The concept is simple yet the impact can be profound. Share a smile. Spread joy and kindness.

I love this concept!

Pamela Whitten of Basket of Smiles is herself a bit of sunshine on a cloudy day and the products that she makes are sure to bring a smile to any face. Pamela began her business, and her smile quest, in 1985. Her motto was and still is “Keep Smiling, Someone Cares”.

The baskets that Pamela makes with twisted fabric are colorful, bright, and sometimes filled with treats. She has a rainbow of colors and a long list of added goodies. The baskets would make great party favors, house warming gifts, end of year teacher gifts, or the perfect surprise gift. Baskets come in four different sizes.

Pamela also hosts parties and tells us: “I do special events with my cupcakes, baskets, and pretend “Smile Bakery”. Birthday Parties, Family Reunions, Business Parties, etc. are just a few times when a Basket of Smiles party works well. The children make cupcakes, hear cupcake stories, sing some fun cupcake songs, and learn about sharing smiles and kindness.”

Visit Basket of Smiles online to see the full variety of products Pamela makes. You can find Share a Smile baskets at Creative Habitat, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Knits & Bolts, Scentsations, The Tiny Acorn, Vermont’s Own.

ENTER HERE to win a Basket of Smiles. Please take a moment to LIKE Pamela’s Facebook page!

Share smiles,
~Honi

You know the saying, “When one door closes, another opens”?  That is exactly how Shannon Kadish began her business, Time Out For Whoopie this past November. After fourteen years in the field of social work Shannon was at a cross roads.

Shannon tells us: “It was a confusing time and it was hard to sort out what direction to take.  One thing that was very clear to me was that I wanted my next journey to fit better with my family life.  So, I started the adventure of opening up my own Whoopie Pie business in November 2012.  I have decided to take some time out of my social work career to make Whoopie Pies.  Therefore, my business was named, ‘TIME OUT FOR WHOOPIE.’ “

On a whim and just for fun Shannon entered a whoopie pie baking contest at a local fair in 2010. That year she won the blue ribbon and first place for her pumpkin whoopie pie. She was motivated to keep on baking and the next year won a yellow ribbon for her chocolate strawberry whoopie pie, and the following year won a red ribbon for her traditional chocolate whoopie pie.

I might have a hard time putting into words how amazing Shannon’s whoopie pies are. Yes, they are better than my mom’s, (sorry Mom!), and better than any whoopie pie I have ever had, (sorry Aunt Ginny!).

Carrot cake whoopie pies are now high on my favorites list, and carrot cake has never even made it onto the list. The shredded and pureed carrots are mixed with pineapple, coconut, and walnuts. Together these ingredients make a chewy and sweet pie. I love that Shannon makes a cinnamon cream cheese filling for these pies.

I shared these delicious treats with a friend who shared these thoughts:

“I was hesitant to try the carrot cake whoopie pie, not being a huge fan of carrot cake.  I was surprised how good it was!  The cake itself was moist, without being crumbly, and without large chunks in it!  The glue that held the whole puzzle together was the most delicious cream cheese frosting…not too sweet and the perfect compliment to bring all the flavors together!  Now I find myself looking for a reason to order these addictive treat…the best reason I’ve found to place an order is because its Saturday!” ~Amanda

The chocolate mousse whoopie pie is my favorite.  I am the only one who can offer a review because I would not share even a crumb. The cake is incredibly moist, (this goes for ALL the whoopie pies) and the chocolate flavor is deep, rich, and perfect.  The combination of delicate cake and the soft mousse made me eat this pie way too fast, which then made me mad at myself for not taking the time to enjoy it for longer.

Irish cream whoopie pies had a unique and special flavor. The pumpkin whoopie pies reminded me of fall, as pumpkin always does. But they were so wonderful that I would eat them every day of the year. The fresh strawberries in the chocolate strawberry whoopie pies made this treat stand above the rest.

You can clearly see that it would be very hard to choose a favorite.  And I haven’t yet told you about the maple walnut pies, the peanut butter pies, coconut pies (I have to try these next!) and more.  Find a complete list of flavors here and note that Shannon makes three different fillings and can make any flavor with gluten free flour.

You can purchase Time Out For Whoopie pies online and find them at the Blue Paddle Bistro in South Hero. Time Out for Whoopie delivers to Chittenden, Grand Isle, and Franklin Counties and can ship traditional, mint, coconut, peanut butter, and Irish cream pies.

These sweet snacks come in three sizes and would make a perfect gift and surprise.

ENTER HERE to win a six pack of Shannon’s amazing whoopie pies. We will choose TWO winners on Tuesday, May 28th. Please take a moment to LIKE Time Out For Whoopie on Facebook too.

