Nature's Bakery

Update Review, June 2020

During the shelter in place due to COVID, my partner's company sent him monthly snack boxes.  I had a lot of fun with the boxes, loving getting to try everything.  One product that was in the boxes that I didn't even bother trying the first few rounds was fig bars, from Nature's Bakery.  They didn't sound like my thing at all.  But several boxes, and many months of working from home in, I was getting desperate for yummy things.

So I tried the Nature's Bakery line, forgetting entirely that I had tried, and reviewed them, three years prior. Amusingly, my review turned out identical.  I guess some things don't change.  Like ... me not liking dried figs!

Raspberry Fig Bar.

I was really craving a Nutrigrain bar when I tried this.  Yeah, strange craving I know, but I wasn't feeling great, and I did used to love Nutrigrain bars when I was in college.  Thus, a raspberry fig bar it was.

I again felt it was basically a cross between a fig newton and Nutrigrain bar.  Which meant I almost liked it, but not really.

The wrapper was hearty, healthy tasting, and firm.  Not as soft as a Nutrigrain and lacking the more interesting flavors that come in those wrappers, with the flakes and additional sweetness.  It was fine, but, seemed healthy.

Inside, the fruity raspberry flavor was actually pretty good, but alas, dominated by the underlying fig.  Which, given that they are fig bars, makes sense, just isn't for me.

I handed these off to him again.

Blueberry Fig Bar.

A few days later, the craving came back.  So I went for the other flavor in our pantry: blueberry.

The blueberry flavor was even, fruiter, again, almost so good, but again, dominated by the fig.  

And I still felt the wrapper was too healthy and firm for my style.

Original Review, April 2014

Yup, more reviews of quasi-healthy snack bars.  This is a big market, as I guess there are lots of folks like myself who are always looking for a convenient snack to stash in our bags.

Nature's Bakery is another such manufacturer.  They make Fig Bars (aka, fancy Fig Newtons) and uh, healthy brownies.  They are all non-GMO, vegan, and kosher. Some of the fig bars are also gluten-free, and they also just came out with an organic line.  Pretty standard mantra these days.

I've tried the Fig Bars and the Brownies, and both were just too healthy for me.

Stone Ground Wheat Fig Bars

"To give you the fuel you need to help power life's great journeys. Oh yeah, and to make it - and your journeys - jam-packed with flavor. With Mother Nature's blessing, we've created perfect harmony among some of her very best handiwork, holding freshness ever sacred. Come explore our tasty, nutritious family of Stone Ground Whole Wheat Fig Bars."

Nature's Bakery makes a line of "Fig Bars", aka, fancy Fig Newton.  They are available in a slew of flavors in addition to standard fig, such as raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, mango, lemon, even apple cinnamon, peach apricot, and pumpkin spice.  They also make several gluten-free varieties.

When I say "fancy" Fig Newton, I mean ones where the ingredient quality and nutrition are taken into careful consideration.  The outer wrapping is a hearty stone ground whole wheat.  The bars are made with brown rice syrup and cane syrup rather than high fructose corn syrup, they are vegan and soy free, and of course are non-GMO.

I'm not sure where I picked up a package of these, I think on a flight at some point?

Raspberry Fig Bar.

"Fueling sweet moments like mastering the two-wheeler—and being the dad behind it all—is our passion. Our raspberry fig bar is a crowd favorite, no matter who’s in the crowd."

The bars are packaged two to a pack, each one larger than a classic Fig Newton, but smaller than something like a Nutrigrain bar.  Together, the two would make up a normal size bar.

It reminded me of a cross between a Nutrigrain and a Fig Newton.  The outer layer was really hearty tasting, like a Nutrigrain, not sweet like a Fig Newton.  As a result, it seemed far more like a breakfast bar than a cookie.

The filling was plentiful, a bit gritty from the fig, but not really my thing.  I love fresh figs, but when put into bar form, I rarely like figs for some reason.  I didn't taste much raspberry.

If you like Fig Newtons, and you wanted a healthier version, I'm sure these were good, but they really weren't my thing.  My partner gladly took them off my hands.

Double Chocolate Brownies

"Our goal was to create a simple, baked chocolate snack bar made with thoughtful ingredients that you could enjoy anytime, anywhere. You get double the goodness in each bite, a soft baked outside and light chocolate center. So, when you're on-the-go and need a quick-fix to conquer that chocolate craving, tear open a pack to get back on track."

Next up, I tried the brownies.  Like the fig bars, they come in a 2-pack with two small brownies, each 90 calories each.  "Healthy" brownies, made with whole grains and dates, and no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, no dairy, no soy, no cholesterol, no trans fats ...

And ... they taste it.

