These are a few of my favorite things! Part 2

These are a few of my favorite things - Part 2 - Food Edition!

As an Italian kid, growing up in the City of Pittsburgh, food was an important part of my life.   Besides the typical Italian fare, we were a family of bakers. As a little kid, 50 years ago, my sister and I used to call grandma's favorite cookies, "goofy cookies".   We didn't like them because they just weren't sweet enough or chocolatey enough.  I was really surprised many years later to find out that grandma's "goofy cookies" were actually biscotti.  I still use her recipe today.

For a number of years, I would start baking the day after Thanksgiving until right before Christmas.  I'd share my treats with my office, clients and my favorite lenders, attorneys and vendors.  The goodie plates, like my photo here from 2002, were a great hit.  Although I loved baking, the project seemed to grow every year until I finally decided it was time to put my Kitchen Aide mixer away. Of course, the Italian Catholic guilt took over.  Just knowing that people depended on me and would be expecting their holiday goodies presented a dilemma.  It was at that point,  I decided to go on a food finding mission via the internet.   I set out to find the very best sweets and snacks online.  And I wouldn't send or deliver anything to a client that I had not personally taste tested myself. 

In addition to Christmas, I use these products many times throughout the year, as thank you gifts, for birthdays and other "thinking of you" occasions.

Here's the list:

Cheryl & Co.   I feel like Cheryl and I are old friends.  I've probably put her kids through college.  I order buttercream frosted cookies from Cheryl about once a month and put in a big order at Christmas.  I often deliver a few cookies to my sellers on holidays like Valentines Day.  Her butter frosted pumpkin cookies are always a big hit on Halloween.  But for the chocoholic....her frosted triple chocolate cookies are to die for.  OMG.

Speaking of chocoholics:   Fairytale Brownies are better than homemade.  These Gourmet Belgian chocolate brownies come in a ton of flavors like Raspberry Swirl and Espresso Nib.  One Christmas I ordered a box of brownies for everyone on my list.  My personal favorite is toffee crunch.

This Christmas I ordered Apples from Mrs. Prindable for everyone on my list.   I've convinced myself that her Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Almond Caramel Apple is actually good for you.  Hey, there is an apple in there somewhere!

Along with a gourmet apple,  I included some Dale and Thomas Popcorn in each goodie bag this year.  This treat has been called the Rolls Royce of popcorn and is Ophrah's favorite.  It's my favorite popcorn too and comes in really nice packaging. 

I first tasted a Penn Street Bakery cake at the NAR Trade show where they were giving out samples.  These cakes are HEAVY and very yummy.  Their flavors change depending on the season. 

This year for Valentine's Day, I gave all my current sellers, a tin of Chocolate and Caramel Covered Pretzels from The Popcorn Factory.  I was pleasantly surprised at how very good these were.  Yes, I ordered a tin first as a taste test.                                                                                                                                                                                

And finally, Shari's Berries.   What can you say about an individually dipped chocolate covered strawberry?  The biggest problem?  They really are too pretty to eat.  

On certain holidays, we'll often create what we call "Theme Bags" like the Halloween ones pictured here.  We'll include a few cookies, an apple, some popcorn and a few brownies and deliver each bag to some of our favorite people.  Maybe I'll include some bicotti next time, in memory of Grandma.