Toffee Apple Crunch
Tungsten Toffee, Available throughout Boulder County, tungstentoffee.com
The family behind Nederland’s Tungsten Toffee never intended to make candy. But when kids Nick, Norah and Emily wanted some extra money for the holidays, their parents shared a closely guarded toffee recipe, and a slew of toffee popcorn, chocolate and other candy was soon created. We tried the toffee apple crunch, which is absolutely impossible to put down. The toffee is creamy, sweet and just a little salty. Meanwhile, the flavor of organic apples is robust, while baking spices round out the flavor. It’s a crunchy, sweet snack, perfect for fall. Prices vary.
Spicy Pig Pizza
BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, 1690 28th St., Boulder, bjrestaurants.com
BJ’s continues to rake in awards for its beer at the Great American Beer Festival, and for good reason. But it would be just another great brewery if it weren’t for its monumental menu of casual dining options. The pizza’s really the thing, and we opted for the thin-crust version of the Spicy Pig: oven-roasted ham, applewood-smoked bacon, sweet pineapple, jalapenos and a five-cheese blend. The crust snaps like a cracker, the sauce is rich and the flavors are fresh. $15.75.
Pan Dulce
Panaderia Sabor A Mexico, 1839 28th St., Boulder, saboramexicopanaderia.com
The fine folks at Panaderia Sabor A Mexico in Boulder produce a variety of cookies, sweet bread, pastries and more. Baking has been in the family for generations, and it shows in their consistency and richly flavored baked goods. Of the wide selection of pan dulce, we opted recently for a simple braid — a soft shell covers bright melon-colored filling. It’s begging to be dunked in coffee, if we say so ourselves. $.50.
Saison au Genièvre
Left Hand Brewing Company, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont, lefthandbrewing.com
Wow, this is an insane beer. It’s part of Left Hand’s Quatre Saisons series of farmhouse, saison ales. But this is one of the brewery’s boldest creations in the series yet. It starts slightly sweet, mildly tart and pleasantly funky, and right when you expect it to turn sour on your tongue, it dries out like a puddle on a hot driveway. That’s the Colorado juniper berries doing their job (“genièvre,” after all, is a Dutch gin). No other beer makes as acrobatic a twist on the palate, and we’d recommend solely for its novelty if it weren’t above all else a crisp, refreshing drink. Prices vary.
