Cocktails, Clover, and Cookies

Cookies were the focal point of the night, but where there is an event, there are Boston bloggers who will get together early, stay late, and generally find ways to extend the fun.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Elizabeth inviting me to a cookie and brownie tasting of Geoff & Drew’s baked goods. Never one to turn down the opportunity to taste new products, and with the desire to visit the brand new Clover Food Lab in Harvard Square, I RSVP’d yes and made plans to meet a few other bloggers beforehand.

I met Megan in Harvard Square, just outside the T, and we headed to Noir in the Charles Hotel where we ordered cocktails while we waited for Daisy and Emily.

Noir is a dimly lit, sorta swanky bar, perfect for a place with an extensive cocktail list and tasty bar bites. To warm my freezing bones, I ordered a Sazerac, new orleans style – old overholt rye whiskey, peychaud’s bitters, simple syrup & a touch of ricard pastis.

Not a drink for the faint of heart, a Sazerac satisfied my need for an strongly flavored cocktail and truly did warm me from the inside out. Did I mention I went for a 12 mile run in 16 degree weather earlier in the day?

We shared the avocado dip (guacamole) and a couple of flatbread pizzas while we chatted. The pizza with the prosciutto, dried peaches, arugula, goat cheese, and balsamic reduction was pretty delectable with its sweet and salty contrasts. I would definitely order this again.

We stopped at small bites as we knew we had the job of cookie tasters ahead.

When Elizabeth was planning the tasting, the owner of Clover generously allowed her to plan the event in their large new space in Harvard Square. Well lit, smelling of rosemary fries, and decorated with a huge Christmas tree surrounded by Lionel trains, the ones we had at home when I was little, Clover is a really inviting place that I will definitely return to.

We bloggers got settled, and soon enough Geoff & Drew’s President and Chief Cookie Girl, Carol Spickler, arrived to tell us a little about her company and to shower us in baked goods.

Stashed away in cute little gift boxes were a variety of cookies including chocolate chunk, white chocolate cranberry, and oatmeal cranberry as well as a variety of brownies such as their “very special” toffee brownies and my favorite, the peppermint chocolate brownie.

Carol told us about the beginnings of the company as Late Night Cookies in Brighton, delivering milk, cookies, and ice cream to area college students. This reminded me of my beloved Sugar Jones. If you went to UMASS Amherst, you know what I mean

Carol also shared some of their successes including the fact that their cookies are the Boston Red Sox favorite cookies and that they were also once thoroughly enjoyed by Nate Berkus. Nate, please invite Geoff & Drew’s on your show and ask me to be in the audience to blog about it? Pretty please?

If you check out their press page, you will also see that they have been featured in Modern Bride, on Rachael Ray, and on the Today Show Destination Wedding Series, to name a few.

While the press is impressive, the products speak for themselves. As mentioned above, I was especially enamored with the peppermint chocolate brownie which married fudgey chocolate with cool peppermint, a flavor combo that I can’t get enough of. The chocolate chunk cookies were also delicious with big chunks of chocolate and chewy cookie.

I washed it all down with a Clover hot cider.

Carol was kind enough to bring cookies for us to bring home so my husband could have a chocolatey treat (after a 15.5 hour work day )

It was exciting and refreshing to meet someone who has gone after a dream and succeeded. As I search for and follow my bliss right now, I love meeting people who may have gone a less traditional route but who have used hard work to build something fantastic.

Geoff & Drew’s, known as the Tiffany of cookies for their high quality products, are “baking people happy”, and I am excited to have them as a local business.

Thanks to Elizabeth for organizing, to Carol and everyone at Geoff & Drew’s for sharing their story and their deliciousness, and to my fellow bloggers for always being a ton of fun!

HAPPY FRIDAY! This weekend I have a birthday party, a date night, and a Champagne and Port tasting at the Urban Grape. AND I will announce the winner of the Kerrygold contest, so be sure to enter!