Anything Goes

It's anything goes with Dairy this month.

Kemps and Leinies

Daisy's and The Taste of Madison

Aunt Ginny and Kilwins

Donut Say No

I'm putting down my Earl Grey and donut to say, mmffgh slurp, Happy National Donut Day.

A little research (very little) traces the first Friday in June back to WWI and the Salvation Army.

Greenbush Sour Cream Old Fashioned

Smithsonian.com tells us the fried sugar delight "involves Dutch immigrants, Russian exiles, French bakers, Irving Berlin, Clark Cable and a certain number of Native Americans."

Donut Day USA has a short video on the Salvation Army's donut connection and let's you look up donut hotspots in your neighborhood.

CNN reminds us not to confuse National Donut Day with National Doughnut Day in November.

The best donuts, sticky hands down, are from the Greenbush Bakery on Regent. They aren't doing anything special today, but I was told in a very what-the-hell-don't-you-know-how-freakin'-busy-we-are tone of voice that, "We can't keep them on the shelves." Click.

But I'm sure they do. I favor the coconut cake donut and their most popular, the Sour Cream Old Fashioned.

Whether with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, milk, or straight up. Yum.

Tea Bag Guy From Freakfest

Destructo Dog

One of Oliver's travel toys made an appearance post Frosty Paws Party and he was pretty protective of it.
Turns out he had good reason.
Tony the Tiger Travel Toy, we barely knew ya.

No Paw Left Behind

The Dish Dogs had a Frosty Paws Party, but not everyone was there.
Long time Dish model, Roscoe, was out of the office and when he got back there was a whole lotta lickin' going on.
Roscoe and Vixen used to eat Frosty Paws while we feasted on Babcock Dairy Store ice-cream.
June is dairy month, so a two paw ice cream review coming soon.

Roscoe, the big baby, wants me to hold the cup for him

Meanwhile, here's a Dairy Store link
Babcock's Current Featured Flavors:
Bec-key Lime Pie
Banana Peanut Butter
Salted Caramel Toffee 
Orange Sherbet (orange sherbet?)

Oliver lets Roscoe know how he feels

Sassy Girl likes a little privacy and no competition

Mr. French and his Frosty Paws face

Frosty Paws

Bobby Boy strikes a pose

The Dish Dogs thought it was their turn for a review so we got some Frosty Paws. They chose Peanut Butter Flavor. See ingredients at the end of the post.

Quick, she's not looking

Me? Just folding up your bag

Wrong end, Little Rat

Bob digs in, then scoops from the side

Save some for who?

What?

Most of them would eat a bug so it's no surprise they love these.


Ingredients: Water, whey, soy flour, peanut butter syrup (peanuts, corn oil, salt), coconut oil, dried whey product, whey protein, soy lecithin, polysorbate 60, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, microcyrstalline cellulose, magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide, mono and diglycerides, vitamin A supplement, vitamin E supplement, cellulose gum, niacin supplement, copper sulfate, polysorbate 80, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, natural flavor, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid.

No Soup For You

Roscoe, Sassy Girl & Little Rat

Just a reminder that none of my furry friends, rather furry canine friends, sample the sweets unless they sneak a fleck off someone's lips.
Roscoe here may stick his nose in something only to lick it off later. I see you, devil dog.
They're a wily group, but they get size appropriate dog treats.
All of them love Frosty Paws, especially in the summer, so I'll be doing a little photo shoot later this week with Little Rat and the persnickety Mr. French,

Never give your dog anything on this list

•Avocados

•Bread dough

•Chocolate

•Ethanol/Alcohol

•Grapes and Raisins

•Hops

•Macadamia Nuts

•Moldy Foods

•Onion and Garlic

•Xylitol – Found in Sugar Free Gum or Sugar Free Baked Goods

List from Foods That Are Hazardous to Dogs by the ASPCA

Boxed Munch

Mr. French, Phil2 & Little Rat

MunchPak is a snack service that delivers a variety of munchies from around the world. Think the last shot of Mad Men.
Your box-o-nosh may include a Cadbury Bubbly or a bag of Filipino mock pork cracklings. You can add an American preference, but might not get Polish Coffee Dream Candy with Coffee Filling. Insert joke here.

I found the website and concept a little confusing so I broke it down.

•Pick a 5, 10 or 20 piece box for $10, $20, or $40 dollars
•The chosen assortment may be a little weird unless you're a snack aficionado, so scroll down to customize categories if you'd like. You're still going to get a surprise mix
•Choose a delivery schedule: Weekly, bimonthly, or monthly
•There's a one time gift option which I suppose you could gift to yourself
•Customize (or don't) your Pak with preferences such as sweet, sour, gummy, seafood (Grilled Seaweed anyone?)
•Checkout (using Bitcoin if you'd like)

Dish taste testers thought the idea was pretty funny, like that fruit of the month club on Raymond.  ("He's got us in some kind of cult!")
The MunchPak reminds me of care packages we got at school, and seems like an especially entertaining gift for the high and dry college student.

