Oysters in the house My love affair with tinned smoked oysters goes back decades. They’re little more than a dollar a can, stack well in the pantry and pack a strong flavor and oil that makes me feel luxurious. My whole family loves them, yet I know they are not for everyone. Pair them with cream cheese for appetizers or, fold them into an omelet for a meal good enough to go with Champagne.

Cooking with Truffles: I recently got a honeysuckle eating demo. I’d been doing it wrong. Since then I’ve heard of honeysuckle jam, moonshine and beer. I just picked up the new book “Cooking with Truffles: A Chef’s Guide.” Guess what I find? A recipe for Honeysuckle Gelato with Vanilla and Black Winter Truffle Salt. Is cooking with them all new to you? Try growing them. Truffles are mastery and mystery say famers. Susi Gott Séguret writes this book that offers glimpses of maybe not so much how you already cook, but about how you’d like to live. Truffled Roasted Leg of Lamb with Herbs and Tagliatelle with Truffle Cream and Asparagus Points look and sound fancy, but they’re actually doable in the home kitchen. Need more simplicity? Simmer some Truffled Bone Marrow. Yabbaduu How can you enjoy chocolate so much without eating it that you’re likely to break out in smiles? Yabbaduu Face Balm comes with a song and a smell. A little pot of cream holds this happiness. Rub a little under and on your nose and breathe in the aroma of chocolate. There’s like 60 substances that goes into your thought process. This cocoa bean fragrance made me feel like I was at a chocolatier in Europe. I felt better just twisting the lid off and getting a whiff. We have the Germans to thank for this product. Chasteberry releases dopamine and endorphins. Monk’s Pepper sounds cool. Too bad you can’t smell this good stuff through your computer, but you can hear the peppy song at www.yabbaduu.com Andrew & Everett This brand offers clean label cheese that’s with selections including “aged over 90 days,” rustic thick cut, and “udderly the best.” If you’re into healthier choices at all you can tell makers like this are proud to discuss preservative and hormone-free products with fewer and better ingredients and “clean label” is part of this honesty and pride. Sharp White Cheddar, Mozzarella, Fiesta Blend and American Cheese have your faves covered in delicious form. Get this: grass-fed cows are raised on small, fourth-generation family-owned farms in America’s heartland and each farm has around only 15 heads of cattle. Milk is made into cheese within 48 hours. Don’t you want to visit these cows? Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie checking her supply of smoked oysters. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Golfers need to eat!

Pumpkin Spice and other updates Obligitory Fall Flavor is actually the name of the Pumpkin Spice Doughp cookie dough (that you can bake if you want to). September is National Recovery Month and the creator of this dough called Doughp and pronounced “dope” has a back story she turned into a success. #Doughp4Hope is a national giving back campaign regarding mental health policies. Engage in in a conversation, over this thick and rich concoction made with “better” healthy ingredients. This announcement is part of the annual Culinary Thrill Seeking Pumpkin Spice Update. But please note that Avocado Brownie Vegan Brownie Batter is also a winner spread over sliced green apples. Yummy and healthy. That’s your “obligation” to flavor and better choices. They call it ‘legit” dough.

Truffles, peas and Jarlsberg Can’t stop thinking about Susi Gott Séguret’s “Cooking with Truffles: A Chef’s Guide” mentioned here recently? Combine her truffle passion with a hobby I’ve just heard about. Melfies. This is people taking selfies of themselves while foraging for mushrooms. I looked it up and it’s amazing photography. When rains made shrooms appear in my compost pile, I tried to get a melfie, but couldn’t contort myself just so. The truffle book is very beautiful. You can purchase it here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578268184 Jarlsberg In Norway, people once called this “extra” cheese. Jarlsberg Cheese is what you’re looking for today, so get to a computer and go to Jarlsberg.com to make any day more special. Harvest Snaps green pea snack crisps have a great bucolic label. The package says they are manufactured Calbee NA, LLC of Boardman, Or. I’m hearing headquarters are actually in Fairfield, California. I hope they eat them in all the states. www.harvestsnaps,com Darragh Doiron is a Port Area foodie who’s always got a eye out for new flavors. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com