You may have heard of Belknap Dough Company when they were a large, black food truck doling out hot pizza pies. But now, you can get those same delicious pizzas all the time on Main Street in Hurricane. 



Dawn and I visited the brick-and-mortar location, which is a lovely space with dark wooden floors and a window into the kitchen that has a wood-fired pizza oven as a centerpiece. 



The menu features a pepperoni roll, charcuterie trays, salads and, of course, pizza. Cheese, pepperoni, sausage, margherita, bianca, Hurricane haze and "Main Street Pepperoni" are the pizza options.



There were a few things that captured my attention. First, I started with the pepperoni roll. Is there anything better than that cheese pull? Yes, a hot, stringy cheese pull that is enveloped in pepperoni and covered in a golden brown dough. 



I love a good caprese salad. This was perhaps less of a salad and more kababs. Cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic reduction drizzled over the skewers made for a delicious, fresh bite. 



And for pizza - the one that stuck out to me was the "Main Street Pepperoni" because it's the most different: San Marzano red sauce, pepperoni, ricotta and hot honey drizzle. Fresh ricotta is one of my favorite pizza toppings - and the hot honey drizzle was perfect on the crust to give it some ooomf. What is your favorite pie here?



Grade: A

You may have heard of Granny's Kitchen through their growing social presence. There is no storefront (though you can snag some at local markets), so I ordered some via Facebook messenger and drove up to Parkersburg to pick them up.

Granny has a number of varieties available, and they switch out. But on this particular day, I was able to try a Turtle - my favorite! It was chocolate and pecans and had these ribbons of soft caramel yummm.



Then there is Midnight Snack - milk chocolate base swirled with Lay’s potato chips & Chex Mix. Plus pumpkin, birthday cake, raspberry chocolate and this peanut butter and jam one that was mind-blowing.

They were all delicious, and because there are all sorts of different varieties that swap out, I have so many more I need to try! 

Travel + ice cream are two of my favorite things. So, I combined the two recently during a trip to Vienna to check out the Frostee Shoppe Too.



The small drive-through shop has more than just ice cream, though: hot dogs, nachos, pretzels and pulled pork BBQ, as well. 



I started off with ice cream and went with a turtle frostee flurry - chocolate, caramel and pecans. I oddly loved that the mix-ins aren't completely blended so there was a chunky texture with some chocolate-heavy bites and pecan-heavy bites for variation.



Then, I went with a soft pretzel with cheese. I'm not sure if I developed like a sensitivity to salt or what, but I cannot deal with this much salt on a pretzel. It just takes over. So I brushed a good bit off, dunked it in cheese and it was all hunky-dory.



And I got two hot dogs, too. One plain with ketchup and a "junkyard dog," which had "everything imaginable." It was pretty much chili, ketchup, mustard, onion and relish. Not bad, but with so many toppings, you barely get any of the hotdog itself.

Grade: B

One of my favorite new-ish stores in West Virginia is the Blue Ridge Bee Company in Princeton.



"Blue Ridge Bee Company is based in the heart of the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia. When we started hearing of the mass honey bee die-off we became interested in saving this valuable creature. After much studying, we started our honey operation in 2014 and have expanded each year since.



In December 2019, we opened our store on Mercer Street in the Grassroots District. We came to this district with a vision of opening a store that was reminiscent of an old-timey general store, selling local bread, meats, honey, jewelry, soap, and more, while also supplying customers with beekeeping equipment and training. Our main goal is to teach people to keep bees properly, helping them thrive throughout the year and rebuild the bee populations."



This lovely storefront, in addition to selling a wide variety of local honey, has so many local goods. There are old-fashioned candies,  local breads and baked goods an even ice cream.



Of course, I had to try the honey - but specifically the WV Wildflower honey. You may think that all honey tastes the same, but when you try a few, you can notice the floral notes or woody notes or whatever type it may be.



One really cool thing they also have here is a line of canned specialty goods under their brand name. Chow chow, dilly beans, jams, jellies, relish - I love these items because they have that Appalachian twist and are not always something you can find in a grocery store. 



In addition to getting some of the name brand products (which are all delicious!), I went for some other local ones, like this Moonstruck Maple Syrup. Which is SO tasty.



This makes me think... I need to do a whole list on WV honey and maple syrups. 



Have you been here before? 

There's a certain void that a smoothie can fill. It's light and refreshing and can be more healthy or more indulgent depending on the ingredients.



At the mall in Barboursville, there's a new smoothie spot: Green Revolution. They have smoothies, smoothie bowls, salads and avocado toast. Many of the options have some feel-good, healthy ingredients. 



I went for a strawberry-banana smoothie - a pretty standard, solid option at most smoothie places. This one was made with yogurt and no added sugar, so it still had the same great flavor without the additional sweetness.



Does that make it a bit more bland? Maybe. Does it make it more guilt-free? Yes. And they even have a paper straw to be environment-friendly. But, man, it sure does get yummy and difficult to use after a bit.



Have you been? I'm curious about the avocado toast! 

Grade: B