Author: Matt Robinson

BAKING UP SUPPORT

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I have long loved promoted a company called Colletty’s Cookies that is run by a young woman with Down syndrome named Collette Divitto. Since I last sang her praises, she has not only expanded her delicious line of tasty treats, she has also made many strides that other entrepreneurs can only dream of!

In addition to getting her cookies into Stop & Shop, Shaw’s and the TD Garden (and hopes to get to Gillette), Collette has recently inked a deal that will land her cookies on all overseas military bases. As the founder of a charitable organization that provides training and empowerment for people with or without disabilities, Collette has been named to MA Governor Maura Healy’s Disability Board and has spoken on the issues of work discrimination and entrepreneurship around the world.

In addition to being featured on everything from Matt’s Meals to Good Morning America and QVC, Collette has recently published another book in her ongoing series on growing up with developmental challenges and is working on producing a documentary about her life in which she hopes to build on her books by showing in her own way what it is like to deal with and flourish despite challenges.

If it were not for her books and the documentary (which she is crowd-funding on her website, www.colletteys.com), you might never know that this dynamo had any challenges, as she continues to achieve goal after goal, inspiring other women, entrepreneurs, and more at every step!

But back to the cookies- In addition to her incredibly (and innovatively) yummy cinnamon chocolate chip and crunchy oatmeal cookies, Collette is about to release a plant-based variety. And as it is so easy to devour an entire bag of her cookies, the savvy chef is graciously coming out with bite-sized bags as well.

I’ll say it again- Collette is one “smaht” cookie!

www.colletteys.com

I WANT IT NOOOOOW!

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As we get ready for another reboot of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (as if we need anything better than the legendary Gene Wilder!), the idea of finding a “golden ticket” that allows its bearer access to a magical food-related wonderland will be swimming in more than just a heads of children everywhere.

And while Wonka Bars and Everlasting Gobstoppers may be great, older fans may be more interested in something more age-appropriate.

Leave it to our friends at Harpoon Brewery to jump on this holiday trend with their “Spread Holiday Cheer Giveaway!”

As they are the creators of New England’s first IPA, it may be no surprise that Harpoon is once again on the forefront of food trends. 

For this special holiday season giveaway, the folks at Harpoon are hiding golden cans of their legendary IPA in their new, limited-edition 12 packs. Whoever finds the special cans will have a chance to win an amazing holiday party where they can bring up the 30 guests to Harpoon’s brewery in Boston or Vermont to enjoy the best, freshest beer (and pretzels!) around at the best, freshest time of year!

This year also marks the 30th birthday of Harpoon’s IPA. And while there may just be 27 Harpoon lovers who will get a taste of the brewery’s latest special prizes, anyone who enjoys their IPA while searching for the golden can will have reason to celebrate!

So don’t be an Oompah-Loompah. Grab a Harpoon and celebrate the season!

http://harpoonbrewery.com

SLAW DANCING

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There is so much information out there about so-called “superfoods” that are supposed to help keep you healthier or even improve your body, mind, and spirit.

And while we love examples like IQBAR, Flava Naturals, Forij, and even items from Boston legends like Harpoon Beer and South Street Diner, what they have in common more than nutritional value are great taste and great local people behind them.

Two more who fit this category are Lost Art Culture Foods and Pigeon Cove Ferments.

Lost Art is run by a single mom in Charlestown, who wants to give her daughter (and everyone else) not only wholesome, healthy, organic, sustainably-sourced food, but a better future. In addition to some of the best kraut around, Lost Art offers truly artistic options like their combination sauerkraut-kimchi and a beet-based kraut that can color your plate and your life.

Pigeon Cove is a fermenting family from Gloucester who are also taking the hyper-local and kombucha trends to new places. In addition to delicious and refreshing kombuchas that mix bold and balanced flavors like pineapple and chamomile, jalapeno and cucumber, and raspberry and basil, they also have a fermented coffee that adds brain-helping lion’s mane mushrooms to the gut-supporting probiotics and tastes so good it has often replaced my morning joe (though not IQJOE, of course!).

As a fitness trainer, father, and food recommender, I am all about finding and haring healthy options that may improve and even extend my life. But if you don’t enjoy that life, why bother extending it? With friends like the folks at Lost Art and Pigeon Cove, I do not have to choose., I can just enjoy. And so can you!

https://lostartculturedfoods.com / https://pigeoncoveferments.com

SHARING YOUR DOUGH

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I love to support Veteran businesses and I also love to support those who give back to their community, so I LOVE talking about Chris Wysong at Bucket of Bread!

As he was intricately involved in Operation Provide Comfort in Iraq, it may be no surprise that Wysong now makes his mark on society by providing some of the best comfort food around- homemade bread.

And as he has been at it since before COVID made home baking a thing, Wysong truly knows what to do with dough!

