Skinny Girl Nutrition Bars

I truly don't know how I wound up with a product from Skinny Girl in my snack pantry.  Sure, I love to try all kinds of snacks, and find bars handy to have around when I'm on the go, but this isn't really a brand that I'd seek out.

"With Skinnygirl™, you can have it all!  A balanced lifestyle with delicious products that help you celebrate the things you love. No guilt. No hassles."

Frankly, just reading their marketing makes me recoil slightly.  I'm all for balance, but, they go a bit too far for my tastes, and their iconic, well, skinny girl logo .... shutter.  

 

Anyway, I believe the brand name came to fame originally for low-cal cocktail recipes (and later, pre-made, ready to drink, supermarket cocktails), but they've dabbled in many different product offerings, including different supplements.  I tried only the nutrition bars, but they also currently make a line of salad dressings with only 5-10 calories per serving (huh, really?) and cocktail inspired preserves (again, so low cal it makes you wonder ...).

Bars

"Tasty Nutrition Bars"

The bars all are 170 calories or less, and have 6g of protein or more.  Like many similar products, the flavors of the Skinny Girl sound promising: chocolate chip cookie dough. Chocolate peanut butter with sea salt.  Etc.  Etc.

I rather assumed that they'd go the way of all other products that have my leave favorite ingredient, soy protein isolate, in them: awful!  I was pleasantly surprised.

Dark Chocolate Pretzel.

"SkinnyGirl Dark Chocolate Almond with Coconut Protein Bars offer all the benefits you want without compromising the decadent flavor that you love."

At a first glance, this at least didn't look like an awful nutrition bar.  I could see real chunks of peanut.  There was chocolate drizzled over the top, and the entire back side was coated in chocolate.

So I broke off a chunk.  I could tell the bar was made up of some actual ingredients.  Oats, nuts, bits of pretzel.  It didn't have a strange consistency.

It was ... well, a granola bar.  I liked the crunch from the peanuts, and the peanut flavor obviously.  It was a bit sticky in a good way.  The chocolate didn't taste like wax.

But a granola bar isn't something I'm ever going to get crazy excited about.  And, don't get me wrong, this wasn't actually made with "real" pure ingredients.  The ingredient list is quite long.  There are certainly some normal ingredients in there, like the peanuts, oats, almonds, and sugar, but there are plenty of other slightly less appealing things (like the long list of ingredients that make up the "chocolate coating" and the gluten-free pretzels).  But if you like granola bars, and want to try another one out, these aren't bad.  ***.

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Zero&

San Francisco has no shortage of bubble tea shops.   New ones crop up all the time.  Most don't really catch my eye, but one, Zero& (or 0&), did - and not just because the name is awkward.

"We’re proud to offer the highest quality, most unique hand-made fruit beverages on the market today. From our idea to your smile, we put lots of love and careful attention in each item. We hope you enjoy our work as much as we enjoy bringing it to you!"

Zero& is a small chain, with several stores in San Francisco, and others throughout the bay area.  The name, and concept, behind Zero& refers to the lack of additives - 0 additives. 0 artificial flavors. 0 calories sugar.  This means fruit drinks made with entire whole fruits - 20 whole lychees in the "lychee blossom", a whole coconut in the "coconut zero", half a pound of strawberries in the "strawberry marble", and so on.  Real ube and taro, no powders.  A lineup of drinks without a slew of unhealthy mix-ins or toppings.

But none of that really was enough to make me pay attention.  I've tried other healthier bubble tea shops before, like Aura, and I wasn't particularly impressed.  What drew me in to Zero& was actually NOT their drinks, but rather, their partnership with Hanabi Bakery, and some fantastic sounding pastries and cakes.  Now that sounds more like me, right?  You know how much I love my baked goods.

