Rural Route 1 Popcorn

Popcorn, popcorn, glorious popcorn.  If you read my blog with any regularity, particular my Friday posts (Snack Foods Friday!), you know full well how much I adore popcorn, both sweet and savory, and how I like to, uh, freeze it.  Yes, it has a dedicated label on my blog, and yes, it really is one of my favorite things ever.

But enough about me and popcorn.  Today we move to a Wisconsin based gourmet popcorn maker: Rural Route 1 Popcorn.  Unlike many in the gourmet popcorn business, their background is actually quite unique.  Most enter the space after making kettle corn and selling at farmer's markets, that sort of thing.  But Rural Route 1 Popcorn actually came in from the grain producing industry, a pivot they made when demand was dramatically decreasing for their primary crop: seed corn.  So they experimented with making popcorn, using many of the fields and infrastructure they already had for harvesting and processing seed corn.  The rest, I guess, is history.  

"Attention to detail and quality are the keys to the success of Rural Route 1 Popcorn, which is ear harvested and then hand sorted to select the most perfect ears. And, rather than choosing corn hybrids that have the highest yields, varieties are selected based primarily on taste and tenderness. This attention to quality, not quantity, assures excellent taste and delicate tenderness for the ultimate in gourmet popcorn."

This is a unique story because it means that Rural Route 1 Popcorn really focuses on the variety of corn and production of the base corn, which, well, is ultimately critical for good popcorn.

Today, Rural Route 1 Popcorn produces a large range of popcorn, including microwave popcorn, and assorted flavors of pre-popped popcorn, ranging from savory cheese flavors, to classic caramel corn, to all sorts of dessert concoctions with chocolate and nuts.  Popcorn is available in bags, buckets, tins, etc.

"The most popular specialty is Ivory Almond K'Nuckle, a creamy medley of popcorn, almonds and luscious white fudge. The success of this recipe has led to 3 other fudge covered delicacies, C.C.Winkle, R.C. Snakle and the latest, S.S Dunkle."

Some of the flavors have rather ... unique names. 

R.C. Snakle Popcorn.

"Sweet popcorn and cranberry bits (with a hint of raspberry) is blended into a creamy white fudge".

I received a box of the R.C. Snakle in a holiday package, so, cranberry was a good seasonal match.  I'm not a big fan of cranberry, but, white chocolate sounded good.

I really did not like it.

The popcorn was a bit soggy.  The coating was sweet ... but that is about it.  Just, sweet.  The little bits of cranberry were flavorful and it was interesting to have a chewy element in there, but ... yeah.  Would not get again.

**.

Boncora Biscotti

Last week, I reviewed Nonni's Biscotti, an Oklahoma (yes, really) based biscotti maker.  This week, going a bit more local, to Boncora Biscotti, based in Sonoma, CA.

"Boncora Biscotti are handmade in Sonoma from a family recipe passed down through the generations. Made from local, all-natural ingredients, these crunchy biscotti di Prato were introduced to the American food scene when Bonnie Tempesta and her mother, Aurora, founded La Tempesta Bakery Confections in 1983. The cookies became a national sensation, named the #1 domestic biscotti by the Washington Post and earning Bonnie the title “Queen of Biscotti.” Bonnie sold La Tempesta in 1997, but tired of the low quality of mass produced Biscotti, she came out of retirement in 2012 to found Boncora Biscotti."

Well, there's the story.  You don't need me to say more.  The "Queen of Biscotti" founded the company, and her recipe is still used.

Boncora Biscotti doesn't have a large produce range: classic almond biscotti, a chocolate dipped version of the former, and a triple chocolate (chocolate base) biscotti.  Simple. No other produce either, just, biscotti.

Assorted Biscotti

"These light and crispy biscotti are handmade in Sonoma. They're the perfect afternoon snack with coffee or espresso. Made from a generations-old Tuscan family recipe. Packed with whole California almonds and dipped in rich Guittard chocolate."

Classic almond biscotti: 

"Light and crunchy and loaded with California almonds, Boncora Biscotti are baked and cut by hand, so the size of the cookies will vary."

I tried the classic almond biscotti first.  It had a lovely almond flavor, with large chunks of almond through.  I liked the extra crunch from the almonds.  This really was quite good biscotti, I think the quality of the almonds used really made it shine.  

****, for biscotti, which is really saying something.  The flavor was good enough that I almost didn't even care if I had a coffee/hot cocoa to dip it in!

Chocolate dipped biscotti: 

"Each biscotti is hand-dipped in a special blend of Guittard semi-sweet chocolate. "

The chocolate version was even better.  Again, really excellent biscotti base, strong almond flavor, and this time, coated in thick high end dark Guittard chocolate, that complimented the almonds quite well.  

Likely the best biscotti I've ever had.  ****+.

The Lunchpad

The Lunchpad is a fairly permanent "popup" located inside Noir Lounge, in Hayes Valley.  It has been operating for many years, and is open daily, so ... not really sure I consider it a popup.  More like a co-habitation?  In the evening Noir Lounge is a live music venue, a place to watch sports games on the big screens, etc, with a vibrant happy hour and bar menu.  But at lunchtime, The Lunchpad moves in. 

The Lunchpad has all your lunch basics of sandwiches, salads, and sides, along with all day trendy brunch (of course you can get avocado toast!).

Venue

Since The Lunchpad uses Noir Lounge as the space, the venue is kinda cool, not what you'd expect for a lunchtime sandwich shop.  Lots of assorted seating, and a real vibe to it.

