Taste Memories

Sheep's Milk Cheese

Pecorino del Casentino: from Tuscany, this semihard cheese has a natural rind that is rubbed with tomato olive oil by the cheesemaker before being aged for eight months.

With the sheep cheese, you can't go wrong with a Cote du Bone pinot noir from Domaine Bachelet at about $22 a bottle.

Haskell's of Florida

2021 Pine Ridge Road, Naples. 254-1120.

The green sign above the door at Sweet Caroline's emphasizes "Muffins and Lunch" but that doesn't adequately divulge the range of tasty options at this bakery and eatery located in a busy healthcare complex in north Naples. While the muffins indeed warrant star billing (they are oversized, generously studded with goodies and have crispy tops), there are plenty of other seductive ovenly and prepared fresh items that seven women whip up for breakfast and lunch five days a week. I'm thinking especially of the chicken or tuna salad sandwich on fresh rye ($6) or maybe a cup of soup du jour with a slab of herb garlic cheese bread ($4). A Cobb salad ($4.50) or a BLT on whole wheat honey toast garnished with alfalfa sprouts could surely satisfy. Or how about the Sweet Caroline, a chicken curry surprise salad served on a fresh baked croissant, for $5.95? And if you want an all-veggie lunch, the kitchen complies with a healthy sandwich composed of fresh cucumber, tomato, green pepper, parmesan cheese, green olive, shredded carrot and alfalfa sprouts on whole wheat honey bread lavishly smeared with mayonnaise and honey mustard for $5.75. Pickles and chips are on the side.

Caroline's (which is 12 years old) is owned and operated by the mother-and-daughter duo of Barbara Oppenheim and young Lisa Juliano, who bought the enterprise from the original Caroline nearly four years ago. Barbara, a retired school administrator from New Jersey, supervises the salad and sandwich part of the operation and runs the business. She was looking for a little retirement project when this entrepreneurial opportunity came up. Now she just laughs at the word retirement.

Lisa is the baker, menu planner and recipe authority. Every morning, her side of the kitchen turns out more than 300 muffins in 22 flavors. Blueberry is the most popular, but there's a substantial following for some of the more unusual choices, such as banana-chocolate-walnut or double-chocolate cheesecake. All the muffins are made from scratch using soybean oil, and most are prepared with egg whites instead of whole eggs. So these muffins are cholesterol free; and they are preservative free, too (if that makes you feel virtuous) besides being toothsome and soul nourishing. Muffins are $1.75 each. Additionally, Lisa's ovens turn out five fresh bread varieties every day, a small army of sticky buns, turnovers, croissants and a batch of her ever-popular brownies.

Sweet Caroline's does catering and fancy sandwich platters for home parties, and the baker will gladly fulfill specialty orders with 24-hours' notice. About half the daily bakery and food plates are for take-out. But whether you must take your food and scurry back to an office or home to a waiting brunch gathering, or whether you can sit a spell in Caroline's little world of wonderful smells, you'll be pleased with the cheerful service and quality food. The "sweet" in the logo could easily refer to the kindly, energetic women behind the counters as well as to the baked goods.

Sweet Caroline's

11121 Health Park Blvd. in North Collier Health Park (off Immokalee Road), Naples. 592-1111. Breakfast and lunch: 7 a.m-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.