The Chocolate Orchard

This is the last post about last week's trip to Creston.

One of the places I really wanted to go on this trip was the place known as "the place that sells all the chocolate-covered fruit." My dad didn't recall the name, but it became obvious as we drove down Creston's fruit stand strip: The Chocolate Orchard (again, no web site, unfortunately) - 2931 Highway 3, Ceston, BC.

Oh, what a place! Far more than a candy factory, The Chocolate Orchard is also a restaurant, deli, bakery, fruit stand, garden centre, and cherry orchard.

To begin, the chocolate covered fruit. There was quite the variety and it was not cheap: $3.98/100g. I realized I couldn't have everything I wanted to sample without it costing me a small fortune, so I had to make some tough choices. I took some chocolate-covered blueberries, apricots, blackberries, and tart cherries. Even though I tried to be reserved, I still wound up plunking down nearly $20 for my goodies - but man, were they worth it.

There was also a TON of salt-water taffy, but since I'm not fond of it, I didn't buy any. The Chocolate Factory also makes fudge and a variety of other chocolate and non-chocolate treats.

This place sells some of the most amazing-looking pies I've ever seen! It was really hard to not purchase one of the huge varieties on offer, but what would I do with a whole pie, single gal that I am?
Additionally, there were artisan breads...
...And a whole whack of jams, pickles, spreads, preserves, sauces, dips - you name it...
It's a pretty amazing place!

Lunch In Creston

I've had a busy couple of days!

Today, my dad and I went on a drive to Creston, BC, which is about an hour and a half or so from here. Creston is in a deep valley and is well-known for it's produce, similar to the Okanagan. Dad wanted strawberries and a sandwich from Creston Valley Bakery & Deli (no site, unfortunately). I wanted some Creston asparagus and to visit a place that sells chocolate-covered fruit (more in a later post).

Creston Valley Bakery & Deli makes a large selection of gourmet sandwiches and serves other light lunch items, including homemade soup and borscht. The bakery is excellent, too.

My dad had a reuben sandwich with extra hot mustard.I had the shrimp croissant. We got carrot sticks & dip with our sandwiches. The croissant was fairly average, but as a whole, the sandwich was pretty good.

I bought dessert, in addition to a selection of other items from the bakery (again, fodder for a future post). Dad had the Saskatoon Slice, which was like Black Forest Cake only made with Saskatoon berries instead of cherries. He really liked it.
I opted for the Mocha Missile, which was like a rectangular doughnut sliced in half and filled with mocha buttercream, topped with fondant, chocolate drizzle, and more mocha buttercream - YUMMY!

And just to give you a taste of some of the views we enjoyed on our drive over the Kootenay Pass to Creston, here are some shots of the lovely mountains we saw. The first two were taken at Kootenay Summit, which is 1774m/5826ft above sea level, and the last one was near the summit, on the western side of the pass coming up from Salmo.


Full Flickr set here.

Kamloops Trip, Food Edition: Part 1

OK. I ate a lot last weekend while on my mini break. I was on holiday and I was in PMS mode, so I have good excuses. Here is day one of the road trip, which consisted of driving from Rossland to Kamloops. Map here. Run down of day on the road here.

Our first official stop was in Greenwood at the Copper Eagle Cappuccino & Bakery (no web site, unfortunately). This place is absolutely fabulous. I'd been once before on a trip to Vancouver just over a year ago, and at that time I had one of the best cinnamon buns I'd ever eaten. I also bought a selection of wonderful squares that were truly remarkable. This trip I was out of luck in the cinnamon bun category, but I did snag a couple of great squares: Crispy Crunch and Confetti with Butterscotch and Peanut Butter. My dad had the Swiss Oatmeal Cake. The squares were amazing, as I was anticipating, and my dad really enjoyed his slice of cake. Copper Eagle also does light lunches and has a nice selection of homemade breads, and my dad got a loaf of whole wheat & cheddar.

Our second food-related stop was one of my favourite places ever and the baking mecca of the Okanagan: the Rogers flour mill. I can't tell you how much I love this place. Not only can you get large quantities of freshly milled flour and grains of all sorts, it is bulk bin heaven! You name it, they have it in bulk. And their spices are so fresh and fabulous. I got 10kg freshly ground bread flour for $7.99, some local honey, and some Hungarian paprika and Cajun seasoning. The staff at the mill store are very helpful and knowledgeable and the store is clean, organized, and very well-maintained. I can never just go in for a minute to pick up a bag of flour; I have to look around at everything and I always wind up buying stuff other than what I intended to. But it's OK.

Next foodie stop: the Village Cheese Co. in Armstrong. My dad wanted to have lunch here at the small cafe attached to the cheese factory. Armstrong is rather famous for its cheese, and the Village Cheese is good cheese, but pricey. I bought a 140g package of Monterey with Mediterranean flavours for $3.50. They have every flavour of cheddar cheese you can possibly imagine, and it's all made right on site. The cafe is also part kitchen shop and it's filled with all kinds of gadgets. In addition to light lunches and snacks, they also serve ice cream. I'd eaten here before when I used to live in the area, and it was OK. My dad, however, had a great experience at the cafe once, and he was hell bent on having lunch there, even though nothing on the small menu really turned my crank. So, what I wound up with was this:
This a ham & cheese "sandwich" and "clam chowder." The sandwich, was well, half of a hot dog bun with a slice of ham on it and some cheese. The chowder was watery, didn't contain many clams or potatoes, wasn't very creamy, and was basically very pathetic. I hate it when I shell out money for a meal and I come away hungry! My dad had an ice cream for dessert, but I was ticked off and not in the mood. I would have been much happier finding a Quizno's in Vernon and having a Toasty Torpedo. So, if you ever stop by Armstrong, yes, visit the cheese factory, get some gourmet cheese, have a snack and browse around, but I don't recommend the lunches.

After 8 hours on the road, Dad and I arrived in Kamloops at the lovely home of my dear friend S and her husband M. They have a tradition of having spaghetti & meatballs on Friday night, and that's exactly what we had. They loved the cookies, BTW. In fact, S's mother-in-law, when presented one for dessert, said, "Are these THE cookies?" They have managed to impress a few people, I guess, and that tickled me.

All this blogging is exhausting me! I have many more foodie things to share, but you'll have to wait until I catch my breath!