Peanut Butter and Jelly

Those of you who have been reading this for any length of time know that I have issues - dating issues, chocolate issues, and perfectionist issues.  When I review something - say peanut brittle - I want to review ALL the peanut brittle.  The only way I know how to tell you what's best is by comparing them.  I can't just try a random peanut brittle and remember all the others.  I don't how gourmets do it.

Of course, the problem with this perfectionism is that I can never get my hands on ALL the peanut brittles.

But I can't stop myself.  Today I went in Rite Aid to check out the Halloween Candy.  I have to tell you, I am underwhelmed this year.  Not much new and exciting.  But we'll get to that.

I saw this - Chocolate Covered Peanut Brittle by our friends at Old Dominion and had to buy it:

Box looks nice!  But look at this blob:

That's how it is - all in a blob.  You gotta work at it to pull it apart.  It's not bad - chocolate covered peanut brittle - I mean, can you really go wrong?  But it's not as good as Feridies.  Feridies is much thicker, not in a blob and has more peanuts.

And, of course, Planters has a peanut bar (there's my love, Mr. Peanut):

In color it falls between the Old Dominion bar and the overcooked Carolina bar.  I gotta say, it's surprisingly good.  Very peanutty.  But a bit smaller and with more calories that the others.  No wonder I like it - probably has more sugar.  God help me.

I promised you peanut butter!  But I can't review all the peanut butters - I will literally explode.  I adore peanut butter and if I have multiple jars in the house, I'll eat them all.  So I'll just review some fringe peanut butters.

Imagine my amazement when I saw this at Harry and David - Creamy Caramel Peanut Spread!

Looks pretty good, right?  I like caramel.  I love peanut butter.  I like candies that have both.  This, however, I do not like.  I prefer plain peanut butter.

Just so you know, I've tried A LOT of these flavored peanut butters.  And for the most part, I don't think they improve on plain peanut butter.  That's my standard.  If it's not better than plain peanut butter - it should not be made.  The caramel flavor here just makes the peanut butter taste weird.  Boo!

But there's another - Creamy Raspberry Peanut Spread!

BLEECH!!!  Funky weird raspberry taste - what the hell were they thinking?  Just get some raspberry jam!  UGH!  I think this line is going to disappear from the Harry and David shelves.

These samples I got at the Fancy Food Show. This is Peanut Butter and Co's Smooth Operator - their natural regular ol' peanut butter:

It's good - very peanutty. 

But their White Chocolate Wonderful - oh dear God - it's TO DIE FOR.  I don't have a picture of it here because I will eat the entire jar.  It is the best peanut butter in the entire Universe.  They have it at Super Target and more grocery stores now.  I think you should go out and get some as soon as possible if you like peanut butter.  Your life will never be the same.

From the Fancy Food Show - Justin's (also all-natural) honey peanut butter blend:

Is also okay.  There's nothing wrong with these, but Peter Pan is so damn good why go to the trouble of finding new peanut butter unless it's extraordinary?

Justin's also makes maple almond butter:

This was much blander than I thought it should be.  I like almonds, I like maple.  But this?  Eh.

Harry and David also has a chocolate hazelnut spread.  They are totally trying to move in on Nutella.  Their jar is even shaped like the Nutella jar (shame, Harry and David, shame):

This is a little single serving of Nutella I got at Candy Expo:

This is the Harry and David spread which looks just like Nutella (same color, a little less thick).  But.....

Nutella is better.  The difference is slight - but Nutella tastes a little sweeter and more chocolately.  The Harry and David mix has a stronger hazelnut flavor.  But both are damn good. 

Not as good as White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter - not even close.

This is somewhere between a butter and a jelly.  It's Harry and David's Pumpkin Pecan Fruit Butter:

Okay - I know that looks gross, but this stuff is soooooo good!  It's spicy (ginger) and pumpkiny and the chunks of pecan are delish!  I've been eating it right out of the jar!  Who needs pumpkin or pecan pie?  This is awesome!!!!!!!

