Columbia Crest Wines Hosted the Bar at Summer Food Fête 2016! (All Photos By Gail. Click on any Image to Enlarge for Detail)
Ah, Summer foods; we love them. Food Fête is the place to find out what’s new in seasonal food trends, and its most recent Summer event, which took place in late June (in tandem with the Summer Fancy Food Show) was no exception. Please enjoy our findings and recommendations! Continue reading Summer Food Fête 2016: The Recap!
Cheers to the Chopin Vodka Booth (All Photos By Gail)
For Foodies and Food Writers alike, the change of seasons brings on excitement for holiday foods and ideas for entertaining! It also means that it’s time for Fall Food Fete, a great event to sample new products and get in the mood to celebrate. Here are few of our favorite products from the show, which took place on October 27th!
All Photos By Gail
Summer Foods! It certainly wouldn’t be the same summer that we know and love without our favorite summer fruits, salads, sweets and snacks to enjoy, amiright? Of course I am! For the summer edition of our favorite food show, Food Fête, the event moved back over to the Metropolitan Pavilion in order to accommodate many more exciting new vendors with lots of great products to show and share. Let’s take a closer look!
Olives and Olive Oil are staple ingredients, not just of summer, but of year-round cooking — and high quality is not something on which anyone wishes to compromise. Gaea takes great pride in the fact that their products are 100% authentic. Every single olive used to make Gaea Extra Virgin Olive Oils is grown on Greek trees that are over 50 years old. At Food Fête, this award winning company showcased its line new of Lemon, Basil, and Garlic-infused EVOOs, as well as a new, grab-and-go, resealable-pack fresh Olive Snack! These new products are available in stores starting July 2015. Visit Gaea Dot GR for more information!
The National Mango Board kept it simple, serving tiny bites of fresh mango on a stick! Mangoes are delicious, full of vitamins and extremely versatile. Get to know the Mango, find recipes and learn how to cut a Mango without fear at Mango Dot Org!
Family-owned Stemilt Growers (named for the Stemilt Hill area in Eastern Washington State, where the family of founder Tom Mathison have lived and farmed since 1893) gave away little bags of sweet ripe cherries (Pictured: Skylar Rae Cherries) — our favorite summer fruit! Now it its fifth generation of family operation, Stemilt continues the company’s legacy of innovation, sustainability and production of the best-tasting fruits. Learn more about Stemilt World Famous Fruit at Stemilt Dot Com!
Grapes from California featured a new recipe for Pickled Grapes, the deliciousness of which everyone could be overheard raving about! Pickled Grapes are super easy to make and a unique addition to your summer dinner party or picnic. Get that fun recipe and many more at This Link!
Dole® is a brand name that everyone knows and trusts as a quality, culinary innovator when it comes to keeping meals and snacks simple, fun and nutritious. What a pleasure it was to be introduced to new Dole® Take Aways Salads, a great way to eat healthy on-the-go.
Take Aways Salad Meals are a tasty complete meal in one package that includes whole grains, greens, add-ins and dressing all in a recyclable container that you can use as a bowl! Even the fork (and a towlette for clean up) is included! Found in your market’s refrigerated salad section, Dole Take Aways features two vegetarian options, and two non-vegetarian varieties, which are paired with antibiotic-free grilled chicken. The Southern Picnic (Non-Vegetarian) variety, which we had a chance to sample, features a blend of Dole® Romaine and Kale, grilled chicken, black-eyed peas, quinoa, roasted pecans and cranberries, topped with Dole’s Citrus-Peach Vinaigrette and a Honey BBQ drizzle. Amazing! Dole® Take Aways will be available in September 2015 at supermarkets nationwide. Visit Dole online at This Link!
Stoneridge Orchards all-natural dried fruits and fruit treats are the next best thing to fresh fruit, and they always have something new when we see them at Food Fête. Stoneridge’s line of premium, family-farmed dried fruits include whole Cherries, Blueberries and Mixed Berries as well as Dried Sliced Peaches, whole Strawberries, and their most unique offering, Chili Lime Cherries with Tajin seasoning!
