Swiss Miss

Sometimes, I really crave pudding.  Such a great comfort food, for times when I don't want cold ice cream, and still want something creamy.  As you may have read about last week when I reviewed another brand of packaged pudding, packaged pudding is just not something I grew up with.  And thus, I've been on a quest to find an easy, grocery store accessible, version of packaged pudding (I didn't review it, but, Trader Joe's had a Belgian chocolate pudding that was FANTASTIC, but, alas, discontinued).  

My quest lead me to find Swiss Miss.  A brand you likely know ... for their packaged instant hot cocoa.  Did you know they also make pudding?  I sure didn't.  Literally their only other product, besides a slew of cocoa offerings.  It is rather hard to find, as shelves are dominated by Snack Pack and Jell-O brand usually.  In fact, I think you may not be able to find it in a grocery store at all.  I found it via a food service distributor, which, obviously, is not what most people have access to.  It requires refrigeration at all times, so not quite as easy to have on hand as shelf-stable versions.

Anyway, I'm glad I found it.  It was considerably better than other packaged puddings I've tried (like Snack Pack or Handi-Snacks, both of which I've reviewed before).  Sure, not as good as homemade, labor intensive pudding, but it takes the top marks for packaged pudding that I've found so far.

Tapioca Pudding.

"The great taste of Swiss Miss pudding with old fashioned tapioca."

The first flavor I tried was the one I was most eager for: tapioca.  I was just really craving tapioca pudding, what can I say?

It was nicely creamy, but had no real flavor in the pudding base.  Was it vanilla?  There was really just nothing to it.  

And the tapioca?  There were so few in there, it was easy to think it had none.  The tapioca that did exist were a nice size and not soggy nor too firm, but there weren't nearly enough, and the supporting base didn't give any flavor to make up for the lack of tapioca.

This needed a lot of goodies added (fresh blueberries, whipped cream, and sprinkles did the trick for me), and although the tapioca was good, the base just wasn't.  I wonder if adding cinnamon could be nice too, kinda like a rice pudding vibe?

***.

Vanilla.

"The great taste of Swiss Miss pudding in a creamy vanilla flavor."

Next I went even more simple, with plain vanilla, which, given how unremarkable the tapioca base pudding was, didn't seem like a recipe for success.

This was actually really quite good.  Rich, thick pudding.  Not super strong "vanilla bean" or anything like that, but far better than any other packaged pudding I've ever had.  Not overly sweet, no cloying or plastic taste.  Just, decent, really.

I added banana as a topping, along with a drizzle of caramel, some sprinkly balls, and sugar cone bits, and of course, whipped cream, and made quite a nice creation.

***+

Chocolate.

"The great taste of Swiss Miss pudding in a creamy milk chocolate flavor."

Next up, chocolate.

Like the vanilla, this was a good thick pudding.  It had decent chocolate flavor, but yes, it was still packaged pudding, not quite as rich as homemade.

***+.

Butterscotch.

"The great taste of Swiss Miss pudding in a butterscotch flavor."

And finally, my all time favorite pudding flavor: butterscotch. 

For packaged pudding, this was good.  Better than other packaged butterscotch I've tried.  Like the vanilla and chocolate, again, thick, rich pudding.  But I found it too sweet for me.

I needed to cut it with lots of whipped cream, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn't get this flavor again.

***.

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Symphony Pastries

I feel bad whenever I review wholesale bakeries, as you, my dear reader, generally cannot just seek out and order these items yourselves.  But you will encounter these goods frequently at hotel buffets, conferences, gas stations, grocery stores, or, depending on the brand, many restaurants.

Symphony Pastries is a wholesale bakery based in New Jersey, making primarily cakes - either individuals, strips, or round.  They carry a few other items (like tartlets)  and offer up a few gluten-free varieties too.

