Artisanal Pick

Today's artisanal sweet blows York Peppermint Patties out of the water, even if we are longtime devotees of the chocolate mint candy. Hailing from a family mint farm in Oregon, Seely Peppermint Patties ($8 for five) are a close cousin to their drugstore analogue, but have a snappier, slightly thicker shell; delicately textured fondant; and a bright and bracing mint flavor that makes them an all-in-all win.

A word of advice: order up a pack or two of these winning sweets before the Summer heat makes shipping chocolate a poor choice. If you play your cards right, you'll have enough to tuck a few away in the freezer for a frosty treat perfect for cooling down on balmy days.

Ever since I first heard of Pok Pok — Andy Ricker's James Beard Award-winning Thai street food restaurant — I've been eager to try out the zesty cuisine for myself. While that has yet to come to fruition, I've satisfied at least a hint of my curiosity by sampling Ricker's drinking vinegar — a sweet-tart syrup not unlike a shrub — which brings us to today's artisanal pick: Pok Pok's Som Tamarind version ($15).

I first followed the bottle's suggestion, mixing four parts sparkling water with one part drinking vinegar for a tangy spritzer of sorts. Consumed as is, it's a bit too sweet, but diluted down with a ratio closer to 6:1 and punched up with a squeeze of lime, I could —and will — enjoy refreshing glass after glass as we head into sunnier weather. What's more, I can't wait to experiment with this tangy syrup in cocktails, where I imagine it would be a stellar match for tequila or white rum, as well as classic Southeast Asian ingredients like ginger, basil, mint, lime, and possibly even fiery peppers. Stay tuned for the results, and in the meantime, I suggest you order a bottle, or one of Pok Pok Som's other intriguing options like pineapple or pomegranate, and get experimenting yourself.

Vermont is home to some of the best cheese in America, and The Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company is a worthy one to know for several reasons. First, the cheese company formed as a community effort between a group of locals and investors to save a dairy farm on the brink of closure in South Woodstock, VT. The group then created a farmstead, meaning the company makes its cheeses from the milk produced on its dairy farm, rather than buying the milk from a separate farmer. It also happens to produce a number of award-winning cheeses. We first discovered Vermont Farmstead at the Fancy Food Show, and since then have fallen for two of its cheeses, the Lillé and AleHouse Cheddar.

Click to keep reading about the cheeses.

Most of us know that Italians serve panettone for Christmas, but have you heard about a similar cake that's prepared just for Easter? Allow me to introduce you to colomba, a sweet Italian Easter cake. We recently got our hands on a neatly wrapped version ($25) from olive oil purveyor Nudo.

Colomba batter is similar to a panettone batter, except colomba is stuffed with candied citrus rather than raisins; the shape of the cake matches its name as colomba translates to "dove" in Italian. Almonds and pearl sugar scatter the top.

Despite our worries that Nudo's colomba would resemble some of our recent encounters with dry, overly spiced holiday panettone, the food team was surprised by colomba's addictive quality. Our concern should've been eating too much of the cake: we sat around the dove-shaped confection and tore off light, fluffy pieces like cotton candy. Not too sweet or rich, the candied orange and pearl sugar satisfy sugar cravings without overdoing it.

Everyone agreed this particular colomba pairs exceptionally well with a glass of dry, crisp Prosecco — and that Nudo's colomba would be an interesting and much-appreciated addition to the Easter dessert table.

Dried fruit snacks are making a huge resurgence in the food market as of late, but these Simple & Crisp dried fruit crisps ($11) are an ingenious spin. While you can snack on them as is, the thin, cylindrical shape makes them ideal cracker substitutes for prosciutto, foie gras, or cheese.

We tried the whole line (including pear and orange), but we decided the apple is our favorite. Our tasters loved the tart flavor and easy-to-chew, almost juicy texture. Upon biting, the apple chip instantly dissolves, and tasters imagined snacking on these all day with a jar of peanut butter or some caramel.

The $11 per container is a hefty sum, even if the produce is organic and picked at optimal ripeness. However, for the special occasion party, I think these crisps would be a great addition to a charcuterie platter. You can find the crisps at Whole Foods or order them online at Dean and Deluca.

To say that I'm fond of Clairesquares ($8) — a bar cookie comprised of layers of shortbread, caramel, and Belgian chocolate (think millionaire's shortbread) — is a vast understatement. Rather, these delectable treats are a strong contender for my desert island dessert pick, a statement I don't take lightly.

