Snack Review: Chocolate Chip Cookie Showdown

The recent issue of Consumer Reports rates chocolate chip cookies. I was - intrigued? offended? dubious? - to find that two brands outranked my favorite Chips Ahoy.

I mean, “favorite” isn’t even the word. In my mind they are the standard, the traditional, THE American cookie. What’s more, they are outranked in these ratings by Keebler.

Here’s the truth, people: As far as I know I’ve NEVER eaten a Keebler cookie. I’ve certainly never chosen to buy them myself. I don’t want cookies baked by creepy little elves in a dirty forest. And yet, Keebler were ranked “very good” and Chips Ahoy only “good.”

Well, this was a challenge. And - what if they were actually better? So of course I had to try them.

Read more

Tim Tams Do Good

We all know that Tim Tams taste good, but in this case, they’re also doing good. You see, the US run of Tim Tams is all over (*cry*), but there’s one case left out there, and you can be the lucky person to win it! To sweeten the deal, Aussie actor Hugh Jackman has autographed the box, making it doubly tasty.

The auction over at eBay benefits Feeding America, a leading hunger relief charity. You get 24 packages of Chocolate Creme Tim Tams in the box. So go bid already!

• Tim Tams at eBay
• I Love Tim Tam Cookies Website
• Feeding America Website

Snack Review: Stretch Island Fruit Co. Raspberry Fruit Leather

Oh, and I have a confession: I was a fruit leather virgin before last night.

Sure, I’d messed around with fruit rolls before, but the closest I’d ever gotten to fruit leather were the myths and legends about the stuff from a friend who grew up with hippie parents. Truth is, I’d never actually indulged. Boy was I missing out.

It’s so simple: take fresh fruit, remove the seeds and stems (this review is sounding more and more suspect by the minute), puree it, pour it out onto a tray, let it dry naturally or run it through a dehydrator, cut it into cellphone-sized slabs, and wrap it up for future enjoyment!

Fruit leather has been rolling out of Stretch Island Fruit Co. since 1976 when Ron and Mary Sagerson moved to Stretch Island, WA, and began making the fruity treats in their laundry room. (Thankfully, for everyone involved, they’ve long since moved the operation to much larger digs.)

Read more

Snack Review: Mountain Dew Voltage

Okay, so I’m probably one of the only people on the planet that hasn’t tried Mountain Dew, which is why I decided to try out Mountain Dew Voltage. Makes sense, right? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

However, I was fascinated by how they marketed this product. The company decided to make three new flavors of Mountain Dew, but wanted the public to pick which one they liked the best. And yes, you got it, Mountain Dew Voltage won this DEWmocracy.

Mountain Dew Voltage is “a blue colored raspberry-citrus and ginseng flavored Dew.” Does any word in this description sound appetizing to me? If I had to pick the words I like, they would be “a” and “blue”. Having never consumed even a regular Mountain Dew before, I would not at all buy this based on that description. Something about raspberry-citrus and ginseng flavor doesn’t sound too good. Now, if they had a “mint chocolate and peanut butter flavored Dew” I might do it.

So I didn’t think it’d be fair to try Mountain Dew Voltage without trying the original Mountain Dew. As for my thoughts on Mountain Dew original? I think it has a sweet citrusy taste to it, however, it wasn’t as fizzy as I thought it would be. Being an avid dieter, I could almost taste the sugar sticking to my teeth.

Read more

Snack Review: Japanese Snack Three Course Meal Roundup

Maybe it was just that I couldn’t stand the idea of going out in the cold and rain again to go grocery shopping. But the box I got from our good friends at jlist.com looked like it contained all I needed for a balanced meal. I had a spicy main dish in these Tohato habanero flavored crackers, a vegetable in asparagus Pretz, and my starch and dessert all rolled up into one in Meiji Usuyaki rice crackers coated in white chocolate. What could be more efficient?

The Tohato crackers are very neat little rings with a reddish-orange color that warns of their heat, if you hadn’t already gotten the message from the evil grin on the drawing of the pepper on the front of the bag. My Japanese isn’t up to deciphering the ingredients, but I am guessing this is a wheat cracker. It kind of doesn’t matter, because whatever it is, it’s just a vehicle for the spice. They’re either baked, or fried really brilliantly, because they’re not the least bit greasy.

These are a really fun snack if you like hot food. They are hot enough to wake you up - good idea in this cold rainy weather, as it turns out - and the heat lingers but not so much that you can’t eat more of them.

Read more