Phil2 is holding one of my favorites, Haribo Happy Cherries. They smell great, all fresh gummy-sour. I also loved the jingle cookies from Turkey. One of the taste testers didn't care for the light yet stalwart biscuit with chocolate cream filling, but loved the Korean Cola Candy.

I'm sucking on one right now. It tastes fizzy without the fizz, like a hard candy Bottle Cap with more kick.

No one went for the Sriracha Peas. No one except me. I'm a wasabi pea fan, so.  I became quite attached to the Cosmos something in Korean I can't find anywhere. It's described as a shelled shaped snack with peanut cream and tastes like something glazed and sesame.

Spin the international nibble wheel or for an extra buck delete foreign or add American snacks as a preference–why do they allow you to do both? There is no chocolate customization option, yet there is one for meat.

Hello Gorgeous: Oreo Cookies

With the possible demise of Hostess and photos I never used, I'd like to say "Thank you for existing, Oreo cookie." Check out that last link to turn an Oreo into a turkey.

Popcorn Buffet

What to bring to a party so close to Halloween?

The Boys Are Back

Tomorrow is my Uncle Phil's 101st birthday. We think. One of our taste testers, Jackie, threw a party for him, but he fell and was in  the hospital for the big event. They are hoping to try again this weekend.

It's not that I don't love to see the fam, but there's a five dog minimum at these things (not pictured, Leo, the sweet and hyper yellow lab), and the dogs are usually a hoot and a half.

Oilver Twist, aka, "Carmel Corn"

Bob, who has not been the same since the little "Creature" above was added to the family

Sassy, the only girl, in the arms of Steve

My main man, Roscoe, trying to keep a civil tongue in his head

Explains why Sassy is stronger than bigger dogs. Bob is not pleased

Popped Corn

It was 104º today so I said "What the *$@!," and did a movie two-fer.

From top to bottom:Carmel & Cheddar, CrazySweet, Unpopped White, White Cheddar With Peppercorn, Sour Cream, Ranch, and Deluxe Caramel Corn

The undelivered haul mocking me from the love seat was largely responsible for my blowing off the day. I wish I hadn't already devoured my bag of Rural Route 1 corn before cooling off with the new Peter Parker and the latest Wes Anderson, but this popcorn is so good, I'm still tasting it. And not in a bad way.
It was six degrees cooler a few days ago when I got this trunk of treats, and I'd turned  the AC on full blast for the ride home, but by the time I got back and delivered the first bags, all the C.C. Winkle had melted and left fudge splots.
The cheese corn held up well. The plastic tub of Deluxe Caramel Corn seemed ok and has looked fine for living in my parents' dining room and their idea of cool.
We'll see what happens when I finally get the tin of carmel corn and cheddar cheese to its rightful owners. Bonus, the kernels didn't pop before I got in the door.
Rural Route 1 has yet to disappoint regardless of the abrasive woman scarfing up all the Barbeque popcorn~a hasty blech and have at it, but then I didn't get a chance to try any. Didn't check for a FIB plate, and not being one to judge (hahahahahaha), I'll just emphasize there are certain courtesies to observe when shopping for gourmet popcorn. Maybe she thought I was serious when I said "Aww, I wanted the last of the barbeque popcorn."
The chocolate fudge covered carmel corn with cashews, C.C. Winkle, tasted particularly good, I didn't care for whatever was going on with the fruity Brewers mix, the Cherry Cheesecake seemed its usual enticing self, but the Cheesy Sour Cream, and White Cheddar With Peppercorn were less ebullient than usual.
Cheesy Ranch kicked Sour Cream's arse which doesn't sound right considering they make it the same way each time. Is it the age of the corn, I have them bag it, maybe more delicious cheese saturated a particular batch, I don't know. My recommendations from my last trip to Montfort regardless: Cheesy Ranch and C.C. Winkle.
If you've never been, go. And expect a generous row of samples to greet you.

Candy Contest: Darrell Lea Liqourice

The good people from Darrell Lea want to give you free licorice, or "liqourice" if you will (written with an Australian accent). Or at least a Public Relations firm out of Long Island wants to give it away. I'll be getting licorice in I can't even wait to see what condition considering that 95º means it's cooled off. It's more than 20 degrees cooler over there. I'm not kidding.
Wisconsin, ya'll.
There will be candy and coupons and everyone is a winner. Just for reading this sentence, you've won.
Here are the rules, there are no rules, but send me something to do with licorice or Australia. Write it, illustrate it, shoot it (with a still or video camera), audio it, whatever it and send to:
The Ched Curtain.
That's it.
The first winner is Mary Ruth, former Ched, current rabid Packer fan who saw our announcement on The Candy Dish Curtain Facebook Page.
Snaps, btw, are a BIG ol' favorite around here, and many still speak of the Snaps licorice drought some six years back.