I had my first taste a couple years back while picnicking in Dolores Park after I tentatively grabbed a package off the shelves at the nearby Bi-Rite Market, a much-loved San Francisco-based specialty foods shop. Now, I already had high expectations, as I'm generally powerless regarding anything involving caramel or shortbread, but I was still shocked at just how good they were. I quickly devoured a sizable bar and then (only somewhat shamefully) a second.

Layers of tender shortbread, deeply browned and salt-flecked caramel, and robust Belgian chocolate combined in each bite for something far greater than the sum of their already exceptional parts and left me irrevocably hooked. Ever since that fateful day, it's been a fruitless battle to restrain myself from snapping up a package of the locally made treat anytime I see them in stock. I urge you to follow suit and try these life-changing treats yourself.

What's your desert island dessert?

While we're always excited about the newest Hershey's candy or next Cheetos flavor, we adore trying handmade, artisanal products from smaller vendors. In our new series Artisanal Pick, we're highlighting small-batch products that we've tried, tested, and devoured.

If you told me a few months back that I'd be swooning over a jar of pickled cauliflower, I'd likely scoff. But, in this case, I couldn't be happier to be wrong. Full of tangy-vinegar punch and with a perfect crisp, but not too crisp texture, these pickles from Emmy's Pickles and Jams were one of my favorite things I tasted as a judge at the Good Food Awards, and I wasn't even judging the pickles category!

Since my first tentative nibble (I'm typically a rather stalwart broccoli and cauliflower-hater) I've been smitten. In fact, I couldn't help but pop one after another of the tender florets in my mouth, despite initially trying these briny, Indian-spiced pickles on a rather full stomach. Just ask the food team; I cannot and will not stop talking about them, so it seemed that it was time to finally bring in a jar to the office to share.

Not too surprisingly, the consensus was that they're a game changer of sorts. Novel, but not so out of the box to remain squarely in the "interesting" category, these pickles are an excellent snack eaten plain — I somewhat shamefully often eat them straight from the jar — but they'd add zing to any manner of dishes, in particular, as an excellent foil for fatty meats as part of a charcuterie spread. All in all, I'd suggest you cast aside any doubts you might have about the concept of pickled cauliflower and snap up a jar; they're really just that good.

While we're always excited about the newest Hershey's candy or next Cheetos flavor, we adore trying handmade, artisanal products from smaller vendors. In our new series Artisanal Pick, we're highlighting small-batch products that we've tried, tested, and devoured.

Today, we're talking dukkah — more specifically, two blends from Gary & Kit's Napa Valley, an offshoot of local favorite Clif Family Winery. Dukkah, a versatile Egyptian spice, nut, and sesame seed seasoning, can be sprinkled on roasted vegetables, swirled into soup, or used as a spice-nut crust for meat. But our favorite way to enjoy this new product is also the most traditional: employed as a dip for pita and breads when mixed with olive oil (the company also makes an excellent extra-virgin bottling for $20).

The dukkah line comes in several flavors. Green-tea fanatics will spring for the grassy Gary & Kit's Toasted Sesame & Pistachio ($7), which, with its anise-licorice flavor and piney aftertaste, is reminiscent of the warming beverage. We loved it swirled with fruity olive oil as an accompaniment to pita and imagine that it would also be at home sprinkled on steamed vegetables like green beans for a light, vegan-friendly side as well.

See our favorite when you read more.

While we're always excited about the newest Hershey's candy or next Cheetos flavor, we adore trying handmade, artisanal products from smaller vendors. In our new series Artisanal Pick, we're highlighting small-batch products that we've tried, tested, and devoured.

Curious to know what our tasters described as "the next Nutella" and "vanilla icing meets peanut butter"? That'd be Reginald's Cashew Nilla Cashew Butter ($8), which you'll find on our spoons as of late. The small-batch nut-butter company is owned by Andrew Broocker, who wanted to create an all-natural line of peanut butters after transforming his diet and losing about 150 pounds. He grew to love peanut butter but was discontented with the all-natural options available, so he created a line of peanut and cashew butters, all with interesting and unusual flavors.

Reginald's prides itself on the simple, short, and natural list of ingredients. The cashew butter is made from four ingredients only: cashews, peanut oil, vanilla beans, and vanilla extract. Despite having no salt or sugar added, the thick, rich cashew butter still manages to pack in plenty of nutty, vanilla-y flavor, so it practically tastes like dessert anyway.

Reginald's nut butters are available for purchase in grocery stores around the Virginia/Maryland area, but the company also sells its products online. Beyond toast and crackers, we imagine smearing this decadent spread on a blueberry bagel or substituting it in for peanut butter to make a batch of cashew butter cookies.