My first "visit" to a Zero& location was actually virtual, when I ordered from the Hayes Valley location online for delivery via DoorDash.  I placed my order online for desserts: a mini box cake, a croissant, and a cooler bag (mine had just ripped, seemed like a great coincidence that they had them on DoorDash!).  I put in my preferences to contact me if anything was out of stock (so they wouldn't just refund), so I could pick a different flavor/variety of the item.  I'd had such a hard time narrowing down my choices, I would have been fine picking my second choices.

Alas, when my Dasher checked out, I got the receipt, and ... they cancelled the mini cake entirely, and charged me for the cooler bag, but, it didn't arrive.  So in the end, I ordered 3 items, and only got one.  Sadness.  

I didn't really like my item all that much, but I was still drawn in to the concept and menu, so a few months later, when Zero& opened a shop in the Westfield mall near my house, I visited again, this time, in person.  In addition to trying more desserts, I also finally tried a drink.  The queue to place an order at the kiosk was looong, and the wait even longer.  They do have clear screens showing how many drinks are in the queue, and which ones they are working on, along with time estimates, so I was able to see that it was going to take nearly half an hour, once I finally got to the front to place my order.  In the future, I'll certainly just order online in advance, which I did my next visit.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Drinks

The drink lineup at Zero& is a bit different from many bubble tea shops.  While they do still have some common drinks, most are fairly curated and unique.  They do not have a huge lineup of toppings, only regular or crystal boba, and grape or lychee jelly.  That is it.  Some drinks come with cheese foam, but only a few, and you can't add it on to any others.  The only customizations you can make for the most part are sweetness (regular or "less", cane or zero calorie sugar - which is $0.50 more) and milk (regular milk, oat milk, or for some, milk tea base).  I wish they had more flexibility.

Cold

For cold drinks, Zero& has several categories: fruit (blended, whole fruit based drinks), Milk Tea (only some of which actually contain tea), and Pure Tea (actual teas).  You can customize the ice level in these to regular, less, or none.

Ube Taro Milk Tea (no caffeine).
Iced. Less Sweet. Add Boba. $5.95 + $0.50.

"Ube Purple Yam, Freshly Steamed Taro Paste, Fresh Grade A Milk."

Since I love ube, and taro, it should come as no surprise that my first drink was the ube taro milk tea.  Yes, ube and taro in the same drink?  I'm in!  It sounded perhaps a bit like the ube milk tea with taro puff cream and taro balls I got from Happy Lemon.  I added boba, and asked for less sweet.  I kept the regular milk.

It was quite clear this drink was made with real ingredients and not powders.  It was still a lovely shade of purple, even without the artificial ingredients.  The ube flavor was fairly subtle, but I really liked the generous amount of lightly sweetened taro paste at the base.  Since I got it less sweet, it was not overwhelmingly sweet.  The boba were fresh, not stuck together, had a light chew.

Overall, clearly a drink made with quality ingredients, although I did wish for a bit more strong flavor.  I'd consider the lychee jellies with this in the future, but really, I wanted to be able to add the cheese foam!  ***.

Baby Peach (Seasonal). $7.45 + $0.50.
Add Boba.

"Fresh Honey Peach, Jasmine Green Tea, Dragonfruit , Sea Salt Cheese Foam."

A companion went for one of the blended fruit drinks, made with a green tea base, peaches, and dragonfruit.  He added boba.  This is one of the lucky drinks available with the cheese foam.

This drink looked great!  Vibrant colors, such layers.  I didn't try it, but he enjoyed it, and said it reminded him a drink he had in China.

Lychee Blossom. $5.95.
No Sugar, Add Crystal Boba +$0.50.

"20 + Real Lychees, Edible Rose Petals."

My next visit, I went fruity, quite out of character for me, but, I wanted to try something quite different, and I had the impression that the real fruit drinks are where Zero& really shines.  I opted for the lychee drink, which I think is literally just made with a slew of lychees blended with ice.  I didn't add any additional sugar, since I knew lychees would be quite sweet on their own.  I added crystal boba, just to have some texture in there.

