Salty Sweet Bliss

I think we've definitely got a little Trader Joe's Mania here in the Princeton area. I read a really cute article in U.S. 1 this past week that raved about the unique gourmet items and the amazing prices. She listed a few of her favorite items and one of the things she mentioned was sea salt brownies. Sea. Salt. Brownies.

I was absolutely consumed with a feverish desire to get my hands on some of these bad boys as soon as possible!!! I am not joking when I say that I thought about them all week! I had a small list of things I needed to pick up from TJ's and so I was able to justify a visit on Sunday night. My husband and kidlet accompanied me. I was afraid Chris would see right through my plan but the absolute pleasure we had in wandering up and down the aisles overshadowed everything. I picked up the items on my list and even scored one of the reusable shopping bags I'd been eyeing on several people throughout town. We went home and I heated up some hot water for tea. It was time...

The clan was ready to dig into these. Chris seemed much more satisfied with them than I did. I'm not saying they weren't good. They just weren't great. It was a good plan, the texture of the brownie was just not right. A bit too dry (in my humble opinion). It took a little while to recover from the slight let down. I have been so excited about the rise of salted sweets and I really hadn't experienced it to what I thought was the full potential. I had some salted chocolate covered caramels from a candy store in Georgia this summer and they were also a let down. I am still reeling from not being able to experience Henri Le Roux's CBS caramels while I was in Paris! The shopkeeper that carries them was on vacation! I was beginning to truly believe that the caramel curse would continue to haunt me!

Until....

I was cleaning some stuff off of my dining room table. I went to a baby shower yesterday while my husband took Molly to hang out at Silver Forge Farm for brunch. They were kind enough to bring me home some eggs and the reusable grocery bag that they brought it home in was still draped across the table. I picked it up and I noticed there was still something in it. I reached inside and pulled out a gold box.

I gasped! I knew exactly what it was!!! We were out with Shannon and Eliezer earlier this month in Princeton. We ate dessert at Bent Spoon (another story for another time) and afterwards, we were walking back to the cars. We passed by Thomas Sweet which is a few doors down on Palmer Square. This location sells chocolate while the Nassau Street location focuses more on ice cream. I was curious to see if they had any salted caramel offerings but they were closed. We started to walk away and the girl who was working came and unlocked the door and asked if we had any questions. I mentioned my quest and she invited me in to see their case. The did, indeed, offer dark chocolate covered caramels glistening with sea salt. I told her I would come back and purchase some when they were open. Shannon beat me to it. I was so excited! However, I'd already met my chocolate quota for the night so I decided to wait until today.

Once I got settled in from work this afternoon, I walked into the kitchen and picked up the shiny box. I slowly removed the lid and pushed aside the protective layer of tissue paper. The chocolates almost seemed to greet me and I smiled back. I plucked one of those gems right out and took a deep breath. The moment had arrived.

For a second, I thought I actually felt the earth move but it could have just been me swooning ever so slightly as I sunk my teeth through the chocolate shell and into the caramel. To my delight, the buttery sweetness was punctuated by flecks of salt. It was amazing. I don't know how I managed to eat only one. I am also quite proud of myself for sharing some with Chris.

For now, my search is over. Tommy has agreed to an open relationship so that I am able to experience the salty sweet seduction of others but I really cannot imagine it getting much better than this for now. I haven't really had the chance to explore NYC so we shall see. The holiday season is upon us and I've recently learned that Henri La Roux does mail order so I can actually purchase some CBS without airfare to France. I think I know what I am asking Santa to bring me for Christmas this year.

Thomas Sweet Chocolate

29 Palmer Square

Princeton, NJ 08542

Set Your Ricemellow on Fire!!!

I decided to try a little experiment because s'mores are one of my favorite things in the world...

I wanted to see if I could "roast" my Ricemellow with my creme brulee torch.

As you can see....IT WORKED!!!

