Kosherfest: Best of the Best

This week I visited Kosherfest, the world’s largest kosher food show. Here are the products that the official panel voted best in class in the New Products Competition.  (They were judged on the basis of newness, quality, taste, saleability and retail price.) If you’re interested in these or any kosher food products, check us out at  Kosher.com. With 15,000 kosher food items including fresh meat and baked goods, we have something for everyone.

Kosherfest 2009 Best in Class Winners

• Best In Show - Luck Chen Asian Noodles (5 flavors)
• Best Baked Good, Bread, Grain or Cereal - Sarah’s Tent Potato Bourekas
• Best Beverage - True Toniq DBA Brain Toniq, Brain Toniq
• Best Cheese or Dairy - Get Healthy America Lasagna Florentine
• Best Dessert, Candy, Cookie or Cracker - Illinois Nut & Candy Smooth & Crunchy Peanut Butter Bark
• Best Food Service Product - Custom Candy Concepts, Inc, Picture Cookies
• Best Packaging/Design - True Toniq DBA Brain Toniq, 4-pack Brain Toniq
• Best Kosher Organic - Quality Frozen Foods Organic Batter Blaster
• Best Snack Food - Osem USA, Inc. Bamba Peanut Snack w/ Hazelnut Cream Filling
• Best Fine Food from Israel - Blue & White Foods LLC Falafel with Tehina Filling
• Best Giftware/Novelty - Kosherkeepers® by Plastic Packaging Corp Food Kosherkeepers® Food Storage Containers
• Best Jam, Preserve or Spread - Oxygen Imports Mixed Berry Blast
• Best Meat, Poultry or Seafood - Kosher Valley Chicken Breast Cutlets
• Best Wine, Beer or Spirit - The Natural Group/Kedem Elvi Sintonia Sangria
• Best Savory Condiment, Spice, Sauce, Oil, Vinegar or Dressing - Streit’s Matzos Asian Mel’s Gourmet sauce Line
• Best Passover Product - Zelda’s Sweet Shoppe Zelda’s Orange Chiffon Cake
• Best Health & Wellness - Green Rabbit, LLC MimicCreme Coffee Creamer
• Best Pasta, Rice, Bean or Soup - Luck Chen Asian Noodles

So that’s it. Plenty to keep us busy tasting and trying until Kosherfest 2010. You know I’ll be there!

Kosherfest: 5 New Finds

Kosherfest, which took place this week at the NJ Meadowlands,  is the the largest kosher food exhibition in the world. This was my first visit and will not be my last. There was an amazing collection of vendor showcases, cooking demos, and new food finds. (And did I mention you get to taste stuff?)

These are my top 5 finds from the show, in no particular order:

• OU certified glatt kosher organic baby food from a company called Petite Select.  What’s the big deal?  Take a look at these innovative flavors in infant cuisine: Arroz con Pollo, Shepherd’s Pie, and Mango Jamba!  A real chef (and real mom) created these and they’re delish.  In the coming days, I’ll post my video interview with her.  Her friend and business partner actually created a dessert called “The Smart Cookie” which is the antithesis of the Jessica-Seinfeld-style-sneak-pureed-beets-and-spinach-into-your-brownies kind of dessert.  These cookies are actually beet red and green, and your little ones will still love them.

• A sensational classic vinaigrette called Garlic Expressions from LaMar Foods. I didn’t get a chance to try it at the Kosherfest, but it got such raves that I took home a bottle.  First, I tasted it cautiously; then, I poured it all over my salad.  When I ran out of lettuce, I put the bowl to my lips.  I’m very picky about my salad dressing, people, and I tell you this one is an experience.

• MimicCrème ice cream mix is made from almonds and cashews.  (You actually make the ice cream yourself.) Before recommending it, I tasted the finished product—ten times—just to be sure.  I wouldn’t want to mislead you.

• A new soup with no MSG: Manischewitz Chicken Broth.  Though it’s a new product, it’s already a huge seller at Kosher.com.  (Check out my video interview with David Yale, prez of Manischewitz.  I’ll post it as soon as I can.)

• Israel’s famous Angel Bakery, which had a  booth the size of a small village, was a favorite stop.  The same parent company distributes bourekas to die for, as well as  Passover “pizza dough,” ” breads” and cakes (under the Eytan label).  It’s the solemn truth that I would eat these year round.  They also make cool vegetarian cutlet options, and a new line of Hungarian salamis that made this Hungarian gal go crazy for them.
• 

These were my favorites, folks. I’ll post the list of what the official panel voted best in class in the New Products Competition soon.

Kosherfest: I Came, I Saw, I Ate!