Enjoy, I did!
~Honi

PS: Look who hijacked my photo shoot—>
  

Denise Boutin opened My Kid’s Kitchen in 2007 with a goal of teaching her children where their food came from, and keeping them engaged in the farm to table process. In addition to their own large gardens they have a small orchard, honey bees, and a sugarhouse. The children have learned how to take raw food and turn it into many different things.

We were happy to taste test jams from My Kid’s Kitchen. My family has discovered a love for rhubarb thanks to Denise’s Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. The jam is not overwhelmingly sweet and has a bit of an earthly and tart flavor from the rhubarb.

Everyone loves berries, right? How about a variety of three berries to make the perfect morning jam? Denise uses strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. This jam is a favorite of Denise’s kids (though she does mention that every jar of her delicious jam goes fast!) and my own kids. The jar did not last long at our house either. The sweet flavors will bring you right back to summer even in the middle of the winter. Yum!

I shared the Maple Pumpkin Butter with my sister in law as pumpkin is one of her favorite flavors. Here is her review:

My Kid’s Kitchen is located in South Hero. You can find their full line of products including jams, baked goods, salad dressings, mustards and pickles on their website and at the Champlain Islands Farmer’s Market every Saturday.

ENTER HERE to win a gift from My Kid’s Kitchen.

Happy Jammin’,
Honi

My happy taste tester:

Sapling Naturals was created by Renee Tower and Jane Barcomb. This mother/daughter team is passionate about producing high quality, luxurious products. They have a great variety of products including bar soaps, lotions, perfumes, and bug repellents.

“My mother started making soap after I failed to get her handmade soap one year for Christmas. She’s never one to do things halfway and pretty quickly learned as much as she could about soapmaking, and we haven’t looked back since.  We believe that each item handcrafted with love and shared makes the world a brighter place.  Our products are an affordable little luxury and they just so happen to be pretty, fun and amazing for your skin, how’s that for practical?  Made with natural oils, goat’s milk and real silk our soap is a joy to use and will leave your skin super soft and moisturized.” -Renee

I sent gifts from Sapling Naturals to two friends of mine. Here are their reviews.

Euphoria lotion bar
“This is more than lotion – it’s a solid fragrance! First whiff is like a bouquet of spring flowers. Later, the scent dries down to something warmer and more sensual. Sapling naturals website lists fragrance notes jasmine, wild rose, and sandalwood. Yeah, it’s the sandalwood that I smelled after I’d had the lotion n for a while. I like the shea butter composition. Shea butter is what gets my hands through the cold months.” -Emily

Clean Cotton bar soap

“I love using local items, so it definitely falls into that category. It is pretty, and would make a cute affordable gift.  Not much of a scent for those sensitive to smells. A good BAR of soap in the tub is definitely a good thing.” -Lisa

Bourbon Vanilla soap bar
“First of all, I love the way it looks: like a delicious slice of cake, frosting and all. This scent is more subtle than Euphoria, but I can still smell it when I walk into the bathroom. A nice treat for washing hands or body.” -Emily

Bourbon Vanilla is Renee’s favorite bar soap. It has a mild unisex scent with undertones of vanilla and cedarwood. Ingredients include olive oil, goat milk, coconut oil, palm oil, goats milk, and silk. The soap is intended to not only clean but to nourish your skin and leave it feeling silky and moisturized.

Sapling Naturals makes unique little felted soap creatures. Renee tells us the story behind the soap: “Here at Sapling Naturals headquarters we are also preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse. We offer many great zombie repellent products, so stock your bug out bag, secret underground bunker and, of course, your shower. You wouldn’t want to be unprepared when the outbreak starts would you? If, by some chance, the apocalypse doesn’t actually happen . . . hey, you’ll still have some amazing soap!”

My kids have really enjoyed using this soap. To them it’s not soap, it’s a toy that smells great and cleans their hands. It’s a bit like magic. They are surprised all over again every time they use it. Parents who visit my house are also amazed with this clever product. These would make great gifts or party favors.

“We believe that each item handcrafted with love and shared makes the world a brighter place.  Our products are an affordable little luxury and they just so happen to be pretty, fun and amazing for your skin, how’s that for practical?  Made with natural oils, goat’s milk and real silk our soap is a joy to use and will leave your skin super soft and moisturized.” -Renee

ENTER HERE to win a gift from Sapling Naturals. Be sure to LIKE them on Facebook too! Thank you for hosting this giveaway Renee and Jane… and Happy Mother’s Day to you!

Stay clean,
~Honi

May 15th 2013 – 9PM – This giveaway is now closed. Please visit our homepage to find our current giveaways and LIKE us on Facebook for real time updates.

