The Parrot: A Good Old-Fashioned Confectionery

I've posted about my favorite candy store before, but it's just so good! Whenever we come to Montana for a visit, stopping at The Parrot is a must! It opened in 1922 and it's still going strong. Not only are there many delicious handmade confections, but there is also a soda fountain and the selections haven't changed much over the years.

My son helped me capture some pics this time and I wanted to share them!

Outside the front - come on in!

From the inside of the front door.

The candy counter - where I spent many a happy childhood afternoon carefully selecting candies!

Sit at the bar for more old-fashioned fun!

The jukebox - not the original. My mom used to come here in the 50's with her high school friends to "hang out."

One of the booths - very worn out because they've been there so long! See how many interesting words you can find scratched into the tables and booths from years before - love it! My initials {along with my sis & cousins} may or may not be scratched into one of the tables here - ahem.

The water is still served in these cute little glasses! How much better off would we be if we were still going by these old portion sizes?

My son's favorite - the Huckleberry Sundae. So yummy! Little did I know as a child that huckleberries could not be grown everywhere and would become very expensive!

The Parrot Special - 3 scoops of homemade ice cream with 3 homemade toppings: caramel, marshmallow, and hot fudge. Soooo rich  - 3 of us ate this and it was all we needed. Um, hubs and my dad helped themselves while I was busy taking pics. I don't think that's fair...  :)

Smiling because I got my Parrot fix {and yes, we always pick out candies to buy after eating our sundaes}! And also, apparently I have no arms. ;)

When are you coming here so we can go to The Parrot together?! I know we'll have a great time! :)

Do you have a favorite candy store? Does your town have an old-fashioned confectionery or soda fountain?

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS! 

Have a blessed day friends!

Chocolate Friday ~ Chocolate In Florida

It has been a long time, but Chocolate Friday is BACK!!  'Cause we need the chocolate, right??!  I hope you survived without Chocolate Friday all this time - LOL!

When I was in Florida hanging out with Kim from Homesteader's Heart, we did manage to have a bit of chocolate!

I showed you this cuteness that Kim welcomed me with - I should mention that those are Dove Bliss chocolates and yes I did eat some every day that I was there!  :)

 

One day we went out for a little shopping and I got to check out a neat little chocolate shop called Grimaldi  Candies.  They are only in Florida and are famous for something that I had never tried - Chocolate Covered Potato Chips.  Yes!!!

 

I can tell you that the combination of sweet and salty is quite good!  I did manage to bring home a container to share with my hubs and he agreed that they were yummy!  They even have a website where you can order yourself a 1 lb box of Chips 'N Chocolate if you don't want to be left out of the fun!

I think I can speak for Kim and Kathy and tell you that we think the chocolatey chips deserve a thumbs up - LOL!

The chocolate didn't end there my friends - oh no.  Kim made me her famous chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting!!  OK - she really didn't make it just for me, but I'm pretending it was in my honor.  :)  It was delicious!!  Normally, it looks like this...

Picture totally taken from Kim's cooking blog without her knowledge, but she loves me anyway.  :)

I will tell you (because Kim won't!) that her cake did not turn out perfect!!  The frosting had a bit of an appearance issue (and I am kicking myself for not taking a pic of that), but was still absolutely fabulous!  So now you know that Kim is NOT perfect.  Somebody had to let you in on that secret.  (Hey, I had to have some company in the imperfect club.)  :)  Hee,hee!!  Love you Kim!!!  You can go get her delicious recipe for Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting and try it out yourself!

I've shared lots of chocolate with you - now it's your turn!  Write up a chocolatey post or find one in your archives (all rated G of course!) and bring it back here to link up to the thumbnail linky below.  The more chocolate we get here, the better our weekend will be - LOL!  No blog?  Leave your chocolatey thoughts or fave recipes or links in the comments.

Have a chocolatey day my friends!  Now...link, comment, link, comment, link...oh and have a little chocolate.  :)

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Chocolate Review

Welcome to Chocolate Friday!! Woo Hoo - made it through another week (or almost!)! I declare that you shall reward yourselves with chocolate!

Instead of a recipe today, I actually have a chocolate review! Have you heard of blogging for chocolate? Well, I did get one shipment of chocolate to review but the UPS man caused it to have a meltdown. Please observe a moment of silence for my melted truffles...............thank you. Don't worry - I'll get more chocolate!

But wait - I DID get more chocolate - from a fellow blogger and friend that lives nearby! She offered to SHARE - yes, SHARE her chocolate shipment with me so we could do a joint review! Big thanks to Jill from Frugal Plus!! She rocks! By the way, you should check out Frugal Plus for tons of coupons, deals, samples, reviews and giveaways!

Anyway, Jill came over the other day with chocolate in hand (See? You love her already!) and we had some tea and tasted the chocolates. The chocolate came from Chocolate.com and included 4 different flavors of Swoonbeams organic dark chocolate bark.

The first flavor we tried was the Cherry Dark Bark - the cherry flavor was strong, but it overpowered the chocolate a bit.

