Ruby Snap

Where: Ruby Snap, 770 S 300 W, Salt Lake City

Who Went: Chelsey & Michelle, then Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Trip 1: Zoey (Lemon Blueberry), Maris (Chocolate Caramel), Frida (Molé Chile de Arbol & Cinnamon), Ricki (Coconut Almond Chocolate), Vivianna (Mango Dark Chocolate Citrus), and Evia (Pear Marzipan Pine Nuts). Trip 2: Vivianna, Zoey, Nina (Coffee Toffee), Lilly (Lemon with Lemonheads), Virginia (Molasses Ginger), Betty (Oatmeal Apricot Cherry), Judy (Orange Cream Cheese), and Maria (Banana Crème Brûlée)


What It Cost: $12.50 for 6, plus you get a free cookie coupon for next time!


What We Thought:


It's so funny - I never thought I would go so crazy over some cookies. I mean, everyone likes cookies, but also everyone can make cookies and they're no big deal.

But then I went to Ruby Snap Bakery up in Salt Lake.

Wow.

Could I have been more wrong?

When you enter Ruby Snap, you are greeted with that wonderful aroma of freshly baking cookies - I seriously need to get a job there because smelling that 24/7 is my idea of heaven. The friendly staff welcome you and tell you about some of the incredible flavor options they have - things you would never think to combine in a cookie, and yet somehow, when you taste it, it's like they were meant to be in a cookie from the beginning of time. It's a little confusing at first since they have so many different flavors that are named with sexy little pin-up girl identities, but they have convenient little cheat sheets for you, and the staff offer to let you sample any flavor you like. And we're talking real samples here - like quarter-of-a-cookie-sized samples! Then they wrap your cookies up in the cutest box you've ever seen - I'm just so glad that they are all the way up in Salt Lake or else I'm pretty sure I would stop by there every single day.

Let's start with our favorite - the Zoey. You've never had cookies as thick and chewy as the ones at Ruby Snap. I have no idea how they do it! They manage to be amazingly soft while still cooked all the way through. Definitely my kind of cookie. As well-established in previous posts, I'm a lemon addict. Throw some blueberries in there, and you've won my heart. The Zoey cookie was the favorite for both me and Owen - it was like the best lemon blueberry muffin you've ever had hopped up on steroids, with a delicious glaze to complete it. It was seriously incredible. I could eat one of these every day.

Next, the Maris. This was a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips and a caramel center. I mean, really? How could you go wrong with that kind of flavor combination? You can't, and Ruby Snap does a fabulous job with it. I expected it to be delicious, and it definitely lived up to my expectations.

Then the Frida. I was a little nervous for this one since the description reads "Molé dough with a chile de arbol ganache center. Topped with cinnamon-toasted pepitas." I'm pretty sure the last time I had a cookie with chile in it was...um...never. But I decided to be adventurous, and boy, was it worth it. What a unique flavor explosion - and it came from a cookie! The chocolate was rich and sweet enough to balance the hint of spiciness, and it reminded me of delicious Mexican hot chocolate.

The Ricki - basically an Almond Joy candy bar translated into cookie form. I love Almond Joy, so naturally I thought this cookie was amazing. I was really impressed by the coconut flavored dough - I would have thought it would be easier to make the dough with the readily-available almond extract, but the hints of coconut in the dough really made the cookie incredible.

Next up was their flavor of the month, the Evia. The only thing that made me upset about this bakery was the fact that this amazing cookie is only available for one month out of the whole year! Of all the cookies we tried, this one surprised me the most - who would think that a vanilla bean dough with bits of pear, a marzipan center, and toasted pine nuts on top would make for such an incredible cookie? I only ordered it because the combination of flavors seemed so bizarre, and the final result completely blew my mind and my taste buds.

Finally, the Vivianna. This citrus dough cookie comes packed with chunks of dried mango and dark chocolate, a knock-out combination for any of you folks who may like fruit and chocolate together. This is their most popular cookie according to the staff at Ruby Snap, and it's clear why it is so desired. Both times when I ordered this cookie, I savored every bite, wishing that it would never end!