The "double chocolate" brownies come in 4 flavors: raspberry, blueberry, mint, and chocolate (hmm, is a chocolate double chocolate brownie a triple chocolate brownie?)  The double chocolate name seems to refer to the fact that they have both cocoa powder and cocoa butter in them.

Chocolate Double Chocolate Brownie.

"Sometimes life’s everyday simple pleasures can be the most fulfilling.  Feed your craving before enjoying time with your favorite version of fun.  You’re worth it."

I started with the "chocolate double chocolate" flavor.

It was a dense bar that tasted more like a nutrition bar than a brownie.  It was chewy.  The date flavor was just too strong to convince me it was anything but a healthy product.  Did not like.

Mint Double Chocolate.

"Backpack.  Check.  Gear.  Check.  Energy?  You do now.  A better-for-you chocolate snack to help power your adventure.  Where ever the journey takes you."

After the failure of the chocolate double chocolate, I went for mint, hoping that the mint would help save the too healthy taste.

It didn't.  This one was even worse.  It was dry and bitter, and the overwhelming flavor was the "mint", except that it was a very artificial awful tasting mint.  I couldn't even take a second bite of this one.

I have no idea why these market the mint flavor for hikers (and even more strangely, the raspberry for morning workouts, and the blueberry for afternoon).

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Waffling Adventures: Freezer Burned Choco Taco

Update Review, June 2020

So, I had another freezer meltdown.  This time my home freezer, along with the fridge.  Sigh.

Yes, the entire thing failed, and yes, it was a nightmare for me, as, well, it was entirely full of my treasures.  Including, um, some Choco Tacos.

The Choco Tacos, like most of the food in the freezer, were perfectly *cold* when I found them, still quite food safe, but, uh, ice cream it most certainly was not.

But I knew exactly what to do with the Choco Tacos at least.  I have waffled them before after all, and it was a great success.  I did eat a few bites of just cold, soggy, chewy defrosted Choco Taco, and I can assure you, that is not tasty.

Into the Grill!

So, I just headed to the waffle iron again, this time using grill plates, since they were already on the iron.

The result was basically the same: it looked like a disaster, but wow, it was shockingly good.  And the grill plates were a much better match for this than the waffle plates, as it extracted far easier.

I again loved eating bits right off the iron, so crispy and caramelized and sweet.

Defrosted, Grilled Choco Taco, with Whipped Cream and Snickerdoodle "Ice Milk".

It extracted with no problem, and I served it up with whipped cream and some re-frozen melted Snickerdoodle ice cream, which I now dub "ice milk" as it most certainly didn't have its creamy texture anymore.

This was, well, just all delicious.

The waffle cone piece of the Choco Taco was hot and crispy, and the ice cream really does caramelized around it beautifully.  Just that alone was delicious, honestly didn't need anything, but whipped cream is always welcome in my world, and the ice milk was actually great, the cinnamon made the whole thing eat a bit like a hot fresh crispy churro.  I was in love.

Some bites had bits of gooey chocolate as well, from the chocolate coating (although, to be honest, I scoped a lot of that out and ate it before it hit the iron), and the chocolate of course was lovely too.

I really adored this, likely even more than a regular Choco Taco, so, one item at least was most certainly not lost due to the meltdown!

Original Review, December 2017

By now, you know that I throw ... basically everything into my waffle iron, particularly leftovers, when the item has degraded.

While a Choco Taco may not *sound* like a leftover, this one was, for reasons you'll soon read about.

Freezer Burned, Refrozen, Choco Taco Transformation.

You can pull out your skeptics hat now, because I sure had mine on.  I thought this was just going to be for fun, since the product was ruined anyway.

But I was thrilled with the result.

So, Freezer Burned, Refrozen, Choco Taco: Will it Waffle?  Shockingly, yes.

It was more successful than I ever imagined.

Choco Taco.

"Vanilla ice cream with fudgy swirls wrapped in a crunchy sugar cone taco, then drenched in a thick, chocolatey coating and sprinkled with peanuts."
I started with a Klondike Choco Taco.  For the unfamiliar, it is a sugar cone that is made into a taco shell, stuffed with vanilla ice cream with chocolate swirls, dipped in chocolate, and coated in chopped peanuts.

I have fond memories of these from the rare times growing up when we were allowed to get them at Del Taco, after our taco salads.

Freezer Burned, Defrosted & Refrozen, Choco Taco.

I had a box of them in my freezer, excited to pull them out one day.

But, a bit of a disaster struck.  My chest freezer, where I store my non-essentials, broke.  The compressor failed.  Everything inside was still cold, so, food safe, but, things like ice cream were rather ruined.

But I didn't have the heart to throw it all out.  I threw plenty out, don't get me wrong, but I stashed the Choco Tacos back in, with a side thought, "maybe it will waffle".

I tried a bite of the now re-frozen creation.  It was soggy, the shell tasted stale, and the ice cream clearly icy and freezer burned.  What you'd expect.  Trash.

