Category Archives: New Products

Get to Know Effie’s Homemade Biscuits

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Effie's Homemade Hazelnut Biscuits are a natural for a thick smear of Nutella.
Effie’s Homemade Hazelnut Biscuits are a natural for a thick smear of Nutella.

They may be called biscuits, but they’re not the mile-high, flaky layered ones that immediately jump to mind.

Instead, Effie’s Homemade Biscuits are more like Scottish oatcakes.

Now, don’t let the term “oatcakes” fool you into thinking these must be so healthful that they taste like cardboard.

On the contrary, these thin, cookie-cracker-like hybrids are deceptively buttery, delightfully crunchy, subtly sweet, and gently salty. And they are positively addicting, as I found when I received samples to try.

The company is named for Effie MacLellan, who brought with her a generations-old, family recipe for the biscuits when she moved from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts.

Her daughter Joan MacIsaac, along with Joan’s best friend Irene Costello, started the company in 2008. They now make nine different flavors.

Lean into the savory, sweet, or nutty varieties of Effie's.
Lean into the savory, sweet, or nutty varieties of Effie’s.

I had a chance to try four of them: original Oatcakes, Gruyere, Hazelnut, and Corn.

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Italian Venchi Chocolates Debut Two New Flavors

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Sampler box of Venchi Cocovair bonbons.
Sampler box of Venchi Cocovair bonbons.

Just in time for the start of the major holidays, Italian chocolate maker, Venchi, has added two new flavors to its popular line of individually wrapped Chocoviar bonbons.

This company has been in business since 1878, when founder Silviano Venchi bought two bronze cauldrons and started crafting chocolates to sell in his small shop in Turin when he was all of 20 years old.

Venchi has since expanded into gelato, too. It sports shops worldwide, including in New York, London, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, and Dubai. There’s even one at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara.

Unwrapping the Chocovair chocolates.
Unwrapping the Chocovair chocolates.

I had a chance to try samples of the staple Chocoviar flavors, as well as the two new ones. Wrapped in foil, each one is enrobed in both a chocolate shell and either fine chocolate grains or toffee pieces.

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Pumpkin Spice — But Make It Ice Cream

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Pumpkin spice ice cream to make and enjoy at home.
Pumpkin spice ice cream to make and enjoy at home.

It’s amazing how something so cold can taste so warm.

That’s the delectable dichotomy of “Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream” that’s frigid enough to give you brain freeze yet suffused with the autumnal fervor of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, and mace.

When Adagio Teas sent me samples of its seasonal offerings of Pumpkin Spice tea, Honeybush Pumpkin Chai, and Pumpkin Spice Honey, along with its Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend by its sister spice company, Selefina, I couldn’t wait to enjoy them for an afternoon pick-me-up, as well as in recipes.

The Pumpkin Spice Tea ($3 for a sample bag or $9 for 3 ounces) is a robust black tea with pumpkin spice notes, as well as pretty marigold flowers for a subtle floral note.

The Honeybush Pumpkin Chai ($4 for a sample bag or $10 for 3 ounces) blends the honey taste of herbal, non-caffeinated honeybush tea with the expected cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, but also cocoa nibs for a touch of earthiness that lends depth. This is a smooth, soothing, and relaxing sip that you’re going to want to enjoy every day this fall and winter. You don’t even need to add milk, if you don’t want to, in order to appreciate its chai-like taste.

A pot of Adagio Pumpkin Spice tea with its Pumpkin Spice Honey.
A pot of Adagio Pumpkin Spice tea with its Pumpkin Spice Honey.

Stir in a touch of Pumpkin Spice Honey into either cup of tea, and the pumpkin spices will come even more to the forefront.

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Spice Up Your Day — Everiday

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Everiday Garlic Chili Oil revs up a grilled cheese.
Everiday Garlic Chili Oil revs up a grilled cheese.

If you’ve jumped on the Asian chili sauce bandwagon — and who hasn’t at this point? — you’ll want to add another label to your arsenal.

Everiday Foods serves up a line of four different Asian chili sauces, each with a slightly different taste profile, and enough heat to really jolt the palate yet not incinerate it.

The Singapore company was founded by Riyana Rupani, who gave up a career in corporate finance to become a certified nutritionist after experiencing her own autoimmune issues.

With her quest for clean eating, the sauces are all made with extra-virgin olive oil, as well as additions including pitted dates, garlic, dried chili, and other seasonings,. They all are also vegan, and gluten-free.

Four varieties.
Four varieties.

I had an opportunity to try samples of the Garlic Chili Oil, Mala Chili Crisp, House Red Chili Sauce, and Sambal.

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End of Summer Sips

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Guinigi's Rose Prosecco is especially welcome in these still-warm days and nights.
Guinigi’s Prosecco Rosé is especially welcome in these still-warm days and nights.

2023 Guinigi Prosecco Rosé 

Pretty in pink — and make it Italian.

There are few more delightful ways to enjoy the last days of summer than sipping a glass of 2023 Guinigi Prosecc Rosé  ($17).

From Italy’s northeastern province of Treviso, this pale pink-salmon bubbly, of which I received a sample bottle, was made by winemaker Alex Beloz and proprietor August Sebastiani. Yes, you know the name well, as he’s the fourth-generation winemaker of one of California’s oldest and most storied wine families.

The Guinigi label, under the Gehricke winery umbrella, honors his family’s roots in Italy. It pays tribute to the Guinigi tower, a historical landmark in the town of Lucca, Tuscany, from which the Sebastiani family immigrated in 1895.

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