Luxury Products

We recently "discovered" a fabulous Brazilian gourmet confectionary named Soul Sweet Boutique located in Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, which also sells online and ships throughout the United States. Owned by Thatiana Rangel, Soul Sweet Boutique carries a wide selection of traditional Brazilian desserts along with modern sweets to tempt your palate. Since the pandemic curtailed our annual trips to Brazil, in addition to missing our "family" and friends, we missed the sweets of Brazil and were thrilled to find …

The SAMBA Montclair Cookbook by Chef Ilson Gonçalves is a glorious celebration of authentic Brazilian homestyle cooking. Originally from the state of Santa Catarina in the south of Brazil, Chef Ilson Gonçalves makes his home in Montclair, New Jersey where his creative cuisine has dazzled patrons with restaurant, SAMBA Montclair, since it opened in December 2010. His cookbook takes the reader on a visual and taste bud tour of Brazil with his delectable recipes ranging from appetizers to desserts. It …

Always on the lookout for interesting products to incorporate in our recipes, we tried and loved Marabissi Il Panforte Torta Amerene e Peperoncino (Sour Cherries and Chili "Cake") imported by Italian Products & Beyond. The Sour Cherries and Chili Cake is like a fruit and nut pâté, that also has cocoa, almonds, and honey is a delectable accompaniment to serve with cheese as well as incorporate in baking and savory culinary recipes. We used it to create our recipe for …

Cold and rainy weather will soon be here making it the perfect time to stay inside and play family board games. I grew up playing epic, marathon games of Monopoly with my sister Joanne and brother David. As young children we spent many countless happy hours playing this game of skill, luck, and strategy, which was permanently installed on the games table in the family room of our home. When I learned that Top Trumps USA Inc. was introducing a …

If you love wine, history, and formal dinners, you are going to love the book Wine and the White House: A History by Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. I fell in love with this stunning book filled with interesting anecdotes about the Presidents of the United States of America from President George Washington through President Donald Trump, and provides an in-depth look at the history of wine served at the White House through the years. For gastronomy lovers, the book is …

High-quality extra virgin olive oil, affectionately known as EVOO, is like liquid gold for professional chefs and dedicated home cooks. With a rise in the organic farm movement we were thrilled to find The Trentasette Collection Organic EVOO, which is USDA Organic certification, OU Kosher certified, and is Non-GMO imported from Italy by the company, Italian Products & Beyond that is the perfect complement to your organic farmers markets finds. Used for dipping, drizzling, cooking, sauteing or finishing, we loved …

What I found especially interesting about the book Vincent van Gogh A Life in Letters edited by Nienke Bakker, Leo Jansen and Hans Luijten published in September 2020 by Thames & Hudson, Ltd is that Vincent’s story is not told by someone else, rather his life deftly unfolds by Vincent himself through his letters to his brother Theo van Gogh (1857 – 1891) providing the reader with new insight into the mind and world of the artist.

Chocolate is one of life’s delectable sweet little pleasures, and New York-based Chocolatier Maribel Lieberman owner of MarieBelle New York shares her passion with her luxurious chocolate offerings. Whether your chocolate preference is dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate, MarieBelle New York has the perfect chocolate to appeal to diverse palates. We loved sampling our way through the tasty offerings.

As professional chefs and home cooks know, a great source for high-quality culinary ingredients is worth its weight in gold. We recently found and fell in love with the company Italian Products & Beyond that is an incredible resource for high-quality culinary ingredients. Their extensive collection of EVOOs, vinegars, truffle products, pates, pesto, tomatoes, coffee, fish, salts, nuts, sweets, and so much more, are the stuff of culinary dreams! We especially love the Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOOs) from …

During a visit to Southampton, New York, we discovered Plain-T and The T Loft, a company dedicated to the art of exceptional tea, founded by TathianaTeixeira and her husband Alessandro Teixeira. As avid tea drinkers, we always appreciate learning about nature’s special bounty and meeting with Tathiana Teixeira was like getting a PhD in tea! Passionate about her exceptional line of high-quality whole leaf tea products, she shared her vast tea knowledge with us and told us about their diverse …