His certified-organic Bucket of Bread kits now not only come in traditional white, hearty wheat and his amazing seven-grain variety, but all come in two sizes- neither of which comes with preservatives, added sugars, or challenges for the baking novice. In a further effort to help others afford and enjoy healthy, delicious, comforting food, Chris recently lowered his prices, despite inflation – making his mouthwatering breads even more appealing!

While it is always fun and fulfilling to bake for friends and neighbors, Wysong takes the idea of breaking bread with others one step further by offering an online option by which visitors to bucketofbread.com (which also has great recipes and fun merch) can donate buckets directly to food pantries, knowing that an additional 10% of profits got help others as well! Especially at this season of giving, such extra-mile operations not only befit a Veteran but benefit the givers and receivers (who receive a tax deduction in addition to the good feelings that come from being generous).

So whenever you need a gift (or just a delicious, nutritious, homemade treat), forget the fancy paper. Grab a Bucket of Bread instead!

http://bucketofbread.com

DON’T “SKIP” THIS TASTY HEALTH FOOD

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As is so often the case, I am here to dish about the latest trend in the healthy food space.

While we continue to rave about the flavonoids in FlavaNaturals and the brain-boosting adaptogens in IQ Joe, Kickstarter Coffee, and Four Sigmatic coffee, another favorite trend is fermenting, an ancient process that can help with everything from immunity and inflammation to irritable bowels and also improve hair, skin, and overall well-being! 

While the most popular fermented foods are admittedly acquired tastes like kraut and kimchee and kefir (noting a “k”-trend here?), tasty new tastes are applying for acquisition all the time. 

As she was born in Korea, Kathryn Oh knows about the special, nutrient- and probiotic-enriching art of Koji fermentation as she was making kimchee since childhood. As she is also a primary care doctor, she also knows the health benefits of many things.

So when she told me that she is coming out with her own line of plant-based, naturally- (and deliciously) flavored, nutrient-packed cups of fermented brown rice called Hopscotch (in a nod to another accessible childhood activity) that could benefit my belly, brain, and entire body, I was interested.And when I tried the sweet, umami-laced cups that come in chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and even Snickerdoodle (flavors that Oh admits “start funny but taste yummy!”) and that can be enjoyed alone or in smoothies, sauces, or many other means of enjoyment), I was hooked on Hopscotch and think (and hope) that you will soon be too!

www.hopscotchfoods.com

HAVE YOURSELF A BRAINY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

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Have we had enough of the headaches that come with the so-called “season of peace” yet?!

From getting assignments in on time (as I ALWAYS do!) and keeping track of who gave which twin what gift and whether they wrote “thank you” cards (as THEY always do!) to trying to deal with all the un-peace in the world that makes our issues insignificant, overwhelm does not begin to describe it!

Fortunately, our friends at IQBAR have come up with some seasonal selections to support our systems and our sanity.

The new chocolate peppermint IQBAR can easily pass for a brownie and goes perfectly with the peppermint mocha IQJOE coffee, both of which are made with premium dark chocolate and energizing peppermint. If you are not a chocolate fan (Huh?!), the warm and spicy gingerbread bars will take you back to the bucolic peace of your childhood kitchen.

All IQBARS have protein, fiber, and natural ingredients that help brain health and energy and IQJOE gives a jitter-free jolt of power to body and mind. So why do I love these latest IQBAR treats so much? Perhaps it is because they help my body and brain or it may just be that the bars taste so good that I actually put them up and put them out as a dessert tray at a recent holiday party and they not only raised the level of conversation in the room but also were a huge success!

While I have long loved their ever-growing menu of delicious bars, energy and electrolyte drinks and brain-boosting coffees, the latest batch has definitely of IQ treats has helped me stay in more of a traditional holiday mood and will surely be a gift to you too!  

www.eatiqbar.com

LET’S GET READY TO CRUMBL!

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As Senator Mitt Romney prepares to step away from politics, there are rumors circulating that one of his reasons is so he can spend more time at Crumbl cookies in Utah.

Don’t worry, Your Excellency- Crumbl has over 800 stores in the U.S., including Cambridge, Dedham, Natick, West Springfield, and the most recent area opening in Dorchester!

And while I’d like to say that the scene is the same no matter which Crumbl you visit, as the flavors change so regularly, the only real consistencies are the famed pink boxes and the lines of drooling customers waiting outside.

Though MA is the home of the Toll House and Boston Cream Pie, Crumbl (spelled without the final “e” for those who are still not in the know!) is bold enough to claim that they make the best chocolate chip cookie around and that their Boston cream cookie can stand up to the Parker House original! Even if Baystaters disagree, it is hard to argue with a rotating menu of over 250 flavors that also includes such incredible entries as the buttermilk pancake and waffle cookies (both of which can double as the best breakfast and best dessert in one!), an indigenously-inspired cinnamon fry bread, the Matt’s Meals-endorsed Buckeye brownie, and a confetti cake cookie that is a birthday party in the palm of your hand! 