Except it wasn't.

Into the Waffle Iron.

I heated the waffle iron up to the highest setting (450 degrees), thinking that I'd kinda like to sear the taco cone so it got crispy, while maybe keeping the ice cream frozen?

I put it into the waffle iron (yup, there was my bite taken out), pressed down, and walked away for a second.

The sounds coming out of the waffle iron were instant.  Something was, uh, clearly cooking.  It was much more noisy than usual.

30 Seconds In ...

It was so noisy I opened the lid much sooner than I usually do, less than a minute in.

It was ... a bubbling disaster.  The ice cream melted out instantly, all over the waffle plates.  The taco cone shell was still soggy.

I thought all hope was lost, but closed it again.

The sounds continued.  I laughed at myself, and starting thinking about what a pain it would be to clean up.

A few minutes more ...

I let it go a few minutes more, commenting that I really just didn't know what to do.  I didn't think anything positive would come of it at this point.

When I opened the lid again, I could see it was about to start burning.  But the cone did crisp up.

I pulled out a wooden chopstick (my preferred extraction tool), and ran it through the liquid, scooping some up.  I tasted it.

It was ... good.  Piping hot, but, it tasted sorta like dulce de leche, something in that direction.  It was a liquid-like, but had incredible caramelized flavor.  I guess this is what happens to ice cream when it cooks?

I was also very surprised at how easily it came out, so, I extracted the whole thing.

Waffled Choco Taco.

Still, the larger taco didn't look very good.  It did however extract easily, in one piece, leaving no mess behind.  I was shocked.  It solidified within seconds.  Hmmm.  I did have a waffle, after all.

I had to try a bite, right?

I was blown away.

The sugar cone taco shell did indeed get crispy, and, it was now totally caramelized from the ice cream that somehow turned into sweet caramel.  A crispy, sweet wrapper.

A wrapper around what?  The ice cream clearly had all melted out, right?  Yes.  But the chocolate ... it stayed inside.  I was beyond shocked when I bit in, and something came squirting out.  Inside was like a molten chocolate cake.

Basically, I had a crispy shell, molten chocolate, and a prevailing dulce de leche taste.  It was delicious.  Beyond successful, and transformed what was clearly otherwise trash.

I'm so glad I tried this one, and that I have an entire box to play with!

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KLM / Air France Lounge, SFO

Update Review: June 2019 Morning Visit

I've cruised quickly through the Air France/KLM lounge a few times before, but never in the morning.  This visit was at 10:15am, so I got a chance to see the lounge in breakfast mode.

I was only there to fill my water bottle up with sparkling water, use the bathroom, and grab coffee, but I ended up trying a few things.

Sausage / Tater Tots.

The hot offerings were sausage and tater tots, served where the pasta/sauce usually goes.  No eggs, no pancakes, just these.

I tried a tot, it was *horribly* greasy.  I moved on.

Fruit / Bread.

The area usually for sandwiches had bread and fruit.

The bread was just white bread, with a toaster on the side, and simple Smucker's jams and butter.  No peanut butter, no bagels, no interesting spreads.  Very simple lineup.

The fruit was cut melons, grapes, and strawberries, which I had to stay away from due to my watermelon allergy.

Greek Yogurt / Fruit / Cereal.

The salad bar area had a build your own greek yogurt or cereal bar.  Just the one kind of yogurt, no low or nonfat, no flavors.  Pumpkin seed granola and flake based cereal.  Milk on the side.

There was additional fruit here as well, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, and they weren't bad actually, and they had individual honey packets to drizzle on top.

Assorted Croissants.

I'm all for baked goods, and the lineup here minimal, croissants only.  No other pastries, muffins, scones, etc.

The croissants didn't look horrible, plain and chocolate.

Chocolate Croissant.

I grabbed a chocolate croissant.

It was ... buffet style average.  Clearly below average from an actual coffee shop or bakery, but not worse than most buffets.  It wasn't particularly flaky nor buttery.

It had only a single bar of chocolate inside, but I did like that chocolate.

Not worth the calories, particularly when there is Tartine out in the terminal instead!

Original Review: December 2018

I usually travel on One World airlines, and so I visit the One World lounges at SFO (British Airways, Cathay Pacific, JAL), but on a recent trip, I was able to check out the KLM / Air France lounge for the first time.

It ... was odd.  Certainly a tier below all the others, and they don't exactly set a very high bar.  I enjoyed my cruise through, mostly because I just found it so entertaining - power outlets all covered up with tape and baby carrots served covered in ice were the highlights.

Dining Area.

The lounge was very crowded.  The furnishings were low end, plastic chairs.

Everyone was crowded in the fairly small dining area.

Not an Outlet.

