Nonnettes, Chocolate Cherries, Savory & Sweet, food ideas, love thru food and more at chefshop.com/enews EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBER 5% OFF CODE shipnow  Recipes | Chef's Pantries | Shop for Food & Ingredients | Food Blog Ground Shipping Cut-Off is This Tuesday No matter where you are, plan on 8 days travel time for packages! A Centenarian’s View of Food Through the Ages. How we share our food and love and then love back through food. My parents were married for a long time – 75 years! – and dated for 6 years before that. That’s a long history of sharing food. After retirement, they spent time trying new restaurants and new food and as they got closer to the centenarian mark, my Dad started cooking. Being a rocket scientist, precisely following a recipe was his cooking style. And he made some amazing meals. For my Mom who was self-taught, cooking for her family and for the many students who paraded through our house for 50 years, a recipe was important, but it was her touch that made the food great. She just knew what would make it special. My Mom showed her love for people through the act of making food and hosting celebrations. And though her hands were too tired to cook these last few years, she made the very-best-ever apple pie memory. In high school my closest friends had a “who makes the best apple pie competition” and my Mom’s was voted the best pie of all! My mother was pretty secretive about what she liked and didn’t like to eat. A skill I acquired over the last ten years or so was how to interpret the signs. If she didn’t like something I made it was too salty, too soft, not cooked enough, not rare enough...ok, so that is pretty straight forward. When she liked something, she pretended to offer to share, and then hid it. It was not uncommon to find a hidden panettone in her kitchen, months after Christmas! My Dad shared his love for Mom by taking her to new food places all year long, and then having us deliver her favorites: Cru Sauvage, Pistachio Crema, and Peter’s Reed Avocados amongst many others. And at this time of year, we brought Mademoiselle de Margaux Cherries. Keep in mind my Mother didn’t consume alcohol so this was a big deal. A couple of those cherries and she was tipsy! And she was very clear: I don’t share my Mademoiselle de Margaux! So this holiday I am going to raise a cherry to my Mom, for 101 years of a good life. Click Here To See Everything Featured in This Newsletter! Chocolate Covered Cherries with Armagnac - Mademoiselle de Margaux These Armagnac chocolate covered cherries by Mademoiselle de Margaux are a revelation. Named "La Guinette," these grown-up indulgences are pitted griotte (morello) cherries dipped in Armagnac and then coated in rich, dark chocolate. The French cherry's slightly tart fruitiness and the warmth of the Armagnac blend gorgeously with chocolate. This is what chocolate-covered cherries were always meant to be. The key to having success with a chocolate covered cherry filled with a touch of alcohol and not having it spill down your chin is to: Place the entire chocolate covered cherry in your mouth, with the chocolate morsels tickling your tongue. This tickling action, besides being fun, wakens your taste buds for the bite that comes next! Holding the plastic stem with your thumb and first finger, bite down to release the glorious elixir contained inside, being sure to keep your lips closed. If you don't, you might be spraying liquid everywhere! And don't forget to pull the stem out! The bite you create, as you chew and mix the chocolate in your mouth, the cherry, sugar and alcohol, is sublime, and what I mean is, WOW! This is one wicked good bite! The best chocolate covered cherry on the planet! Shop now for Chocolate Covered Cherries with Kirsch! Shop now for Chocolate Covered Cherries with Armagnac! See all the Chocolate Covered Cherry options here! Tis the Season to Think About Stocking Stuffers - and to order them ASAP! This is our annual stocking stuffer newsletter, and it is more than a stocking-full of ideas for everyone on your list – including you! Earliest written history of the stocking describes them as “wrapping” for gifts. It is unclear if the stockings were made from Woolly Mammoth hair or not, and some confusion ensued when said stockings were much larger than a man’s foot. Perhaps optimism was the reason. In any case, a perfectly-preserved stocking with the name “Lucy’ was found, with most of the contents intact and identifiable, including fruitcake. The key to successful stocking stuffing is to keep the recipient in mind, including when that recipient is you. Stocking stuffer treats do not have to be sweet. Italian Olive Oil, French Mustard, British Chutney, and Spanish Marcona Almonds all make exceptional stocking stuffers, along with Nonnettes, Calissons, Slitti Chocolate, Fruit Jam, and of course, Torrone! We have gathered with open arms sweet and savory treats, and taste-tested them in the shop with customers just like you, and all our favorites are included here. Fill your stockings – regardless of size – with tasty, satisfying holiday treats. Check out all the Stocking Stuffers ideas here! Dark Chocolate Twigs with Orange - Mademoiselle de Margaux These twigs are special, chocolate with a bit of snap and lots of flavor! Way back when, when we first had these little treats I taste-tested a box of twigs to make