Disclosure: I was sent a sample product for review. As always, all opinions are my own.

I always love a good flight: beer, ice cream, you name it – I’m in. This way, you get to sample a little bit of everything and pick your favorites. Honestly, I had never even thought about a caramel tasting/pairing before. I had sampled McCrea’s in the past and they are one of my top candy picks – way before they ever reached out. Their caramel is smooth and just melts in your mouth – and their flavors are complex.

So of course I wanted to try their caramel “flight”. They sent me a fun sheet of suggested pairings. Did you know the classic vanilla pairs well with a lightly baked Chardonnay or a semi sweet sparkling wine? If beer is more your thing, try it with the sweet caramel notes and smooth finish of an amber ale. Cape Cod Sea Salt pairs with a Sancerre or any white with a bit of minerality to it. It also pairs nicely with the light fruitiness of summer ales of fruit beers. And that tapped maple caramel (one of my favorites), well it pairs with a warm crafts bourbon or a Pilsner.

Want to know how to throw a caramel tasting party of your own? Click here to get a step by step tutorial on their blog. But seriously, like you even need an excuse to invite your girlfriends over for wine and sweets? I didn’t think so…

Pick up this grand tasting box ($29.95) that includes 9 flavors, including: Dark Roasted Mocha, Ginger Fusion, Rosemary Truffle Sea Salt, Single Malt Scotch, Black Lava Sea Salt, Tapped Maple, Cape Cod Sea Salt, Classic Vanilla and Deep Chocolate.

So what are my top picks? I’m a classic gal, I love the Black Lava Sea Salt because it has a little crunch to it, and the Tapped Maple is just so smooth. What’s your favorite flavor?

Visit McCrea’s Candies website here.

The post Caramel Pairings with McCrea’s appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

The holidays have me thinking about drinking. And not the “ugh the Jones’ are coming over” drinking, more like the festive and fun drinking that happens at holiday get-togethers. A while back I was treated to an evening out at Bar Mezzana to sample Amaro dell’Etna, a traditional Italian liqueur. The herbal liqueur is a perfect after dinner digestif  or could be served as a simple aperitif – over ice with soda and an orange slice.

The event was mainly corporate, but I was able to catch up with a few select blogger friends as well as an old PR friend who now works from MS Walker who hosted the event.

The South End restaurant serves coastal Italian cuisine, so it was the perfect backdrop for the US launch of Amaro dell’Etna. We sampled various charcuterie as well as an impressive raw bar.

There were two featured drinks, the first, the Bocca Nuova, was made with Amaro dell’Etna, citadel gin, lime and mint. Perfectly clean and refreshing. The second drink was the Mountain of Fire, made with Amaro dell’Etna, rye whiskey, contralto americano rosso, salt and grapefruit oil.

Thanks to Amaro dell’Etna and MS Walker for the night out!

The post Amaro dell’Etna appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Many of you probably recognize Bar Director and partner of Cafe Art Science, Tenzin Samdo. If you don’t, start taking notice (check him out on Instagram). He is known for his creative cocktails and his impressive garnishes. I first met Tenzin when he was working at Trade. He’s very personable and never forgets a face. After leaving Trade he moved on to manage the bar at Tavern Road in Fort Point and most recently joined Cafe Art Science this past summer.

Did you know that in addition to being named one of Boston’s best bartenders, he was part of an award winning mixologist team that helped create a line of bar mixes? He worked with Cocktail Artist and developed the perfect premium lemon juice, perfect for those aspiring home bar masters. Other mixes in the line include simple syrup, lime juice, mint syrup, grenadine, Manhattan mix, Old Fashioned mix, and a mule mix.

Tenzin’s bar menu is based on endangered animals. The titi monkey appeared on the endangered species list in 2012 and the menu gives you a short background if you are like me, and have no idea what a titi monkey is. The drink is made with orange peel, pisco, matcha, sandalwood, egg white and sugar cane ($15).

Not only does the drink taste delicious, but watching it being made is like getting a front row seat to a show. Tenzin definitely elevates your bar/drink experience and will definitely help you up your Instagram game

Lines can be long on the weekends to belly up to the bar, but know that the drinks and the service are definitely worth the wait. If you’re up for it, do a little day drinking – they are open for lunch Monday – Friday from 11:30-2:00pm.

