Oh Madeleine...

A sad day it was yesterday as we officially got together to wish our good friend Gooch farewell. Today he's selling off his last remaining wares to gather up more gas money and negate a need for storage. However, the bash to celebrate his search for fortune and fame, or at least have a good brush with it, went well.

Even better the food was amazing - from the bourbon and brown sugar marinated beef, to empress rolls and the simple tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella with balsamic reduction - it was a taste sensation. I can't name off all the food because, frankly, there was too much!

At the end of the meal, however, a drive by feeding occurred as someone was breaking apart these tender little morsels and stuffing them into the mouths of people. They were tasty enough that it was apparently suddenly necessary for these to be dispensed immediately.

'They' being Madeleines, petit french cakes - it says right there on the label - so it must be true. No - these aren't the singer Madeleine.. though she's a tasty little cake herself.





This sweet buttery and vanilla taste just filled my mouth instantly from this little morsel, and I wanted more. Turns out, it was a package of Madeleines. Now, the packaging aside (which looked a bit Costco-ish) they tasted just delicious. One of the great things about french desserts, is they make no bones about using fat for flavor. This was no exception, the buttery goodness was from actual butter, a heap of vanilla and they were sweet.

Yes... tasty little cakes they were. Now, could you get something more gourmet? Yes. Could you get something with a better texture? Very likely as, though these were very good, there was a slightly rubbery feel to them. I think they would have bounced, except they were to good to toss on the floor, and they were disappearing quickly when I found them. Did it detract from the taste? Hardly at all. These were a bargain dessert, I'm sure. If you know where these came from, please feel free to tell me as I'd like to find them myself. Just a good finger food dessert to have on hand when you have company coming - and have no intention of cooking.

Even The Baby Under the Bed came out - hoping to get a taste of the Madeleines. The Baby under the bed usually only comes out in search of toes to nibble on, or to behead small dolls left alone on the floor. Now, if she came out for these, you know they just have to be good.

The Oreo Cakester

Ok, the Poll is closed, however - I wasn't able to make it to pick up the winner today. I did happen to see another product that was supposed to be reviewed when I was out for a work project. So I picked up the Oreo Cakester.

To call this an Oreo seems a bit strange. To call it an 'Oreo on Steroids', or 'Don't Make Oreo Angry or it turn into Hulking Cakester' would be better. Here's the Cakester.





This box was heavy.

It says it's 12 ounces, it felt like two pounds. I suppose it does have 12 of these bad boys in it. It also says 'New' in bright friendly colors there. I hadn't heard of it until Jess submitted it for review. She's a big fan apparently. This isn't exactly a dessert though - again falling more into the snack category. In fairness, if you're in 8th grade and want something to follow your lunch (like my oldest daughter is sure to request) then it is a dessert. The size of these is much smaller than I actually thought it would be - in fact slightly smaller than the picture on the package, and much more black than the warm brown of the box. It's basically a small package of whoopie pies. Really - that's it.

It's good, but not as good as Aunt Martha's. No... hers were to die for. If Aunt Martha called to tell you she just made a batch - you would drive through fire to get them, and you would be handsomely rewarded as she would make enough to feed a small army - and expected you to distribute them to all the kin when you picked them up. She knew that a few extra would land in your lap for this service, no one seemed to mind.

So final word - I would have liked more of a brownie taste to the cake. It's kind of not what I hoped for. It's also really evident that there's a lot of sugar in this - 23 grams of it in fact. That's what, almost six teaspoons? This is basically a sugar kick in the pants, disguised as a light and fluffy supersized oreo cookie. It is kind of tasty - but my advice, stick with the Oreos and the glass of milk. There's something about the Cakester that reminds me of Oreos, but I think I prefer the real deal. Now - I need to go run around the building and shake off this sugar rush!

Over the hump!

Wednesday was quite a busy day, but it looks like I'm over the hump... humpday that is. Now I have the weekend to look forward to - and it's a long weekend at that. Thanks Labor Day.

Oh, small hurdle has been crossed - I've jumped over 100 blog reads now, and hope to just keep that number rolling up and up. By the way - don't feel like you can't comment here. I love getting your emails, but some of them are asking for the same thing - and I'll happily answer those questions here. Plus, it doesn't hurt for your 'I love your blog' comment to live forever here! In other news, I should tell you that this is now a money making venture. You may have noticed areas in and around the stuff I type that can be clicked on. I can't ask you to click or not click in those areas - but someone who visited did, and now a shiny penny - that's right $0.01 - is soon to be mine! Think of all the desserts I can buy with it. Actually - I never really thought this would make a lot of money, I'm just hoping I can break even with my dessert habit. Some of you worry that I will gain weight with my dessert eating, but only one day since I've been doing this have I injested more than my normal intake of dessert. I truly love the stuff.



