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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This is how I like my bourbon.

I find I'm one step nearer a filled chocolate bar that tastes like it's stuffed with frosting. That's what I'm looking for, if you didn't know, and the Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille I bought today came really close.  It's yet another new-to-me flavors of Ritter Sport. This brand just does not disappoint. One of these days I'm going to skip lunch and sit down with about 6 more flavors -- just for you, of course. It's all for the blog, not because I'm some sort of candy glutton. Geez.

See also:
Ritter Yogurt and Ritter Peppermint
Ritter Coconut (and Ritter Ratings)
Ritter White Chocolate Cornflake and Ritter Caramel Hazelnut Crisp Rice



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For God's Sake, Don't Toast Them!

While I definitely encourage the words "frosted" and "organic" to come together on as many products' packages as possible, Nature's Path Organic Frosted Toaster Pastries are not quite perfect as a supposedly "healthier" alternative to Pop-Tarts.

The filling in the Nature's Path version is far, far superior in flavor to the classic cherry Pop-Tart (my favorite P-T flavor).  There just isn't enough inside the NP for it to become gooey when toasted. And the icing on the outside is more a glaze than a true frosting. So eat them raw, and you should enjoy the tart cherry pomegranate flavor inside. Raw, they rule.

But toast them at your own peril!

I have always preferred to have my Pop-Tarts raw, too, but it's actually more wrong to toast Nature's Path Toaster Pastries. They burn too easily, and become hard and extra-crunchy. Toasting them in my office toaster oven left them tasting something like a cardboard graham cracker and completely overwhelmed the fruit inside.

So, for me, it's eat -- but do not heat.  I repeat: do not heat.

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Birthday Bites

You may have noticed that I'm fond of the edible birthday. It's true. I hardly need gifts anymore. Just feed me.

This year's birthday was another good excuse for eating with friends. I was surprised (truly surprised) by a birthday brunch of some favorites from Pies 'n' Thighs -- chicken and waffles, chicken biscuits, and a doughnut "cake." What you see above are the delicious, delicious remains of that party. Thanks, friends!




Because I didn't have time to bake myself a cake to share with family and friends, Dan brought home "cookie pies" from The Blue Stove. One was chocolate chip, one chocolate crinkle, and one snickerdoodle.  Happy Birthday to me! We shared two after dinner and had one with breakfast the next morning. Frankly, I liked them better than traditional whoopie pies, though they had a little too much cream filling (event for my taste) in their middles.

My favorite almost-four-year-old also helped her mom bake me a "proper" birthday cake the next night.  It was lemony and rich (not pictured). We all enjoyed large pieces with whipped cream. I probably need the recipe.



Finally, on a whim, I bought myself a package of these limited edition Birthday Cake Oreos. Don't you hate it when the store is out of classic Double Stuf? It leads me to all sorts of wild experimentation. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Oreos (their 100th birthday is TODAY!), but I really didn't like the Birthday Cake flavor much. I have a sweet tooth, but MAN, are they ever sweet. And Dan was out of the country during the week that followed my birthday, so I was forced to eat them all myself. Total Oreo-filling-plus-weird-sprinkle-pieces overload. But I managed. I nearly always do.
 
I miss you, Double Stuf!! You're my true birthday wish. Be back in stock soon!

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Photo Essay: Peace, Love, and Little Donuts.

The building.


In line.


Before too long, we were entering.


The menu.


The machine.


The shop.


Ready-to-eat.


Depending on how soon you're going to eat them, they package them differently.  We bought some to eat right away and some to take home for the rest of our crew.  The "now" doughnuts were the best doughnuts.  These were ginger sugar and...lemon, I think?


My first Little Donut. Subtle ginger.  Warm and soft.





Donuts "To Go."  Cinnamon, Ginger, Raspberry, Chocolate.  Easily eaten.

Strip District
2018 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

p.s. The Pittsburgh Slow Food lady was really disappointed that I was going to blog about these because, "Their doughnuts come from a mix!"  Yes, but I ate them (and they were good).  There are probably better doughnuts out there, but this was a fun experience.  And this is not a slow foods blog (though I hope it is, sometimes, slow foods friendly).

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Grownups get married; I feel like a kid again.

I attended Steph's luau-themed bridal shower last weekend, out on Long Island.  Steph's mom is a Snackreligious-approved hostess, by virtue of the event's charming backyard setting and resplendent repast (not to mention the tiki napkins).









I never turn down an ice cream sundae bar.  I even requested (and was granted) a brownie sundae bar for my own wedding shower, back in 2001.  This one was primo, with two types of ice cream and many toppings available, including fresh and maraschino cherries, marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate chips, gummy worms, and more. 