The best drink at Cafe Art Science may not even be on the menu. They have this amazing little robot that holds a really cool vapor machine. You “sip” the vapor through a glass straw – it tastes exactly like Jagermeister (let’s say that’s the flavor of the evening), but it has no calories! It’s a surreal experience, you just have to try it out for yourself!

The post An Afternoon at Cafe Art Science with Tenzin Samdo appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Let’s be honest, 1 year olds don’t need party favors, but it is nice to have guests leave a party with a little something. La Doce is Boston’s first online boutique to offer Brazilian birgadeiros. They say they are a cross between a truffle and a caramel – these confections just melt in your mouth!

Each box is made to order in Westborough, MA and they are hand delivered in the metro Boston area next day! They can also be shipped if you aren’t in the area. Husband and wife team Bruno and Laura Alves are the brains behind La Doce. Laura started making brigadeiros for school events and soon people we requesting them for events. Using a family recipe, Laura and Bruno are bringing these delicious Brazilian treats to the masses!

Boxes come in two sizes, the 4 piece (perfect for party favors) for $10 and a 12 piece size (pictured above) for $25.

La Doce brigadeiros come in five flavors: Milk Chocolate with Milk Chocolate Sprinkles, Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs, Dark Chocolate with Sliced Almonds, Pistachio with Chopped Pistachios and Coconut with Shredded Coconut. 

For more information, or to order, check out their website: www.byladoce.com

Disclaimer: I was given a sample of La Doce brigadeiros for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

The post Party Favors: La Doce appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

It’s so fun to be turning 1!! The Go Local Boston gals and I put together a fun party for my little one who has a birthday right around the corner. If you’re looking for a traditional cake, The Icing on the Cake is one of my top choices. Located in Newton, TIOTC is in their 29th year of business. They did our wedding cake, which was amazing. The cake designs are beautiful and they can create a custom cake (or cupcakes) for your event. 8″ round cakes, that feed around 10-15, start at $45. This cake, with pale pink rosettes, was a perfect centerpiece for our party.

We paired the cake with a sparkler #1 candle from Greentail Table. Greentail has a large selection of housewares and textiles. I literally want EVERYTHING in the store.

The candle in action!

Sparklers not your thing? Here’s another fun way to top your cake – picked this up in the dollar bins at Target!

Other places to get great cakes:

• Party Favors in Brookline – they do custom cakes, but also have cakes (and cupcakes) ready to go in the shop
• Blackbird Doughnuts in the South End – Chef Anna Perna makes a doughnut cake, 5″ wide, made with doughnut layers and berry jam. For $26 you can get one for your next event, covered in vanilla buttercream or the seasonal buttercream (which is strawberry at the moment). Hey, if Adele loves it, you will too!
• AJ Cakes in Marlborough – for those of you out in Metro West, Ashley is your girl. She makes custom cakes, cookies and cupcakes.Do  yourself a favor and pick up a cinnamon roll for yourself while your in there for the ride home…
• For those of you farther out west, try The Crown Bakery and Cafe in Worcester – Our girl Kim swears by the princess cake, but they can whip you up any number of options, they’ve been around for 55 years!

Here’s the birthday girl going after that first taste of cake!

Traditional cakes not your thing? Try an ice cream cake from New City Microcreamery in Hudson. I love New City for their liquid nitrogen ice cream and eccentric toppings. Now, they offer cakes, starting at $25. Choose from three popular flavors:

Strawberries and Cream: Yellow Cake, Strawberry ice cream, whipped cream icing.
Birthday Cake: Funfetti cake, Cake batter ice cream, whipped Icing, rainbow sprinkles.
Double Chocolate: Chocolate Cake, Chocolate ice cream, brownie crumble, chocolate icing.

Pop on to their website, you can order it right online, pick your flavor and pick your size (6″, 8″ or 10″) – BOOM, you’re done. You can make a fully customized cake starting at $35.

We had the strawberries and cream cake – I love strawberry ice cream and the cake was very light and fresh. Pick one up today!