Strips

Strips are Symphony Pastries primary product line.  Ideal for catering as they can cut them into whatever size bites they choose.  Symphony Pastries strips generally involve layers of cake, with frosting in-between, although there are some that break the mold (like the interesting looking "Georgia" with a biscuit rather than cake, and almond amaretto mousse and poached peach between the layers of biscuit).  All are undecorated, intentionally, so that the caterer/restaurant/etc can garnish and personalize as they choose, which makes them come across more housemade when presented to guests.

I tried three different strips recently, and the quality varied dramatically.  I wouldn't write the brand off entirely, but, I think some may be significantly better than others.

Red Velvet.

"Three layers of red chocolate sponge brushed with vanilla syrup, and three layers of creamy white cream cheese."

This was the first item I tried from Symphony Pastries and it was not very good.  A 3 layer red velvet cake, classic cream cheese frosting.

The cake was very dry, and had no red velvet tang to it, although the ingredients did say cocoa.  The cream cheese frosting was decent though, creamy, flavorful, but overall, not a very good item.

**+.

Primavera.

"Strawberry and pistachio mousse between layers of vanilla sponge."

Next up, the Primavera (which, honestly, sounded like it should be pasta, not a cake!).  It too was three layers of cake, with two layers of pistachio mousse and only one of strawberry.

This just tasted odd.  It didn't taste like strawberry, it didn't taste like pistachio, it just tasted like ... I don't even know.  I really disliked the flavor.  Like the red velvet cake, the cake layers were quite dry.

*.

Tiramisu.

"Ladyfingers soaked with coffee liquor filled with a delicious mascarpone mousse."

And finally, a classic: tiramisu.  Another 3 layer cake.

After the previous two items, I certainly didn't expect the tiramisu to be good, but, shockingly, it was.  The ladyfingers were well soaked, super moist (ok, kinda soggy, but for tiramisu, it worked).  A complete contrast to the dry cake layers in the other two I had tried.  The mascarpone mousse was thick and rich, and, although the mascarpone flavor wasn't particularly strong, the thickness and texture were good.  

Amazing tiramisu?  Definitely not, but, it really was decent. ***+.

Black Forest Cheesecake.

"Creamy New York style cheesecake topped with bitter chocolate mousse with poached cherries and chocolate shavings."

The desserts I tried just kept getting better and better.  This black forest cheesecake was even better than the tiramisu.  Every layer was good.  

The base was a dark, rich brownie / chocolate cake, a soft but sturdy style, not like a chocolate cookie crust. I liked it more than your average bar style dessert base.  It went really well with the chocolate mousse. ***+.

Above that was the cheesecake layer.  It was thick, creamy, and tasted like, well, cheesecake.  Strong cream cheese flavor.  The texture was perhaps slightly more mousse like than a traditional denser cheesecake.  Basically, a bit better than a generic cheesecake, not noteworthy though.  Another ***+.

Next, between the layers of cheesecake and mousse, was a few poached cherries, soft and sweet, bringing in the black forest element.  There weren't all that many though, so I think only one bite of mine had a cherry.  The cherry went nicely with the cheesecake and the chocolate mousse, both things that pair well with cherries.  ***.

And finally, the chocolate mousse.  The texture was perfect, textbook mousse.  It was lightly chocolatey, and seemed more like a milk chocolate than the advertised "bitter chocolate".  It was good, but I would have loved an even more intense chocolate flavor.  Texture wise though, definitely nailed. ***.  I really liked the chocolate shavings on top, they seemed to be good quality dark chocolate.

Overall, every layer was good, above average.  My only qualm is that I don't actually really like chocolate and cheesecake together all that much.  And I really don't like chocolate cheesecake.  I like them both on their own, just, not together.  And while I could carefully eat the layers separate, and enjoy a cheesecake and a chocolate mousse on their own, I felt sad when I got a bite with both, as chocolate and cheesecake just clash for me.  That is a personal preference thing though, as I know plenty of people like chocolate cheesecake.  ***+ overall.

