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Remember when I met reader Carolyn (brilliant creator of the infamous Vajayjay Cake) last year while in Michigan? Well, we decided it needed to happen again this year, and so on Tuesday, Summer and I headed south on I-75 and met up with Carolyn for lunch and a girly day of shopping at the Birch Run Outlets.
We had a great day together, and it was so good to see Carolyn again as I consider her one of my closest friends. Love ya Bid, and not just because you bring me my favorite foods from civilization…although that does score you major points.
The goods from Carolyn…she knows me quite well. 
So much for living on peanut butter alone. Our nut & seed butters are now fully stocked, and so was the dark chocolate…for about 5 minutes. Originally, there were two Peppalo Stone Ground Chocolate Bars. I ate one on the way home, and CD and I quickly finished off the second bar not long after I arrived back in Fife Lake. Peppalo Stone Ground Chocolate is an artisan, small batch chocolate company located in Tecumseh, MI, and they make their chocolate from single-source, raw cacao beans. The bars were delicious! You know how some chocolate bars taste kind of waxy? Not the Peppalo bar. It tasted super dark (you could really taste the raw cacao bean flavor) and kind of gritty – gritty in a good way if that makes sense. Anyway, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my new items. Thanks again Carolyn!
Do you know what’s even better than toasted Great Harvest bread topped with tahini and melted dark chocolate?
A horribly sliced piece of Great Harvest bread, toasted and smeared with butter. Really, is there anything better than toast with butter? I think not.
What’s your favorite toast topping…and why are outlet malls always in the middle of nowhere?
{ 79 comments… read them below or add one }
Slathered with nut butter is my favorite way to eat toast! Although, for a savory flavor, toast and hummus or pesto is also very good!
Butter it is for me.
Every time I take out the PB or something else to smear on my toast, I put it back and bring on the butter.
Summer is just beautiful!
Yum yum! Bread with butter is delish!
Nut butter and dark chocolate chocolate chips (melting optional), or with smashed avocado and salsa. Depends if I want sweet or savory
Peanut butter, regular butter, or jam are my favorite toast toppings! Especially jam and butter together. Drooool. As for outlet malls…I guess there’s nowhere else to fit them! Which is why I rarely make my way to an outlet mall.
My favorite toast topper is butter and cinnamon-sugar.
What a sweet friend to fill your cupboards with nut butter! I’m jealous.
Jealous of your MI trip!
That chocolate sounds outstanding. I can tell that GF bread from GH is the same I get here. Such a treat!
Ashley,
Yes, I remember you packing the GH bread for your trip to Telluride. It’s good, but honestly, I like Rudi’s better. Better price too. That GH bread is so expensive!
I’ve only tried Rudi’s cinnamon raisin and thought there was a definite funkiness to it. A weird lingering flavor. Have you seen Udi’s?? Nutritionally, it blows all other GF breads away. They have a millet/chia bread that is my favorite. Their whole grain hamburger buns + multigrain bagels are fab too. Great flavor!
Definitely only bought the GH bread once! $$ The only thing I didn’t like was that it had a little too much yeasty flavor.
Ashley,
I’ve seen the Udi’s but never tried it. Will be on the lookout for the millet/chia combo. Sounds right up my alley.
Oh, the Birch Run Outlets! Those are the only saving grace to trips up to Saginaw. I know that I still owe you some travel tips for northern Michigan — forthcoming, I promise! (Things have been a little crazy and hectic in Kathmandu, lately).
P.S. My favorite toppers for toast are nut butter and “banana jam” (mashed banana with a generous dousing of cinnamon and a sprinkle of salt).
Claudine,
No worries. Any tips are appreciated, but whenever you have time. For now, I’ll just have try your banana jam tip. Michigan stuff can wait!
I am a lover of bread + butter — toasted or not, that is such good stuff!
When I was younger my sister caught me buttering a piece of bread and singing “buh-ttered bre-head!” to the tune of who knows what. Now my sisters sing that whenever we’re all together for a meal and bread is involved.
