Holiday Gifting: Handmade Toffees from B.Toffee

Looking for holiday gifts? Local, artisanal, and most importantly delicious products like B.Toffee would make a great gift. B.Toffee was started by Betsy Thagard and 2009 and the toffees are handmade in Newport Beach. The caramelized sugar is topped with a blend of Guittard and Callebaut chocolate, and finished off with a layer of pecans.

The texture of this toffee is perfect. It's crunchy but in between bites the chocolate melts in your mouth. The caramel is neither too hard nor too sticky. I never thought I would like a toffee this much but I'm kind of addicted to these things. Feel free to send my some for Christmas.

You can order the toffee online at https://btoffee.com/ or check their website for a list of stores that carry them!

Need more gifts? Check out this post for other local foodie gift ideas!

Brunch at Kirkland Tap and Trotter in Somerville (Boston, MA)

The burger at James Bear winner Tony Maws' Craigie on Main was so popular, he opened up Kirkland Tap and Trotter to make more accessible burgers. But the two burgers will remain distinct, though, keeping the Craigie burger "sacred." Instead, Kirkland Tap and Trotter will serve their own version along with other casual fares.

At any rate, I've been wanting to try KT&T for a while, and I got the chance to join Boston Brunchers for brunch one weekend.

We all started by sharing some orders of the Sticky Bun ($5)

I liked the (relatively) lighter consistency of the bun, and the amount of nuts they've put in between the folds!

I had a hard time choosing what entree to get since there are a few that sounded interesting and delicious, but since this is my first time here, I decided I should try the burger.
Grilled grass-fed cheeseburger, kimchi Russian dressing, Emmenthaler cheese ($12) with fried egg and house-cured bacon (+$2)

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Cattle Ranch Tour with Certified Angus Beef

On my recent trip to the Sacramento area with Certified Angus Beef, we went to visit a cattle ranch. On the drive there, the dry grasslands really made us realize the drought problem in California.

We went to visit Five Star Land and Livestock, which is managed by Abbie Nelson, the current matriarch, and her son. The ranch began in the late 1800s when her great grand father bought the first Angus beef from Scotland. The grandfather bred using a bull named Earl Marshall, whose genes now present in 95% of Angus cattle today.

Her father moved to California in 1930 and thus the current ranch got its start. Now, Five Star doesn't raise cattle for meat, but they raise bulls for seed stock, which is sold to other farms for breeding.

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