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Ben's Fast Food

 Fast food.  Healthy.  Not words that generally go together, but, Ben's Fast Food is just that. 

"WELCOME TO FAST FOOD, REIMAGINED. 

Healthy meals should be as delicious and affordable as traditional fast food. So we’re working on that.  We’re bringing healthy cuisine to the world of fast food to help you eat a little better, a little more often.

It’s fast.  It’s cheap. It’s healthy.

It’s “OMG SO GOOD I WANNA KEEP ORDERING” good. (in the kind words of a customer)"

At Ben's Fast Food, the entire menu is gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, no refined sugars, no additives, yadda yadda yadda.  There are no fried items.  

Not exactly what I think of when I think of fast food, and, honestly, not the style of food I generally care for.  The menu revolves around their "Signature Bowls", all made with your choice of slow roasted protein (chicken, pork shoulder, or vegan chickpeas/potatoes), served over your choice of base (fresh greens, hearty grains, or both), with a sauce and veggie toppings.  Like I said, not your standard fast food.

I didn't actually try a signature bowl, but did try one side (spoiler: sides do NOT include fries, onion rings, or the like).  Your options are ... roast chickpeas & potatoes if you want something potato-like, millet & brown rice if you want carbs, chicken or pork shoulder to add on extra substance, or, mixed veggies.  As a dessert girl, I also tried the only dessert item.  They also sell a green smoothie.  And that is the entire menu.

If you'd like to visit Ben's Fast Food, just a warning, they have no actual restaurant to dine-in, but rather, are part of the 60 Morris St. cloud kitchen complex, along with others that I've reviewed such as Korean Burger Joint By Aria (great dumplings!), Ramen Kobo WARAKU (fantastic takoyaki!), an offshoot of Amici's East Coast Pizzeria (meh), Basil Cart (ok thai) ... and about 80 other businesses, depending on the day (!).  They do mostly delivery, although you can pick up yourself if you aren't intimidated by the location.

I placed all my orders for pickup, and they were ready fast.  The food really was fresh, healthy, and clean, just, not really my style of food, as I suspected.

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• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Side: Clean Vegetables. $2.95.

"Fresh broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots flash steamed for max nutrient retention."

For my savory option, I went for the most appealing thing on the menu to me: veggies.

The mix was ... interesting looking.  I actually kinda knew to expect this, as I had seen photos in other reviews, but, it still was a bit funny.  It makes more sense when utilized in one of their composed bowls, clearly.  As a side dish, it is literally a small bowl of mostly cauliflower and broccoli bits.  It wasn't mashed, but, was soft, and, well, just tiny tiny bits.  Carrots were minimal.  No seasoning.

So, a bit hard to evaluate.  The veggies were "clean" as advertised, but really these could have been any frozen veggie mix from any grocery store, microwaved.  I like bigger pieces, and, well, roasted.

I mixed it into my super rich and creamy mac and cheese (from Krispy Krunchy Chicken, which, if you've never had, I highly recommend, I'm 100% addicted!), and it worked well there.

**+ on its own though.

Side: Clean Vegetables. $2.95.

I know, I had this side before and it wasn't great, but, sometimes you need some veggies.  And maybe, just maybe, I had just stopped by Krispy Krunchy Chicken and had more insane-o mac and cheese in my bag.  I needed some veggies to round out my meal.  

This time, the mix was a totally different distribution: tons of carrot cubes, which, as you may recall, were strangely absent last time.  The cauliflower was minimal and mostly just tiny bits of mush.  Broccoli was about the same.

Again not something I'd really eat like this, but, it goes really well mixed into mac and cheese (although, the carrot forward version this time worked less well).

**+.

Dark Chocolate Cashew Pudding. $2.95.

"Sweetened with whole dates only, topped with decaf espresso and sea salt."

The only sweet item offered by Ben's, a healthy spin on chocolate pudding.  It is soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free ... sweetened with dates rather than sugar, etc, etc.

