July 14, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Saugatuck, Michigan

Tulips

Sarah and I recently visited Saugatuck, Michigan while in the area for my brother's wedding. Saugatuck is a very small, picturesque town on the shores of Lake Michigan which is known for its community of artists. It reminded us a lot of Key West.

Pumpernickels

For lunch we visited Pumpernickels. We started off by splitting a cinnamon roll, which, while not a typical appetizer option, looked too good to pass up. It was unbelievably good, with so much cinnamon flavor that it almost tasted spicy (but it was plenty sweet as well). It was probably the best cinnamon roll I've ever had.

For sandwiches Sarah ordered the tuna salad on pumpernickel and I had a turkey, bacon and Swiss on cracked wheat. The sandwiches were fairly generously portioned and very fresh, but a bit heavier on the bread than I generally like. Sarah loves bread, so she was fine with the ratio. Jonathan had a peanut butter and jelly. They were really generous with the fillings, and his was actually really yummy.

Pumpernickels

Pumpernickels

Pumpernickels

For dessert we headed over to Kilwin's. There are actually two locations on the same street, which is pretty weird for a town of around 1,000 people. We saw them making fudge, which of course involved loads of sugar. On the bags of sugar was written "15 calories per teaspoon" in huge letters. The fudge looked to be around 90% sugar, and I'm guessing very few people consider 1-2 teaspoons of fudge a single serving.

Kilwins

Jonathan ordered a milk chocolate marshmallow, which was very good. The marshmallows were clearly homemade and had a density and strong vanilla flavor that you'll never find in a "jet puffed" marshmallow. Sarah had a dark chocolate peanut butter cup, which she said was the best peanut butter cup she's ever had (and she's definitely a connoisseur). I had a chocolate covered pretzel rod, which I very much enjoyed. Their chocolate is very flavorful and just sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving without being cloying. I grew up in the town where the first Kilwin's opened (I think), but you can now find them all over the country.

We'd definitely recommend both Pumpernickels and Kilwin's if you're ever in the area. And it's definitely a good region to visit, considering the lakefront cottages and general sense of escaping from civilization.

by Ben at5:10 PM under bakery, kid approved, michigan, restaurant review, travel


June 30, 2008

Heights Eats

Heights Eats

Main Street Cupcakes

8 Great Cupcakes

Yesterday on the way home from Peninsula we took a detour through Hudson. As we were driving by I noticed Main Street Cupcakes. I had heard great things about it, so I asked Ben to park the car.

The shop is small but clean and sort of reminded me of what Martha Stewart's cupcake shop might look like if she had one. They offered a variety of cupcakes--there were at least 14 or 16 different flavors available. Initially we thought we would just get three for us to eat after lunch, but we couldn't resist. Everything looked amazing. We ended up buying one for a friend's birthday (Half Baked, it had a tiny chocolate chip cookie on top - it was too cute) 8 for a family cookout tonight (pictured above) along with the 3 we intended to have for desert after lunch that day.

The three we bought for J, Ben and myself did not make it past the parking lot. Ben is not a big fan of cupcakes due to either too much frosting, too much sugar or dried out cake. Ben however was in love with these little cakes, making sure to eat all of the crumbs from his mint chocolate chip cupcake. J ate the cake on his vanilla cupcake, which is a compliment from him because he almost always eats only the frosting (Ben also had compliments about J's cupcake, and Ben does not usually like vanilla cake). Lastly I had the luscious buckeye, which was in a word amazing. I love chocolate and peanut butter, and this met all of those needs and more. It had a whipped dark chocolate ganache frosting with peanut butter cream inside and a moist chocolate cake.

If you are ever near Hudson, we strongly recommend you make a stop at Main Street Cupcakes. You will not regret it!

by Sarah at10:39 AM under bakery, kid approved, main street cupcakes, restaurant review