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How can a blog named Chocolate & Garlic skip reviewing an establishment known as The Chocolate? It won’t–here goes: The Chocolate is located in Orem at 212 S. State St. in a historic house from the beginning of the last century. The neat thing about The Chocolate is that it is a bakery, a place where food is made, wedding cakes are ordered, and catering orders are prepared, but it is also a place to eat and a place to spend time with others while eating–definitely not just a bakery.
Eating there made me want to open my own business. It made me sad that I hadn’t thought of The Chocolate first. (Pdad said he thinks I’m better suited to teaching philosophy than to running my own business. I’m not sure he is right, but there is some evidence on his side). I love their choice of building–bakeries are always these antiseptic places with tile, gleaming glass cases, and industrial kitchens. A typical bakery might have a few tables so that you can indulge yourself if you’re not able to wait long enough to transport your guilty pleasure somewhere else, but the emphasis is always on the purchase, not the consumption. The Chocolate is different. The setting is important. This is a place to hang out and have a conversation. This is a place to go on a date. This would be a great place to bring an older child for some special attention and a treat. The required glass cases and cash register are at the front, the bakery is hidden at the back, but much of the rest of the house is open. You’re free to stroll through a few different rooms until you claim the seating nook that speaks comfort to you.
I think it would be tempting at a place like The Chocolate to go too sweet–to be too Victorian or to decorate in pastel pinks and make it too feminine. Don’t fear. If anything, the Chocolate goes a little too far in the other direction–lime green paint in once place, zebra stripe pillows in another–this is not your grandmother’s sitting room. Also, they have music piped through the rooms that suggests youth and energy rather than — I don’t know — afternoon tea with the finger crook’d just so?
As for the guilty pleasures themselves, they don’t go too sweet there either. I am a big fan of their frosting. Not too sweet, but not like eating a stick of butter (yet still plenty buttery), just right. Pdad and I enjoyed three confections there: a slice of Kitty Katrina cake, a mint fudge brownie, and a turtle tart (I think they called it a tart–it was definitely a turtle). We paid $8.45. Their prices seem quite reasonable, food+ setting considered. I can’t imagine buying a full size cake there ($45!), but perhaps that is because I am willing and able to make my own (could you watch my kids for the afternoon, though?). What I easily can imagine though is sampling a slice and sharing it with someone else. The cake slice and brownie were large, and although the turtle was smaller, three desserts was definitely more than two people post-dinner needed (but there were so many things we wanted to try!). The caramel on the turtle was sublime, but I thought the crust was a bit too hard. I wouldn’t order the turtle again. The mint brownie was good–it was a muted mint–similar yet superior to BYU’s famous mint brownies. As I said, the frosting on the Kitty Katrina cake was wonderful. Surprisingly, when we visited (and admittedly the selection was running low at the end of the evening on a Saturday) the majority of the desserts were not chocolate.
All in all: I hope to make many return visits to the Chocolate. I love the concept–desserts only, historic house, find your own table, no one rushes you, stay and talk. The desserts are pretty good too!
If you go: The Chocolate opens at 11 a.m. every day but Sunday. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, they stay open until 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday they stay open until 11 p.m. Who ever heard of a bakery open until11 p.m.? It’s The Chocolate! (801) 224-7334. 212 S. State, Orem, UT. See also The Chocolate Website and The Chocolate Blog
Others’ Reviews:
Daily Herald
Joe’s Cafe is located across State Street from the University Mall in Orem. Joe is open until 4 p.m. and he serves breakfast and lunch all day. The menu has waffles, pancakes, eggs, omelets, sandwiches, and hamburgers. There are a few kid’s meals as well. I thought the food was really good. Reviews I’d read before visiting had led me to believe that portions would be huge, but that wasn’t the case on our visit. The serving sizes were just average. We tried the Western Omelet, the ABC (Avocado-Bacon-Cheese) omelet, the pancake combo, the Belgian waffle, and a corndog. Everyone liked their order; my Western omelet was really good. I enjoyed the feeling of eating real homestyle food, freshly prepared. It was caloric yes, but the ingredients were honest ones, the ones I would put in at home, not something concocted to tempt my metabolism in a laboratory. Prices were not cheap, but reasonable.