sure the first one was as good as the last. It took more than an hour, but I sacrificed. Realistically, one or three twigs is perfect. The Mint are divine paired with a cup of Jasmine Pearl or Salada tea. If you’re sipping a demitasse of coffee, try the Orange, and if you’re dipping in a mug of hot chocolate, choose Raspberry. Mademoiselle de Margaux confections come from the Medoc region of France. Their inspiration and know-how are drawn from the renowned Margaux terroir. In the quest for subtle ingredients and aromas, Mademoiselle de Margaux creates new recipes inspired by the riches of nature. The harmony between the aromatic notes of chocolate and the selected flavors is at the heart of the Mademoiselle de Margaux brand. The standard for these gourmet chocolates is highly demanding in terms of both, the quality of taste as well as the choice of ingredients. Mademoiselle de Margaux uses pure cocoa butter only, making chocolate with the finest pure ingredients. Elegant twigs of chocolate with a hint of natural flavor to complement delicious, deep dark cocoa notes, Sarments du Médoc are a sophisticated, original product. A strict selection of the best chocolate varieties blended with carefully selected flavors results in a chocolate twig with a delicate, unique taste. Shop now for Mademoiselle de Margaux Twigs! Dark Chocolate Twigs -- with a hint of natural mint - refreshing and delightful! Shop now for Dark Chocolate Twigs with Mint! Dark Chocolate Twigs -- with a hint of natural raspberry Shop now for Dark Chocolate Twigs with Raspberry! See all the Mademoiselle De Margaux Chocolates here! Yes Yes Nonnettes! Nonnettes date back to the Middle Ages Nonnettes date back to the Middle Ages, when nuns (thus the name nonnettes) made them in the city of Dijon. But there is no mustard here! These moist (not moist) cakes are soft to the poke, whilst being firm to the touch. Some consider them dry, but they are not. Les Nonnettes are not cake or even a cupcake (which after all is really just a small cake), or a bread at all. Nonnettes are more like a sugar iced gingerbread, which is not a cookie, but a bread. Actually Les Nonnettes are a cousin to Pain de’épice, a spice bread (which when translated is gingerbread). With no fat and with the natural preservative of honey, these little bundles of joy keep well and keep you well, too. From snacking to a meal, you can indulge anytime of day, at home or on the road. These palm-sized, spiced breads have a delectable jam center and are just perfect for a bite of joy! And to pair with tea for two. I absolutely love these nonnettes! And I look forward to seeing them show up in the shop for the season. I am looking forward to having one with a cup of tea. I have no single favorite, I am happy with all of them. Shop now for Les Ruchers de Bourgogne Honey Nonnettes with Jam! Holiday Cranberry Bread recipe I asked, and lots of thinking could be heard, then Ann said she would love to share a recipe, "Let me think about it". The next day she said, "I know, I’ll make cranberry bread, I have been making it since high school. Do you need it typed out or can I send a pic of the recipe?" And then she made the bread that night and sent a pic in the morning. (I wonder why I didn't get any bread?) See the Holiday Cranberry Bread Recipe here! A Chocolate Crema from Sicily Using the famous "Cioccolato di Modica" Modica Chocolate is a unique Sicilian chocolate the Spaniards made centuries ago using a “cold process” and was the first chocolate given the PGI (protected geographical indication). This is a luscious, spreadable chocolate cream with unexpected wonderful crunch, a natural result of the traditional processing method made in Sicily by our friends at Brontedolci, famous for their magnificent pistachio cream. Shop now for Brontedolci Chocolate Cream with Modica Chocolate IGP! Brontedolci Pistachio Pesto It’s the beautiful green of Sicilian pistachios ... Thinking savory and not sweet? Then think of this very simple, extra-special, Pesto di Pistacchio. This pesto from Brontedolci in Sicily - as you may have guessed - has as its main ingredient Sicilian pistachios (55%) along with sunflower oil, salt and pepper. Look in the jar and see green (with texture). It’s the beautiful green of Sicilian pistachios with flakes of black pepper. When you taste you will get this wonderful smooth feel that is creamy and then finishes with little tiny bits of pistachios. The “bite” never really ends as you move your tongue around tasting pistachio! Using this Brontedolci pesto di pistachio as it was intended is even better than that. Take a pasta, cook it al dente, drain, reserving a touch of pasta water, twirl and twist in the pesto in the pan and plate into small bowls. This is the perfect side dish and very filling! Or, if convention is not your thing, think a dollop on your fish or with tofu! A friend of mine (a chef) loves this pesto. He shares it with his mom. The trick he says, is just a little goes a long, long way. As with all pesto, a light touch is called for. It is really about enjoying the subtle flavors of the pasta and the pesto together! Shop Now for Brontedolci Pistachio Pesto! Spaghetti Puttanesca recipe! The origins of this classic Italian pasta sauce are constantly debated. It’s thought to have originated in Naples, then spread to neighboring regions, where anchovies were added to the