I love pudding, but I can't say the dairy free, healthy nature was really that appealing to me.  That said, the Yelp reviews of this pudding were crazy good, and, hey, I was craving a good chocolate pudding.

It was certainly better than I would have expected from a vegan pudding.  The initial texture is fabulous, soft, fluffy, mousse-like.  However, on the finish was a bit of chalky nature, I think likely due to the cashews?  

The chocolate flavor was decent, not as dark and intense as I'd perhaps like, but, good, certainly chocolatey.  It didn't taste particularly like cashews nor dates, it didn't taste "healthy", all of which was good for me.

I was happy they used decaf espresso to lighten the caffeine load a bit, but it really was just a minimal sprinkle, and personally, I love cocoa nibs on top of my chocolate pudding.  I didn't detect any sea salt, which is too bad, as I always add fleur de sel to the top of my chocolate pudding (yes, even to a Snack Pack!).  Something about chocolate pudding + whipped cream (duh) + crunchy cocoa nibs + a hit of salt ... I'm always a big fan.

So overall, it was fine, certainly great if you are vegan or looking for a healthier treat.  The portion was pretty small, like a salad dressing container (a large salad dressing container, but still), but once I added my toppings, it made for a big enough dessert.  

I wouldn't necessarily seek this out again, but I enjoyed trying it. ***.

Dark Chocolate Cashew Pudding. $2.95.

After a few months, I had a craving for chocolate mousse, and, after a Snack Pack didn't *really* satisfy me, I decided to give Ben's healthish pudding another try.

I didn't like it as much this time.  The texture is great - fluffy, mousse-like, great.  But, the flavor was really quite biter.  I needed to add a generous amount of whipped cream, berries, banana, and sprinkles to enjoy it.

I don't think I'll get this again, as I just prefer something sweeter, but the texture really is great, and for those who like healthy "treats", this certainly counts as one.

**+.

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Lufthansa Business Class Lounge, Munich

This was my first time visiting a Lufthansa Lounge, but my understanding is that they are all fairly similar.  This visit was in Munich.

Setting

Since I was connecting in Frankfurt my flight from Munich was just a simple domestic flight, which meant I had access to the Business Class Lounge in the G gates area, for Schengen traffic.  Not a huge lounge, but, decent.

Light filled.

The lounge was well light, abundant natural light from the windows, with nice views over the tarmac.  

Most seating was in arm chairs.

Work Cubbies.

For those who wanted a little isolation, there was a row of work cubes.

High Counters.

I appreciated the standing height counter (with power outlets!), so I could stretch my legs, long day of flying didn't make me want to sit more.

Food & Drink

I wasn't really in the lounge to work though, I was there to check out the food and drink offerings.

Candy & Snacks!

The moment I walked in, I found the thing I was most excited for.  The reason I made sure I had plenty of time at the airport.  Candy jars.  All kinds of sweets.  Savory snacks.  Oh yes.

I knew to expect these, and was thrilled to see them as soon as I walked in.

For candy items, there were gummy bears, some kind of chewy candy, m&ms, and some red chewy things.  Savories included pretzels, seasoned peanuts, chips.  There were also banana chips, little wafers of some kind, and ... zomg, peanut bamba puffs!

This was all fairly average quality, but I was happy to have candy and I do love peanut bamba quite a bit.  The chips were just plain chips. **** overall, *** for the chips/banana chips.

Fruit.

There was no cut fruit anywhere, but apples, oranges, and kiwi were available to grab.  Kiwi seemed like a bit of an odd choice to me, as that is kinda hard to just grab and eat, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Salad.

The salad station consisted of a salad with interesting mixed greens and apple slices, roast cherry tomatoes, potato salad, and curry cabbage slaw.

The tomatoes were actually rather flavorful, juicy, just, a bit odd to have roast tomatoes rather than fresh.

The salad base was not the freshest, lots of brown bits, but I liked that it had frisee.  

