On Wednesday, after passing it for months almost every time after leaving my home to go anywhere, my little family & I finally stopped at
Bolton Orchards. My previous experience had been limited to enjoying the "ssssh the apples are sleeping" sign, mentions on the
Boston Events Insider (which I recommend as the best source for cool events in New England) &
Yelp reviews, and a large box full of gluten-free pastries from
Gerardo's Italian Bakery my parents bought when they stopped on their way to visit us.
My primary interests were to check out the entirety of their gluten-free stock as well as their farm-fresh fruit and vegetable selection, of course. I was not disappointed. What a fabulous place! Starving after a doctor's appointment, I was delighted to find out that they offered deli-made gluten-free sandwiches, complete with list of which meats & cheeses were definitely safe. I ordered a roast beef with everything (lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions & Monterey Jack cheese); my partner Bill ordered turkey with bacon, lettuce, pickles, Monterey Jack, hot peppers on the side for him and tomatoes on the side for Liberty.
While our sandwiches were being made, I first made a beeline for the Geraldo's Italian Bakery counter. They're actually a separate business with a location inside Bolton Orchards, instead of freestanding stores like their other locations in West Boylston and Westborough. I discussed gluten-free with the woman behind the counter, telling her I was writing this blog post tonight, and she gave me a little tour of their current gluten-free offerings. Most of them are in a separate display case on top of the glutenous but incredibly tasty-looking baked goods; this included brownies, two different kinds of macaroons, and two varieties of nut pastries. Inside the usual display case was incidentally gluten-free strawberry & raspberry cheesecake bites. Having had not cheesecake in longer than I care to remember, I purchased a strawberry cheesecake bite, frosted pistachio pastry and chocolate frosted macaroon. Also, they do special orders for standard and customized cakes, for events like weddings and birthdays; for instance, they can make a gluten-free Elmo cake for Liberty's impending second birthday!
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| Cheesecake! |
I already knew it would not be wise to open the box until later so I put it in my shopping cart and proceeded to check out the rest of Bolton Orchards. I saw brands of cheeses I haven't seen since my many years living in Britain, gluten-free Italian meats wrapped around thick logs of mozzarella, lots of gf breads & pizzas including some that need to be pre-ordered,
Amy's products I can't find anywhere else, mixes that are hard to find, and
donut holes. That last one is going to get discussed in another blog post at a later date, because I couldn't prevent myself from buying it. I mean, donut holes. C'mon.
