Sensory Overload-All In A Day’s Work

Terry and Wally before heading into Tate's

Eating cookies in South Hampton, sampling cheese from all over the world in Manhattan, walking up and down an aisle in the Los Angeles Convention Center diligently sniffing each candle that is on display – these are just a few of my favorite things. At least they are a few of the items listed in my job description as the buyer for Fancifull.

Cheese and Charcuterie

It means that vacations are often spent hunting down a vendor in their native land to see how they make their cookies – like Tate’s Bake Shop in South Hampton. or Jacky Blot wine in the Loire Valley of France. I put in days at Trade Shows eating cheese from France, Italy, Northern California, Holland, and anywhere they make cheese – which is just about everywhere except parts of Asia and Africa. Not happy just to find a nice looking candle line, I have to smell all the ones offered to be sure I am buying the one that has the best aroma, doesn’t make me sneeze, is environmentally sound, and looks good. Don’t get me started on the number of lotions I smeared on my hands and arms, as well as labels I read, looking for a new bath line to bring into Fancifull.

Goat Cheese at the show

One of the owners of Point Reyes Blue Cheese

I know, I could just sit back and look at the catalogs I get sent, or go on web sites. But really, can you tell a cookie is going to be good by reading about it? Also there is the comparison factor, this is good, but suppose there is something better? It is a constant search. I want to meet the person making that product such as Sara from Sara’s Snackers, which I found recently at the Fancy Food show in New York. Turns out Sara was a client of ours when she worked at an agency in Hollywood and is now in New York making delicious cookies with potato chips. Yes, they are addicting – the crunch of the chips make a great texture for the cookie. Look for those in our shop in the next month or so (may need to wait for cooler weather as they have a chocolate coating, whet your appetite yet?)

French Cheese

Italian Cheese

Going to Tate’s was a delight because they have been our best selling cookies for years.
I’m afraid to ask how they get the cookies tasting so fresh out of box, I’m sure there is some deal with the devil or something of the sort. I can report the chocolate chip cookies we ate in the bakery-in the name of science-did taste like the ones we carry in our shop. I probably didn’t need to try the cherry cobbler or coconut cupcake, but I wanted to be sure they kept their standards up in all areas – at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Long Island Goats, We had their cheese for dinner - yum!

We didn't eat cheese directly from this cow, I hope

New Items Coming Soon to Fancifull:
Sara’s Snacker’s Cookies
Lulu Soy Candles
Burgundy Blue Baby Clothes
An even greater variety of cheese
Long Island Wine
Baskets made from magazines (they look great)
Better Stainless Water Bottles
Malibu Lotion

Any Suggestions?

Ya Think or Ya Want? Italian Attitude

Our daughter Naomi translating for us

I have recently realized that I am a researcher and thus an explorer. Whether I am trying to find a great ingredient for a basket or wandering into the hillsides of Italy, I am always searching for insight. Perhaps it is where a certain chocolate comes from and how that affects the taste. It can be why Balsamic Vinegar ages best in the attic, as I learned on one of my Italy trips from a woman in Modena who was kind enough to give us a tour of her Balsamic Factory. We spent a scent filled morning in her attic, while she explained the traditions of Modena and the vinegars while showing us around her barrels of balsamic, some going back more than 100 yrs. We sampled vinegars that had been aged 8, 12, 25 and 40 years. Understanding the process helped to better appreciate the product, which is perhaps the crux of why I like to research: appreciation.

My favorite aspect of travel is the ability to savor and recognize all the creation that goes on in the far corners of the earth. I get the opportunity to experience first hand the culture, history and the incredible people that inhabit this planet. Cultural and personal idiosyncrasies abound. I have found a great advantage to sitting back and enjoying the show.

Travel allows one to connect the dots as it were. I could see during my first trip to Italy where the so called New York attitude originated. So many Italians immigrated to the east coast in the early part of this century and brought their customs and attitudes with them. This explains the neighborhood feel of New York, where you buy your groceries from the market on your block and eat at the same pizza place at least once a week. I find many Italians have the same gruff, ” whaddya want” attitude New York is famous for. Once you get past that there is a warmth that is increased if you make any attempt to speak Italian at all.

The attitude and the manners change by region of course, much the same as in the United States. But throughout, there is an honesty in the demeanor and in the food of Italy that I find refreshing. The Italians can take 3 ingredients and make a dish with depth and texture. I can still remember a simple mixed green salad I had in Rome. It was only a bowl of mixed greens with olive oil and salt. As I write this I can still smell the greeness (if that is a word), the freshness of the olive oil and taste the crunchy salt. Pretty intense. Which I think sums up Italy.

Watching the world go by, Florence

One of my favorite travel stories illustrates this attitude perfectly. We had just landed in Venice with that wobbly tiredness that comes from a long flight and not nearly enough sleep on the nights preceding our trip. Hungry and wanting to explore the city a bit before passing out, we wove our way through the labyrinth streets. We ended up at a small place just at the foot of a bridge.

In Italy many of the waiters are older; this is a career after all, not something you do while waiting for something better to come along. We had this gruff older waiter, your quintessential tough Italian, salt and pepper hair, craggy face, bulbous nose, and somewhat squat.

We were trying to make our way through the menu. It was printed in 4 languages and we were having a hard time focusing much less reading even the English version. Did we want a Primi Piatti (usually pasta), Contorni (vegetables), or a Secondo (meat or fish dish), the list of choices went on and on. You see, most Italian menus are broken down into many categories and you put your meal together. With so much to choose from we were taking a little longer than the waiter wanted.

He comes to take our order and my husband, Wally, orders an antipasto with the intention of ordering something else. The waiter starts to walk off and Wally says, “Wait, I think I’ll have the Spaghetti Bolognese.” The waiter fixes him with a steely stare and barks out, “You think or you want?” Wally, eyes wide and a bit startled yells back, “I want I want!” “Okay” grunts the waiter, with the appropriate hand gesture and takes off.

We almost fell on the floor we were laughing so hard. This was the perfect introduction to a country we have come to love. We all decided that was a very good life lesson. Do you think or do you want? One needs to be definite in this world. I appreciate the lesson.

View from our room, Bellagio