ASHEVILLE – Pumpkin spice may be nice but there are other fall flavors worth your time and attention. Local gourmet food crafters and dining venues have curated seasonal collections of warm, spicy and appetizing treats that embrace the essence of autumn. In recent years, Poppy introduced gourmet caramel apples near me offerings to appeal to customers’ other ideas of the taste of fall. People always ask us to carry them year-round and we don’t because we can’t keep up with production, and it wouldn’t be as fun for them to be fall flavors if we carried them all year long.
Southern Pecan Pie at the foundation is Poppy’s original Salted Caramel with the addition of natural maple syrup, Southern pecans, hints of vanilla and nutritional yeast. It’s Frank’s favorite of the bunch. I save my Southern Pecan Pie for November and right now I’m munching on Caramel Apple. Caramel Apple also begins with Salted Caramel popcorn but with the addition of a bit of apple cider and apple pie spice resulting in a cinnamon-caramel effect. Sons Whiskey and fresh, caramelized pecans. The fall flavors are available through Thanksgiving Day.
Probably by the third week of October I’m guessing we’ll sell out. Also, Poppy has two Halloween-inspired items that are on the market for a limited time and are available in snack size until early October. Monster Mix is Salted Caramel popcorn drizzled with French Broad Chocolate and themed sprinkles. Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn is available for online ordering and shipping and sold in select local retail stores and markets. Provisions Mercantile’s two Asheville locations carry the complete Poppy Popcorn collection.
18 Chestnuts18 Chestnuts specializes in plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free and low-glycemic soups made with local and all-natural ingredients. And I use so many different vegetables in each recipe to make sure it’s well-rounded and on point so when you have a serving, you feel satisfied. The soups may be consumed on their own or used to complement other dishes. 18 Chestnuts is sold at Provisions Mercantile stores, Common Housefly Gourmet Shop in Black Mountain, Mother Earth Foods, Amazon and 18chestnuts. 18 Chestnuts is this year’s recipient of the award for Best Plant Based Convenience Product in NYC by Plant Based World Expo. Steel Craft Chocolates specializes in handcrafted, airbrushed chocolate bon bons and confections.
High-quality ingredients like Swiss chocolates, European butter and creamy, rich ganache and age-old techniques are used to create the products. The artisan small batch collections are molded in different shapes and painted in vibrant colors. It’s us applying it as would an artist painting a painting. As seasons transition, customers seek out spicier flavors like pumpkin, gingerbread and apple cider, Cook said. Cook said, In Western North Carolina, when it starts to get cold, the leaves start to change so we try to pick aesthetics that are like fall leaves changing colors — some yellows, oranges, browns and bronzes.