I cannot recall the name of the graham crackers I have. They're some hippie brand from Whole Foods and believe me....they are SUPER hearty. A few of them will fill you right up! I will always have a soft spot for the Honey Maid brand. My grandma used to feed them to us with milk poured over it and that can still be a great source of comfort for me. I cannot buy them because I will eat waaaay too many in one sitting! As far as "not as bad for you" brands of grahams go, I really like the Health Valley amaranth flour crackers. They're delicious!

The chocolate is actually Icelandic and it was super good! The chocolate bars at WF are not cheap but you get two bars in this package for a reasonable price. It's probably the best bargain you'll find on chocolate in the store.

They do not sell Ricemellow at WF. I have to buy it at Wegmans. It's the only place in the area I know of that sells it. I think it is one of the best vegan products you can buy. I seriously love it and so does Molly. Her favorite way to eat it is with Sunbutter on a sammich. It will definitely scratch the marshmallow itch if you have a hankerin'.

It's taking all of my willpower not to go into the pantry and dig out all of the stuff to make more of these bad boys! I'd better go to sleep before I get into trouble!

A Fair Trade

My friends Alice and Wright stopped over this evening for a quick visit. They returned not too long ago from a trip to Buffalo, N.Y. I remember reading on Alice's Facebook that she was eating something called Sponge Candy. I'd never heard of it so I dropped her a line to ask her what it was. Being the generous soul that she is, she offered to share some with me!

It looks sort of like a Butterfinger and it is somewhat crispy when you first bite into it. The inside is much lighter and it quickly melts in your mouth. It tastes like a combination of honey and caramelized sugar. I only ate one piece but I could have easily downed all three! They were that good!! The perfect accompaniment to a cup of hot tea.

I decided to Google it and learn a bit more. I found an adorable website that is run by a couple who have been making and selling candy for over 22 years. They do mail orders but not during the hot summer months. They will resume selling it over the internet at the end of October. I really enjoyed reading about this regional specialty, not to mention how they make it! The FAQs offer all sorts of gems. I will definitely be placing an order later this year!!

I traded Alice some caramels from France since she was willing to share some of her stash with me. I hope she enjoys them as much as I enjoyed the sponge candy! If you feel so inclined, check out her adorable math blog! Starting up a band but can't think of a name that you'd like to see up in lights? Head on over to Wright's latest online project. He'll do all of the dirty work for you!

A Shot in the Dark

My husband's job requires him to travel to Germany occasionally. It's tradition at his workplace when someone goes anywhere, they bring back chocolates for the rest of the people in the office upon their return. Chris is diligent with this. Anytime we go anywhere, he always remembers to pick up something for his coworkers. He is a kind and generous soul that guy! I am still training him on how many bags of Haribo to bring back though! The only time he failed was on a flight home from France. He was so groggy that he left a bag full of chocolates on the airplane when he landed in Newark! D'oh! At least he didn't forget my present!

On the eve of his first trip to Germany last year, the department secretary, Angela, requested him to bring back a particular kind of chocolate called Edle Tropfen. Chris has learned that when you are nice to Angela, she makes your life much easier! I'd never heard of them before. My Opa used to bring back all sorts of stuff from Germany and he never had this. After I had one, I understood why. Chris brought home an extra box for us. I saw that the chocolates had alcohol inside of them. I was familiar with this concept since those sorts of things are available in the U.S. Turns out, I was not ready for this! This isn't the sugary and syrupy liqueur filling that I was used to. This was a straight shot of alcohol! I took a bite of the kirschwasser flavored chocolate and liquid spilled all over my sweater! Needless to say, I was surprised! I was also in shock as to how strong it tasted! Two or three of these babies will give you quite the buzz!

I enjoy sharing these with friends. I am nice and I always warn them to eat the entire thing in order to spare them a repeat of what happened to me! Once they pierce the chocolate shell, their eyes usually pop open. I like to refer to this as a chocolate-covered culture shock.