Next we tried the Orange-Ginger Dark Bark - this chocolate was a little smoother texture, but the ginger flavor was strong. If you like candied ginger - you might like it!

Then we tried the Cranberry & Cacao Nibs Dark Bark - this had a good cranberry flavor, not overpowering and the cacao nibs added a nice little crunch to the texture.

Lastly, we tried the Peppermint Dark Bark - this was my favorite! The peppermint was nice and crunchy and mixed well with the chocolate. Yum! Definitely the best of the 4!

The chocolate bark did not have quite as dark of a flavor as I expected for dark chocolate, but it was organic fair trade chocolate which is a nice plus! Overall, the bark is good. I would recommend the Peppermint flavor or the Cranberry flavor as my favorites!

Here's Jill enjoying her chocolate!

And here's me - with my mouth full of chocolate, of course!

Thank you www.chocolate.com for sending delicious chocolate to blog about and thank you Jill for sharing!!

This concludes my chocolate review today. You can check out Jill's review on her blog. Two reviews for the price of one - LOL!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, wouldn't you like to follow Jill's example of chocolatey generosity? You can! Just link up your chocolate post today with MckLinky below. It can be a new post or an old archived post - it doesn't matter as long as it's chocolate; we're all friends here! Share the chocolate by sharing your chocolate posts!!

Have a fantastic chocolate-filled Friday!!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Chocolatey Guest Post

Happy Chocolate Friday!! Glad you made it to the end of the week - time for a chocolate break!

I have a wonderful guest poster for you today! Jen is a sweet blogger who loves chocolate just as much as I do and often links up her wonderful recipes. You can find her blogging at Many Blessings, Busy Life where she talks about her life as a Christian Stay-at-home mom with 9 children, homeschooling, and whatever comes her way. Is it any surprise that she loves Dr. Pepper, chocolate, and has a great sense of humor?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello to all you Chocolate Lovers out there. I am so honored to be guest posting for Lisa. I have been really excited about this post; one because it involves my favorite dessert: chocolate (what else!?), and two because it features a store that is ALL about chocolate!

Have you ever been to Roanoke, VA? I went there this past weekend. (Which if you read my blog you would know that already). I had a lot of fun. It was a sweet weekend in more ways than one. First, I got to meet a fellow blogger - Hey, Kat!, and second I got to go to this store.

Chocolate Paper is mouth-watering, drooling, chocolate-induced happiness all in one place. Let me show you:

Now that you've seen all that yummy goodness, don't you want some of your own? Well, the good news is that even if you don't live near Roanoke, VA you can have some of their chocolate. That's right, they have mail order (for some of their chocolate, truffles are local delivery only). Just go to their website and find the ones you want to order. Personally I would not advise ordering while it's hot. You want to get these in the shape they are supposed to be, not oozing all over the place.

The only thing they can't send you is the chocolate-y scent that wraps around you when you walk in the store. Aaaahhhh!

And the friendliness of the staff. The two ladies who served us were very nice - and patient. It took quite a while for our crew to decide exactly what they wanted. (I actually never decided, I just took an assortment box. :) YUM!!)

So if you're ever in Roanoke, VA or even if you're not. Go by Chocolate Paper and sample some of their chocolate-y goodness.

JenT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Jen!! Sounds so yummy and I suppose I can forgive you for not giving me any of their chocolate! :)

Now it's your turn to share the chocolate! Go find or write a chocolate post and come back to link it up right here below with MckLinky! I'll appreciate it and so will Jen!

Have a lovely chocolate-filled day!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Yes, I Went To My Fav Hometown Candy Store Again

Welcome to Chocolate Friday! So glad we made it to the weekend - you deserve some chocolate for gettin' through the week! And let me just say a quick Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby today (a whole post just about him would embarrass him)! I love you dear!

While I was on my trip to MT, I did make it in to my favorite local candy store - AGAIN! You must understand, it's been a favorite since childhood and my Mother even went there to hang out in the 50's! So I absolutely get there every time I visit!

I had the Parrot Special - again! Shared it with Dad this time. 3 scoops of creamy homemade vanilla ice cream topped with 3 homemade toppings of hot fudge, caramel, marshmallow and chopped pecans on top. Are you drooling? It's actually quite small, but soooo satisfying! At least this time, I totally controlled the candy purchasing. I sent hubby up to the counter and he got me one chocolate-covered caramel. Yum! That is probably the least amount of candy I've had there in years - LOL!

There was something different this time though! New owners! I was a little concerned, but we met one of the owners and he said that they consider themselves the "curators" of The Parrot - they want to keep everything the same and are learning all the candy-making techniques right now from the old owner. Sounds great! So funny - my son spoke up (not yet 10, this kid) and said, "Are you keeping the prices the same too?" The new owner chuckled and said they might have to raise them a little for inflation and complimented him on his head for business.

There's my dose of chocolate for you! Now, don't you have some chocolate for me?? Just a little ol' chocolate-themed post, even if it's from the archives? Oh I know you can find something and bring it back and link it up and fry it up in a pan 'cause you're a woman...oh, wait - that was from a commercial, probably one you don't remember from before your time. So don't fry it up, but do link it up!