This week I went to Kosherfest at the NJ Meadowlands, that mega-food expo that lets professional foodies, industry types and just everyday folks savor the newest products.  It’s been going on annually for more than twenty years, but this was my first time there. What can I say, I’m hooked!  Picture two solid days with thousands of people tasting and sniffing, munching and crunching on tantalizing samples all day long.  And the aromas … out of this world.

We brought our giant Kosher.com cart with us, filled to the top and overflowing with as many of our 15,000 groceries as our creative and hard-working team could stuff into it. I got to meet face-to-face with so many people.  And, of course, I ate a ton of great food.  I’m told that there were more than 500 newly kosher certified foods introduced at the show. Hey, somebody had to try them all, right?  The hardest part of it was strategically planning the dairy options around meat.  I was glad I held off on the meat samples on the first day, because by the end of the day I craved my favorite dairy coffee beverage—J&J Iced Cappuccino.  It was set up water cooler style, with cups that you could fill to your heart’s content!

Kosher.com's Giant Cart Rolls into Kosherfest

While the eating was amazing, there’s serious food biz happening in Kosherfest’s  aisles.  I came across some amazing finds, like OU-certified organic baby food, “ice cream” made out of almonds and cashews and some out-of-this-world bakery innovations from Israel. Look for my next post to get all the deets!

This Week on Kosher.com …

	Cooking Kosher on a Budget shows you the 5 essential planning tips that make “making Shabbos” look easy!
	Nutritious Delicious and Kosher expert Bonnie Taub-Dix offers 10 tips for better kids’ nutrition. Your kids will be healthier and you won’t have to hassle them in the process
	Hankering for a hunk of cheese? In Quick & Kosher Shopping, Jamie talks with Tim, our expert from Cappiello Cheese, about what’s new in the Cappiello line.
	Your Kosher Questions Answered shows you why whole wheat flours aren’t only for the granola set.
Plus, try these recipes:
	Cheese & Spinach-Stuffed Portobellos combines a delicious blend of ricotta, spinach and Parmesan served in roasted portobello mushrooms. The dish works as an appetizer, side dish or lunch entrée.
	Roasted Cod with Warm Tomato-Olive-Caper Tapenade brings together the flavors of the Mediterranean in a fabulous dish fit for any table.

This Week on Kosher.com …

	Eating Kosher on a Budget offers 10 strategies for fun budget-conscious Shabbat lunches.
	Nutritious Delicious and Kosher expert Bonnie Taub-Dix says skip the cleansing detox and choose “clean” foods instead.
	Quick & Kosher Shopping diva, Jamie Geller, talks with Kosher.com’s fish expert, Robbie, about snapper.
	Your Kosher Questions Answered demonstrate why whole wheat flours aren’t only for the granola set.
Plus, try these recipes:
	Avgolemono Soup is an easy Greek favorite that can be made from ingredients you have in the pantry and fridge. The soup combines chicken broth with rice, and is flavored with lemon and thickened with eggs. Think of it as kosher Greek penicillin.
	Cheese & Spinach-Stuffed Portobellos combines a delicious blend of ricotta, spinach and Parmesan served in roasted portobello mushrooms. The dish works as an appetizer, side dish or lunch entrée.

Apple Country

Quick & Kosher

One of the cool benefits of living way north of the GW Bridge and the Big Apple is that we are in real apple country. On a whim, we can take the kids to a local orchard not ten minutes from my house, and become one with nature. It feels just like the olden days—only back then, the farmers would pay hired hands to pick the apples, while we actually pay the farmers to please, please let us harvest their fruit.

With our toddlers in tow, it took the better part of a leisurely hour and a half to collect our bushel’s worth. There were all kinds of folks up in those trees. You can easily spot the real apple connoisseurs: they come equipped with a knife and magnifying glass—and they taste each variety, talk about it, inspect it, thumb their noses at subpar apples, and toss them to the ground disdainfully. I think they had fancy foreign accents too, but that could be my imagination working overtime.

Then there were plenty of families like mine. Our apple criteria were not quite the same as those snooty gourmets, but it was based on our own very strict checklist. To get into our basket, the apples must: 1) be reachable by someone smaller than three feet tall (there are only so many times Mommy and Daddy can pick you up), 2) have no soft spots and 3) have no worm holes.

So we picked our Granny Smiths and Romes, our Cortlands and Macintoshes, and we were on our way. It cost us 25 bucks for the experience—but honestly, I think we wound up with 50 pounds of apples. Back home, I started unpacking our produce and panic struck. HELP! What’s a gal who never baked an apple pie in her life to do with oodles and oodles of apples? OK— I can make Puff Pastry Apple Purses, and even my 4-year-old can help. Great! The Purses were super. Only 88 apples left.

