When I travel, I love to shop for stuff I can’t find in Puerto Rico. Even if things are really, really cheap, I will not purchase it during a trip if I can find it back home. Suitcase space is too precious to invest in things I do not have to carry back home in a suitcase and risk spoilage or spillage.
But during my recent trip to NYC, 90% of what I bought was food items!!!! When I took everything out of my suitcase, I felt as if what I had done in NYC was grocery shopping. Here is a sampler of what I purchased:
Le Pain Quotidien – Brunette Praline Butter and 4 Red Fruits Preserves
I love eating these when I visit Le Pain Quotidien restaurants. And they’re organic too!!!
Union Square Street Market – Raw Milk Goat Cheese
We bought this cheese from Ardith Mae. She sells all things GOAT MILK – goat’s milk, goat’s milk yogurt, raw milk cheeses and pasteurized milk cheeses too. She has a great website and I totally love the pictures of her happy goats. They’re super duper cute…
Sorry, no pictures available for this raw milk cheese… we were so hungry that my mom opened up the wrapper one night and we snacked and snacked away. My bad that I forgot about all of YOU during our hunger attack. We bought a Colby style cheese that was truly delicious. We enjoyed it with spelt bread, organic butter and slices of avocado in an open-faced sandwich. Divine!!!!
Union Square Street Market – Raw Whipped Honey
I learned on this trip that honey is generally cooked before bottling… never imagined that. I always thought bottled honey came straight from the bee hive. According to Andrew, the raw honey guy over at Union Square Market, raw honey has more nutrients and beneficial qualities because it has not been tampered with. He has been featured in a variety of media, including the Martha Stewart Show. I bought the whipped version because it seemed like it would last me longer than the regular liquid kind… we’ll see about that!!!
Union Square Street Market – Beth’s Farm Kitchen Jellies
I have looooved their Garlic and Rosemary Jelly for years now. And this time around I also bought their Sour Cherry Preserves. I wanted to try one of their sugar-free spreads, but they have an expiration date and I can’t be rushed into eating anything…
Yummy Earth – Pomegranate Pucker Candy
This is my favorite flavor of lollipops from Yummy Earth… and to know I do not have to “weed” out all the other flavors I don’t enjoy as much is a real treat…
Whole Foods – Maple Almond Butter and Honey Almond Butter
I still have not tried these, but I loved the sampling packaging. They are also available in jars, but I wanted to try them first before committing to a whole jar. Besides, I knew I was going to purchase the Le Pain Quotidien Praline Butter already… so I was careful not to overload on the same type of product.
Whole Foods – Fig and Almond Cake
This was something my friend Rudy requested… or more that he mentioned he likes and I tried to please him with a little treat from NYC. We are now waiting for the right piece of manchego cheese to enjoy this with… YUM!!!
Grand Central Market – Sun-dried tomatoes
I have bought sulfite-free sun-dried tomatoes elsewhere, but as you can see from the label, these sun-dried tomatoes do not contain any sulfites either and stay softer than any of the other sulfite-free tomatoes I have bought in the past. They do offer other goods there and they list sulfites in the ingredient list, such as dried apricots or dried pineapples. So I trust them when they only list tomatoes and salt as their ingredients.
May Wah Vegetarian Market – Chicken Nuggets and Spare Ribs
I do not make these much at all… but they are great when you want a quick snack. And I will try to share Tania’s recipe for rice with vegetarian spare ribs. It’s a tad greasy, but that’s what makes it so similar to traditional cooking. I had it the other day and it was “finger-licking good”.
KarmaFree Cooking 
We are glad you like our Brunette spread and our 4 red fruits preserves! We hope to see you back soon.
Le Pain Quotidien
Justin’s nut butters are the best– especially for traveling. They make a great, easy snack! The chocolate hazelnut or chocolate almond ones are the best.
wow that golden honey looks amazing!
LPQ spreads are SO GOOD! They opened shop in my city a few months ago and I’m hooked! This is such a cute post. I love collecting jam, spread and other yummy bottles too!
So much vegetarian deliciousness. Will have to look these up since they are in my neck of the woods.
so jelly you had such a great time, ate well and got to visit my fave city! can i get some of that honey and fig and almond cake!
my friend Rudy ate it all… he didn’t leave me anything!!!! 😦 but I am sure you can get a piece at ur local Whole Foods. That’s where I got it. Murray’s Cheese had them too but much more expensive per pound though.
Fig almond cake, the one i refused to share…was it selfishness or was it because it was soo good, i had to have it all? Lets start with a perfect balance between sweetness from the figgs and saltiness from the marcona almonds. Perfect consistency, though maybe just a little dry. But nothing that a good glob of goat cheese, or a wedge of manchego would could not cure. Had coffee with it that went well…but next time i may enjoy it with a nice glass of rioja or tempranillo wine. So, in summary…. I guess it was selfish indulgence after all, the reason for not sharing…And also, i thought that madelyn had already tried it in NY before she bought it. But now she is trying to make me feel bad about not sharing….Hmmmm, not working. Hehehe, thanks for the gift. Great fig almond cake…
it’s OK… i forgive you. I’ve had it before… next time I’ll know to bring an extra one, just in case. 😉
This is awesome! I’m headed into the city in a couple of weeks to see the Christmas sights, and was planning on hitting the Union Square market.
Safe travels!!!!!