See What We Discovered at the Best of Missouri Market & More Last Night

Copper and stone sculpture for home and garden from Jassi Designs of West Plains, Mo.

We found two new all-natural sauces from St. Louis-based Bittersweet Artisan Truffles: peach lavender, and white chocolate peppermint made with Still 630, a local whiskey.

Also new: B Cake, a ganache brownie cupcake with an Italian cream center. 

All-natural, botanical, soy, aromatherapy, and essential oil candles, using cotton wicks and in recyclable containers, from Tinker, Dicker & Doc, a fun-to-say, St. Louis-based company.

...and one heck of a selection, too.

What we thought was a brilliant idea: from Around Town Designs, specialty 4×4 coasters featuring original photography taken  in and around St.Louis. The coasters are made from tumbled Italian white marble.

Choose from local attractions, bars, restaurants...

...even high schools, a big seller. Company logos, special photographs--I would think even selfies--can be fashioned into coasters.  

There are Cards-themed coasters, too.

The baseball theme was everywhere: old school, handcrafted hardwood board games are for sale, courtesy of Across the Board in St. Louis.

Second year vendor Rick Jordan of Rick Jordan Chocolatier admitted to "getting my ass kicked  last year." This year, the Chesterfield-based, nationally-acclaimed bean-to-bar chocolatier is adequately stocked--and stoked--because he's chosen this year's Best of Market to introduce his newest collection--called Origins. 

It's hard to determine the scale on Jordan's Cacao Two Ways: the cacao "bean" is about 9 inches long.

One of Rick Jordan's cacao plants--he dreams of someday being able to harvest home-grown cacao pods here in St. Louis.  

Another clever idea, from St. Louis-based, Sycamore Creek: hundreds of grandpa's vintage postcards have been copied onto wooden plaques, then embellished with vintage buttons. Many of the cards have St. Louis themes.

A mismatched photo, perhaps: Busch II and Enos Slaughter

From the back of an old scorecard, we were told.

After fairing well at last year's "One of a Kind Show and Sale Chicago," Smith & Donovan, a Chicago-based boutique confectioner and chocolatier, was asked to participate in StL's Best of Missouri Market & More.

Smith & Donovan sell a lot of toffee. Taste it. You'll see why.

We discovered Leaf salad dressing at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. It's been in our fridge ever since--bottles and bottles of it.

Thirty flavors of organic jams and jellies--even sorghum--from The Milkweed Mercantile, an Organic Café and Green General Store located in Rutledge, Mo in NE Missouri. There's even a four-room solar- and wind-powered B&B on the property, aptly named an "eco-inn."

It's that time of year again: heirloom Santas, from Linda Cowell Originals, O'Fallon, Mo.

Plates, bowls, vases, mugs--and these colorful platters--from Precious Pots in Marshfield, Mo. 

Nine flavors of healthy and delicious coconut butter spreads (such as Sweet Lemon Kiss, Banana Blue, and Tart 'N Toasty Cherry), hand-made at My Coconut Kitchen in St. Louis by owner Angie Carl (above). After suffering a heart attack at age 29 and battling a rare form of blood cancer several years later, Carl began using coconut as the primary fuel for her new-found healthy lifestyle and quickly discovered coconut butter, a delicious power food.

Custom-made pens from a husband and wife team, J & S Turnings in Chesterfield.

Expected to sell well this weekend: Cardinals- and Blues-themed clay bead jewelry from Wilmette, Ill-based She Beads.

Cherry Kiss Chutney, one of four varieties made by St. Louis' Legacy Chutney. (Not that we're superstitious, but during the Card's post-season our vanilla ice cream will be topped with Cherry Kiss.)

The weekend menu from Catering St. Louis, one of the Market's food vendors.

We love the name: farm-to-table barbecue from Capitalist Pig in Soulard. 

And several varieties of tacos, courtesy of Les Dames d'Escoffier.