New! New! New! Grillo’s

Bread, eggs, milk, coffee, and pickles.

That’s pretty much my list of pantry staples. Unless I’ve gone on a real pickle bender, it’s not likely that you’ll open my fridge and be unable to find a jar of Grillo’s hot spears. It’s not just that I like supporting local vendors. These pickles– which owner Travis Grillo learned to make in his grandfather’s backyard garden– are my absolute favorites. They’re crisp enough to snap and just plain delightful, garlicky and spicy hot but also tangy and cool with big handfuls of fresh dill.

Grillo’s spears have been flying off our Produce shelves for a few years. (I don’t think I’m the only one who counts them among her pantry staples.) Today I spotted a new tub sitting alongside the familiar spear: Pickle chips.

Who doesn’t love a pickle chip in a baseball sitting in a beach chair?

Recipe: A Chicago-Style Hotdog for New Englanders

Featuring all-beef hotdogs from Pineland Farms Natural Meats in New Gloucester, Maine and hot dill pickles from Grillo’s Pickles in Boston, Mass

Grillo’s Pickles is something of a local legend. Four years ago, Travis Grillo started selling homemade pickles out of the back of his 1985 Cutlass Supreme. Today his pickles are in over 48 Whole Foods Market stores and Travis’s very own pickle shop in Cambridge. The exponential growth shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s tasted these spears. Using the recipe he learned from his grandfather, Travis has nailed the ratio of dill to garlic and hot peppers. But the best part is that these pickles are super-crisp, with the crunch and snap of a garden-fresh vegetable that’s been expertly brined.

A few hours north of Cambridge, another local company is creating exceptional products. When it was founded, Pineland Farms Natural Meats was affiliated with the oldest organic/alternative meat operation in the country. Today, the company remains committed to sustainable agricultural practices and providing their livestock with a clean, stress-free environment. They never use nitrates, nitrites, growth hormones, or antibiotics. The result is incredibly flavorful, fresh tasting products– and some of the best hotdogs I’ve ever had.