Food Finds: Stoughton & Wrentham, MA; Cumberland & West Warwick, RI

Town Spa Pizza, 1119 Washington St., Stoughton, MA

Famous for its "bar pie" type pizza.

 

A very casual setting with great service.

(L) Extra cheese; (R) Pepperoni - Both were excellent!

 

Hilliard's House of Candy, 316 Main St., Easton, MA

 

A giant box of chocolates on the roof!

Delicious white chocolate peanut butter cups.

A bag of their famous almond toffee crunch.

Phantom Farms, 2920 Diamond Hill Road, Cumberland, RI

 

Decorated beautifully for fall.

So many delicious baked goods.

Their famous pumpkin mousse roll.

The Big Apple, 207 Arnold St., Wrentham, MA

Yep, that's a big apple.

The orchards.

Delicious apple cider donuts.

Homemade candy apple.

A frozen apple crisp complete with baking instructions.

Ice Cream Machine, 4288 Diamond Hill Road, Cumberland, RI

Many new and different flavors.

(L) Coffee Heath; (R) Amaretto & almond - Soooo good!

A crazy kitty that attacked my camera.

Emilio's Bakery, 287 Legris Ave., West Warwick, RI

Yummy baked goods.

Check out those pies!

(L) Italian sandwich; (R) "Everything" - spinach, pepperoni, black olives.

A lobster tail, a cream horn and two cannolis stuffed with chocolate chips.

Pinkberry vs. Orange Leaf - The Battle of the FroYos

By:  Diane
September 5, 2012

It was a late Wednesday afternoon and after seeing a terrible movie, we decided to try a Pinkberry frozen yogurt at the Providence Place Mall.

 

 

The place was small, but very hip. After all, I had heard this was some hip yogurt. It was darkly lit inside with some funky chairs and a bench strewn about. Maybe I wasn't dressed "cool" enough to be in here.

 

Now you have to get in line and follow the instructions posted above the counters:

 

1. You pick your cup size.

2. You pick your flavor of frozen yogurt.

3. You pick your toppings.

4. You pay.

 

Easy peasy right? Well it was. Laura and I both chose a small cup. Laura chose the new chocolate hazelnut flavor and I decided on the peanut butter. That done, we scooted down to the toppings bar where we told the server which toppings we'd like. They had loads of fresh fruits, nuts, grains and candies to choose from.You can get as many as you wish as long as they fit neatly in the cup. No topping overloads. Laura chose chocolate covered hazelnuts to complement her hazelnut yogurt along with some Mochi. If you've never tried Mochi, please do. It tastes almost like marzipan except it's a rice paste instead of almond. It's funky, but good. For my topping I chose granola. It really complimented my peanut butter yogurt very well and I was pleased with my choice. We found some seats to sit and enjoy our treats.  Our two cups cost a little over $10.

 

 

This was some delicious yogurt! It was very thick, rich, creamy and flavorful - more like a dessert. Laura thought her chocolate hazelnut was luscious and my peanut butter tasted as though I'd stuck my finger in the jar. So much taste!

 

I definitely want to come here again to try other flavors. It's not too cheap because you pay by the size of cup you've chosen, but it's so worth it. Pinkberry ... we'll be back.

 

**********

 

Driving back from the mall and Pinkberry and still trying to forget that rotten movie, we thought that it would be fun to stop in at the new Orange Leaf - another frozen yogurt shop - to compare the two yogurts. Now hold on - we are not little piggies.  This was purely for scientific purposes. Surely our fans would want to know which one we prefer. So sacrificing our blood sugar levels, we drove to Seekonk and to Orange Leaf.

 

 

Walking in our first impression was this place must be a hit with kids. In contrast to the dimly-lit Pinkberry, this place was bright and colorful with crazy tables and chairs tossed about. Really cute. To be honest, one of our main concerns were that this place would be a mad house with kids running amok. It wasn't.

 

Here, the instructions were posted on the wall:

 

1. Pick your size cup.

2. YOU mix and match your yogurts.

3. YOU add in all your toppings, syrups and whipped cream.

4. Put your cup on the scale to be weighed and pay.

 

This is really a do-it-yourself kind of place, but it's also a lot of fun. We both chose a small cup.  After all, we did just come from Pinkberry - ha, ha.  They have several frozen yogurt dispensers to choose from. Each has two different flavored yogurt spouts and a third spout that gives you a mixture of both. I really liked being able to walk around filling my cup with different flavors. Into my cup I squirted some peanut butter, butter pecan, red velvet and vanilla yogurt. Don't worry, only a little of each. Laura helped herself to some pineapple, coconut and white chocolate strawberry yogurt. Then we went over to the toppings bar and, like Pinkberry, there were loads of fresh fruits, cereals, candies and nuts to choose from. Laura sprinkled hers with Maraschino cherries, blackberries and raspberries while I tossed some slivered almonds on mine. Then we put our cups on the scale to be weighed. Remember the heavier you make it, the more you pay.  Our total came to a little over $8.

