Thursday, 14 June 2012

Peanut Butter

Along with my sweet and spice vice I also have a major thing for sweet and salt!

Salted caramels, chocolate coated pretzel rods are an obvious "like" for me, but my first love of sweet and salt is peanut butter, and not just any peanut butter, but peanut butter whizzed, melded and slurped through a straw as a peanut butter milkshake!

I try peanut butter milkshakes literally whenever I see them on a menu, and here are a few of my favourites!

Let's start with the thickest milkshake I have ever had, at "The Burger Bar" in Roy, Utah, as you can see it is literally sticking up and out of the polystyrene cup. Don't be fooled by it's vanilla ice-cream appearance, because it packs the biggest peanut buttery punch, but you do need to eat it with a spoon, so maybe less a shake more a dessert, either way I was happy with what I received when this came through the serving hatch.



On a hot summers day, whilst walking around a city and shopping there is no better pit stop than at Ed's Diner in London, England, of which there are now 4 restaurants. This peanut butter shake is blended with Horlicks malt drink to give it some malty malteasery goodness, it is drinkable through a straw, but the best part of this milkshake is that when you order it you do so in an "authentic" 50's American diner, making it feel all the more special. It is served in a big glass with extra (always needed) in a metal canister in which it was blended.

My third happiest is again in Utah, and I am just going to say any drive through, as I am afraid I can't remember the specific fast food chain, so instead I am going to share this picture...look how happy it makes three girls?! Thank you, God of peanuts for whizzing up your children and adding it to milk!


So, for a peanut lover, a peanut butter shake is the best thing in the world...I intend to try peanut butter in all of my future recipes just to see what works...I imagine it will be everything! One to think about is going to be chocolate macaroons with peanut butter filling...YUM!


Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Mexico City

I have a sweet and spice addiction, the spicier the main is, the happier I am, and what follows a spice fest main course, but a sweet and stodgy dessert! This is why in 2009, Mexico City was a top choice  for our vacation!

Did it matter that it was the rainy season? No!

Did it matter that it wasn't exactly a European tourist hotspot? No!!

Did it matter that we were told by random groups of people not to go for fear of kidnapping? No!! (And don't be ridiculous)!!

None of this mattered because (as a student of archaeology) I was all too aware of the amazing treasures that would await us...this, of course, included the spice markers and the churros and chocolate caliente restaurants, or churreria. One such restaurant is, Churreria El Moro.

 http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico/mexico-city/restaurants/cafe/churreria-el-moro

Whilst wandering the streets of Mexico city we were captured by the inviting scent of sugar and cinnamon, nothing could have been more enticing on such a stormy and chilly day than a mountain of churros and hot chocolate.

We entered a gorgeously decorated room, typically Mexican in style, which was noisy and busy. We found a seat, and I perused the menu for which hot chocolate I would have.

They have a number of hot chocolates, one is an Aztec hot chocolate, which is deep in colour, rather thin but spiced with chili, there is a sweeter and lighter French hot chocolate made with more cream and milk chocolate, making it perfect for a European chocolate lover, and there is a thicker Spanish hot chocolate which is deep and unctuous. This is what I opted for! It was perfect with the long, deep fried Mexican doughnut, which I promptly dunked into the hot chocolate.

With chocolate running down my chin and sugar on my lips, I realised that I had to capture this amazing moment, the moment when I fell in love with an incredible Mexican tradition, so I quickly put down my, probably eighth churro by now, and took a picture of a rather depleted mound of churros!


If you visit Mexico city, and you should, Churreria El Moro is the best start to your adventure!

Intros...

Hello!


My name is Laurie and I am a chocolate addict! I have the most intense sweet tooth of anyone I've met and I am ALWAYS looking for the next amazing cake, candy bar or sweet drinkable treat!


I travel a lot and one aim of my travels is to find the best sugary snack on my journey.


I also love to bake and, when I get chance make mammoth puddings for every occasion!