We also love their Dark Chocolate, and Greek Yogurt Dipped Fruits, a truly luxurious treat, which has just added Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries to its line of sweet indulgences! Find out more about Stoneridge Orchards and discover where to buy their products in your area by visiting This Link!
As ancient grains forge their way to the front of the Rice Alternative options, truRoots is keeping things exciting with its organic Quinoa and Ancient Grain Pastas (made in Italy with Quinoa, Amaranth and Brown Rice, to be naturally gluten free).
This amazing Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta Salad is made with with truRoots Ancient Grains Fusili, and you can make it for your family right now by the following recipe below (click on image to enlarge for detail)!
Visit truRoots online at truRoots Dot Com!
Everybody loves Eggs and we are especially fond of Eggland’s Best Eggs and Egg Products — and not just because they have Mr. EB, their adorable little Egg Mascot! Eggland’s Best is committed to producing a more nutritious egg, which is also the finest, freshest, and most delicious egg possible! Truth!
And while hard boiling an egg is not most difficult thing one can do, isn’t it nice that England’s Best conveniently packaged their already hard boiled eggs in a bag for you to purchase? Sure it is. Imagine: Deviled Eggs or Egg Salad on Demand! Ah, sublime. Read all about Eggland’s Best, get recipes and find or where to buy them, at This Link!
As the makers of one of the very first commercially available packaged granola bars, Nature Valley has been part of our lives for decades. Appropriately, they are taking breakfast back to basics with their Toasted Oats Muesli, a delicious blend of whole rolled, oven-toasted oats, fruit, nuts and seeds, which can be served hot or cold. We tried it sprinkled on top of vanilla yogurt for a very yummy and satisfying snack. Get more information, coupons and recipes at This Link!
If you love Popcorn and Popcorn snacks, but have a dread and fear of the un-popped kernel hiding somewhere in the bag or bowl, due to a having a mouth full of expensive dental work, we are here to tell you that you need not fear the HalfPops. Catering to those who believe that, when it comes to Popcorn, fluff is just fluff, HalfPops is just what it sounds like: partially popped kernels with an extra crunch and burst of concentrated corn flavor. The best part — it will not crack your teeth! We know because we tried it, and it is definitely a unique treat that will appeal to the rebel snackers out there. Air Popped to be low in fat, and gluten free, HalfPops comes in all of your favorite flavors including Butter & Sea Salt, Chipotle Barbeque, Aged White Cheddar, and Caramel & Sea Salt. Find out more about HalfPops Snacks at This Link.
We got to make some new friends when we stopped by the booth for Heluva Good (which, yes it is) Dips to sample their outstanding sour cream based Bacon Horseradish Dip, and also try their newest flavor, the scrumptious Beer Battered Onion Ring — which tastes exactly like a Beer Battered Onion Ring, and is available as a limited edition flavor for a short time only. Holy Cow, this stuff is amazing!
You really do need to get right on this, because it Summertime, and the Dip is in demand! Find out more about Heluva Good brand Dips, Cheeses and other products at Heluva Good Dot Com!
Do you like bread? We sure do, and we are fortunate to have no intolerance to wheat flour, so we can eat all the bread we want – yay! But do you know who Really likes bread: Kids. Kids love bread. But sometimes, they can be a bit finicky, like wanting the crusts cut off and blah blah blah, kids! Do you know that we once watched a Wonder Bread sandwich actually melt in the sun? Yes, it happened. Point being: There is a fine line between Bread made to appeal to Children, and Bread not found in Nature. Fortunately, Rudy’s Organic Bakery has introduced a Kids Bread that gets everything right.
Rudi’s is launching the first nationally available organic bread made specifically for kids, made with simple organic ingredients that you might find in your own kitchen. Available in both white and wheat varieties, Rudi’s Organic Bakery Kids Bread Is unique to the market. This bread has small, thin slices, making it the ideal size for kids, but the recipe was developed specifically to appeal to kids as well as parents, which means that it’s incredibly soft and fluffy. Kids Bread will hit shelves in September, just in time for the new school year. We took a loaf home from Food Fete and we can tell you it also makes the most delicious toast!