The next time I visited Ruby Snap, I didn't manage to get any pictures of the cookies since I grabbed them in preparation for a 12-hour road trip to Washington. They definitely made the trip way more endurable! Once again, the cookies were delicious, though this round wasn't quite as life-changing as the first batch we ordered. We really liked the Betty - a twist on your typical oatmeal cookie, and the Virginia and Judy were as soft and delicious as I had hoped. The Lilly was good, but kind of weird - the baked-in lemonheads definitely give you a unique texture for a cookie that we couldn't decide if we loved, and the Maria, their special for the month, was actually kind of disappointing. It basically tasted like a slice of banana bread with a little caramel disc on top. But I gotta say, one not-so-amazing cookie out of the twelve flavors we tried? Those are pretty good odds to me!

What You Should Do: Definitely add Ruby Snap to your list of places to try! In fact, put it at the top of your list. This place is amazing. They have wonderful staff, to-die-for-cookies, and are an all-around great place to visit. The cookies are baked fresh every day, and at the end of the day, they donate any leftover cookies to local food shelters. You know I'm a sucker for a company that supports the community. Their cookies are also available at the SLC Farmer's Market, and I hear that they will be carried soon in local Harmon's and Whole Foods grocery stores. There is definitely a conspiracy between Ruby Snap and Tillamook ice cream to give me diabetes, I tell you.

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Firehouse Subs

Where: Firehouse Subs, 538 E University Parkway, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey & my friend, Chelsea (with an "a"- so different)

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket Sub Sample, Firehouse Meatball Sub Sample, Firehouse "Hero" Sub Sample, Lemon Cooler Cookie, and Cherry Limeade

What It Cost: n/a

What We Thought:

This past Tuesday, I had the unique opportunity to attend a charity event hosted by Firehouse Subs. Before coming here, I just thought that Firehouse Subs was a cute themed sandwich shop next to Yogurtland. I quickly learned that Firehouse Subs is so much more than that! Firehouse Subs was founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with the goal of not only serving delicious hot sandwiches, but also supporting local fire departments.

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has given over $3.9 million to safety services across the country since it's beginning in 2005, and on Tuesday donated 82 Bowring tools (worth more than $7,400) to the Orem Fire Department. These sturdy, yet lightweight tools perform many different functions that are useful for firefighters, and can free up those firefighters from loads of heavy equipment.

The video below from the Orem Fire Department shows some of it's many uses when it comes to saving lives - and gets a little playful towards the end :) 

I was honored to be invited to this event and to learn about the great community work done by Firehouse Subs. To get involved, you can go to one of their restaurants and elect to donate your change easily at the register, make a donation, or purchase one of their recycled five-gallon pickle buckets for $2, with all proceeds going towards the local community.

And now -- for the FOOD!

The first awesome thing of note at Firehouse Subs is their Coca-Cola Freestyle Soda Fountain. Now, I am not usually one to get soda, but this machine is incredibly awesome. It has a touch screen with a ton of different flavors and soda brands (over 120 the machine claims), and you can mix and match to your heart's desire! I opted for the cherry limeade, and added two fresh limes that they had next to the machine.

The cherry limeade was perfectly sweet, tart, and syrupy - delicious! They have a little guide next to the machine of how many limes you should add to each size of cherry limeade, but I think next time I would go for an extra!

At this "Taste of Safety" event, we were treated with a couple of different sandwich samples from their hot specialty subs menu, in addition to some of their delicious fresh-baked cookies.

They all looked so delicious - it was hard to choose! I've never seen an oatmeal raisin cookie look so appetizing, and the chocolate chip had huge chunks of tasty-looking chocolate. But I went with the one that looked like a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

To my surprise, it was a lemon-flavored cookie! I was later informed that it is their Lemon Cooler cookie, which has a soft and zesty lemon dough with rich white chocolate chips. Amazing. Being the lemon fanatic that I am, I devoured this cookie and had to exercise great control to stop me from eating the whole cookie display!

We tried the Firehouse "Hero" Sub, which contains premium roast beef, smoked turkey breast, Virginia honey ham, and melted provolone. An excellent mesh of meat that was savory and satisfying. Keep in mind that all of these photos are samples of a whole sub - this little bit was only one-fifth of the whole sandwich! These sandwiches are huge and filling, served hot and toasty!

Up next was the meatball sub. Of all of the sandwiches, this one was probably my least favorite, but I think it is just because I'm not the hugest fan of meatballs. Like the others, it was served perfectly warm and crunchy, and the amount of substance within the sandwich was just right - full enough to feel like it's worth it, but not too much that you make a huge mess everywhere!

