Category Archives: New Products

Plant-Based Savory Spreads Make Entertaining Easy

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Growee Foods' Three Pepper Spread, which I used to saute shrimp with peppers, onions, and broccoli.
Growee Foods’ Three Pepper Spread, which I used to saute shrimp with peppers, onions, and broccoli.

When Aman Blana gave up meat and dairy, he was disappointed to find that so many vegan foods on store shelves carried a laundry list of ingredients.

He wanted something simpler, so he created it, himself, with Atlanta’s Growee Foods.

The company’s savory spreads may only be a year old, but they’ve already won a Nexty award in 2022, given to natural foods products that are deemed progressive, impactful and trustworthy.

They come in three flavors: Three Pepper Spread, Curry Zucchini, and Spiced Mango.

I had a chance to try samples of all three, which contain no gluten, nut, corn, GMOs or soy.

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Plant-Based Instant Noodles From the Noodelist

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Plant-based instant noodles made with a super-food ingredient.
Plant-based instant noodles made with a super-food ingredient.

Thuong Tan launched her Silicon Valley startup two years ago. It wasn’t centered on hardware or software.

But on noodles.

Instant ones that were plant-based, shelf-stable, and could be ready to eat in all of 5 minutes.

You see, Tan, has never been a big fan of rice or potatoes, despite her Chinese, Vietnamese and Finnish heritage. For her, noodles have always been where it’s at.

So, while working for Business Finland, the Finnish organization focused on funding, trade, investment, and travel promotion, she got the notion to start her own business, one that would bring her the same warm satisfaction as a bowl of her mother’s Vietnamese brothy noodles.

The Noodelist was born.

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Morimoto-Approved Mochi Donut Kit

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Yes, I made these at home -- thanks to Global Grub's Mochi Donut Kit.
Yes, I made these at home — thanks to Global Grub’s Mochi Donut Kit.

Get a sweet taste of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s cooking in your own home.

You can with this fun, make-it-yourself Mochi Donut Kit ($42.99) that was created in collaboration with Walnut Creek’s Global Grub.

CEO Carly Sheehey’s love for travel inspired her cooking kit company that aims to bring a delicious taste of different countries near and far to home cooks in an easy, approachable manner.

Global Grub now offers eight different DIY cooking kits that feature everything from churros to sushi.

All you have to add is a few ingredients -- and your time -- to make these gluten-free, chewy-licious donuts.
All you have to add is a few ingredients — and your time — to make these gluten-free, chewy-licious donuts.

I had a chance to test-drive the mochi donut kit when I received a sample from the company a few weeks ago.

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Sweet On San Francisco’s Artisan Macaron

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Prettily boxed French macarons for gift-giving to friends -- or yourself.
Prettily boxed French macarons for gift-giving to friends — or yourself.

Looking for an host/hostess gift this holiday season that’s sure to impress?

San Francisco’s Artisan Macaron has exactly that.

Best yet, these crunchy, cream-filled meringue confections are readily available at Whole Foods and Nugget Markets to pick up on the spur of the moment.

Chef Alex Trouan started apprenticing at a pastry shop in his native France when he was only 15 before going to work for legendary Pierre Herme in Paris. In the 1990s, he moved to California, started baking macarons, and never looked back.

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What I’ve Been Drinking of Late, Part 23

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When you're in the mood for sparkling wine -- but not its effects -- grab a bottle of Joyus.
When you’re in the mood for sparkling wine — but not its effects — grab a bottle of Joyus.

Joyous Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Wine

It looks like sparkling wine or Champagne. It’s packaged in an elegant bottle complete with a cork, cage and foil. And it’s beautifully effervescent in a glass.

But Joyous Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Wine is indeed non-alcoholic. It’s made like wine, but with the alcohol removed to become “dealcoholized.”

Launched during the pandemic, it’s the creation of Seattle’s Jessica Selander who proudly has 17 years of sobriety.

This is no cloying Martinelli’s trying to stand in for wine, as I happily found when trying a sample. Instead, this wine is a balanced blend of varietals, mostly Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, French Colombard, Chenin Blanc and other whites, Selander noted in an interview with Sip Magazine.

It even won bronze at the 2021 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

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