Sometimes you get a second chance.

While visiting Pittsburgh, PA last year, I saw a grocery store endcap display of Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel Pieces. The Honey Mustard & Onion flavor called out to me from my past, but I didn't buy any at that time. I just took a photo, which became a footnote to my post on Buffalo Nickel Wingers.

How foolish I was! Each time I looked at that photo or post I regretted not purchasing a bag for old-time's sake. This year, I happened to be in the same grocery store, so I kept my eye out and found there was another display of the pretzels. I immediately purchased a bag of my precious flavor in the name of snacking nostalgia. I was right to do this.



I used to be able to find these highly flavored, sweet and tangy pretzel pieces in the neighborhood. Though they're no longer sold at the bodega that once carried them, I need to look for and find them again. My longing for them has been renewed by this one bag.

Eat No Evil.

While in Pennsylvania, we had the pleasure of an afternoon at Zerns.



Zerns is an auction-house-meets-farmers'-market-meets-food-court-meets-junk-shop-meets-craft-fair-meets-strip-mall-meets-99-cent-store-meets-army-navy-surplus-store-meets-profitable-lost-and-found-meets-arcade.

There is a lot of stuff there of varying quality. But I don't want to say anything bad about my Zerns experience. Those monkeys have the right idea. I just want to mention what I ate there.



Mustard eggs (50 cents each) taste sweet, like mustardy potato salad melted into hard boiled eggs. I would definitely eat more of these. Find them at the Weidner's Deli stand.




(photo by Dan)

Mmmmmmustard egg!



Pepper Turkey Jerky had a honey-sweetness and was neither too hard to chew nor too soft to be considered true jerky. This was also sold by the Weidner's Deli people.



Funnel Cake is a family favorite, and we all shared a plateful. There was so much powdered sugar on this that I had to knock some of it off into the trash. If you've never aspirated powdered sugar, you probably haven't had funnel cake.



At Dietz & Watson, I chose a big, spicy dill pickle. Though each bite was only moderately spicy, the sensation built throughout my eating the pickle into a surprisingly strong, heated finish. I do enjoy a good dill pickle. Nothing evil in my mouth today! Thank you, Zerns.




p.s. We had dinner at Funky Lil' Kitchen in Pottstown. The name? Not my favorite. The food? Quite good! I especially liked the buttery, nutty orzo that came with my crab cakes and the dessert of pot de creme.

Take the last train to Bronxville

Here lie the remains of a giant pretzel with salt dipped in nacho cheese sauce or sharp mustard eaten at Grand Central Station. My m.o. is to brush most of the salt off, but I like that it was there at one point.

Well have time for coffee flavored kisses
And a bit of conversation.
Oh... oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

And then we got on that train to Bronxville and ended up in a Mexican restaurant full of fried food.

Well have one more night together
til the morning brings my train.
And I must go, oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

No nuthin!

I know a guy named Ian (no relation to these popcorn turkey corn dog bites). He thought these sounded gross. I thought:

a) I like corn dogs
b) I like vegetarian corn dogs
c) My sister likes mini corn dog bites
d) I like turkey dogs
e) The picture on the box is kind of cute. It has what looks like an otter in a cape proclaiming, "I'm a Superfit Kid!"

That was not a multiple choice question, but if it had been the answer is:

f) NONE OF THE ABOVE MATTERS IN THIS CASE

Notice again what the box says:

No Wheat!
No Gluten!
No Casein!
No Milk!
No Eggs!
No Nuts!
No Soy!

In another spot it also mentions it has no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or hormones.

Let's get that box open:



We can call this:

No Curb Appeal!

At this point I could tell these corn dog bites were not going to be as cute as they looked on the box. But I cooked them up anyway. I didn't know they were going to have

No Redeeming Flavors!



They looked like cut-rate chicken nuggets, but I took a couple of bites. Hard-ish on the outside, mushy on the inside, the texture was unpleasant each time. My first thought was, "needs gluten." There was really no corn flavor to the grainy, too-salty coating and the turkey dog bits inside tasted rubbery. I hope no one tries these and thinks that's as good as a turkey dog can taste. To add insult to injury, it made ordinary mustard taste gross - sharp and bitter. How did it ruin mustard for me? I couldn't finish the serving, and I'm always mindful of wasting food. Just - blerg.

No thanks!

Corn blog

One or two vegetarian corn dogs from MorningStar Farms with a tangy mustard (more on mustard later) make a very fine snack.

I don't know what it is about these. I'm not a vegetarian, and I think most brands of vegetarian hot dogs are disgusting. But wrap the vegetarian hot dog up in some corn bread, and I'm in heaven.

These are best cooked in the oven (if you like a firmer crust), but it takes longer and makes the house too hot on a muggy day. In a pinch, the microwave is fine (and takes only 2 minutes). A toaster oven works, too.