As American as Pizza, Cookies, Cupcakes and Apple Pie.....

For about the past month I've been raving about this "cookie place" in Decatur to the Work Husband. This place specializes in cookies and cupcakes and when I tell you it will stop you in your tracks, trust me it will. But me being me, of course, I can't quite remember the name "The Cookie Company, the Cookie Store....something cookie" as I try ever-so-eloquently to explain it to him. Thank heavens for technology because he whips out the Blackberry and punches a few things in and Voila! The Cookie Studio in Decatur! Well - it just so happened that the Work Husbands REAL wife came home one day and was raving about these cookies from Decatur that someone brought into work. The astute Work Husband, half laughing again whips out the Blackberry and shows her the website and says "Is this it?" Well, we figured enough was enough, it was time to take an extended lunch and go get a cupcake. Interesting thing was the discussion that came after, "well we couldn't eat cupcakes for lunch could we?", "where will we eat lunch?"...."oh and then we could pop by this other bakery I know about".........well one thing led to another and the "Tour de Sweets" was set. Day: Friday. Time: 1130a - until................

Friday arrives and true to form our lunch day starts promptly at 1130am. Please fasten you seat belts - it's gonna be a a SUUUUWEEEAT ride:)

First Stop? Lunch at Savage Pizza in Avondale Estates. You must first understand that one of us (WORK HUSBAND) has a passion for pizza. Thin pizza, thick pizza, pizza! Pizza!! Pizza!! So

exploring a new pizza place could have severe consequences if it doesn't live up to very specific and uncompromising standards. This place definitely delivered. First the atmosphere is really clever and inviting. Now princesses in general don't go for comic books, but I couldn't help like this place. Comic book characters all over the walls, figurines -- very clever and tastefully done. The restaurant had a very comfortable and welcoming feeling and offered bar seating as well as

outdoor patio seating in addition to the tables inside. Although the menu offered much more than pizza, we knew there was only one option: Split a Greek Salad and medium "house" pizza. OK - one little soap box here. Work Husband and I undisputedly agree ....don't be putting no weird protein or fruit on our pizza! Give it to us straight-up, hold the pineapple. Which in our books mean: marinara, cheese, pepperoni, onions, olives, MAYBE sausage and our comprise --- half green peppers/half not:) Salad was incredibly fresh, pizza incredibly good -- thumbs up from both of us.....definitely worth a go. Especially if you have anyone in the family that gets their kicks out of comic books. My only criticism was the server. Our food came out promptly, but the server rarely returned to the table for service --- but in this case - we didn't really care, we discovered another spot to put on the lunch rotation! Oh, do yourself a favor, use this coupon -- we didn't know about it until after the fact:)

Next Stop.... Cookies and Cupcakes at The Cookie Studio. Keep an eye out for this

place, because you'll easily pass it by on College Avenue if you're not paying attention. Quiet and unpretentious (shocker for me right??) on the exterior - what's inside.....nothing short of the quintessence of cookies and cupcakes. OK so it's probably time to mention the cupcakes

at this wonderful place don't get the attention or headline they deserve. Cookies??? Fabulous. But in my opinion....the cupcakes??....HOLY SMOKES. One cupcake in particular.....the coconut cupcake. Right behind it, the lemon.....the carrot cake....the red velvet.......( I could go on) Another beautiful thing?? They come in bite size and regular size. This woman knows her stuff. So let's talk about this woman for a minute. Beyond now being what I feel is the end all and be all of cookies and cupcakes, she's a darn good human. Not only by graciously serving up what I'm sure has crashed my diet for the past 2 months, she donates proceeds from her business and her expertise in the IT world to the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children. Enough said, grab the check book and go buy some cookies and cupcakes already.

Stop 3 on Today's Tour.... Southern Sweets Bakery. People, people, people.

Want a cake? Want a Pie? Want Lunch?? -- Go here. Because we're on our sweets tour today, I'll leave the lunch menu for another time. But for the record, know you can go here have lunch AND walk out with a wonderful piece of cake, pie or numerous other wonderful desserts.

On to the other yummies... Now I brought the Work Husband here primarily for Show and Tell on the Cakes because these cakes....oh geese...they're works of art. Multiple layers of plain yumminess. Coconut cake, red velvet cake, caramel cake, carrot cake, yellow cake, chocolate cake....I could go on, and on, and on and on. Although I have been to this place before, today Southern Sweets would assume top spot on the best of the best for Apple Pie. My, My, My.....people all I can say is that this was the best apple pie I've ever had in my life, hands down, no discussion or argument - SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! This pie was sweet, savory, perfect crust (top AND bottom) and was topped off with some sort of pastry/bakery sugar that I've never had in my life. All of that and you'd think it would be an express ticket on the overly-sweet train, but no....it was perfection. The perfect mix of everything that melted in your mouth. The ONLY thing that would add to this slice of perfection.....huge dollop of vanilla bean ice cream. Work Husband and I SHARED a piece...OK - BARELY because it was a no-holds bar race to the end;) Beyond the food factor here, this little gem is tucked away in an old industrial park in Decatur. Honestly you'd never know it was there, which leads me to remind everyone what word of mouth and good food will do for you. The atmosphere in the bakery is simply wonderful. Art on the walls, couches and small tables -- just, like the food, perfect. Go, I promise you'll not be disappointed.

Final Stop on Today's Tour... Greene's Fine Foods in Decatur. AKA - CANDY SHOP! OK - by now, we're full on the sweets, but I figured what the heck, if we're gonna do this let's go all-in. So we stop by, if nothing else just for a look. Beyond having candy, chocolate, nuts, fudge and so on - this place offers a really cool atmosphere for having a kids party. It's a really neat place with some pretty darn good sweets. I've been before and had the chocolate covered oreos and some fudge, both were great. I jokingly told the staff they needed to get some milk in there, but looking back I think that might be a fabulous idea! Although we didn't buy anything today, we both walked around and let the eyes land on several "ohhh that looks good" potential buys. Again, our only critique, the service. We're not sure the kid behind the counter even said hello -- but then again we were busy with the "eye candy":)

Well folks, that concludes the Sweet Tour for today. All in all --- all wonderful food and all worth a go, and likely the only consequence of the day might be an extra 30minutes on the treadmill. Ok, 60 tops:)

Regards~

Jodie

*images courtesy of The Cookie Studio and Southern Sweets Bakery