The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Coffee Cake Muffin
Blueberry Muffin
Oatmeal Cake Muffin
Pecan Pie Square
Apple Scone
Sinfully Good Cookie
Banana Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
Having heard rumors of Bertha’s serving the best bread pudding in The Valley from more than one trusted source I took the opportunity after a long morning run to visit the small shop on Indian School Road while my family was in town and selecting widely from their freshly baked early morning selection I’m happy to say that although I personally think Cornish Pasty Company, Del Frisco’s, and Vovomeena all make a better bread pudding the lady’s at Bertha’s still turn out a pretty great rendition of the dish along with one of the best muffins and cookies I’ve had in Arizona.
Ordering eight items but only receiving seven (after calling them they admitted forgetting to pack up the sweet and salty brownie – something I still need to return for as they reportedly have my name written down somewhere) only the apple scone proved less than excellent as it was simply too dry, but more than making up for this was the dense oatmeal cake muffin – something like a no-bake oatmeal bar meets oatmeal cookie meets German chocolate cake – and the “Sinfully Good Cookie” that matched dark chocolate with sea salt, brown butter, and Captain Crunch to form something sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy, and quite large for only $1.95. A cute shop, though the exterior signage could certainly use work, it isn’t quite La Grande Orange, Scratch, or Essence but Bertha’s is still very good and with a few truly standout items I certainly need to make a return visit to further investigate.