Happy Halloween!  I came across some creative and somewhat spooky Essential Artists Bottles from 1800 Tequila that would be awesome for celebrating tonight.

Eleven up and coming artists contributed their designs to create these limited-edition masterpieces – with one celebrity bottle designed by Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One.  The grand prize winner was Steven Wilson whose bottle is front and center in the picture.

My favorite is Chad Shore’s (featuring the woman with dark hair, fifth from right).

View the whole collection here.  Which is your favorite?

Melitta‘s Café Collection is so beautiful, no?  Thanks to Jessica we’ve been able to try the Classique Supreme and Parisian Vanilla.  Both are very fine grinds with lots of flavor.  The vanilla scent wafted through our whole apartment!

Melitta also has this cute “Ready Set Joe” personal brewing apparatus.  We’ve switched to using this instead of our french press for days that we only want a small amount of coffee, or if we want to “brew” different kinds of coffee for different people.  So convenient- just pour in hot water from the tea kettle and it’s ready in a minute.

18Rabbits knows how to make delicious granola bars!

From the two flavors I’ve tried (pictured), the ingredients were extremely fresh and the fillings were large plentiful, just the way I like it.

And really, anyone who offers me figs wins my heart.  Thanks, Kelsey, for sending these bars to me.

Currently loving Republic of Tea‘s new Raw Green Bush Tea- the Orange Red Carrot flavor.

Yum.

Check out new Pretzel Crisps by the makers of New York Style Bagel Chips and Pita chips!

They’re perfect for fun appetizers.  Above left is smoked salmon, cream cheese and dill atop an “Everything”-flavored pretzel crisp.  Above left is jalapeno cheddar and salami atop an Original flavor.  More pairing ideas on the website.

I’m not a huge pretzel person, but I preferred this shape (and ease of adding other flavors) compared to regular pretzels.  I served them with a cheesy sage dip at a recent dinner party and people seemed to enjoy them.  Thanks to Shaina for sending some samples my way.

Who knows where Bovril is for sale in NYC?

Tea & Sympathy perhaps?  Does anyone know?

My grandparents-in-law use it in beef stew but it hasn’t been easy to find lately.

I’m a fan of whole grain pastas.  The indulgence and comfort of warm pasta, with extra nutrition?  Works for me.

I was happy to test out some new Einkorn Pasta by Jovial, thanks to Lisa.

Jovial proudly presents First Ever™ Whole Grain Einkorn Pasta, made from the world’s most ancient wheat, first cultivated 12,000 years ago at the birth of agriculture.  The resulting products are wholesome, nutritious and surprisingly delicious. Einkorn was lost in time when new varieties of wheat with much higher yields were created by natural and commercial hybridization. In developing the Jovial™ brand, the company’s founders decided it was time to go beyond organic and take a closer look to find the purest of plant varieties.

Einkorn Nutritional Highlights
• High in Thiamin, essential dietary and trace minerals.
• Good source of protein, dietary fiber and a number of B Vitamins.
• Higher Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC-antioxidant capacities) twice that of durum and bread wheat.
• Higher content of tocotrienols than other species of wheat, a potent form of Vitamin E.
• Lower percentage of nutrient loss during processing
• One 2oz. serving contains as much of the antioxidant Lutein as a whole egg (which provides nutritional support to our eyes and skin).

And how about the taste?  Hearty and flavorful, in my opinion.  That said, someone who loves “regular” white pasta may not appreciate the difference.  But anyone who already enjoys whole grain pasta might want to check this out!

A while back I was fortunate to receive some CoverMate® Food Covers in the mail to try out.

They’re springy plastic covers that fit over plates and bowls.  They could probably also double as shower caps (though I did not test this theory).

The Variety Pack is a handy assortment of four sizes, which I found really do fit just about anything.  The smallest fit nicely over a custard cup of leftover lemon slices while the largest fit around a large roasting pan.

They’re reusable and washable, though I admit that laziness had me throwing a few into the trash as they got dirty.  Now I’m all out and really missing them!  Saran wrap just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore.

At Whole Foods recently I saw these chutneys on discount due to be discontinued.  The average shopper may be dissuaded by this fact, but I am not the average shopper.  Plus, I love chutneys.  And discounts.

Geeta’s Pineapple Chutney is sweet and mellow.  My only complaint is that the cloves were big and hard to chew.  I ended up eating around the cloves.  Maybe you’re not supposed to eat them in the first place?

Geeta’s Papaya Orange Chutney is spicier (my jar actually said “medium” even though the jar of this flavor above says “mild.”)  It also has a lot of different textures: soft papaya, chewy orange rind, and then again some really annoying cloves and big old cardamom pods.

I love spices and bold flavors- but I think that ground spices are better than whole for chutneys.

I notice on Geeta’s website other cool flavors such as tamarind and mango.  Will have to check those out.

Fever is a new beverage that claims to produce feelings of pleasure and euphoria.

It comes in three flavors:  Kiwi + Strawberry, Pineapple + Coconut, and Mango + Banana.

