Slightly under a week ago, our editor Caitlin committed a deed which was simultaneously wonderful and dastardly. She sent each of Snackerrific’s staff writers several coupons for free ice cream products. “But wait,” you might wonder. “That’s downright nice! Wherever does this ‘dastardly’ nonsense come into play?”

You should take into account, dear snackers, that I’m a woman. A not-so-pleasingly plump one at that; all-natural in the midst of L.A. - AKA Silicone Valley. As such, I’ve developed a bit of an unhealthy (so my boyfriend claims) inferiority complex.

I’m attempting to get into slightly better shape, with near-daily gym workouts, but - here’s the rub - I love to eat. More specifically, I enjoy feasting on loads of high-calorie, fatty snacks to the exclusion of “normal” food. So, while the weight appears to be sloooowly releasing itself from my ample curvaceous parts, I doubt I’ll attain a “Hollywood-perfect” body without drastically revamping my eating habits.

As regular Snackerrific readers know, I can’t resist a bargain any more than I can resist a rich ‘n’ sinful delight (my last name is Roth; you do the math). By default, when I see free food, I have to indulge (assuming it’s not chocolate-covered broccoli)! Naturally, coupons for free ice cream treats meant my diet for the next few days would consist of ice cream. Temptation and free review opportunities outweighing visions of a more beautiful body, I headed to the local Ralph’s.
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Okay, snackers: what’s your favorite carnival food? Are you drawn to the fleeting, airy sweetness of cotton candy? Does the gums-binding goodness of saltwater taffy call your name? Maybe you flip over funnel cakes.

I’m personally quite a fan of churros. Eggy and rich at their centers, with a perfectly warm, crisp shell rolled in sugar, cinnamon and honey, the long Mexican pastries manage to satisfy several of my cravings at once. They’re probably laden with about 700 calories apiece, but somehow I manage to forgive myself for occasional consumption. After all, they’re doused in cinnamon, and everyone knows that counteracts the negative effects of the sugar, or… something like that.
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No matter how much the stuff gets stuck between my teeth and sends me to the bathroom to brush or searching for a toothpick, I love popcorn. I’m especially a fan of flavored popcorn like cheese and caramel. Don’t misunderstand though, I still have a soft spot for the smothered-in-butter theater kind as well. However, a girl needs a little flavor in her life, ya know?

I’ve had all kinds of caramel and cheese popcorn and checking out Jody’s Popcorn seemed like the right kind of thing to do. After all, they offer more flavors of popcorn than I ever thought humanely possible.

I was more than pleased to hear that the folks at Jody’s wanted to send me some Popcorn for the tasting. Bring. It. On. I thought.

I received two of my favorites, Double Cheddar and Caramel (under Jody’s classification it was called Recipe 53 Carmel Corn), and Cinnamon Toast.

I will admit that I’m not a popcorn expert by any sense of the word but even so there is proof that when you market a product as such it should taste as such.
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A few evenings ago, I found myself in my friendly neighborhood Japanese supermarket. I’d assigned myself the vague mission of finding interesting J-snacks to review. I was having difficulty narrowing my selection, though, and found it far easier to lose myself in the barrage of sights, sounds and smells not often encountered at typical American markets.

Halfway through the cookie aisle, I was struck by a sight so familiar and so obvious that I nearly slapped myself for not already having reviewed it. At once, a slew of happy memories of teenage Otakudom washed over me, resulting in what can only be described as a full-body smile. I can’t say for certain, constrained as I was to my own body, but I’ve little doubt that onlookers witnessed my temporary transformation into a bouncing “chibi” caricature. Ah, but what snack could inspire such an intense reaction in a normally polite and unremarkable 24-year-old woman? None other than Pocky.
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Those of you who, like me, are ancient kids of the early ’90s, may remember a toy called the Dr. Dreadful Laboratory. The commercial featured a wild-haired scientist-type touting goodies that “look gross but taste great!” Why anyone would take slimy, cockroach-shaped gummis from a mad scientist is beyond me – yet, I ended up begging my mom for one of the good doctor’s gummi labs. While concocting the candy was fun enough, I found most of it tasted only marginally better than it looked.

What dredged this memory from the annals of my subconscious was my discovery a few days ago of a sort of reverse-Dr. Dreadful Laboratory. At Whole Foods, undoubted champion in the battle of the overpriced grocery stores, I came across a slew of gigantic store-made cookie sandwiches. They looked great, but tasted gross!

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