In addition to that very crowded room, there is one small room before the main dining area, with a high table.  I was excited to see this area, and was about to set up there, until I saw that all the power outlets were covered up.  No wonder no one was out there.

Come on, what?  No power?

Water Dispenser.

I liked that they had sparkling water on tap, but, it didn't taste great.  It seemed like tap water, very chlorinated.

Still, nice to have somewhere to fill up my bottle.

Hot Drinks.

Coffee machine, hot water, teabags.

Spirits.

The wine lineup was fairly lackluster, but the spirits were standard, and they did have far more garnishes than most, including citrus slices and marachino cherries.

Garnish.

I'll give a credit for the garnish section, with cornichons, olives, and pepproncini.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar was ... odd.  In particular, each item came covered with a plastic cover, and then, the whole thing had a metal top that covered it.  People were constantly opening the main lid, the sub-lids, etc.  It was cumbersome.

And then, the contents.

It started with green yogurt and granola, then had salsa and cheese, and then lettuce, carrots, and more standard salad ingredients.  Oh, and seaweed salad.

I tried the seaweed salad, it was fine, but the style that gets stuck in my teeth and drives me crazy.

Dressings.

There were two dressings in front of the salad bar, including a very lackluster ranch, plus oil and vinegar perched on top.

Iced Carrots.

No salad bar ingredients looked great, including, um, the iced baby carrots?

Roasted Vegetables.

The vegetables, roasted, also made me laugh.  Large chunks of peppers and squash, whole mushrooms, none of which actually looked roasted, and, um, a few HUGE chunks of potato.

Such an odd lineup and presentation.

Pasta and Meatballs.

The hot food item of the day was ... meatballs and pasta.

I tried the pasta and sauce out of boredom, and it was as expected, fairly mushy boring clumped together pasta, tangy marinara sauce.  I guess perhaps the cheese in the salad bar would be good on this?

Ham & Swiss Baguette.

The sandwich offering was fairly french, or at least, on a baguette.

Turkey Pesto Focaccia.

The other selection, turkey and "pesto sauce" on focaccia.

Fruit.

Melons, totally not ripe, and grapes were the fruit lineup.

Cheese & Charcuturie.

I was particularly disappointed by the cheese and charcuterie lineup.  What kind of french airline is this?!  Lackluster cheese cubes and salami?

Random Add Ons.

Another fairly confusing section, with pretzels, sunflower seeds, banana chips, dried cranberries, raisins, and dried blueberries.  This was ... next to the spirits and cheese, not near the salad station.

Chicken Noodle Soup.

Of course, what is an airline lounge without a soup of the day?  Yup, chicken noodle.  Bo-ring.

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Choco Taco

Oh Choco Tacos.  Ice cream.  Tacos.  Classic, classic treats.  They've been around since 1984!

I have fond memories of these from the rare times growing up when we were allowed to get them at Del Taco, after our taco salads.  My family didn't go to Del Taco often, and we certainly didn't normally get desserts, but when we did, I always adored them.  I am a dessert girl after all.

I never thought about Choco Tacos again, until about a year ago.  I had a batch of them, enjoyed a couple, and then ... had a freezer melt down.  You might recall my ridiculous adventure sticking a defrosted + refrozen one into my waffle iron?  Yeah, I did that.  And it was glorious.

But I somehow never published my review of the actual product in its normal form.  Time to correct that!

Choco Taco.

"Enjoy vanilla with fudgy swirls wrapped in a crunchy, sugar-cone taco, then drenched in a thick, chocolatey coating and sprinkled with peanuts. Ice cream fans and taco lovers can finally come together with this crunchy dessert taco."

For the unfamiliar, the Choco Taco is basically a ... ice cream sundae cone, just, as a taco. A dessert taco.

Yes, it is basically a creation like a Drumstick, very similar components, just, put together differently.  Same kind of ice cream, same chocolate and peanuts coating, same sugar cone lined with chocolate ... yet far more fun to eat in taco form.  Sold individually in a shiny wrapper.

Choco Taco.

"Vanilla ice cream with fudgy swirls wrapped in a crunchy sugar cone taco, then drenched in a thick, chocolatey coating and sprinkled with peanuts."

Behold: the choco taco!

If anything, the ratios alone make them winners compared to regular sundae cones, more chocolate and peanuts!

However, the cone, er, taco shell, is still not a winner for me, even with the chocolate coating, it is fairly soggy.  Just like many sundae cones.  They've struggled with this over the years, reformulating it several times, but, it still wasn't crispy enough for me.  On the plus side, it *was* easier to extract the ice cream and toppings from the taco shell than a sundae cone, so, +1 point for that!

The ice cream melted nicely, and was higher quality than many novelties, or at least, it hit the spot for me.

I really liked the snappy milk chocolate and nuts.

I enjoyed this more than expected, and I'd gladly have another.

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