Beer of 2021

 I enjoyed several different Sam Adams beers in 2021. I don't think there was one I didn't like. Einstock is a delicious white ale that I put on par with Allagash, which is my favorite. 

I also purchased the Beers of Cheer box from Costco. It was kind of like an Advent calendar, but it will take me about a year to get through it!

2022 Snack Round Up

I have to make room on my phone, so I’m going through and finding photos, voice memos and notes about snack tastings that I have left incomplete. Here’s a roundup of stuff from 2022…

March 8 Hariboo Smurfs: Not worth the sugar.

March 15 Smartfood Cinnamon Sugar Cupcake flavored popcorn: These were delicious, but of course, limited editions with a scary amount of ingredients. After I finished the bag, I became a bit obsessed with sweet-salty-cinammony pocorn. So, I tried a couple of different brands of kettle corn with one addition: I sprinkled cinnamon on them. It’s a delicious combination. Boom Chicka Pop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn worked the best.

July 8 Hippeas Organic Chickpea Puffs Bohemian BBQ flavor: Similar to the texture of a Funion with an easy crunchy and yummy BBQ flavor. I don’t taste chickpea flour base. I wasn't moved enough to consider buying any of these in the future.

July 28 Trader Joe’s Carolina Gold Style BBQ Flavored Ridge Cut Potato Chips – Upon bag opening, they appear very yellow - there must be a lot of turmeric. Upon first bite, you get mustard and then vinegar and then a little spicy kick… maybe Worcestershire sauce. The flavor is good, but the texture is too hard – feels like ridge cut plus kettle cooked. This flavor would be good on a regular smooth cut fried crisp chip and would be the perfect accompaniment to a hot dog.

August 

Lay’s Limited Time Flavor Funyuns Onion Flavored Wavy Potato Chips
Lay’s Limited Time Flavor Frito’s Chili Cheese Flavored Kettle Cooked Potato Chips

December Lay’s Adobadas Flavored Potato Chips, official USA snack of the FIFA World Cup 2022

Nissan Cup Noodles and Lays Cucumber Flavored Potato Chips

Nissan Cup Noodles Potato Chips Black Pepper Crab Flavor. It took me a minute looking at the bag to figure out these were chips. It just looks like they repackaged cup noodles in a bag instead of a Styrofoam cup. That being said, they were spicy, seafoody and delicious, but there was no noodle flavor and it wasn’t distinctly crabby.

 Lays Cucumber Flavored Potato Chips are disturbingly accurate. I bit into the chip, chewed and was immediately hit with the flavor of a cucumber. It’s very clear and strong. Then the flavor relaxes to a smooth, subtle, and savory indistinguishable carb. Then I got a sense of coolness in my mouth. And that was disturbing. Chips are crunchy, savory, spicy, sweet, salty. But I’ve never had a chip that made my mouth feel hot or cold. Something’s wrong with that and I want no part of it. 

Potato Chips: Dirty Brand Buffalo Bleu

I picked these up while in Buffalo, NY and ate them with my parents in the parking lot of The Buffalo History Museum. Yes! I live for puns! They were tangy and slightly spicy in a roasted red pepper kind of way. I didn't exactly taste Buffalo sauce, but thick, sour creaminess of bleu cheese was recognizable. I would eat these, again, when visiting Buffalo! Tasted 06/20/2019 

They get an okay B

Trader Joe's New Pumpkin Flavored Stuff 2021 Part II

My co-worker brought some more snacks to the break room table...

Pumpkin Flavored Joe Joe’s with other natural flavors
Another delicious pumpkin fall offering from TJs. The cookie was flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg and wasn’t sweet, which paired well with the sweet filling. The filling was perfectly pumpkin and tastes like a homemade pumpkin pie and is actually made with pumpkin purée and pumpkin powder. So, in essence, it is a tiny pumpkin pie! These are a must buy if you come across them at TJs, but according to my co-worker, everybody else knows this, so they're out of stock more often than not.

Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread, soft pumpkin bread with warm spices
The crust was smooth and thin like pao de queijo, so I’m assuming it’s the tapioca starch that has something to do with that texture. Inside the loaf was soft, but not moist. The bread has a good pumpkiny, seasonal-spicy flavor, which is the winning point and why I’d consider purchasing gluten free pumpkin bread if I was ever in the mood for pumpkin spice sweets. I would reach for the Joe Joe's or blondies first.