Although Joe’s is relatively new, I noticed multiple regulars stop by during our visit.
The restaurant is narrow, but by going all the way to the back we did manage to find a table that seated the five of us and found room for our stroller. (There is parking in back of the restaurant). Unfortunately, this isn’t a comfy booth type of place: just little tables and chairs. I like the way Joe’s is decorated with vibrant yellow paint on top, and black (is it called wainscoting or beadboard?) on the bottom. The walls are covered with snapshots. Every photograph includes Joe, the chef and owner, along with a group of first time visitors. The photo-taking is an ongoing process; we had our picture taken today. Joe is extremely outgoing; he checked several times to make sure we were happy. He noticed that our 6 year old had finished his Belgian Waffle kid’s meal while the rest of us were still eating and offered to bring him another half on the house. He counseled us to buy the lad “a big boy meal” the next time we stop by.
All in all: I wouldn’t say that Joe’s was amazing, but I will definitely eat there again. I am eager to try the hamburgers on my next visit.
If you go: 1126 S. State St., Orem, UT 84097, (801) 607-5377, open every day but Sunday until 4 p.m. Breakfast and Lunch served all day.
Others’ Reviews:
Regular subscribers: My apologies for what is doubtless a boring topic for you. I wrote this up mostly for myself and also for any possible hapless internet searchers. Just skip to the next post in your reader. Thanks!
Diane’s Wig Shop–Orem. Small shop, but they’ve fit a lot of wigs in there! They carry mostly Jon Renau, Raquel Welch and Revlon. There is never more than one person working there at a time. If you buy a wig somewhere else (the internet, for example), they are willing to thin and style it and help you with it for $35. This service is free if you buy the wig from them. It is best to call ahead for an appointment, but it is possible to get help if you walk in and they aren’t busy with another customer. Diane is knowledgeable and ready to offer advice on choosing a color. Prices appear to be 10-20% higher than at the other shops. 347 E. University Parkway, Orem, UT 84058 (801) 224-5070
Creative Wigs & Toupees– 2 locations–one in Sandy and one in Salt Lake. Visit both locations while you are in the area (as well as Headcovers by Joni) because they are less than 20 minutes apart. The Sandy shop is smaller and has a more limited selection than the Salt Lake shop. The person who helped me at the Sandy shop, Linda, was willing to steer me away from wigs she thought didn’t work. The Salt Lake location of Creative Wig was the largest shop I visited. It was impressive because they had several styling chairs and many, many wigs on display as well as more stock tucked away in the back. There were at least 3 employees there at the same time when I was there and they stayed busy! I didn’t get the name of the woman who helped me there. She seemed nice initially, but started helping someone else, and then never came back to see how I was doing. I think she had perhaps (correctly) identified me as a difficult customer: I’m interested in finding something as close as possible to my own hair color rather than going blond or redheaded just because that’s what they happen to have in stock. Go figure. But I was still surprised to be abandoned without any notice. 814E. 9400S. Sandy, UT 84094 (801) 553-0669 and 1124 E. 3300 S. Salt Lake City, UT 84106 (801) 486-4604
Headcovers by Joni–If you visit the Salt Lake location of Creative Wig you should also stop by Headcovers by Joni as they are both on 3300 South in Salt Lake. It is a fairly small shop, but they have a surprising amount of inventory for their size. I met three of the people who work there (but not all on the same day–on any given visit there will be only one or two people working). Joni is the owner. She is also the most experienced and has a lot of experience styling and thinning wigs. She does get cranky with people who stay and stay and stay and can’t make up their minds (it wasn’t me!) Camille, another employee, also styles and thins the wigs if you purchase one, but she has less experience with wigs (as opposed to regular hair) than Joni. She is extremely patient. If you really don’t know what you want and just want to try a whole lot of different pieces, she is a good person to work with. Unfortunately, her opinions lack credibility because she will tell you that you look great in everything you try on. Janet is the person to see if you need an opinion. She doesn’t mind telling you which wig she thinks suits you and which doesn’t work. However, if you are hoping to find the wig you are looking for and to have it styled and wear it home that very day, Janet doesn’t style wigs, so you need to go on a day when either Camille or Joni will be there. 2286 E. 3300 S. Salt Lake city, UT 84109 (801)467-5665 or 1-866-700-5664
My favorite so far: Brooke by Jon Renau
The local shops are all willing to order in a different color (although they like the idea of you buying out of their inventory on hand even better!) or possibly even a different style. However, if you order something in, many of the advantages of buying at a local shop v. the internet (seeing how the wig looks before you buy it, for example) vanish. It is cheaper to buy from the internet, but then of course you have to add back in the cost of having your wig styled.
