Fruit and Cookies - I Say Yes! Yes! Yes!

There's no chocolate at all in this post, but there is more fruit!  The problem is there are so many great vendors at Candy Expo and the Fancy Food Show I get distracted and venture into other areas....like cookies.  I am the female Homer Simpson when it comes to cookies.

At Candy Expo I met a great guy named Gordon Cramer who works for Biscomerica. He really hooked me up with some FABULOUS samples! Look at all these different flavors of Knott's Berry Farm Shortbread:

And I gotta tell you - they are all good!  Raspberry and Boysenberry are really, really good - but they all are sooo hard to stop eating!  They are not as rich and buttery as Walker's, but they good.  They are relatively inexpensive and the fruity taste is there, but not overpowering.  Good, good stuff!!

And I didn't know this, but according to the wrappers - In 1920 Walter and Cordelia Knott began selling fresh produce, berries and preserves from a roadside berry stand in California.  They earned a place in history when Walter cultivated a luscious new fruit - the boysenberry!  (Who knew?)

Lance (Archway is a Lance brand) was at Candy Expo too and I got a sample of their fruit filled strawberry cookies:

I have to say I was really disappointed.  There's not much fruit filling at all - got a dot in the middle.  And the cookies, while soft and cakey - really didn't have much flavor.  I usually like Archway, so I was very sad about these. 

This cutie is raspberry shortbread from Harry and David:

It's yummy - nice and buttery, but could use a little more raspberry.

These, however, are absolutely to die for:

Look at all that filling!  This is blackberry:

And this is peach:

And they are soooo buttery and so fruity - I swear they are sinful.  Harry and David makes some of the best baked goods on the market.  AMAZING!!!   They also come in raspberry.

These cute, all-butter biscuits (cookies to us Americans) have blackcurrant juice in them:

I just don't like that blackcurrant taste.  Slightly bitter.  And the purple color really isn't appetizing to me.  Cute for kids, but can't told a candle to these babies:

Walker's pure butter raspberry thins:

Delicious buttery taste offset by tart raspberry and in perfect balance.  These cookies are truly a work of art.  I love Walker's.

And on their package it says - "For a real treat these are truly wonderful served with raspberries and fresh cream - the perfect Scottish dessert."  YUM!  We ain't talking no roadside stand here!

McVitie's has a currant shortcake:

No good - dry and tasteless.  Somehow I bet the British love them.

At the Fancy Food Show I met the great folks from Flathau's Fine Foods based in Mississippi.  They were so nice and set me a box of their gourmet shortbread cookies - all flavors (more reviews to come). They come in a couple of different packages:

They taste the same - one might be a little overdone (you can see the difference in the color).  These are raspberry and have little chunks of candy in them.  These are great if you are looking for something that is flavorful, but not too sweet.  And I like my cookies SWEET!  I like them, but the problem is......

I am completely addicted to these raspberry tea cookies from Harry and David:

These are so powdery and sweet and raspberryish - oh man!  Every time I go into Harry and David I have to get some.  OMG!  Start buying Harry & David's baked goods at your own risk.

I think fruit and cookies work really well together.  And with all these berries we can rationalize that we are getting antioxidants.  Woohoo!!!  It just doesn't get much better......unless chocolate is involved.

Chocolate, Yogurt and Roses

Hi Gang!

I've been off the grid - took a few days off to head out to the mountains of North Carolina and one of my favorite places in the whole world - the Grove Park Inn. My buddy Kristina and I spent a great day at the spa and I put the latest relationship disaster behind me (or as far behind me as you can ever put those things).

Thanks to all of you for the good thoughts and the support - I love you guys!!! Obviously I need to find a man with an addiction to chocolate - then I'll be golden! : )

As summer is rapidly fading, I wanted to deliver the promised ice cream post!  But first I felt compelled to do a yogurt post.  Surely we can rationalize the consuming of chocolate if yogurt is involved.

Lindt has a wide array of flavors - some in milk chocolate and some in white chocolate.  While I love yogurt, some of these combos were more successful (in my opinion) than others.  Peach-Apricot with milk chocolate was my least favorite:

All of these have a great yogurt flavor - so if you don't like yogurt, you won't like these.  I happen to love yogurt, so I found them all pretty darn good.  Lindt seldom disappoints me.  I think with this bar I just don't really care for the peach/chocolate combo.  Not bad, mind you, just not as good as the others.

Strawberry-Rhubarb had a great, great strawberry flavor:

This was one of my favorites - a great combination and it works well with the white chocolate.

All these bars suggest you try them chilled.  I tried a couple chilled (blueberry being one of them) and didn't think it added much.  I actually found them creamier if not chilled and liked that more.

Blueberry was not as good as I thought it should be.  I like chocolate covered blueberries way better.  Amarena Cherry Creme (below) is better.