 

 

The place was really busy so we took our treats out to the car to enjoy.  They were excellent!  The yogurt is flavorful and the toppings are fresh. Plus, I'm not smart enough to mathematically figure out how many different combinations you can make. We really enjoyed our visit here and will definitely return (which we did a few days later).

 

You can't go wrong with either place, but I'd have to say the winner is ......... drum roll .........
<

PINKBERRY

 

Pinkberry is the wealthier cousin of Orange Leaf. It has a richer, creamier more flavorful yogurt and the whole atmosphere is somehow classier. So that leaves Orange Leaf the little black sheep of the family. But you know what, the little black sheep is the most fun. We think you'll enjoy both yogurts but you'll probably have more fun at Orange Leaf. Just be careful how much you fill your cup.  My daughter Mallory and her boyfriend Scott made this mistake and wound up paying over $20 for frozen yogurt.  Yikes!
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Don' t forget to check out our friends at MenuJoy.com for great area restaurant menus.

Hilliards House of Candy

316 Main St.

North Easton, MA  02356
(508) 238-6231

www.hilliardscandy.com

By:  Diane
August 11, 2012

Just a week prior to this, we were in Easton looking for a restaurant someone had recommended. Then my eye spotted the large Hilliards House of Candy sign. Wait ... hold on ... stop! I almost made Laura spin the car around. I had heard of Hilliards many times but I didn't realize it was in our driving distance. Here it was - right in my face. Unfortunately, our plans were already made and we couldn't stop, so I vowed to return the next week.

I'm here! We pulled into the impossibly small parking area around 3:30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. This place is adorable. It looks like a little doll house on the outside and is beautifully decorated on the inside.

The sweet smell hits your nose as soon as you open the door. They should make this scent into a Car Jar. Everything looked delicious. There were truffles, barks, brittles, chocolates, turtles, toffee and fudge. There were fresh-roasted nuts, mints, caramels and even a large selection of sugar-free goodies. They were so attractively packaged you hated to open them ... almost.

What a tough decision. We looked round and round, not wanting to miss anything. I had seen a large sign outside announcing that August was the annual sale on their famous almond toffee crunch. It looked amazing and I picked up a bag. That broke the ice. Then I chose a rich milk chocolate bar, two cupcake truffles, two squares of plain white bark and two milk chocolate cashew patties. The individual candies are weighed by the pound but the truffles are weighed separately. Our total:

Almond toffee crunch - $5.95

Milk chocolate candy bar - 2

(2) Truffles - 4.50

Bark and patties (by the pound) - 4.31

TOTAL = $16.76

Now for the most important part - the taste. We waited until we got home to try our treasures.  Why?  Because we are so restrained ... NOT!  It's because we were going to the Hilliards ice cream parlor in the next room, right after we left the candy section. So here goes: the almond toffee crunch is amazing. It's not the break-your-teeth kind of crunch you've had somewhere else. It's firm but breaks easily when bitten and it's so buttery. Make sure you get some at the next August sale, if you can wait that long. I can't. Hubby enjoyed the chocolate bar, said it was rich and creamy. The white bark was fantastic, smooth and velvety with that wonderful white chocolate taste. Now the cupcake truffles. Hmmm ... they were very, very sweet. Actually, it was too sweet for me and I couldn't finish it. Laura finished hers but she also found it way too sweet. Next time we'll try a different kind. There are plenty to choose from. To see the complete spectrum of deliciousness and prices, click onto the link above.

***

Hilliards Homemade Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt

Well, we picked out our candy and now we've walked over to the ice cream parlor. How cute can this get? It's like a little old-fashioned ice creamery of another era. Just look at the little round tables and chairs. It's small but they have an interesting list of flavors.

This award winning ice cream, which is made with the freshest ingredients including their own homemade candies, includes: Chewy Cashew Turtle Soup, Vanilla Chunky Chip, Cherry Cordial, Coffee Brownie Madness, Chocolate Grand Marnier Truffle and many more. They also have fat-free yogurts and sorbets and homemade waffle cones with sauces, toppings, mix-ins and more. You can see all their flavors on the above website.

Laura and I decided to get a small cup of ice cream, which turned out to be very generous. I chose the Chewy Cashew Turtle Soup which was chunks of their very own milk chocolate cashew caramel patties (otherwise known as turtles) in their Colombian coffee ice cream. It was a chewy, robust flavor and I loved it. Laura chose the Chocolate Grand Marnier Truffle which was chocolate ice cream flavored with Grand Marnier and to which was added pieces of Grand Marnier truffles. Laura said it was outstanding. Actually both choices were amazingly flavorful. I can't wait to try another kind. Our total was $8.45 (two small cups at $3.95 each plus tax).

(L) Chewy Cashew Turtle Soup; (R) Chocolate Grand Marnier Truffle

Get yourself to Hilliards in Easton or one of their other locations in Canton or Hanover. The Easton location is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.  The ice cream parlor is open seasonally in the Easton and Canton locations - the Friday after Easter - through the end of October.

Don't forget our friends at MenuJoy.com for great area restaurant menus.