Let’s talk party favors. Before I had kids, I went to some first birthday parties. When you don’t have kids and you get invited to a 1st birthday party, you can probably think of a million things that you’d rather be doing. I love the idea of party favors for the adults at a kids party – make the non parents happy and put out some single serve bubbly and fun party straws. We thought the LaMarca proseccos were a good choice and paired them with fun paper straws from Target.

Bubbly not your thing? The Francis Ford Coppola winery puts out these cute Sofia mini cans. The Sofia Blanc de Blancs come in fun pink cans with their own straw for sipping. Those without kids will thank you. And even if you do have kids, you might want to grab one of these

Now that the adults are happy, how about the kids? How adorable are these sappy cups that Leah found from Francesca’s. Party favors at 1st birthdays aren’t really necessary, but fun for guests to walk away with a little something.

Succulents are so in these days, how about these cuties from Niche in Cambridge? Leah likes to pair these with $5 gift cards for the kids – I like that idea too! I think I’ll steal it. Because you know that those kids don’t need cheap plastic toys or more candy…

Let’s throw in something a little sophisticated shall we? I’ll start off with these amazing unicorn macarons from Maca Boston. Tamy is my go to gal for macarons – not only does she make adorable characters, but they TASTE DELICIOUS! They are so fresh – these ones are filled with fruity pebble buttercream – so fun!! We shot them on top of Hammond’s cotton candy from Brothers Marketplace, because…what kid doesn’t love cotton candy! Oh, and by the way, she also makes MACARON CAKES!!!!!

Another option for party favors, not just for a 1st birthday, but for any event, are La Doce brigadeiros. These Brazilian handmade truffles come in this 4 pack size ($10), perfect for a favor, or a larger size of 15 ($35). They are made locally and are HAND DELIVERED! Yay!!

Stay tuned all this week for fun party themed posts!

Thanks to the following companies who provided the products for this post: La Doce, Brothers Marketplace, Maca Boston, New City Microcreamery and The Icing on the Cake

The post 1st Birthday Party appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

I’m have to admit that Mother’s Day totally snuck up on me. Maybe my head has been in the sand, but all of the sudden I turned around and oh wait, Mother’s Day is THIS WEEKEND!! So, I checked in with my gal pals from Go Local Boston and we put together a few ideas for Sunday! For a quick and easy meal, we decided on Tequila Lime Chicken. This is an easy recipe, Ina Garten’s actually, and it came out AMAZING. Really tender and flavorful. We paired it with a little pea soup, and I love it served in mismatched mugs.

Brother’s Marketplace in Weston is really my go to place these days. I can pick up almost everything I need in one place. It only looks like I spent hours slaving in the kitchen preparing. Let them do all the work while you sit on the couch eating the Mother’s Day chocolates you bought for yourself. For our shoot, we picked up a few items for a killer cheese board, some flowers and of course a little bubbly. Those delicious desserts are from Praliné in Belmont. Try to just buy one tart, I dare you! They also make some delicious macarons, so pick some of those up for good measure. Need to wrap your gifts and pick up a card? Check out Bottle Branch. Elizabeth creates these amazing botanical note cards, stickers and gift tags. These items just stepped up your gift giving game! Looking to add in a little fun? Have you checked out the gifts at Sense and Humor? I love the “World’s Okayest Mom” mug.

So let’s talk cheese plates. This one has my favorite cheese on it, Cobb Hill’s Ascutney Mountain, along side of Consider Bardwell’s Dorset, and a little Great Hill Blue Cheese to round out the plate. Ascutney Mountain is an Alpine style cheese made with raw farmstead Jersey cow milk that has a sweet and nutty flavor. Dorset is a washed rind, raw Jersey cow cheese that is ripe! It has a rich, buttery texture. Great Hill is based in Western Massachusetts and is full flavored. Leah loves sour cherry, so the Divinia sour cherry spread was a perfect choice. It’s bold and sweet, perfect on this cheese plate but could easily be added to pastry or spread on your favorite sandwich. Effie’s oatcakes are one of my favorite snacks. I eat them straight out of the bag, but they are perfect for a cheese plate. They are made locally in Hyde Park and have a sweet nutty flavor to them. I always like different textures on my cheese plates, so we included Copper Kettle’s Cranberry Welsh Cakes that are made locally in Westwood. For bubbles, I love the 90+ Cellars Prosecco, and for those who aren’t drinking, the Laurel Hill Sparkling Cider is a great choice.

