Fancy Food Show 2012-Highlights

I have to say I was fairly impressed this year. I managed to avoid most of the scary, dye filled unpronounceable stuff, so I must say a hearty 'yay' to that! I came across more than one product that I would willing buy. Some of them are fairly well known and others totally new. I was also really excited to see so many people finally coming to the dark side of spices and using Cardamom! I have been a cardamom addict for years and so I adored Three Twins Cardamom Ice Cream (also really, their Lemon Cookie!), Helliemae's Cardamom caramels and Numi's Cardamom Pu-erh.

I know Lemonaise has been around for quite a while, but I honestly have never tried them before today. Now that I have, I can see this be a product I'd like to have around. I adore lemon so the richness and the lemon combined are a real winner for me. On the new product tip, I went out of my way to find the Almond water because I was quite curious. I agree with their own words: refreshing!

I had the chance to try the new Kerrygold premium butter, which is quite lovely. And for all you low fat fans, they have a reduced fat version which doesn't lack flavor. A highlight for me was the fun family behind SchoolHouse Kitchen. They actually engaged me on Twitter, which I loved, and when I showed up to see them they were so friendly and had super tasty offerings! I love their Ginger Lime Vinaigrette, the orange & Chili chutney and the Cherry Blackberry Jam. Mmmmm....jam.

Speaking of fruit filled goodness, I also loved the sunshine of Fran's1941 Apricot Magic from La Bonita and the jams from Tropical Fruit Stand, including the surprising (because I don't really like them) Banana, Passion Fruit and Pineapple.

I also adored Sonoma Brinery because pickles are a weakness of mine though I rarely buy them. These however may have a permanent place in my fridge alongside the pulp filled Blue Monkey coconut water. Fresh, clean and no bitter aftertaste makes this a good choice.

Last but not least, I was happy to see an old favorite roll out two new flavors. Plush Puffs has a mango marshmallow and a cherry chocolate marshmallow now and I gotta say, that chocolate cherry really hot the spot! I will be writing about some more good finds soon, so stayed tuned!