Batson's Blog

Jenn's Suglarlicious Bakery in Gastonia is the kind of bakery you'll want to stop at if you're looking at a large bakery with fanciful frosting and lots of treats. I'd Googled the bakery to find the address, but I didn't know what to expect when I went in person. Located in Franklin Square, Jenn's is right next to a Subway off of East Franklin Blvd. There's a purple carousel pony placed against the window, which actually gives an idea as to what the cupcakes are like. There were 12 different flavors of cupcakes available. Each cupcake had a different color (or, in some cases, two) of carefully decorated frosting. With pink, purple, turquoise, yellow and orange frosting, the cupcake case almost looked like a rainbow. I've been taken in by colorful, decorative frosting before, though, only to be disappointed by the flavor of the actual cupcake. I probably could have picked more flavors, but I ended up settling on three: the Neapolitan, the Lem...

It was kind of deceptive. Even though the store was, more or less, sparse, there were several options to choose from: a lemon cupcake, a vanilla cupcake with white frosting, a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, a vanilla and chocolate cupcake with white and chocolate frosting, a chocolate cupcake with white frosting and a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. Get all that? I went with a lemon cupake and a vanilla/chocolate cupcake. I was going to stop there, even though the cupcakes didn’t cost much, but I was told there was a $5 credit limit. So, I got another cupcake and a slice of cake. For five dollars, you can get quite a few cupcakes at Berry’s Bakery.

If you forgot to celebrate National Ice Cream Day (it was on Sunday...sorry folks), here's the next best thing: tomorrow national hot dog day. If you're intending to celebrate accordingly, there are a few options for you. Kangaroo Express (find your location here ) is celebrating by offering .25 cent hot dogs. Hard to beat that deal, huh? If you're looking for more of a sit-down experience, try stopping by Miller and Kasper's hot dog shop in Gastonia. I was intrigued after reading about the new shop in the Gaston Gazette , so I stopped in for a bite last week. It's located in the heart of Gastonia's downtown at 101 W. Main Street . It's a small, old school-style diner, with about a dozen stools for counter seating. There are some freebie newsletters and magazines to read while you eat. Of course, if you have your smart phone or an e-reader, you don't really need the freebies. Since it's not the largest shop, there are only a few hot d...