One of the (fabulous) perks of being a food blogger is that from time to time you get offers for free products to review. I NEVER turn these down… especially when they are something yummy comprised mostly of sugar! A month or so ago, I got one such email from a confectionery boutique in  New Orleans called Sucré Sweet Boutiques and Confection Studio. According to their website… Founded by Chef/Restaurateur/Entrepreneur Joel Dondis and pastry Chef Tariq Hanna in 2007, Sucré has quickly become a cherished local landmark in a city with a rich culinary history. Sucré offers guests a variety of confectionary delights, all made in their New Orleans based confection studio. From French macaroons to salted caramel cupcakes to petit red velvet cakes – each offering is confectionary perfection. Gelato is homemade using first-cut Louisiana cane sugar, milk from local dairies and the finest ingredients. Artisan chocolates are made celebrating local flavors such as the Blangé...

Not sure what it’s like where you live, but right now in New England and in much of the Northeast and other parts of the US, it’s VERY COLD. It was 7 degrees when I left the house yesterday and 15 degrees (F) today… and it’s windy. Which means, with the windchill and the low humidity (the air is very dry), it’s in the negative double digits. BRRR!!!! So what better time than to share this delicious, hardy, über comfort food, Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie Soup recipe?! My sister found the original recipe on (I THINK) Epicurious or another recipe site (NOT made in a crockpot though), made it and loved it. Of course I NEVER follow a recipe to the “t”, b/c I like it to me mine. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, buying as many things pre-made as a I could. I normally make my own chicken stock but for this soup I used bouillon AND a crockpot to keep it family friendly. So here is BFW’s version of this delicious winter soup… 1 14.5oz...

Now that we are through the busy holiday season, I finally have some time to focus on this blog again! Ever since we opened our shop Sarida in Roslindale, it’s been pretty tough keeping things up to date here. Who am I kidding? Even before the shop opened I had a hard time maintaining things… life is busy, what can I say? That said, hopefully this year I’ll have more time to do some posts… and so far things are looking pretty good because I had a serious cooking bug over the holidays. We moved to Dover, MA back in May and have had a wonderful experience so far… including a cocktail party in November for all of us ‘newbies’. I wanted to bring something I hadn’t made before, so I started trolling Foodgawker and Tastespotting. To be honest, I don’t remember what my search terms were, but in the end… I wound up choosing this Hoisen Glazed Turkey Meatball recipe, per the Healthy Seasonal Recipes blog. Let’s just say it was...