Snack Review: Medora’s Corners

A few evenings ago, I arrived home to find a UPS notice adorning my mailbox. Apparently, somewhere in the course of the day, a mysterious package had come for me. My first reaction was confusion, followed by fear. As my 25th birthday nears, I fear presents from my family almost as much as I long for them - after all, I’ve not been the most dutiful relative. My current situation, combined with general economic anxiety and my natural extreme frugality, do not allow me to purchase extravagant gifts for anyone. I appreciate the gifts, but I feel guilty about the possibility of never being able to reciprocate.

That being the case, I was fairly relieved the next morning to discover my package’s origin lay not with a relative or relatively-wealthy friend, but with Medora Snacks. Since reviewing some of their other products last fall, I’d found myself craving Medora’s tasty and wholesome snacks. Medora’s Pogos, Pucci and Sotos left me, both literally and figuratively, with a wonderful taste in my mouth. I wondered with the small, upstate New York-based company had sent me this time.

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Snack Review: Medora Snacks

With the harried and hectic lifestyle demanded by the modern world, just finding time to eat feed yourself can be a luxury. Sitting down to eat with the family? That’s a pipe dream for most of us. Still, those of us blessed-slashed-cursed with others who depend upon us for sustenance (kids, husbands, Manorexic boyfriends, etc.) like to know that everyone is properly fed. All too often, that means frequent trips to the drive-through, Chinese takeout, or - when all else fails - bags of chips or cookies.

With all of the recent media attention paid to childhood obesity, it’s only natural for a parent to feel guilty about feeding greasy, preservative-packed snacks to his or her family, and to wish for a healthier alternative that’s just as easy. Enter Rockville, NY-based Medora Snacks. Medora (literal translation = a Mother’s Gift) has a noble mission:

“To bring to the world wholesome, great tasting snacks made from the very best, all-natural ingredients. To be true to our brand values of delivering better-for-you snacks that mothers can feel good about eating and sharing with their family and friends.”

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Snack Review: Bumble Bar

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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Snack Review: Trader Joe’s Sea Salt and Pepper Crisps Made With Rice

Trader Joes, sometimes you break my heart. If you’re going to make a snack that I can’t live without (Popped Potato Chips, I’m looking at you), you have to have them in stock every time I shop! Otherwise, I end up with something weird like these.

Here at Snackerrific, one of the four senses tends to be neglected. We write a lot about how things taste, of course, and there’s plenty of talk about how they smell, look, and feel in the mouth. But I am pretty sure this is the first snack I bought because of how it sounds.

Really. When I picked up the bag, it jangled in the oddest way. So I shook it, just to check. Yes, it made a sound like a sack full of light pieces of hardware, or maybe even decorative jingle bells. I’d never heard a food sound like that.

It was good that I was thinking about how they sounded instead of how they compared to my beloved Popped Potato Chips, or they would have been even more of a disappointment.

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Snack Review: Clif’s Chocolate Peanut Mojo Bars

If you’re like me, consuming an energy bar is like eating a bar of lies. I don’t mean that they conceal their ingredients or exaggerate their benefits (although I’ve yet to find a bar that makes me float above the street, a la Marty McFly). What I mean is that I will never, under any circumstance, use an energy bar to:

A) run a marathon
B) power-hike along the Appalachian Trail, or
C) lift something 20 times my body weight, in homage to the noble ant

My lifestyle does not involve a Jeep. Nor does it include Timberland hiking boots, a Nalgene bottle, or a dog with a bandanna tied around its neck. Rather than utilize energy bars for their intended purposes, I use them to silence my grumbling stomach as I drive to work, or elevate my blood sugar levels during lectures I would otherwise sleep through. Truth be told, most of the time I don’t even buy these products, since their marketing seems specifically designed to shame my slovenly ways.

Take Clif Bars, for example. Their wrappers feature a man scaling a mountain. Legs flailing, he clings to a granite outcropping with all this might, his battered fingernails digging into the stubborn rock before him (the man has just enough energy to hold on, thanks to that 3 oz. of granola he ingested before climbing). Ah, the average Clif bar consumer! Always spending his free time dangling above certain death!

So, if you couldn’t already tell, I’m glad that Clif has come out with a less intense snack. Because frankly, some of us just can’t handle the X-tremeness of the standard Clif Bar product.

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