Thursday, October 8, 2009

"Best Brittle" Says Martha Stewart Living!!

Other than a few references here and there, I really haven't used this space to write about my husband's labor of love, Morning Glory Confections. It always felt like some sort of weird conflict of interest as I'm a food blogger (or, internet food writer, if you prefer) and he's a confectioner.

But folks, I must say it's time to break the rules because my honey's brittle has just been featured in October's Martha Stewart Living. This is beyond huge for him and I couldn't be prouder.
After grad school, Max worked as a private chef for an LA family, cooking to his heart's content with few limitations. He often made nut brittles for them to snack on, eventually incorporating various herbs, spices, and other ingredients not usually associated with peanut brittle. The family loved the results of his experiments as did I.
In Fall of 2007, Max decided to make it official, creating, refining, and finalizing brittle recipes, using family and friends as focus groups, and basically jumping into this totally new terrain. Our friend Liz, of Department of Graphic Sciences, helped Max realize his vision for the packaging, modern and minimalist.
Fast forward to October 2008, Morning Glory Confections' artisan brittle landed in stores around LA, some of our favorites in fact: Susina Bakery, Lark Cake Shop, Auntie Em's, Cheese Store of Silver Lake, Clementine, and more recently Joan's on Third, Bottega Louie, Cube and others. Pat Saperstein, of Eating LA was the first blogger to take notice of the brittle after tasting a few bites at an Obama bake sale.
A Daily Candy mention in early 2009 was a thrilling indication that Max's brittle was filling a void in the confectionary world. Next came a glowing mention on the LA Times' food blog, the Daily Dish, a Tasting Table post, and other posts from the food blog world.

And now Martha Stewart Living:

BEST BRITTLE
Brittle often has a Goldilocks problem: It's either too hard or too soft, too sweet or not sweet enough. Morning Glory Confections, however, has made its artisinal brittle just right. Produced in small batches in California, the candy has an excellent snap and balanced sweetness, and comes in six delectable flavors. Our favorites: Fleur de Sel & Peanut and the new Thai Curry & Peanut.

I'm constantly impressed with Max for all sorts of reasons, but I had to let you know that, in addition to running almost every aspect of Morning Glory Confections, he's also been a stellar new dad to our precious Tater. Where he gets the energy, I do not know!

Check out his website for brittle descriptions, the full list of retailers, his online store, and to sign up for his mailing list. And if you're around Melrose and La Cienega on Sundays, do stop by Max's booth at the Melrose Place Farmers' Market to sample his six flavors and market exclusives (recently: bacon brittle!).

Morning Glory Confections
http://www.morninggloryconfections.com
MGC on Twitter
MGC on Facebook

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Andre Guerrero's Movin' into Glassell Park!


I love this news because:

1. Echo Park's minutes away from Glassell Park

2. While we're occasionally disappointed by The Oinkster's fries, their always good veggie burgers, pulled pork and pastrami sandwiches make it a reliable favorite. I'm confident Andre will create a similar neighborhood favorite in GP.

3. I know they had their fans, but we found Butter Tart's butter tarts icky. It takes a lot to keep me away from a cute bakery close-by, but it was easy to stay away from Butter Tart after that first visit.

4. The eastside (or whatever you call our side of town) needs more neighborhoody breakfast/lunch joints.

5. Intelligentsia coffee without the wait or parking nightmare of the Silver Lake branch? Yes!

Thanks to Food GPS for breaking the news.

Butter Tart Bakery
4126 Verdugo Road
Los Angeles, CA 90065

Saturday, October 3, 2009

We've Got a Winner!

Congratulations to May, who won two tickets to next weekend's Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon in Pasadena. For the rest of you, there's still time to buy tickets, which are an extremely reasonable $20 ($25 at the door) for a serious chocolate feast. Click here for all of the details. And thanks for entering and sharing your favorite chocolate dessert.

My favorite, by the way? An old-fashioned chocolate layer cake. Just had a great one at Jongewaard's Bake 'N Broil in Long Beach.