The drink was really nicely made, perfectly blended.  Really smooth slush.  It was also quite sweet, as, well, it was mostly just lychees.  A lovely sweetness, but, quite sweet nonetheless.  I can't imagine adding sugar to this.   I ended up adding some water to mine to water it down a bit once the sweetness got to be a bit much several gulps in.  It was the kind of drink that made me want to be on a beach, and, uh, spike it.  Drinking it in San Francisco dreary weather didn't seem quite appropriate.

I quite liked the crystal boba, they were firm but not hard, none stuck together, and complimented the lychee quite well, they almost seemed like lychee bits, but they were my added boba.  I definitely recommend that pairing.  The rose petals on top were visually pretty, but didn't add much to the drink.

I also did add sea salt cheese foam (+$1), but it was accidentally left off my drink.  I was able to get it on the side instead, and that worked out better anyway, as I could taste it separately.  It was a fairly lackluster version of cheese foam - not particularly cheesy, not particularly salty, not particularly great consistency.  I love good cheese foam, but this was pretty mediocre, more like, uh, slimier whipped cream? I did like it with the sweet slush though, nice to have the richness against the sweet lightness.

Overall, not the right drink for the setting, but a good drink, and very well made.  ***+.

Creme Brulee Muddy Milk. $5.45.
Less Ice, Add Boba +$0.50.

"Torched Crème Brûlée Cloud, Fresh Grade A Milk."

A friend got this, and, obviously, given my love of crème brulée, I *had* to try it, particularly when his response to "How is it?" was barely coming up for air to say "yum!", as he spooned up all the crème brulée goodness (and yes it came with a tiny spoon just for those purposes).

I tried only the topping, and I see why he enjoyed it.  It was a rich custard, more like a thicker anglaise than a more set actual crème brulée, which makes sense, given that it was on top of a drink after all.  So it was kinda thick, but fairly runny, and tasted deeply like custard.  If that doesn't sound great, it is just me poorly describing it, after all, haven't we all just wanted to lap up a vat of creme anglaise before?  It was exactly that, just with a lightly bruléed top, so it had a slight caramelization and crisp top.  Very, very tasty.

The rest of the drink was the muddy milk, I think brown sugar syrup sweetened milk, but I didn't try it.  No sweetness modifications are possible for this drink, but you could opt for oat milk if you wish.  He seemed to like it.

I'd definitely consider getting this myself in the future, although this is definitely a heavier, dessert style drink.  **** for the topping for sure. 

Hot

Most of Zero& drinks are iced or blended, but they have a few warm options too: warm versions of the ube taro, cream brulee, and teapuccino milk teas, or hot versions of the jasmine blossom or peach oolong.  No warm fruity options.

Black Sesame Blizzard. $6.45 + $0.50.
Hot. Oat Milk. Less Sweet. Add Crystal Boba.

"House Black Sesame Paste, Fresh Grade A Milk, Signature Black Sesame Cream."

The black sesame blizzard is a brand new drink on the Zero& menu, available in both iced and warm versions.  Even though I love taro and ube, I went for this one day, as I do quite like black sesame, and it is a more rare find.  I get black sesame whenever I can, like in dumplings at Din Tai Fung, or ice cream like with the shaved ice at Ice Monster in Tokyo, excellent hard serve at Polly Ann here in SF, or creamy, dreamy soft serve at places like Soft Swerve in NYC, Chanoma Cafe or Rice Workshop in Sydney.  Of course, I've had other drink versions too, like the taro sesame milk at Original Royaltea in Sydney or black sesame latte at K Tea Cafe in Sunnyvale.

It was a cold, rainy, gloomy day, and I opted for the hot version, as I was looking to warm up, and be comforted.  I went for less sweet, and made with oat milk, and added crystal boba.  I think this was my first ever warm drink with boba added.

My drink clearly had been made a while before my number was called as it was barely lukewarm when I got it, even though I was standing by waiting and waiting for it (it took 20+ minutes!).  I have to dock Zero& a few points for that, as it really would have been better warmer.  That said, I did still really enjoy it.