The winners of this giveaway are jennknow1@. Congratulations! Check your email.

Happy Mother’s Day!

This post is dedicated to all moms, especially my mom who mothers me even though I am grown and myself a mother.

To me every day is my “Mother’s Day”. I am blessed to have two wonderfully healthy children that keep me laughing, guessing, and surprised!

Mother’s Day is a great day to give away more great Vermont products!

The following companies will send gifts to two winners in our Mother’s Day Giveaway.

Vermont Brownie Company

Marsh Hollow Jam

Lake Island Girl on Etsy

Simply ENTER HERE to enter this giveaway. Note that LIKING these companies on Facebook and SHARING this giveaway will earn you extra entries!! Please share often!

Happy Mother’s Day! Go hug a mom!

~Honi

May 12th 2013 – 9PM – This giveaway is now closed. Please visit our homepage to find our current giveaways and LIKE us on Facebook for real time updates.

The winners of this giveaway are kamwoman@ & Amyarmstrong@ Congratulations! Check your email.

“Boiling is also a major community affair, with potluck and cocktails fueling us into the late night.” -Robert

Now the story of this maple syrup is going to get a bit more interesting. This creative couple infuse their maple syrup with smoke to make, “Smoked Maple Syrup”.

“Using food grade compressed air and venturi injection principles, we bubble low temperature maple and beech wood smoke through a finished vat of maple syrup for roughly 24 hours. Key aromatic notes and flavors are preserved while we re-filter the infused syrup to deliver a clean consistent product for your cooking pleasure.” – Robert

My favorite way to use this unique and very special ingredient is as part of a barbeque sauce for pulled pork. I start with a traditional tomato base, add a bit of heat, and then add a generous amount of Smoked Maple Syrup. The deep and dark maple flavor is sweet while the addition of the hardwood smoke adds a hearty and savory element.  Your senses will be overloaded with the sweet smell and the rich taste

There are dozens of great recipe ideas on Sugar Bob’s website. Use Smoked Maple Syrup as part of your favorite salad dressing, marinade, or burger topping sauce.

Now it’s your chance to try Smoked Maple Syrup from Sugar Bob’s Finest. ENTER HERE! Thank you Robert and Ann for hosting this giveaway.

And thank you to Apple Mountain on Burlington’s Church St. During a visit there last fall I asked them to share their favorite product with me and they shared Smoked Maple Syrup (which they were sold out of at the time). Find Smoked Maple Syrup at Apple Mountain and these fine retailers.

Best,
~Honi

May 10th 2013 – 9PM – This giveaway is now closed. Please visit our homepage to find our current giveaways and LIKE us on Facebook for real time updates.

The winners of this giveaway are giumarrac@ & mglawler@. Congratulations! Check your email.

We want to share our latest sponsor with you-  welcome Vermont Soap!

Vermont Soap has over 20 years experience making top quality, natural, and chemical free soaps, body care products, and non-toxic cleaners. Try Vermont First has reviewed Vermont soap products twice. Read our first and second reviews to learn more about the great products we tried!

The latest product from Vermont Soap is Choco-Luscious Skin Smoothie. “Choco-Luscious Skin Smoothie is the choco-licous way to keep you skin smooth and moisturized throughout your busy day. Easily spread and absorbed, doesn’t leave a greasy feel or film. Your skin will love you for it! And you’ll smell choco-yummy too!”

Vermont Soap has generously offered a discount to Try Vermont First readers. From now until November 1st, 2013 use the code TRYVERMONTSOAP10 to save 10% on your order! Sign up for Vermont Soap’s e-specials to save us to 50%! We thank Vermont Soap for supporting Try Vermont First!

~Honi

In 2007 Fat Toad Farm was established in Brookfield, VT. Steve Reid, his wife Judith, and their daughters Hannah, Josey and Calley set forth to live off their land. With the addition of dairy goats they started experimenting in the kitchen and the rest is sweet history.

Hannah tells us a bit about everyone’s role on the farm:  “My dad, Steve, was the original goat enthusiast. On particularly long, hard days on the farm we enjoy blaming him for getting us all in this mess. To be totally honest, everyone does everything around here, but I suppose we all have areas of expertise.  Steve is the herd manager, lead milker, and our finance guru.  My step-mom Judith and step-sister Calley are the caramel  mavens – in charge of all facets of caramel production – and too many other things to count.  In addition to stirring caramel I am in charge of all things marketing – e.g. website and literature design, social media, advertising  events, etc. We have two full-time employees, Katie and Christine, who, like all of us, wears many different hats. The family has spent the last seven years building a high-quality herd of Alpine, Saanan, and Oberhalsi milking goats and perfecting the art of caramel making.”

