Monday, January 27, 2014

Peanut Clusters





On of my favorite travel must haves are chocolate peanut clusters ( or turtles) and magnets :). Lately, when I travel I usually end up in a candy store purchasing a peanut clusters. A few places I frequent are the Candy Kitchen in Savannah, The General Store in Greenville, SC,  and there is a nice little candy store in Charleston, SC, that I loved. Thinking back to my childhood, I realized that my love for these classic treats remind me of "the good old days" when my mom would buy clusters from Winn Dixie and we would go through them like it was nothing or my Great-Grandmother Doris' love for a Mr. Goodbar (do they still even make them....?).

Again, while visiting in Philly, I was excited to inform my followers and fellow travelers of a new find in Reading Terminal Market. In short, this place is like a farmers market and restaurant food court all in one. The food is fresh, diverse, reasonably priced and pretty good. They even have the largest shrimp that I have ever seen. So large that a pound equals 4 to 6 shrimp and cost $25, crazy!

Back to the clusters....so, my preferences are pecan, almond or peanut milk chocolate clusters. Simple and straight to the point, and no caramel ......ewwww! The clusters at Chocolate by Muller were like a party in my mouth, smooth, not too sweet and plenty of nuts....yum!! To me the amount of nuts set them apart because some of the clusters I have sampled have more chocolate than nuts. This time I had nuts in every bite!


You know when you taste something that is good and after you have digested it, you still seem to be tasting and chewing on it, well this is what I experienced when I tried clusters at Chocolate by Muller, in Philadelphia, PA!!



This time, I was a head of the game and got some to go!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Midnight Cookies (Gainesville, Fl)

Merry, Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy New Year! Yes, I am still committed to the cause of helping the world find great food and life experiences. Yes, it has been a while, since August 2013 to be exact, but I have not been inspired at all..... until this past weekend while in Gainesville, Fl visiting my sister at University of Florida (Go Gators!!).

If you are from FL and have been to Gainesville, you know that there is nothing in Gainesville but UF....and now Midnight Cookies! During my visit, my sister excitedly suggested that we go to Midnight Cookies after having her first sushi experience.... and let me just say OMG!! This place really lives up to its name because business hours are from 6pm to 2am (yes!). According to my sister, these cookies are must haves during late night study sessions, and she said they deliver!

Back to the goodness... when I walked in the store I was instantly sold and excited from the smell of fresh baked cookies! It smelled like sugar and chocolate rolled in one. I was even more excited after I realized they are made fresh to order in 8 minutes!

I also loved the variety of cookies that they had. My selections (above) included red velvet ( yessss!!), cookies n cream (my favorite) and chocolate cookie crunch (no words..).  So fellow cookie lovers, if you ever pass through "Gator Alley" in the evening time (lol) be sure to check out Midnight Cookies!!

Yes, I ordered some cookie dough to go!