Burt in better times

Congrats, Mary Ruth.

Great Grape, Welch's Filled Licorice

I got two packs of warm Welch's Filled Licorice through the mail and they perked up like a wilted potted plant after cooling off in the fridge. Will we ever have normal weather again? I think not.
The only two flavors they have right now are Strawberry and Concord Grape.
The Strawberry Licorice was substantially better chilled, but sugary and bland compared to the flagship Grape.
The Strawberry Filled Licorice tasted more like fruit snacks than I wanted, decent, edible, not great.

The Concord Grape Filled Licorice showed promise even as the filling drained from its center. It reanimated in the fridge that 90 who knows what hellish degree day, and spurred a quest to find a store that sold it.
The marketing firm that sent the samples couldn't tell me where to buy more, but I did get a half dozen names from Welch's, who also sent two .50 cent coupons if I ever did track down a store that sold their product.

One place was Dollar General, which I get mixed up with all the others and rarely frequent, another was Piggy Wiggly, gone for decades, and the final recommendation was try your Super Walmart.

After doing nasty, unfixable things to a broiling pan, I was in the Sun Prairie Walmart looking for a new one so I looked for some Welch's Licorice too. Didn't find any, kept shopping, came back for a gummy fix, and found a few packs of the Concord Grape all but buried on a rack with one of the packages ripped open.
I can't say I'm impressed with their distribution efforts in Wisconsin.

Phil2

If you find it, go for the Grape and be greeted by the quintessential aroma of real grape juice.The jelly filling might be too subtle, but it's there and greatly contributes to a lighter texture and attractive glop at the end of the straw. I love the texture, it feels right and easy to bite.
The licorice itself is fairly delicious, maybe more aromatic than flavorful, yet a fine treat, landing more on the candy than fruit snack side of the nosh.
My Godfather here loved it, and he's a picky food expert. He said he couldn't taste the filling, but it didn't seem to diminish the taste. It was a little like a fruit roll-up, though more solid.
He and Jackie, a regular Dish taste tester, were psyched the licorice tasted so much like Welch's Concord Grape Juice. They said they'd buy it, and all this from a warm pack that was sitting in the car for who knows how long waiting to be photographed.
Be warned, there are 26 grams of sugar in five pieces, there are 10 pieces in a pack. Half a pack has 170 calories and only 20mg of sodium.
Three purple thumbs up for the Concord Grape, I wasn't impressed with the Strawberry, what's going on with the distribution?

Floating Into Summer: The Dish Summer of Root Beer, Test One

Tall Culver's Rootbeer Float

The funny thing about the shade when it's still 95° in it, the point is moot. Especially on concrete. Concrete Shade, Concrete Shake, the two don't mix well in the heat and Root Beer Floats are even worse. Concrete Shade, that would make a good name for a band.

Now that I look at the tall glass with the medium sized hole on top, I can see how it looks like a fourth grade science experiment. 

And speaking of experiment, The Dish will be making an extra effort to bring all things root beer, especially float-wise, to its pages this summer.

These did not look like this for long. The one in back is already losing it

This is the first of two taste tests we had that day, the condition of these Culver's floats forcing a second to be posted later. It's also the first in a series, kicking off and continuing throughout the summer.
So much root beer, so much ice cream, a fair amount of time.
The thing about Culver's, they're everywhere. You can't roll into a population of 2k without seeing one—ooh, they've got an Old Fashioned Cherry Soda.
The Culver's chains have beaten Mickey D's into a flat sandwich around here and their Flavors of the Day taunt you from every crevice of the city.

TASTE TEST ONE

Culver's Root Beer Float

I broke down and started sipping, then slurping, then gulping the Tall Root Beer Floats ($3.59 each). This was mostly because they began melting and the photo shoot was over.
Culver's is not just about frozen custard, rich, buttery, over the top custard. Their root beer is one of my favorites in a field which includes Sprecher, probably the best root beer made.

You'll see more from these two later

There was a perfect proportion of root beer to custard, creating creamy root beer suds. They tasted like carbonated clouds of heaven.
You do have to dig down deep for the last glops of custard nestled in the bottom of the plastic container, but well worth it. Melting didn't detract much from the flavor, probably due to the strength of the custard.
Warning: Don't trust a cardboard tray to hold or tame your floats. Just ask the front seat of my car.

Summer of Root Beer Rating: 4.5 Mugs (out of 5)