My favorite internet wig sites are Wigs.com, e-wigs.com , and theheadshoponline.com. Wigs.com is great because they have made videos displaying many of their wigs and this gives you a much better idea of the wig than just a picture. E-wigs has fabulous personal service. If you call their 1-800 number, Marty will answer the phone and take time to answer endless questions and give you his e-mail address in case you have more questions later. Unfortunately, if you are a Utah resident, e-wigs costs more because of sales tax. Theheadshoponline.com (be careful typing that or or you will end up at a very different website!) has the best search filters.
Earlier post on similar topic: Wigging Out
We like to play board games. Our family has some new favorites and some old classics that I’d like to recommend. Please recommend your favorites as well!
My highest recommendation goes to Bananagrams: Also, Best Word Game. Bananagrams is basically a set of Scrabble tiles in a bright yellow fabric banana. If you don’t like word games, you won’t like Bananagrams. If you do enjoy word games, this will probably quickly become one of your all-time favorites.
Why Bananagrams is so great: You can play with only 2 people or a larger group. You don’t have to wait for other people to take their turns; everyone plays simultaneously. Both luck (the draw of the tiles) and skill (not just vocabulary but also skill in using tiny words to connect bigger ones) are part of the game. Although I do not consistently win at Bananagrams (I am not interested in memorizing all the possible two letter words, unlike some people I know–Pdad!), I enjoy it because it is fun and quick and you do it with words. The package claims that Bananagrams can be played with children as young as 7, but I think most 7 year olds would find it difficult.
Pmom’s favorites
1. Bananagrams
2. Taboo
3. Conspiracy
5. Monopoly
6. Pit
Pdad’s favorites
1. Bananagrams
2. Balderdash
3. Pit
4. Rummikub
Pmom’s favorites to play with children
1.Sorry!
3. Cooties
4.Go Fish
6.Zingo
Pdad’s favorites to play with children
1. Stratego
3. Sherlock
4. Zingo
5. Jenga
Amelia’s favorites (10 yr old girl)
(Amelia had trouble with the rank ordering so she has a first favorite group and a second favorite group).
1. Bananagrams
1. Chess
2. Stratego
2.Rummikub
2.Scrabble
Duncan’s favorites (5 year old boy)
1. Candyland
5. Perfection
6. Operation
Best Larger Group Games:
Best Games for Two
Best new games
Classics that haven’t lost their luster
Nothing beats fresh garlic. If you are using powdered, jarred, or pre-peeled garlic, you are settling for less. Try fresh garlic again and see whether it isn’t a sensory experience you need in your life.
Given my penchant for fresh garlic, I see the garlic press as a must have item. If you are a garlic press newbie, you need to know that garlic presses are not created equal. Not even close. Many are flimsy, most are inefficient, a lot of them are hard to clean, and some require too much hand strength. None of these negatives is true of the Kuhn Rikon Easy Squeeze. If you have ever tried a garlic press made by another company, when you try this one, you will quickly recognize it as an engineering marvel. It really works well and it is much easier to clean. I don’t think the Easy Squeeze is the best looking press. Kuhn Rikon’s similar stainless steel model is absolutely beautiful. I own it too and it is a work of kitchen design that is truly art. But for those of us with weak hand strength, the less sophisticated easy squeeze model (available in black, red or blue) is both easier and cheaper. I first read about this model at Cook’s Illustrated where it was rated number one out of a field of thirteen presses.
Do you know of any Stuff Worth Buying? I would love to have you guest post. Write me at ChocolateandGarlic [at] gmail.com.
*I have received no financial or other benefits from the companies affiliated with this product. See my review policy at the bottom of my About Me page.
Consumers of the world unite! We need to ask cookbook publishers to include weights in all their cookbooks. It is crucial for baking and it makes sense for other types of cooking as well.
