Bread and Jam

Two NEW Peanut Butters to Try

Peanut butter is one of those things that I could eat morning, noon and night. I even keep a jar at work for those afternoon munchies. (I eat it on everything.) And as content as I was with plain or crunchy for these thirty-some years of my life, I am now hooked on the flavored versions as well. Here are two of my favs:

Peanut Butter & Co. makes a really good dark chocolate flavor that will make you forget all about Nutella. They are a little sandwich shop in NYC that makes a variety of gourmet peanut butter flavors that are easy to find in most major markets. You can check out their site for a store near you and see the list of other yummy flavors such as Mighty Maple, White Chocolate, Honey and more. They have some great recipes online too.

My other new favorite is made by P.B. Loco, a company specializing in what they call "peanut butter for adults", with flavors ranging from Asian Curry, Cocoa Banana, Cookie Dough and many more. Their Sumatra Cinnamon Raisin version is unbelievable. Sounds kind of weird, I know, but picture cinnamon raisin bread toasted with peanut butter and you get the idea. Sooo good. Best of all, both brands are all natural. Please bring me a spoon.

Bread & Chocolate Bar

You need to pinch me because I cannot believe this candy bar flavor really exists and is in my hot little hands. To me, this is just as magical as a Chompo bar. When my sister and I were little, my mom would read to us from the book A Birthday for Frances in which Frances the Badger saves her money to buy a Chompo Bar which looked like the most delicious candy bar in the world and had a beautiful striped wrapper. Imagine our disappointment when we found out the Chompo bar did not exist. To this day, my sister and I talk about creating one ourselves, striped wrapper and all.

Let me introduce you to the Bread & Chocolate Bar by Theo. The store I bought it from is 2 hours away and I'm having regrets that I didn't buy every last bar there. The French bread is in fine, crusty bits and the chocolate is the smoothest dark chocolate. It's made by Theo Chocolate in Seattle which is a completely new discovery for me. Their other flavors include Chai Milk Chocolate with black tea, Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate, and Fig, Fennel & Almond Dark Chocolate, just to name a few. Maybe you've heard of Theo's before but this is the first I've seen it in Michigan. I'm looking forward to trying their other flavors and getting a few more of the French Bread bars for my drawer at work! :) The drawer currently consists of my faithful standbys ScharffenBerger semisweet and Dove Dark hearts (below). They are about to be joined by some new friends in cute wrappers from Seattle. 

Rose Petal Jam Paczki - Fat Tuesday

It seemed like cheating, but I actually bought my paczki a day ahead of time this year. I didn't want to brave the long lines in Hamtramck again and since it's only once a year, I didn't want to settle for the mass produced version that some of the commercial places make. So I found myself at the Polish Market by my house last night, with the serious task of selecting my quantity and flavors on an empty stomach. Never a good idea. They were completely out of custard but I was happy to leave with a nice little paper sack of blueberry, plumb and rose. The rose was so delicious and is now my new favorite. (Sorry, custard.)

One of the more traditional paczki flavorings, the rose petal jam can be bought in specialty markets and served with toast, scones or layered in cake. I would really like to make a batch of this jam from scratch.  Many of the recipes I'm finding seem to vary from rose jellies, jams and marmalades so I would love to hear recommendations. If anyone has a good recipe, please share.