I tried the Mango + Banana and I liked the flavor.  I can’t say that I felt much effect in terms of energy or mood, but I think I’m a bad judge of this kind of thing.  I also don’t feel much effect from coffee/caffeine.  And, I’m pretty much in a good mood 95% of the time.

Thanks to Lauren for sending me a bottle to sample.

Available at GNC. If you try a bottle, let me know if you feel happier or more energized.

VivAgave is a soluble fiber derived from the organic blue agave plant.  Add a tablespoon added in yogurt, oatmeal, milk, coffee or even mac n’ cheese and you’ve upped your fiber intake 40% of the recommended daily intake–in 40 calories.

VivAgave is available in 3 varieties: plain, vanilla and cocoa.  The flavor of both the plain and vanilla is very subtle (nearly tasteless, really), though the vanilla had a delicious scent.  I didn’t try to cocoa so I’m not sure about that one.

With agave’s connection to the sweet and syrupy agave nectar, I was expecting this to be sweet.  It’s not.  Which is fine, but don’t add it to a recipe as a sugar substitute or you’ll wonder why that banana bread tastes really different.   You can, however, add it as an addition to said banana bread recipe for a healthy fiber boost.

Among other selling points of the product, it’s a Prebiotic can be used to aid in the growth of “good” intestinal bacteria, it has a minimal impact on blood sugar and will not raise triglycerides, and inulin helps the body absorb calcium and magnesium.

Thanks to Isabella for sending me some to sample!

Organics are for Everyone’s Date Syrup is a delicious syrup made from dates.  Organic dates and…. nothing else.

How is it so smooth and luxurious and sweetly complex?  Truly, it’s nature’s candy.

Better than candy, it also nutritious with all of the vitamins and minerals of dates.

Here are my top 3 uses:

1. Drizzled over plain yogurt or plain greek yogurt.

2. Poured over pancakes with sliced almonds and shredded coconut.

3. Whipped with tahini (sesame seed paste) and spread over rye (or other whole grain) bread.

Check it out, buy some, no regrets.  Organic date syrup is for everyone!

My first jar was free but now I will be a loyal, paying customer.  Thanks for spreading the gospel.

Reusable shopping bags were all the rage a few years ago, and a lot of us accumulated quite a few of them.

My mom gave us some for Christmas, Whole Foods gave me one on Earth Day, an artist with a day job at Scoop gave me one outside of their store in SoHo.

Saturation of the market aside, I was really excited when Sue from what’Surbag offered to send me a couple of their bags.  They’ve carved a niche as the only FASHIONABLE, FLEXIBLE & SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE reusable shopping bag.  (what’Surbag and its-laS-tik extend their creativity into spelling and capitalization as well!)

The bags come in a dazzling array of solids, metallics and patterns.  They are manufactured in New Orleans in a factory destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and rebuilt by survivors.  5% of sales of these bags are donated to NOLA’s Hope House.

I really love using these bags.  They’re more durable than my giveaways and more flexible than the Christmas gift (but still love those, Mom!).  Sue told me that she created the graffiti style with New Yorkers in mind.  The other I have is a silver metallic (“skyline“) that has gotten compliments as my purse!

I would recommend these bags especially for city dwellers who walk home from stores since they bounce a bit as you walk which lightens the load.  I’d also recommend them for anyone looking for a more chic and durable reusable bag who appreciates helping out a good cause in the process.

With a picture like this, words seem inadequate by comparison.  Still, I’ll try.  The Republic of Tea has a beautiful and tasty new line of Hibiscus Superflower teas.  Made from Nigerian hibiscus flowers, these herbal teas are rich in Vitamin C and minerals and are caffeine-free.

There are five flavors: natural hibiscus, blueberry, key lime, vanilla apple, and pineapple lychee.

I was lucky enough to be sent a sample of the blueberry by the kind folks at The Republic of Tea.  (How could you work at a place like that and not be a kind and lovely person?)

I was delighted upon brewing my first cup to see that the color is a beautiful redish-purple.  The taste is very refreshing: a bit fruity, a bit sweet, a bit tart.  I’ve been enjoying it hot but as of today- hallelujah, warm weather in NYC!- I just tried some iced.  I am going to be drinking a lot of this come summer and I’m eager to try the other flavors.

Ready to be Tempt-ed by some great, healthy products?  Tempt is a line of delicious non-dairy “milks” and “ice creams” made from hemp seeds.  Jennifer from Living Harvest Foods was kind enough to send me a couple of coupons.

Unsweetened Vanilla Tempt Hempmilk is a delicious low-calorie beverage (60 calories in 1 cup) while also being a convenient source of healthy fats (6 grams of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat in 1 cup) that come naturally from hemp seeds.

With my other coupon I purchased the Coffee Biscotti flavor from Tempt’s frozen dessert lineup (of which there are many tantalizing flavors).  I absolutely fell in love with this.  Not only do I love coffee ice cream (old school Coffee Toffee by Ben & Jerry’s, anyone?) but this has chocolatey cookie chunks a great mouth feel (thanks to those natural fats from hemp seeds).   Still, just 140 calories per 1/2 cup serving.

If you’ve ever tried a hempmilk-based product, I’d love to hear about it; comment below!