8 December 2011   To get a good shortbread recipe, you’d need to travel all the way to Scotland.  McTavish Shortbread has done the work for you; they’ve taken an age old Scottish recipe handed down from generation to generation, added carefully selected ingredients like local creamery butter, pure cane sugar, and Madagascar Pure Bourbon Vanilla, and baked up the most mouthwatering, unique flavors this side of the Big Pond.  McTavish cookies are hand made in Portland, Oregon, and are as good as the ones served up by grandma.  Maybe even better, but don’t tell Grandma!

We’re offering you a heap load of choices of these fine cookies so you have options for every occasion.  We have tubs of bite-size Chocolate Espresso, Pecan Shortbread, Lemon Shortbread, and Red Velvet.  Tubs are great for school and office parties, or large gatherings.  They are also good to have as a cookie on reserve, when you need “just a bite ‘o sin”.  The Specialty Foods Collection also contains a number of dippers (yup, they’re dipped in luscious chocolate) including Chocolate Chip, Lemon, Gingerbread, Peppermint, Chocolate Espresso, and Traditional.  Christmas trees with dipped chocolate or sprinkles round out the list.  These single or double pack cookies make fabulous stocking stuffers or Secret Santa Gifts.

Gift Idea Number Eight:  Include a tub of McTavish in your office gifts this year.  It’d be great with some Cuties.  Or attach a Christmas Tree Shortbread to your holiday package to add festive flavor (no pun intended) to your wrapping!

7 December 2011  Whitney Lamy of Castleton, Vermont, has perfected all natural, handmade, handcracked crackers that hark back to the day when Josiah Bent decided to make a lighter, thinner version of Hardtack, a staple of soldiers and seafarers.  After learning from that history, she set about mixing, rolling, and cracking by hand thin sheets of pastry.  The result— a superlative cracker with varieties named after Vermont towns.  (Is she aspiring to 237?  That’s a heap ‘o varieties just like it’s a heap ‘o towns nestled between the hills in that small state).  Florence Fabricant, reviewing Castleton Crackers for the New York Times (Feb. 16, 2011), states:   they are “sturdy enough for spreading and dipping but flaky enough for nibbling.”

Of the current five varieties of crackers offered, we chose three for our Specialty Foods Collection this year.  Rutland Rye compliments most cheese (best with Vermont cheeses, of course!), and it’s great dipped in hummus or served beside a homemade Lentil Soup.  Putney Pumpkin includes dried cranberries and thyme in its ingredients.  This cracker is great with a good blue cheese, or served with corn chowder or with afternoon tea.  Richmond Rosemary exudes the fresh taste of rosemary and is complimented by crunchy cornmeal.  This cracker is perfect with goat cheese.  Whitney has several recipes posted on her website; check them out at www.castletoncrackers.com

Gift Idea Number Seven:  Pair these Castleton Crackers with a Rill Soup mix and wrap them up with a bowl from our Japanese pottery corner, perfect. 

 6 December 2011  Just imagine beginning a business setting up shop at the local farmer’s market back in 1989 and now, in 2011, making the best-darned mustards this side of the Mississippi.  Well, that’s AJs Edible Arts, through and through.  They are a woman owned, family run business out of Pasco, Washington.  AJs uses fresh, high quality, locally produced ingredients to make all their products in an FDA certified kitchen in the Columbia River Basin.  They work around the harvest season, using Walla Walla Sweet Onions harvested in July, grown in Eastern Washington.  AJs is the home of the Original Walla Walla Sweet Onion Mustard.  Here at If Only…, we have three of AJs Walla Walla Sweet Onion Mustards in our 2011 Specialty Foods Collection; whole seeds, horseradish, and chipotle.  If you read the ingredient label, you’ll recognize everything on the list.  It can’t get much better than that!  All of AJs mustards lend a unique flavor to meats and fish.  They are also good as a pretzel dip.

Gift Idea Number Six:  Pop a trio of AJs mustards into one of our Swedish towels and tie it with a festive holiday ribbon.  Or pair AJs with Fairbanks’ own Pretzel Mix for some kitchen fun and holiday good cheer.