PC&B Summer 2021 Collage

Boom Chicka Pop Salted Maple Flavored Kettle Corn- Delicious! Maple goes perfectly with traditional kettle corn. Definitely a dessert. Tasted this at my parents' place.

Palma Louca- A good, light pilsner from Brazil. Cafe Brasil. 

Tierra Madre- Started taking home beer samplers from Trader Joe's and this was a good, light beer find. Brewed in California. 

Doritos Late Night Oven Roasted Chicken- One of Dorito's flavors from Korea. I liked them enough, but I wouldn't want to eat the whole bag in one sitting. Brought to work by a co-worker. 
 

Trader Joe's New Pumpkin Flavored Stuff 2021

Trader Joe's puts out new fall-themed items each year and my co-worker brought a couple of them to the break room table. 

Pumpkin Blondie Brownies

I’m not a huge fan of cake, but I’m a sucker for spice cake. After tasting this TJ's product that is labeled as a brownie, I will argue that I had some of the best spice cake I've had in a long time and it was cut into brownie-like squares. I’m not clear about the pumpkin flavor, but the combination of warm spices formed a delicious, yummy and moist melt-in-your-mouth spice cake. The cake had the perfect amount of sweetness to balance with the icing and white chocolate chips. Pecans added a crunch. These so-called brownies are delicious and dangerous!

Pumpkin Spiced teeny tiny Pretzel

These tiny pretzels have a yogurt-flavored coating, which is sprinkled with bits of crushed pumpkin seeds that are sweetened. I tasted pumpkin spice, but it wasn’t the nice, warm spices smoothly blended that made the brownie yummy. The pretzels had a more artificial taste and, quite frankly, an unpleasant mouthfeel. Maybe if I were more of a sweetened pretzel person these would work for me, but they don’t.

Lay's Doritos Cool Ranch Flavored Potato Chips

A co-worker brought a bag of these to the break room table...

It was as if Lay's put the Cool Ranch flavor onto a potato chip but didn’t attempt to duplicate the Dorito flavor. I happened to have a snack sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and I decided to taste them side by side. Of course, the Doritos won. Doritos have a smoky corn flavor (being corn chips), with a hint of spiciness that is a satisfying flavor pairing with cool ranch. The potato chips are okay with cool ranch, but I have a problem with Lay's calling these Doritos flavored. They're just decent, cool ranch flavored chips. 

These get two potatoes out of four. I could eat them again, but they are not something I'd buy.

Lay's Chestnut Flavored Potato Chips

 A co-worker brought these to the break room table...

These are Lay's from China! And they're delicious. The chestnut flavor is more sweet than salty or savory. But the sweet, slightly savory flavor matches nicely with the crispness of the Lay's. I don't know why it works, but it does. That being said, Its not a flavor that matches with food well, in my opinion, so these chips are a great novelty, but I wouldn't buy them as a snack chip. 

I give these three potato out of four.

Lay's Wavy Jerk Chicken Flavored Potato Chips

This is one of the three limited edition flavors Lay's released in summer 2021.

Lay's did a great job capturing the jerk flavor onto these chips. I remember the chicken flavor, a clear jerk blend and more than a hint, but not enough to blow your roof off amount of heat.  They were so delicious. I know because I finished the bag even though I was struggling with leaving a few chips so that I could write a detailed review and take a photo or two. Now, I'm left with this spare review and a lack of detail. I bought this bag along with the BLT flavor. I never found the third flavor of the Lay's summer releases: Chile Mango flavored chips, holla when you see me!

Wavy Jerk Chicken flavored chips get four potatoes out of four. 

Lay's Summer BLT Flavored Potato Chips

These are one of three flavors Lay's released for summer 2021. 

Summer BLT chips have a smoky, salty, clearly bacon flavor, which, is the first flavor hit,  but then a muted, earthy tomato sneaks up. The more you tongue ruminates, it will get a light onion flavor along with something vegetal. It’s a smooth combination that is quite delicious and pairs well with so many entrees. So far my it is my favorite new chip since Lay's Electric Lime. Please add this to your regular roster Lay's!

Four potatoes out of four. They’re a hit! 

Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips

During Thanksgiving, Trader Joe's provided its loving customers with a special treat: Turkey and Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips: "All the flavors of Thanksgiving in each potato chip." I get very excited at the prospect of entree flavored chips such as 7-11's Big Bite Hot Dog Potato Chips or Lay's Classic BLT, but this bag of chips promised me the flavors of a Thanksgiving dinner! Move over Willy Wonka!

I brought these to a Friendsgiving potluck for my food-loving friends to taste with me and although no one thought they were awful, I was only one having a hard time eating just one. I closed the bag so I would have room to enjoy all the amazing food my friends made, but took the chips home, where I ate them by myself over the next few days, along with leftovers.
The back of the bag says "first you taste the turkey, then comes the stuffing, and if you close your eyes, you'll swear you can taste the creamy gravy, too."  My experience was slightly different. There is a distinct flavor of poultry, sage, celery and onion. They taste like I took a forkful of turkey and stuffing and popped it right into my mouth. No gravy, but I also didn't close my eyes while tasting them! As far as mouthfeel goes, they are a light kettle-style chip and therefore did not tear up my mouth and they also did not leave an oily feel nor a bad aftertaste.

Trader Joe's has successfully bagged the "traditional American Thanksgiving meal," although, and I am grateful, they did not try to squeeze dessert in on this chip!
Flavor: accurate
Texture: kettle style
Rating: Three Potato. I can't eat these all the time, but they're a great treat and worth buying one bag of during the holiday season.

P.S.
Two Thanksgivings ago, I found Boulder Canyon Brand's Turkey and Gravy and Pumpkin Pie Kettle Cooked Potato Chips (two separate chips). As you can see on the left, there was a time period I was not posting any blogs and I wasn't really doing a good job at chip tasting, either. I let those chips expire in my snack cabinet and I'm ashamed of wasting food, and more importantly of wasting possibly delicious chips. I'll keep an eye out for Boulder Canyon for next holiday season.

Fage Crossovers tomato basil blended low-fat Greek strained yogurt

I heard in passing that some yogurt company was going to release a curry-flavored yogurt and I got excited. I found myself in the dairy section of a supermarket with one of my aunts and we came across some yogurts with interesting combinations, but nothing savory. We ended up grabbing a few of those to try, but my search for the savory continued. About a month later, I found it: Fage Crossovers coconut curry blended low-fat Greek strained yogurt with roasted cashews. Right next to the curry was Fage Crossovers olive thyme blended low-fat Greek strained yogurt with roasted almonds and Fage Crossovers tomato basil blended low-fat Greek strained yogurt. Tonight, I tried the tomato basil.

Texture is thick smooth and creamy just like most greek yogurts.

Flavor: Before adding the almonds, there's a tangy, savory-sweetness to the yogurt. It took me a while to get, but after a few tastes I finally got the tomato flavor and then the basil came through, too. After adding the roasted almonds, which were seasoned with salt and course ground black pepper, the black pepper took over the flavor and it was hard to sort out the tomato and basil.

I was amazed at how much I liked a savory-flavored yogurt. I would have this again, but I wouldn't add the full serving of almonds so the tomato flavor won't be overpowered. This is a good serving for a light and savory snack.

7 Select Brand Spicy Guacamole Thin Tortilla Chips

The bag says “thin tortilla chips,” which is accurate. They are light and crispy and a nice texture for snacking. No jaw-shaking crunch or mouth-slicing shards of hard tortilla chips. 

The first thing that hits you is the spice. These are spicy, so those with a low tolerance for the heat, should avoid them, but the acclimated will think it nothing. When you start chewing and moving the chip bolus around you get a creamy nuttiness that I assume is supposed to be avocado. Then the smokiness comes in and brings it all full circle: a smoky, creamy spice. I wasn’t able to taste any tomato, although there’s tomato paste in the ingredients. But I think the sour cream, onions and garlic that really come through. There’s no avocado listed in the ingredients! 

Overall, these are good. I would eat them, again. I would serve them at a party. I will probably use them in my taco salad recipe. I give them three potatoes. 

My best friend bought these for me from 7-11, where they continue to offer interesting and often good flavors under their own brand. 

