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MARY’s secret ingredients winter box

December 10, 2014 by Mary 2 Comments

It’s been a whirlwind first year for this subscription box business and I’m delighted to share with you the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box!! It’s the last box of the year so we made this one extra special, overflowing with goodness, giving you a great foundation to start the holiday season with some super unique items. We’ve got bitters to brighten your cocktails, teas to warm your heart on a cold winter night, along with buttery rich peppermint cookies – now that’s a great nightcap! Both the hot pepper sauce and smoked peppers in the chili paste will add some terrific new flavors to your life and then you can go make some wonderful muffins in the prettiest paper cups. You could do some hiking to work it all off with the best trail mix, or wait for my most unexpected recipe using this product. A fun time is coming!!

We hope we’ve made your cooking more inventive and stretched your boundaries a bit. We’ve certainly had quite a fun time testing and choosing the most interesting, different and fun products to work with. We wonder, for those of you who didn’t order a box, do you find these “box posts” boring? Should we move them all to the MARY’s secret ingredients site? Or do you find them interesting?

Take a look at our lovely Marie Anello, once again opening the box in this video to the tune of a seasonal classic, Let It Snow!

Here are all the products, along with a tidbit about each company.

Chelsea Market Baskets – Gran Luchito (Smoke and chilli combine for total deliciousness!)

Their founder’s passion for inspired specialty foods and thoughtfully designed gifts led to the creation of Chelsea Market Baskets in 1993. Owner David Porat continues to search the world for innovative products that are distinctly high quality, fresh, unique, and have a certain indescribable charm. Chelsea Market Baskets’ ultimate goal is to delight their customers through their Chelsea Market retail shop in New York City, their mail order gift business, and their wholesale imports. They believe in product integrity and a high level of customer service. Their mission is to heighten each and every customer’s experience with these core values. And they make great holiday gift baskets!

Gran Luchito Smoked Chilli Paste: An authentic Mexican smoked chilli paste made in Mexico using chilies that have been ethically sourced directly from local farmers. When you try the product, the first thing you’ll notice is the smoky flavor, but then you’ll notice a hint of agave sweetness, perhaps the nuttiness of garlic and, of course, a medium heat.

Dutch’s Spirits: (Aren’t these just so cute?? I love the hats!)

Dutch’s Spirits is an artisanal distillery. Named after an infamous New York mobster of the Prohibition era, Dutch’s Spirits inhabits the same location as Harvest Homestead Farm, where Dutch Schultz set up his bootlegging complex. Dutch’s Spirits has steeped their bitters production in a heady combination of historical reference and dedication to the American cocktail craft.

American Era Cocktail Bitters: Inspired by the United States’ colorful history, Dutch’s Spirits crafted bold new recipes blending unique flavors from each era to create a truly distinctive line of cocktail bitters. The variety 3-pack includes:

Colonial Cocktail Bitters: Wild spicebush berries and Kinnikinnick leaf combined with chamomile blossoms, rose petals, lavender, bitter orange, angelica seed, juniper, allspice and cinnamon. A classically aromatic bitters blend.

Boomtown Bitters: Combines the ingredients of sarsaparilla and wintergreen with flavors representing American whiskies of the day such as coconut and oak from the maturing cask. This is an alternative bitters variety for bourbon and whiskey drinks.

ProhiBitters: Blend of flavors tailored to tweak the usual gin martini. Predominant citrus notes blend with licorice, hibiscus, ginger root and coriander.

Maddy’s Sweet Shop: (Bet you can’t eat just one!)

At Maddy’s Sweet Shop they continue to do things the old-fashioned way. Their delightful products are crafted in their artisanal bakery with time-honored recipes and the finest ingredients. Their award winning Lil’ Maddies are delectable shortbread cookies with a sweet candy crunch, covered in a unique powdered sugar coating.

Peppermint Snaps: Refresh your taste buds with the cool flavor of peppermint. It will wake you up and put a smile on your face. This is a surprisingly light and refreshing shortbread cookie with a peppermint candy crunch inside that is perfect for any time of the day.

PaperChef: (Make your cupcakes and muffins spectacular!)

