Congrats to Winnie’s Mom!
The random number generator has picked comment #14, meaning that Winnie’s mother gets a Pantry on Steroids Super Sampler!
Winnie wrote that her mother “loves to bake and make fancy desserts” and so would be most excited about the bourbon vanilla beans…it sounds to us like this sampler might be one of those brilliant gifts that rewards the giver as much as the receiver.
Actually, for the benefit of Winnie’s mom along with anyone else who likes to live life on the sweet side, several of the other ingredients in the sampler can be used in desserts too:
● While most Americans see saffron threads as a savory ingredient, they are often used in ice
creams, puddings, and other desserts in the Middle East.
● Flor de sal salt can be used to top caramels or chocolates (sea salt candies are very in vogue
these days, second only to bacon as a haute chocolate ingredient, it seems).
● Aji panca chilies are mild enough that they add fruitiness and just a hint of spice to cakes and
South American-style hot chocolate (as in this chile hot chocolate recipe).
● As regular readers of the Marx Foods blog know, clever guest bloggers Natasha and Melody
have worked wonders with fennel pollen in desserts (check out the pot au crème recipe &
sweet potato dumpling recipe!)
● Justin swears by aged balsamic vinegar over vanilla ice cream.
As to the dried porcini mushrooms, and natural white truffle oil, well…I’m afraid you’re on your own there. Maybe those are best saved for dinner.
Have a happy Mother’s Day everyone!
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Posted by
Matt
on
Apr 29, 2010
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My mom isn’t really into gourmet food so I’d really keep this for myself, but in the spirit of the commenting I’d venture to guess that she’d like the mushrooms.
April 29th, 2010 at 11:30 amDefinitely the vanilla beans, because vanilla beans equal creme brulee
April 29th, 2010 at 11:38 amMy mom would love the fennel pollen after hearing me rave about it for the past few weeks. She’s never had it!
April 29th, 2010 at 11:39 amMy mom would love the saffron. She uses quite a bit of it in a Filipino rice soup and in fried rice.
April 29th, 2010 at 11:48 amTruffle oil! It’s one of those expensive things she’d never buy for herself, but would love to receive as a gift.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:10 pmI think my mom would like the porcini mushrooms – I am hoping she would share with me!
April 29th, 2010 at 12:11 pmMine would definitely love the aged balsamic vinegar.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:15 pmOh how fun! I think my mom would love the Oro Nero aged Balsamic Vinegar!! Now if I could get my daughters to enter the contest so I could win the Bourbon Vanilla Beans….
April 29th, 2010 at 12:16 pmMy mom would be most excited about the salt because honestly, it would be the only thing she’d know what to do with
April 29th, 2010 at 12:18 pmMy mom would like the truffle oil. It’s something she normally wouldn’t splurge on for herself, but she’d make good use of it.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:20 pmMy mom would be thrilled with all of it, but most excited about the aged balsamic vinegar, as she loves salads and likes to make her own salad dressing. Balsamic is one of her favorites.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:20 pmBack in the 70s and 80s my mother served us fennel pollen. At the time, we were pretty sure she was nuts, since our neighbors were eating Wonder Bread and Velveeta. Oh how times have changed! She’d get a kick out of the fennel pollen for sure.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:21 pmMy mom would like the fennel pollen…oh wait that’s what I would like she would probably like the balsamic.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:21 pmMy mom loves to bake and make fancy desserts, so I know she would enjoy using the vanilla beans.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:27 pmMy mother would be most excited about the porcinis. I learned to be a huge fan of mushrooms from her and Dad.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:34 pmHeck, my mom wouldn’t know what to do with any of this stuff, aside from the salt! LOL!
However, she’d be delighted with any of it, once I had a chance to get my mitts on it and make some delicious treats for her with some of these deilightful items (specifically the bourbon vanilla beans and the white truffle oil!)
: )
April 29th, 2010 at 12:34 pmWhite truffle oil because it’s so easy to use and expensive to buy.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:38 pmI think the vanilla beans would be great! The flavor is one of her favorites and they can be used in all kinds of recipes.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:59 pmgosh, this is a tough call between the truffle oil, porcini and vanilla beans. guess if you held my hand to the fire, i’d have to say procini.
love these contests!
April 29th, 2010 at 1:02 pmThe porcinis! We love cooking with mushrooms – runs in the family!
April 29th, 2010 at 1:35 pmThe vanilla beans would be a sure hit!