The drink is made with housemade black sesame paste, which I found lining the inside of my cup too. Again, no powders here, only real ingredients.  It was thick and rich, and had a really strong nutty flavor.  A sophisticated nutty though, akin to tahini.  I had oat milk as the base, and that was a nice match for it.  It was lightly sweet, just as I had asked for (only regular or light are options, no option to have no sweet).

On top is black sesame whipped cream, which melted in since I had it warm, like it would in a hot chocolate.  I think this would work better on the iced version, as mine really had mostly melted in by the time I got it (again, also likely due to it sitting there so long?).  Still, the sesame whipped cream was tasty.  The crystal boba I was a bit hesitant to add in a warm drink, not quite knowing how that would work (would they melt?) but actually it was fine.  They stayed nice and soft, not gummy, not clumped together, lightly sweet, and fun to suck up.  I suspect lychee jellies would be a nice match too if you wanted sweeter.  

Overall, this was warm, creamy, nutty, and comforting.  Exactly what I was looking for.  Only downside (besides the lukewarmness)?  Black teeth after I drank it!

****.

Desserts (By Hanabi)

"Delicate desserts, beautifully designed and handcrafted with love. Healthy and mind-glowingly delicious."

"Our vision is to bring customers a refined handcrafted dessert selection with all-natural ingredients and modern designs. Our menu is composed of modern French mousse cakes, delicate desserts and bread inspired by flavors from different cultures around the world. Every product crafted by Hanabi kitchen is lovingly handmade by our trained bakers, after multiple rounds of testings and improvements before presenting to customers." 

The baked goods and desserts at Zero& all come from Hanabi Bakery, a small establishment founded by a pastry chef who had worked at Craftsmen & Wolves and several Michelin starred restaurants.  I don't think the bakery has a retail storefront of their own, but their goods are sold at several other places around town, and they do a lot of catering.

Baked Goods

Hanabi makes some pretty awesome sounding breads, including savory korean garlic bread and a croque monsieur croissant, and filled sweet croissants like ube almond, pandan almond, thai tea, and more.  Oh, and don't get me started on the sound of the taro pork sung croissant, an all butter croissant stuffed with fresh taro paste, kewpie mayo, and covered in pork sung and furikake.  Zero& doesn't carry the entire collection, but, most of it.

Sesame Almond Croissant. $5.95.

"Butter Croissant; Sesame Almond Cream; Almond Slices."

Given my adoration of black sesame, it should come as no surprise that the first baked good I had from Hanabi was the black sesame almond croissant.

I knew before I ordered, from seeing photos online, that Hanabi's style of croissants isn't a bready, lofty style, they are more dense, flatter.  I think these are made like classic double baked almond croissants, just, with different pastes inside (and obviously, on top).

The croissant was ... fine.  It was very flaky, very messy, and clearly high butter content.  Best heated up.  Not really a croissant I'd rave about, no amazing layers, but, better than an average cafe croissant.  

On top was baked on sesame paste and tons of sesame seeds, both black and white.  The sesame flavor was there, but I didn't taste anything almond-like.  The menu description said "almond slices", but I didn't see any on top, nor inside.  The seeds on top made an amazing mess as I cut or bit into the croissant.

Think of the messiest, flakiness croissant you've had, the kind where you have rubble all around you, and this was that, just, magnified.  In addition to shards of croissant, there were sesame seeds all around me.

Sesame Almond Croissant: Inside.

Inside was a very thin layer of more sesame paste.  I was really let down by how little paste there was, as it was pretty easily lost.  I also realized that I really wanted a cream filled croissant, not just a paste.

Overall, I'd call this a fine croissant, and nice to have something other than a standard almond one, but, it wasn't an amazing croissant, and the filling was not very generous.  I'd try something else next time, not another croissant.

