 cup chopped cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix together the eggs, butter, and vanilla until well combined. Add in the baking powder, salt, sugar, and flour, and mix thoroughly. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Add in the pistachios, orange peel, and cacao nibs and mix until distributed evenly.

Divide the dough into two halves and form them into two logs (kind of like the shape of a ciabatta loaf). Place logs on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is slightly golden brown. Remove the logs from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Lower oven temperature to 325°. Cut logs into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices back on the baking sheet, cut sides up (you may need a second baking sheet for this). Bake biscotti for 10-15 minutes on each side, then cool before eating.

Friday I'm in Love... with Cocoa Metro Milk

If you can ever find a time to wander around a place like Russo's when it isn't busy (is Russo's ever not busy?!), you'll be rewarded with little gems of products sitting on the shelves. Ann and I took a trip to Russo's last weekend, and the sleek packaging of Cocoa Metro stood out against the other milk options - crisp white lettering on a glass bottle, filled with silky-looking, deep brown chocolate milk.

Surprisingly, when I got home, there was an email in my inbox from the founder of Cocoa Metro, telling me about the product. I told him I already loved the packaging and their tagline (Carpe Cocoa - what, you think I like Latin or something?), and he offered to bring a bottle over for me to try.

I broke the milk out the next morning and gave it a small sip. It's thick and velvety and just sweet enough to balance out the dark chocolate. I'm usually a skim milk girl, so this 2% mix is a little thick for my taste, but it is utterly heavenly. It actually tastes like chocolate, not some weird amalgam of chemicals, with a touch of vanilla to balance it out. Plus, Cocoa Metro uses Callebaut chocolate, some of the best stuff around.

Back to that 2% thing. I knew I could easily have balanced it out with a measure of skim milk to water it down, but I had other things in mind. I poured some milk into a coffee mug, about halfway, then microwaved it until hot. I used my cheapo milk frother to whip it up, but if you don't have one, you can just use a small whisk stuck into the mug and twirled between the palms of your hands. Topped off with regular drip coffee, the Cocoa Metro made a better mocha than what you can get at a coffee shop. And for slightly more than the cost of one mocha at Starbucks, you can get a whole bottle of Cocoa Metro to make mochas at home for a week.

Cocoa Metro is only available in the Boston area: Bread & Chocolate in Newton, Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Russo's in Watertown, and a number of Whole Foods.

Friday I'm In Love... with Kozy Shack Pear Mangosteen Pudding

I was walking through the supermarket the other day and came to a screeching halt next to the pudding section. Kozy Shack's new Simply Well line has colorful packaging and, more importantly, flavors that make it stand out from the crowd on the shelf. The words "pear" and "mangosteen" jumped out at me - these are not things that usually describe pudding - and a package made its way into my basket in a split-second.

And after popping a cup open, it became clear to me that this pudding was more than pretty packaging. Both the pear and the mangosteen flavors are clear and distinct, and yet they work together in harmony to create one hell of a pudding. It's light and refreshing and yet filling. The texture in the package is a little thick (hence no picture), thanks to tapioca starch and added fiber, but the mouthfeel is just right.

I found my pear mangosteen pudding at my local Market Basket (which is quickly becoming a great place to shop for speciality items), but you could ask for it at any store that already carries Kozy Shack puddings.

Cooking with Harbor Sweets

Twitter has led me to some of the coolest events as of late. A while ago, I saw a tweet from Harbor Sweets, an amazing local candy company, announcing a cooking class that they would be hosting in their factory. Cooking with Sweet Sloops, my favorite of their chocolates, made with almond toffee crunch, white and dark chocolate, and pecans? Sure - imagine the amazing cookies you could make with them! But no, the class was going to focus on a full menu of recipes, not just desserts. When I saw the words "Sweet Sloops Pad Thai," I knew I had to go.

So last Saturday, after getting more than a little lost, we arrived at Harbor Sweets' factory in Salem only a few minutes late. The small room was packed with tables and people, and we squeezed into our seats as the chef starting talking. The afternoon was led by Chef Bill, a local personal chef, and he taught us a lot about cooking with humor and verve.

We started with dates stuffed with goat and gorgonzola cheeses, bacon, and Sweet Sloop Crunch. I thought I wouldn't like these, but surprisingly, this was my favorite dish of the day. The saltiness of the cheese and bacon were married perfectly with the sweetness of the candy and the dates, and the bacon and the Sweet Sloops added plenty of texture to an otherwise soft dish. These would be perfect for a holiday appetizer, as you can make them ahead and just pop them in the oven to warm through. Since this was my favorite, the recipe is below.

We then moved onto Pad Thai. A lot of people seemed skeptical about pairing candy with pad thai, but I thought it would be a great match - there's already sugar and peanuts in pad thai, so why not? In fact, Chef Bill took out both the sugar and the peanuts and used the Sweet Sloops to provide those flavors - it worked perfectly, although I can't see making this routinely. It's definitely a conversation piece, though, and would be great to wow your friends and family with.

