A Berry Good Idea

To meet your daily quota of fruit, think chocolate.
A visit to AJs Berries & More in Glendale AZ will convince you
that three to five servings, just isn’t enough.

By Sandra Scott

“Eat your fruit,” is a typical mother’s mantra.  And, of course, mothers are always right. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree with mom; they recommend three to five servings of fruit each day.

I recently found the best place, and the best way, to comply with both mom’s and the government’s recommendation. In the historic Catlin Court area of Glendale AZ, many of the old homes have been converted into boutique shops. It is there visitors will find AJ’s Berries & More.

What a great way to eat one’s daily requirement of fruit! Strawberries dipped in chocolate have long been the epitome of decadence but Annette Lane, the owner of AJ’s Berries & More, has taken dipping to new levels of precision. Now you can get chocolate-covered raspberries, bananas, pineapples and cherries, along with other chocolate-dipped delights, such as potato chips and pretzels.

Lane started an Internet business in 2001. The Glendale store opened in August 2004 and is already expanding. Lane attributes the success to her dedication to quality at every step. "We spare no expense in making the finest chocolate-dipped products and only name brand foods are used in our production. We use products with names people know and trust like Driscoll berries, Ghirardelli chocolate, Snyders pretzels, and Lay's potato chips.”

The Driscoll berries, grown by the Driscoll family for more than a century, are big, plump and perfect. Dipping them in Ghirardelli chocolates takes them to a new level of perfection. Ghirardelli is one of the few companies in America that controls the entire chocolate manufacturing process, from cocoa bean to finished product, which means they end up with the highest quality product.

Every chocolate product from AJ's Berries & More is dipped, swirled and packaged by hand. This way, Lane says, they can guarantee the quality and freshness of every piece.

AJ’s customizes products for weddings and corporate events and gifts. Particularly popular are bride and groom strawberries, one dipped in dark chocolate and decorated to look like a groom, the other dipped in white chocolate and decorated to look like a bride.

AJ’s Berries & More has recently added a breakfast menu. Their chocolate-dipped biscotti and cinnamon rolls iced with a chocolate cream cheese topping are the perfect way to start the day. Or customers can take home a strawberry pie with a deep crust lined with chocolate then filled with a pound and a half of strawberries mixed with a strawberry glaze and topped with more chocolate. The perfect way to end the day and meet the daily recommended quota of fruit. Remember, if a little dip will do ya' then a lotta’ dips will do even better.

AJ’s Berries & More is located at 5845 West Palmaire, Catlin Court, www.berriesandmore.com.

Sandra Scott is a frequent contributor to travel publications and to Creators Syndicate
and has co-authored two books on local history. She lives in Mexico, NY.

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