Sunday, June 18, 2017

Review: Singing Donut

So I went to a place this weekend called Singing Donut - it's a bit out of the way from most major cities (Door County, WI - in Fish Creek, to be exact) but I wanted to review this place because it's a super cool concept and they make delicious, hot and fresh cake donuts.  And the name is amazing, I mean, it's called SINGING DONUT for crying out loud.  It's just pricey.

The concept is simple.  You can buy a single donut, a half dozen, or a dozen.  And that's where the fun begins.  You get to pick out the frosting for your donut (i.e. chocolate, vanilla, caramel, powdered sugar) and the toppings for your donut (ranges from marshmallows to sprinkles to Oreo pieces), and they actually make them fresh right in front of you.

Or you can choose from one of their specialty creations.


I chose a Scooby Doo donut, which was vanilla frosting with Fruity Pebbles cereal and a chocolate drizzle.  My husband just wanted a donut with chocolate frosting.


But you actually see a guy in back making the donuts with a donut machine, and then they actually dip the fresh donut into the frosting you want and sprinkle on the toppings right in front of you.

What will be awesome is when they expand I hope they get additional frosting types and toppings.  Like Nutella.  Peanut Butter.  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

But really the biggest let down is the price - and I know it's in a touristy area but for my husband to get a single donut (they are sized fairly small, even smaller than a regular Dunkin Donuts donut) with just chocolate frosting the donut was a little under $1.50 USD.  So my reco would be to stagger out the pricing so if you didn't want a ton of toppings (just wanted frosting) it would be closer to $1, for example.

Takeaways:
  • It definitely makes for a cool concept.  But bring your wallet because it's one pricey donut.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Review: Hostess CupCakes

So when you don't have a working kitchen, you realize you end up eating all sorts of things that you wouldn't have eaten in years but are oh so delicious.  Like CupCakes.  Because they are super easy to eat in individual wrappers, and when you are done you just throw away the wrapper, since who wants to deal with cookies that you have to re-package up and put away in your living room because you can't use your kitchen.

Ok so maybe it sounds lazy and I just wanted CupCakes, but it was the perfect excuse for CupCakes for dessert.

These babies tasted just as good as I once remembered - moist from being so processed, vanilla cream filling in the center, and topped with a soft chocolate topping (it's not really a cream, it's more like a softened topping).  And if you want something super chocolate-y, this wouldn't be the thing to get since it's more like a fake type of chocolate taste - but it definitely does the trick!

From a size perspective they aren't huge (and maybe they've gotten smaller over the years to keep up with the times), so I could probably stuff an entire CupCake in my mouth if I really wanted to.


See?  They really aren't that big but again definitely is the right size if you want a dessert!


Takeaways:
  • It's a processed CupCake with a fake-ish chocolate icing and vanilla cream in the center.  If you have the craving, it's the same CupCakes we know and love from childhood.

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Review: Big Bowl Appetizers and Soup

So let's talk about Big Bowl.  Big Bowl is a favorite sit-down Chinese / Thai option for our family.  It's part of the Lettuce Entertain You chain of restaurants, and I've never had a meal I didn't like at any of the Lettuce Entertain You spots SO you know it's good.  I can't speak for if the food is authentic or not, so regardless I'm going to go for it and talk about taste.

Last time we were at Big Bowl, we came in and had a bunch of appetizers so I'm focusing on those today (and I'll let you know about the entrees another time!)

Some of my favorite pan-fried chicken potstickers come from Big Bowl.  Maybe it's because they set the potstickers in the soy sauce so the potstickers start soaking up that salty goodness.  Maybe it's because they're ACTUALLY filled with chicken and not the mush that you get at some chinese restaurants.  Maybe it's the fryer they use.  Regardless, if you are a fan of potstickers, you have to order these.


I typically LOVE crab rangoon.  But I'll be honest - I like the crab rangoon from the take out chinese places better than the ones at Big Bowl.  I mean if you are going to force me to eat their crab rangoon I will - but maybe I like the crab rangoon at chinese places better because they have more cream cheese in their crab rangoon than actual crab?  Maybe it's the thick breading on the Big Bowl crab rangoon?  If you are a rangoon fan and you have the ones at Big Bowl, let me know what you think.


And then the chicken wonton soup is an absolute must.  The chicken broth is SO GOOD and there's a chicken potsticker (or two!) in the bowl of soup.  It's an easier way to get me to eat my vegetables when it's soaked in chicken broth


Takeaways:
  • Go to Big Bowl even if you want to share some apps and soup!  You won't be disappointed.