A Disappointment of Donuts

I tried a new to me donut place recently, Paradise Donuts & Coffee. I was looking forward to enjoying their made fresh donuts.

I'm old enough to remember Dunkin' Donuts before they went to centralized donut baking; when each store made their donuts fresh several times a day. The memory of those donuts are why, when I dragged out of bed on a recent Sunday morning, I was expecting to be rewarded with warm, fresh donuts. Nope. Sad face emoji.

I was there a half hour after opening. My selections made, box packed, I looked forward to giving these a try.

Sadly, this brightly colored box held a bakers dozen of disappointment. More sad face emojis.

Not a warm fresh donut in the bunch. Not only that, they all tasted like day old donuts. What? I've come to find out that the donuts at this Paradise Donuts are NOT baked fresh in the store. No, they're baked at another location the night before and then delivered to this location. A dozen sad face emojis.

To be fair, the donuts were ok. They tasted almost as good as any SuperMom's donut or grocery store donut I've had. Almost.

My takeaway? When it comes to donuts I should have quit while I was ahead. Smiley face emoji!

Hot and fresh!

Happy dining!

Cassarino's Ristorante - Providence, Rhode Island

One of the last places I dined on my trip to the East Coast was Cassarino's Ristorante. Cassarino's is an old school Italian-American restaurant located on Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island. For those who don't know, Federal Hill is Providence's little Italy. There you'll find lots of great dining, shopping and depending on the time of year a great Italian festival. 

I love a good red-sauce, Italian-American restaurant and Cassarino's delivered. We started out with a drink at the bar...

A vodka martini? Yes, please!

Once we were seated we ordered a few appetizers to share. All of them were good but the the Burrata Salad was outstanding. Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. All I can say is if you see it on a menu somewhere, order it.

Burrata Salad - Creamy fresh mozzarella with Prosciutto di Parma & sliced tomato, finished with olive oil, sweet balsamic vinegar & black sea salt

We also had the stuffed mushrooms and the bruschetta.

Mushroom Caps - Mushrooms stuffed with a Ritz cracker & vegetable stuffing

Traditional Bruschetta - Toasted Italian bread layered with sliced fresh mozzarella & marinated diced plum tomato

For our main courses we decided on the filet mignon and, what I believe were two specials, the papardelle arrabiata and a fillet and stuffed shrimp dish.

Filet Mignon - Grilled filet, portabella mushroom demi glace, with a sprinkle of gorgonzola cheese. Served with asparagus & potato

Papardelle Arrabiata

Grilled filet with mixed veg, potatoes and stuffed jumbo shrimp

Dinner was great. Just what you'd expect from a joint that's been serving local diners since 1988. Great company and good food. No better combination for a fabulous evening.
After dinner we walked over to Pastiche Fine Desserts for a couple of cannolis and a few other treats. A wonderful end to a great evening.

A box of goodness - Cannolis!

If you plan to visit Providence you have to make Federal Hill one of your stops. So many great restaurants, places to get traditional Italian pastries and other yummy goodies.I can't recommend it highly enough. It's touristy but in the best possible way. It'll be a highlight of your trip.

Happy dining!

Brazilian Bakery Cafe - Marietta, Georgia

All I know about Brazilian food I learned from a waiter at Fogo de Chao. Well, mostly. It was on his advice that the Dining Companion and I sought out our first Brazilian restaurant that wasn’t a churrascaria.

Poking around the local dining scene, the Dining Companion found that there are a few Brazilian restaurants in the area. Armed with that knowledge we set out to try a couple. The Brazilian Bakery Café was first up.

We were there early on a weekend morning. It wasn’t overly busy which was great for me. I was able to ask about some of the delicious looking things on offer without holding up a line. The guy behind the counter was very helpful. (I wish I had his name) We looked over the options in the cases and chose a few things to try.(menu)

Coxinha are deep fried drumstick shaped fritters filled with chicken

We had one of the split pastries above. Filled with vanilla cream.

