The products in the store are items that I purchased for myself and have used for years. They have served me well and I highly recommend them. With the exception of Oils of Aloha (OOA) and Western Trails Food (WTF), I have no direct relationship with any manufacturer, and I have never received sponsorship payment from any of these companies, including OOA and WTF.
With respect to free merchandise, my haul has been limited to some samples (retail value $161) that I received from Oils of Aloha. Although I had been a loyal, self-paying customer for years, my purchases had been limited to Hawaii’s Gold Macadamia Nut Oil. When I approached the company about selling Hawaii’s Gold on this website, they offered to send me some of their other products for purposes of experimentation. I accepted their offer and do not feel that the free samples compromised my objectivity in any way. As you will notice, the other oils are not offered in the store—and that’s because I could not find ideal uses for them in my current recipes.
I do receive a small commission on items purchased through the store. These commissions help to offset the costs of producing and maintaining this site, including technical support, photography, and videography. The videos are particularly expensive to produce. If they were not, or I had more extensive resources, there would be more of them! Meanwhile, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the products I have selected or my relationships with their manufacturers.
One note on the photos in the Store: The images of GADGETS and COOKBOOKS are by Ben Gebo Photography.