April 29th, 2010 at 2:31 pmOoo what fun! My mama would love the Oro Nero aged Balsamic Vinegar!!She puts that on her salad everyday!!
April 29th, 2010 at 2:31 pmMy mom would like any of these ingredients, once someone else has prepared them for her in a finished dish!
April 29th, 2010 at 2:43 pmMy mom would love the vanilla beans, and I’d fight her for the saffron. Kidding, I’d never fight my mom
I might steal it from her when she’s not looking, though.
April 29th, 2010 at 5:02 pmSeriously, my mom has not tried any of those. I will pick balsamic vinegar for her to sample and tell her “Mom, this is another variety of vinegar – just like those Chinese black vinegar!” That will be the easiest way to tell her how good everything else is in the sampler and she will be excited in all of the rest
April 29th, 2010 at 5:03 pmChoosing one is difficult- I would have to say the Dried Porcini Mushrooms- but the saffron and truffle oil are following right behind!
April 29th, 2010 at 5:08 pmWhat a totally amazing gift for any Mom!
I can’t decide whether my Mom would be most thrilled with the white truffle oil or the bourbon vanilla beans. I know she would actually really appreciate all the items listed. In fact, we would probably end up cooking them together!
April 29th, 2010 at 5:12 pmHmm, I suppose the bourbon vanilla beans might be it, as she as a serious sweet tooth…
My Mom would LOVE the truffle oil. When I fed her some pasta tossed with white alba truffle butter (thanks again for the truffles, btw) she was amazed!
April 29th, 2010 at 7:08 pmAll would make my mother happy!! She is a great cook and an even better mother!!!!
April 29th, 2010 at 8:09 pmMy mom, though not a blogger, is a dyed in the wool foodie. She would love all of the contents of this sampler, but probably would like the saffron the most, as it’s a pricier item and she doesn’t splurge often.
April 29th, 2010 at 8:22 pmMy mother died 40 years ago but if she were alive, she would probably choose the salt because she wouldn’t know what any of the other things were or how to use them!
April 29th, 2010 at 9:16 pmThis would be a great way for my mom to try new foods. We can both experience the wonders of the sampler together. Also, I could learn to use the beans for vanilla extract to use in the cakes that she makes. That is, if I win lol.
April 29th, 2010 at 10:31 pmMy mom would be most in love with the truffle oil for sure!
April 30th, 2010 at 12:17 amMy mom would love the vanilla beans because they’d be great for baking. Thanks!
April 30th, 2010 at 2:35 amwould love to poach cod in in some oil and salt as they do in spain.
April 30th, 2010 at 4:13 amMy mom is obsessed with fennel pollen and can’t find it ANYWHERE within 200 miles of her house. This would make her YEAR.
April 30th, 2010 at 5:06 amAwesome giveaway! I have to say I think my mom would be most excited about the balsamic vinegar. She is totally addicted to the stuff and could use a really good bottle.
April 30th, 2010 at 5:38 amMy mom would love to use the saffron threads. She was telling me last week about a new shrimp scampi recipe that used saffron.
April 30th, 2010 at 5:41 amWow! My mom would go nuts over the balsamic vinegar, especially. She really loves putting it on strawberries or making a good vinaigrette!
April 30th, 2010 at 6:11 amFlor de Sal Salt. No questions asked.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:00 amJustin,
Much props for your guest post on 5 star foodie. The braised wild boar belly was an amazing dish. Wish people would be more open to all the wonderful organic game meat out there. Squirrel, pigeon, wild boar, elk. As a cook I find using this produce invigorating. I look forward to following you here. Your cuisine is much in line with my own. Have a good weekend. Cheers!
April 30th, 2010 at 8:26 amIm sure My mom would ove the balsamic vinegar, vanilla bean and saffron thread.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:49 amSadly my mother has passed away. But I think she’s be most excited by the Fennel Pollen, because she had probably never tasted it and she loved cooking adventures! GREG
April 30th, 2010 at 10:19 amMy mom would most like the saffron, especially if I got credit for giving it to her. There was an… incident… with some saffron when I was a kid learning how to cook. It wasn’t pretty.
April 30th, 2010 at 10:27 amMy mom is a major foodie but when it comes to cooking at home she can be kind of blah about it. With a full time job and taking care of my grandmother, she just doesn’t have time to seek out amazing ingredients like these even though she knows darn well what to do with them. She would love all of these, really but I think the balsamic and white truffle oil as well as the fennel pollen would really make her Mother’s Day! Great contest you guys!