Holly,
You and your family sound really close – I always get that vibe from your comments/posts, and it makes me smile.
What a lovely friend you have! She gave you a lot of fantastic loot.
That bread looks so yummy. I’m partial to butter on bread… I can’t think of many things that are so simple yet tasty, and that I can eat and eat and eat, lol.
Good Lord I need to get me some of that bread. Great harvest done good!
p.s.
Carloyn, are you going to make another vijayjay cake for summer? I just like saying it.
I’m scared to even have those Strawberry Whoppers in the house for a short period of time.. It’s like crack! The cake will only have one pink Whopper and my mouth will be covered in them..
But, Heather.. you get pregnant and Vajayjay cake it is.. I promise.. In honor of yours.. not the sex of the new baby.. I might have to make a “god knows what” cake if it turns out to be a boy… Any boy cake name suggestions out there.. ?
Favorite toast topping? Butter, butter and more butter. We might just get along
keri gold butter!
Lindsay,
Totally. Really missing our Buttermyd! Hope you’re having a good birthday.
Ann Claire,
No doubt about it.
I love butter and honey on my toast! Nutella and Peanut Butter are a close second. Well, Nutella is amazing…so, I’ll say it’s a tie. Birch Run…boy, I haven’t been there since I was a kid. Tecumseh is about 30 miles west of my hometowe of Monroe. You know, I’ve never heard of Fife Lake and I’m from Michigan. Crazy! Sounds like your enjoying!
Francesca,
Yeah, I don’t think a lot of people have heard of Fife Lake – it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere with a small beach and a ice-cream stand…but really, what more do you need in life…except for maybe Nutella.
What a sweet package of goodies! I love almond butter + mashed banana on toast…. With a sprinkle of cinnamon too
How cool — I thought all GH wouldn’t sell GF bread, so that is awesome news. My fingers are crossed that our local GH will follow suit soon
Hope you are enjoying your trip, HEAB family!
Thanks Katie, we are having a great time. The GF bread came from the Ann Arbor, MI Great Harvest. The GH in Nashville doesn’t sell it, but they don’t sell much of anything. Perhaps if you local one doesn’t sell it, you could put in a request OR just buy Rudi’s. Personally, I think Rudi’s tastes better, and it’s cheaper.
You look like the happiest Mom on that picture where you are holding Summer!
And I totally agree, best toast topper is definitely butter!!
(there is a delicious local butter here in Brazil that I adore and I am totally indulging in it during my stay, butter is good!!)
Ana
Ana,
Glad you’re enjoying your time in Brazil, and I bet you look just as happy in your pics of you and Matheus. In fact, you do as I’ve seen some.
Hooray for Great Harvest bread–it is good even on it’s own.
Toast and butter is always a classic. I like to add either strawberry jelly or cinnamon to that. Toast with peanut butter and bacon is also delicious (and in my case, a family tradition).
Lisa,
I LOVE PB & bacon. Coconut butter & bacon on toast is really good too. Really, any nut butter + bacon is a winner in my book.
Oo I will have to try that!
THE BABY!!!! OMG the SPie…So proud on her.. Miss her.. sniff sniff
That outlet mall is not in the middle of nowhere.. You just need to move here and realize that is the main pathway between the Trolls (under the bridge) and the UP-ers (over the bridge)! I-75 is Michiganders lifeline north to south…..
BUT…the econmy is bad here now which might have made a difference in there only being 6 people actually at the outlet mall…including us.. for 145 stores..
Back in the day it was hoppin…
So glad you are enjoying your goodies… It was fun to bring the store to you…
Just toast.. good toast.. toasted with nothing on it… crunchy.. favorite.. which reminds me.. i need more burnt crunchy cheeze…
Bid,
Come back to me!!!!! Really, these few hour long visits are just never enough, even if they do always involve crunchy cheese. We miss you.
