New goal: Try Takis.

Personally, I prefer Jalapeno Cheetos to Hot Cheetos. But what are these Takis you speak of?

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.
 

 

Afeared

I was too scared to try these.  Or maybe "worried and suspicious" would be more accurate than "scared."

Since when can one buy cheesy fries at Burger King, anyway?  If it's not for sale at the "restaurant," why brand it and sell it at the bodega?

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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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Not Pictured: The Great Gumball Fakeout!

A number of weeks ago, I attended the opening for Dan's installation (and the new Andy Warhol exhibit) at the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, NJ.  You may recall I helped "weed" stickers for his piece a while back.



The photos I took of the artwork look great, but the photos I took in the reception hall came out either dark and murky (no flash) or harsh and unflattering (with flash).  So I'll just tell you (instead of showing you a crummy picture) that there was a nice selection of flavored puddings in shot glasses and delicious cookies to enjoy, as well as fruit, vegetables, and cheese.

There were also tall glass vases filled with large, round balls.  Attractive as decoration, the vases contained serving tongs, so the "balls" were clearly meant to be eaten.  And my dad and I both took some assuming they were malted milk balls or chocolates of some sort.  But they were gumballs.  Giant gumballs.

Gumballs, when one is in the mood for them, can be delightful.  BUT gumballs are chewed over time and keep one's mouth occupied.  You don't just eat a gumball and then move on to the pudding.  And a gumball is seldom found on a buffet at a reception.  It made for a surprising moment in my mouth, and (because I stood near the table and watched other guests) in the mouths of many attendees.  Most of the adults chewed a few times, looked surprised, and headed for the trash can.

It wasn't bad gum, of course, but there were cookies to be eaten!

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These are odd.

Paul showed me these videos the other day.  That candy sushi looks pretty fabulous!  My instinct is that these must taste gross, but  I haven't tried them for myself, so that's not a fair assessment. 

I do like miniature things...and assembly...




The pizza freaks me out a little.  What's with all the liquid?

Have any of you ever tried this sort of homemade gummy candy? 

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What's Wrong With this Picture?

These apples were good and sweet, but they're not pears.

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When Dave says, "Eat," I ask, "How much?"

My coworker Dave is good about alerting me to the appearance of snacks in our office kitchenette. I try to do the same for him. He's also been known to go on Snickers Ice Cream Bar runs for the both of us. He's a generous guy.

A week or two ago, Dave said, "You've got to try those things in the kitchen!" They were kind of like muffins and kind of like cupcakes. No one seemed to know who had brought them. I think Dave liked them even more than I did, but I liked them just fine.

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A Question

I think the flavor of organic milk is superior to non-organic milk, and I try to buy it whenever I can afford the extra expense. 

But has anyone else noticed that some organic milk has a weird, chalky aftertaste or under-taste?  When I buy milk from Costco, where it comes in bulk, or when I drink the milk in our fridge at work (pictured above), which is delivered to us, I can't get past that odd extra layer of flavor.  I don't notice this taste in organic milk bought at a "regular" grocery store or bodega.

To make things more confusing, I recently discovered that the organic whole milk at work (I had only been drinking 2% or skim) does NOT taste chalky.

What is up?!

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Well, hello there.

And what do YOU taste like?

Graham crackers? Horchata? Golden Grahams? Nutty Bars?

There's something familiar and unfamiliar about this beverage, which declares itself to be a White Gourd Drink by Tai Sun.  Opinions differ as to what the flavor is, but all the theories I've heard so far (from Dan, Nick, and myself) are intriguing.

If you've had one, chime in!

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Asian Grab Bag 9-11

Items 9-11
Package Information: Blueberry, Strawberry, and Melon.
Impression: These were all soft and weird and crumbly on the inside.  Soapy again!  They tasted of powdered sugar with a hint of fruit.  "Melon" had very little flavor at all.

This concludes the Asian Grab Bag!  Thank you, mysterious benefactor.


