It's been quite a while since the last new products article and there have been many new products since then. It's been so long since the last article that many of these products really aren't new anymore! Here's some of our more recent highlights:

Honest Weight has been carrying Reed's Ginger Brew for many years now. We've gradually added more Reed's products, which were all beverages at first. Our first foray into Reed's non-beverage products was with their bulk crystallized ginger, which we still carry. (It can be found with the bulk herbs.) Our next Reed's product was their Ginger Ice Cream, which met with great reviews and a small write up that mentioned us in the Times Union. After this success, Reeds has come out with two more flavors: Green Tea Ginger and Chocolate Ginger.

Another new product, one that pairs with ice cream quite well, is the Maple Waffle from Shady Maple Farms. Based on the Dutch stroopwafel, it's two waffles with a creamy center. I recommend them microwaved for thirty seconds, spread with Nocciolata (an organic chocolate-hazelnut spread), and topped with a scoop of Stonyfield Farm's Creme Caramel ice cream. This is a dessert so sweet and rich that it's surprising it's still legal.

Speaking of ice cream, Cliff Bars are now available in an "ice" line. The three flavors in this line are Cool Mint Chocolate, Chocolate lava Avalanche, and Orange Chocolate Chill. Note that all of these say with caffeine" on the package. Another new product with caffeine in it is White Wave's Mocha Silk. China Cola, which is made with Chinese herbs and spices, does not contain caffeine.

We have several other new beverages on the shelf.  Pacific now makes a strawberry-flavored soy beverage, Lakewood has come out with a calcium and fiber-enriched prune juice, and we're now carrying Wellness and Vitamin Waters from Glaceau. Also new, and just in time for the summer, are Duchy Original's Lemon Refresher and Blossoming Beauteas, which are the nicest looking herbal brews I've ever seen. They're clear, nicely colored, and have flowers floating in them.

I'll finish this month with two new products that I can wholeheartedly endorse: Pacific's Silk Soy Creamer, which is simply the best non-dairy creamer I've ever had-and I've tried a lot of them. It doesn't break up or curdle in hot beverages like so many natural soy beverages, and it doesn't have that disgusting chemical flavor that more mainstream brands have. I made a vegan cream of cauliflower soup with it that was the best I've ever made.

Several years ago, I went to a potluck that had a variety of dishes-both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. A friend of mine there made a dish that she insisted was vegetarian, although it sure didn't look it. After she assured me that it was, I tried some and I really could not tell if it was meat or not. It was made from a product called Veat, which the Coop did not sell at that time. It's now available in the freezer department here.  Enjoy!