Sweet Things

Sweet Things

On our recent trip to Savannah, we ate at Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House. Uncle Bubba is the brother of the well-known Paula Dean of The Lady and Sons Restaurant. She even has her own show on the Food Network. I wanted to eat at her restaurant, but Doug didn’t want to wait in line and pay good money for “just plain country cooking.” So we compromised and went to Uncle Bubba’s. I highly recommend it. The corn muffins with honey butter were a great appetizer. We ordered the seafood platter. Everything was perfectly battered and fried to a nice golden brown. The slaw and tartar sauce were great, too. For dessert, I ordered the key lime pie, which competes with coconut cream for my favorite kind of pie. Well, this was the best key lime pie I ever put in my mouth! It was creamy with just the right degree of tartness, and it was cooked in a graham cracker crust with almonds. I enjoyed every last bite as I slowly savored each one. Then I got to thinking about other sweet things I love. (Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth that just won’t quit and is the downfall of every diet I attempt.) So here is a rundown of my favorite desserts and treats.

While in Savannah, I had to have a praline, well, actually two pralines. They make chocolate ones now, and I couldn’t decide between that and the original.

A local restaurant called the Barbeque Shack has the best banana pudding, second only to my mother-in-law’s. She is one of the best cooks I’ve ever met, and I also love her German Chocolate cake, lemon meringue pie, peach cobbler, and sweet potato pie. Oh, and her pecan pie is yummy, too. I love banana pudding hot or cold, as long as it is the real, homemade-from-scratch kind.

Rafferty’s has an apple crisp dessert that is wonderful on a cold winter’s day. The Cheesecake Factory makes a chocolate mousse cheesecake that is sold at our local Barnes and Noble, and it is to die for. Probably my favorite restaurant dessert is tiramisu, which I love at either Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, or Carraba’s.

I love strawberries, and the best strawberry shortcake I ever had was at a Calhoun’s Restaurant, which specializes in barbeque ribs. (They were great, too!) The homemade shortcake was covered with lots of strawberries and whipped cream and was enough for four people to share.

Anyone living in this area knows about Cecilia’s cakes. While many of them are too rich for my taste, I absolutely love her Bailey’s Irish Cream chocolate cake.

My sister makes a chocolate dream pie that all of us like. My other sister makes her mother-in-law’s cheesecake which we eat with strawberries. My mom bakes a sour cream coffee cake that we often eat for breakfast during the holidays. My own specialty is a strawberry-banana pudding trifle that is a wonderful spring or summertime dessert.
The traditional birthday cake for my sisters and I is an icebox cake. The recipe was my grandmother’s. It consists of an angel food cake sliced into layers separated by a fluffy chocolate filling. Then the whole thing is covered in whipped cream. After it sits in the fridge for a couple of days, it is out-of-this-world good.

I happen to believe I have the best recipe for carrot cake, and I don’t give it out. It is a favorite at Thanksgiving. At Christmas, I have made delicious rum balls, coconut-orange balls, and homemade chocolate-covered cherries that are filled with a sweet ground pecan paste surrounding the cherry.

Almost nothing beats homemade chocolate chip cookies warm out of the oven with a glass of cold milk. Molten chocolate cake topped with ice cream is also great.

Speaking of ice cream, Eddy’s light slow-churned ice cream is so rich and creamy, it’s hard to believe it is low in calories and fat. Starbucks makes a mocha ice cream that is definitely NOT low in calories, but it is a real treat. On hot summer days, it sure is good to make our own ice cream with fresh Georgia peaches. Plain ole vanilla ice cream is delicious topped with hot fudge sauce.

I love the Dairy Queen. My favorite treat there is the Mocha Moolatte. Also good is the old standard dipped ice cream cone. The blizzards are delicious; I love the Georgia Mud Fudge and the banana pudding ones the best.

Arby’s has their Jamocha shake, which I just love, and Mel’s Diner makes a wonderful strawberry-banana shake. Even Chik-Fil-A has started selling really good milkshakes.

Anything chocolate is good. I love those chocolate oranges you see in the stores at Christmas. The rest of the year, we buy Dove’s Promises, individually wrapped pieces of dark chocolate, my favorite kind.

I’m not that big on candy, but I do love Peanut M&M’s. They’re great at the movie theatre or on the road.

Of course, none of these things do much for my waistline. In my next post, I’ll write about the lower calorie sweets I enjoy when trying to lose weight.