A Spanish olive oil that boasts a lovely green color and a peppery finish.
It’s striking green in color, with green almond and tomato leaf notes, and a peppery arugula-like finish.
Seasons Family Reserve Picual Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is newly bottled from its October 2024 harvest.
I had a chance to try a sample of this oil pressed from Picual olives, harvested from a single estate in Andalusia, Spain.
While founders Tim Balshi and Soraya Aguilar import olive oil and vinegar from around the world, the single estate olive oils come from the centuries-old olive groves on Aguilar’s family estate in southern Spain.
Rory’s Bakehouse frozen cookie dough balls bake up into huge 4 1/2-inch-diameter chocolate chip cookies.
Warning: Do not keep these in your freezer unless you want temptation dangerously beckoning every waking moment.
Rory’s Bakehouse Giant Chocolate Chip frozen cookie dough balls will do serious damage to your willpower and waistline — and leave an enormous smile on your face in the process.
Rory Kandel of Napa is the creator of these ginormous chocolate chip cookies that have cultivated a loyal following. So much so that she started making the frozen dough available through nationwide shipping. They can also be found in the freezer case at Woodlands Market in San Francisco, Kentfield and Tiburon; Glen Ellen Village Market in Glen Ellen; and Sunshine Foods in St. Helena. They can also be found freshly baked at Loveski Deli in Napa and Marin and Biscuit’s BBQ in Napa.
The cookie dough balls come either 6 or 12 to a bag.
Last month, she also debuted a walk-up retail window in Napa at 2766 Old Sonoma Road, open Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There, you’ll find the frozen cookie dough, along with baked cookies. There are also weekly specials of buttermilk biscuits, black truffle gougeres, and coconut passion fruit thumbprint cookies.
A simple and delicious recipe from Chef Lee Anne Wong, who lost her restaurant in the devastating Lahaina fires.
In times of natural disasters or catastrophic world events, not only do firefighters and paramedics immediately mobilize to help, but so do chefs, cooks, and others in the hospitality industry.
After all, they know better than anyone the power of food to comfort, nourish, and heal.
As I watched the news accounts of the gut-wrenching destruction wrought by the Southern California wildfires, it reminded me eerily of the 2023 firestorm that obliterated the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.
In each case, restaurateurs and their employees — including some whose establishment or homes had been ravaged by flames — turned up in droves to cook meals for anyone in need, despite their own dire circumstances.
Wildfires may be growing more severe nowadays due to climate change. But it’s heartening to witness the indefatigable resilience, resourcefulness, and compassion of a community rising to meet it.
“To Lahaina, With Love” exemplifies that. Proceeds from this cookbook, which debuted last month, benefit Fresh Help Maui, a non-profit that provides meals and locally-caught fresh fish to those impacted by the Maui fires.
Roasted to a deep crunch, these chickpea snacks satisfy when you want a crispy nosh.
Chickpeas are an indispensable legume. They’re what give hummus its body. They bulk up soups, stews, and salads, and add a lovely nutty flavor.
They also give potato chips a run for their money in the form of Festive Chickpeas, a snack of crispy, fried garbanzos that have 5 grams of protein, 190 milligrams of potassium, and 4 grams of dietary fiber per 1-ounce serving.
They come in a variety of flavors, of which I received samples recently. They are soy-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, and vegan (with the exception of the BBQ variety). They are roasted in canola oil, then seasoned with sea salt, sugar, yeast extract, and other seasonings.
Discover Big Picture Farm caramels made by a family farm in Vermont.
They are creamy, sticky, buttery, redolent of caramelized sugar, and come in some surprising flavors.
Big Picture Farm caramels, of which I received a sample, are made by a family farm in southern Vermont using milk from their herd of adorable goats.
The farm is completely solar-powered. Its 100 acres are grazed by the goats on a rotational basis to maintain soil health. The caramels also make use of local ingredients from their fellow farmers.
Owners Louisa Conrad is a photographer and mixed-media artist, and her husband Lucas Farrell is a writer and poet. And it shows.