***.

Cakes

A major focus of Hanabi bakery is cakes.  Full size cream cakes with amazing flavors like the Chestnut Château with mocha butter chiffon cake, chestnut paste, vanilla whipping ganache cream, chestnut chantilly cream, edible gold flakes, roasted chestnuts, chocolate covered espresso beans, and fresh sage leaves.  Mousse cakes like layered uji matcha mousse and coconut mousse with matcha dacquoise.  Stunning mirror glaze creations.  None of these are available at Zero&, but Zero& does carry the individual size "Mini box" cakes.

Mini box cakes come in several different flavors year round, with seasonal specials like pumpkin in the fall and a lunar new year red velvet.  They also even make some gluten-free.

Matcha Jasmine Mini Box. $8.99.

"Uji Matcha Chiffon Cakes, Jasmine Green Tea Whipping Ganache, Uji Matcha Chantilly Cream, White Chocolate Crunchy Pearls."

When I visited, all of the non-gluten free options were caffeinated, with either chocolate components or matcha.  My companion got the matcha one, and it looked amazing.  She ended up not trying it then, opting to take it home for later, so I wasn't able to steal a bite. 

Rose Lychee Mini Box. $8.99. 
Gluten-Free.

"Gluten-Free Vanilla Chiffon, Light Rose Chantilly Cream and Whole Milk Powder, Whole Lychee Fruit, Edible Rose Petals and Edible Gold Flakes."

I didn't want caffeine, and sadly they were sold out of the taro and black sesame ones I was eying, so I took a gamble on the rose lychee box.  I do like rose and lychee, but I was wary of the gluten-free cake base.  

This was ... ok.  I don't think the gluten-free nature was the problem, but I wasn't really a fan of the cake layers.  I realized I don't generally really like chiffon cake.  It was fairly moist, and light, but, boring.  Like angel food cake.  I just never want that kind of light cake.  Bring on the butter please!  

The chantilly cream was lightly sweet and lightly rose flavored, a pretty subtle, lightly floral, fairly lovely flavor.  I liked it.  Within the layers, there were chopped up bits of lychee jellies, like the kind you get in a bubble tea, along with a full lychee split in half on top.  The lychee was sweet in all the right ways.  The rose petals were pretty but I didn't actually like the texture they added.  Mine had only two tiny bits of gold flake.

So overall, the cream was tasty, and I liked the lychee and rose flavors, but, as a layered cake, this wasn't a winner for me.  **+.

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Spice I Am, Surry Hills, Sydney

Update Review, Nov 2023

To me, Thai food is a key selling point of spending time in Sydney.  You've heard me talk about it before. The thai food there is in another realm of existence compared to Thai food in the US (and definitely compared to San Francisco).  Some of it is certainly the access to fresher Southeast Asian ingredients, some of it is certainly the large immigrant population from Thailand, which provides both cooks/chefs to staff the restaurants, but also, they seem to have a customer base that isn't afraid of spice, and, in fact, *wants* it.  Spice levels at most of the Thai restaurants in Sydney are considerably higher than their US counterparts.  And I love it.

So during my recent stay in Sydney, when I was craving spice, Thai delivery it was.  I opted to order from Spice I Am again, as I was curious to try more of the menu again (I used to visit in person years ago, long before I had a blog).  My order was ready *incredibly* quickly, and my Dasher fast and efficient.  From the time I ordered, until it was in my hands, was less than 20 minutes, even though the restaurant is in Surry Hills, and I was staying near Darling Harbor.  

Nam Khao Tod. $27.50.

"Crispy rice salad with Thai sour pork, chilli powder, ground peanut, coriander, red onion, spring onion and mint leaves (serve with lettuce)."

I discovered the concept of crispy rice salad at Mumu in Sydney last year, and I've been on the hunt for it again since, hence my ordering it at Fish Cheeks in NYC this summer.  When I saw it on the Spice I Am menu, it was no question that I wanted to order it.

It came in two containers, with the lettuce separate.  Other crispy rice salads I have had used a big wedge of cabbage, which I really prefer, but this lettuce was fresh and crisp, and I could sorta make lettuce wraps with it, so, just different from a cabbage wedge.

