Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Go Max Go Vegan Candy Bars, Millennium's Southern Comfort Dinner, & more Brownies!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

We've all perused the candy aisle at our local store, reading ingredients, only to find most everything is not vegan or filled with questionably sourced items. Well, no more! Go Max Go Foods, a vegan owned & operated company, is aiming to fill your candy void with their four new candy bars in varieties similar to those you may remember! I was lucky enough to get my hand on all four flavors & thought I'd give you a run down of each one.

I started with the Buccaneer, a candy bar in the style of 3 Musketeers. Thick, sweet, nougat covered in a rice-milk chocolate coating, this bar was delicious. While the nougat isn't as fluffy as I remember the non-vegan version being, I was still more than happy to eat this!

Next, I broke open the Twilight, which also contains nougat, but it also has a layer caramel in rice-milk chocolate, ala Milky Way. I loved the caramel in this, as I'm a big fan of anything caramel! Both of the bars were very sweet, so I was able to reign myself in & eat them over a few hours, instead of devouring them in one fell swoop.

I tried the Mahalo, a sweetened coconut candy bar topped in roasted almonds & coated in chocolate, but I'm not the biggest coconut fan & I didn't like Almond Joy bars, so I passed this on to my husband. We both agreed, it tastes like German Chocolate Cake filling, which is his favorite, so he was more than happy to take it off my hands.

Finally, the Jokerz bar was liberated from it's wrapper & headed to my stomach! While I wasn't a huge Snickers fan in my pre-gan days, this one sounded the best to me, hence saving it for last. Roasted peanuts, rich caramel, & peanut nougat in rice milk chocolate? Yes, please! I have heard people say it has too much caramel, but I'm a fiend, so I was thrilled. While I enjoyed all of the Go Max Go Bars, I think this may be the one I find myself craving most.

These fabulous candy bars by Go Max Go are still being added to stores around the nation, so check out the webpage to see if they're sold near you or get over to Food Fight, Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, or Vegan Essentials to place an order!

Every year, Millennium, San Francisco's vegan fine dining establishment sheds their formal gear & goes country for the Southern Comfort Dinner. I've attended the past two years & this year was another night of fun, food, & friends. This year our table of 9 included friends old & new, including Megan from The Sisters Vegan & Jenna from Vegan Dance Machine.

While some of the table started off with the uber classy bucket of beer, the whole table was treated to a bread assortment from jalapeno corn bread to bacon beer bread with a chive butter, as well as complementary "squished lemonade" & "sun tea".

Next up, a platter of "Branson's Style Nachos Supreme" hit the table with chips piled high with "Cheese Whiz", chorizo, black beans, guacamole, olives, & scrumptious Fried Green Tomatoes! It's funny how a gourmet restaurant can make something so basic taste so good! As we finished our nachos, the "Iceberg Wedgie" arrived. While most people aren't iceberg lettuce fans, this wedge topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, honeydew melon balls, & strangely realistic tofu "egg" crumbles, & house-made 1000 island dressing could tempt just about anyone.

With a selection of entrees to choose from with names like, "Muther Tucker's Oyster Dog" & "Pee Wee Epstein's Shake & Baked Seitan" it was hard to make a decision! I landed on the "Danielle's Hamburger Help Her Sheppard's Pie", which turned out not to be much of a pie, but a small bowl of walnut & mushroom filling with English peas & maitake & morel mushrooms, topped with mashed potatoes. While I was skeptical of the presentation, it was delicious! All dishes came with a side of buttered vegetables, (very strong) bourbon baked black eyed peas, & poppy seed & currant slaw, although none of them really grabbed me.

For our final course, we had a choice of "Muff Cake", something between a muffin & a cake, to take to the DIY (Decorated It Yourself) Bar. While this was similar to last year's Brownie sundae dessert, the toppings bar was lacking in options this year & although our reservation was early in the evening, some options had already run out. Thankfully, the "cherry popping" ice cream was good, as none of us were impressed with much else on the sweets side. That being said, the Southern Comfort is a creative & kitschy yearly event that I always look forward to attending. Look for me next year!

While it seems all I do is travel & dine out, that's not the case! Most of the food I have been making at home is less than inspirational, but I did whip up another batch of brownies, this time for the birthday of my girl Laura B. over at Vegansaurus! Having a few more Dandies Vegan Marshmallows on hand, I decided to use them for Fluffernutter White Chocolate Chunk Brownies! These deep, fudgy brownies with marshmallows, white chocolate chunks, & a peanut butter swirl top were so rich, they were cut in to bite size pieces, a perfect way to keep everyone from sugar overload. They flew off the table fast, so I'm guessing that means they were a hit!

42 comments:

bjorkedoff said...

those brownies slay me.
insane!

Amy said...

Mmmmm I'm totally drooling over both the brownies and the Jokerz bar!!! (But nothing beats a home made brownie, so it definitely wins!).

Those nachos are calling too.....

Nicole said...

Yum!!! This post is awesome.

Anonymous said...

The Twilight Bar sounds AMAZING!!! Love caramel =)

Ooo and those brownies look phenomenal!

Lisa said...

That Millennium dinner sounds like a blast!

Natalie said...

I love candy.

Livin Veg said...

I love that I can to this blog (which I love) right after I blogged about not eating sweets for the next two weeks. Vegan will power! But when I'm done with my no sweets diet, I'll be sure to try those candy bars:)

Livin Veg said...