recipe. You can prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking - and both will be ready at about the same time. See the Spaghetti Puttanesca recipe here! Unique Black Ginger Syrup with Hebesu Citrus This is one of my all-time favorite treats that I use to make me happy! Like all good stories it started with the taste of a magical potion. An elixir guaranteed to induce love. (Merriam Webster, 1843). This Ginger syrup is indeed full of love. And like much love, it is more complex than what’s on the surface or in a name. First, Ginger draws you in because you know she is so good for your core, (protects and heals the gut, hastens movement in your gastrointestinal tract, increases your defenses against the flu and common cold) and because she turns on the spirit in your taste buds. The sweet smell is sugary ginger, recognizable, yet not. A large sample has a sweet syrup gulp that has a drying feel in the upper cheeks. A gulp like this finishes with a tangy tingly feel on the tip of the tongue and burns like a fresh Italian olive oil in the upper back of the throat. And because of that memory you expect a cough to ensue. It does not. Maybe an “uh hum” emerges from your voice box. Though, really, this elixir really likes to be sipped and not gulped. A large sipping spoon seems to the best way to savor this aperitif. When sipping and swirling in your mouth cavity you get a feeling of “oh that is really good”. The combination of the Hebesu, Ginger sugar syrup and the Black Ginger blends into magic! You want more, though a little is all you need. This is really, really good stuff!! Your mouth tingles in a delightful way as you sit back in your chair and close your eyes, savoring this elixir and remembering the last time you were in a crowd. This unique, aged black ginger is 57 times higher in gingerol than regular raw ginger, helping to raise your body temperature faster. This may help enhance blood circulation and prevent cold limbs. The elements of black ginger, Hebesu citrus come together to create this delicious, excited, moving, inspiring and yes, “yummy” elixir! Don’t be fooled; though your taste buds will revel in the multi-layer flavor and punch, the syrup pairs with simple things. Don’t think you can add it to a soup and get results. Or top some dish and know it is there. As soft and supple as it is, it prefers to be a quiet punch all alone in your mouth. Or do as Venus does and add Vodka. Shop now for Black Ginger Syrup with Hebesu Citrus! Jason's Crab Cakes Baltimore Style! Recipe Jason tells me that he ALWAYS makes crab cakes on Christmas Eve. Apparently his version is a "riff" on a recipe from New York Times by Pierre Franey. His version of this recipe is here. He serves them with a French Creole-inspired remoulade sauce -- also from the same NTY article. See the recipe for Jason's Crab Cakes! Fallot Dijon Mustard This classic mustard is one of the most reliable tastes you can have! We all know at least one mustard lover and this is the mustard for them! I have a lot of mustard options always on hand. The only one I have to have is this one. The 18th century discovery of verjus - juice from grapes harvested in Burgundy - put the finishing touch of quality to this fine product. Adding verjus to the brown mustard seed and grinding the mixture using traditional grindstones - so as not to damage the heat-sensitive paste - helped to earn French stone-ground Dijon mustard a worldwide reputation for quality.  Shop now for Fallot Dijon Mustard! Chocolate Almond Mousse Cake Recipe! Jesse spent two days in our kitchen perfecting this chocolate almond mousse cake recipe. Not only was it fun to watch Jesse do his work, but we learned a lot as we went along. Jesse has a magic touch when it comes to cakes. This recipe is perfect for a dinner party. It can be made a few days in advance and frozen in the cake ring until the day of the party. It will definitely look like you just picked the cake up from your local, professional bakery. Click here to see the Chocolate Almond Mousse Cake! Woos-ter-sure Sauce Worcester - Wuster or Wooster Shire is sure, like New Hampshire (new hamp sure, in case you didn't know). Worcestershire has never been on my list of "Wow! I have to have it" until, that is, when I met Pabst. This Worcestershire has something different, something special. More rounded, more pronounced, more versatile, special! If you have a lover of Worcestershire in your life, treat them to this one! The secret recipe for Worcestershire Sauce was designed by John Lea and William Perrins, two chemists, in Worcester, England in 1837. The BBC says that there have been over 30 variations of the original Worcestershire sauce sold. As the saying goes: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. And sometimes you can make something similar but not the same and even make it better. Col Pabst All Malt Amber-Lager Worcestershire made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is better. Way better! Starting with fresh Milwaukee Amber Lager and then blending in 21 all-natural ingredients including Tamarind and Anchovies, Col Pabst adds Grenadine, Ginger and Madras Curry. Aged in small batches, this Worcestershire Sauce is more like a fine balsamic than just an ingredient. To the nose, the sauce is like a sweet, hint of anchovy fish sauce, with twists and turns that are hard to identify. It twinkles in the