Need a gift for mom? Have you heard about La Doce? Husband and wife team Laura and Bruno Alves just launched their brigadeiro company. These Brazilian chocolates are made from 100% cacao, organic condensed milk and organic butter. They come in five flavors: milk chocolate with milk chocolate sprinkles, dark chocolate with cocoa nibs, dark chocolate with sliced almonds, pistachio and coconut. You can buy them online and they will HAND DELIVER the next day! Talk about fresh. The consistency of these chocolates is amazing, they just melt in your mouth. I love the chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, but the pistachio was a close second. A box of 4 is $10 and a box of 12 is $25. And at 80-100 calories per piece, I’m not ashamed that I polished this box off before Mother’s Day even came.

How can it be Mother’s Day without flowers? These beauties are from Brother’s Marketplace, designed buy the talented Ali Papa. She’s self taught and is killing it over in Weston. Stop by and say hello!

What are you doing for Mother’s Day?

The post Mother’s Day Ideas appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

With kids (ok, well, with my kid) it’s all about the shape. When we go out to a meal, I have to ask what shape the noodles are in for the macaroni and cheese. What can I say, my son likes elbows not penne.

So with Passover around the corner, we decided to take these fun Manischewitz kid’s kits for a spin. The pizza kit is extra fun because the matzo inside is triangle shaped (because regular square matzo with pizza toppings just wouldn’t cut in our house). You know that if I tried to break the square matzo into triangles on my own it would be a hot mess! My son has just discovered “cooking” and loves to “help”. So he hopped up on his kitchen helper and got to work. First, he and grandma made the matzo pizza. A really fun activity to do with the kids. We set my son up on a baking sheet to try and contain the inevitable mess, and let him have at it. He had a ball.

The kit comes with triangle shaped matzo and sauce packets. You use your own cheese and can add on whatever toppings you like. We ended up just making cheese pizza – my son’s favorite. He could have spent the whole day making pizzas! You should have seen the look on his face, he was so proud of the finished product!

Next up we made the s’mores together. I wish that the weather was nicer so that we could have made these outside, but since it has been non stop rain, we settled for making them in the microwave. While I miss the graham cracker flavor with the s’mores, can you really ever go wrong with chocolate and marshmallows? I didn’t think so. These were so simple to make, check out the video above for the step by step.

So when you’re out shopping at Stop and Shop this weekend for your sedar, make sure to pick up some of these kits to mix things up!

For more information, check out the Manischewitz website here.

Make sure to head back here on Tuesday – I’m going to be showing you some fun tartines made with the mini matzos pictured above!

Disclaimer: I was provided complimentary samples for a review. All opinions are my own.

The post Cooking with Manischewitz Kids appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Easter is just over a week away and I wanted to give you some ideas for the perfect Easter baskets! You know, something a little different, not your average Reese’s and Cadbury baskets (although, Cadbury mini eggs are my weakness!). All of these items (with an exception of a few things) are from small (mostly local) businesses, which I hope that you will support.

So here we go: Are you throwing an Easter brunch? What a perfect Pinterest way to showcase your amazing Easter baskets! Our party included home made chocolate covered pretzel rods and treats made by Bisous Sweet. Karen Collins is the talented baker behind the Bisous Sweet name. I’ve loved her linzer heart cookies and rugelach for some time now, and was delighted to see that she’s adding new things to her repertoire. These iced cookies are adorable, great for individual place settings or served on a platter. They come individually wrapped, so they can also go in your Easter basket. Look at that chocolate tart – so rich, with topping light as air! It’s sure to impress all of your guests. The chocolate cupcakes were a hit with us, the dark chocolate cupcake was filled with vanilla Italian meringue buttercream and glazed with dark chocolate ganache (and topped with my favorite, a Cadbury mini egg). Her bakery is located in Shirley, MA, but we have found Bisous Sweet goodies at Brothers Market in Weston, Volante Farms in Needham and Donelan’s Market in Lincoln. Check out her website to see where you can find Bisous Sweet treats near you.

I always like to send my guests away with something sweet – something from Spindler Confections would be perfect. I love the chocolate caramel pretzels because they come covered in white, milk AND dark chocolate. The caramel is made in house and the sea salt it’s topped with is from Gloucester. You can buy these goodies online, or if you are local, check out their shop in Davis Square.

