Freeze-Dried Candy: Coming Soon to Remix?

I stopped into Remix on Marshall Ave in St. Paul just before Christmas to get some popcorn goodies for my parents. The owner saw me and gave me a few new treats to try:

These are all freeze-dried candy! They are NOT for sale yet as the owner is still "perfecting" her strategy on making these. She gave them to me so my boys could try them!

The 2 on the left are both Skittles (one plain and one sour). The middle tub is Jolly Ranchers - they are big and airy and puffy and dissolve QUICKLY in your mouth, but taste JUST like Jolly Ranchers! And I think the ones on the right are Sprees. 

They are all very good and very unique! I took them home to try with my extended family over Christmas, and they were all enjoyable!

So look for these new menu items coming soon to Remix: 2042 Marshall Ave, St Paul, MN 55104. Open Wed-Sun, 12-5 pm, and until 6 pm on Saturday. Check out their shave ice if you haven't yet.

"Root Beer Float" Shave Ice At Remix!

My family swung into Remix on Marshall Ave in St. Paul this afternoon just before they closed. We heard they have shave ice (and not "shaveD ice"), and people have been saying good things about it. So we had to try it! It was the first time we were back inside after they re-opened their doors since the pandemic started (they were always open from a counter to the street, but it was our first time stepping inside in nearly 3 years):

My wife looking at goodies.

Their shave ice menu posted outside. LOTS of options!

My wife spotted a root beer variety pack and may have picked it up as another last-minute Father's Day present...

Behold! The "Root Beer Float" shave ice! It's HUGE!

Showing the inside after a few minutes of eating.

Charlie got a medium grape and cherry with a side of boba. TASTY.

Henry got a Cookie Coma shave ice!

On that big "shave ice" menu, I want to try "Unicorns Are Real," "Wizard's Brew," and maybe "OG Snowball." As we were there, the boys picked up 2 small bags of assorted candy (from all the bins you see on the right in the first photo), and my wife picked up 2 blocks of cheese. We can't wait to go back for more shave ice!

Check out Remix at 2042 Marshall Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55104. Open Wed - Sun from noon - 5 pm. (For now... the owner hinted that hours could get a little extended through the summer.)

Nellie's Ice Cream Sandwiches is NOW OPEN!

My son and I were out walking today, and we stumbled across Nellie's and their "open" sign all lit up! (They are in the old Izzy's Ice Cream location at 2034 Marshall Ave in St. Paul.) So we stopped in for a handmade ice cream sandwich.

The menu on the front window. We both went with an ice cream sandwich.

All the cookies up front (and the waffle cones to the left).

Four steps. We both had ours "hot pressed," and that was a good choice!

My little fella had a HUGE "sandwich:" the bottom was a big Rice Krispie bar, he had strawberry
cheesecake ice cream, a peanut butter cookie on top, and had it rolled in Oreo pieces! Wowza!!

My more "traditional" chocolate chip cookies with cookie dough ice cream.

It's nice they give you a little tray for it because they are hard to eat! Lots of ice cream!.

Their hours, and note that they are "cash only."

Yes, my son ate ALL of that. He loved it, but said it was too much. Next time, we'll split one. We saw a few people come out with the "sundae" option in a cup with the cookies on the side and 2 choices of ice cream (for just 50 cents more).

They're just a few storefronts down from Remix - my favorite local popcorn shop. So hopefully they both do well! Check out Nellie's on Facebook.

"Remix:" A New Candy and Popcorn Shop in the Merriam Park Neighborhood of St. Paul

Earlier this week, we stopped by the newest addition to our neighborhood: the popcorn and candy shop named "Remix." (Seen as "Remix Delights" and/or "Remix Popcorn and Delights" in a few places as well.) It's located at 2042 Marshall Ave in St. Paul - near Cleveland and Marshall, on the same block as Izzy's Ice Cream and Choo Choo Bob's Train Store.

Half the candy at "Remix." This is the back half. There's a rack like this in the front.

The candy is all in "bulk" where you scoop your own. Everything is the same price, so you can just pick and choose as you fill you bag! My boys each picked a few treats for their individual bags, and then it got weighed at the counter.