nostrils and is very enticing. To the mouth, the sauce has a saltiness, a sweetness and this wonderful, complex flavor that rolls around, begging you to taste a little more. You can sip this and sip some more. It is pretty gosh darn good! (Try sipping those other sauces and feel the burn and not in a good way). Of course, you can use it anywhere Worcestershire Sauce is called for and more. Pretty much where you think it will work, it will! Shop now for Col Pabst Malt Amber-Lager Worcestershire Sauce! Tuna is the best stocking stuffer! Tuna is the most perfect stocking stuffer ever. Any and all cans fit in a stocking, and whether the stocking recipient currently loves tuna or not, they will once they pop-the-top! And it is a great conversation starter! Before Panettone French Toast is on the griddle get the hankering going by giving a can of food! Shop now for the Classic Original Savory Stocking Stuffer - Tuna! Roasted Carrots with Cocoa & Coriander recipe Roasting carrots is very easy -- and pretty quick. I like to leave the carrots whole -- especially if they are freshly picked from my garden and still thinnish and tender. With bigger carrots, peeling them and slicing them on the diagonal might work better. These are yummy!! "I am making these for the 2nd time, and they are great in chunks at room temp. As appetizers. My husband will cook them on the grill today so we don’t have to heat the house..." -- ellen See the Roasted Carrots with Cocoa & Coriander Recipe here! Got questions? Call or email and we will do our best to answer your questions! We love sharing our taste opinions about all our products. STORE HOURS: Monday thru Saturday, 10 to 6. Sunday 12 to 4. Please let us know if you would like a private shopping time and we will do our best to accommodate you. We now have multiple HEPA medical grade air filters running 24 hours a day in the shop. Please keep in mind we are limiting the number of people in the shop at one time and masks are required. If you are feeling sick for any reason please choose a different time to visit. We may perform random temperature checks. Toffee Brittle with Black Sesame Seed This is without a doubt one of the very best treats on the planet! my kind of treat! "This black sesame seed toffee brittle chocolate is my kind of treat. It’s the perfect amount of sweet to feel indulgent but not guilty. The rich burnt sugar taste of the toffee is great with the black sesame crunch, pulled out with a smidge of salt. Coated in chocolate. Really good." -- tina Loved this!! "Bought this on a whim and it's delicious! Not too sweet, and the chocolate didn't overwhelm the savory sesame seeds. I will buy this again!" -- holly Shop now for NeoCocoa Black Sesame Seed Toffee Brittle! Give the Gift of Love through Food Gift Certificates available for any amount you choose. Choose the amount in $25 increments by changing the quantity number and we will take care of the rest. Share ChefShop with a Gift Certificates HOLIDAY Store Hours - Monday thru Saturday 10 to 6, Sunday 12 to 4 If your order has been confirmed as "ORDER READY FOR PICKUP" in email (or you were called) and want it brought to you in the parking lot, call us when you arrive and we will run it out to you. 206-286-9988 - FOR Pick-up orders placed online you need to get to the select shipping method page in the shopping cart. ChefShop.com 1425 Elliott Ave W Seattle, Wa 98119 206-286-9988 Our bigger parking lot is north of the shop and next door (south of) Champions Party Supply. Easy to reach and wide open parking lot. Click here to see the map.   This Week's Recipes Rice & Vegetable Salad Recipe Any short grain rice will work -- but Tamaki Haiga works especially well as it has a little extra flavor. However, you can also use a medium or long grain rice -- just remember to let the rice salad come to room temperature before serving. Orange & Honey Glazed Sticky Buns Recipe This recipe is based on the master recipe for babka dough and the cinnamon roll recipes in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone (Broadway Books, New York, 1997). Trofie with Homemade Hazelnut Pesto Recipe In most pestos, although olive oil is the main ingredient, the flavor is derived mostly from the nuts. In this case, hazelnuts. For more hazelnut flavor, you can add a few drops of hazelnut oil. Nut pestos are common in the parts of Italy where nuts are grown, mainly in the north, and in Sicily. This pesto is great on pasta - especially Trofie. (Use about 3/4 cup for 1 pound pasta - thin the pesto with some of the pasta cooking water if you like.) It is also good on grilled fish and meats, vegetables and especially vegetable based soups. See what you missed in previous Newsletters The Best Foods to Have on Hand for Everyone! You Will Swoon for These Spoons and Rusty Tools Great Foods are Arriving in Our Warehouse ChefShop.com Toll-free: 1-800-596-0885 You've received this email because you have purchased from us or subscribed. We respect your privacy online, and will never share your email address. To unsubscribe just click UNSUBSCRIBE or send a request to info@chefshop.com with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. Hard copy requests may be sent by mail to: ChefShop.com, 1425 Elliott Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119. To view our privacy policy, please click here. 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