The potato salad is a signature Lufthansa lounge dish, but I didn't care for it.  Too tangy and mushy for me.  German style, obviously.

The highlight was the flavorful curry cabbage slaw.  I mixed it with the green salad base and roast tomatoes and quite enjoyed it.

Not the strongest salad lineup, but, I was happy enough in the end.

***.

Beef broth with semolina dumplings. 
Pan-fried vegetables with small peas, pear wedges, and leeks.

Next came the hot foods.

Rather than a soup exactly, there was a broth with dumplings.  The broth had a reasonably good flavor, nicely seasoned, but the dumplings were basically just plain balls of mush.

The veggies looked pretty awful - like they'd been sitting there forever, were quite mushy, and, um, why was there pears in the mix?

**.

Paprika Chicken with Spinach Gnocchi.

The other hot item, a bit of an odd pairing, were you supposed to put the chicken stew on the gnocchi?  I tried the gnocchi, but they weren't particularly flavorful and were rather gummy.  About what you'd expect from a buffet.

Eh.

**+.

Later in my stay this was replaced by a chicken and noodles dish.

Pretzels!

Besides the candy station, there was another that I was on the lookout for.  The other signature Lufthansa lounge feature: a pretzel wall!

Hanging on hooks were salt or plain pretzels when I arrived, and later it had sunflower seed ones too.

I had a lot of mediocre pretzels in Germany, and I was shocked by how good these were.  Definitely the best I had during my entire stay.  Great crust, nice chew, well salted.  Really, just nice pretzels.

***+.

Rolls, Cheesy Pretzels.

And then there were ... cheesy pretzels!  These were even better.  Sooo much cheese melted on, and really really tasty.  Again, best pretzels I had in Germany, no question.  ****.

There were also some rolls that I didn't try.

Cheesecake cream red berries and biscuit.

I also knew to expect two desserts, one was just a bundt cake that I didn't try, and the other seems to always be some kind of pudding, one of my favorite types of desserts.  

This ... didn't really match my expectations.  "Cheesecake cream" really tasted like, um, yogurt?  It was smooth and creamy, and very tangy.  Not bad for yogurt, but, not really sweet enough to be dessert for me, and, definitely not cheesecake.  I wonder if this was a translation thing, really, more like quark ("cheese")?

The "red berries" was a fruity compote, which was sweet enough to be dessert, but also worked well as a breakfast yogurt parfait, as this really was in my mind.

Finally, the base layer, "biscuit".  Fairly soft, just mush at the base.

I really do think that as a breakfast yogurt parfait I might have enjoyed this, but, it certainly was not a cheesecake to me.

**+.

Drinks.

Self service bar area had two red wines, some sparkling and white, and basic spirits line up.  I didn't try any.

There was also a coffee machine, tea bags, beer on tap, and sparkling water on tap, along with fountain drinks.

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Event Catering by The Common Man Restaurant, Claremont, NH

The Common Man family of restaurants is an institution around New Hampshire.  While we don't have one in the town I grew up in, nor even particularly close by, of course I knew of it.  It was the place people had weddings, or other receptions.  It was the place that people went for a date night.  In the New Hampshire restaurant scene, it was a touch upscale, had unique elements (like a complimentary bread/crackers/dips and white chocolate (!) bar you could help yourself to throughout your meal), and was generally well liked.  The original opened in 1971, and now they have ... well, a slew of restaurants, some operating under the Common Man name, others more branded concepts (like the  the Tilt'n Diner in 1992, Italian Farmhouse that opened in 1993, etc).  2015 really put the brand on the map, when they opened stores in the major rest area off the highway, attached to the NH liquor store, just over the Massachusetts border, a destination due to the lack of sales tax in NH.  The Common Man at this point, is, well a common name around New Hampshire.

