Category Archives: New Products

Coffee Shop Banana Bread Crunch Muffins To Make Together — Or Not

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A crunchy corn-flake streusel tops these delicious banana bread muffins.
A crunchy corn-flake streusel tops these delicious banana bread muffins.

Some couples love to cook together.

Others — whether because it’s more efficient or perhaps a little control-freak-ism at work — divvy up the duties so that one cooks, while the other cleans up afterward.

Which camp do you and your partner-in-crime fall into?

For me, it’s usually the latter.

But if more harmony and togetherness in the kitchen is what you desire, then “A Couple Cooks” (Chronicle Books) is right up your alley.

The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is by Sonja and Alex Overhiser, a photographer-and-writer couple in Indianapolis who created the award-winning blog, A Couple Cooks.

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Holiday Goodies For You (Or Others), Part II

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The Perfect Pair gift pack from Ancient Olive Trees.
The Perfect Pair gift pack from Ancient Olive Trees.

Ancient Olive Trees Perfect Pair

Marin County’s Ancient Olive Trees company knows a thing or two about olive trees.

After all, it’s been tree farming full-time since 2007. Its lush olive trees have been planted on the grounds of the Frank Gehry-designed Tin House in Los Angeles, The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, and many wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties.

So, it only makes sense that in 2015, it started crafting its own extra virgin olive oil, as well as balsamic vinegar.

Any cook or enthusiastic eater is sure to appreciate its Perfect Pair ($69) snazzy gift set that features a 375ml bottle of each.

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Holiday Goodies For You (Or Others), Part I

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A peek inside the Ofner Le Cordon Bleu creme brulee panettone.
A peek inside the Ofner Le Cordon Bleu creme brulee panettone.

Ofner Le Cordon Bleu Creme Brulee Panettone

It’s guaranteed to be a sweet holiday with Ofner Le Cordon Bleu Creme Brulee Panettone.

It’s one of the new flavors this season by the Brazilian company, which also manufactures in the United States, that’s been turning out specialty sweets for 70 years.

I had a chance to try the new creme brulee version of the classic holiday Italian bread. Made with a naturally fermented dough, it’s moist, tender, and a little bready in texture.

There are gobs of cashew nut praline and creme brulee within it, and it’s topped with a coating of white chocolate, cashew nut praline, and bruleed sugar. It is quite sweet, so you do have to like your panettone on the sugary side.

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Get Saucy With New Hodo Tofu & Sauce

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New heat-and-serve Hodo Japanese Teriyaki Tofu & Sauce kits offer up a nourishing meal in a flash.
New heat-and-serve Hodo Japanese Teriyaki Tofu & Sauce kits offer up a nourishing meal in a flash.

Always inventing and reinventing, Oakland’s Hodo Foods has debuted a new line of fully cooked tofu & sauce packages that are sure to make meal prep a whole lot easier and faster.

Made with the company’s organic tofu, these convenient, refrigerated kits come in three varieties: Korean BBQ, Japanese Curry, and Thai Red Curry.

I had a chance to try samples of the latter two. Each comes with a package of extra-firm tofu along with two packets of sauce.

Find the new kits in the refrigerator section of select grocery stores.
Find the new kits in the refrigerator section of select grocery stores.

The tofu is not a solid brick, but rather a clump that has been vacuum-sealed. So, unless you take the time to actually use a knife to cut it into bite-size pieces, your dish will not look exactly like the photos on the packages that show the tofu in nice neat bite-sized cubes. If precise pieces are not paramount, just use your fingers to easily crumble the tofu instead.

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Holidays Mean Lebkuchen

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Plain or chocolate-covered lebkuchen holiday cookies.
Plain or chocolate-covered lebkuchen holiday cookies.

Soft, cakey and a little chewy, they’re fragrant with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice. They taste marvelously Old World, too.

Lebkuchen, German spice cookies made with honey, are especially beloved at Christmas time.

For more than 90 years, Lebkuchen-Schmidt has been baking these popular treats in Nuremberg. Now, you can enjoy them in this country, thanks to New Jersey-based European Deli, its exclusive U.S. partner.

They come packaged in various options, including an embossed blue and gold tin ($49.95) depicting scenes from that German city, of which I received a sample.

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