I’ve been a big fan of EHChocolatier, so I am excited to show you an ENTIRE Easter basket with their goodies in it. The company started in 2010, by Elaine Hsieh and Catharine Sweeney. Their chocolates are top notch, trust me, you’ll love them. You can order these goodies online or you can visit their shop in Somerville during the week. So let’s talk about what’s in this basket: (clockwise from top right) Hand piped marshmallow chicks (4 for $8.00); Salted caramel Easter domes made with dark chocolate and filled with their popular salted caramel (5 for $15.95); Honey Bunnies filled with honey caramel (made with local Carlisle honey) (6 for $15.95); the classic chocolate rabbit that comes in white, milk or dark chocolate is approximately 5″ tall ($9.95) and the bunny pop ($3.50) comes in caramelized white chocolate, 70% dark chocolate or 45% milk chocolate; and the marshmallow caramel bunnies (3 for $11.95) are made with homemade vanilla marshmallow with a touch of honey and a dollop of dark caramel.

Do you have a sports fanatic at home? I filled this basket with a Red Sox hat (because, hometown pride and all), a Si’p by S’well 15oz aluminum water bottle (it’s important to stay hydrated when consuming this amount of Easter candy!) which I bought at Target for $24.99 (it comes in a variety of colors), chocolate sports ball candy (basketballs, golf balls, and soccer balls) that I picked up at the Wayside Country Store in Marlborough, and some hard candy sports balls from Pure Sugar Candy. Stacey Nectow runs Pure Sugar Candy, based in Needham, and makes all kinds of custom hard candy. Basically anything you can dream of: basketballs, golf balls, tennis balls, baseballs, footballs, hockey players etc. And that is just the sports themed things, you’ll have to check out her Facebook page to see a larger sample of what she can make! (Continue reading to see some of her other goodies below) Their new spot in Holliston is almost ready, so keep an eye out for their brick and mortar shop to open!

Don’t want to go with a theme? No problem, this Easter basket will make anyone happy! I had this bunny from Jellycat that I couldn’t resist adding in, along with the Duck & Goose Here Comes the Easter Bunny book. Duck & Goose books are favorites in our house, and the board book fits perfectly in this adorable Spritz basket that I found at Target. The pink bunny pajamas are from Gap ($26.95) and come in sizes 6 months to 5 years. The Spindler Confections caramel pretzels are in here, as well as a Bisous Sweet cookie. No Easter basket would be complete without Peeps ($5.95), these ones, dipped in chocolate (white, milk or dark) are from Phillips Chocolates, Boston’s oldest chocolatier. You can order Phillips candy online, head to their corporate headquarters on Morrissey Blvd., or check out their store in the South Shore Plaza. Side note: they make the most delicious turtles, so you should pick some up for yourself while you’re shopping for others.

I thought that a farm themed basket would be cute. This basket was a Spritz basket I picked up at Target. Again, the pajamas from the basket above from the GAP. I added in a chicken stuffed animal by my favorite brand, Jellycat. I realize that lumberjacks aren’t found on a farm, but I love this guy, Duke, made by ChickPea Studios out of Waterbury, VT. I found him on Etsy, one of my favorite places to support small businesses. We love these “Bernie’s Farm Animal Cookies” by Annie’s in my house. The individual packages are perfect for snacking on the go and they come in fun shapes like a cow, a tractor, a barn and a chicken. They are made with organic wheat and are naturally colored with fruit and vegetable extracts (if that’s important to you!). Harbor Sweets makes my favorite candy, Sweet Sloops, but they make other delicious goodies as well. The peanut butter pony ($13.95) is perfect for this farm themed basket, and a lot more fun (and tasty) than those other peanut butter and chocolate treats. Farm shaped lollipops from Pure Sugar Candy are an adorable addition to this basket and they come in a variety of flavors. Those Donald and Daisy duck macarons are made by Tamy, of Maca Boston. Tamy makes some of the best macarons I’ve had outside of Paris, check out my previous post about her here.

