YOUR WEEKLY DIGESTION OF FOOD NEWS TO CONSUME....HOLIDAY EDITION


Yikes! The holidays are a busy time, particularly when you work retail like I do. Thus my chance to sit down and do the food blog run slim and I don't get to post as often as I would normally like. Thus, right before Christmas rolls in, I'm rolling out this expanded food news edition along with a mini-review to tide things over until the madness subsides and I can get my act and schedule regular again. So, last time I went by Starbucks and got Xmas cookies so why not give Peet's equal opportunity for tempting me with some holiday fare. As I wandered into this particular Peet's I did see some Christmas cookies but they were the standard sugar cookie with colored crystal sprinkles on them, not iced frosting, and I just wasn't feeling them. Then what to my wandering eye should appear but this lovely gingerbread loaf with cream cheese icing and candied ginger pieces. With my taste buds alight I plopped down my $2.35 and asked for the piece that looked like the biggest. With greedy delight I grabbed my slice and settled in for a bite of my treat. 

It's a hefty, hearty piece that falls well within my value range for the money. One bite in and you taste the moistness of this filling bread. There is a lovely snap of ginger through out, though I could stand just a tad more to really kick it up. The cream cheese is tasty, not too sweet smear across the top and for me any addition of cream cheese frosting is most definitely a plus. Sadly, loafs are not like cake so the frosting is just across the top and adds a nice touch, but in my fantasy it is smeared like butter across a piece of toast. I think I'd have to make my own for that, oh well. I liked the addition of candied ginger on top even though weirdly I'm not the biggest fan of it. Yeah, I know, I like gingerbread and things with ginger in it but something about eating straight up ginger can be harsh and bitter even when candied. Still it wasn't over the top and just a few bits. For the most part this is a good piece of gingerbread loaf that will fill the void when you get that craving for a holiday treat. It also helps that there are a number of Peet's around the Bay Area, not as many as Starbucks, but still enough you could find one to pop into and pick up a slice. It's a soft, moist piece of spiced cake with enough cream cheese frosting to make it interesting. It is a holiday seasonal thing for them so if you are interested you'll need to get by before it is gone and then it will be back to citrus loaf and banana bread. All well and good, but they are no gingerbread! Happy Holidays all!

ANDA PIROSHKI.....RUSSIAN HOTPOCKETS IN THE HAIGHT'S SECOND ACT MARKETPLACE

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