It All Starts With The Recipient

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  It is my favorite holiday, enjoying family and friends, good food, and hospitality.  And the food is relatively the same which makes it simple, however his year we are making subtle changes with some new fabulous ingredients.

Olio Nuovo 2016 Harvest

Start with a good olive oil. We just received the first of three California producers who have the Olio Nuovo available to us. I will use this one and also give this as a hostess git. Here is the deal…first oil off the press, cloudy, unfiltered, with the sediment still in it which means the pieces of pits, etc.  It is a delicacy, and only available from California producers to us.  In clear bottles, has to be used up within 4 months, so perfect for cooking and finishing for the holidays.  The rest of the oil is racked in stainless steel vats for at least 3 months, allowing the oil to settle, the sediment to the bottom, so that when bottled the oil is clear and free from these pieces which could cause fermentation.  Thus it has to be used up.  A perfect hostess gift for Thanksgiving.

Plymouth Cheese from Vermont-Award winning cheddars plain, with garlic, sage, or truffle

Doves and Figs Harvest Jam

So what to serve with your cheese plate…A great cheddar and jam.  This one is apple, fig, almonds, and honey conserve…or try the Straw Hat from Doves and Figs too.  This is a green tomato and apple chutney.  Perfect for the leftover turkey sandwich.

apple caramelized onion spread

Speaking of spicing up the leftover turkey meat with this addition of apple caramelized onion spread for your sandwich too…yummy. All for a hostess gift to add to the leftovers.  We have apple butters and pumpkin butters too.

And a new recipe from my friend Pam is on our webiste for curry carrot soup where we added dried tomato crisps from California.  A savory and beautiful touch to the soup.  I like to drizzle hazelnut oil on this too.

Family size maple syrup

I ran out of maple syrup one Christmas Day and had to go house to house in my neighborhood to get some.  Never again will I run out.  So this is a large size to bring instead of wine, as a hostess gift.  I guarantee the entire family will enjoy it this holiday season.

And what about the almighty cranberry?  We have spreads and chutneys and glazes too.  But how about a salad?  Serve one that is different this year.  Add a dressing of Cranberry Balsamic, Picual from Spain Olive Oil of medium intensity, a dab of dijon mustard with herbs de provence, and serve with bib lettuce, blue cheese, and nuts of any kind.  It might help adding something different to the post election conversation.

We all have a lot to be thankful for…may we all cherish these moments.  And thank you for your support.  We love our customers.

And start thinking about 2016 holiday gifts.  The category was just loaded up on our website.