So many things to try!

There were cakes as well and flan

We ended up with a coxinha, a small shrimp pie and a ham and cheese pastry called an Americano. The coxinha we’d had before but the other two were new to us. We enjoyed all of the things that we tried.

Clockwise from top: Ham and Cheese pastry, coxinha and a shrimp empadinha

I did end up getting a sweet pastry as well. It was so good that it didn't last long enough to get its picture taken.

I asked about the feijoada and found out that we were there too early. We’ll be back for it another day. From what I can tell most of the local Brazilian places serve it on Saturday. Brazilian Bakery Cafe has it both Wednesday and Saturday.

The cafe also offers different soups and salads daily and bacalhoada on Fridays. Bacalhoada is a dish that consists of salt cod, onions and potatoes. There are sandwiches too. A little something for everyone. Judging by the steady stream of people coming in and out while we were there it's a popular weekend stop.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

I saw several foil wrapped packages hanging here and there in the bakery. I asked about them and was told that they're chocolate Easter eggs, a tradition in Brazil. They each have a hollow space inside that can be filled with a small toy or something. I'm sorry I didn't get one.

Sitting in the café was what I imagine being on vacation in Brazil would be like. Everyone it seems, but the Dining Companion and me, were speaking Portuguese. It's the kind of thing that can transport you right out of your everyday and into something new. We love that.

There are a couple of other places that we're going to try. One of them is a buffet place and the other appears to be a market with a place to eat attached. They both look interesting.

Stay tuned, the Brazilian food adventure is just beginning.

Happy dining!

Voodoo Doughnut - Portland, Oregon

I had only a few things on the must do list for my drive up the West Coast with the Dining Companion's hermana. Voodoo Doughnut in Portland Oregon was one of them. After all, how could we be in Portland and not visit Voodoo Doughnut? It's doughnuts and Voodoo. I know right?

Lining up for doughnuts

As we expected there was a line but we only waited about 10 minutes before we headed inside...

So many choices!

Racks of doughnuts and stacks of iconic pink boxes waiting to be filled

Time to get serious and pick out some doughnuts.

Bacon Maple Bars

Decisions, decisions...

Cap'n Crunch, check. Oreos, check.

Classic Voodoo Doll doughnut

We ended up with a dozen wacky and delicious doughnuts. Our very own pink box of happiness. 

If you're traveling to Portland put Voodoo Doughnut on your must do list. They're open 24 hours a day so whenever you hit town the doughnuts are waiting. Go get some!

I only wish there was one near me.

Happy travels!

Poupart's Bakery - Lafayette, LA

Poupart's Bakery is a local fixture in Lafayette and has been around since the 1960's. Poupart's is more than just a bakery. Besides the bread and pastries they also have soup and salads as well as sandwiches and quiche. Breakfast or lunch they have you covered.

I was there for the beignets. Beignets, for those not familiar, are fried sweet dough that's served covered with powdered sugar. At least that is the most common way that you will find them.

I have a lot of love for these little squares of goodness. I can remember my mawmaw making beignets for us kids. Hers were fried blobs of dough that we ate with cane syrup mixed with peanut butter and washed down with very milky coffee. I imagine many a child that grew up in south Louisiana can claim that same memory.

Lots of goodies to choose from

Cookies!

As it turns out I got a little more than just the beignets I went in for. There were some nice looking handpies and a few other things that caught my eye. I also ended up with a jar of the most delicious fig preserves. Another fond memory from my mawmaw's kitchen. I've been happily enjoying them with my yogurt in the morning.

Success!

From top clockwise: Beignets, Small Pecan Pies, Sweet Pretzel Roll, Blackberry and Fig handpies

As no trip to Southern Louisiana would be complete without at least trying a beignet you can go ahead and add it to your ever growing list of things to do when you get there. Resistance is futile y'all. Ça c'est bon!

Happy dining!