Also, available for a limited time only is Rudi’s Organic Pumpkin Bread. This bread is made with real pumpkin and has a mildly spiced flavor which makes it perfect for the upcoming holiday season. Best of all, it tastes delicious. Pumpkin lovers can find the new Pumpkin Bread from Rudy’s Organic Bakery nationally, starting in September through the holiday season. Find out more about where to purchase the fine products of Rudi’s Organic Bakery, and get a money-saving coupon, at Rudis Bakery Dot Com!
Indulgent Recipe Pudding is the newest offering from Kozy Shack, makers of the #1 Rice and Tapioca puddings in America. Indulgent Recipe Pudding is unlike any other, with a rich, creamy texture and four grown-up, decadent flavors. Indulgent Recipe is made with simple, premium ingredients — just like original recipe Kozy Shack Pudding.
With flavors like Salted Caramel, Chocolate Truffle, Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean (you can even see little flecks of Vanilla Bean in the pudding!) Kozy Shack’s Indulgent Recipe line elevates the humble pudding cup into the culinary stratosphere. Kozy Shack was kind enough to ship a sample box of all four flavors to us here at The Gig, and we have been indulging in it and loving every bite! Kozy Shack Indulgent Recipe Pudding is available this summer in select retailers across the country, with nationwide distribution anticipated in September! Visit Kozy Shack on the web at Kozy Shack Dot Com!
Eleni’s Custom Cookies is a nut-free bakery that began as a home catering business run from Eleni’s apartment and grew into a magnificent cookie empire! While they have an expansive Online Catalog of cookie designs to choose from, Eleni’s can literally make anything (anything!) into a cookie for your special event! Their creativity is limitless!
Look at these adorable Sugar Skulls and Monster Cookies for Halloween. So fun!
Visit Eleni’s in the Chelsea Market
Eleni’s has a brick and mortar location in the popular Chelsea Market on Manhattan’s West Side, but you can also visit them online to place an order at This Link!
We have to give a shout out to Udi’s Gluten Free Cookies and Granola for their mission to create the best tasting food on the planet that just happens to be gluten free! New cookie flavors showcased at Food Fête include Peanut Butter Coconut, Salted Caramel Cashew, and Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip. These are a large cookie with a soft (but not chewy) bite.
Udi’s carries a full line of Gluten free products from Bagels to Burritos that you can learn more about at This Link!
We’d also like to thank Wusthof Knives and Cutlery, and the very excellent Meyer Cookware (makes of Circulon, Farberware and many other fine brands) for changing up the vibe a bit by reminding us that every kitchen needs to be equipped with the right tools!
How gorgeous is this stuff?
Thanks to Jeff Davis for another great show! See you in the Fall!
An Array of Natural Flavor Ingredients in Cabo Chips (Reviewed Below). All Photos By Gail.
Making the scene at a Food Fête Health & Wellness event is always a good time, because attending one means getting more than a dozen delicious chances to discover ways in which eating smarter tastes fantastic. Check out our favorite products — from snacks to breakfast to meal mainstays — from this Springtime showcase! Continue reading Food Fête Spring 2015: Health & Wellness Showcase Recap!
All Photos By Gail (Click on Any Image to Enlarge for Detail)
Food, Glorious Food Fête! Our favorite quarterly food trade show and media networking show packed the cozy Helen Mills Event Space in Chelsea on February 24th with booths showcasing sixteen innovative products ranging from Premium Organic Jarred Tomatoes to Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookies, and Vegan Meat Substitutes — all every exciting! Here are a few of our favorite products from the show!
The first booth we came to when we entered the show was Plum Organics — a company focusing on the nutritional needs and often finicky appetites of babies and children. Their huge display extended possibly three booth spaces, and with good reason: these folks had a lot of cool products to present! It was a chilly night and Plum Organics helped warm everyone up with their hearty and delicious Tomato and Turkey Meatball Soup.
You can see that this soup is packed with lots of tiny, ground turkey meatballs for a savory and satisfying meal that kids (and adults) will devour!
Go Bars, in tempting flavors like Chocolate Brownie and Pumpkin Banana, make a healthy after-school snack!