Now for the jelly (well, actually jam)!!  My friend Ruth Taylor (who went to the Fancy Food Show with me), makes the most amazing jams.  I mean, she wins blue ribbons at the NC State Fair!

This is her raspberry peach:

Doesn't it look great?  And it is - the sweetness of the peach works perfectly with the tartness of the raspberries.  YUM!!!! And so fresh and fruity tasting - wow!!!

And this (my favorite) is cherry pecan:

Wow!!  Tart cherries (see the chucks?) and pecans - so very, very good!  It's packed with fruit and nuts and really is a treat in and of itself.  Put it on some Walker's Shortbread - woowee!  Now THAT would be amazing!

It's fall!  Time to get out there and try some new flavors, hit some festivals, celebrate the harvest and the season and most importantly - life!

Texas Chocolate

No, I'm not dead! I've been down in San Antonio speaking for the International Association of Professional Background Screeners. (Thanks, Sassy!!)

But I was thinking of you, Dear Readers! Not only do I have some completely random Texas chocolates to share with you, I visited this great restaurant thanks to my friend Katie Davis who is an Army officer stationed in San Antone. Thanks, Katie!! Both for your service AND for your great ideas!

Billed as a modern French bistro and a chocolate cocktail lounge, anything with this sign HAD to be investigated:



Their website is http://www.sa-coco.com/. Check it out - it's cool. You can even see inside the restaurant with a 360 view.

The hardest thing was deciding what to get! I wanted it all! We started with Coco's Salade Au Chocolat: mixed greens, cherries, toasted nuts, blue cheese, raspberry vinaigrette and white chocolate shavings.

The cool part? The waiter brings a big block of white chocolate over to give you the shavings:



Load it up, I say!!!!



Delicious!!!! It was really, really great. Not too sweet, just fabulous. I wish I had another one right now.

This was an appetizer - crostini, mozzarella, rainbow tomatoes, chocolate balsamic vinegar reduction with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, olives, grilled veggies. We had to get it because of the chocolate - those brown dots are the chocolate reduction. And it was amazing!! Our waiter even brought us more. Think rich dark chocolate perfectly balanced with balsamic vinegar - I'm telling you, it was like dying and going to chocolate heaven.



The hard part was only choosing two desserts. I want to go back because there are so many more on the menu I feel I must try before I die. One involves a single origin Ecuador chocolate mousse dome with creme brulee inside - oh dear God. Check out the online desert menu - it will blow you away.

We got the chocolate lava inferno - described as warm bittersweet molten lava cake and raspberry coulis:





Looks amazing, doesn't it? And it was good, but it paled in comparison with the other dessert we got:



This is a warm chocolate Nutella tart. Described as "a flaky crust with a hazelnut-nutella ganache served warm with salty caramel crumbles and a side of caramel ice cream". Yay!!

You all know how I feel about Nutella. I can't stop myself from eating it right out of the jar. It is like crack cocaine to chocolate and nut lovers. This dessert was simply amazing. It was even was better than the peanut butter mousse dessert the Sorbet Sistahs loved so much. It may be the best dessert I have ever had.

If the Nutella tart wasn't already good enough, there was a side of caramel ice cream! Do these people know how to live or what??? Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.

The service was also fantastic - our waiter brought us extra chocolate balsamic vinegar and even a small glass each of chocolate port - free of charge. I didn't think I would like it, but it was damn good!!! I wish I had some more of that right now, too!

An extraordinary dinner - we also split a delicious pizza - and the total was under $50! What a deal!!

Katie told our waiter about this blog and he told the owner - so he came over and talked with us. His passion for food and chocolate was obvious - I'm so thrilled we got to meet him. Among other things, he told us how he got the name for his establishment. His grandmother raised him (he is French, which when it comes to food gives you big points in my book. When it comes to anything else, not so much). And when he was a baby, she would feed him little bits of chocolate. As a result, his first word was "coco." Thus - COCO - chocolate lounge and bistro.

Ah - chocolate is the great unifier! Those who love it can't wait to share it with others who love it! And those who don't love it....well, those people are questionable anyway. Wish you all could have been with me!