My last basket is a nautical themed basket. The bags are bucket bags from Sea Bags, located in Portland, ME. I use these bags at Christmas as “stockings” for our family, so I was happy to find another holiday to use them for. I may have a small (ahem, large) addiction to Sea Bags, I probably have half a dozen tote bags in addition to 6 of these bucket bags. They are super functional and easy to clean, perfect for a family on the go. I filled these bags with a box of sweet sloops from Harbor Sweets (12 piece box for $13.50) and some Barque Sarah’s (my second favorite candy they make) which are whole toasted almonds in milk chocolate, chocolate mini turtles from the Wayside Country Store, sailboat lollipops and a lighthouse from Pure Sugar Candy, and a notepad and set of little notes from my new favorite company, E. Frances Paper, located in Newport, RI. How can you resist these adorable sailboats or the adorable seagull in a striped shirt (also, not to be missed are the crab and whale in the striped shirt). They’re so cute you almost don’t want to use them!

Not hosting an Easter brunch, but going to one? I always like to bring a little hostess gift. I filled a blue and white striped mixing bowl from Crate and Barrel  ($19.95) with some delicious goodies. The bowl will be used long after the treats are gone!

Here’s what’s inside:

• A large chocolate Easter egg from Pao Brasil Bakery in Framingham ($16.95)
• Custom flower cookies by A Dozen eggs. These all butter vanilla sugar cookies come individually wrapped and are just amazing. Beautifully decorated AND delicious. (Lilies are 4 for $15.95, 12 for $39.95, 24 for $78.95) (Tulips are 4 for $15.95, 12 for $34.95, 24 for $68.95). Laura started her business in Boston in 2004, and has since moved up to Mount Holly, VT.
• Fudge filled egg from Phillips Chocolate ($14.95) which you can get in milk or dark chocolate. Other filled egg flavors include: dark coconut, dark yolk, milk coconut, milk rocky road, and milk turtle. (YUM!! Turtle filled egg, sign me up!!)
• Gather Chocolates by Harbor Sweets (6 piece box for $12.50). These are the newest addition to the Harbor Sweets family, and they are raising awareness of the plight of the honeybee. Harbor Sweets will be donating 2.5% of all sales to the Pollinator Partnership to aid inn their efforts to preserve and protect the honeybees. Flavors in this box include: caramelized honey, pomegranate molasses, sour cherry, sesame crunch, coconut cluster and cashew caramel. Each chocolate is flavored with a  note of local wildflower honey.
• A Robert L. Strohecker Assorted Rabbit ($18) by Harbor Sweets that is filled with caramel and pecans, almond butter crunch toffee and whole toasted almonds. It comes in two halves, each individually wrapped in gold foil.
• Easter Marshmallows from Williams Sonoma
• Assorted chocolates from Spindler Confections
• Bottom left is a nice selection of treats from Formaggio Kitchen. You can order online or visit one of their stores in Boston, Cambridge, or New York. Greek Honey Botanic Blossoms ($14.95), P&T Sprite’s Delite tea ($23.95)  a green team with hints of strawberry and basil, Generous Stracciatella ($8.95) gluten free cookies that are made in Belgium,
  Sorelle Nurzia Classic Brittle Nougat with Almonds ($16.95), and Pietro Romanengo Fondant Candies ($32.95) that come in a variety of flavors, such as raspberry, pear, strawberry and licorice.

So now that I’ve told you all of my favorite things to add into my Easter baskets, what are your favorite things to add into your Easter baskets?

The post Easter Baskets: Something for Everyone appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

The new year for me was like a reboot, I wanted to get my home in order. We moved in this past summer and I have yet to feel settled. I took some time after the holidays to organize, purge and clean. I met the team from Fresh Wave at The Biggest Baby Shower and they were kind enough to send me some products to get my project jump started. Not sure about you, but one of the smelliest places in my house is the litter box. Fresh Wave has this odor removing gel that is super easy to use. It is effective for a 200 sq ft area and the gel will disappear as it evaporates. The 7 oz gel lasts about 30 days and it has made a huge difference! Not only is the litter box small gone, but there is a pleasant fragrance in the air. What cat!?! The 7oz gel is $8.99, the 15oz gel that will last you 30-60 days is $14.99 and the 3lb 15oz refill is $39.99.

