Pomegranates are ever present during the holiday season. The beautiful jewels of this fruit are echoed in the pearl, red crystal sugar that edges the pomegranate white tea cookies baked by Butter Blossoms. The pomegranate white tea cookie is just one of many beautiful cookies created by the mother/daughter team of Shell and Emily, who are Butter Blossoms. Emily is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University with a Bachelor of Science in Baking and Pastry. She is currently a stay-at-home mother who spent 10 years in the hospitality industry. Emily is joined by her mother, Shell, who is quite talented at making the wonderful cookies the mother/daughter team, known as Butter Blossoms, creates. Butter Blossoms offers cookies that are delicately enchanting and uniquely flavored. You will find honey fig shortbread cookies that make you want to sit down, put your feet up and enjoy these with a hot cup... Read the Rest →
A trio of tempting treats, Fudofinds features three amazing cookie creators and their creations to brighten up every imaginable occasion, from this holiday season, to birthdays, Easter, and even just your ordinary day. Here are cookies that are just too good to resist! First up we feature SunshineBakes, they specializes in handcrafted and decorated specialty sugar cookies. All cookie designs are originals. SunshineBakes is owned by Beth Kirby who has had an extensive career as a sales manager for a hotel as well as working part time for a catering company, and is a trained pastry chef. But the call of motherhood has brought her path to a successful specialty baking business and most of all, being a champion parent. SunshineBakes has been concentrating on wedding favors such as Big Heart Minis, Confetti and Monogram cookies. The business since then has branched out by bringing the business to Etsy and... Read the Rest →
The French have eclairs, Greeks have baklava, Italians have cannolis and the Americans have pies! Americans have long had a love affair with pies and are proud of their pie heritage. Pie recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and are kept under lock and key. Pies are the true essence of an all American dining experience where comfort food is a trip down memory lane. You can’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy when you have a slice of pie. A pie speaks a thousand words with its universal appeal. It is versatile and whatever filling you put in it, whether sweet or savory, it always tastes heavenly. This holiday season, no matter which part of the country you are in, it always makes you feel like you’re home. The Grand Traverse Pie Company is just the place to get your pies. The Grand Traverse Pie... Read the Rest →
For children there is nothing like the sheer joy of Christmas morning. What colorfully wrapped gift to open first? Or should the stocking be emptied first? We all have our Christmas morning traditions and many of us have fond memories of what we did as children. As a child I had a very particular routine on Christmas morning because I wanted to make the morning last as long as possible. I would slowly walk into the family room, inhaling all of the glorious aromas from the kitchen as my mother, who quite possibly never went to bed the night before, was preparing the Christmas feast. Once I arrived in the family room I would survey the glittering, shimmering scene before me. Presents under the tree. Check. Stocking laden with gifts and candy. Check. Chocolate Christmas ornaments hanging on the tree. Check. Candy canes. Check. Bowl of ribbon candy. Check. Ceramic... Read the Rest →
After Thanksgiving you might recognize the need for an apron. If you have one and it looks like a crazy quilt of food stains then it might be time to pick up a new apron. We found the most adorable, sassy aprons at Creative Chics. These aprons aren’t for those who are shy about wearing an apron. They are bold, gorgeous hand created apron. Creative Chics offers a selection of over 200 bold and beautiful hand sewn aprons. They are so fabulous that we only wish there was more fabric in each apron so that we could wear them as dress! Creative Chics describes themselves in this way: “Creative Chics was “born” when Mom made my childhood clothing, 40+ years ago. A few years ago we dusted off our machines and started sewing together, enjoying a past time we had long set aside but never forgotten. And with that we... Read the Rest →
Our last post featured a giveaway. If you haven’t commented and added your name please click here and do so. We are giving away a lovely hand carved cutting board. We found the cutting board at the farmers market, a hub for artesian products and fresh produce. These days you may find some of the same produce from the farmers markets on the tables of your local restaurants. It is wonderful to see that more and more restaurants are keeping the food seasonal and local. One such restaurant is called Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen. From the folks at Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen comes Blackbird Pie Company. “Scott Mahar is an acclaimed executive chef who brings his dedication to whole foods and local sourcing with him to Blackbird Pie Company. He is currently the Executive Chef at Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Under Chef Scott’s direction, Poppy Hill was... Read the Rest →
