Dessert as a drink?

As we all know, after Thanksgiving comes Christmas. And for me, with the Christmas season comes eggnog. I know not everyone appreciates the rich and creamy texture of the drink. However to me, eggnog is a dessert as a drink. Aside from the 180 calories in half a cup, what's not to love!?

I decided to be daring a try a new flavor. Hood's LIMITED EDITION of Gingerbread Eggnog. It is extremely sweet so if I want more than a sip I add milk to make is less sweet. (Not that something too sweet is a problem.)

I plan on also trying the sugar cookie kind. If eggnog doesn't get someone into the Christmas spirit, I'm not sure what will.

Thanksgiving Break

Sorry it's been a while. I was really busy at school during the beginning of the week and then I was overwhelmed with seeing all my friends that I didn't have time to make note of any desserts worth blogging about.

However, Thursday was Thanksgiving and as usual, Thanksgiving means great desserts. I was a little disappointed when I first found out that there wasn't going to be any apple pie. I mean, Thanksgiving dinner without apple pie?!? But then I remembered that Thanksgiving is the holiday that my mother buys a chocolate cream pie from Motes Catering. Literally one of the best tasting things to ever enter my mouth.

Chocolate Cream Pie

My whole family LOVES this pie. I remember one year my mom left it at home, and when we got to my grandmothers all my aunts and uncles pretended to be mad at my mom just because she forgot everyone's favorite.

For one, the pie almost looks too good to cut into because you don't want to mess it up. But then, when you cut into it, it's like a slice of heaven. The chocolate cream part isn't like pudding. It is like a thick mousse. Needless to say, it is mouthwatering and was gone within 10 minutes.

Over this Thanksgiving break I have also had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful whoopie pie (which I am very picky about) and some Ben and Jerry's.

Simplicity

I've been sitting here talking about all these wonderful and complex desserts and I have yet to mention one of my favorite classics. I took a trip to Pennsylvania this weekend to visit my dad's family. As soon as my aunt found out I was coming she went to the store to buy the ingredients to make me some brownies.

(brownies how I like them)

There is something so classic about a brownie that makes it so delicious. I feel like whenever someone is choosing a dessert off a table, they usually can't go wrong with picking the brownie. Of course there are those cases where the brownie is burnt or too fluffy, however in most situation the brownie is always the safe choice.

My aunt made them just how I like them most; undercooked, but not to the point where they were just fudge, and covered with chocolate frosting. One of the best things about brownies though, is that the can be cooked to anyone's preference. They can be undercooked so they are more fudge like. Or they can be over cooked so they are fluffier and have crispy edges. Anyone's desire can be satisfied.

On a side note, I found out today that most people who don't live in Maine don't know what No Bake Cookies are. I found that very interesting.

Dysarts

 

"We don't bake desserts, We bake memories." -Dysarts

I can agree that this quote is true. The reason I thought to blog about Dysarts was because yesterday my neighbor came back from visiting some friends at UMO. When he came to say hi he tossed my roommate a bag of cookies. Later, when she was looking at them I got really excited because I recognized the baggie. I asked her where they were from and she wasn't sure. I asked her to toss them to me. I had a little freakout session when I realized they were from my hometown favorite. Not only were they just cookies but they were pumpkin chocolate chip.

http://www.dysarts.com/index.php?id=258

Dysarts is a truck stop right off the interstate. They serve great home cooked meals. But the two best things about Dysarts are the desserts they serve and the memories created. I've been to Dysarts more than I can even remember. It's just the norm to go there at any hour of the day with friends. I can remember times I've gone there for breakfast and later for a nice dessert. They have the best pies. They also have a brownie wonder which is to die for, even if you aren't a brownie fan. The biggest dessert they serve is called the 18 Wheeler. It is similar to a banana split but with 18 scoops of ice cream. It's a bit extreme but, it's one of a kind.

On a side note, I would just like to share that iHop has wonderful pumpkin pancakes. 

Have I Mentioned I LOVE Pumpkin?

As if the fall season couldn't get any better, it comes along with the pumpkin flavor. One of my favorite pumpkin treats are chocolate chip pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese filling. What's NOT to love?

For the past two days Decary has stepped up their game and had pumpkin flavored desserts. I honestly couldn't tell you what the first one was. It was similar to the consistency of a brownie but it was pumpkin flavored. It also had crushed up nuts and spices on top. Long story short, it was to die for.

Today they had pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting and orange sprinkles for the halloween spirit. The cake was so moist. The frosting was so smooth and not too sugary. It was the perfect combination for how I enjoy my cake most.

For those of you who also love pumpkin spice cake and enjoying cooking, I though I'd link you to the recipe for the cake I had today.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Hopefully Decary will keep up with this trend and satisfy all my fall desires tonight at dinner!

Treats

I'm sorry this post was a little later than usual. I have been sick the past couple days and surprisingly when I'm sick I lose my appetite for sweets. I just started to get my appetite back yesterday. Yesterday being just in time for some nice little treats at Decary.

For lunch they had 3 different types of treats. They were like Rice Crispy treats however instead of using Rice Crispies they used Fruit Loops in one, Lucky Charms in another, and Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs in the third. I only tried the Fruit Loop and Lucky Charms ones. Out of those two I preferred the Lucky Charms treats.

For dinner they had the classic, but always good, strawberry shortcake. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with strawberry shortcake. Some people might think you can only have strawberry shortcake when it's hot out, or for the Fourth of July. However, I would definitely beg to differ. In my book it is one of those 'all year desserts' that never gets old.

Homeade

This weekend I went home and finally got some homemade cooking. Me and my mom worked together to make what I would argue is the best applesauce ever. Maybe I'm biased because the apples come off our trees and I can add as much of anything as I want to make it taste how I want. Or the fact that making it with my mom mad it a lot more fun.