The crispy rice salad was fairly different from the version at Fish Cheeks, even though they were described very similarly.  The Fish Cheeks version had more clumps of rice, with a crispy side to them, but, they were large, so were also mushy in areas.  It also had very bright hunks of the pork sausage, and whole peanuts, and not much in the way of herbs besides the garnish on top.  The Spice I Am version was all smaller bits of rice, some of which were nicely crispy.  There were a few full peanuts, but most were ground and integrated throughout.  The pork was much smaller pieces, and blended in both texturally and color wise with the rest of the dish.  It had more fresh herbs (mint, parsley, etc).  And yes, some legit chilis right on top.  

The dish was cold, which I wasn't expecting.  The delivery was so fast, and it was a hot night, so I think perhaps they really do serve it cold?  I was caught off guard by that.  The textures were good, lots of crispy bits.  The heat level was perfect for me, never too spicy, but enough to slow me down a bit to have a sip of wine.  I did like the funky flavor of the fermented pork bits, and the overall complex sour and spicy notes.

Overall, it was good, but I probably wouldn't get again.  Maybe better served in the restaurant, if it is warm? And a touch more crispy?  Still, I think fairly authentic, and yay for spices.  ***+.

Original Review, March 2020

Sydney has no shortage of excellent Thai restaurants.  It was after my time living there that I realized just how poor the Thai food is in the US (at least, where I've lived).  I've visited all the Sydney institutions by now, including those that have since closed (tears, I miss you Sailor's Thai (particularly the Canteen!!)

This visit to Sydney however, I didn't really have time to go out and dine, and worse, it was raining nearly the entire time, so venturing out to get food one particularly wet evening, after having just gotten back to the hotel from the office, soaking wet, just wasn't appealing.  Thus, delivery it was.  And I knew Thai food would be a solid delivery option - curries hold heat well, there are plenty of interesting chilled dishes, and, well, Sydney has good Thai food.

I took the opportunity to order from Spice I Am, which has been on my list for quite a while, but is known for having long waits.  Definitely known for having seriously authentic Thai food, and the chef has won many awards.  While I did have a wait a while for my order, at least I did it from the comfort of my hotel room!  Delivery was via Deliveroo, as with most places in Sydney.

Thai Feast for One.

I ordered one starter, one salad, and one curry.  Yes, I ordered way too much food for one person in a single sitting.  But since I was getting delivery getting just one dish didn't make sense, and I wanted to have at least two items in case I didn't like one.  Hedge my bets. And I knew it would all keep fine for a few days in my fridge, which, of course I had in my hotel room (along with a microwave of course).

The menu at Spice I Am is quite extensive, and narrowing down on just a few dishes was hard enough.  I was able to easily look past the soups and "Light Meals" - which really seemed like appetizers - but with 9 different salads, 21 "Specials of the Day", 18 stir fries, 8 curries, noodle dishes, rice dishes, and more "Specialties" ... making decisions was hard.

I settled on one "Special of the Day", a dish I knew was a cold dish so would travel well, one salad (which I thought was cold but wasn't!), and one hot main dish.  It was hard to pick just one main hot item, but since I was getting delivery I decided a curry would be better than a stir fry or noodle dish, or any of the specials, as it would hold heat, and not get soggy.

The food was all decent, arrived nicely packaged, and delivered in the spice department as expected.  I wasn't really blown away by anything though, but I have no real complaints.

Mieng Ka Na (With Finger Lime). $19.

"Sweet and sour spicy flossy pork, finger lime, ginger, shallot, and fresh chili. Served with green Chinese broccoli leaf."

First up, my starter: mieng ka na.

This came from the "Specials of the Day" section of the menu, which, as far as I can tell, doesn't actually change with the day.  Of all the dishes I ordered, it was the one I was most eager to try.  It sounded fascinating.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a winner for me.