I, for one, prefer measuring three ounces of onion to making myself crazy with internal debates as to whether a given onion qualifies as medium size or not. For ingredients like Parmesan, where how you grated it makes such a big difference to the volume, weighing just makes a ton of sense.
What doesn’t make sense is to bake without referring to weight, because weighing is so much more accurate. If you are stir frying—a little more of this, a little more of that—accuracy isn’t a big deal (unless you have OC issues : ). But if you are making a cake, accuracy is key.
2) Weighing is also much faster. Instead of dipping and sweeping multiple cups, you just pour your flour slowly into the bowl until you hit the magic number on the scale.
Which scale? I am sure many scales would work fine, but I love my MyWeigh 7000 (click the picture to visit their website). It is a little bulky, but so much sturdier than my previous scale. This thing has stood up to considerable abuse by my children, and it still works great. Also, it has a higher weight capacity than most scales (almost 15 1/2 lbs), so I don’t have to worry that if I put that fully-loaded heavy bowl on it it might break. Also, with the multiple modes and high weight capacity, the MyWeigh can be used for calculating postage or all sorts of crafts and hobbies.
Read my review policy on the About Me page.
Back in February, when Christian F and I were debating the merits of competition on this blog (see The Spelling Bee, Competition: Success and Struggle, and In Defense of Competition as well as the lengthy comments on these posts), Sharon recommended a great book, The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb.
I finally managed to both a) be at the library AND b) remember that I wanted this book while I was there last week. I listened to the first half of the book on CD. Unfortunately, I don’t spend enough time in the car to get through 12 CD’s. I kept having to sit and listen in the garage when I got home because of the suspense. It seemed unhealthful. So when the book itself finally became available yesterday, I was excited to finish the latter half of it by reading the hardcopy.
I enjoyed this book tremendously. (I did like it better in hardcopy than on CD because I could read the story much faster than I could listen to the CDs and that made the story seem to move faster). It is the story of the 4 minute mile. For many years, it was believed that it was impossible for humans to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, three athletes, Roger Bannister, John Landy, and Wes Santee each suffered great disappointment. Each returned home committed to showing that their Olympic results didn’t tell the full story of their athletic abilities. The next two years saw the three in a frantic seesaw battle to see who would be the first to break the barrier.
It is a neat story because each athlete is different. They live on different continents, they come from different backgrounds, they have different racing philosophies, different ways of training, different challenges and different personalities. But they share things as well: each embarrassed himself through failure to live up to expectations at the Olympics. Each is eager to beat the barrier. Each has great natural athletic gifts and each has an even greater natural determination to improve and excel. Each of the athletes readies himself to run the race of his life and then comes up short, again and again. The book is a fascinating look at their lives, how they handle failure, and how they pick themselves up and go back at it. Although the 4 minute barrier fell over 50 years ago, Bascomb was able to interview all three runners and many of their contemporaries, so the book is rich in the detail and has the credibility that make this sort of account great.
You will like this book even if you don’t know anything about running and don’t enjoy running yourself. Both are true of me. I did learn a lot of new things about running by reading this book: strategies for running a very fast mile, the importance of a pacesetter, the difference between racing a clock and racing competitors. I also learned not only about the cinder tracks of 50 years ago and how track shoes have changed, but how the world of elite-level athletics itself has changed. This was interesting. Even more interesting was the story of Bannister, Landy, and Santee’s drive towards excellence, their thirst for remarkable achievement, their desire to run faster than anyone had ever run. I especially liked the theme of redemption. Of how one can embarrass oneself, disappoint others, and then pick up, work harder, and do things that almost everyone else on the planet only dreams about. These men didn’t dream it, they did it.
Finally, I appreciated being able to observe the truth that played out in the background: while running a world record mile is a stunning individual achievement, this book showed that none of them could have done what they did without support. Sometimes it was friends or family, sometimes it was a coach or fellow competitor, but none of the men got where he did completely on his own.
Fingerless Gloves by Lis--Alpaca Yarn
Do you think of your review more as a recommendation of a cool place to visit or as a recommendation of some really great yarn?
I think it is both a really cool place to visit if you’re interested in alpacas, yarn, or both. I can’t get enough of the yarn. If I felt like it were feasible to buy this yarn exclusively I would. This yarn is 5 or 10x better than traditional sheep’s wool because it isn’t scratchy, is softer, and is hypoallergenic. The only advantages to traditional sheep’s wool are that it felts easier and is also water resistant.