Finally, the beef brisket and cheddar sandwich. This sub was hands-down our absolute favorite. The soft and tender beef was so flavorful - the perfect hint of smokiness and saltiness. There was a heavenly mix of sauces and cheddar cheese melted onto the indulgent beef, all snug between two pieces of crackly white French bread. So unhealthy, but so SO SO good!

What You Should Do: A great cause and great sandwiches? Count me in! Skip the line and boringness of Subway, and grab yourself a similarly-priced but infinitely fresher and tastier sub here at Firehouse Subs. I would definitely recommend Firehouse Subs - even though I'm not a huge sandwich lover, they proved to have delicious combinations, great prices, and support the local community.
Certainly worth the trip.

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Malawi's Pizza & Our Winner!

I'm so mad because we ate at the BEST places this weekend, but I forgot to upload the pictures to my computer! And I have class until 7, but I know you all can't wait until then to hear about the winner for our Mountain West Burrito giveaway...so here we are! The winner is....

Comment #7....

Congrats to Skylar and Kristin! Please email me at chelsey@eatbyu.com in order to claim you awesome, super amazing prize! 

And now, to the food...

Where: Malawi's Pizza, 4801 N University Avenue, Provo (it's in the Riverwoods)

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Apple & Berry Salad with Candied Walnuts, The Safari Pizza, Pesto Roasted Chicken Pizza, Reese's S'mores Pizza 

What It Cost: $32.33

What We Thought: 

An African themed pizza place? An interesting fusion of cultures. Ideas of African safari adventures and a claim for healthy pizza were the two main draws when we visited Malawi's Pizza. Sadly, we found that the food was of course not African at all, just the decor but they do aim to give one healthy meal to a child in Africa for every meal that is purchased. According to their website five minutes ago, they have given away 115,117 nutritious meals to children in Malawi, Africa. I'm always a sucker for a good cause!

The salad was decent. I was a little disappointed in the quantity of fruit in the self-proclaimed "Apple & Berry salad"--there were TWO thin slices of a Granny Smith tucked into the salad, and four raspberries. A little weak. But the flavor of the dressing was good, and my favorite part was the candied walnuts. We only got this because it cost $4 when you ordered it with a pizza, and we wanted to have some variety. One warning: do NOT get the BLT salad! It was a joke. We saw a guy who had ordered it, and basically it was half a head of lettuce (not even chopped up) on top of some tomato slices with bacon bits sprinkled on top. Get this salad instead, or the Sesame Beef Salad.

Should probably be renamed "Pizza with a Heck of a Lot of Asparagus on It." Seriously. This tasted pretty healthy and light, which was good, but it just seemed to be lacking. The pesto sauce was not very flavorful and was spread thinly, and the pieces of asparagus were so huge I could hard think about anything else while eating it. The chicken was good, and the Gorgonzola had a nice, robust flavor, but I was definitely missing the promised pesto flavor, despite the chopped basil. At least it looked pretty, green and healthy, right?

Both of us have very strong cravings for MEAT pizza every now and then--the more meat, the better! Owen was so mad at me for making him wait to eat this pizza until after I had taken a picture because it smelled so good. It pretty much lived up to our expectations except one thing: the bacon. What is the deal with everyone putting way too much bacon on pizza these days? I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy bacon as much as the next person. But the flavor of bacon is WAY too strong and totally overpowered all of the other meats on the pizza. Next time, ordering it without bacon. Or at least half the bacon if you want to taste anything else. 

Even though this place is supposedly healthy, this pizza is what made the evening for me. I mean, just look at that stockpile of delicious ingredients! Since the pizza is made it a wood burning stove, the marshmallows had a wonderfully toasted flavor, and there was definitely our money's worth of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on there. It was so rich, we could each only eat one piece. But it made for delicious leftovers....

What You Should Do: Go. At least for the dessert pizza. I can't get that Reese's S'mores one out of my mind, and I saw someone with the Mixed Berry pizza nearby that also looked amazing. I would recommend going here often for the actual food since it was just okay and was kind of expensive, but at least you can feel awesome that not only did you get a meal, but you also helped donate one to a child in Africa.