For dessert, we actually tried two different dishes. Chef Bill passed around Toll House cookies that were made with Sweet Sloops Crunch instead of chocolate chips. They were delicious, as I expected them to be, and is probably the recipe that most of the attendees are going to try at home. We also had Bananas Foster, with Sweet Sloops Crunch used as a garnish. (Above, Chef Bill gets ready for some flambe.) I'm not crazy about cooked bananas, but I loved the Sweet Sloops over ice cream.

So, as if I didn't already love Sweet Sloops, I now have even more excuses to buy them.

Can you see the chocolate all melty and delicious in that picture?

Dates with Goat and Gorgonzola Cheese, Bacon, and Sweet Sloops Crunch
4 oz goat cheese, room temperature
3 oz gorgonzola cheese, room temperature
3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup Sweet Sloops Crunch
15 Medjool dates

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix together the two cheeses, then mix in cooked bacon and Sweet Sloops Crunch. Make a slit in the top of each date, keeping the bottom intact, and remove the pit. Put one teaspoon of the cheese mixture into each date. Place dates on a sheet pan and bake for less than 5 minutes, until cheese are heated through.

Eat Drink and Be Fair Cook-Off

Last night was part two of Green Mountain Coffee's celebration of Fair Trade Month with their Eat Drink and Be Fair event. Instead of a sit down dinner like last week, this was billed as a "Top Chef Masters"-style cook off between some amazing chefs. Besides one dish from each competitor, there were also a range of appetizers focused on Fair Trade and local ingredients. And since Green Mountain was the host, there were a lot of other great companies from Vermont showing off their wares - Cabot Creamery, Long Trail Brewery, Ben & Jerry's - it was like going back to Vermont for an evening. My favorite appetizer was simple, and it's something that I think I'll be making at home - local apples and brie in puff pastry bites.

Since I've been telling people about these events, I've had questions about what Fair Trade is. Prior to these dinners, I had the vaguest sense of a definition, but I have a much firmer grasp on the term now. Basically, Fair Trade provides a fair price to farmers for their harvest. Prices can fluctuate wildly, so this makes sure they get a minimum price for their goods. It also creates networks for farmers, meaning they can work together to strengthen their communities (through schools, roads, etc). Fair Trade also allows companies like Green Mountain to get products out of difficult-to-reach regions and cutting out the middleman. Fair Trade can apply to a huge variety of products, including coffee, chocolate, vanilla, fruits like bananas, and even products like cotton. You can learn more about Fair Trade here.

As part of the event, Green Mountain flew some of the coffee producers from Guatamala up to New England to tour the facilities in Vermont and to join us at this dinner. Domingo, the president of their farmers association, spoke for a bit through a translator. One of the farmers had a video camera glued to his hand all night, taking in every bit of the event, and he had the biggest smile on his face the whole time.

OK, onto the food. I've been thinking about this sea urchin cappuccino from Chef Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro since I had it last week. This week's iteration was a little different, but probably because they were making a much bigger batch. The coffee, used in place of broth, was a stronger component. I like the idea of using coffee in this way, and it works especially well with the creamy and slightly sweet parsnips. During the Top Chef portion of the evening, Chef Garcia showed off by opening a bunch of sea urchins at such a fast pace that I couldn't even get a photo of him in action. This dish was also the most unique, I think, because it varied from the others, which were all protein over puree, and used the Fair Trade ingredients (coffee and vanilla) in the most unusual way.

Next up was a bacon and coffee crusted pork tenderloin with sweet potato puree, presented by Chef Jay Silva of Bambara. My friend thought the coffee in the crust (the black ring in the photo above) was too strong, but I really liked it. The pork was perfectly tender, thanks to the bacon, and the sweet potato was a fitting pairing, making the whole dish taste like fall.


Then we headed for the tea-smoked beef sirloin with banana squash puree and a coffee and sunchoke gravy, presented by Chef Will Gilson of Garden at the Cellar. This was probably my least favorite of the dishes, but only because the piece of meat I got was pretty grisly and hard to chew. The flavors were all really good, though, and I loved the use of cacao nibs as garnish. I still haven't been to Garden at the Cellar, and now I'm looking forward to it even more (if only because I want to see what Chef Gilson can do with a dish that I can actually chew). ;)

The last dish was coffee-marinated duck breast with parsnip puree, pickled pumpkin, gala apple, and an espresso-vanilla chimichurri, presented by Chef Peter McCarthy of EVOO and Za. This was pronounced the winner by the judges, and for good reason. The duck was cooked very well (appparently I like duck now, because this is the second time I've had it in a week and I loved both dishes), but the best part was the pickled pumpkin. I don't know how it's done, but it's something I want to make at home now!

After dinner, I grabbed a cup of coffee (Rainforest nut, which I haven't had for ages, and I loved it all over again) and enjoyed the balmy weather by sitting in the courtyard (can you believe it was snowing just a few days ago?!).

Oh, and did I mention Ben & Jerry's was there? They have a variety of Fair Trade flavors, but my favorite was the Chocolate Macadamia (Fair Trade vanilla and chocolate ice cream with fudge-covered sustainable-sourced macadamia nuts). Soooo good!