Have you tried the yarn? What did you think?
I have tried the yarn. I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves. I loved knitting the yarn. It is amazingly soft, and I love the fact that the yarn is un-dyed yet you get rich full color. Also, alpaca don’t have the oils that sheep have. The yarn is hypoallergenic. So people who are allergic to wool can usually wear alpaca.
How does the cost compare to other yarn? 2x 5x 10x?
NO! its $9 for a 100 yard skein. That is a very reasonable price for a pure fiber probably cheaper than you would find at a yarn shop.
About Blue Moon Ranch: Whereabouts is Woodland, UT?
It is sort of between Kamas and Park City.
This was a day trip, right? Am I right that you didn’t actually stay overnight at the ranch, you just visited?
It was a day trip. We stayed the night at a nearby B&B though.
Did you have to pay anything to visit the ranch? Were you able to buy yarn while you were there?
The visit was free. At the end of the visit she took us to a tiny little store she has off her garage where she has what is left of her yarn. Like I said in the write up, she sells most of her yarn the last weekend in September so the selection was limited. That being said, I was able to buy several skeins of yarn. I bought one skein from various alpaca. I plan to knit more fingerless gloves (one of my favorite things) out of the various yarns so I’ll know which I like best when I go back in September.
Lis blogs at Visual Anarchy
Lis from Visual Anarchy
Lis from Visual Anarchy is the first guest reviewer for Stuff Worth Buying. Lis is one of the most talented people I know. From stained glass to knitting, both a mom and an artist, she excels at the beautiful and the clever. It did not surprise me to learn that she was reviewing yarn. Read her post below.
“Alpaca don’t really like to be hugged, but mine learn to deal with it because I love to hug them.”
– Linda Gardner, Owner of the Blue Moon Ranch in Woodland, Utah
Picture courtesy of Linda Gardner.
This weekend my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting Linda Gardner’s Blue Moon Alpaca Ranch. Linda has been running her ranch, which currently houses 50 or 60 alpaca, for eleven years. Within spending five minutes with Linda you’ll realize she is quite possibly the most passionate alpaca owner you’ll find. She knows the name and personality of every alpaca on her ranch. As we walk around she talks to them like they are her children, “Willy. Get over here. You know I’m talking to you. Come on, get over here.” Willy stands up and comes over.
She also knows the quality of each alpaca’s fleece. She keeps track of this so she can decide which alpaca to breed to get the softness and colors she is looking for. Even though she clearly sees her alpaca as an investment she also has a few “hay burners” she keeps around simply because she’s grown attached to them. “Look at him.” She says pointing to an older alpaca, “He’s an old man, he’s got his easy chair and cigar. I couldn’t make him leave. It just wouldn’t be right.”
She gets approximately fifty skeins of yarn, one hundred yards per skein, per alpaca each year. However, not all of the fleece is worth spinning into yarn. In fact she showed us a bag of fleece she uses as insulation around the windows in her home.
Each summer she flies in a specialist who can shear an alpaca in four minutes. He and a team of helpers can shear the entire herd in a day. The fleece from each alpaca is put into separate bags and labeled with the alpaca’s name. The fleece is then sent to a spinner who also keeps track of what yarn came from what alpaca. The result is amazingly soft yarn with rich, natural, un-dyed color. Each skein is labeled with the face and name of the alpaca it came from, and even has an occasional bit of hay still in it. This is how yarn is meant to be. 
If you are interested, she sells most of her yarn at her ranch on “open farm day” which she holds each year during the last weekend in September. She may also have a booth at the Great Basin Fiber Arts Festival.
Ava's Hummingbird Mint (Agastache)
The other day, I posted about my favorite plants. One of the plants I mentioned, Ava’s Hummingbird Mint (agastache), is discouragingly expensive. It is on sale this week at High Country Gardens* (the only place where you can buy it). It is still expensive, but every little bit helps!
*I am not affiliated with High Country Gardens in any way, except that: 1) I have spent too much money there and 2) I have greatly benefited from their wonderful website, their beautiful catalog, and their good advice about waterwise gardening.