Plum Vida is an organic, squeezable fruit and veggie blend snack created by the women of Plum, and is the company’s first product specifically for adults. At only 70 – 90 calories, with 3 grams of fiber per resealable pouch, Plum Vida is an ideal on-the-go snack. Find out more about the fine products of Plum Organics at This Link!
Imagine how sad it would be if you had to eliminate delicious butter from your diet due to being lactose intolerant. I don’t even want to go there. Thank goodness that Challenge Dairy has actually created “Lactose Free” Spreadable Butter, which tastes just as awesome as the real thing! This new and exciting product is enhanced with fine olive oil to maintain a smooth texture without sacrificing any rich flavor. Amazing! Challenge also debuted two new flavors of their Soft Cream Cheese Spread: Strawberry — flavored and sweetened only with fresh ripe strawberries with no sugar added — and Salsa Flavor, made with an assortment of fresh garden vegetables. Both of these cream cheese spreads were crazy delicious and perfect for snacking or serving at your next party!
Also, they were giving away Free Cows! Fall in love with the wonderful products of Challenge Dairy at This Link!
Muir Glen Organic Jarred Tomatoes make cooking all of your favorite tomato recipes — from soups and stews to sauces and pizza — so easy! Using only California-grown tomatoes, Muir Glen offers four unique varieties of prepared tomatoes including the sweet and smokey Diced Fire Roasted Red Tomatoes, San Marzano Style Plum Tomatoes (perfect for Italian cooking), Arabella Tomatoes, and Crushed Tomatillos (Green Tomatoes), which are so versatile especially in the preparation of Mexican Cuisine!
I brought a jar home so I can make a vat of my famous homemade chili! Get recipes and more information by visiting Muir Glen Dot Com!
Bailys Coffee Creamers bring the beloved, classic flavor of Bailys Irish Cream Liqueur to your morning coffee, but without the alcohol! Who needs Starbucks when you have this product in your pantry? Two new flavors introduced at Food Fete were Macadamia Brittle and Bourbon Vanilla Pound Cake! We also had a chance to sample tasty Macadamia Brittle cupcakes made from a recipe incorporating Bailys Creamers! Get Recipes, download money saving coupons and find out where to buy Bailys Creamers at Baileys Creamers Dot Com!
Master of Mixes Bloody Mary Mix kept the atmosphere festive by offering a custom Bloody Mary Bar featuring the Classic, Loaded, and 5 Pepper varieties of mix, each with varying level of heat to match you taste! Master of Mixes products are based on classic scratch cocktail recipes — with the goal being for their one-step cocktails to be as close as possible to the originals…or maybe even better!
Those who stopped by the booth received a fun gift bag including their preferred Master of Mixes variety, a Bloody Mary Glass, Tomato-shaped stress ball and lots of recipes! Learn more about Master of Mixes impressive line of cocktail mixes at This Link!
It was nice to see a selection fresh fruit and produce sharing the stage with packaged and prepared foods, and the California Giant Berry Farms booth did not disappoint! Their brightly-colored, attention-grabbing display of fresh strawberries and blueberries were showcased as the featured ingredient in two very original recipes. What you see up front is fresh Strawberry Salsa (perfectly accompanied by crisp, salty tortilla strips) which is made using Strawberries, Red Onion, Jalapeno and Cilantro and spices, with no tomatoes at all! This was probably the most delicious fresh salsa I have ever tasted – get the recipe at the link below!
They also offered plates of fresh baked, insanely moist Blueberry Brownies that take this popular dessert to an entirely different level. Find out more about California Giant Berry Farms and get a ton of creative recipes by clicking over to Cal Giant Dot Com.
Unless you live a cave, you have to be familiar with the classic Walkers Shortbread cookies — which are phenomenal. I wouldn’t have thought there was a way to improve on this popular treat, but Walkers has manged to maintain their shortbread’s outrageously buttery taste in a new gluten-free recipe that substitutes wheat flour for a blend of rice flour, maize flour and potato starch! The new, certified gluten-free line includes three new flavors: Shortbread Rounds, Ginger & Lemon Shortbread and Chocolate Chip Shortbread — which I think are the best tasting and highest quality packaged Chocolate Chip cookies you can buy in a store.