Today I have a dessert to review - only I didn't take a picture of it before I ate it. I kinda ate it without thinking. The picture above was found at someone's flickr site. So I grabbed this because, it's such a tradition to get some at the fair, and I didn't even think about it until it was gone. Is it a dessert? I'm not sure... I guess you would call it a sweet snack more than a dessert - but I hope you won't judge me for posting it. I went the the Champlain Valley Fair and, in fact, the only thing I had while I was there was Maple Cotton Candy. I'll of course go back for some fried dough, kettle corn and more - but today it was all the Maple Cotton Candy. Now, if you're not from the Northeast - you might not even be aware that you can make Maple Syrup into cotton candy - but it is so tasty, light and fluffy - it's hands down the winner over the sugary dyed stuff you would normally eat. As much as anything that tastes somewhat like a cloud can be tasty and delicious - Maple Cotton Candy is. So if you are ever at one of the fairs in Vermont, look for a wooden building that says 'Sugar Shack' and there you will find a wonderful assortment of maple goodness - from the syrup itself to maple glazed doughnuts, the cotton candy I mentioned, maple ice cream and more. Do yourself a favor - do not pass go, do not collect $200 - just get there and eat it.

Oh - and if you ever find yourself with a delicious tasty food that you've got to share - make sure you post it on Tastespotting I have literally spent hours there. Oh, and just like when you go grocery shopping - make sure you go tastespotting on an empty stomach. Lesson learned.

WWYDFAKB

First - Go vote int he poll to the left <-- over there! If you want more info - check the links underneath the poll.

Ok - If you don't have those eight letters from todays title imprinted into your brain already, you will at least be familiar with them. The expression is - What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar? I'll let you think about it for a minute.

Ok, what would I do - well this time around - it was as simple as a trip to the refrigerator here at work with Rabid and Chef Abram. It was a sad time, for a brief moment, as our good friend and now former co-worker 'Gooch' was our benefactor.

In the few seconds that it took to remove said Klondike bars, in every flavor from Peanut Butter to Heath to Oreo we suddenly became very happy and dug into said Klondike bars quickly. I got sad again when I was finished. Gooch was belligerent, quirky, loved Bjork and Star Trek. Beyond Dessert - what more do you need in a day really? Ok - so there are a few things more that are handy to have, like a Leatherman or Gerber multi-tool. We bought a Gerber multi tool for Gooch as a going away present, and it looks as if he left the overflowing sack of desserts for us in return.

So on to today's subject. The Oreo Klondike!



And another for good measure.



The one occasional downfall to a Klondike Bar is the chocolate shell. Because of the special relationship between a chocolate shell and it's contents, many chocolates aren't on par with the bars I would buy in the store - like a good Dagoba or untempered chocolate bar. A local store called Healthy Living has some amazing chocolate on their shelves. I'll have to review one of them soon here. But I digress... the chocolate shell is what you would expect, not great, not horrible, stands up fairly well, melts a little. It's all good, if not a bit thin on this one - the thickness of the shell can be a bit hit or miss. The contents, however, are much more stable and predictable from one bar to the next.

When I bit into the bar, I was pleasantly surprised. It immediately reminded me of Ben and Jerry's - Sweet Cream with Oreo Cookie - which was unfortuantely changed to Hydrox and before being retired as Sweet Cream with Cookie, though rumor has it you can still occasionally buy retired versions in Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops. Good luck with that. If you loved that flaovr, you may find a reflection of it in this, or discover what you missed out on years ago.

The one thing I dislike about many 'commercial' products is that the sugar seems to hit my teeth almost as fast as my tongue, but there really wasn't any of that here. No feeling like my teeth were going to burst into flame. I had to say that the chunks were fairly good sized, many about 1/5th of a cookie, but then with many others much smaller distributed throughout. There really was a well established texture. When I was done, I wanted another one. I was thoroughly impressed with just how good it tasted.

I have to admit, I ate a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Klondike bar. I'll hold off on that review for now - as there are more of those in the refrigerator. I'll review it on it's own.

