by Marilyn Hawkes | photography by Angelina Aragon
Pasta Sauce
Scottsdale-based Grimaldi’s Pizzeria recently rolled out a line of Italian pasta sauces in three varieties: marinara, tomato-basil and arrabbiata ($12.99 each). The company’s goal was to create sauces equal in quality to its restaurant pizza sauce, which is based on a recipe that Grimaldi’s CEO Joseph Ciolli says was handed down by generations of Italian American home chefs. The sauces, made with Italy’s San Marzano region tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, fresh onions, garlic, spices and sea salt, have no added preservatives, soy or canola oils and are non-GMO and gluten free. “We are excited to be able to bring our traditions to our customers’ home-cooked meals, providing Grimaldi’s famous quality and purity in our line of pasta sauces,” Ciolli says. Purchase online or at any Grimaldi’s Pizzeria location nationwide.
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
grimaldispizzeria.com
Organic Mocktails
In 2023, entrepreneur Anthony Cogdell founded Wildcraft Company, a craft beverage business that produces mocktails using only natural and organic ingredients. The Scottsdale resident’s lineup includes Wild Blossom Prickly Pear Cactus Lemonade ($3.99), made with prickly pear sourced in Southern Arizona, lemon juice, sweet potatoes, carrots and cane sugar; Apple Ginger Nojito ($3.99), based on the Cuban mojito cocktail, with lime juice, mint extract, apple juice, ginger and a pop of raw sugar; and the soon-to-be-released Cinnamon Vanilla Shirley Temple, with organic cinnamon and vanilla ($3.99). Future plans include a zero-proof vanilla-pineapple margarita, Mai Tai and Long Island iced tea. The bottled beverages are non-alcoholic, but many customers add alcohol, Cogdell says. “It’s a product that’s all inclusive for people who don’t drink, but it doesn’t exclude people who like a cocktail.”
Wildcraft Company
thewildcraftco.com
Spiced Chocolate Bars
Food has always played a major role in Mesa native Lisa Jaimes-Toon’s family life – she began cooking with her grandmother, Carolina, at age 5. After a 15-year career as a social studies teacher, Jaimes-Toon went to culinary school, and in 2014 developed Carolina’s Chocolate, a line of spicy chocolate bars ($8.50) inspired by her grandmother. She makes eight varieties, including two new flavors: Calabaza, a pumpkin and cocoa butter blend with clove, nutmeg and cinnamon highlights with a touch of white pepper, reminiscent of a fresh pumpkin empanada; and Naranja, a silky, 80-percent dark chocolate with pure orange oil that pairs well with big, bold red wines. “The orange is lilting. It flows in and out of your tastebuds all the way to the end,” she says. Jaimes-Toon donates 10 percent of every Calabaza purchase to help disability programs throughout Maricopa County.
Carolina’s Chocolate
carolinaschocolate.com