Walkers was founded in 1898 and is still a family owned and managed company. Visit them on the web at US Dot Walkers Shortbread Dot Com.
Sunset Produce featured a variety of their fresh packaged tomatoes for sampling and also had one of the most naturally colorful booths at the show!
Founded sixty years ago by a pioneer in the commercial greenhouse industry, Sunset is still family owned, and operated with great passion for growing and selling world-class tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. With over a dozen varieties on offer, you are not going to get bored of tasting and cooking with these fantastic fruits. We came home with some free samples as well! Find out more about Sunset Produce at Sunset Grown Dot Com.
Do you like Olives? I sure do. But just when you think that all Olives are created equal, Lindsay Olives come along and blow your mind with their unequaled deliciousness. Holy cow, they are so excellent! These little bread rounds are topped with an insane Olive Tapanade made with Lemon Zest that was just out of control. Explore the world of Lindsay Olives, and snag that Tapanade recipe, at This Link!
Winning my personal award for possessing the Best Brand Name Ever, Food Should Taste Good brand makes non-GMO, gluten-free snacks and chips that, well, taste terrific! Founder Pete Lescoe created Food Should Taste Good, Inc in 2006 with the goal of making a unique new snack with great taste, real ingredients, and sophisticated flavor – the qualities he is most passionate about in food. FSTG’s MultiGrain Tortilla Chips — which we sampled at Food Fete — are absolutely habit forming and practically guilt-free at zero grams of fat!
They’ve also introduced a brand new product, Pinto Bean and Black Bean MultiGrain Chips! These bean-based chips are also made with Flax, Sesame and Sunflower Seeds plus Quinoa for a true MutiGrain experience in a tasty snack chip. See a full list of FSTG Chips at This Link!
Inspired by an authentic Australian recipe, Yulu Yogurt is double smoothed – and I do not know that means, exactly, but what I can tell you is that it tastes fantastic. Yulu has a texture and consistency that more closely resembles pudding than yogurt, which I think makes for a more highly desirable mouth feel.
At Food Fete, Yulu offered a “Make Your Own” Toppings Bar and I created this delicious little snack for myself with a couple of fresh raspberries and a sprinkle of sweet chocolate shavings on top of their Vanilla flavor yogurt. It was the most delicious thing. Yulu also has 9 grams of protein per serving, so it is a good snack for between meals. Click over to Yulu Yogurt Dot Com to find out more, get coupons and store information, plus be eligible for giveaways! Yay for Yulu!
Horizon Dairy is a company we already love for its family of delicious organic products. Horizon’s new Fruit Crunchers snack is a great on-the-go treat and can even be used to top sundaes or fruit salads.
I threw these Toasted Coconut Crunchers on top of my Yulu Yogurt and they made it taste extra special! Fruit Crunchers also come in Apple and are made with 100% real fruit with no artificial ingredients. Visit Horizon Dairy on the web at This Link!
While we do not at all considered Meat to be a four letter word, we are always open to vegetarian and vegan options when it comes to tasty proteins and meat substitutes. Because good food is good food! Sweet Earth Foods hosted an amazing booth where an abundance of their exciting new products were available to sample, including:
Tuscan Savory Grounds: Italian Spicy Sausage flavor in a meatless, ground meat-emulating product! Savory Grounds also come in Chipotle, and Barbecue flavors, so your meatless recipe options are nearly limitless!
Recipe Ready Seitan: The “Wheat Meat” comes in a variety of tasty, pre-seasoned flavors including Curry, Chipotle and also traditional flavor. Hail Seitan!
Sesame Squares: in Tart Cherry & Hemp Seed, and Chocolate varieties, these energy-packed bars are super high in fiber, rich in taste and natural snacking at its best. Visit Sweet Earth Foods Dot Com to explore a new world of deliciousness.
And now, let us raise a glass to Jeff Davis for bringing the fabulousness of Food Fete to hungry food bloggers four times annually! See you in the Spring!