My favorite toast topping is almond butter AND sliced almonds. It gives it an extra crunch. YUMM. Oh and a sprinkle of cinnamon never hurt anyone
Outlet location is a total conspiracy!
They make you drive so far for the $9.99 discount sundress… and then because you drove so far you have to buy more than that… the sunglasses, shiny belt, cut off shorts, last seasons coat and earring at the checkout counter get thrown in!
Or is that just me!??
Kristen,
Nope, me too.
That bread looks crazy good! We don’t have a Great Harvest nearby, but I’ve got it on my list of things to do when I make a trip home next month. I usually am plenty happy with just butter on my toast, but when I’m feeling like a little pizazz, nothing beats butter topped with apple butter!! My mouth is watering right now…
Nicole,
Oh gosh, I love apple butter on toast. Craved it like crazy when I was pregnant. Toasted bagels with apple butter was one of the few things I could stomach those first few months. So good!
Just broke my rule, I am here at breakfast time…again … but today it is all ok!
Avocado, hummus, and lemon juice. So off I trot to the kitchen to locate the goodness :0)
Looks like fun! And I desperately want to try that GH bread! I’ve seen it on so many blogs ever since Kath opened the shop!
Mary,
It’s okay. Honestly, I think Rudi’s gluten free bread tastes better, and the Great Harvest stuff is way outta my price range. Definitely a treat and not a regular purchase.
It has to be almond butter!
Or raspberry jam, yummy.
I always wondered that myself…why are outlet malls in the middle of nowhere?
And I must disagree. I think dark chocolate and tahini is far better than butter
I don’t know Alex. Originally, I was going to say there is nothing butter than buttered toast except for maybe tahini/chocolate toast, but after eating them side-by-side, I had to switch them around. Buttered toast – you just can’t beat it!
heather, you are in michigan again
. i love ann arbor farmer’s market. do visit it if u get a chance. whoohoo for nut/seed butters. i’ve recently tried artisana’s raw cashew butter, which was good, but going back to almond butter next week 
and i love great harvest bread! i had no idea they had a gluten free, corn free bread!! ahhhh i would love to try this bread….how did it taste? was the texture ok? and summer is growing up so quickly!
Ive never heard of the Peppalo Stone Ground Chocolate Bars but based on your review, they sound wonderful. Waxy chocolate is the worst and I know exactly the taste. Blech! These sound sooo good with the real cacao bean flavor.
Happy that you had time to meetup with Carolyn and you could catch up! It’s awesome when close friends are made possible (originally) by way of the blogosphere…that is just great that you two ladies have developed such a close friendship.
One day I KNOW you and I will meet. One day, some how, some way!
Love the 1st pic collage. Nice job, I am assuming it’s a PS Elements little project
Averie,
Yep, PS Elements. Are you using Photoshop or still sticking with Lightroom?
So far I’m sticking with Lightroom. I have become pretty proficient at it and if I decided to use PS it would be full PS not the PS Elements
But after talking to many photographers (and people who use both) everyone has said, LR is so much easier than full PS.
And in many senses LR and PS E are similar. And full PS is very….cumbersome so why even bother at this point…but one day I would like to know PS. It’s one of those things that could come in handy!
Sorry that was so long winded!
On really good bread, if I need anything, I like to put honey, Nutella, pumpkin butter, or cinnamon honey butter!
YES! You got tahini! I was worried for you there!
The only thing better than toast with butter is toast with butter, cinnamon and sugar.
Katie,
Yes, tahini and I have been reunited, and the brand Carolyn brought me is delicious. All is right with the world.
Hi Heather, lovely photos. Summer is adorable as ever. I love warm bread with butter, a bit of sharp cheddar cheese and some pepper jelly or apple butter on top. Sweet and salty…mmm. Oh dear, this has made me very hungry! Have a great day!!
Thanks Roz. I’m hungry after reading through the comments…now I want pepper jelly and apple butter.
My favorite topping right now is sunflower seed butter and berries or banana.
Sidenote: Your little girl is adorable!