I've attended events at different Common Man locations over the years, and, besides the aforementioned bread/cracker/dip/chocolate bar, I don't really remember finding them all that interesting.  And I know people always said it was pricey for what it was.  I recently got the chance to dine again, this time for a reception honoring my grandmother. 

Our location was the Common Man in Claremont, set in a historic mill.  We had a private room, and catering was provided buffet style, for 20 guests, for lunch.  The restaurant was not open at the time (they are open only for dinner, since the pandemic).  Service was provided entirely by one person - she fetched the food from the kitchen, set up the buffet, cleared plates, etc.  She never had any other help.  She was friendly enough, but there were some hiccups with some basics, that I'm not sure were her fault, or that of the person who did setup (if not her).  For example, there were pitchers of lemonade, but no glasses to actually drink it in.  Dessert was brought after cutlery was cleared away, and most folks were left with no fork or spoon to eat it with.  We had provided details on having 2 children, aged 2 and 4, and no child cups, nor something with lids, were available for them.  The food was brought out about 30 minutes after our specified time.  Etc.  Just little things that added up to make it not seem like a very professional event team.

Snack Attack: Gluten-Free Nibbler. $5.99/pp.

We wanted to have something for folks to munch on as they arrived, so we added an item from the "Break bites".  I really wanted the "Snack Attack" which included mixed nuts, house made chips, popcorn, warm pretzels, and dipping sauces/mustards/cheese sauce, or even the "Uncommon Cheese Table" which features their famous dip and boursin cheese (among others) from the regular restaurant crackers/dip table, but my host opted for a healthier selection, the "gluten free nibbler".  If you wanted something sweet, there are a couple sweet "Break Bites" options too, like a donut cart with apple cider, or ice cream sundae station.

Adding these was a good call, not because we didn't have enough food (we had way too much), but because our main food came 45 minutes after we arrived (even though our BEO had asked for it 15 minutes after we arrived, and we arrived right on time ...).

Vegetable Crudite & Dip.

The "nibbler" referred to crudite, which turned out to be cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, celery, and broccoli.  All was fresh, crisp, colorful, fine, although the cucumbers were soft and rather slimy. 

The "dip" turned out to just be ranch, and didn't taste particularly homemade.

This was certainly no different from what anyone would put out at their own house, with a bottle of ranch, and didn't seem worth the $5.99 price at all.  **, because it was below average, and those cucumbers had seen better days.

Fruit Bowl.

The Nibbler package usually includes a fruit platter, with a lot of melon involved.  Since I'm allergic, we asked to have no melons, and the chef suggested a fruit bowl instead, as the fruits they usually use on a platter would be kinda lacking without the melons.

The fruit was all fresh and decent - sliced strawberries and pineapple, blueberries, and grapes.  It was nice to have something refreshing.  ***.

Uncommon Lunch Table.  $19.99/pp.

For lunch, our host selected a buffet rather than plated meal.  I tried to encourage a 'real' buffet, the standard lunch package at the Common Man features fresh rolls and butter, salad, starch of choice (mashed potatoes, maple mashed sweet potatoes, herb roasted red potatoes, rice pilaf, or mac and cheese), seasonal veggie of the day, choice of two main entrees (from a great list ranging from New England style haddock to grilled steak tip and everything in-between), plus a real dessert (warm apple crisp, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, chocolate cake, etc) for $23.99/pp, but she wanted it to be a lighter, more casual thing, and went for one of the additional simple buffets.  The other simple options are a sandwich version, Italian one with pizza/pasta, or Mexican one, priced at $18.99 - $19.99 per person, and these do not include bread & butter, and have simple desserts (cookies, brownies, or, in the Mexican case, churros). 

Our buffet was the "Uncommon Lunch Table":

• Salad Choices (2)
• Garden Salad
• Uncommon Salad
• Classic Caesar
• Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
• Grilled Sides — Chicken, salmon, portabella mushrooms.
• Marinated Roasted Vegetable Platter
• Uncommon Mac ’n Cheese 
• Cookies and Brownies

Beverages were included, basic canned soda, lemonade, coffee, and tea.

