Nosh Tour

I took a tour of St. Louis last week.  I was really looking forward to it for two reasons.  One, it is nice to go on a trip that I don't have to make any of the arrangements and two, every stop on this trip involved food.

Our first stop was to tour the Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Factory and eat free samples.  The couple that started this company had three children.  That explains the significance of the three words in their name.  The kids are grown now and all work for the company often on the factory floor.  The company began in 1981, is Fair Trade Certified and uses solar energy in this new factory.

After shopping at the factory outlet store, the tour moved on to the Hill.  We stopped at DeGregorio Market where I bought homemade Salsiccia Italian sausage and Spicy Sicilian Pasta Sauce to have for Mike's Dinner.

By this time the tour guides felt we needed to keep up our strength and we stopped for lunch at Jilly's Cupcake Bar.  The lunch was very good but all anyone asks is what kind of cupcake I ate.  I had one of this month's specialties the Southern Banana Cream Pie Cupcake.  The cake was banana with a Nilla wafer crust on the bottom, the filling was caramel and banana custard, and the topping was a cream cheese icing with a caramel swirl, whipped cream dollop, chocolate shavings and a banana chip.  It was delicious.

Our last stop of the day was the Billy Goat Chip Company.  There are only three ingredients in their chips - Idaho Russet potatoes, canola oil and their own secret seasoning blend.  The owner is an executive chef who had his own restaurant where the potato chips ended up being the star so he switched direction and now spends his time making and selling chips.  These chips are sold in 35 states and he has a store locator app on his website.  The warehouse does not need much in the way of storage facilities as the chips are shipped out within 48 hours of being made.  We also got to sample the days recipe of the spicy or Kicker potato chips and they gave us a free bag to take home.  They were so good my chips did not make it home.

Upon investigation I have found that both the chocolate and the chips are sold in Edwardsville Illinois.  Edwardsville is also the home of our favorite popcorn store.  In fact, the next time I go to Edwardsville I will be adding a few more stops.  It will be like having my very own Nosh Tour.