PaperChef, a Toronto-based company founded in 2010, is a subsidiary of Culinary Papers and McNairn Packaging, a family business that has been making paper products for the food industry since 1882. The company is committed to bringing “The Art of Cooking with Parchment” to North America and the globe. The PaperChef line of products includes parchment rolls, parchment cooking bags and parchment baking cups.

Lotus cups: These cups are 100% biodegradable and they add personality to culinary creations while helping them to look their best. The cups’ inherent non-stick properties make them easy to peel away while keeping their shape, with little to no clean up.

Peeled Snacks: (Hiking never tasted so good – and wait until you see this recipe coming up!)

At Peeled Snacks, they know that food starts out delicious and nutritious. It doesn’t need a machine to improve it or an engineer to perfect it. They strive to bring you natural, premium ingredients so you can feel good about snacking. Eating well doesn’t have to mean eating tasteless, bland foods. It does, however, mean eating a healthy, wide range of foods from every food group.

apple APLENTY: This trail mix is a 100% organic, rich and tasty balance of sunflower seeds, walnuts, and peanuts, mixed with juicy Peeled Snacks raisins, dark chocolate, and apples. Whether you’re out on a hike or in for the night, apple Applenty will get you through, and help you bypass the doctor’s office. Enjoy!

Red Snapper Sauce: (No this is not made of fish – the name is a misnomer and the sauce is hot – a tiny bit goes a long way!)

The story of Red Snapper Sauce and the history of the McVea family are essentially one and the same. Some of the family’s happiest memories have been made while gathered around tables stocked with their legendary Louisiana-style hot sauce. Since they can’t invite each of you to their table, they’re sharing their history and family pride in each and every bottle.

Wildwood Arbol Sauce: This medium heat sauce is made with Chile De Arbol peppers, (a relative of the cayenne), and is quickly becoming the condiment of choice on many food lovers’ tables. It is extremely flavorful, with a woody base. Every bite increases the heat, giving warmth and flavor to any dish.

SerendipiTea: (Just the cutest names!!)

SerendipiTea is committed to the highest quality loose-leaf tea, selecting fine certified organics when available. They work closely with tea gardens, estates and specialists around the world, maintaining knowledge and expertise regarding all facets of tea and its production.

Holiday Cheer: Spread some Holiday Cheer this season! Enjoy this hand-crafted blend of warming spices, festive orange peel, invigorating mint & a touch of Black Tea for fortitude.

Once Upon a Tea: A fairy tale beginning with a delectable ending! Boldly based on rooibos, the mellow notes of vanilla, rich texture of chocolate & the defining essence of mint all blend together, deliciously ever after.

MARY’s secret ingredients Fall Box Revealed

October 8, 2014 by Mary 6 Comments

We really are having such a grand time with MARY’s secret ingredients! The fall box shipped out on schedule on September 25^th so everyone should have theirs by now. We hope that all of you who ordered one were just as excited as we were with the mix of ingredients this season. This box is full of wonderful things to spice up your cooking and make preparing a gourmet meal a breeze with all the interesting flavors and the two very exciting new tools enclosed.

A very big thank you to all of you who purchased, as every box sold adds to a contribution to Feed The Children. We will donate 10% of all profits to that global organization at the end of this year. No one should go hungry.

And now our lovely Marie, who will be performing in the premiere of a new opera in November here in NYC, (we’re so excited!) introduces the products to the tune, HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS IN THE MORNING from the musical “Rich, Young, and Pretty”, written by Cahn & Brodzky, and made famous by Dean Martin and Helen O’Connell.

We’re having so much fun!

CALPHALON

Calphalon is a leading manufacturer of professional quality cookware, cutlery, bakeware, kitchen electrics and accessories for the home cook. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Calphalon is a part of Newell Rubbermaid’s global portfolio of leading brands.

Nylon Solid Turner: This spatula is smartly designed with a unique serrated edge to cut food, and the low-profile head is angled to slide under food for easy turning. Crafted with heat-resistant soft-touch silicone accents, this utensil gives you a perfect balance of comfort and control. Dishwasher safe, heat resistant to 400° F, and won’t scratch nonstick cookware. Full lifetime warranty!

FALKSALT

Falksalt sea salt flakes are extracted from pure, clean Mediterranean Sea water using traditional methods. It’s harvested in Cyprus and sold by Swedish Salinity Food with 180 years experience in trading salt. It’s a 100% natural product with no chemicals, no anticaking agents and all natural additives. Falksalt offers a wide range of natural and flavored sea salt flakes.