I like the way the apples aren't completely mushed. I'm not saying I like chunky applesauce, but I definitely don't mind the surprise of an occasional small chunk of apple. I also like how it's perfectly sweetened to my liking. I ate a whole jar by myself :)

I was planning on bringing back a few jars to share with my roomies, but obviously I forgot. No biggie though because my parents will be visiting this weekend for parent weekend and I'll have them bring me some so I can share the joy!

On a side note, I haven't tried any new Ben and Jerry's flavors however Decary FINALLY had Gifford's cake batter...only the richest ice cream out there. They also had some pretty awesome apple crisp the other night. Congratulations Decary.

Frustration.

So in the past week I haven't eaten anything mind-blowingly good. I wasn't even on campus this weekend but I was told by my friend, who was visiting from Bentley, that Decary's dessert selection was lacking this weekend. I'll take her word for it.

I thought since there wasn't anything that excited me enough to blog about I'd write about all my guilty pleasure treats. The first is candy corn. I'm not sure what it is about candy corn that's so intriguing but every time I pass the bowl sitting on top of the TV I take a few. The second is Dove dark chocolate. As if the chocolate wasn't good enough, the wrappers have the nicest little quotes on them. Naturally I keep them all..... The one on top of the pile right now says:

 "Don't settle for a spark... light a fire instead." love, Dove. 


The third and final guilty pleasure hiding in my room is York Patties. They are the mini ones. It's the perfect size if I just need a little something to taste in my mouth. AND you can freeze them which is nice if it's hot in my room.

Hopefully by next week I'll encounter something ridiculously good to let you guys know about!

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie!

Fall is definitely my favorite season. Just everything about it; apple picking, apple crisp, pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie! I love Fall so much that I decided to be SO BADASS and bring a pumpkin pie scented candle into my dorm room (don't tell).

Now for the best part, today's dessert at Decary was pumpkin pie, with pumpkin whipped cream on top AND they even had pumpkin ice cream, so obviously I had some with mine. The pie was pretty good, I mean it wasn't even comparable to my Grammie's pumpkin pie but it was still pretty good. It was also a first for me. I've never had pumpkin flavored whip cream.


On a final note, I thought I'd let you know that I've tried two new Ben and Jerry's flavors.
Schweddy Balls- check
Boston Cream Pie- check

I think I liked Boston Cream Pie better just because I love rich ooey gooey stuff. However, Schweddy Balls tasted like Christmas! So it was definitely a close call.

My Late Night Snack

My roommate, Kayla, went home saturday night. She's from Bedford, NH. Anyways, she came back today bearing gifts... and by gifts I mean slices of the most delicious looking cake. I know I'm definitely not the best photographer but I tried to capture beauty of my 'late night snack', however the picture does it no justice.

I'm fully aware that the red, plastic bowl I was eating out of doesn't help my cause, but just picture it on some expensive fine china. The cake itself was so moist and the frosting was to die for, sooooooooo rich and so yummy. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't even finish all the frosting because I was getting full. The cake was from Frederick's Pastries. I officially want to go to this place myself. Everything on their website looks so scrumptious.

You might be wondering what the creepy pumpkin circle is. I have this bad habit. It's more of a conscious decision than a bad habit, but we'll just call it a bad habit. I buy boxes of Pilsbury Ready To Bake cookies. They are a seasonal item at the grocery store so I think it's only fair to buy them when I can. The thing is, I don't cook them. Some people think it's really gross that I choose to eat raw cookie dough, but after they try it themselves, they realize how wonderful it is. I could eat them like chips, but I do have some health standards. 

I know this isn't the best late night snack,  but I figure we only live once, and I want to enjoy it. 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM

As I passed the dessert display at Decary, I was eyeing up the brownies for after dinner. When I went back down to grab one, they were gone and replaced with pieces of cake. I grabbed a small piece of cake and naturally I wanted some ice cream to go with it. The options were something gross sounding and pumpkin. That's when I came to the realization that there are far too many flavors of ice cream I've never tried.

Ben & Jerry's Flavors

I did a little research today and realized that counting just Ben and Jerry's Ice cream, I've only tried 18 out of 53 flavors. The weird thing is, I thought I had tried a lot. My favorite flavor so far is Oatmeal Cookie Chunk: Sweet Cream Cinnamon Ice Cream with Chunks of Oatmeal Cookies & Fudge. Every bite, even if it doesn't include a cookie chunk, is just so mouthwateringly sweet I can't get over it.

I know it's a little far fetched, especially being a college student with no money, but my hope, is that over the course of the school year, I'll be able to try at least 20 new flavors. 

My Sweet Tooth

If you could have any dessert in the world at this moment, what would it be?


The thing is, I don't know what I'd choose. I have a sweet tooth like no other! I mean, you know what they say.. "Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first."  ~Ernestine Ulmer. I couldn't agree with this more. I have dessert at least twice a day and if it weren't for college, and the tiny so called 'freezer' in my mini fridge, I'd be enjoying a bowl of ice cream every night as well. Through out the course of an hour I will crave anything from a simple chocolate bar to a slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake from Olive Garden. 


I attend the University of New England, and even though the dinning food in Decary is definitely below par, they manage to whip up so pretty delightful desserts. Tonights options were jello layered with whip cream or apple crisp. I opted for the apple crisp. It was warmed up just enough that it didn't burn my tongue when I took the first bite. Unfortunately they didn't think about the ice cream to complement it, aka plain vanilla ice cream. 


My goals in life are to become a connoisseur of desserts and to try every mouth watering flavor that Ben & Jerry's Ice cream will offer, including fro-yo flavors :)