ocean city, new jersey

Our annual pilgrimage down to the Jersey Shore (south of Snooki's haunts) was delayed by Hurricane Irene this year, but when we finally got down to Ocean City, the air was crisp, sky was clear and the water, a bit murky. No worries, as The Kids aren't huge beach fans —don't ask— and are more interested in the variety of amusements and boardwalk fare.

The offerings are innumerable. These are a few of our favorites.

Pizza at Mack & Manco

Mack and Manco is indisputably king of pizzas on this stretch of boardwalk. Their slice has a thin, almost cracker like crust, salty cheese and a seasoned (oregano, red pepper flakes) tomato sauce. Delicious.

Apple Cider Donuts at Oves

 Cinnamon sugar and vanilla frosted

Goofy Son

Look at that fried outer layer- YUM!

Ice cream treats

 Kohr Bros. frozen custard

(my apologies for the garish, greenish fluorescent glare)

 Dairy Queen- vanilla cherry-dipped

Polish Water Ice- cotton candy and mango

I was particularly intrigued with this bake shop—

Crazy Susan's Cookies

I spotted a kiosk on the boardwalk, which said that Crazy Susan's Cookies were featured on Rachael Ray's Snack of the Day. The offerings were few, so I went to their bakery in town. There, I got to see  the workers, the kitchen, which was directly behind the counters, and trays and trays of freshly baked cookies.

There was no sign of Crazy Susan, except on some merchandise and promotional items...

I did not know she had a food network show too. She's the cookie's answer to Cake Boss.

 The Crazy Turtle, in the forefront, is the most popular cookie.

We sampled the cookies when we got home. This cross section of the Crazy Turtle shows the chocolate chips and cashew cookie, covered with caramel and chocolate. The cookie texture was rather thick and a bit crumbly, sort of like a pecan sandie. Tasty, but not buttery. I loved the caramel chocolate topping.

The S'mores Cookie, with a graham cookie base, marshmallow fluff, and hershey bar, was delicious. The Kids loved this one.

We rounded out the choices with Almond Joy (coconut cookie with almonds and chocolate drizzle) and The Mayor (chocolate cookie with Rolos and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.)

I love the imaginative offerings and will try to recreate all four of them, with the most important substitution of, yes, you guessed, BUTTER!