Wooden Table with Eclectic Chairs.

Some of the tables and chairs looked like they came out of a refurbished furniture store.

Bar Area.

And since it really is space designed for happy hours, there are multiple bars.  This is the back bar.  Again, the upholstered stools gave it a real unique ambiance, as did the decor, all of which looked like it came from a second hand store.

Food

The menu at The Lunchpad is reasonably large, with sandwiches ranging from a "Build your own" grilled cheese with a bunch of mix-ins, to toasted items like a cubano, and classics including roast turkey, chicken, tuna, and egg salad, etc.  Any of the sandwiches can also be made into a salad for a low-carb option, and the menu has a number of other composed salads to pick from.  Sides were the part of the menu most interesting to me, as they had not one, not two, but three different kinds of slaw (horsey blue, chimichurri, or dijon sweet & spicy), along with several pickle options, housemade chips, and candied bacon.  Interestingly, no fries, perhaps they don't have a fryer?

Horsey Blue Slaw. $4.

I love slaw, and thus, I was there for slaw.  I knew I didn't want the chimichurri one, but either of the others had potential.

I wasn't really sure what "horsey blue" was, so I asked.  The answer was simple: "horsey" is horseradish, "blue" is blue cheese, "slaw" is, well, coleslaw.  Blue cheese horseradish slaw it was.

it was pretty tasty.  Fresh crisp cabbage, mostly green, with a few shreds of purple cabbage and carrots for extra color.  It was a bit zesty from the horseradish and a serious amount of pepper.  I loved how much pepper was in it, they really did not hold back on seasoning.

The blue cheese was the aspect I was most interested by.  I don't think I've ever had it in a slaw before.  I like blue cheese, but, only in certain contexts.  It actually worked well here, the creamy, tart, richness offsetting the sharp spice from the horseradish and pepper.  The blue cheese infused the flavor of all of the slaw, but there were also some sizable chunks mixed in.  I believe there was also a mayo base, as it was very creamy, and I don't think that was all from blue cheese.  Perhaps it was a blue cheese dressing?

Overall, this was pretty good, and certainly a unique spin on cole slaw.  It was fresh, crispy, creamy, and very flavorful.  $4 was a fine price for a reasonable sized side dish.

***+.

Vought A Burger via Fooji

I ... don't know where to start on this one.

Ok, so let's start with Fooji.

"Fooji helps the world's most beloved brands acquire and engage fans through award-winning giveaways, sweepstakes, and promotions. Simple, engaging, and turnkey."

Fooji basically comes up with quirky innovative social media based promos to make a big splash for a brand.  They often have some kind of giveaway on Twitter, in specific cities, randomly announced, with very limited availability.

Ok, now let's talk about Vought A Burger, a fake fast food restaurant.  Not fake as in a ghost kitchen, but fake as in ... not real, made for TV.  Wait, no, let's back up.  First, we need to talk about The Boys, a Prime Video animated series, with a follow up, The Boys Presents: Diabolical.  To promote the launch of Diabolical, they created a commercial for Vought A Burger, to introduce it.

And so ... the next stage, naturally, is to actually start delivering from Vought A Burger, to people in a few cities, through a Fooji promo.  Got it?  I somehow managed to "score" one of these deals, with basically NO CLUE what was coming my way.

The process was pretty simple: I tweeted the hashtag, got a magic link, filled in my address, and then, the next thing I knew, a Doordash delivery driver was on my doorstep with the prize: A Little Super Meal.  Yeah, wait, what?

Little Super Meal - Beef. $10.

The Little Super Meal is available in either beef or vegan versions, I opted for beef (which, um, is 61% beef? Not sure what the rest is.  Or if that is a joke?  I have no idea).  It is normally $10.  That is, if it was real?

Every meal comes with a Big Homie Jr Burger, Hero Fries, and, um Liquid Death, which turns out to be just berry flavor sparkling water, in a GIANT branded Vought A Burger box.  The box it came in looks like a happy meal, but, um, it was HUGE, which is comical given the small junior burger and fries inside, also in Vought A Burger branded packaging.  My Liquid Death was "Berry It Alive" flavor, which seems to be a real company.  Also included were some Diabolical stickers.

It was fascinating, it was amusing, and ... my meal was stone cold.  I have no idea where it really came from, who made it, or if they followed any basic food safety standards.  Literally, no clue.

Hero Fries.

The fries were thin, kinda boring, but kinda classic fast food fries.  They came with 2 packets of ketchup.  They weren't seasoned at all, were limp, and stone cold.  Clearly, I needed to heat them up to evaluate.

As served, they definitely were no "heroes", although at least they weren't oily or greasy.  *+.

Once I heated them up though in my toaster oven, and got them crispy, I did quite enjoy them, just, classic fast food thin style fries. They hit the spot. *** once heated.

The Big Homie Jr. Burger.

"1/4 All-Beef Patty, American Cheese, Pickles, Onions."

The burger was a mixed bag.

It had some redeeming elements.  The iceberg lettuce was fresh and crisp, the slices of tomato were red and juicy, the cheese was melty, and the special sauce generously applied, and there was a dash of mustard too.  The bun was soft.  Mine didn't have pickles as described, but it had the sauce, lettuce, and tomato instead.

The burger though ... it was kinda burnt to a crisp, well, well, well done, and thin.  But, the rest of it wasn't bad.  Except that it was stone cold.

**** for the toppings, but the patty was pretty bad.  **+.