This place is enormous, and packed to the gills: to use a term borrowed from the Oreo people, what we have here is a Double Stuf event. Picture a stadium–sized exhibition space in New York City, filled with booths displaying tempting-looking snacks, sweets, and savouries. Behind these irresistibly designed and invitingly lit items stand busy, [...]

La Tomate!  Sundried Tomato and Port Jelly 100ml, $6.99 available at fine food stores, we bought it at Pusateri’s Fine Foods. For more information contact La Tomate Shelf Life showed this item to our friend the condiment queen, and she pounced on it: “I love interesting flavour pairings – they’re what I call Odd Couples.” [...]

Crofter’s Organics Morello Cherry Premium Spread volume, $3.69 Concord Grape Classic Jelly volume, $2.99 available at health foods stores and at selected national grocery outlets; for more information visit croftersorganic.com Like millions of other sweet-toothers, Shelf Life has made several vows of abstinence for the New Year. But unlike millions of others, Shelf Life Topped [...]

duhaime Chocolate’ Orange and Cardamom Orange et Cardamome Spread, 150 ml. $ 7.69 available at fine food stores; see also www.vergerduhaime.com There will be chocolate. As far as Shelf Life is concerned, December is national Resistance Is Futile month. Temptations lie in wait for us at every turn – if the holiday carbs don’t carry [...]

Nice try, fries. Must work harder, soup. In your dreams, apples. If Shelf Life had to associate one food with our elementary school years, it would be peanut butter, everyone’s favourite snack spread and Mom’s top choice for protein to go. Who doesn’t remember the distinctive aroma of peanut butter sandwiches in a paper bag? [...]

Hi, honey – have we told you lately how wonderful you are? It occurs to Shelf Life that we spend a lot of time talking about sugar – often disparagingly – and little if any space devoted to the sweetener that really glazes our turnips. Sugar gets the job done, but honey seems positively alchemical. [...]

February is the month to harvest oranges, so Shelf Life has a special message for our readers: Gitchee gitchee ya ya da da, oh ya. We refer, of course, to the spoon-bendingly raucous Labelle song ‘Lady Marmalade’. Yes, this week we’ve got the music in us. And while Shelf Life has always liked the Voulez [...]