It’s that time of year when pie is on everyone’s mind. Pumpkin, apple, sweet potato, pecan…are you hungry yet? What if you want a tiny taste of pie without having to eat the whole slice? This is hard to do when you open your refrigerator and you are staring down at a whole, glorious, scrumptious nine inch, deep dish pumpkin pie? Who has that kind of self control?! We sure don’t. But, we’ve found the perfect solution to this portion control dilemma: Pie Pops. You will find the most adorable, easy to eat, bite sized pies at Cakewalk Desserts. “Pie Pops are portable mini pies on a stick baked with a variety of pie fillings and crust designs. You can have your pie crusts solid, or choose from one of our many cut-out patterns…. Flavors include: Apple, Cherry, Strawberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Chocolate Cream, Key Lime, Peach, Island Banana, Peanut Butter,... Read the Rest →
It’s another FudoFinds Friday and today we’re featuring Georgetown Cupcakes! They are convenient to grab when in a hurry, they are smaller than a cake yet has its richness and the creamy frosting, and they also look adorable! Cupcakes are fast becoming a popular snack food for many Americans. Cupcakes and doughnuts are battling neck and neck to be in the top spot. Until it replaces doughnuts as a police officer’s accompaniment to coffee, that’s the day I reckon cupcakes will be declared the winner. For now, cupcakes are dainty, delicious, and delectable treats, from the simple and no-nonsense designs to those adorned with the cutest and fanciest frosting. For anyone who is a food fanatic or as what we fondly call ourselves, “foodies”, we should all be too familiar with the popularity of cupcakes and perhaps even caught the reality TV series on TLC titled “DC Cupcakes.” It features... Read the Rest →
We aren’t sharing what we would call a “find” in the sense that the word is used when we shine the spotlight on small cottage industry purveyors. We are sharing this fudofind because there is nothing like it in the world. Of course, one would have to visit a Murray’s Cheese shop in order to understand our utter awe at the selection of cheeses Murray’s supplies. But, if you can’t get to Murray’s flagship store on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village or its Grand Central location. And, if you don’t happen to live near a Kroger in Cincinnati, Atlanta and Houston areas you can always shop online. Murray’s has been in business since the 1940’s; bringing over hundreds of cheeses to New Yorkers. In 2002 Murray’s opened shop in the Grand Central Market at Grand Central Station. Could you imagine picking up gourmet cheese on your way to catch a... Read the Rest →
We aren’t sharing what we would call a “find” in the sense that the word is used when we shine the spotlight on small cottage industry purveyors. We are sharing this fudofind because there is nothing like it in the world. Of course, one would have to visit a Murray’s Cheese shop in order to understand our utter awe at the selection of cheeses Murray’s supplies. But, if you can’t get to Murray’s flagship store on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village or its Grand Central location. And, if you don’t happen to live near a Kroger in Cincinnati, Atlanta and Houston areas you can always shop online. Murray’s has been in business since the 1940’s; bringing over hundreds of cheeses to New Yorkers. In 2002 Murray’s opened shop in the Grand Central Market at Grand Central Station. Could you imagine picking up gourmet cheese on your way to catch a... Read the Rest →
Congrats to our Winner Amalia who won the Crate and Barrel Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Pan giveaway. Halloween is an especially fun celebration because it is when you can play dress up no matter how old you are. It is a time when spooky décor cover the front porches and lawns in the neighborhood, and adults go trick or treating in a night of laughter and revelry. Halloween-themed treats are shared for everyone to enjoy, and these can range from simple but succulent hard candy that look like eyeballs to cakes fully decorated with icing cobwebs and fondant bats. Now, cookies are always a hit no matter what time of year it is. But during Halloween, these are more popular than ever because of their eye-catching designs. If you’re looking for Halloween cookies that not only look boo-tiful but also taste delectable, you have to visit Cheryl’s at www.cheryls.com and order... Read the Rest →
“And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon”. A little Spice History before we introduce this week’s fabulous fudofind: Spices have been regarded in high esteem throughout the history of humankind. We know that spices were used by the ancient Egyptians around 3500 BCE. It can go without saying that spices were probably used well before recorded history; however it is obvious that the ancient Egyptians were well practiced with spices, using them for the flavoring of food, cosmetics as well as for embalming their dead. Spices were used throughout the Fertile Crescent, traded through the region, eventually spreading to all corners of the Middle East and branching out further to the Mediterranean and Europe. Many spices came from China and India. The trade... Read the Rest →
