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Endless Road Trip: Collingswood Pop Shop

There is more to South Jersey than the Real Housewives: there is food. We were recently visiting  to celebrate my future sister-in-law”s birthday and went to the Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ. The name “pop shop” insinuates great ice cream floats, milk shakes, and fountain soda. However, I noticed that every waiter was wearing shirts touting their love for cheese. The shop was featured on Food Network”s Throwdown with Bobby Flay for their grilled cheese. The menu features the sandwiches from the show so some of us got that, while future sister-in-law ordered the trophy of dessert breakfasts – s”mores french toast. Then of course, we all gorged ourselves with desserts. Enough chit chat – on to the food.

S”mores French Toast:

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Under the heading of “Fantastic French Toast Dreams,” you will find cinnamon bun french toast, banana”s foster, and even ham and cheese. But then you see the s”mores french toast on the menu and by chance see a waiter flaunting a pile of french toast, graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallow on what has to be a silver platter. Clearly someone at the table is ordering the s”mores french toast. Sister-in-law ordered it with a small amount of persuasion from the table and offers to give up half of their sandwich for a bite of the gooey french toast.  Well I got my bite in a trade for some bacon and cheese fries. The bite included savory fresh french toast  soaked with chocolate sauce. Then the marshmallow sauce that glues the stack of french toast together hits you. Your bite must include a piece of the top of the stack, since that is where the crunch of the graham cracker comes from. While I would never be able to finish an entire dish of it, I would suggest someone at my table order it again.

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in Cheese / Food Travel / Restaurants / Sandwich 0 comments
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Top 10 Ways to Use Butternut Squash

‘Tis the season. NO—not to be jolly and sing Christmas carols. We still have a good month left of fall enjoyment. That means to leave the Christmas decorations in the basement, put down the Christmas songs CD, and bring on the fall foods and drinks. Butternut squash has become a food staple of the fall season. But there is only so much Butternut Squash Soup that you can eat. SO…for the next month, try some of these. You’re welcome.

10. Butternut Squash Chantrelle and Brie Pizza

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Pizza pizza! Girlfriend and I tried making this ourselves and it came out pretty well. Any variation would be delicious, but I saw this version and I think the brie would make the perfect pairing with the butternut squash. All it needs now is some short ribs…

Recipe: Heather Christo

9. Butternut Squash Muffins

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Pumpkin muffins are delicious, but what about butternut squash? I could see these muffins being eaten as snacks, dessert, or even with a savory breakfast. Maybe some butterscotch chips in these?

Recipe: WendyInKK

8. Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells

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When I first saw this recipe, I thought the shells would be stuffed with some kind of butternut squash mixture. Instead, it is the traditional stuffed shells, but the sauce is a savory butternut mixture. Looking for a quick meal on a cold night? Try these out.

Recipe: Fifteen Spatulas

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in Breakfast / Cheese / Featured / Lists / Recipe / Red Meat 0 comments
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A Dashing Brie

Twin Tastes here. For those of you who enjoyed our Cyprus-inspired melty cheese, here is another sweet and savory appetizer with a major KICK.

We first created the oozing brie after touring the Ryan & Wood Distilleries in historic Gloucester, MA.  After sampling the copper-colored rum, our minds churned with ideas for how we could incorporate the dark, robust flavor in cooking. To tie in our New England routes, we incorporated Vermont maple syrup. Cooking down the rum with the maple syrup  subdues the intense, robust flavor and creates a subtle, sweet, caramel-like topping for the buttery wedge of cheese. To add a little texture, we stirred in some toasted pecans. The firm spicy ginger snaps and tangy apple slices hold up to the incredible mess of the luscious wedge.

Rum, Maple and Pecan Topped Brie

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in Cheese / Featured / Recipe 1 comments
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Plate It or Hate It

Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating

Plate It: Creamed Honey

We love honey. We hate how it sticks all over everything. Creamed honey is pure honey that is crystallized so that it changes texture; you get a smooth, creamy product that spreads like butter and doesn’t drip-drip-drip all over everything like that pedestrian un-creamed honey. Brilliant. (Available at http://www.shopbot.co.nz/)

Hate It: Push Pop Cakes

The latest mom blogger craze picks up where cake pops left off. Come on, foodie moms — please stop sacrificing practicality for cuteness. That is not how you eat a cake. Push it up and things start to fall apart once you take your first bite.  (Photo: kristin_a)

Plate It: Travel-Size Brie

Finally. We no longer have to fly with just Laughing Cow. Quality doesn’t compare to regular brie, but it’s sure better than no brie. (Available from Ile de France)

Hate It: Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off

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in Celebs / Cheese / Eggs / Lists / TV 3 comments
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Endless Contests: We Have a Donut Winner!

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The donut is already darn near close to the perfect food item, so when we threw down the gauntlet to our readers to come up with the greatest donut combo ever assembled, it was no small task.

The folks at Dunkin” Donuts were running a contest that was a little more closely tethered to reality, and it looks like they came up with some fantastic suggestions that you can vote on in the hopes of seeing them turn up at your local store.  Of course, we loosened the constraints a bit and let you add any ingredient you wanted, and you certainly pokies 88 didn”t disappoint.

Though the thought of a cardamom/vanilla buttermilk donut or a bananas foster version were fantastic, we had to hand it to reader Alex, who took the already indulgent donut and turned it into a cholesterol bomb of epic proportions:

Lightly glazed plain donut (whole wheat flour? Can you do that? For fiber) filled with creme de brie and homemade, fresh blueberry jam. The glaze is largely for sticking the crushed hazelnut topping to the donut. It’s kind of like a personal-sized baked brie.

Good to see that you worked in the whole wheat “for fiber.”  We wouldn”t want this to be unhealthy.

Congratulations, Alex, a brie donut sounds delicious.  Your $60 Dunkin’ Donuts Gift Card is on its way!

(Photo: wader)

in Breakfast / Cheese / Contests 3 comments
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Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

bacon donut

– dad gansie is not buying this crazy avocado story:

Come on SS. Are you pulling our legs?? Yea, some Rock hard ones have lasted for a few weeks, never 6-7. Try the kale cover again. Maybe you’ll be a new famous inventor.

Guess that one is still a mystery.

– Alex takes an early lead in the craziest donut contest:

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in Contests 0 comments