Speaking of that refrigerator... there were also some mystery Hagan Daas bars in there too. I may have to go and discover what ones those are soon.

For those who came all this way - here I am eating said Klondike bar. Chef Abram was testing a camera, I became the subject.

I beg to differ

So far today I have not had dessert. I have not had the opportunity to get any, and this blog has been written between everything else I've had to be involved in today.

In fact - I was almost tempted to stop at the vending machine downstairs. Almost, but not quite. Sorry vending machine - I'll stick with my Green Mountain Coffee Roasters cup of Joe for now, thanks. I'm going to digress from the dessert topic just a bit and talk a little about coffee, and spotting good food - including dessert.

Coffee isn't something I drink *with* dessert - for me it's often a chaser.

I have always been a big fan of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Not only is it locally roasted - so it's fresh - they were also one of the only coffees in my area that was listed on The Songbird Foundation. I discovered them when I was a baristo, before the term barista, baristo and baristi were tossed around much at all. At that time they had a simple logo - a line drawing of a Robin with the words that went something like, "Imagine your backyard without these." and their website underneath the robin in small print. I immediately began checking into the coffee we used in the shop, and that I purchased at home. What I didn't buy in the store, I ordered from Songbird approved companies. My local taste for coffee has expanded, thanks to an all too short lived coffee shop called 'The Coffee Barn'. I won't go into how much I miss David, Sarah and their 1/2 lb muffins (yes, one half pound!) where I found Brown & Jenkins amazing coffee. If you love coffee, with or without dessert - then you must try it. Be warned, it will absolutely ruin many other coffees to you.

The next subject on todays agenda - 'Best Ever' Why in the world people feel they have to entitle a dessert the best ever is a bit of a mystery. Actually - I think it begs people to challenge your foolish notion. Secretly I may have named some of my favorites (a tiramusu recipe I have is definitely one of the possibilities) the 'best' ever, but publicly it would be my 'not too shabby' xxxxx dessert. One example of 'best ever gone awry is this mixture from cooks.com no less! Anything using 'instant' or cream other than dairy derived (unless it's for diatary reasons) is instantly suspect. Have a look, and perhaps a laugh for yourself. I'm not saying it might not be a guilty pleasure from time to time - but so is a cheese danish from the vending machine. I know, I'm not proud. I was hungry. I couldn't stop myself. I had to eventually visit it - the coffee wasn't enough.

The Lemon days of summer

Ahh the lemon, what a sweet sweet nectar you make, when used poperly in desserts that is. I love the tart snap on the tongue, followed by the sweet soft finish. Some of my favorite eats are actually very simple lemon enhanced desserts. Mother Myricks in Manchester, VT, for example, has a very simple lemon poundcake they call the 'Lemon Lulu' and it's one of my favorites. I typically buy the smaller cake and savor it. Whether you eat it alone, with a good cup of coffee, or even a la mode with a nice Vanilla Bean ice cream - it's just a great canvas which is substantial enough on it's own, but also lends iteself to be painted on with simple additions.

Today, I was treated to two desserts. The first is an inspiring Lemon tart, topped with a light and fluffy 'swiss' style meringue. It was from one of my favorite confection makers - The delectable Sweet Science.



Wow, what a treat the Lemon tart was, actually is. I'm still eating it. I got rid of the fork and actually grabbed a knife to slice off butter pat sized pieces of the tart and savor it's soft texture, flaky crust and blowtorch-toasted top. I would have to say, if there is one dessert I was offered before leaving this plane - this is certainly near the top of that list. The meringue is absolutely dreamy. I'm not saying this because she'll read this.. or perhaps I am. I could swim in it. It's a soft, sugary pillow that floats like a cloud across the tongue. If it sounds like I'm gushing, it's because I am. There isn't a harsh refined sugar taste to it, there is a light citrus taste to it - though I don't believe it's lemon. This is truly simplistic complexity. You could throw this down quickly and never taste the subtleties - or you could savor this and dissect the layers of flavor distributed here. Both have their good and bad points. However, today - I couldn't be rushed with this dessert. In fact, I'm going to move on to the next one, but I have only eaten just more than half this slice of perfection - and I'll be going back to it.

The next is an uncomplicated Molasses cookie with a Lemon Glaze, from a new member of my workplace - Chef Abram.