April 30th, 2010 at 11:27 amI’m thinking the balsamic vinegar with home made mozz, fresh basil and tomatoes!
April 30th, 2010 at 12:58 pmWhile I would (of course!) give the sampler to my mom, she would love me to make her something using the items, so it would be the vanilla beans first!
April 30th, 2010 at 5:18 pmI think she might like the white truffle oil on some popcorn because she loves popcorn.
April 30th, 2010 at 6:37 pmOoooh-I’m torn between the Iranian saffron and the Bourbon Vanilla beans!! I think mom would make good use of these in her desserts
April 30th, 2010 at 6:57 pmHey there, My mum would love the bourbon vanilla beans. She is so amazed by the looks of fresh vanilla pod (she only buys them powdered with sugar). I bought her one years ago and she still has it
She says she likes the smell of it and if she uses it up – then it will disappear. Now imagine one infused wit bourbon 
I think I would keep it 
April 30th, 2010 at 10:56 pmMom would be buys for a week or two using these ingredinets. Truffle oil would be her favorite and we’d have in 20 different ways over the month as she experiments.
May 1st, 2010 at 4:45 amMy mother’s not so much into new and exciting foods – though I’m sure she’d enjoy the vanilla beans. The rest. . . well, I guess I’d have to find a way to help her find a use for it!
May 1st, 2010 at 6:03 amWas interested to read that flor de sal is the Portuguese version of fleur de sel. My mom loves sprinkling fleur de sel on her salads and I’ve even seen her sprinkle it on chocolate dishes!
May 1st, 2010 at 9:36 amKudos for the lovely recipe you shared with us at 5 Star Foodie. My mother is not alive but I know I would love the truffle oil and the dried porcini, not that I don’t like the remaining. I may not be eligible for the giveaway as I live in Greece but I’d love to provide an address in the U.S. and give it to some friends who live there, if I win.
May 1st, 2010 at 10:02 amthe vanilla.
May 1st, 2010 at 7:37 pmSo many gourmet items…I think she would like the White Truffle Oil best.
May 1st, 2010 at 11:14 pmI remember she went out to lunch with the girls once and had something with truffles for the first time and couldn’t stop talking about it. Yummy giveaway, thanks!
My mommy is the best cook, she is a chef and she could use all these things in her recipes. I think the vanilla beans would make her happy for her plated desserts!
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 amDefinitely the balsamic vinegar simply because of the amazing process that this amazing elixir goes through to become what it is. We have plenty of “fake” balsamic vinegar in the house but a bottle of balsamic vinegar would be a true treasure.
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:24 amI think my Mom would LOVE this coz she loves all things exotic, and I don’t think ‘it’ gets better than this!!
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:49 amMy Mom would be most excited about the vanilla beans. She’s got a big sweet tooth and would quickly use them to make a wonderful vanilla bean custard sauce to top some fresh berries.
May 2nd, 2010 at 11:41 amI think she’d be most excited about the truffle oil, as it would be the hardest to find where she is
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:13 pmMy mom would love the vanilla the best for sure. But I’m sure my sister will help her w/using other things
May 2nd, 2010 at 3:05 pmVery nice giveaway
My mother as long since departed this realm, but I’m a mom, and I’d love those vanilla beans 
May 2nd, 2010 at 8:12 pmI’ll think the white truffle would make her scream with delight! They’re too expensive and she is a thrifty person.
May 2nd, 2010 at 8:38 pmmy mom would love the peppers! she is always experimenting with moles and enchilada sauces.
May 2nd, 2010 at 8:44 pmthe Iranian Sargol Saffron Threads – 1gram jar
May 3rd, 2010 at 4:34 amThis stuff is HARD to come by and works miracles!
It’s hard to get superior quality Saffron Threads so this will be the item my mom would love to use in her paella
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:35 pmWild fennel pollen is so unusual and exciting, I’m sure she’ll love it
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:38 pmShe’ll be wowed with he white truffle oil…something she’s read about but could not afford on her social security
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:40 pmAged Balsamic…dried Porcinis…balsamic…porcinis….who am I kidding, I can’t chose a favorite between those two!
May 4th, 2010 at 10:59 amCongrats Winnie….
May 5th, 2010 at 5:50 pm