Cherry yogurt is good:

But this one didn't thrill me as much as strawberry or Amarena Cherry Creme (actually ice cream inspired):

This cherry was tarter - the milk chocolate also seemed to work better than the white chocolate.  Cherry yogurt was just a little too sweet.  This one was very, very good and I had a hard time not eating it all!!  Sooooo good!

Raspberry Vanilla Yogurt I also tried chilled. 

I found this one too sweet also.  The only white chocolate that worked for me was the strawberry-rhubarb and I think it's the tartness of the rhubarb that makes it great. 

Ritter Sport also has a yogurt bar:

And while it seems to contain plenty of yogurt, the rich milk chocolate overpowers the yogurt.  I like the Lindt bars better.

Ice cream next!!!!!  I think ice cream works a little better with chocolate than yogurt.  But these bars are well worth trying if you like yogurt!!

One of the great things about the Grove Park is the stone everywhere.  It's such a gorgeous place.  The stones in the massive lobby have quotes painted on them, and I want to share one of my favorites with you:

This old world we're livin' in

Is mighty hard to beat

We get a thorn with every rose

But ain't the roses sweet.

                                    - Stanton

Here's to forgetting about the thorns, stopping to smell the roses, and savoring all the beauty of this world.  Oh - and here's to good friends and chocolate.  Life is mighty hard to beat!!  Have a great week!!

More Sweets and Snacks Expo 2010

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday!  It was hot as Hades in South Carolina - I bought some chocolate (shocker!) and keeping it from melting was a struggle.  But always worth it, my friends, always worth it!

I spoke with the Chicago Transit Authority today about my run in with their bus.  I'll let you know what happens.  They had an accident specialist call and interview me.  A claims specialist will call me next.  My arm still has a weird lump and some very festive bruises.  I told the accident specialist about my macaroons.  She was unmoved.

Back to Candy Expo!!!  I hunted down and tried the Chocolate Pop Rocks.  This was their booth display:

And here are the Pop Rocks:

Now the first thing I have to tell you - is that they were WAY better than I thought they would be.  They are actually covered in a pretty decent chocolate.  I thought they would just be "chocolate flavored."  But they truth is, I don't really want things popping in my mouth.  Yes, it's festive, yes it's interactive.  But I don't want my food to interact with me. 

This was another offering I simply had to try - Elmer's Tabasco Chocolate Truffles:

No picture because they only gave me one to try at the show.  And again, all I can say is - it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Not exactly a rousing endorsement.  Only a hint of Tabasco.  This is a great novelty item - Elmer Chocolate is based in Louisiana - but I don't need to eat another one.  But creative!  And less interactive than the Pop Rocks!

I didn't get to sample these, but check out the new Tootsie Pop flavors!

Wild Mango Berry?  Didn't know the mango was a berry, but Rock on!  I'd like to try it!  I'd like to try all these flavors.  I did get a sample of this one:

Hmmmm........the green apple is strong as heck and I guess the center was caramel.  It looked lighter than the standard Tootsie Roll center, but didn't taste really caramelly.  But my taste buds were pretty overwhelmed by green apple.  I wonder if this would have been better with a red apple Tootsie Pop?

No samples of these, but I really want to try them - Andes toffee crunch and cherries jubilee (also by the makers of Tootsie Roll):

I'd never seen these before (also by Tootsie Roll) and I wheedled my way into a whole box of them on the last day:

See the bloom?  I'm telling you - it was HOT!  I like the JM monogram on the top:

Wow - look at all that creamy Junior Mint mint!

These are WAYYYY  too minty for me - I'd like more chocolate.  But mint is not my fav, so you mint lovers will probably adore these.  Well worth trying if you're a mint fan.

Ritter Sport was showing a Limited Edition Dark Chocolate with peppermint bar:

This one also has a strong mint flavor (too much for me) but the dark chocolate here is absolutely fabulous.  Mint and dark chocolate lovers - look for these around Christmas time:

This was a giant display for their new milk chocolate with strawberry creme bar:

A portion of the profits (Ritter is donating $100,000) go to help fight breast cancer and the sample was amazing!!  I can't wait till this one comes out.  Look for it in the fall.  And let me know when you find it!!  Delish!

Speaking of strawberry - look at this from Guylian!  Strawberry filled seashells!  Didn't get to sample any - but want to!

The bad next to the strawberry box is their new Temptation - an assortment of individually wrapped seashells.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Guylians seashells.  They were also debuting dark chocolate ones!

Here's my whopping sample from Guylian (cheapskates!):

I am so crazy about he standard seashell - this one is filled with original praline - so creamy, so sweet and delicious - if you haven't had these - you have to - they are sooooo good!  The Extra Dark was pretty damn amazing as well - you dark chocolate fans are in for a serious treat.  They are a little too dark for me at 74% cocoa, but they are very, very good.

Whoohoo!  What a great assortment of new and exciting candy and more to come!  It was so worth getting hit by that bus!  ; )