Hannah:  “The FTF team currently milks 50 goats every day, twice a day, and uses the fresh, sweet milk to make their unique goat’s milk caramel sauces. Fat Toad Farm’s caramel (the traditional Mexican confection known as Cajeta) is the happy result of combining a small number of fresh, simple, natural ingredients and a lotta love (and stirring).”

This hard working family creates an amazing product that should be at the very top of your must try list.  Fat Toad Farm’s goat’s milk caramel sauces are sweet, smooth, and very rich. I first fell in love with the caramel inside of a “caramel explosion” truffle at Nutty Steph’s in Middlesex, VT.

I asked Nutty Steph’s owner Jacqueline Rieke to tell me why she uses Fat Toad Farm caramel. Jacqueline writes, “It is the most delicious and refined liquid caramel being made in this country.  In other countries, this product is called “dulce de leche” and is a widespread dessert and confectionary ingredient for the Spanish and French.  But Fat Toad Farm is one of the only American companies even making farm-fresh goat milk caramel.  And it is of course completely natural, nourishing, and right down the road from our chocolate shop – ahh, Vermont!”

I shared a jar of Salted Bourbon Caramel with my friend Emily and asked her for her review. This is what she said, “This caramel sauce is a great excuse to have dessert, or just a snack! Turn ordinary treats into gourmet. Take your run-of-the-mill ice cream sandwich. Pretty good on its own. But now dip it in Fat Toad caramel. Gourmet yummy! I imagine an Oreo cookie would be equally delightful. We could all use more fruit in our diet. Bananas and apples are a great match, but I wouldn’t stop there. The flavor of this caramel is nostalgic for me, because it reminds me of a caramel goat cheese that my mom used to serve me when I was little.”

My jar of Vanilla Bean Caramel is not going to last long because it is out-of-this-world delicious. While a little goes a long way, it’s hard to stop with just a little. I will be honest…. I don’t use mine as a topping for ice cream (though it’s a great idea), I have eaten half a jar with just a spoon. It’s unbelievably smooth and rich. The warmth from the vanilla bean brings this caramel to a whole new dimension. I will try my best to not eat the other half of the jar (tonight!) and save it as I have endless ideas to showcase this wonderful product including homemade ice cream or a caramel cheesecake. Who wants to come over for dessert?

Fat Toad Farm’s products can be found in over 300 specialty food stores nationwide, including Whole Foods and Williams- Sonoma. You can also purchase their sweets online visit their farm store and their sweet (pun intended) goats.

The fine family at the Fat Toad Farm would like to share their caramel with you. ENTER HERE to win a jar Fat Toad Farm Caramel.

Good luck,
~Honi

May 5, 2013 – 9PM – This giveaway is now closed. Please visit our homepage to find our current giveaways and LIKE us on Facebook for real time updates.

The winners of this giveaway are martinfioretti@ and cmurray@. Congratulations! Check your email.

Katrina Coravos began making chocolate bars two years ago and now those bars are sold at over 150 locations nationwide. Clearly she has well made and delicious products.

Liberty Chocolate, from Worcester, VT, begin their process with fair trade beans from Peru “where the beans are processed by hand and using traditional techniques, such as drying the beans in the sun.  I wanted to preserve the potency, medicine, and power of this amazing plant and create a delicious product doing so.”

Next they add honey from Northwoods Apiaries in Westfield, VT. The honey adds a subtle and yet rich sweetness that’s very different from other chocolate bars. All Liberty Chocolate bars are dairy free. Liberty Chocolate is committed to using organic ingredients, and local ingredients when possible. They never use refined sugars and make each bar by hand.

Liberty Chocolate bars come in seven flavors: Dark, Peppermint, Almond Coconut, Maple, Acai & Blueberry, Moon Time (Cherry/Pomegranate)  and Hot Pepper. Their flavor combinations are intriguing and I want to try them all. I was lucky enough to try the dark chocolate bar and it was hard to stop eating it. The flavor is luscious and deep. The bar was smooth and had just the right amount of sweetness. I am going to make a point to try every flavor very soon!

Giving back to the community and charities that are near and dear to them is very important to Liberty Chocolate. They even created a unique strawberry chocolate bar for a local school fundraiser. Find Liberty Chocolate near you!

Katrina would like to share her chocolate with Try Vermont First readers. ENTER HERE  to win Liberty Chocolate. Be sure to LIKE them on Facebook too! Good luck!

Sweet,
~Honi

May 1, 2013 – 9PM – This giveaway is now closed. Please visit our homepage to find our current giveaways and LIKE us on Facebook for real time updates.

The winners of this giveaway are Ufc92591@ and chezjay@. Congratulations! Check your email.