Speaking of hands, Crumbl even has their own version of the popular Cover Your Assets card game called (appropriately enough) Cover Your Cookies!

Speaking of covering cookies, we are all sure to see more of their famed pink boxes around as Crumbl continues to expand their cookie empire, so be sure that you are carrying at least a few wherever you go! 

www.crumbl.com

BACK TO THE ROCKS

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Though it is the home of the dramatically-inclined Beastie Boy progenitor Israel Horowitz and the Berklee-bound hero of the Academy Award-winning film Coda, and was a regular hang for legendary singer/songwriter Laura Nyro, Gloucester (which is also home to our friends at Pigeon Cove Ferments) may be better known for its fish sticks than its live music.

Soon. However, they that go down to the sea in ships will be able to come back to this historic and bucolic port town and rock out!

A new restaurant and performance space called The Cut is bringing over 20,000 square feet of food and entertainment space to Main Street.

With the help of Tom Clark (a veteran of House of Blues and Motown Café), talent buyer Randi Millman (who brought the bands to Johnny D’s and TT the Bear’s for decades), and producer Tony Goddess (who has worked with John Legend and local legends like Guster and The Cars), the Cut not only offers artists a place to play and record but also rehearsal studios for those who may not quite feel ready to headline just yet.

As for food, Chef Justin Plumadore’s gastropub menu will spotlight site- and season-inspired fare like beet carpaccio, fried chicken BLTs and fried oyster po’ boys, Szechuan salmon, flatiron steak and butternut squash and black bean enchiladas daily from 4:30-10pm, along with draught and bottled beers, hard kombucha, fine wines, and curated cocktails There is also an order-and-go window open from 11:30am-10pm for those who want to grab a bite sooner or hang out later.

Whether you can sing or not, be sure to make The Cut!

https://thecutlive.com

CONTINUING TO SERVE

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Veterans Day may be over, but that does not mean that we should forget all that our brave men and women in uniform give us every day.

That is why I am so grateful for our colleagues at the Veterans Voice Network (on which I talk with many of the same great Veteran entrepreneurs we profile and promote here on Matt’s Meals), who are continuing to collect food and other vital items for Veterans (and others) all year ‘round!

On the second Thursday of each month, anyone who feels a need can come to the WATD/WMEX parking lot at 130 Enterprise Drive in Marshfield, MA between 10:30 and noon to pick up whatever you can donate. They have freezers for perishable foods and are even willing to consider food that is in damaged packaging or marked after its “sell by” date.

In addition to feeling good about giving, donors can arrange to have their businesses thanked publicly on-air and on the Network’s many social networks (Like I said- Veterans always want to help!).

In addition to donations, volunteers are always appreciated to help set up and distribute the items to the passing cars and to offer kind words of support to people in need.

No matter how much we give our Veterans, they always deserve more and whatever they have, they always give more.

So whether it is Veterans Day, Flag Day, Independence Day or just a Thursday, it is always a great time to give to those who gave all for all of us.If you need items picked up, call 781-7871-6416 or email 89edge@comcast.net. For more on the Network (including my segments), please visit http://veteransvoicenetwork.org.

GET INTO A JAM

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While any of the items I discuss on Matt’s Meals can make for a great gift (if even for yourself!), I recently found a local maker who can solve pretty much any holiday giving jam.

In fact, jam is the source of the solution!

Starting with a parental promise to spread sweetness, Holly Condon started Holly’s Heavenly Creations – a handmade jam and jelly company that has some of the most creative and carefully-crafted varieties I (a devout jam fan) have ever tasted!

When I first saw Holly at the Needham High School craft fair, my eye was caught by a jar of Dirty Monkey Nuts. When I tasted this perfect combination of chocolate, peanuts, bananas, and a touch of locally-sourced honey, I was ready to swing from the trees myself!

While the grape, raspberry, and even cranberry jams are great, it is through more adventurous offerings like Figgy on a Bog (featuring figs, cranberries, and ginger sugar), Mother’s Embrace (which is flavored with actual roses!), and Sweet Wookie (RAWR!) that Holly truly sets herself and her creations apart. And with flavors like Boo Berry, Love Spell, and Nutcracker, there is truly something for everyone at this season and every season of giving.

As I perused the overflowing table of choices, I saw such seductive selections as Lavender Skies and Fear the Reaper jam (which has a VERY appropriate warning on the front where Holy usually reveals her ingredients). There were also a few flavors the names of which made me laugh but that might not be appropriate for this venue. You will just have to go to https://hollys-heavenly-creations.square.site or www.facebook.com/hollysheavenlycreations to read (and order) them for yourself!