I remembered that as a kid, one of my favorite treats was caramel apples. (I discovered a rocky road version—almost too fab for words.) I was all ready to fire up the caramel, when my other half interjected that it would be such a waste—he doesn’t like caramel apples.

I should have been able to predict this impasse. Since the day we got married and discovered that I’m into fish and salads and he’s all about meat and potatoes, we rarely relished the same meals. Why should we agree on apples?

The man wanted candy-coated apples. He yearned for candy-coated apples. It had something to do with his childhood, a day at the beach or the circus or something, a fight with his brother, a gift from his sister, I don’t know. All I knew was that a candy-coated apple would resolve a long-standing ache in his heart.

I put away the caramel. After all, I’m an adult. I can give up my caramel apple if it means that much to my husband. You know, I never thought I would enjoy the process, but we had such fun. I discovered that making candy-coated apples is a great activity to do with the kids, and we munched and crunched our way to family bliss!

Open Letter From Our CEO: New in 5770

We’re Constantly Improving to Serve You Better

I would like to take the time to wish all our visitors and customers a
very happy, sweet and healthy New Year. We are very proud of what we
have accomplished together so far and look forward to serving all of
your kosher shopping needs throughout the year.

Our new site is constantly being updated with new features and functionality and we appreciate your continued feedback as we strive to make every aspect of our business better so that you, the consumer, can enjoy hassle-free shopping.

We will be adding new products to the more than 15,000 items
already offered on the site. We plan to add a number of new departments early this year—stay tuned for more information as it happens!

We are proud of our great selection and our competitive prices. Watch
for even more price cuts coming your way.

Please don’t stop telling us what we can do to make life easier for
you, which products you feel we should add to the site, how your
delivery experience went and of course how you, your family, coworkers
and friends enjoyed the many foods we offer and deliver to your door.

We take pride in our work and we hope we can work together this coming year to make it a very healthy, prosperous and kosher New Year.

Chag sameach and best regards.

Open Letter to Kosher.com Customers

To our Valued Customers,

I was sorry to hear that some of your orders were delayed this week. As CEO, I pay close attention to how effectively we deliver products to you. Of course, as a rule, things run very smoothly here—even during the week prior to Rosh Hahsannah, one of our busiest times of the year—but I don’t ever like to hear that we might  have disappointed a customer.

And so, I am reaching out to you, our customers; not to excuse any delays, but to let you know that we are working diligently here to serve you in the manner that you expect and deserve.  We sincerely believe that every single order needs to arrive on time, every time.

The launch of our new website just last week and the great recognition we have recently garnered in the media, greatly increased our volume of orders. We appreciate the notice and the business, but we appreciate our customers above all. Going forward we have made adjustments to accommodate everyone; you should expect timely and efficient delivery on all your future orders.

Please accept my sincere apology for any inconvenience and frustration.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and kosher New Year.

Sincerely,

Aaron Dobrinsky - CEO

Kosher.com

THE BIG CART: 16 FOOT GIANT SHOPPING CART DELIVERS SWEETS FOR ROSH HASHANAH IN NYC

EARLY SHOW PLUS

Quick & Kosher

This is Big—I Mean, Really Big!

Tune in to the Morning Show with Larry Hoff on local TV CW11, Tuesday September 15th, and watch Yours Truly and Kosher.com folks giving out apples and honey from our super duper giant “Koshercart” to commuters at Penn Station.  I’ve done a lot of wild things on TV folks but this is a first! On Wednesday morning, we’re going to steer that cart over to the CBS Early Show, where weatherman Dave Price will be in Rockefeller Plaza doing the weather broadcast.  We’ll be giving out apples, honey, Kosher.com coupons, and Quick & Kosher holiday recipe cards to the crowd.  Talk about wishing everyone a sweet new year on a grand scale! He doesn’t know it yet, but I plan to present Dave with a gorgeous Kosher.com Rosh Hashanah gift basket too.  You’ll flip when you see this basket! The gal who puts the  Kosher.com baskets together is so creative—you’ll want to order your own.

I went a little crazy shopping and cooking and freezing some of my Rosh Hashanah meals last night.  (I knew you’d ask: so far, I’ve cooked Classic Chicken Soup, Un-Stuffed Cabbage Soup and Cocktail Meatballs.)  I was going to make Chocolate Chip Cookies too, but I ran out of steam—not surprising, since this was my kids’ first full week in school.  Let’s just say it’s been a little hectic. Listen, we should all be busy this coming year with all good things.  So whether you catch the TV segment or not, Kosher.com and I wish you and your family the best, sweetest, most incredibly scrumptious new year!