I'm having a problem with Mr. Linky and don't have time right now to set up the new MckLinky, so please leave your links in the comments and I'll add them to the post during the day.

Happy Chocolate Friday!!


Sharing the chocolate:

1. Kathy C (Fudge-glazed creamy peanut butter cake)
2. Becky (Chocolate Milkshake)
3. Jen T (Chocolate Chip Cookie Tips)

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Candy From My Favorite Store

Yay - we're back to Chocolate Friday! And we need it I think - and deserve it, I'm sure! :)

When I was in MT, I got to go to my favorite candy store again (had to make up for the snow!). This time I got a pic of some candy, but this was a few days after I got back and it had traveled in my luggage. So imagine it looking a lot fresher and less beat up! Anyway, there are various yummy chocolates (individually hand-dipped!) and my fav thin mints. They are some sort of powdered sugar mints with a different flavor for each color - white/wintergreen, green/spearmint, pink/peppermint, blue/cloves, yellow/lemon, orange/orange, red/cinnamon (and long ago they had a black licorice - blech) - um, yeah, I should know all the flavors! I've been going there for over 30 years!

Here's a rerun of the post from last summer to tell you a bit about the place:

It's in the town I was born and raised in - Helena, Montana, and has been there since 1922!! My mother and her friends would "hang out" there in the 50's, listen to the jukebox and order from the soda fountain. I was introduced to it at a very young age and it is now a MUST every time I go back to visit.

My Favorite Candy Store - The Parrot

My tradition is that I have to go sit in a booth and order a sundae. All the dishes are small and cute. You may be surprised by just how tiny the sundaes are (so unusual these days!), but it really is all you need. That's because the ice cream and toppings are all homemade right there in the back. My favorite sundae is the caramel/marshmallow - one scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream covered with half caramel and half marshmallow. I know - no chocolate - but I do love all the chocolate stuff, too.

Hubby and son in a booth - the booths are the same as more than 50 years ago!

This is the Parrot Special - 3 scoops of ice cream with 3 different toppings, pecans, whip cream, and a cherry. I chose caramel, marshmallow, and hot fudge. Proportion doesn't look right in the pic; this is all small - that water glass is no more than 4 inches high and those are little espresso-size spoons.

After eating my sundae, I HAVE to head to the candy counter. I usually choose a few chocolate-covered pieces, some caramels, and thin mints of a variety of flavors. I realize I took no pics of the candy I ordered - ate it all up before I thought about it!! And I lost my nerve to snap a pic of the candy counter - there were too many people around. My husband and son are happy to be a part of this tradition and have already been there many times with me. They love the sundaes and the candy, too!

My son and the jukebox

Do you have a favorite candy store? I wish I could take you all to this one with me!

Now- please link up some chocolate! It's easy to do. Write a new chocolate post or find an old one and link it up with Mr. Linky below. If you're not sure how to do it, just ask! I'm sure all sorts of wonderful things will happen if you do link up - like me leaving a comment on your blog (LOL!) or you thinking constantly about chocolate or you finding a new chocolate idea!

Have a lovely chocolatey Friday!

Linking this up to Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life. Go and link up any post from the previous week!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ My Favorite Candy Store

Lisa's latest chocolate post! Read all about it!

Instead of a recipe today, I am sharing about my favorite candy store. It's in the town I was born and raised in - Helena, Montana, and has been there since 1922!! My mother and her friends would "hang out" there in the 50's, listen to the jukebox and order from the soda fountain. I was introduced to it at a very young age and it is now a MUST every time I go back to visit. I was just there a little over a week ago!

My Favorite Candy Store - The Parrot

My tradition is that I have to go sit in a booth and order a sundae. All the dishes are small and cute. You may be surprised by just how tiny the sundaes are (so unusual these days!), but it really is all you need. That's because the ice cream and toppings are all homemade right there in the back. My favorite sundae is the caramel/marshmallow - one scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream covered with half caramel and half marshmallow. I know - no chocolate - but I do love all the chocolate stuff, too.

Hubby and son in a booth - the booths are the same as more than 50 years ago!

This is the Parrot Special - 3 scoops of ice cream with 3 different toppings, pecans, whip cream, and a cherry. I chose caramel, marshmallow, and hot fudge. Proportion doesn't look right in the pic; this is all small - that water glass is no more than 4 inches high and those are little espresso-size spoons.

After eating my sundae, I HAVE to head to the candy counter. I usually choose a few chocolate-covered pieces, some caramels, and thin mints of a variety of flavors. I realize I took no pics of the candy I ordered - ate it all up before I thought about it!! And I lost my nerve to snap a pic of the candy counter - there were too many people around. My husband and son are happy to be a part of this tradition and have already been there many times with me. They love the sundaes and the candy, too!

My son and the jukebox

Well, that's my chocolate for today. I know you have things to say about chocolate and great chocolate recipes. Please take a minute to link up a chocolate post below, no matter if new or old, so we can all share the chocolate! :) If you need ideas, you can look here.