Texas Chocolate Continued

Everywhere I go I am thinking of you, Dear Readers. I was scouting out San Antonio for cool chocolate and candy to come back and share with you.

My room was on the 22nd floor of the Marriott River Center and when I looked out of my window, I could see the Alamo. It's right in the middle of downtown San Antonio and is not at all what you'd expect. It seems so tiny!! Of course, the whole compound is not still there, but it seems like it should be out in a vast stretch of desert somewhere.

And you sure don't expect there to be souvenir cookies!

Cool box! Love the artwork and the colors! And get a load of these great cookie designs:

Texas got a little broken, but aren't they great? Unfortunately the cookies themselves are no good. They have a weird lemon-like taste which I didn't like. I was bummed because I love shortbread. But hey, I'm thinking Walkers - my love! I guess Scotland does shortbread a little better than Texas. : )

Atkinson's (maker of Chick-o-Stick) is based in Texas http://www.atkinsoncandy.com/ and I hadn't seen these before:

I love the little square peanut butter bars. To be honest, these seemed a little stale. They were more chewy than crunchy - but not in a good way.

They could have been stale because there is no expiration date on them. You all know how I hate that!!! There are too many candy makers and chocolatiers and bakers who don't put an expiration date on their products. How can you tell if they are just God-awful or if they have gone bad?

This is one of my soapbox issues and I will continue to rave about it. I have some gruesome pictures to be shared in future blogs. Grrrr...... I want expiration dates!!!!!!!!

I was appalled by the price of these ($19.99) but they were so original and I soooo wanted to share them with you all!

Chocolate Tamales!!!!

They come in mint and regular, in milk and white chocolate.

Isn't that creative? They are wrapped in a corn husk just like real tamales!!

And I was thrilled and surprised to find that the chocolate wasn't half bad! (We're not talking amazing, but we're talking better than Palmer.) They are made by Claudia B Chocolates based in Texas. http://www.claudiabchocolates.com/ You can order your own online for less than I paid. While I liked the milk chocolate, the white chocolate was just too sweet for me. I didn't even try the mint - just not my fav.

This bar was a whopping $7.00! But I just couldn't pass it up. I mean, when will I have the chance to try this combo again?

I'm sorry - eeww! The chocolate was good - I found myself wishing the jalapeno wasn't involved. I'm just not a fan of these weird combos. I love chocolate and peanuts too much to have them junked up with jalapeno! You know what I say - just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it! But I'm glad it's out there and I know people like it. And what a great thing to get to try in Texas!!

It really is so much fun to check out the local candy makers when I travel - make sure you do the same thing (doesn't have to be candy). Try the local foods or listen to the local music. Don't do things you can do at home - enjoy the journey - have adventures. Even if you're just going to the next town - there is always something new and different. Try it!!