Note: This article covers what I think is pretty bad in food products that reportedly should be pretty good, at least their advertising says they are. With prices increasing from gas to groceries, I’m fed up with what I feel are inferior products and will report on them along with some good products over the next few months.

Pizza Hut

NO, NO, NO! I can’t believe a perfectly good pie is ruined with another version of sweet pizza sauce.

Last month I blasted Pappa John’s for their sugary pizza sauce and skimpy toppings basically stating that the reason Pappa John’s was created was due to that high ranking executive that bolted from Pizza Hut and began an advertising campaign that he had better ingredients for his new pie.

It stands to reason that his sauce would be similar to Pizza Hut’s and it is, just sickening sweeter.

However…the sauce on Pizza Hut’s new “The Grill” pie is less sweet that Pappa John’s but still too sweet for a good pie especially when the ingredients are mixed in. Hey Pizza Hut…when you mix green and red peppers, cook them, they sweeten the flavor which, when combined with your sweet sauce, it’s terrible.

On the flip side, the toppings were outstandingly better than Pappa John’s. Good quality  rectangular pieces of grilled steak meat, chicken, and slices of ham, along with nice size toppings of red and green peppers. Each topping had its own distinct flavor, even the peppers. This is a good pizza to look at, just don’t eat it.

It was also cooked all the way through having a toasted bottom crust that gave way ever so slightly when you picked it up to your mouth.

At the special price of $12.99, it’s only $1 more than Pappa John’s pie I reviewed last month, but well worth that buck more if you like a sweet flavored pie.

Will I return to Pizza Hut? No, I’ve discovered Blackjack pizza.

Blackjack Pizza

OK, there’s no getting around it, Italian sausage on pizza are all shaped a like, some bigger pieces (Blackjack) than others (Pappa John’s) but all look like they came from bigger or smaller rabbits. Sorry but that’s the way it is.

However, on a Blackjack pie, the sausage is mixed with the other larger portioned ingredients (pepperoni, green pepper, mushrooms, onions), so it doesn’t stand out like a dropping in a sparse garden…it seems camouflaged.

I like Blackjack pie well enough to order again primarily due to its sauce. No, to the abundance of toppings, no, to its firmer bottom crust, no, actually to its all around better flavor than John’s and the Hut’s.

There’s barely a sweet flavor to it and honestly, with the toppings I mentioned above, I wasn’t too put off by the slightly sweet flavor. I’ll order some of their specialty pies in the future for a different flavor presentation.

The price for this pie was a base of $6.99 with $1 more per topping, coming out at $11.99. This was a better spent $11.99 than PJ’s based on toppings alone. Also, I was told that since most Blackjack Pizza places are franchises, they can set their own pricing which is why, when on their web site, they’re no prices.

This way, they can be as competitive as they want, producing a product with more ingredients than you find on their competitor’s pies, for the same or less money. Plus, the toppings are all good sized.

I know that when I opened the pizza box for the first time at home, we were all impressed with the amount of toppings on that pie…all the way up to the crust.

Next month…more pizza war.

Altitude Sweets Bakery

Smaller Portions=Same Day Fresh

In talking with Pam, partner/owner of this incredible Eastside bakery, she mentioned her frustration regarding getting a message across to some of her patrons.

She tries to explain how maintaining daily freshness in her products means that baking in smaller sizes allows a freshness throughout the day that maintains its consistency.

In otherwords, when it comes to baked goods, pastries, breads, bigger is not better. She relates that for some time everything could be “supersized”, but the current trend is toward smaller, more healthful portions.

Altitude Sweets Bakery is a forerunner of this trend, from opening day offering products in regular and smaller sizes.

For example, ¼ pound cakes are a handy grab and eat size of the full pound cakes. Remember to call ahead to see if one of the following are your favorite, Banana Nut, Maple Walnut, Strawberry Cream Cheese, Apple Raisin, Chocolate Mocha, and Chocolate Cranberry since they are made on different days, and can be made to order in either size.

Their tea cookies are smaller size cookies that would be served with a cup of tea. And, with the following choices of Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Peanut Butter no-bake, Lemon with a lemon glaze, Cinnamon, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Mint, and Oatmeal Raisin, they are a steal at 3 for $1.00.

When it comes to cakes, you’ve got to try the upside down cakes made per the daily menu are in single size only, but may be ordered in a 9” round.

They consist of Blueberry, Cranberry Apple, Chocolate Strawberry, and Pineapple whose small size conveniently holds one slice of pineapple with a cherry in the middle – very cute.

Or try one of the L7 Cakes that are 3 ½” squares frosted all around. The types vary according to the orders of the day, but any may be pre-ordered.

9” round, ¼ sheet, ½ sheet and full sheet cakes are available only by order, as the price of ingredients have so greatly increased, it is better to not have any left at the end of the day that may spoil.

They also make Bundlettes, small bite size versions of the Bundt Cakes, perfect for a non guilty taste of the sweet Black Forest, Raspberry, Berry Berry Cakes.

Also, their breads can be ordered in the small size – White, Whole Wheat, Coarse Wheat, 9-Grain, Cinnamon Raisin and Sourdough.

In other words, Altitude Sweets Bakery is not unlike a fresh fish/seafood outlet on the docks in San Francisco where the boat pulls up, unloads the fresh catch it wants to sell to the public, but only for a short time of maybe 2 hours. Then it’s closed up till the next day.

You can find out what catch is coming in for that day just like you can find out what bakery goods are being prepared for the day so that you can purchase just enough to have the freshest product for your dining pleasure.

The one thing you cannot do at either place is to see what’s on the shelf. The seafood isn’t lying on a bed of ice throughout the day, and the cakes aren’t displayed in glass cases like a grocery store bakery.

Since Altitude Sweets Bakery prepares daily, from scratch, for you, they can’t afford to put out a cake product on speculation to see if it sells or not.

Just remember, if it’s a special pastry or baked good you want from them, first call to see if it’s in the bakery that day. If not, ask if it could be made for you that day or the next. Then, try to become as familiar as possible with when and what items are available during the week.

Remember, Altitude Sweets Bakery is a “specialty” bakery that does not put out all of their goods every day. For the sake of freshness, they can’t and I for one, thank them for not trying to have everything for everybody, everyday.

Altitude Sweets Bakery, Corner of Tutt and N. Carefree, 6050 N. Carefree, 573-8217. www.altitudesweets.com