Tuesday, January 4, 2011

An Insatiable Sweet Tooth

As my evening was winding down and the Orange Bowl was almost over, I found myself in a very familiar place. I was again standing in front of the fridge trying to decide what to have for dessert. For the average person this would probably be easy. Some ice cream, some cake, a candy bar, or pie would all have worked. But I had none. Walk to the pantry. There are some salted caramels (mmmm) and some candy cane Jo Jo's (double mmmmm) but both contain the life ending (not really) gluten that I can not have. Something my head screamed. Something more than melted chocolate chips and peanut butter again (yes...I have done this more times than I care to recall-recipe to follow).

But the I remembered the cookies that I have in the freezer. Hallelujah!!!! There were three cookies left from what I purchased earlier last week which I had been saving for such an occasion as this.
For Christmas this year my husband gave me a gift certificate for a new local bakery (he knows me so well) that makes both vegan and gluten free organic pieces of heaven ( pronounced dessert). With my gift certificate I got two pumpkin donuts, three tarts, and 4 cookies. Since I have tried one of everything that I got, I can say that they were all wonderful. And the maker of these wonderful treats was Cravin' Raven Organic Bakery on 13th St in Sellwood. (http://www.cravinraven.com/) Everything was wonderful. So yummy. Since going gluten free almost a year ago, it has been difficult to find good desserts and pastries that do not take up 1/10th of my grocery budget. Cravin' Raven was reasonably priced and everything was so good. They also had a barista who whipped up the best chai latte with hemp milk that I have ever had. Although I ordered a large (two be split between two people, I drank 3/4 of it before thinking about passing it to my husband to share.

As I am writing this post I only have two cookies and one donut left. I am going to try to make it last until next week. But wow...who can resist that feeling every night...

Cravin' Raven may be my new favorite place.
Sorry Crossroads Cafe- No one expects you to compete with those cookies.

A Sad Dessert
1/8 C. chocolate chips
1 Tbs. peanut butter
Melt in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Eat with spoon. Lick bowl.