The idea is you make little wraps with the broccoli leaf.  The leaf part was a success, not a leaf I normally eat raw, and I liked how crisp it was.  I'd love to fill it with other things.

But this filling ... well, it seemed to be 85% coconut?  Coconut wasn't even listed in the ingredients.  I don't mind coconut, but, I wasn't looking for coconut filling.  I wanted flossy pork!  And there was a little bit of flossy pork in there, stringy, savory, and I think good, but, alas, all I could taste was coconut.  There were also chunks of cashew (yay crunch) and good herbs, but I certainly didn't find any of the promised finger lime either.

So ... no finger lime, not much flossy pork, and mostly coconut?  Yeah, meh.  By the forkful it certainly wasn't good, made into wraps it was a little better, and mixed into salad later as leftovers it was best, but I ended up throwing out much of it.  I just didn't enjoy it. *.

This is a cold dish, in case you were wondering.

Yum Pla Krob Salad. $23.

"Salad of Thai herbs with crispy seasoning whitebait, cashew nut, chilli, eschallot, coriander, and mint leaves."

This was a bit of a random order on my part, but I wanted dishes that would hold up well for delivery (so, cold was ideal), and I wanted lighter dishes (given all the decadent consumption I was doing), and, well, I wanted something fresh (so much fried food, way too many ridiculous desserts, and really no fresh veggies or fruits in days!).   So a salad met those requirements.

The salad line up had all sorts of interesting sounding options, and I really was curious about the Nam Khao Tod Salad (crispy rice salad?!), but I decided getting a rice salad wasn't exactly what I was aiming for.  The yum pla krob kept jumping out instead.

I had no idea what this salad would be like however, but, I knew there would be herbs (which I thought would be the dominant ingredient ...), and some fried little fishes?  I couldn't picture it, and I think that made me even more interested.

What I really wasn't expecting was a hot dish though.  I guess it makes sense that it was hot, cold fried little fishes doesn't really sound that appealing now that I think about it, but I was surprised to open my order and find a hot salad.

A tasty hot salad.  Definitely my surprise favorite dish.  But not exactly the lightness nor vegetables I was looking for.

The whitebait were the star attraction, battered in really well seasoned coating, and super crispy.  They were intensely fishy, in a good way.  Crispy fried flavorful little fishes.  Definitely not for everyone but I happen to adore anchovies and sardines, so these were right up my alley.

The "salad" mix did have plenty of herbs, lots of eshallot, mint, and coriander, plus of course chilis.  Oh, and cashews for more crunch, although they weren't needed really at all given the crispy fish.

It all was soaked in some kind of dressing, a bit sweet, a bit sour, and I think fish sauce based.  Extra fishiness.  Very, well, thai, in that there were lots of flavors that were playing together in fascinating and actually balanced ways.

Overall, I enjoyed this, found it totally fascinating, and did really like the crispy fish.  I *did* want some fresh salad though, and ended up pulling baby kale out of my fridge and tossing this with it, and liked it considerably more that way.  I also kinda wanted a mayo or aioli drizzle ... but that is just me really liking fried food and mayo based dipping sauces these days.

My favorite dish, although I preferred my modified salad version.  ***+.

I saved the leftovers, and enjoyed all the non-fish bits cold the next day, they really soaked up the flavorful spices, and the batter on the fish was actually *very* tasty at that point, although soft and soggy.  As I suspected, the cold fried leftover little fishes weren't good, but I may have sucked off a bunch of the batter, and really enjoyed it ...

Green Curry, Vegetable. $18.

"Traditional green chili curry with Thai eggplant and pork blood jelly."

For my curry, I kinda wanted the red curry.  I kinda wanted the yellow curry (I had a fantastic yellow curry a few days prior that I couldn't get out of my head).  I was tempted by the special duck curry.  But I went for green curry, fascinated by the addition of "pork blood jelly".  Is that ... traditional?  I had no idea.

