THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


Also visit our main website, TheNibble.com.

SWEEPSTAKES: Win A Spa & Golf Trip To Ireland

McCann’s Irish Oatmeal wants one lucky winner to enjoy a glorious experience in the Emerald Isle. Enter for the chance to win McCann’s Irish Oatmeal Body & Soul Sweepstakes, a trip for two to the Heritage Golf and Spa Resort, a 5 Star resort in Killenard, County Laois, Ireland. Enjoy luxurious spa treatments and majestic golfing on a 72 par Championship course, set within the quaint village of Killenard, County Laois. The trip for two, valued at $7,400, is a week of relaxation to look forward to!

And everybody wins, because when you go to the website to enter the contest, you can download a $1.00 coupon good for any of McCann’s healthy and delicious oatmeal products—from the elegant metal canister of traditional steel-cut oats to 5-minute steel-cut oats, 3-minute rolled oats and instant oats. We’ll be reviewing the entire line in January, “Healthy Foods Month” at THE NIBBLE.

If you like collectibles, McCann’s has just introduced a very limited edition Cookie Jar and set of 4 “Oatmeal Mugs.” Only 1,000 have been produced, so if you’re a McCann, a McCann’s fan or a collectible enthusiast, run to get them before they sell out.

SteelCutDrum-230

Give these delicious, crunchy-textured steel-cut oats to friends who have only known softer rolled oats as “oatmeal.”

 

Comments off

TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Organic & Fair Trade Coffee

coffee-beans-230

It’s effortless to save the world by drinking
organic, Fair Trade coffee. Photo by
Ermek | IST.

With coffee emporia nearly everywhere you look—cafés and shops that sell beans—you’d think that coffee was a hot growth category. Yet the annual growth rate of conventional coffee between 2000 and 2008 was just 1.5%. Organic coffee imports experienced a 29% annual average growth rate during the same period, and Fair Trade® coffee, 35%. Last year, the amount of organic coffee imported into the United States increased 12%, and Fair Trade coffee increased 30%, despite the worst economy in 70 years and the premium prices that both command.

You’d think this would be great news, but just 0.6% of the coffee sold in the major consuming countries is organic certified, and even less is Fair Trade certified.

In honor of National Fair Trade Month, we’ve reviewed some of our favorite organic and Fair Trade coffees. Agricultural products can be organic and Fair Trade, organic or Fair Trade (obviously, the vast majority of foods are neither). What do these terms mean? In brief:

  • Organic farming and products help the environment and mankind by refraining from use of chemical pesticides and by conserving the land for wildlife, by soil conservation and reforesting.
  • Fair Trade practices and products help the farmers by guaranteeing them fair payment for their crops. This enables them to provide education and medical care for their families, among other basic human needs.

Yet of the $18 billion spent on coffee in the U.S. last year, the tiniest fraction went to organic and Fair Trade coffee. You can make a difference while enjoying an excellent cup of java.

  • Discover delicious organic & Fair Trade coffee beans sourced and roasted by artisan roasters in the full review. (More than half of our coffees are certified kosher, too.)
  • Learn your coffee terms in our Coffee Glossary.
  • Where did coffee come from—and more importantly, how did it turn into the beverage we enjoy today? Read the history of coffee.
  • Trying to cut down on your daily coffee expenditures in this economy? Read our money-saving tips.

 

Comments off

TIP OF THE DAY: The Dish On Plates & Glasses

Food looks more exciting when it’s well packaged. That means the right garnishes, but also the right plates and glasses. Use your nice cups and glasses to serve food—including the ones you have packed away in the “good china” closet. Use beautiful tea cups to serve yogurt, fruit salad, soup, ice cream, seviche or sides. Think of how many different foods you can serve in a martini glass—from shrimp cocktail to rice pudding. Any food—and especially plain and diet foods—look more elegant and will seem to taste that much better when served in something other than the same old bowl.

Comments off



© Copyright 2005-2026 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. All images are copyrighted to their respective owners.