I hate typos. Obviously I meant this:

I love that I came to this blog (which I love) right after I blogged about not eating sweets for the next two weeks. Vegan will power! But when I'm done with my no sweets diet, I'll be sure to try those candy bars:)

Anonymous said...

What amazes me about them is the amount of fat in most of the Go Max Go" products. But, at least they provide "nutritional" info at their website.

Vegan vs non-vegan candy... exchanging addiction sources...

Anonymous said...

Oh those nachos surpreme...just one of the best things in the entire world, and wow!
I really want some of those new candy bars! They are all over the net, but they should be in my tummy!

Tara said...

Ooh, those brownies look fantastic! And I'm glad that I'd have to mail-order those candy bars, otherwise I might have a problem.... The Southern Comfort event looks like it was a lot of fun, even if the food wasn't all great.

Tami said...

What a fun way to spend the night! The food all looks great!

Jenna said...

Mmm candy bars!

Veg-In-Training said...

The Millenium dinner looks like a blast. It brings back fond memories of our dinner there during our wine country visit in 2007. It makes me want to go back soon!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

You know, I've always wanted to try fried green tomatoes (albeit, I'd like to try them baked). For some reason, that just sounds so good to me!

I'm very excited to try the Go Max bars. Thanks for the great review. :)

Anonymous said...

I've been meaning to try the Go Max Go bars, but I never was a huge candy bar lover in my pregan days. Strangely I crave them now (hmm...)

Damn, those brownies look so good!

Josiane said...

It sounds like that Millenium dinner was great, but would have been even better had your brownies been on the dessert menu! Your description makes them sound terrific! Yum!

Bianca said...

Wow! All that Southern comfort food looks amazing. You know that's my favorite thing! And thanks for the candy bar review. I've been thinking about ordering those...I wasn't all that impressed with the Crispy Cat bars.

Anonymous said...

"Fluffernutter White Chocolate Chunk Brownies"

NO. WAY. Those sound absolutely to die for. What a great flavor combination!

Erin said...

Jeebus, if I ever get my hands on vegan Snickers (or any of your brownies for that matter) I am in serious trouble.

Unknown said...

vegan candybars...
they sound sooo good
<3

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

That Southern Comfort dinner sounds like a blast! I seriously must get my hands on those candy bars.

celine said...

can't wait to get my filthy paws on one of them candy bars.

laura! said...

those brownies were AMAZING! a few people emailed me after the party and they all mentioned them! I, of course, directed them to SBS for all their future vegan sweet needs!

Also, I am in love with go max go. they are all i want to eat. that is a problem.

finally, my word verfication word for this post is "bearman". AMAZING.

Becca Elouise said...

I am so excited about the go max bars. In the three years that I've been vegan I've been constantly lamenting the lack of vegan candy bars. Sure, we have plenty of good chocolate-bar options, but I want nougat and caramel and chewy deliciousness.

Hannah said...

Ha, what great timing- I'm about to post my review for these candy bars as well. Aren't they awesome?! :)

dreaminitvegan said...

Never knew that the Millenium did that. Very cool!
I remember the wedge salad back in the prevegan days, my husbands number 1 fav. but we would have it with blue cheese dressing, the iceburg is very refreshing.

Your brownies look divine!

Mihl said...

We definitely need those candy bars here in Germany!
That really looks like a comfort dinner- especially with those brownies.

jessy said...

i too get all sadfaced when i’m reading ingredients and then i get to something nutty like gelatin in gum or what have you. drives me nuts! the go max go candies sound deeelish – and i think the mahalo would be my fav – i love a good coconutty flavor! hooray for a super fun & fantastical southern comfort dinner! everything looks and sounds absolutely awesome! brownies – mmmmmmmmmmm!

p.s. - when in ny i got to visit lula's TWICE - it was so awesome! i was in heaven! thanks for the suggestion!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

those brownies sound amazing.

Anonymous said...

You have been enjoying plenty of tasty food and treats!!! I agree with you, the Jokerz bar is the best of the four Go Max Go candy bars. They are very sweet and I couldn't finish a whole one by myself, but woohoo for tasty vegan candy bars!!! The owners had a tasting at Food Fight a few weeks ago, and they are the kindest folks around.

Speaking of treats, your brownies sound (and look) downright awesome.

aTxVegn said...

I checked two of those sites today for Go Max Go candy bars and they are sold out. Makes me want them even more!

The Southern Comfort meal sounds like so much fun. Your homemade treats are no doubt far better than Millennium's!

Anonymous said...

i can't get over how good those brownies look!!

x said...

I want Go Max Go bars, one day they will make their way to Australia :)

And awesome look meals!

Anonymous said...

Food ed: shepherds pie is never a pie in a crust. I believe it's an English dish. It's always served in a shallow bowl or a ramekin, topped with mashed potatoes. I've never cared for it, but Amy's has one that makes an unobjectionable emergency lunch. I keep some in the freezer at work.

I want some go max candy bars too!

Jenn Shagrin said...

I have been dying to try those candy bars. they sound so bad ass.

BTW I will be in SF for Pride! I arrive on Thursday, and already have my reservations at Millenium. We need to party like rock stars.

allularpunk said...

i think my heart may have exploded with envy when i saw those candy bars. sigh.

Valerie said...

These pics of the bars look really great. Would you mind if I used two of them in a blog post about Go Max Go? Citing you fully, of course. Actually this post would also be mentioned.

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Miette said...

Miette Confiserie loves Go Max Go! (And The Urban Housewife, of course!) If you're in San Francisco, come see us on Octavia, & share in the vegan candy bar awesomeness! We're really trying very hard not to eat them all.

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