The molasses cookie looks very simple, well formed, good texture - nice heft to it too. They were all uniform in size, just about 3" in size. Chef has done this before and is well practiced at portion control. A good sign that this could be a good cookie. I haven't yet taken a bite - but it's demanding me to do just that. I must comply.. Zing! wow - nice lemon burst at first bite. Good chewiness to the cookie too. Not quite as crisp as I like a cookie on the outside, but that's likely the tradeoff of the lemon glaze. Surprisingly, and perhaps because my tastbuds have tired, the lemon flavor seemed to subside quickly. The glaze is a fairly raw sugar/lemon combination - or at least it would seem. The molasses in the cookie is great, a little heavy handed - which is my preference. I frequently pass on molasses cookies as the distribution is lacking and it tastes more like flavored flour, than it does of molasses. On second blush (after a good cleansing of the palette - the cookie tasted quite different. The sweetness rushed in woth the lemon, the snapiness hits the tongue alonge with the sugar - then the molasses flavor creeps in tasting of golden brown and did just what a cookie is supposed to do and more. It made me smile.

Plan your dessert calendar now...

More reviews to come... however, I found this calendar in a ghost group "Yes I eat Dessert first..." on Facebook and had to post it. I say that because it appears it's been quite some time since anyone has posted there. Anyway - here's the Calendar. Now, if you're ever in doubt, you always know which dessert to eat:

The Calendar according to desserts:

Desserts
National Dessert Month--October 1-31
National Dessert Day--October 14
National Pie Day--January 23
National Pie Day--December 1
National Pecan Pie Day--July 12
National Raspberry Cream Pie Day--August 1
National Pumpkin Pie Day--December 25
National Cheesecake Day--July 30
National Pastry Day--December 9
National Applesauce Cake Day--June 6
National Spongecake Day--August 23
National Angel Food Cake Day--October 10
National Lemon Cupcake Day--December 15
National Fruitcake Day--December 27
National Sacher Torte Day--December 5
National Blonde Brownie Day--January 22
National Macaroon Day--May 31
National Sugar Cookie Day--July 9
National Apple Dumpling Day--September 17
National Plum Pudding Day--February 12
National Tapioca Pudding Day--July 15
National Indian Pudding Day--November 13
National Butterscotch Pudding Day--September 19

Ice Cream
National Ice Cream Month--July 1-31
National Ice Cream Day--July 18
Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day--July 1
National Ice Cream and Violins Day--December 13
National Vanilla Ice Cream Day--July 23
National Peach Ice Cream Day--July 17
National Rocky Road Day--June 2
National Spumoni Day--August 21
National Ice Cream Soda Day--June 20
National Ice Cream Soda Day--August 2
National Strawberry Sundae Day--July 7
National Ice Cream Sandwich Day--August 2
National Parfait Day--November 25
National Frappe Day--October 7
National Creamsicle Day--August 14

Junk Food
National Snack Food Month--February 1-28
National Potato Chip Day--March 14
National Chip and Dip Day--March 23
National Cornchip Day--January 29
National Tortilla Chip Day--February 24
National Pretzel Day--April 26
National Pretzel Month--October 1-31
National Trail Mix Day-- August 31
National Cheeseball Day--April 17
National Popcorn Poppin' Month--October 1-31
National Popcorn Day--January 19
National Popcorn Day--January 31
National Donut Day--1st Weekend in June
National Cream-filled Donut Day--September 14
National Buttercrunch Day--January 20
National Gumdrop Day--February 15
National Candy Corn Day--October 30
National Jelly Bean Day--April 22
National Cherry Popsicle Day--August 26
National Cotton Candy Day--December 7
National Toasted Marshmallow Day--August 30

On the vegan side

Yes, you read correctly - today I ate a vegan dessert. No, it wasn't the only one in the store, and yes *I* paid money for it - this wasn't a freebie, nor was I paid to review it. I haven't been yet - but if that ever happens, I'll make it blatantly obvious so everyone is well aware. Actually - I'll make it blatantly obvious because I will be in shock and disbelief if anyone pays me to test their product.

On to the pic of today's selection, Raspberry Tofutti Cheesecake from Healthy Living - a local alternative grocer in South Burlington, VT.





Today's picture quality - not so good. The harsh blue - I'm assuming it was Metal Halide - lighting didn't do much to make this look tasty - but it looked pretty as a picture in it's display case under the color corrected floursecent lights. I used the 'auto correct' feature of the only software available to me here - which is 'Microsoft Office Picture Manager' - not exactly Photoshop, but then I don't want you to think I'm tweaking photos. I just crop or rotate them and correct the colors as my phone's camera is just north of Suckville central.

