Sander's Cream Puff Sundae

My very dear friend Fran joined me on a girls' day out recently. (You might remember that I featured an interview with Fran last year, in which she offered an amazing recipe for Chocolate Pecan Pie.)

The primary goal of our adventure was to go to the Sander's store at a mall about half-an-hour away from Ann Arbor. It's the closest we were going to get to reliving one of Fran's best childhood memories:

"Another favorite treat was going downtown and having lunch at Sanders. It always consisted of their amazing tuna sandwiches (who knew they could be good?) and Sanders had a yellow cake with buttercream frosting that also had crushed nuts on the outside. It was heavenly .... (My) favorite treat as a kid was the Sanders hot fudge cream puff ...."

If you grew up in Detroit, as Fran did, or if you had relatives in Detroit who would bring presents when they visited, as I did, then you know about Sander's. It was a very special luncheonette and candy store, noted for an assortment of sweets and - in particular, for me - the hot fudge sauce that my grandmother would bring as a gift when she came to see us in New York.

So, why order a salad or a sandwich or something nutritious while enjoying our day out???  Fran and I ordered cream puff sundaes for lunch! Anything else would have just been excess calories. The sundaes had been a significant raison d'être for our trip, after all.

When given a choice of ice creams, there was no reason to go with plain ol' vanilla or even one of my favorites, mint chocolate chip. Because the quintessential core of a Sander's cream puff sundae would, of course, be a variety of ice cream featuring another Sander's classic: the Bumpy Cake, a devil's food cake with rows of buttercream frosting on top that are then covered in chocolate. Sigh with me ....

The sundaes were enormous, and I couldn't even finish mine. While you might think this was excessively and cloyingly sweet, it actually was perfectly balanced - the cream puff seems to offer sufficient substance and breadiness to counter the sugar high of cake-infused ice cream with an abundance of hot fudge sauce. This was a pure, decadent indulgence!

So, although the beautiful new dress that I bought for Rosh Hashanah was a definite perk (a $100 dress on sale for $25!), the cream puffs - and spending time with my beloved Fran, of course! - were absolutely the highlights of the day ... :)

Frugal Floozie Friday - Roger Monk's Yappy Hour

Roger Monk's is today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature for many reasons.  It's got great food, and it offers a wide variety of appetizers, drinks and desserts for $5 or less - our mandatory per-person budget - during its weekday Happy Hour.

But not only does this casual, comfortable, but still sophisticated restaurant welcome humans, on Thursdays it also welcomes dogs at its fabulous Yappy Hour.  Yes, well-behaved humans and their adorable leashed owners can gather on the back deck for food and fun - a chance to chat with fellow animal lovers and furry friends.

So, of course, I had to bring my grandpuppy, Poochie, one gorgeous sunny afternoon.  He's a very sociable beast - a veritable party animal!

Jeremy, Stuart (Jeremy's dad, my ex-husband), Poochie, and I recently took advantage of a perfect summery day to enjoy some fabulous food.  We started with appetizers, each of which costs $5: a very generous portion of chips with a slightly spicy salsa, crisp-coated and tender chicken satay with a creamy peanut sauce, and enormous mussels braised in a lemon-wine sauce.  These were delicious, as well as being perfect for sharing.   The two other options we could have chosen were hummus served with toasted pita bread and a duck liver mousse served with crackers.

We drank water - as did Poochie, who was given his own personal bowl of water even before the humans were taken care of; and it was served refreshingly with orange rather than the ubiquitous lemon.  But if you're in the mood for something a bit stronger, 20-ounce pints of draught beer cost $4; glasses of wine and drinks such as Martinis, a Daiquiri, or a Cosmopolitan cost $5.

And then there was the temptation of dessert.  Desserts, too, cost an even $5 - perfect for our budget.  As good as the appetizers were - and they were very good - these were absolutely the stars of the show.


Jeremy order the utterly decadent chocolate mousse pictured at the top of the post.  It was as thick as ice cream, rather than pudding-like as some can be.  It was intensely chocolatey and simply addictive.  You'd be tempted to keep eating if the portion were larger, but the full coffee cup of this treat was a perfect and generous serving.

As soon as I heard a few of my very favorite words - "bread pudding," "cherries," and "caramel" - all in the same sentence, as our server recited the dessert options, I knew that this would be mine.  Bread pudding featuring tart cherries and a bourbon caramel sauce ... oh, be still my heart!  This was rich, sweet, had a bit of a kick, and was just perfection.  I loved the dessert, but would happily have just taken a spoon to a jar of the sauce and eaten it "as is" even without the tender, fabulous pudding base.

Stuart was in the mood for a hot fudge sundae, which isn't on the menu; but our very kind and helpful server, Dennis, offered to bring a serving of vanilla ice cream (which is a standard offering) topped with the bourbon caramel sauce.  Although one of my personal pet peeves is customers who make special orders - hard-working restaurant staff are not personal chefs - I was very pleased to know that great service and keeping customers happy was high on the agenda at Roger Monk's.

