Roundup of summer's end

I didn’t try many new Canadian products over the summer. The two that stood out are Theobroma’s Zero Sugar Chocolate (in dark and coconut) as well as Bulles d’Amour, a sparkling strawberry juice. (I bought it at Les Pères Nature, a new-to-me grocery store that reminded me of Whole Foods and Exofruits, and I just loved shopping there!) While the chocolate was disappointing, unsatisfying, and not nearly as good as regular Theobroma, I really like the sparkling strawberry juice! But given that it’s hard to find and expensive, I doubt I’ll be making it a regular purchase. 

On the way back, we finally got to stop at Sister Pie in Detroit – during opening hours! We got two pie slices to go; one was salted maple pie, and the other was a creamy peach custard pie. The Engineer and I really liked both of them, and we agree that their pie dough is great! (While our kids were with us, neither one of them likes pie, but I’ve decided not to disown them.) For lunch, we went right across the street to Frenchie’s, where we had some really great sandwiches. The retro décor was lovely! 

We also stopped for the first time at a Naf Naf location. Basically, picture a fast-food restaurant, but it serves Middle Eastern fare. I had a nice salad with chicken shawarma and a warm pita, we got falafel for the table, and it was just great. We’ll definitely pull over for a Naf Naf from now on! 

Finally, we tried Naaman’s in Texarkana, and are now lamenting the fact that we’d have to drive all the way to Texarkana to eat there again. It was fantastic, with outstanding service by our waiter (nicknamed Mr. Bowtie), wonderful food, and an all-around awesome experience. I had a house salad with smoked chicken, and was so pleasantly surprised by both the appearance and taste of my dish! The barbecue sauce, which our waiter brought to the table for us to taste, was superb. We shared desserts, too, and now think we might have to make this a standard stop in our road trips. The restaurant might open another location in Oklahoma, but I hope they come further south too!