Carmela's Mint Cacao Nib Ice Cream

October 6, 2013

I first came across Carmela Ice Cream when they had a booth at the Larchmont Farmer's Market. I would buy several different flavors in their small cups and take them home or to someone's house for a tasting. The flavors were novel and quite yummy. I remember how excited I was about learning what new flavors they were offering. My favorite during that period was the Aztec Chocolate Ice Cream, an amazing blend of cinnamon, chili and chocolate an ice. Then suddenly, they weren't there anymore. 

I thought they just went out of business, so I was surprised to come across their simple little ice cream shop near the corner of 3rd and Fairfax. 

The past few years, I've found a lot of enjoyment in not-green mint chocolate chip ice cream, and I was happy when I found the Carmela was offering their own take on it. The cream was smooth and refreshingly minty. The cacao nibs brought a subtle and slightly waxy cocoa flavor. If you look at the spoon in the picture you can see that there's a substance that is left on the spoon. The ice cream was so good that the substance was hardly a turn-off, but I did some online digging and I found some suggestions that it separated butterfat, which is a sign of over-churning. Oh well! I'll order this ice cream every opportunity!

Bulgarini Gelato's Olive Oil

April 4, 2014
Probably one of the best frozen treats that can be found in L.A.County is Bulgarini Gelato, especially their specialty dish, olive oil gelato. As you can see, it is a white gelato that is tangy like a greek yogurt, somewhat salty and drizzled over with olive oil. The best way to try to describe it is kind of like plain greek yogurt, but much more complex with an explosion of sweetness and sourness that is only enhanced by the chilly temperatures.
If you're ever in Pasadena or surrounds it is very much worth the sidetrip to visit and taste the offerings of this hidden gem.

East Coasting 2013 Part VI... Mister Ed's Elephant Museum!

May 2013

Mister Ed's Elephant Museum is a place I've visited several times in my life and it is fun and interesting every time. Mister Ed apparently really loved elephants and started collecting them, figurines and photos and such, not the real ones. So there's the elephant museum where you can see thousands of elephant things on display. I don't know if Mr. Ed also loved candy, or if it was a subsequent owner who opened the candy emporium, but it is there and full of all kinds of candy including retro candy, homemade fudge, saltwater taffy and other snackie yum yums. 

The grounds around the museum are also very pretty and have cute little elephant touches and a giant talking elephant. 

When I visited Pennsylvania this past June, my aunt said the current owners are trying to sell and might end up closing Mr. Ed's. I thought it was important to post this, just in case. 

East Coasting 2013 Part V... Utz Potato Chip Factory!

May 2013

This was kind of a dream come true. I'm into snacks, hence this blog, and I've always wanted to go to a food factory. So when I found out the plant for my favorite chips was not very far from where I was staying in PA I  knew I had the perfect opportunity. 

The Utz Tour Gallery is completely self-guided. You get a history of the company and then you get to walk down a corridor with windows to view the factory and the different stages of production. Fascinating! Yes, it is old and the decor outdated, but that is so secondary to the awesomeness of seeing Utz being made. 

After you're done watching how the chips are made, you drive to the secondary location for the Utz Factory Outlet Store, where you can dance around a room full of every potato chip flavor and Utz product known to man. You can leave with a car full of Utz products, or you can have them shipped to you! They also had every flavor from Zapp's and Dirty Brand potato chips. I highly recommend these places for every potato chip fan.

East Coasting 2013 Part IV... Beer!

Ah yeah! This was a good paddle from Good-Ta-Go, the beer-lover's store and tap room in Chamberburg, PA. I had my first sour, Monk's Sour Flemish Ale, which tasted a little like vinegar, but then that's a taste I like. See part I of my East Coast 2013 posts to see my first shandy. Here I tasted my second: Shock Top Lemon Shandy, which wasn't as good as Leinenkugel's. I can't remember anything about the other two.

East Coasting 2013 Part III... Other snackie yum yums

The above are photos from snackie yum yum experiences i had while traveling around the East Coast in 2013.

• Antietam Dairy consistently serves me the best ice cream I've ever had. That's double scoop of chocolate chip at dusk. 
• I also drove around Lancaster County and found myself in Lititz, PA. That's a town with a great snackie history. I visited the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery. Sturgis boasts being the oldest pretzel bakery in the United States. There's a giant pretzel to prove it. Also in Litiz I visited the Wilbur Chocolate Candy Americana Museum and Candy Store. At the time there was a view into the Wilbur Chocolate Plant, but that is no more. It closed in January 2016.