 5 December 2011    Hotlips Soda is a small family-owned business in Oregon.  They’ve been bottling up some of the finest Oregon fruits since 2005.  Hotlips Blackberry Soda is made from Chester blackberries grown in Gaston, Oregon, on Ayers Creek Farm.  Chesters ripen later in the season and their flavor intensifies with cool nights.  The result, a rush in your mouth when you taste this sensational, pulpy drink!  The flavor of each bottle varies from batch to batch depending on the time of harvest.  Blackberry is exceptional paired with vanilla ice cream and for an extra kick, add a little vodka.

Hotlips Cranberry Soda is light, bright and clear with an enormous complex flavor complete with hints of citrus and vanilla.  It is great as a cocktail mixer, delicious with champagne, and it pairs well with meats and strong cheese.  Both sodas are lightly carbonated and are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted.  And, a little goes a long way.  These sodas pack a rich, natural punch.  We’re pleased that Hotlips Soda is supporting a farm that practices organic field management and that the business is dedicated to sustainability. 

Gift Idea Number Five:  Pair up a bottle of each and wrap them in our Santa Stops in Fairbanks First  custom towel for a festive holiday gift, or dress up a bottle with one of our felted gnome bottle toppers.

  4 December 2011  Our 2011 Specialty Foods Collection offers five olive oils of distinctly different origins and flavors.  Top on our list is Quinta de S. Vicente Colheita Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Portugal.  This oil took First Prize in national competition in 2010 and was selected for the worldwide list of the top 250 olive oils.  You won’t find this oil on the shelf at the grocery!  It is cold pressed and  perfectly balanced, with subtle green flavors– slightly tart and spicy with a peppery aftertaste and delicate notes of almonds and dried fruit.  This oil is ideal for finishing meat or fish dishes, or as a base for seasoning salads or as a flavoring for desserts.  Beautifully presented, Colheita makes a handsome gift or an addition to your own pantry.

 Castillo De Canena Family Reserve XV Olive Oil is produced from olives that are harvested early, a process that requires twice the amount of olives and renders an oil of exceptional quality, taste, and aroma.  The Vano family has grown and harvested olives on their estate since 1780 and bottle the oil on site.  We chose Arbequina oil, which has a sweet almond and green apple flavor.  This is also an award winning oil and has worldwide renown and appeal.

Oleum Viride is a 100% organic extra virgin olive oil, made in Spain with a blend of Manzanilla de Zahara and Lechin olives.  It is cold pressed, a delicate fruity oil with flavors of apple, green olives, nuts and fresh tomato with a hint of spice.  It is very smooth on the palate.  The bottles are hand numbered with both batch and bottle number.  The origin of the oil can be traced easily by entering this information on the website, www.oleumviride.com  How cool is that?

 We also selected two olive oils from California, Sparrow Lane and Olivier.  Both are reasonably priced and are excellent oils.  Sparrow Lane oil, presented in a small, giftable bottle, provides a nutty, balanced taste.  It is lovely blended with lemon juice and sea salt for an easy vinaigrette.  Olivier is a mission varietal extra virgin and comes paired with a cruet of 4 year barrel aged balsamic.  The oil and balsamic stack in these beautiful square bottles.  Just looking at them on your counter will inspire you to use them.  Great for dressings, sauces, and marinades.

 A great finishing oil shares its nuances with the rest of the dish and all of these oils are invited to the table.  I’d recommend the top three oils for the biggest wow factor.

Gift Idea Number Four:  If you have a great cook on your list, give a great Olive Oil this holiday season in a fun reusable bottle bag with a cookbook to inspire.  Great cooks deserve to cook with great ingredients!  They will appreciate your discerning taste, especially when you remind them what a fabulous cook they are!  Useful and delicious; my favorite kind of gift.   You might even get an invitation…

  3 December 2011  When having friends over for cocktails and hors dourves before the concert, you can set the stage for the evening by offering special condiments and enhancing your drink menu with a few items from our Specialty Foods Collection.

