Almmmmmond Croissant

Running late today, and after the sad, sorry free coffee I had at work yesterday (watered down make your own iced coffee), I just had to get a delicious iced coffee from The Bean Counter (Highland Street, Worcester, MA). I also quickly decided to buy an almond croissant. They looked huge and delicious sitting in the counter-top case. The almond filling was just spilling out of the end, and there were tasty-looking bits of almonds and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. How could I resist?

The iced coffee was great, as usual. Medium-body. I started drinking it immediately, after I added milk (no sugar). I saved the sweet reward until I got to work. It was worth the wait. The amount of filling was very generous, compared to some other almond croissants I've had - not dry, quite buttery, and very decadent.

Now that I've had such a good almond croissant, I'm on a quest to try them at every bakery I swing by. I'll start this weekend and do a roundup after I've tried enough to make it worth writing about.

UPDATE The Bean Counter also does a delicious chocolate croissant.

Red Pepper Jelly

If you've never had red pepper jelly, I recommend you go right out and get some. It's basically, crushed red peppers in a sweet jelly. I know, it sounds like it would taste really gross, but it doesn't. The amount of red pepper is not over-abundant, and it's not like you'd spread it on a piece of toast and eat it for breakfast. I usually have it with a good sharp cheddar cheese and crackers. I do love cheddar cheese when it's been able to come to room temperature. The flavor is much stronger.

i buy my red pepper jelly at Cape Cod Crafters in Olde Shrewsbury Village, but you can pick it up at any good grocery store. I was in the Vermont Country Store last weekend and sampled some Red Raspberry Pepper Jelly - not as spicy as the plain Red Pepper Jelly.

On second thought, the pepper jelly might be good on rye pr pumpernickel toast alongside* 2 fried eggs.




*Ever watch Sports Night, by far one of the best TV shows ever? Ever night, the anchor would announce that he was "Dan Rydell alongside Casey McCall" or vice versa. I always loved that.

Dunkin Donuts

I recently had my first Dunkin Donuts Smoothie - wildberry flavor. It was pretty tasty and hit the spot as an afternoon pick-me-up. There was a lot of berry flavor, though it was vaguely reminiscent of Island Oasis. Basically, a virgin frozen multi-berry daiquiri. I ended up with a large, because they made a mistake. I wanted a medium, and as it turns out, I'd have been better off with a small. It was good, but after a while, too sickly sweet and I had a stomach ache at the end.

Delux Cafe, Again

I went back to Delux in the South End of Boston recently, and it was just as good as the last time. I had the rotating flavor of grilled cheese: fontina with sliced bear pear and tomato on sourdough. Delish.

On the side was the best cole slaw I've ever had! This slaw wasn't just green and red cabbage with carrot sticks. There was green cabbage, carrots sliced the wide way, kind of waffle cut, actually. Also, thinly sliced cauliflower! Awesome!

My dining companion had the lobster ravioli with a cream sauce on it. It came with a side salad that wasn't really much to talk about: basically, field greens and dressing. Boring, and kind of stemmy. The ravioli received praise, but the cheese that was shredded on top was not appreciated.

The menu rotates every 6 weeks; I'll try it again next month! The prices are good, the food's tasty, and it's got a cool atmosphere.

Hebert Candies

One of my favorite, and sweetest, childhood memories, is of visiting my grandmother. She and my aunts lived over on the other side of the city, and we were frequent visitors. They had a giant TV that sat on the floor, encased in wood. And they always had multiple boxes of Hebert Candies chocolates, both white and milk. The chocolates were small solid squares, about 48 of them or so in a plastic sleeve, a little pocket for each piece of chocolate. Between the 5 of us kids, we'd eat probably two boxes in one sitting. Not the cheapest snack!

Hebert Candies was a family owned business since 1914, but in 2005 it was acquired by a larger company. They've saved the Hebert Candies name and have recently launched a new candy bar: The Fully Loaded line. They're on sale this week at CVS for $1.50 each. I bought one - dark chocolate, shaped into 12 squares, each filled with margarita lime liquid filling. Delicious. The filling offers a nice, tangy taste, and if you let the chocolate melt in your mouth, you will be able to appreciate the chocolate taste. I've had dark chocolate that has a stronger chocolate flavor, but I think this one is good blended with a filling. I ate the whole candy bar and it was only 10 grams of fat (or was it 15? - who cares? I never eat candy bars. It's better than eating the Pepperidge Farm Chocolate right off the styrofoam tray with a fork. When it's still partially frozen.)

Anyway. They also have apple, raspberry, and some other flavors.

Bukhara Bistro - Yummy Indian Food

Twice, within three days, I had the pleasure of dining on food from Bukhara Bistro, located on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. This Indian food is just superb. The first meal was takeout. We had samosas, chicken saag, chicken korma, and a lamb dish that I didn't try. Naturally, it came with delicious jasmine rice. The rice was cooked perfectly, and was not mushy at all. Each grain was separated from the rest, you know? The chicken saag was quite spicy, and the chicken was very tender. The korma had a great rich flavor, and the chicken here was tender as well. I love it when you don't need a knife to cut the chicken - it cuts easily with a fork. The samosas were filled with potatoes and peas, and came with that delicious sweet sauce. Overall, a filling, tasty meal.

A couple of days later, I was at the Wake up the Earth festival in JP and was starving. They had tons of food vendors set up and I could have chosen from a number of good burrito places, but it was Cinco de Maio and I was going out for Mexican that night. Then, I smelled the wonderful scent of curry and headed immediately to the Bukhara booth. For $8, I got enough food to feed two people: rice, chicken saag and vegetable korma. Really, quite delicious. I can't say it enough. I've seen Bukhara at an arts and music festival in Cambridge as well. If you see them, definitely try their food. I will certainly go back to Bukhara. I've actually eaten in the restaurant, for lunch, and it was great as well.

The Turkey Bacon

The Turkey Bacon sub is by far my (and my sister's) favorite sub. The best one around can be had at Steve's Pizza in West Boylston. I stopped by on my way home from work on the way to a class in Holden. I had about 40 minutes to get from Steve's to Main St, Holden, eat my dinner, and get to the class by 6:30. I didn't have the number programmed, so I ordered when I got there: Small Turkey Bacon with everything, plus pickles. It took about 10 minutes, cost $5.75, and was big enough (about 12 inches!) that I was full from half and the rest will be tomorrow's lunch. Sweet.

About the sub: plenty of turkey, good quality, not slimy, not too much that you feel sick chomping through a whole pile of turkey; good bacon, appropriately crispy, more meat than fat (yay!). Overall, a good deal.

Worst Turkey Bacon: The Boynton. Not much turkey, about 8 inches long, too much lettuce, hard, pale, tasteless tomatoes, and last time I ordered takeout, they forgot the bacon. Really. How can you forget the bacon on the freaking Turkey Bacon sub? I will never order it from there again. My friend ordered a BLT, and there were like two pieces of bacon on it. HOW RUDE.