I could live on seedy toast and peanut butter (crunchy, natural). Outlet malls do this because the rent and land prices are much cheaper in the middle on nowhere……and I totally made that up. I have no idea
Michelle,
Makes total sense.
Bread and butter could be my bread and water.
I bet that didn’t even make sense, but hopefully the point gets across
Haha, yes I got it.
Actually, I don’t think I can think of anything better than bread and butter. Well, maybe a glass of wine to go with it and ice cream for dessert:)
Homemade bread, definitely toasted with just delicious butter smeared on.
Favorite overall might just be Nutella and sliced bananas.
I haven’t bought Nutella since I moved in to my apartment, though, because I have a strong feeling I’d eat the jar in 1 or 2 sittings.
Oh, and that photo of Summer smiling at Carolyn? Priceless.
I work 100 yards from a Great Harvest and I had no idea that they had gluten-free bread! Mine ony advertises spelt bread, but not gluten-free. I’m so glad that you had a fun meet-up. Your new stash looks delish! Hope that you’re having a great day
Kilee,
I don’t think all Great Harvest sell the gluten free bread, but you could always put in a request for your local one to start baking it.
That is so completely and utterly the kind of chocolate I need to move to America for. So many new artisan chocolatiers since I was last there!
Mmmmm buttered toast. Nope, really nothing better. I want some now! And outlet malls ARE always in the middle of nowhere. You have to spend so much money on gas to get there that sometimes the sale prices aren’t even worth it!
I totally remember Carolyn. In fact I think she’s the gal who has the amazing cat that stands on his hind legs! Sparty I think his name is. She entered my photo contest. Nice that you got to meet up again and so sweet of her to bring you more goodies this year.
Deb,
Yes, Carolyn is Sparty’s Mom, and she loves your blog and wants you to post more.
word…
I wish I could have a meet- up with you– my wish!
What a nice friend indeed! Favorite bread toppers would be PB or hummus 
Nut butter, dark chocolate and GF bread? WOW, she does know you quite well
I tried tahini and chocolate atop my oatbran this morning– thanks to you! Delicious
Emilia,
So glad you tried the tahini/chocolate combo…we shall eat it together at our meet up someday. It will happen.
my favorite toast topping is earth balance + muenster cheese + a fried egg. or a pita with laughing cow and jam. and yeah, i don’t know about the outlet mall thing, but it’s sure true in my experience too. maybe it costs less to have a store taking up a lot of space in the middle of nowhere.
S,
That makes sense, and I love the jam/cheese pita. Such a perfect savory/sweet combo.
Nope… There is NOTHING better than gluten free toast slathered in butter. Seriously I think I could eat it for every meal and be perfectly happy! lol…
That is a good question! Probably that is, so that the regular shops in town still have customers and make money
My fav would be pb/j. But I also love tahin w/ lemon juice or avocado w/ lemon juice. Or tapenade
Toast covered in any chocolate nut butter and strawberries!!! Oh and it’s because outlet malls are huge and the land is cheap in the middle of nowhere.
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/06/03/outlet-malls-location-as-marketing-strategy/
i don’t care.. that burnt cheeze was totally worth it..
My favorite topping will always been peanut butter.
I LOVE toast topped with avocado and jam but my heart will always stay true to a slice with a big ol’ schmear of melty peanut butter! I love how when you take a big bite, it gets all stuck to the roof of your mouth! Haha!
My thinking about outlet malls…they MAKE the city. So, if you have a po-dunk town that needs some touristy love, just build a mega shopping complex…and obviously in America, there must be a Walmart (shudder)! Lol
Thank you (and to Carolyn!) for highlighting these Michigan products. As a fairly new reader, I wasn’t around for your vacation last year and had no idea Naturally Nutty was made in Traverse City! Nor had I heard of Peppalo Stone. I grew up west of Tecumseh (and my parents still live) in between Jackson and Hillsdale, sort of near the Speedway in Brooklyn. I can’t wait to ask them to buy me some chocolate
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