Q Tonic is made from hand-picked Peruvian quinine and Mexican agave, bottled in a designer bottle in Brooklyn, New York,  by a small company on a mission to make no compromise.  This tonic is great by itself; paired with gin, vodka, rum  or tequila, it makes a stellar drink.  It is made with all natural ingredients, has 60% fewer calories than generic tonics and the taste is incredible. 

 Scrappy’s Bitters  is a small-batch Seattle based bitters company.  Made with all natural quality ingredients, these bitters deliver bold flavors.  We chose Celery and Lavender for our 2011 Collection.  Celery is an antique bitter harking back to the 19th century.  It captures the flavor of celery, brightened with hints of citrus.  Lavender is “spring in a bottle”, and who wouldn’t want that in Fairbanks in December!  Bitters are seasonings for cocktails; basically they are herbal tinctures.  Let your creative side lead and give them a try.  Scrappy’s is a must for a well appointed bar.

 In need of fabulous condiments?  You’ll find we’ve selected three types of olives.  Gil’s Gourmet prepares green olives  hand stuffed with pimento and marinated in chardonnay, giving  the olives a milder and less salty flavor.  We also carrry Vermouth Bleu Cheese Olives for a change of flavor in your favorite martini and delicious right out of the jar.

From Sable and Rosenfeld, an Ontario based company, we’ve chosen cocktail stirrers and tipsy olives.  Cocktail Stirrers are spears containing a gherkin, green olive, pearl onion, and red pepper delivered in a brine flavored with garlic and dillweed.  They are crowd-pleasers in martinis, or can be used as a garnish on a relish tray or wrapped in proscutto or salami.  We rounded out this season’s condiments with Tipsy Olives, large green olives stuffed with pimento paste and marinated in vermouth.  They deliver a punch with just the right amount of vermouth for any extraordinary martini!

Gift Idea Number Three  When you show up to the party packing Cocktail Stirrers, you’ll bring wide smiles to spear-wielding party-goers!   Pair a 4-pack of Q Tonic with a favorite gin or vodka, or pair Pimento Stuffed Olives with our pizza drizzle for a fabulous gift for the person who delights in homemade pizza.  These condiments are not for the bar alone; they are sensible and simple additions to any pantry.

 2 December 2011 When you’re having special guests or extended family over during the holidays, you are sure to wow them by picking up some Raincoast Crisps to serve along with other hors doeuvres and appetizers.  We’ve included five varieties in our collection this year:  Cinnamon Raisin (great with cream cheese, mango chutney, or aged cheddar); Rosemary Raisin Pecan (fabulous with a soft cheese or a sundried tomato pesto);  Salty Date and Almond (try it with fresh chevre or camembert);  Fig and Olive (I like these with Cabot Tuscan Cheddar); and Seed Crackers (the original McCoy perfect with smoked salmon dip, pates and antipasto).  Lesley Stowe Fine Foods ltd in Richmond, BC makes these delicious artisanal crisps in small batches with all natural ingredients.

Gift Idea Number Two  Raincoast Crisps make a great statement as a host or hostess gift all by themselves or paired with a nice bottle of wine or bubbly delivered in one of our custom wine bottle bags.  Enjoy!

 1 December 2011 For the next several days during the Alyeska 21 Days of Solstice, I’m writing about some of the marvelous specialty foods you’ll find in the 2011 Collection at If Only.  Each product is carefully chosen–for flavor, ingredients, high quality, ease of use, and beauty.  Our foods are attractive and giftable; many have special qualities such as kosher certified, organic, and/or gluten free.  You can purchase a great gift that is reasonably priced, extraordinary, and consumable and you literally have hundreds of items from which to choose at If Only.  Our staff is happy to assist you.  And my upcoming posts here will give you some great information and ideas for this holiday season.  Enjoy!

Our Italian pastas provide delightful color to a meal; they’re made from old family recipes with durum wheat semolina, fresh ingredients, and all natural colors including spinach, tumeric, paprika, squid ink (How else would you make black pasta?), and celery.  The colors are vibrant and festive; they will set a dish of pasta apart from all others.  We selected three shapes this season: Pasta Reginelle, which is long and slender, Farfalline is bow shaped, and Fusilloni,  a twisted pasta in six vibrant colors!  Choose your pasta sauce, top off with some freshly grated parmesan and you’ll have an outstanding main course prepared with ease.

