Sunday, October 07, 2018

#OpinionatedOctober - Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Mix

October 7
Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Mix - Buttermilk
Food
https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/collections/flapjack-waffle-mix/products/kodiak-cakes-buttermilk-power-cakes-flapjack-waffle-mix

We're still staying at the cabin we rented for our vacation, and they have a waffle station set up that had a box of Kodiak Cakes mix with it. I've tried some Kodiak Cups so I was familiar enough with the brand but hadn't tried this mix before. It was really simple to make, just add water and a bit of oil for waffles. Luckily it wasn't too hard to use the waffle maker either (I don't have one at home and so I have rarely used one). What came out was a big fluffy waffle of just the right density. It's a whole grain mix, which I've never really used before and so I wasn't sure what to expect but it was quite tasty, and very filling. I accidentally didn't use enough mix for my waffle but it still filled me up despite not being full size and I ended up not even wanting a snack until lunchtime rolled around. I don't have a waffle maker at home, and I'm not allowed to make pancakes, so I'll be keeping an eye out for their flapjack cups because I am becoming a fan of the brand.

#OpinionatedOctober - Shepherdstown, WVA

October 6
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Town

My best friend and I always take a vacation in October, and this year we decided to do something small and nearby and rented a cabin in West Virginia. The cabin is about ten minutes from Shepherdstown, so we decided to go into town and walk around a little before having dinner. While we did get really lost on the way there (Google Maps is very hard to use when you have no signal) so it took a half hour instead of ten minutes, it was a really nice and small downtown area. I grew up in a small town, so some of the atmosphere was really familiar. But what it really reminded me of was Brevard, North Carolina where we went to see the solar eclipse last year. It's a town with a lot of character and plenty of neat little unique shops and restaurants. And oddly enough, a university that we didn't know existed until we parked next to it.

We ended up going into Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery first, and that was kind of unfortunate timing because we hadn't had dinner yet so we didn't want to ruin our meals. But we both got some sweets to go, I ended up with a cream horn and some black forest torte and she got a chocolate whoopie pie. They also had some delicious looking fresh bread. The cream in the cream horn was especially delicious. The whoopie pie was very chocolaty but in the best way.

Then we stopped in at Mountaineer Popcorn, where we picked up both caramel and then some garlic Parmesan popcorn. They did say they would let us try any flavor we wanted to try, so I probably should have gotten a sample of the loaded baked potato because what does that even taste like on popcorn? But either way, both flavors we got were very delicious and I recommend them both.

The town had so many other things to offer, and I could see how it would be easy to spend a whole afternoon shopping and walking around, enjoying the historic buildings and the unique little shops. Town Hall was a really great looking building too, with a mix of sort of a modern and antique style.