The Well-Traveled Tongue.

Oog, these photos are blurry. I blame Blogpress. I am in formatting hell.

One of my coworkers vacationed in London last week. Like a total doll, he brought us back a bag of Cadbury sweets from Duty Free in Heathrow Airport.

Have you had this experience? When a coworker shares assorted treats with the office, I have to reign in my gotta-catch-em-all mentality. I'm a collector of tastes, and I like to try EVERYTHING. I can't count the number of parties where that has been my goal at the buffet (forget small talk). I also like to flip through every channel on the television before choosing a show (which is why we don't have cable) and at least glance at every single shoe at DSW before I exit. But these candies were for the group, and there are a number of us, so I held back and just tried a few varieties. I didn't take a Twirl or an Eclair or a . . .


Maybe I should go back to see if there are still some that need to be eaten.


But enough about me.

 

Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel: The chocolate didn't taste like anything particularly special, and the caramel was absolutely liquid and drippy, but there was a depth of flavor to the caramel that one doesn't always find in modern, mass-marketed chocolates.

Cadbury Fudge: The fudge filling neither looked nor tasted much like fudge. The filling was light brown and almost granular. When chewed, the consistency was that of a moist candy corn. It seemed too sweet to me (not that fudge isn't sweet), too, and nowhere near rich or chocolate-y enough. I thought this was kind of a dud.

Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted: Many have said it before me, but the fact that we (in the USA) cannot get Cadbury Creme Eggs year round should embarrass every citizen of this country. Show me the government agency hiding our eggs until Easter. I'll fight 'em! That stated, this small bite didn't really work for me. It was too flimsy for the goopy filling inside, gone too quickly, and though it coated the inside of my mouth it didn't really satisfy.

Calling this a "Travel Mix" is kind of funny. I can't imagine how ill even I would feel after sitting on an airplane for several hours eating my way through the entire package. It's no trail mix, that's for sure. But these three bites were a pretty good way to start my work day.


N.B. Hey! this was my 999th blog post on Snackreligious. Stay tuned for a super-epic 1,000th post in which I do something ill-advised and possibly gross!

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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.

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Poetry Tuesday: I don't get it.

Your face is so nice but your nice isn't nicest
What's magic, who's longing, where's heart-smash and heavy breaths?



You're sitting there crisply, you don't move, won't move me
You're quiet, I do think; I don't think you're thinking



Your words slip out pretty but not quite full-flavor
Your hands might be empty, my hands glance away



I crunch your small whispers; they crumble like old age
What's filling you, darling, and where did it go?


Happy Macaron Day, everyone.  Do you love them? Because I like them, but if you love them...what exactly do you see in them?

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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.
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Crispiroll 12-Grain: Bite into the Mystery

Oh, dear.  This is what happens when you fall behind in blogging.  The photos pile up and wrappers you've saved get thrown away.

I do not remember how the Crispiroll 12-Grain tasted, exactly.  I think...weird?  Crispy yet squishy? If I remember correctly, it had, like, a thousand ingredients.  Lots of grains.  Paul gave it to me.  I do remember that.

Here you go.  I found the ingredients online: brown rice, husked lotus, pearl barley, buckwheat, rice, oatmeal, pea, small red beans, mung beans, speckled kidney bean, black soybeans, black glutinous rice, corn, egg, palm oil, granulated sugar, soy sauce powder (soybeans, wheat, salt, sugar), sugar.
 

 

Things in Jars

My friend Nick brings things in jars.



This thing, from his latest visit, was a sort of loose, unsticky, chocolate cereal treat.  It had dried fruit in it -- cherries? raisins?  It reminded me of the treats discussed in this post, but seemed blessedly less healthy.

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Hoppy Days

According to the package, Bunny Crisps are "chocolaty," not "chocolate."  Hmmm...

Somebunny over here (oh, that's me!) thought they tasted close enough.

Thanks, Rusty!

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"We'll eat you up, we love you so."

Here's to the people and restaurants who provided special snacks and meals in the first several weeks after I gave birth to my son (three weeks ago today).

• My smarty-pants husband had Thai delivered from Cheers for the two of us, our doula, and the midwife, an hour or two after our home birth.
   
• Moss, Rachel, and Hero brought fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, and slices of pie from Pies 'n' Thighs for dinner that first night.  Turns out that two pieces of fried chicken was EXACTLY what I wanted after 8 1/2 hours of labor.
  
  
• Nick came by with dark beer (good for milk production, they say) and ice cream and chips and...numerous other good things.  Matthew C. also brought beer (which turned out to be more for my husband than for me).
  
  
• Tim and Holly made lasagna and fennel salad, and delivered it with chocolate cake (and brought their gorgeous 6-month old daughter).
  
  
• David and Molly donated homemade chicken pot pies, ready to cook, and chocolate-coconut hand pies (pictured above).  Oh, yum!
  
  
• Carmine's was the first place we "ate out" with the baby.  We only purchased two slices of pizza at the counter, but they still let us sit in the back (which is usually reserved for people ordering from the menu), away from the construction noise on the street.

Inedible but Lovely "special mention" goes to Willow and August's cherry blossoms and two bunches of flowers from Matt C. -- not to mention all the other friends who stopped by or mailed cards and gifts of rattles, blankets, onesies, books, lullabies, and more.  Sorry I haven't named you all here!

I feel really, truly blessed. 

Grrr!

Tiny vanilla cupcake from Whole Foods, courtesy of Susan.

Are you surprised I didn't choose chocolate?

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Early Birthday Presents

I love the day that Easter candy first makes its appearance in the stores -- or, at least, the day I first notice it.  That day was yesterday, and I snagged a couple of my favorites because today's my birthday and I "deserve" a treat.