For those not familiar, Tofutti is a maker of Tofu products that are reminiscent of dairy products - cream cheese, sour cream, sliced cheese and other things that have never had any sort of cheese or cream anywhere near them, not even next to them. Seriously. However, their best knockoff is the Sour Cream. Mix it with Vegetarian Chorizo Sausage, some various beans, salsa and avacado - and you will go through it with tortilal chips like Paris Hilton goes through boyfriends on videotape - and unlike Paris you won't even consider that what you're doing is healthy, which I'm sure is not the case in Miss Hilton's case.

Ok, on to the nitty gritty - which wasn't as gritty as I expected. However, the texture... wasn't... quite... cheesecake. It was a bit more moist than most cheesecake. In fact, there was a bit of moisture beading up on top of the concoction, which you can likely see it in the picture. I would believe that they tried to cool it down too quickly after baking and perhaps also closed it away into the little clamshell - sealing in the excess aqua. Still, knowing what it's made of - I didn't expect to get *exactly* cheesecake.

The crust was graham cracker - and it was almost as you would expect, except I don't believe they used butter - so it was missing a touch of salty nuttiness and savory flavor that butter can add. The raspberry top half was well flavored and tasted of real raspberries - sweet and tart at the same time, but free of those annoying seeds that find their way under my crowns. As I mentioned - I'm going to eventually lose all my teeth - whether it's from genetics or from habitual eating of sweets - you and my dentist be the judge.

I was actually quite pleased with the dessert. Not only did it seem to lack the 'funny flavor' I expected it to have, it wasn't as bland as all get out and was surprisingly filling (I should also mention I shared this tasty treat with a special lady - so I only had about half.) Still, it's not quite cheesecake. Were I to compare it to the now defunct 'Kathy's Cheesecakes' I used to partake of regularly (which was dang near a ten) I would have to give this a 6.5, maybe a 7 because I had to look at this on it's own, and not just compare it side by side with traditional cheesecake. The low score is because it's just missing something - mainly in the way of texture. The excess moisture was also a downer.

However, if you are a vegan, vegetarian, or needed to eat a dessert that's yummy and *not* loaded with saturated fat - this would definitely be high on the list. Heck, it's even full of protein, calcium and maybe even some vitamins.

To think of it as a traditional cheesecake, specifically thinking of Kathy's Cheesecake as Bo Derek - the 'Perfect 10', then this would be Tori Spelling of 90210 'fame'. Sure, it's fun, and looked well put together on the surface, and it's kind of a little tasty (even if that thought makes you feel guilty) there's just something not right about it, though the richness and pink fluff almost make up for it.

Candied Bacon Ice Cream - could it be the perfect dessert?

Candied Bacon Ice Cream... just the sound of the words is akin to chocolate ballerinas dancing on my tongue. Candied Bacon Ice Cream. I have to admit, I really want to taste this. The only reason I didn't make some last night is that I didn't have all the ingredients and my littlest one, Baby D, was slipping off to sleepyland in my arms. A trip to the store will have to wait. Nevermind that I don't have an ice cream maker - I've succesfully made ice cream before by separating it out into small batches and doing it by hand. However, this may be worthy of finally investing in that appliance.

First, let's give credit where credit is due - I didn't hear of this directly - no I read it in the latest issue of Maxim that arrived on my doorstep a few days ago. The one with the picture of Anna Kournikova - the tennis player who certainly would give Candied Bacon Ice Cream a healthy run for it's money in a flat out competition.

The person who created this is is David Lebovitz, who in turn was inspired by Michael Ruhlman, who was probably inspired by a spread of Bacon Porn - or what you may refer to as the bacon section of the local supermarket. Since I am an admitted chocolate freak, I of course will be chopping up some of the lovely Callebaut chocolate in my pantry to mix into a portion of this crazy candied bacon concoction.

If you've tried this, and failed or succeeded, make sure to send me your pointers on how to avoid the pitfalls of dessert hell. Should this recipe fail, I'll just try again. After all, with the ingredients below, how could it really be a failure?

Here is the list of ingredients, but for the actual recipe - make sure to visit David Lebovitz blog:


Bacon Ice Cream

For the candied bacon;
* 5 strips bacon
* Light brown sugar

For the ice cream custard:
* Salted butter
* Brown sugar - light or dark (you can use either)
* Half-and-half
* Large egg yolks
* Dark rum or Whiskey
* Vanilla extract
* Optional: Ground Cinnamon


Thank you David, Michael and anyone else who helped inspire such a mixture.