Falksalt Crystal Flakes Citron: These light flakes add a burst of bright lemon flavor to everything from fish and vegetables to ice cream and chocolate. Bake, cook or just top off your favorite dish before serving. Be daring!

PRODUCT OF CYPRUS BY WAY OF SWEDEN

HARMONIAN

Harmonian is a Greek brand established in June 2013. The company’s aim is to bring a new understanding of “healthy and taste conscious” food to the market.

Kalamata PDO Extra Virgin Olive Oil : Olive Oil is the true “juice of life” and is a secret shared by people at the Mediterranean basin for ages. The land of Messenia, at the southwestern end of Peloponnese in Greece, produces the fine oil of the “Koroneiki” olive variety. Harmonian selects only its top quality crops and embottles their most precious extracts with the utmost care. This oil is silky in texture, keen in flavor and rich in aroma, extra virgin, high quality. It can be enjoyed both raw and cooked.

KIND

KIND® was launched in 2004 with the aim of inspiring people to do the kind thing for your body, your taste buds, & your world. From its delicious foods made from ingredients you can see and pronounce to its commitment to social entrepreneurship, KIND® is focused on making the world a little kinder one act (and snack) at a time.

Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond bar: A brand new flavor! Dark roast coffee and whole almonds blended with honey and drizzled in dark chocolate to form a bar that, with just 5g of sugar, only tastes indulgent.

CHELSEA MARKET BASKET – Kalk Bay Food Smoulder

Their founder’s passion for inspired specialty foods, and thoughtfully designed gifts, led to the creation of Chelsea Market Baskets in 1993. Owner David Porat continues to search the world for innovative products that are distinctly high quality, fresh, unique, and have a certain indescribable charm. Chelsea Market Baskets’ ultimate goal is to delight their customers through their Chelsea Market retail shop in New York City, their mail order gift business, and their wholesale imports. They believe in product integrity and a high level of customer service. Their mission is to heighten each and every customer’s experience with these core values.

Smoulder Spice Grinder – Elements Of Spice By Kalk Bay Food : Warning: Smoking Is Addictive! A few grinds of this mix will conjure up barbeque fun. Everyone’s favorite spices, artisanally cold smoked over beech chips, make the perfect seasoning for meat on the braai. Kalk Bay Food, based in Capetown, South Africa, blends spices from around the globe into unique and delicious combinations. They are known for the quality and freshness of their products. From rare single-origin salts to inventive spice blends, Kalk Bay Food will enhance the flavor of whatever is on the dinner table.

THE PANTRY CLUB

Founded in 2010, The Pantry Club is part of a family business established by Matt and Alicia Webb. It offers ten gourmet-quality dip mix flavors that are made from natural ingredients, are MSG-free, nitrate-free and are gluten-free (with the exception of Bacon Cheddar which has gluten in it). The dip mixes can be made with the classic recipe, or they can be used to create a wide variety of meal ideas; for sauces, soups and marinades – creating hassle-free cooking that is simply delicious.

Spinach Mix Dip (Gluten Free): This special combination of seasonings not only has incredible taste, but it is a delightful complement to fresh vegetables, crackers, baked potatoes, seafood or pasta salad, or use dry as a seasoning.

TOVOLO

Tovolo believes time spent cooking should be fun, and they are honored to be a part of this experience in your home. They challenge themselves to improve the performance, function and appearance of kitchen tools. They obsess over every detail to ensure their product will out-perform expectations. However, performance alone is not enough; they want to put a smile on their customer’s face as well. They strive to add a colorful element of fun to each of their items.

The Perfect Poach: Finally, a solution to make a perfect, delicious poached egg EVERY SINGLE TIME without oil or butter! These handy bags take the guesswork and mess out of poaching eggs. Simply crack an egg into the pouch—use one pouch for each egg—immerse in simmering water, and remove after four to six minutes. Slide your perfectly poached egg onto a plate and enjoy. Bags can only be used once but they are recyclable, biodegradable, and non-stick.

