You don't know what you want 'til it's got.

I did some highly rewarding work for some friends recently. Afterward, they surprised me with a gift -- the handsome lunch box pictured above. I am in love with it, if one can be in love with partially-transparent molded plastic.

The "Box Appetit" is by black + blum. It features a little divot in the lid for soy sauce, a sauce container, a separate (microwavable) compartment for other foods, a plastic fork/knife, a holster for chopsticks, and a really sleek design. Why, there's a whole 5-minute video online about how stylish it is.



Okay, the video's a little silly. But this lunch box is seriously sweet. It slips right into my purse and makes my leftovers look beautiful. Why, it gets compliments just sitting quietly in the work refrigerator. I love it!

I'd like to be paid in lunch boxes from now on, please.

--------

New Toy: The Zoku

My Aunt D. gave us two Zoku Quick Pop Makers for Christmas. You're sure to witness more of my experiments with them if you stick around on Snackreligious, but for starters I made the kiddo a quick milk popsicle. As you can see, it works just fine (though I forgot to snap on the drip guard before handing it over). I didn't taste this particular pop, though. Just for babies!

-------

Pick-Me-Up

My morning coffee (and afternoon coffee and evening coffee) is hot chocolate.  I don't particularly enjoy the flavor of coffee and I love not being dependent on the caffeine of coffee or tea (though I do also like tea), so I often drink cocoa when I want a hot beverage.  

I'm sometimes given intriguing flavors of drinking chocolate as gifts.  One of the more recent was this Belgian white chocolate pictured above.  It's smooth and unassuming, heated up in milk (and my favorite office mug). Despite one co-worker teasingly announcing that my frequent breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate is "baby food," I'm not giving up this habit.
------

How to Accessorize a Sweet Tooth

(photo by Dan; shirt by Jemma Hostetler; cardigan from Urban Outfitters; tank from source unknown; purse from Anthropologie)

Is it weird to be excited because one's new purse photographs so well alongside Reese's Pieces?



I mean, it only made me a little more excited than I normally would be about Reese's Pieces, but still.

Bonus Accessory

Let's talk office supplies and how they may enhance our snacking!

I love the decorative hole punch Nick picked up in Japan (I think that's where he said it came from; I might have misheard while busy swooning over its cuteness). Not only does it create a mini fork and spoon in negative, it also creates fork and spoon confetti!

Nick said he hole-punches his recipes this way now. Too clever.

Inspiring

("Midnight Snack" photo credit: TWiNKiE CHAN. Posted with permission.)

I already knew that Twinkie Chan crochets the most tasty scarves that I never get to buy because they sell out so quickly or go for more money than I can relinquish on Ebay.

But today I discovered that she also has a clever blog about eating "yucky" food. Check it out: I Eat Yucky Stuff!

This woman is über adorable and snack-savvy. She has an awesome tattoo featuring ice cream (especially visible in the video on Chinese snake gall medicine), is as stylish as all get-out, and will admit openly to what she's eating. Did I leave out fearless? She taste-tested dog food! I jolly well heart her.

I mean, and now we're back to her incredible crochet, once I knit a scarf with novelty yarn that looked a little like lettuce (pictured below). But it's not like you look at it and want to both eat it and wear it forever . I can't even aspire to the fab craftiness that is Twinkie Chan.