Favorite Finds at IFBC 2014

Some of the swag and goodies received at IFBC 2014!

Cosmos Creations

Cosmos Creations - these little puffs of corn goodness come in a variety of flavours including:

• Aged Cheddar and Cracked Pepper
• Coconut Crunch
• Sea Salt Vinegar
• Sea Salt Butter
• Salted Caramel
• Cinnamon Crunch
• Caramel

Cosmos Creations are made from non-GMO corn and are gluten free. Even better? They taste great. My favorites are:

1. Coconut Crunch - I eat this one to satisfy my coconut cream pie craving without the fat and calories 
2. Aged Cheddar and Cracked Pepper - it has a sharp cheese flavour and the cracked pepper comes through at the end - if you like savory treats you'll like this!

Their newest flavour is Spicy Sriracha, and yes, it really is spicy. My husband loved the "lingering heat" of this flavour.

Kukurazu Popcorn

Kukurazu popcorn - this is seriously the most amazing popcorn I have ever eaten. EVER. Owned by a local Seattle family, their goal is to "be the world's best gourmet popcorn company by providing our customers with the most delicious and unique gourmet popcorn varieties." Trust me. They are surpassing their goal.

Kukurazu has 25 flavours to choose from - sadly I've only had the pleasure of enjoying three -

1. Seattle Style - caramel popcorn dusted with finely ground Seattle espresso. Decadent and Caffeinated! My favorite.
2. Truffle Formage Porcini - truffle salt, truffle oil and white cheddar combine to make the most sophisticated popcorn you'll ever have the pleasure of putting on your tongue!
3. Tuxedo - caramel popcorn drizzled with dark and white chocolate - 'nough said.

Next on my wish list are pumpkin spice pecan and maple bacon!

Tcho Chocolate

tcho - on our amazing Kitchen Aid/Sur la Table excursion we were gifted with two bags of amazing gifts. Swag included were three bags of tcho chocolate discs, cocoa nibs and cocoa powder. So far we have only opened the milk chocolate discs. I had grand ideas of baking up a batch of chocolate chunk cookies with them but have to admit that the bag is almost gone and no cookies have been made. These little discs are so smooth and rich that you will have an inner dilemma of wanting to letting them linger on your tongue and chewing them quickly so you can get to the next one!

Aneto Broths

Aneto broth - this was my most mind blowing find at IFBC2014! We all know that homemade broth is vastly superior than what we, as North Americans, can buy at our local chain grocery store. I try to make stock whenever I can and freeze it so it's there whenever I need it. But there are always a few times a year when I open the freezer door only to find I'm out. I run to the store and purchase whatever is there. Not once have I bought something I thought was good.

IFBC gave me hope when I found Aneto broths in the gift suite. Aneto is based in Spain and have been creating their broths since 2002. At IFBC they also gave every blogger an apron with their blog name embroidered on it! Amazing.

I brought the broths home - chicken and one for paella. Yes, paella. I've never made paella and probably won't any time soon so I had to figure out another way to use it. I had an aha moment when pot pies jumped into my head. I decided to make chicken with the chicken stock and beef pies with the paella stock. (I was also able to put my new KitchenAid Food Processor Attachment to use - the 8mm dice was perfect for all the veggies in the pies - parsnips, celery, carrots, onions, leeks, potatoes etc).

I'll be blogging the recipes soon but let me tell you the broths - especially the paella broth absolutely elevated the pot pies! There is not only layers to the flavors of the broth there is actual FLAVOUR!

If you have a chance to buy these broths please do, you won't be disappointed!

Olives to Go

Pearls Olives to Go - I love olives but often often get a craving, eat a bunch and then don't get a craving for another few months. That sometimes means I have olives that go bad when I buy too many. Olives to go solve this problem. They offer olives in individual serving containers that are perfect for an afternoon snack or as part of a tapas like lunch (think cheese, crackers, olives etc). Sold in 4-packs, the olives have no messy liquid (great for klutzy types like me).

They come in three varieties:

1. kalamata
2. sliced black
3. stuffed pimento spanish green

All varieties are gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, vegan, GMO-free, cholesterol-free, and trans fat- free!

KitchenAid and Sur la Table hosted the most amazing excursion at IFBC 2014.

Note: In order to receive the discounted active blogger rate at IFBC2014, all participating bloggers were required to write three posts about their experience at the conference. This is post #3.