Chef’s Planet Nonstick Toaster Ovenliner

July 16, 2014 by Mary 5 Comments

THIS is a really handy, dandy thing, this Chef’s Planet Nonstick Toaster Ovenliner, which was included in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. You know when your husband or kids just make total messes in your toaster oven? Or when you decide to get clever and not use your big oven because you don’t want to heat up the whole house in the summertime, and you roast a chicken or bake a blueberry or peach pie and you know the mess it’s going to make but you do it anyway?

Well Chef’s Planet is this nifty company and is here to save the day. Their whole mission in life, their entire reason for existence, is to make your life easier in the kitchen. We like them. We really like them!

Here’s my toaster oven tray from just toasting some bread.

And look at it now with my new ovenliner. And I can just take that baby out and wipe it clean (it’s nonstick, remember) or even throw it in the dishwasher, woo hoo!!! Thank you Chef’s Planet!

Visit their site and take a look at their other great products. They even make a full size ovenliner, which is next on my list. Be liberated and throw away that tinfoil I know you have down there now. The good folks at Chef’s Planet actually wanted to include a full oven-sized liner, but it wouldn’t fit in our box. 🙁 Maybe next year we’ll grow bigger boxes!

Our Gluten-Free summer MARY’s secret ingredients Box!

July 2, 2014 by Mary 10 Comments

Our summer MARY’s secret ingredients box was mailed last Wednesday, so all of you who ordered should have received it by now. We love these products and as it turns out, they are ALL gluten-free, even the toaster oven liner! And a big thank you to all of you for supporting our mission to eradicate worldwide hunger, as your purchase helps to support Feed The Children.

We have great items to eat and drink, just as they are, at any of your upcoming picnics or BBQ’s, and as I did with the spring box, I will provide inspiration and recipes using all of the ingredients here on this blog over the next two weeks, so please stay tuned.

Check out the video below of our lovely Marie opening a box to the Frank Sinatra tune of HOW ABOUT YOU.

LOVE, Mary

Or you can check it out on youtube here.

ZUKALI MEXICAN GOURMET Big taste, small beginnings. Zukali Mexican Gourmet was born out of a passion for making food and salsas at cookouts with friends and family in their hometown of McKinney, Texas. At Zukali, flavor is foremost.

Cilantro Pineapple Salsa: Inspired by tacos al pastor, this tangy love story of cilantro & pineapple is sure to arouse your tastebuds. We roast fresh peppers over an open flame, we toss in pineapple, and steep it all in a special blend of spices to bathe your mouth in salsa bliss.

COMMUNITY SPICE COMPANY Community Spice Company was founded by nurse Janis Callon in 2010. She comes from a family of foodies. Her father, Stanley, was an executive with Del Monte and her mother, Donna, was a registered dietician. Distressed by the poor quality and the outrageously salty spice blends typically found in the stores, she became adamant to make a healthy low sodium flavored spice blend line that used premium ingredients with realistic labeling for serving sizes.

barbi Q: A perky spice blend that is Community Spice Company’s signature flavor! It is fun, friendly, and the life of the party. Perfect on steak, salmon, ribs, burgers, chicken and home fries.

ka Bobbii: Light and luscious. Lemony with a stimulating twist.
Perfect pick up to fish, chicken, couscous, lentils, & quinoa.

SNP 400: Flexible blend with national appeal. Fantastic with roast chicken, burgers, soups & chili.

mz. Curri: Exotic and confident. This blend takes no prisoners nor will you! Great on veggies, chicken, pork, prawns, fish and onions!

SIMPLY7 The idea behind Simply7 was born because most of the food you are eating everyday is made with ingredients that most people don’t recognize and can’t even pronounce. Simply7 decided to make sure that every ingredient in their products is not only natural but is SIMPLE. Everyone should be able to identify the raw vegetable, fruit, grain, or legume used as ingredients in their products.

Sea Salt Quinoa Chips: All of Simply7 Quinoa Chip flavors are designed to deliver all the flavor and nutrients of the ancient super grain, quinoa. Sea salt is our “original” flavor and truly brings out the slightly nutty flavor of quinoa. You might expect sea salt to be similar to the flavors of other basic salted snacks but it is so much more. The unique flavor of quinoa and the light dusting of sea salt makes for a snacking experience that will keep you reaching for more.

CHEF’S PLANET Chef’s Planet makes life in the kitchen easier. It also offers other innovative, problem-solving kitchenware. They believe you can balance cooking with a busy life, so they are constantly thinking of new ways to make cooking simpler and more enjoyable!

