Category Archives: New Products

Lemon and Almond Oil Cake — That’s A Piece of Cake to Make

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Almond oil, almond flour, almond extract, and sliced almonds combine in this winning cake.
Almond oil, almond flour, almond extract, and sliced almonds combine in this winning cake.

With holiday gift-giving season commencing in full force after Turkey Day, I’m always on the lookout for locally made, gourmet goods to share with family and friends who love to cook.

Fresh Vintage Farms nut oils are definitely worth checking out.

The Turlock company produces cold-pressed, artisanal nut oils from almonds and walnuts grown in the Central Valley. The business was founded in 2019 by husband and wife, Tommy and Tara Tickenoff, whose families are third-generation almond growers.

I had a chance to try samples of both the almond and walnut oils. Both are lush and buttery tasting. The almond oil has a subtle natural sweetness to it, while the walnut one has a lovely roasty taste. Drizzle over salads, pastas, grilled bread, warm brie or goat cheese, or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A bundle of two bottles (375ml each), one of each variety, is $27.99 on the Fresh Vintage Farms website or $23.99 on Amazon.

Fresh Vintage Farms Walnut and Almond Oils from California's Central Valley.
Fresh Vintage Farms Walnut and Almond Oils from California’s Central Valley.

I love oil-based cakes because they bake up so moist. So, I put the Fresh Vintage Farms Almond Oil to good use in this recipe for “One-Bowl Lemon and Olive Oil Cake” by Brian Levy, which was published in the New York Times on Jan. 3, 2025.

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Get to Know Olio Piro, Producer of Tuscan Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

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An exceptional Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil that enhances most anything.
An exceptional Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil that enhances most anything.

You know if a legendary Michelin three-starred restaurant like Eleven Madison Park in New York is a fan, then it’s got to have it going on.

Olio Piro certainly does.

Brother and sister, Romain Piro and Marie-Charlotte Piro, launched the Miami-based extra virgin olive oil company in 2020, cold-pressing a blend of olives from 300-year-old trees in Southern Tuscany.

The olives are pressed within hours of harvest. But what makes their olive oil unique is that it is filtered three times — not the standard once or twice — to remove sediment and particles that may cause the oil to turn rancid over time. The company does so with a proprietary vertical pressure filter system originally developed for making wine.

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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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