I was a sucker for the romance of these when I saw them at my nemesis, Whole Foods. Made of little else besides coconut milk and fruit juice, they are “freshly packed at our farm located on the Equator in East Sumatra, Indonesia,” says the box. And so politically correct: “Our focus on environmental and ethical best practices ensures self sufficiency and sustainability.”

All that, and a delicious snack too? Is it possible? They say that they have “a constant supply of fresh, ripe fruits packed in optimal conditions within hours of picking.” It can’t get better than that, right? And only fifty calories each!

Anyway, they had me at “coconut milk.” It’s one of my weaknesses. There was no way I could avoid trying these.

I couldn’t decide what flavor, though. Hello, snack-makers! Please note: a variety pack is ALWAYS a good idea. Unfortunately, one was not offered in this case, so I had to make a choice. I am a huge fan of mango, as I often mention. But because, as a result, I am very opinionated about mango, I thought maybe that would be an unfair trial. Maybe passion fruit would be a better idea.

Good try. I bought the passion fruit flavor. But then I had to go back to the store and get mango also. The things I do for you, dear readers. I hope you appreciate it.
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I am irresistibly drawn to coconut. A richly flavored coconut dessert is one of the few things that can distract me from chocolate. I saw these Vietnamese cookies in a local Thai market (snackers, praise the melting pot that is America!). The ingredients were only tapioca starch, sugar, and coconut cream. Wow, I thought, basically coconut cream as finger food. This could be great. And only $1.49. How could I pass them up?

I got them home and upon closer inspection, observed what might be a problem for some people….

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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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