What exactly is an ovenliner? Well, it’s a time saver. A drip and crumb catcher. No need to use chemical cleaners. Chef’s Planet toaster-ovenliner can be easily trimmed to fit on the rack. And, best yet, it’s MADE IN THE USA!

JAXN’S TWICE-BAKED POTATO STIX® The Bodacious Food Company, committed to providing fresh, great tasting premium baked products, created Jaxn’s Twice-Baked Potato Stix® in 2009 as their gluten free and all natural baked snack. Jaxn’s introduces a new, unique concept in better-for-you snacking.

Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper: Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper is a perfect duo of century-old flavors. Experience our snack’s robust blend of cracked pepper and natural sea salt. We sprinkle our flavorsome spice recipe on each twice-baked stix, providing “ingredient conscious” snacks bite-after-bite. Bye bye fries!

BRUCE COST GINGER ALE Bruce Cost Ginger Ale was founded in 2010 by Bruce Cost, author of an award-winning cookbook, a chef and a ginger lover. The original recipe was first created as part of a medicinal dinner. Several years later, after amassing a cult following for the beverage, Cost began bottling it with his partners, entrepreneurs Joseph and Terry Tang. In 2014, Bruce Cost Ginger Ale opened its very own factory, bringing the brewing process to Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Ginger Ale Original: Proud descendent of the first soft drink, Bruce Cost Ginger Ale is delicious, sparking and rich with whole ginger. Made with only fresh ginger (no extracts or oils) and pure cane sugar, this is a fundamentally simple, delicious and spicy beverage. Unfiltered with rich ginger particles, it provides iron and a little vitamin C as well as refreshment. MADE IN BROOKLYN

CLEAN, LEAN AND SEXY Clean, Lean and Sexy was inspired by a mother’s mission to transform her daughter’s health. Suzie Carpenter, a Certified Nutrition and Peak Health Coach founded Clean, Lean and Sexy to provide great-tasting whole food energy products in the form of simple, gluten-free healthy snacks.

Coconut Cashew All Natural Whole Food Energy Bar: Healthy snacks without hidden ingredients are hard to find. Clean, Lean and Sexy Whole Food Energy Bars are made with only pure, all natural, recognizable ingredients; and they taste great! They are made with real coconut and without gluten, corn, soy or dairy ingredients. There are also no processed sugars or artificial sweeteners. Indulge, enjoy and be free (now that’s sexy)! It’s a No Grainer!

2 COUPONS

Please note: Mortar and pestle are a part of MARY’s secret ingredients trademark and are not items included in the box.

MSI summer box and foodies

June 26, 2014 by Mary 26 Comments

Here’s our super happy FedEx man picking up our boxes under Marie’s watchful eye.

Our summer MARY’s secret ingredients (MSI) boxes sold out last week, way before our closing date of yesterday when they all shipped. They are on their way to all of you who ordered. We’re so excited about this box! It’s got great summer treats and I will be posting more wonderful recipes and ideas to use the products, making your BBQ and summer party days ahead a breeze. It turns out that this box is also gluten-free for those of you concerned with this area of your intake, but you would never know it, as everything is so delicious!

I read an editorial by Mark Bittman in the The New York Times yesterday. He was talking about the use of the word “foodies” and how it makes him cringe. How about you? Does it make you cringe too? Are you a “foodie” in search of the next hot restaurant? Or do you like to cook at home to be able to know exactly what you’re putting into your body? Or are you concerned about changing our eating habits or our whole society on the way food is produced, transported and eaten? He brings up some really valid points on all of this.

And then there was this other article I read just last week about how everyone is beating the drum about only eating local, farmer’s market food and really, that’s a very nice idea but you can’t feed a country our size this way. So they were suggesting using a combination of technology (think Wylie Dufresne or new versions of freeze dried) and local, to go way beyond the Alice Waters philosophy.

All are good ideas in my book. Anything that gets us back in the kitchen and makes us fully aware, to want to know what we’re putting into this delicate machine that is our bodies, is a great idea.

Which brings us back to our MSI box. Our whole concept here is to showcase new natural, good-for-you products that will surprise and inspire you and your cooking with fresh ideas to feed your body and keep it healthy. And if you cook with LOVE, you feed your soul too! Happy eating!!!