At one of the birthdays I attended this weekend I encountered Trader Joe’s Almondictive Bits, a TJ’s treat that I had strategically been avoiding. I mean, come on! They tell you right there on the tub that you are going to eat the whole thing at once and wallow in misery over your lack of self control and growing love handles! Or something like that. So alas, there they were, right in front of me.. and since they’re Almonds (healthy) and Dark Chocolate (healthy too!), I dove right into these tempting treats. One thing I applaud TJ’s for- they don’t have false advertising. These delicious, caramelized almond morsels covered in chocolate were indeed, addicting.
However, these Cookies & Cream Almonds that were also at the party were sweet, chalky rubbish.. even if they were made in California.
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Since the flavors were made with real fruit juices and no corn syrup, they didn’t leave an artificial aftertaste, which was great.
I also swooned over this dessert platter at the 
The 
Finally, I met my match the 
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The first such treat was this 
The buttercream was the most airy and lightly whipped filling I’ve ever experienced in a 
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While perfectly executed, I find English Toffee to be just a little too sweet. I think it works better as a dessert accessory (like in vanilla ice cream, or chocolate cake) than it does as a stand alone treat. We also got to try their 
While I have my criticism, I still highly recommend that you stop by this quaint little mom-and-pop shop in the heart of the Grove’s Farmer Market. The fudge looked absolutely divine (as did the Divinity) and their quality desserts are made with high end ingredients. Four Cherries for 
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ps: I bet their 
These were hearty macarons with a large cookie to filling ratio (thicker cookie than most macs). This larger size made for a chewy experience that gave my mouth a work out. Then I stumbled across these delightful cupcakes by 
Naturally I had to buy them for the cocktail party that I was attending that night. The cream cheese frosting was pleasantly mild and absolutely wonderful, but we did have a complaint about nuts in the banana cake. I agree- no nuts in cupcakes. If you want to throw nuts in there, call it a muffin.
Then I came across these Gluten Free 
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