The front wall is decorated with lots of old cassettes...

.... and the light fixtures are even made out of cassettes!

Decorative tubes of flavored popcorn in the front window.

They have fudge in different flavors that is $4 a piece (for a LARGE piece). And their flavored popcorn has a few different "tiers" with lots of different flavors in each tier, and different sizes available to purchase.

Fudge!

Some of the popcorn flavors.

Different size options.

No major signage out front yet, so you have to find it on Marshall!

My boys and I think it's great! Stop by sometime! 2042 Marshall Ave in St. Paul.

A Homemade Cola at Cold Front

My big guy and I stopped at Cold Front on Thursday afternoon. He got some ice cream, and I got some soda:

Moose Tracks ice cream. He loved it!

Cold Front had remodeled since we were last there. This layout is nicer.

My cola, freshly made by the soda jerk behind the counter.

It was a nice "sharp" cola, probably from the "fresh" bubbly water. I'm not really here to rate it, but it was probably a 6 or a 7, and my son love the 2 sips he got. (And it was in a plastic cup because I got it "to go," otherwise it's in an actual glass.)

Root Beer Display in Grocery Store from 1960

I belong to a Facebook group called "Old St. Paul" about St. Paul's history. Someone named Jean posted this of a root beer display from St. Clair and Syndicate Ave in St. Paul in 1960:

Her caption:

"Root beer has been a long standing tradition in our family. On both sides of my parents.

Our go to was Dad’s Root Beer on occasion, but most times probably cause of 7 kids and it being far cheaper than single servings...our dad drove out Rice Street to the A & W stand just past Little Canada Road and brought the refillable gallon glass jug with him. Hauled home that ice cold frosty jug with its rivulets of water running down its sides and we’d enjoy Root Beer Floats.

For years, my widowed maternal grandfather would come to dinner every other week after my dad passed away. He’d either request my mom finish the meal with Root Beer Floats or Strawberry Shortcake made with those molded cakes one got at the store. (I got so I could not eat the later ever again).

But after dad died, my brother’s got inventive as mom did not continue most of our dad’s fun times. They started making their own root beer in the basement in a kind of still type contraption. Calling it 1919 Sewer Water. It had the strongest flavor of yeast. After it was made, it needed a dark shelf time. So, they put it into the cabinets that had previously been our kitchen in our basement home. My mother still did the wash down there, and was none to happy to find a number of the bottles had exploded and poured syrupy goo down the cabinets, to the counter and then the floor. Dark BROWN goo. That ended that.

But my first time ever eating pizza at Mama’s Pizza while still in High School, I ordered a root beer with it. Now, I seldom drink any pop, but if I’m going to have pizza, I yearn for Root Beer, and if its available- it becomes a throw back memory meal. 

May your Memorial Day 2018 weekend be one of joy and memories of OSP."

I wanted to share that here.  :)

Spring Grove Soda at a St. Paul Coffee Shop

I just stopped down the road at "Coffee Bené" here in St. Paul:

Behind Davannis Pizza near Grand and Cleveland in St. Paul.

I didn't have my phone on me to take a pic, but they had 4 or 5 different kinds of MN-made Spring Grove Soda in the front display case next to their bakery items. Just wanted to let you all know. Stop in to Coffee Benè and grab a soda!

(Click here for any post tagged with Spring Grove Soda.)

First Trip to "Cold Front" Soda Fountain / Ice Cream Shop

Last week, my boys and I checked out "Cold Front," which was the business that took over the space that had "Lynden's Soda Fountain" in it near Hamline and Randolph.

Lots of ice cream in the front.

Different cone sizes: the tiny cones on the left are from the "snowball FLIGHT" of mini cones.

Waffle cones and waffle cone maker.

I did what any Dad would do at 10 in the morning on a cold winter's day: I got my son some ice cream. Here's Henry enjoying some of their strawberry ice cream (I didn't even get to try it because he wolfed it down) as Steve from Cold Front made my "flight" of sodas in the background:

They still have the old soda fountain from Lynden's!
(Click that link if you want to see Henry at Lynden's over 2 years ago - cute toddler!)