There are many public places that dogs aren't welcome, so it's wonderful that on Thursdays you can linger over great food and cool drinks at Roger Monk's while your dog gets to play with new friends.  Poochie was fussed over by the staff and by other customers enjoying the fabulous weather, and he just loves being the center of attention!

We had a grand time at Roger Monk's, and highly recommend its Happy and Yappy Hours for fabulous treats at reasonable prices.  What a great opportunity to unwind at the end of the day!

Roger Monk's
5400 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-662-1647
Tuesday - Saturday: 3 - 10 p.m.
Sunday: 3 - 9 p.m.
Closed Monday
Happy Hour: Tuesday - Friday 3 - 6 p.m.
Yappy Hour: Thursday 4 - 7 p.m.



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Cinnamon Roll Sundae

I recently ate at The Avenue, a family restaurant in Royal Oak (a Detroit suburb), which serves good old-fashioned comfort foods: enormous omelettes and other breakfast staples (with such generous portions that there are often 1 or 2 side dishes to provide all the food!), burgers, sandwiches, pasta dishes. There's a tremendous variety, and everything I've eaten there has been very satisfying.

Although I wasn't hungry by the time I'd finished my meal, I still had to peruse the dessert menu and sigh a bit over it. Pies and ice cream desserts were happily offered; but then I saw something a bit different. It was a sundae, but it wasn't just a standard issue one. There was a base, and then it was topped with the requisite sundae makings.

And what, precisely, formed the base of this intriguing dessert?

A cinnamon roll, slightly warmed so that it would transport anyone nearby with its enticing aroma.

Well, I immediately stated to my dining companions that I would have to replicate this thing of beauty that I didn't even order and was still seduced by. And so, the next day, I did!

I took a purchased cinnamon roll, as I wasn't quite motivated enough for my fix to actually wait for yeast dough to rise for a homemade version. A scoop of French vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce ... and each of these simple ingredients worked in perfect harmony with the others.

This is one of those recipes that is fun and festive, but which also can be thrown together incredibly quickly if you're ever in a bind. Everyone will be so impressed by how fabulous it is that they won't care in the slightest that it only requires 3 ingredients and a brief minute of your time to put it together!

Cinnamon Roll Sundae

1 4" cinnamon roll, slightly warmed in the microwave
1 scoop French vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
whipped cream, if desired

Place the cinnamon roll on a dessert plate, and top with the ice cream. Drizzle with caramel, and top with whipped cream if desired.

Voila!

Serves 1, but can easily be multiplied.

Frugal Floozie Friday -- Frita Batidos

Tom and I had a lovely date night recently, featuring a treat that he declared to be "the best dessert (he's) had in a very long time."

And where did we find this fabulousness to spotlight in today's
Frugal Floozie Friday feature?

At Frita Batidos, a cheerful and casual Cuban-influenced eatery run by famed chef Eve Aronoff whose late, great restaurant eve was the site of one of my very favorite and most memorable meals.

The small but intensely bright white restaurant was nearly empty when we first arrived, though we watched more than a dozen people stream in and fill the space only a few minutes later. We perused the menu, always a complicated matter with so many enticing dishes from sandwiches to salads to sweets.

But we'd already eaten our dinner and had come prepared for dessert. A batido, perhaps, which is a fruit-based milkshake? Rum-soaked pineapple? The highly recommended cinnamon-sugar plantains that Tom had eaten on a previous visit to Frita's?

Nope. All were excellent possibilities, but there was a clear winner among the choices: a churro sundae - fried pastry strips paired with rich ice cream for dunking.

Now, these were not just some plain ol' doughnuts - ha! The churros were still warm from the fryer, fragrant with a generous coating of cinnamon sugar and infused with the scent of orange. They were crisp upon first biting in, followed by a spongy interior cooked to airy perfection. The ice cream was a lovely complement, rich and creamy and perfect to dip the churros in, but the pastries were clearly the star of this show.

At $7, this amazingly luscious dessert clearly falls within the mandatory $5 per person Frugal Floozie Friday budget because the portion is so generous that it would be impossible to finish it without a loved one to share it with. You could really economize and share it among a group of four, but I don't recommend this strategy; then you'd only get one churro per person, and they're too fabulous to settle for such a measly portion!

Frita Batidos
117 W. Washington
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-761-2882


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Schrafft's Hot Fudge Sauce

Every once in awhile, I would have half-days at school. Sometimes I'd just come home on the bus, eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and watch "As the World Turns" or "The Galloping Gourmet" with my mother.

But on other occasions, she would pick me up and we would spend part of the afternoon together. My mother's health was quite fragile and she often wasn't well, so the half-days when she would meet me at school were special. She would sometimes take me out to lunch at Schrafft's.

Schrafft's, according to NYCnosh.com, was an institution:

"... at its peak, there were more than fifty Schrafft’s in New York City, offering three full-service meals a day, drinks, and desserts in well-appointed and obsessively clean dining rooms. Schrafft’s occupied a territory somewhere between a diner and moderately-priced American restaurant ...."

Another site, remembering New York City in 1946, states that:

"The image Schrafft's sought to project was of a genteel place that served 'plain, clean, wholesome American cooking,' in the words of Frank Shattuck who had started the company's restaurant business .... Many Schrafft's had dark wood paneling and Colonial furniture. There were bud vases on the tables."