Gift Idea Number One:  pair pasta with sauce or some of our fabulous Extra Virgin Olive Oils and put them in an Itty Bitty Tote.  You have just created a fabulous gift – ready to give!

 25 November 2011 Enjoying special time with friends and family is the essence of life and community.  I’m reminded of this every day and give thanks for friendship.  I am thankful for those who walk by and say hello to me as well as those who give a friendly toot on their horns as they drive past on Cushman.  It is wonderful to live in Fairbanks and share in the joys of living here with all of you.  We were all so thankful when the temperature rose from the depths of cold the other day.  Zero to minus ten is tolerable and a veritable heat wave when compared to minus 40!  Spending as much time as I do outside, I’m so happy about these moderate temperatures, I could jump for joy!  Sometimes a little discomfort makes us focus on just how thankful we really are for normal, everyday things.  Then again, something sensational like breaking low temperature records several days straight in November makes us look around and give thanks for sun dogs, the way cold snow sounds under our boots as we walk,  the alpenglow at the end of a short-light day, and the brilliance of the stars and moon in a clear, crisp night.

 Or, you might need something sensational besides cold weather, like the trip one of the If Only… store owners took, quite unexpectedly, the last of October.  Seems one of her childhood friends was headed to the U.S. from Poland where she’s lived all her adult life.  Grandchild number 3 was on the way, and she wanted to help out.  Thanks to Facebook and e-mail, the two of them had been corresponding with a mutual friend now living in Puerto Rico.  Would it be possible for the three of them to connect for a bit of a reunion of sorts?  On this side, thanks to everyone pitching in at the store and an Alaska Airlines mileage ticket, the trio met in Montpelier, Vermont, the town where they all grew up.  They had a fabulous time catching up.  It had been 39 years since the three of them had been together!  Now that’s something for which to give thanks–serendipity, and friendship that extends over time and space and years, even through times of  losing touch.

 Which brings me back to things here on Cushman Street.  This is the time of year to pay special attention to one-of-a-kind and unique offerings here at If Only….  The store is full of holiday cheer and gift ideas aplenty.  Come by often and check out the selection.  You’ll always see something new!  Our sales associates are happy to assist you with all your gift-giving and holiday needs.

In case you’re wondering about the dessert, it is one of the fabulous creations offered at NECI on Main, one of the teaching restaurants of the New England Culinary Institute.  www.neci.edu I’m still hearing about that perfect evening full of good food and conversation, just as I’m hearing shoppers leave If Only…. saying, “I found the PERFECT gifts!”

 26 September 2011 What a glorious summer we’ve had!  Not long ago I strolled around town noticing all the beautiful flowers and the cabbages growing fat.  Yep, I knew summer was coming to an end, and I couldn’t help snapping some pics of some of my favorite places.  These photos were taken over by the cabin at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center.  The gardens there showcase gardens as in the early days of the 20th century here in Fairbanks.  Truly a delight.  I want to thank everyone who planted and watered and weeded all summer long.  It takes a lot of effort to keep gardens flourishing under the midnight sun.  It also takes effort to keep the  weeds at bay.  The Festival Fairbanks crew and countless businesses and homeowners and renters all helped to make downtown beautiful.  And of course, you know that we had our first frost on Sunday morning.  A late one for sure.  I hope you stored up good memories like I did to last all winter long!

So now that fish and meat are in the freezer and the fall chores are almost done, it’s time to think about concerts, plays and all the festivities that consume our lives during that other   time of the year.  Do put on your list to come in to the shop regularly so you  can take in the daily changes.  Our loads of freight at this time of year are staggering–full of hand picked finds we know you’ll love.  Take advantage of our 10 to 7 hours this week since we pull back to 6pm beginning October 1st.  And be sure to calendar our October Frist Friday.  The specialty food is beyond anything we’ve ever done before.   I look forward to seeing you!