My flight of homemade sodas: Chai Vanilla, Grape, and Cola.

They had 6 "classic" sodas like grape, orange, and cherry, and then they had 5 "signature" sodas like strawberry balsamic, lemongrass sass, and chai vanilla. Next time, I want to try the lemongrass sass and maybe the blood orange and beetroot.

Flight in progress.

Henry had about half of my grape soda.

A photo I Instagrammed: "Morning sugar rush: strawberry ice cream and a homemade grape soda at @coldfrontmsp."

This flight is over.

So here's a mini-review of my Minni-Soda Flight:


Cola: Steve told me that this was John Lyden's recipe that came from something that was published in the 1970s. It was Coca-Cola's original recipe (minus the cocaine, unfortunately). This was sharp and crisp (as most "fresh" sodas are). There was a great bite of lime, but not too much. Deep, rich flavor unlike what you get from a can of Coke or Pepsi.  Score: 8 out of 10. 

Grape: Steve asked me about this one after I had a sip to 2. He said he's still working to perfect it. It was very "grape JUICEy" as you can maybe tell from the froth on top in the first photo of the flight. Steve said he's using a mix of a grape juice syrup along with freshly pressed concord grape juice, but he's working to get it all right. It was good, but tasted a bit closer to "juice" than it did "soda." Actually, I'm excited to try this one again and again to see how it changes, even though it was my least favorite of the day.  Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Chai Vanilla: This was smooth and subtle. The vanilla was a nice touch. It tasted a bit like a subtly-flavored vanilla root beer, so you KNOW I liked it. It was better than I thought it would be. It's a unique flavor, and hard to fully describe. Just go in and try it.  Score: 8 out of 10.


I'll be back to try more of their sodas in their "Minni-Soda Flight" for sure. I still need to try their root beer.  Check out Cold Front on Facebook or Twitter.

p.s.  I love the idea of a flight of sodas. I don't need a lot of each flavor, and this way I get to try more. Steve told me that it was one of the last things they decided to add to the menu before they opened on Valentine's Day, and it was by far the biggest hit of the opening night. Great idea! Can't wait for more.

A Lunch Deal That Includes a Cheap Soda (Black Cherry Soda at Lynden's Soda Fountain)

"Cheap" meaning "inexpensive." Not meaning "of low quality."

Lynden's Soda Fountain in St. Paul has been advertising a lunch deal that includes 2 hot dogs, some chips, and a homemade soda. So yesterday, my son and I stopped in over the lunch hour.

Henry's first sip of their Black Cherry soda. He loved watching the "soda jerk"
make it at the soda fountain just on the other side of the counter.

SAVE SOME FOR ME, HENRY!

They have a BIG drink menu. This is just their "simple" sodas. They have about 10x more.
And a lot of the other items sound incredibly interesting! I need to KEEP coming back!

With our dogs and chips as Henry still works on the soda.

A big mouthful of  some ICE CREAM
(with Lynden's candy selection in the background).

He had to lick it clean.

An Instagramed photo: "Lunch date with my guy. @LyndensSoda has a great lunch special: 2 dogs,
some chips, and a homemade soda for $4.95. And they even threw in a free cup of ice cream for Henry!
(And we had to get a bag of candy and licorice for Mama for when she gets home from work.)"

Well, I suppose this calls for a quick review of Lynden's Black Cherry soda...


Brand: Lynden's Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: St. Paul, MN.

Purchase Place: Lynden's Soda Fountain, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Unknown.

Review: Like many of the other sodas I've had here, it had a crisp, clean, and sharp flavor. My son wouldn't put it down. It wasn't smooth at all - it was all "sharp." (I'm assuming that's from adding the "fresh" soda water.) The black cherry flavoring was right on. It maybe could be a little smoother, but that's what you get from a soda fountain!

Score: 8 out of 10.


p.s. Here are links to my first 3 trips to Lynden's: checking it out for the first time and getting some Root Beer, going back to try more Root Beer and Sarsaparilla, and trying my first Lime Rickey. I need to make it a point to try to stop back about once a month with my son so we can share/try other great sounding soda-related items on the menu! It had been 6 months since we'd been there!