[What's the Asian Grab Bag?] 

Asian Grab Bag 8

Item 8
Package Information: Kabaya Jersey Milk soft candy (Japan).
Impression: Resembled a sickly obese lemon drop.  A lemon drop drained of flavor by a vampire who sucks lemon flavors out of things?  Tasted like coconut.  Soft, but not too soft.  Sort of like those coconut macadamia balls Angela sent me.


[What's the Asian Grab Bag?] 

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Asian Grab Bag 7

Item 7
Package Information: "Supreme Taste Since 1885"
Impression: Looked like a caramel; chewed like something softer and meltier. Vague flavors of coffee and soap.  Why do all of these candies taste like soap?


[What's the Asian Grab Bag?] 

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Asian Grab Bag 1

Remember this bag of Asian candies and chocolates?

I can not, for the life of me, remember who gave it to me.  Dad? Paul? Martha and Jim?  A thousand apologies, friends and family.

Whatever country these items were purchased in, most of them are Japanese.  Let's peruse, shall we?
 


Item 1
Package Information: Kabaya Matcha Chocolate (Japan)
Impression: Strong green tea flavor and sharp soapiness

In which I ask myself a simple question, but do not have the answer:

(phone photo by Dan)

Why don't I like "breakfast burritos?"

Egg Fairies

I can only assume the egg fairies knew I was almost out of eggs and left me this present outside my apartment door. I mean, logic might suggest that it was actually my neighbor, before he left town, but...I say fairies.

Cheez-Whats?

I'm not suggesting that Parmesan & Garlic Cheez-Its would be anywhere near as good as my favorite Hot & Spicy Green Tabasco flavor, but I was intrigued by this display.

I'd never seen or heard of the Parmesan & Garlic variety before (these were spotted at a Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh, PA). Has anyone tried them?

Poetry Tuesday: Trepidation, Mexico (a series).

[Today's Poetry Tuesday post is in honor of a new blog, Haiku Lunchbox, which I read about today on my Serious Eats feed and immediately added to my RSS reader. Welcome to the food-poetry blogging world, HL!]



Memories in dust,
A piñata's leavings wait.
Snack jail - tempting fate.




I'd be a sucker.
When was I in Mexico?
Horror show on sticks.



Such friendly dressing,
So eyes cry to mouth in vain.
A will dances, ill.

I ate this thing.

Notes:

• There were no words in English on the package.
• I have no idea what language that is or where I got this.
• The wrapper was hard to open.
• Inside was a sticky, opaque, pale yellow hard ball.
• The flavor was like a slightly sour, flowery pineapple Lifesavers candy.
• It was fine.

Out on a limb

I can't say I've been looking forward to trying this one. I'm feeling suspicious and apprehensive. The only words in English on this package are "Orange Jelly Candy" on one side, "Made in Hong Kong" on a second side (along with characters that look like Chinese), and "51 Smith 51" on another side, which might be an address or the name of a company. I'm not sure quite what I'm in for...





With a York Peppermint Pattie standing by in case of emergency, I rip the package open. Immediately, I smell an orange tang. Inside, the column-shaped candy had been broken into two pieces, but at some point they fused together again. I pop the whole thing in my mouth.

It is at once sweet and powdery. The flavor definitely is that of orange powdered drink mix. As I suck on it, it becomes sweeter and more sickly. The texture feels slick and pebbled under my tongue, but not hard. I bite down a bit and find a jellied firmness. As I chew, everything starts to stick to my molars. I'm not really enjoying this.

It doesn't really feel like this candy will ever disintegrate in saliva. I feel I could chew on it for hours, except that it doesn't taste good enough to do so. I don't have any desire to chew on it until it is gone.

I don't finish it. It is warm from my mouth and slippery and doesn't look or feel edible. Where's the value in a snack like this? I feel almost philosophical about this. Who considers such an experience a treat...and why?

Thank goodness for my Peppermint Pattie chaser.