Thanks, Mrs. Steph's Mom!


p.s. I know her name.  ;)

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I eat oatmeal more than once a year, but you'd never know it based on my blog posts.

Last year's creamy oatmeal toppings (and the recipe) are discussed here.

This morning, I had my oatmeal with flax seed, organic brown sugar, pecans, dried cranberries, butter, whipping cream, and a little too much salt. Go light on the salt, kids!

And, oh yeah, I tried Pinkberry...

Our visit to Pinkberry - my first - slipped my mind because it wasn't on my camera. But I found a couple of blurry shots while flicking through Dan's camera phone's album. Consider my memory jogged.

I chose the pomegranate flavored frozen yogurt (or whatever it is) and had it topped with toasted almonds and little round crispy chocolate pieces. I recommend this combination wholeheartedly. Dan's original with oranges and coconut was good, too, but my combination won the day. I liked the tanginess of the pomegranate more than the original, though neither one displeased me, and the almonds were perefectly toasty, which meshed beautifully with chocolate.

Hitting Pinkberry was Molly's idea (she was visiting from the DC area), and I'm glad she suggested it. I was afraid the stuff would taste "diety," but it wasn't bad. It's not that I'm suspicious of restaurant chains that are born in LA. I'm suspicious of things that resemble ice cream but are not ice cream.

Big Gay Ice Cream; Small Gay Let-Down.

I stopped by the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck for the first time this week. The BGICT is one of the popular mobile food and treat trucks in New York City. It has its own website, as well as a Twitter Feed that lets fans know where it's roaming.

I was surprised that the truck itself was not more festive. Not because gay people have to live up to that stereotype, but because the name is a bit sparkly and the website is covered in sprinkles. I didn't expect to "see the Gay" on the truck, as I don't subscribe to the idea that there are limited "ways to be gay" in the world, but I did think I'd see something "Big." Yet there was just one small sign (on only one side of the truck; earlier, friends had walked right by) and a hand-lettered list of toppings declaring the vehicle's difference from any other ice cream truck in the city.

My "small gay" disappointment was more related to the ice cream. Though the toppings are intriguing (they change every day and have included pickle, olive oil, Trix cereal, Nutella, etc.), the ice cream is just fine -- nothing special. I had not realized that my only ice cream option would be regular, fast-melting soft-serve (chocolate, vanilla, or twist). It's a small truck, so Paul guessed that there isn't room for a freezer that would allow transportation of homemade or premium ice cream flavors.





I wish the ice cream offered could match the cleverness behind the toppings, but there's nothing wrong with taking what you can get. I had a twist cone rolled in Grape Nuts and really enjoyed it. And the man in the truck (the Big Gay Ice Cream Man?) was friendly and funny. Soft-serve or not, he's providing a great service in selling his nontraditional, delicious, and oddball toppings.

I'll be back! I'd even buy the t-shirt.

Just doing my job, Ma'am.

I did nothing that deserved chocolate, but I ate the chocolate.

Thanks, Carol.

Could I get through an 8-hour workday...

...without a taste of something like a Lindt Crème Brûlée Petits Desserts bar?

I suppose. But yesterday I didn't have to. Thanks, Paul!

This is a well-designed specialty chocolate bar. Inside its creamy middle are crunchy, sweet bits, like burnt sugar cracked and mixed into a crème brûlée. Yet the item eaten as a whole is less sweet than I assumed it would be. Overall, it's balanced, smooth and pleasing.

p.s. It might have only been a 7-hour workday yesterday. Which does not mean I was shirking.

I need a cupcake (and blog) do-over.

Thanks for sticking around, folks. I haven't been feeling too blog-worthy lately, but -- much like these chocolate cream cheese cupcakes -- I find my mood is rising with increased heat (of the oven or of spring, depending on which one of us you observe). Earth is our oven, ladies and gentlemen. Bake yourself into something sweet!

Ahem.

Silliness and apologies aside, I have learned some lessons. I now solemnly resolve:

1. I will keep blogging and try not to leave Snackreligious alone for this long again.
2. I will not fill cupcake liners more than half full of batter in the future, no matter what the recipe says (especially if additional topping is called for).
3. I will try to keep enough flour on hand so as to not have to substitute bread flour for any part of the amount of all-purpose flour called for in a cake or cupcake recipe.
4. When using the teflon cupcake pan (which I will only do when making more cupcakes than will fit in my metal pans), I will not convince myself that its nonstick surface means I do not need to use cupcake liners.

I will be making these cupcakes again, keeping all four of the above resolutions in mind. You should make them, too! The flavor was excellent, once I had pried them from the pans. The cream cheese filling is a little salty, which is unexpectedly pleasing.

Let me just note, finally, that the recipe (found here) makes 16 or more cupcakes, not 12.