Try topping your picnic brownies with Andrea Pessis’s Groveland Confection Hazelnut Nutter Butter (grovelandconfections.com). It’s an easy way to create a gourmet treat.
I love A Gourmet Thyme Too’s shortbread rounds (agourmetthymetoo.com). The lemon-thyme, pistachio, and cayenne flavors are all great on their own or as a base layer for appetizers; the cacao-express shortbread makes a tasty topping for desserts.
Pies are the new cupcakes, and the award-winning Mexican-chocolate mini pies from Cravin’ Pie, crafted from co-owner Krista Craven’s own family recipes, can’t be beat (cravinpie.com).
For a delicious summer read, dive into the ins and outs of the corporate-food industry with Bruce Bradley’s thriller, Fat Profits (Howling Hound Press, $27). In his debut novel, the onetime General Mills marketer offers a look “behind the shelves” of a chillingly corrupt fictitious food company.
Sue Zelickson is the founder and director of Women Who Really Cook and Perspectives Family Center’s Kids Cafe. She is the former host of WCCO Radio’s Food for Thought.