The only item we had to select was the two salads from a list of four, and my event host opted for the simple garden salad and the classic caesar, skipping the "uncommon salad' with candied nuts and gorgonzola and the chickpea option.  

The menu was entirely cold / room temperature items, besides the mac and cheese, which we didn't quite expect (we thought the grilled chicken, salmon, and portabellas would be warm, possibly even the roast veggies).

Many of the other lunch buffets include Common Man's bread and butter (a signature part of the restaurant experience, where they have a bread & butter, crackers & cheese, dip, etc bar you help yourself to).  While I'm not a big bread person, I do think some rolls would have rounded out the menu a bit.

Overall, it was fairly underwhelming for the price, and I'd highly recommend going for the standard buffet, which ours ended up being priced the same as, because we added on a real dessert.

Salad: Mixed Greens / Classic Caesar.

Our buffet started with two salads.  Both were fine.

Garden Salad: "Mixed greens, cucumbers, carrots, red onion and tomatoes with vinaigrette."

The garden salad was a basic everyday garden salad.  Reasonably fresh ingredients, but nothing particularly interesting about it.  It came with both a vinaigrette and ranch on the side.  I think this was the same ranch as the crudite platter.  I didn't care for the dressings.

Classic Caesar: "Romaine tossed with aged Parmesan, house-made croutons and Caesar dressing."

The caesar was pre-dressed, seemed fresh, and had nice large shards of parmesan on top.  The croutons were on the side to accommodate gluten-free diners.

***, basic, standard, fine salads.

Marinated Roasted Vegetable Platter.

The other vegetable offering was marinated roast vegetables, served (unexpectedly to us), cold.  The assortment included mushrooms (both stems and caps), red peppers, red onion, asparagus, and summer squash, plus tomatoes that seemed marinated but not roasted.  These platters were a mixed success.

I was let down by the mushrooms as they really were slimy and didn't taste great, and the asparagus was very thin and lacked any flavor.  The red onions were fine, but fairly oily.  I *loved* the tomatoes though - they were crazy flavorful.  Shockingly good, and in a completely different league from the tomatoes in the garden salad.  They didn't seem roasted like the rest of the veggies, rather just marinated, but, wow, they were good.  Best part of the meal, no question.  I dislike summer squash so I didn't try the squashes, nor the red peppers, but my mother raved about the red peppers.

Overall, most of this was highly average, with the lowpoint of the mushrooms, and the crazy high of the tomatoes, making it another **+ overall (but really, for the tomatoes only, ****+).  I would have liked to have some warm vegetables though, and the chilled marinated vegetables didn't really go well as add-ons to the salad (the garden salad already had the raw veggies, and the Caesar was already dressed so the extra marinade was too much).

Grilled Sides: Portabella Mushroom / Chicken / Salmon.

Next up, an even bigger cold surprise: the proteins.  Grilled portabella mushrooms, chicken, and salmon.  Yes, all cold.

All seemed to be grilled with the same herb blend.  The mushrooms were very slimy, and didn't seem like much of an additional offering for vegetarians, given the roast mushrooms in the other platter. My sister's kids enjoyed the chicken.  

I had the salmon.  It was ok, it definitely had a fair amount of albumin coming out, and was cooked hard/well done.  I always prefer mid-rare salmon, even if cold, so this was definitely over done for me, and, clearly cooked on too high of a temperature to begin with.  Also, well, I wanted it warm.

Very average.  **+.

Uncommon Mac & Cheese.

The only hot item in our buffet was the mac and cheese.  This is a signature dish of the restaurant, featured on their regular menu (available with or without pulled pork).  My cousin who is a high school teacher in the town the Common Man is in said her students all rave about it.

It was ... fine.  I liked the use of corkscrew pasta.  The pasta wasn't too mushy.  It was creamy.  The sauce seemed to be a fairly nice blend including aged cheddar.

