Confession: I’m a die-hard Burt’s Bees fan. I know this probably makes me a yuppie-in-training, but I just can’t resist their folksy packaging and quality balm product.

So when I saw Bumble Bars in the organic aisle of my grocery store, I knew I had to try them. It’s genius, really. Imitate the look of a product that your target demographic already loves, and watch your latest vegan creation fly off the health food shelves. I swear, even the words “Gluten Free” could not dissuade me from buying this snack.

But, as the sages have taught us, thou shalt not judge a snack by its wrapper. Just because something LOOKS like it will be folksy and traditional, does not necessarily mean it will be. Had I remembered this credo, I probably wouldn’t have gasped (literally, gasped) upon freeing my Bumble Bar from its sleeve.
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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 friend of mine referred to me recently as “epicurean.” I found it odd at first that he should reach this revelation while watching me enjoy a Tootsie Pop - as tasty as the chocolaty pops of happiness may be, they’re hardly comparable to a fine wine. After doing a bit of research on Epicureanism, however, I realized the philosophy of Epicurus and his school is about more than being a food-and-drink snob. It’s about enjoying life in general, even the more seemingly-trivial aspects - including friendship, romance, and, yes, food and drink. A sense of adventure about these small pleasures is key to the philosophy, so I suppose my snacking habits are indeed epicurean. After all, I derive a lot of pleasure from trying odd and unusually-flavored snacks.

The other day, it might have been the spirit of Epicurus who guided me straight through the chip-aisle of a nearby discount store. Under his ghostly influence, I reached for a bag of Cinnamon-flavored Sunchips, wheeled my cart toward the counter, and purchased the strangely-flavored chips. My possession ended halfway through the drive home (poor Epicurus was probably frightened; life in ancient Greece hadn’t prepared him for LA traffic!).
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Bagel-fuls are toasty warm bagels with a cream cheese filling inside. I tried the brown sugar and cinnamon bagel with cinnamon cream cheese inside. Sounds yummy, right?

After zapping it in the microwave for 15 seconds, I immediately wanted to bite into it and when I did, the outside tasted just like a soft chewy bagel. As for the cream cheese inside, the texture was creamy, but I couldn’t really taste it, so my thoughts are that it should be a little stronger tasting, or possibly have more cream cheese in it.
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