Ahh the trusty ice cream sandwich...

We all know the ice cream sandwich. Some love it - it's like tossing a stick of dynamite into a gopher hole on a hot day. You know you're taking care of the issue. However, many ice cream sandwiches are not perfection. I'll delve into one of those today.

 

The two I'll be mentioning today are the version by Blue Bunny I picked up int he store today, and by Hannaford - a supermarket you'll find in New England. I happened to pick up a 12 pack of the latter to bring in to share with the boys and girls at work.. suffice it to say they never left the house.

 

First, the Blue Bunny. The packaging is bright and colorful and very festive. Kudos on presentation - it made me think I was unwrapping something special. When I unwrapped it though - which was a surprisingly difficult process, I wasn't ecstatic. The color of the ice cream was a bit yellow. Mildly disturbing, but not enough to keep me from eating. The ice cream melted very quickly - though it was solid when I picked it up at the store. I had a very small sandwich (which I dispatched of quickly) and yet in that short time - the consistency and texture of said ice cream was quite different. The chocolate wafer was very cake like - as my co-worker Rabid Dan described it - 'Devil doggish'. I think he's right on in that description. It also stuck to the wrapper from the instant I unwrapped it, and it stuck to my hands... to a surprising degree. I always expect it to come off on the hands, but not this much. There was also a 'funny' flavor to it, immediately and as an aftertaste. I couldn't nail it down to one of the other - but I definitely wasn't as happy with this one as I expected to be - and wished I had water to wash it down with afterward.

 

Now, on to the Hannaford brand. The presentation is seriously bland and a bit lacking of any pizazz. The bars each come in plain white paper wrappers. However, they opened very nicely - even after sitting out for about 5 minutes - the same time I estimate the Blue Bunny sat out. The texture and consistency were a bit softer, but not squishy. When I pulled at the wrapper, it easily came open. Only a trace of ice cream and a few spots of the wafer stuck to the wrapper. Quite a pleasant surprise. The ice cream was off white, and to my surprise, had no odd initial taste or aftertaste. The chocolate wafer was a bit less than stellar, but only came off on the fingers, and not falling apart. It wasn't cardboard like, but also wasn't too cake like. When I finished this one, I felt like I immediately wanted another. Quite a pleasant surprise. One of my friends (she shall remain nameless) actually ate four of them in a row. I admit, I did go back for a second after about 15 minutes. My only recommendation

 

The winner - absolutely - Hannafords. I know - I'm as shocked as the Blue Bunny people must be.

What a crazy good cookie!

So I'm a new dad, not nearly as much energy as I used to have when my 13 year old was born, but it's still good. These days, I'm back on the radio as a DJ - though 'Talent' is such a better term, right? I mean - it's not just about pushing buttons, it's about captivating an audience by juggling around the right words, making sure people hang on and want to hear what's coming up. Too many DJ's are, in my opinion, just blowing hot air, loving to hear themselves talk, and honestly only doing it so they can say, 'I'm on the radio - I'm kind of a big deal.' Yeah, I know - you see what I did there, I put together one of my thoughts with a movie quote. That's the kind of magic I do on the radio. And you may have thought it was just here.

So why is this here, why are you reading this? After realizing I needed a theme for this blog. I began thinking I should be talking about yummy treats to eat. Desserts - anywhere from Ice Cream sandwiches, cookies and cupcakes to the more sophisticated, but commonly available, like tiramisu, mousse, tortes and tarts. Why? Well, I love food - especially desserts. If my teeth will eventually fall out anyway, I might as well enjoy myself along the way.

This is what I ate today...



This wonderful confection is more than just a chocolate chip cookie - and was made by 'Sweet Science' sweetscience@gmail.com and consists of an amazing gourmet chocolate that has been broken up into small chunks, about the size of a semi sweet chip, pistachios that have been chopped into small pieces and candied, and (of course) top shelf flour, eggs, etc. Unlike many cookies that are dry to the core, unless you stumble upon a few chips in a row, this was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and had these wonderful chewy tidbits scattered throughout with a nice nutty/sweet taste. Truly an amazing treat for me this morning. With cookies, so many people tend to be spartan with the extras, or they go overboard forcing your mouth to run an obstacle course, and making cookie consumption an athletic event. Thankfully that error was not visited here.