Though I prefer an original Cadbury egg over the other flavors (the filling is always creamier in the former), orange is nice for a change.

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Poetry Tuesday: The Patient Muffin

Pepitas don't look like
Pepitas taste nice but
A pumpkin muffin is soft and waits
Solidly on your desk, and waits
Warm flavor pausing, waits
For you to remember.


OR


A Noiseless, Patient Muffin

A NOISELESS, patient muffin,
I mark’d, where, on a little office desk, it stood, isolated;
Mark’d how, to adorn the cluttered, flat surrounding,
It launch’d forth fragrance, fragrance, fragrance, out of itself;
Ever unreeling it—ever tirelessly speeding scent.	5
And you, O my Stomach, where you sit,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of work,
Ceaselessly eating, nibbling, snacking,—seeking the foods, to ingest them;
Till the hunger you still have be fill’d—till your breakfast's anchor holds;
Till the pumpkin-y muffin's strings catch somewhere, O my Soul.

 


[Pumpkin muffin from Whole Foods, via Kevin.  Thanks, Kevin.  Sorry, Whitman.]

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Marriage Vows

"I promise not to finish your chocolate bar while you are off watching a soccer game."

Dan and I received some fancy chocolates for Christmas.  I think both of these bars were from Eva and Ben.  And since Dan is the coffee-lover in our house, it would be unfair of me to finish off the Seattle Chocolates Pike Place Espresso Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar With Espresso Infusion.



But the B.T. McElrath Chocolatier Salty Dog Chocolate Bar (Butter toffee with sea salt) is fair game.

They're both quite good, BTW.  I wish the B.T.M bar had a little more toffee, but the salt level is perfect.

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Other stuff I ate last year:

Grey Dog cookies are huge!  Big cookies have to be soft for me to like them, and this chocolate peanut butter one worked for me. Several times.





Molly and David gave me pie!



Ian gave me pie!



I made a plum cake!

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Have a Delicious Christmas!

Illustration by Dan Funderburgh. Used with permission.

Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite presents this year?  A new design template for Snackreligious.com, labored over by my favorite artist/designer/husband.  I hope to be rolling all of the elements out to you in the next few days or so.  I'm getting business cards, too.  Fancy!

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Your Final Clue

Kara and Melissa brought me some congratulatory brownies when they came over to knit the other night.  I know I've gone on and on about how boxed brownies win over homemade brownies nearly every time, but these were further proof of that rule.  In fact, these were so soft and gooey and perfect, I asked Kara if she remembered which brand mix she used.  She did:

Good ol' Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge!  Although the recipe calls for 25min cook time, I think I made it like 18 min.

Somebody get me to the brownie mix store! I've still got plenty of that frosting left over (they were kind enough to leave the can).

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Subway Snack

These animal crackers were a closing-night gift from Averyn, a fellow cast member in Field 309, the play I just wrapped. I ate them while waiting for a train.

Question: How long have these been branded "Barnum's?" I've never thought about that before.

Answer: Since 1902! [source: Wikipedia]

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Mister, I like your business model.

A special gentleman in my life (Hi, Kevin!) brought me the above lemon and lavender biscotti, homemade by one talented NYC-based biscotti-baker named Carl.

Here's what was in my secret heart of hearts when I received this gift: up until that moment, I'd never been terribly fond of biscotti.  I thought of it as an assortment of rock-hard pieces of something sort of like stale bread with a little flavor glaze painted on them.  Snacks that have to be dipped in coffee in order to be soft enough to chew are no snacks I want to eat.  I rarely gave biscotti a chance.

HOWEVER!!!!  I trust Kevin.  And I could tell right away that Carl's biscotti is different.  Honestly, I could.  I accepted it without reservations.  It didn't feel heavy or stale.  It smelled delicate.

Then, when I tasted it?

Why, Mr. Carl, I had no idea!

When I bit into my sample of biscotti, it gave way easily, revealing a tender crumb and sort of buttery sweetness -- but it wasn't too sweet or glazey.  As a matter of fact, it was the texture I'd always wished biscotti could be.

Turns out, biscotti can be that texture.  It can be, says Carl.

Kevin informed me that Carl makes a few flavors of biscotti.  There's a white chocolate lavender during the winter holiday season.  That's a good gift idea, no?  Cranberry walnut and lemon pistachio can also be had. 

If you'd like to inquire about purchasing a batch of Carl's biscotti, email carlmschweitzer (at) gmail.

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In Darkness All Colors Agree

These two dark chocolate bars (both with almond, made in France and Switzerland), were a gift from Nicole after a recent trip to France.   I ate them before she got a chance to tell me how well they pair with red wine.




Almonds and chocolate work together so well.  I really feel I can trust Lindt to do chocolate flavors beautifully, and this did not disappoint.




Miel means "honey," and the honey in the second bar gave it an edge, flavorwise. It's possible the chocolate quality here was not quite as fine as with the Lindt, but the almonds were well-dispersed and crackly.

Merci so much, Nicole.

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Direct from Korea.

Though these Green Tea Kit Kats are made in Japan, Paul brought them back from Korea.

As you can read here, I quite like this flavor.  I was happy to receive more.  Thanks, Paul!

It seems that Nestlé will incorporate almost anything edible into a Kit Kat, but they seldom sell in the U.S.  The Japanese may have the most exciting choices.  Have you tried or seen any unusual ones?

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Unhelpful Review: Japanese Crab Chips

[A gift from Jeff H.  Thanks, man.]

These tasted warm.

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