Another great product they have is the fresh pod, you can stick it almost anywhere with those easy command strips. I stuck my pod in our smelliest garbage can in the garage (where the diapers and cat litter go) but it would also be great in the diaper genie as well. The case is refillable and each pack will last you 30-60 days. The pod is $5.99, a package of 6 odor removing packs is $9.99.

And for everywhere else, try the odor removing spray. Good for smelly shoes, gym bags or sports gear. I love that it comes in a travel size (2oz for $4.49) and a regular size (8oz for $7.99)

So here’s the lowdown on Fresh Wave: their products are a safe and natural way to remove odors. They are made from natural ingredients like plant extracts. There are no harsh chemicals and no strong fragrances. It’s not an air freshener, it removes odors with plant extracts. Don’t worry, this stuff is safe even near kids and pets.

For more information, head over to the Fresh Wave website.

What do you use to get rid of those tough odors in your house?

Disclaimer: I was sent Fresh Wave products for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

The post Refreshing My Home with Fresh Wave appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

This weekend I had the opportunity to head out to Devens, MA to check out Little Leaf Farms. So what is a girl who doesn’t like eating vegetables doing at a lettuce farm? Right?!! Well it turns out that I was just waiting for the right vegetables. Little Leaf Farms may have just converted me into being a salad eater! You can taste the difference – but more on that later. Let me start from the beginning: you’ve heard of Backyard Farms tomatoes – the year round greenhouse grown tomatoes. If you haven’t, check out my post here. Backyard Farms founder Paul Sellew and former EVP of Sales and Marketing Tim Cunniff have started a new venture, Little Leaf Farms.

Little Leaf Farms is a 3 acre greenhouse that grows baby lettuce hydroponically. They use recycled rain water and solar energy. When there isn’t enough natural sunlight, the LED grow lights come on, which use 40% less electricity than conventional grow lights. The lettuce grows for about 25 days and there is a 24 hour period from when it is picked to when it reaches the grocery store. This is what makes them so different than the other lettuce that you get in the grocery store which mainly comes from California. The competition’s lettuce has already been sitting on a truck for at least a week before it gets to your local store – and at that point, it’s probably getting a bit soggy, has wilted, or is getting a little brown and slimy in the bag.

Little Leaf Farms has 4 products that come in 4 – 5 oz. bags:

Savory Spring Mix: a delicious mix including their red and green leaf lettuces, arugula and red chard (look at how beautiful it is in the photo above)

Super Crisp Green Leaf

Spicy Arugula

Lively Red and Green Leaf Blend

Now let me say that I have generally not like arugula every time I’ve had it. I tried the arugula at Little Leaf Farms and I actually liked it. It is a little spicy and gives you a real kick at the end.

Check out their state of the art greenhouse – this lettuce is 25 days old and is being moved out to the cutter!

After our tour of the facility we came back to the table to eat lunch and do a little blind taste test.

Can you spot the difference between the green leaf lettuce? Which one looks more appealing?

Which arugula looks better? After all, you eat with your eyes. And let me just say that not only was there a huge difference in taste, but there was also a difference in texture. The competition had a chemical, waxy mouth feel where as the Little Leaf Farms arugula felt clean and crunchy.

After the taste test, we sat down to an amazing lunch made by Paul’s wife and her sister. The steak was made using the Momofuku recipe which can be found here. SO flavorful and delicious! It was served with the Little Leaf Farms arugula.

The chicken salad was her mom’s recipe. I’m hoping that recipe shows up on the Little Leaf Farms website soon.

Vietnamese fresh rolls with peanut sauce featuring Little Leaf Finstar.

A delicious salad, made with the red and green leaf mix and topped with Bubba’s vinaigrette (so simple and yet so delicious!):

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper

Pour olive oil into a small bowl or jar.  With a garlic press, press garlic clove into olive oil, including crushed pieces of garlic in the oil as well. Add rice vinegar. Whisk all ingredients together, it will thicken slightly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A special shout out to Richard Auffrey, The Passionate Foodie, for organizing this field trip and for choosing some great local wines and ciders to go with our tasty lunch.

Disclaimer: I was invited to be a guest at Little Leaf Farms. I was provided a complimentary lunch and a swag bag with lettuce. All opinions are my own.

The post Little Leaf Farms appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.