I would prefer to have a crispy top, and something more interesting about it, and it was entirely unseasoned, but, it was fine.  Average buffet quality mac and cheese, no more, no less.

**+.

Coffee & Tea.

To go with dessert, coffee and tea were provided.

I tried the decaf coffee.  It was not particularly warm, and it, like basically everything, was just average.  No horrible decaf funk, but, not complex or interesting either.

**+.

Assorted Cookies & Brownies.

Our buffet package only included cookies & brownies for dessert.  They didn't look worth even trying to be honest, but of course I did.  Not many others did, these were largely untouched.

The brownies were reasonably rich, reasonably moist, fudgy, but, just a brownie.  The edges were dry.  They were cut into completely irregular shapes and sizes, which might be good so folks who wanted just a tiny one could get that, but it looked fairly unprofessional.  Eh.  **+.

The regular restaurant menu has brownies in the form of a salted caramel brownie sundae with salted caramel ice cream, fudge, whipped cream, and candied nuts, and cookies in the form of a warm toll house cookie pie (also with ice cream, whipped cream, and fudge).

Cookies.

The cookies honestly looked ... awful?  They looked hard and dry, small.  Nothing homemade or bakery fresh about them.  They were exactly the sort of cookie I don't like.  They weren't labelled, but seemed to be only two kinds, chocolate chip and ... plain?.

I took a chocolate chip cookie home because I felt bad that they were virtually untouched, and was a bit surprised.   The chocolate chips were small, and not evenly distributed.  While it was crazy crispy and not the softer style I like, it was very sweet and buttery.  The base flavor was good, even if the cookie itself wasn't a style I prefer.   Better than it looked, but, again, they really didn't look good at all. **+.

The other cookie I honestly don't know what it was.  A chocolate chip cookie without the chips.  It wasn't peanut butter, it wasn't a sugar cookie, it wasn't a shortbread, it wasn't a snickerdoodle ... it was just a blonde cookie, no spicing, no add-ins.  Like the chocolate chip cookie, it was quite hard, but, the sweet and buttery base was decent.  I brought some home, warmed them up (which softened them considerably), and used them as a base for an ice cream sandwich.  That way, I enjoyed them, but again, not the style I'd prefer, and, strangely just a plain cookie.  I did like this more than the chocolate chip. ***.

Cookies & brownies are also available as an add-on to other packages for $4.99 per person, which seems crazy for the quality of these.

Strawberry Shortcake ($3.99 add-on).

"Macerated strawberries, homemade biscuits, whipped cream."

 If you know me, you know that I don't consider these "real desserts".  A brownie can be a base for a warm brownie sundae, but just a brownie?  Eh. And cookies?  Those are snacks.  I asked our host to add on another "real dessert" from the options from the standard buffets selections.  I was somewhat tempted to do the warm apple crisp with cinnamon whipped cream and housemade ice cream, or even the cheesecake as that is one that most places can do a decent job with, but, as it was summer, I selected the more unique offering: strawberry shortcake.

The shortcakes were plated individually, and brought to us at our tables, rather than buffet style.  I would have preferred a buffet setup, so I could get as much fruit and whipped cream as I wanted, but they did a nice job with the plating.

The biscuits were good.  Soft, slight tang to them.  Well made shortcake biscuits.  Slightly above average even.

The berries were far more sweetened and macerated than I prefer, but, I actually often prefer to just have fresh fruit and not sugar them for my shortcake (which my family always finds odd, given my love for sweets in general, I just don't like my fresh fruit extra sweetened for some reason).  If you like traditional macerated berries, these were good.

And finally, whipped cream.  I suspect it was from a can, or at least house made but from a canister, as it wasn't as thick as a non-aerosol version usually is.  Average, sweetened as well.

Overall, the best thing (besides those tomatoes!) served, and I enjoyed it, but wouldn't likely order again. ***.

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