Chocolate Rain

Yesterday my friend Shannon and I went to New York City to hit up the BUST Spring Fling Craftacular. We went to the craft fair that BUST threw back in December and we had a blast so we made it a point to put this on our calendars. For lack of a better word, it was a bust. Not for lack of cool stuff but the venue was so small that it was impossible to browse and explore without feeling like you were in an overcrowded fish bowl. I still managed to drop a wad of cash, I just did it quickly and left! We did have a great time walking around and shopping in Brooklyn so it wasn't a wasted trip by any means!

We made our way into Manhattan and did a bit more exploring. I thought it was going to rain but the weather really held off and it felt so pleasant. There was an unseasonable chill in the air but it was nothing a little sweater didn't ease up. We went to a vintage store, came across a guerilla knitting project, got our girls some treats from a cool toy store and then made our way to the final destination....

Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man. (2nd Ave/9th St)

We had a game plan when we went in and in order to fully prepare ourselves, we skipped lunch. We were ready to throw down.

This is the fondue trio. I actually explored the menu online last week because I knew it was not going to be an easy choice to make without a little prep. I had narrowed it down to this and one or two other things. We got some lovely toffee sauce that tasted like the Promised Land. For the other two, we had a choice of white, milk or dark chocolate. We eliminated the white because neither of us care for it. It came with fruit, banana bread and marshmallows for dipping. We also asked for some graham crackers because what was the point of marshmallows and our own grill?

We didn't stop there. I had a delectable cappuccino and Shannon had a hot chocolate along with a butter croissant...

To say that I had high expectations would be putting it lightly. This place had seriously been built up by my friends. Shannon should do a commercial for them! They delivered the TKO and I was in an absolute state of bliss. I cannot see how anyone could leave Max Brenner without feeling like a cat that swallowed a chocolate covered canary.

I'll be back.

A Tea Party with Ashley

My friend Ashley came over to visit me and hang out for a bit yesterday! I love afternoon company because it's always the perfect excuse to whip out some nice dishes and put some water in the kettle.

There's nothing terribly fancy going on here. I broke out some of the German chocolate stash that Chris brought home last month.

We ended up going with a strawberry theme, as you can see. There's that Scottish shortbread making another appearance! I have one piece left!

I was lucky in that I had some berries washed and sitting in the fridge that were leftover from our picnic the other day (separate post coming...). They were sprinkled with sugar and I covered them in balsamic reduction. I am on batch number two right now. I went through that first bottle really quick. I was putting it on everything! This latest reduction doesn't seem as thick as the first one so I don't like it as much. I will probably simmer it some more. We'll see how that goes.

From Kale to Chocolate

I didn't want to give the wrong impression about this blog by posting all of that kale yesterday! Ha!

These bad boys are my Easter weakness. I usually allow myself two per year and I cashed my last one in yesterday. We still have plenty of chocolate in the house! My husband brought a ton of it back from Germany! It blows Cadbury out of the water (surprise?) but I still enjoyed my Cream Egg very much.

See you next year!

Brain Boosting Smoothie

I was fortunate enough to receive a subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine as a gift last year. For those of you who don't know, I am a magazine junkie! Each issue had bunches of recipes and inspiration and I loved getting it in the mail every month! One recipe in particular has become almost like a crutch. I fall back on it constantly for a quick jolt either for breakfast or a midday snack.

It's a chocolate banana smoothie that uses soymilk. Who doesn't need the occasional soy protein boost? Your heart will love you for it! (as long as you're not allergic). The 'brain boosting' part is from the cinnamon.

1 banana*

1 cup of chocolate soymilk

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 Tbsp of cocoa powder

8 ice cubes (optional---I never use them)

*I've used bananas in varying stages of ripeness and they all work fine. When they still have a bit of green, I've noticed that the smoothie will be a bit on the thick side probably due to the extra starch. It's a great way to use up some bananas that are either not ripe enough or too ripe. My sister still eats them when they're really green and I can't stand them like that. I like a little stank on a banana.