Because the company had originated as a candy manufacturer before branching out into restaurants, Schrafft's is most famous for its desserts ... and one sweet treat in particular: hot fudge sundaes.

The recipe for the rich, dark chocolate sauce is easily found online and in cookbooks - no one ever said it was a secret recipe!

Someone who shall remain nameless (for the sake of protection) has told me that this hot fudge sauce is even better than Sanders' ... gasp! This from someone born in Detroit and raised in Southeast Michigan!

My grandmother would come to visit us in New York and bring jars of Sanders' milk chocolate hot fudge, which I adore. But I've gotta say, the Schrafft's recipe is pretty lusciously indulgent, too.

You might just want to try this and see how they compare ....

Schrafft's Hot Fudge Sauce
(slightly modified from the original version)

3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup corn syrup
2 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon vinegar

Place all ingredients into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally; boil for 7 minutes, stirring once or twice, then let rest 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 1-1/4 cups of sauce.

National Pecan Sandies Day

Yet another food holiday -- I love it! Each day there is a reason to celebrate food, though some festivities -- like National Strawberry Shortcake Day -- are more fun than others (February 29: National Frog Legs Day).

Today is National Pecan Sandies Day: a tribute to those fabulous shortbread cookies which are rich with both butter and toasted nuts. Perfect with iced tea or milk or coffee, they really require no embellishment. And yet ....

It seemed a shame to just leave the cookies sitting on a plate, looking forlorn. Why not dress them up a bit for their big day? I debated whether to crush some to form the crust of a pie or cheesecake, but it seemed that this would hide them rather than letting them shine in the spotlight.

And so, I compromised: I crushed a few cookies to disperse them throughout a sundae, letting their crunch and flavor complement the simple beauty of a good quality vanilla ice cream, and letting their natural affinity for chocolate play a role, as well.

But then, for use as both garnish and dipper, I left a sandie intact for each serving. It is National Pecan Sandie Day, after all, not Cookie Crumb Celebration Day ....

Pecan Sandie Sundae

4 cups vanilla ice cream
1-1/3 cups Sanders milk chocolate hot fudge, slightly warmed
12 pecan sandies

Place half-cup ice cream into each of 4 serving dishes, then drizzle with a few tablespoons of hot fudge.

Reserve 4 cookies for garnish, then crush the remaining cookies. Divide half of the crumbs among the ice cream servings.

Divide the remaining ice cream among the serving dishes, then sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over it. Pour the remainder of the hot fudge sauce over the tops of the desserts, and garnish each with a whole cookie.

Serves 4.

Frugal Floozie Friday -- B-24's Espresso Bar

This is only the third installment of Frugal Floozie Friday, and already I think it's probably going to be the deal to beat!

This week's venture took Jeremy and me to B-24's Espresso Bar, which is also a soup/sandwich shop and ice cream parlor, not to mention just being a comfortable place to hang out and chitchat or read or "coffice" (coffee + office).

B-24's serves hot fudge sundaes made with Sanders hot fudge. If you've spent any time in Michigan, you know that this Detroit-made product is so supreme, so rich, so luscious, that you will never want to eat any other brand. I'm serious -- give me a jar of the Milk Chocolate variety (which has a hint of a caramel flavor to it), a spoon, and some privacy ... doesn't take much more to make me happy in this life!

My maternal grandmother would come to visit us in NYC when I was growing up, and always brought some of this with her. Truly, I cannot tell you how much I adore it, both on its own merits and because of the memories. So already, I had to love a place that served this beloved Michigan product.

That they serve the hot fudge over two scoops of ice cream only makes it better.

That they top it off with a slew of whipped cream and a cherry only enhances it.

But that B-24's serves this enormous quantity of coma-inducing lusciousness for only $3.99 -- $3.99!!! -- makes it perfection ... :)

This is a feast that one could, theoretically, eat by oneself ... Jeremy did it, after all. (20-year-old males excel at such tasks!) But it's really perfect to share with someone you love -- a cheap date, but of the most romantic kind.

So, not only did we stay within the $5/person budget that Frugal Floozie Friday requires; but this is something you can actually feed TWO people with for that $5 bill! Really, does it get any better than that???

Actually, it can: go on Friday nights from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m., and enjoy performances by local talents at Open Mic Night. (I'm trying to persuade Jeremy to bring his guitar down there and perform, with or without one of his buddies.)

Coffee is provided by area roasters: Mighty Good and Roos Roast from Ann Arbor, and Chazzano from nearby Ferndale. Michigan-made Faygo sodas and Vernor's ginger ale are displayed proudly in the cooler.

And the very name of the shop is a tribute to the B-24 airplanes that were manufactured at the nearby Willow Run Airport, which produced nearly 8700 of the bombers during World War II.

B-24's celebrates all the very best that this area has to offer!

B-24's Espresso Bar
217 West Michigan Avenue
Ypsilanti, MI 48197


Frugal Floozie Friday: Food and Fun for Five Dollars or Less ... Really!!!