1500 Edson Hill Road, Stowe 253-8741

For super-secret reasons that will reveal themselves in next week's paper, I mostly limited myself to eating in last week. For the same super-secret reasons, I was in desperate need of great desserts. One night, there was no choice but to drive 40 minutes to Gracie's for the big guns. I had to get a "Doggie Bag" (pictured).

I don't mean leftovers. I refer to a dessert, that, though it's built for two, could easily inspire snarling and gnashing if anyone else tries to get a taste. Any dessert presented in a pool of double-boiled, salty hot fudge is okay by me. However, this modern marvel consists of a white chocolate bag filled with chocolate mint mousse. The hot fudge lightly melts any bits of white chocolate with which it comes in direct contact. We're talking serious sensuality, here. And they throw a girl a bone — a dog bone, that is. It's a crispy chocolate cookie, ready for dipping in the salty sauce.

Since my boyfriend and I were extra hungry, just one dessert for two would not suffice that night. We tried the "Dog Bone," the first time we'd had any dessert at Gracie's but our standard "Doggie Bag." Like the Bag, the Bone also lies in a pool of the legendary sauce. In this case, the white stuff melting with the fudge is vanilla ice cream, along with blobs of not-too-sweet whipped cream. The main event is a bone-shaped portion of buttery blondie, given texture with the presence of lots of pecans. They say all dogs go to heaven. I say any of these dog dishes will take you there, too.