I knew I didn't want chicken or pork, and although I like beef it isn't my top choice for green curry.  I almost splurged (+$7) for the seafood, but I actually often dislike calamari in Sydney, and wasn't really sure what was included in the seafood mix.  The prawn option was also $7 and I wasn't excited by it, so, veggie I went.   I often find that I somehow eat very few vegetables when I'm in Sydney, so this also seemed like a good thing.  Plus, veggie soak up curry well!

I didn't realize that veggie mean tofu, so I was sad when I saw the big triangles of tofu (I don't like it), but, I hope it also had more interesting vegetables in it than the others?  It did have a decent assortment:green beans, carrots, button mushrooms, and other mushrooms, in addition to the thai eggplant.  The veggies were all cooked fine, nothing mushy, nothing too crisp.  I can't say the veggies were remarkable or interesting, but nothing wrong with them.

The curry was ... spicy.  As I expected.  I knew Spice I Am is known for being authentic, and they don't have spice levels, so, spicy I expected.  The visible red chilis were only part of the heat.  The coconut milk and strong aromatics in the curry helped balance the heat though, and I didn't find it overwhelming. There was plenty of lemongrass I believe?

As you can see, it was fairly oily, which wasn't pleasant to see, but it didn't actually taste oily.

Overall, it was fine.  Spicy, well prepared, and I really did like all the herbs and fragrance to it. It didn't strike me as remarkable though, and to be honest, I liked the green curry I had a few days prior elsewhere more.  My least favorite dish.  I appreciated that this was packaged with additional plastic wrap around it to not make a mess. **+.

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Insomnia Cookies

By now you know I'm a dessert lover, in particular baked goods.  But I've never been really into cookies.  Not packaged cookies, not homemade cookies, not fancy bakery cookies.  Just, generally, not my thing.  I think my "eh" feeling towards cookies grew even more in adulthood, when I became more snobby, and thought of them as "not even a real dessert", as in, not worthy enough, as they were "just cookies", not some plated Michelin star dessert, or at *least* something warm, freshly baked, and a la mode.  Maybe an ice cream sandwich made with fresh cookies and fancy ice cream could be a "real" dessert, but the rest?  Got a big "eh" from me.

That is, until the pandemic, until I was at home all the time, and I had a lot of changes in food preference, many born out of laziness, many born out of lack of access to fancy things.  One of said changes was regarding cookies.  I didn't just come to tolerate them, I ... became a bonafide cookie monster.  I craved them.  Particularly chocolate chunk cookies, warm, dunked in milk.  Glory.  I'm not sure what took me so long.

Anyway, during early 2021, I started seeking out cookies, everywhere.  When many places scaled back their menus, cookies seemed constants.  While many places stopped making things in house, cookies seemed constants, again, even corner pizza places still baked off fresh cookies.  And thus, cookies it was, often picked up as part of daily ritual to get out of the house, enjoyed later at home warmed up slightly, with requisite glass of milk.

Which brings me to Insomnia Cookies, where I walk by frequently.  The aroma of fresh baked cookies is inescapable, and people are always coming out, boxes (pizza box style) of fresh cookies in hand.

I finally had to try them.  Insomnia is a chain, ~100 locations nationwide, and now, two locations in SF.

Cookie Bag.

One key feature of Insomnia Cookies is that their cookies are always warm.  Until 3am.  Sure, not because they are super fresh, but because they are kept in a warmer.  I guess when your entire business is cookies, you gotta nail them?  They also have a club, with a monthly fee of $9.99, the CookieMagic club, which gives you a free cookie "every day that ends in 'y'".  If you really did stop by daily, that puts your cost-per-cookie at only $0.33, which sure is a deal.  Um, if you frequent the area and really want a daily cookie.

Anyway.  Insomnia offers mostly cookies, "Classic" ones (chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin, sugar, M&M, and other classics), a handful of vegan options, a couple gluten-free, and "Deluxe" larger sized, cookies with more interesting additions (triple chocolate, s'mores, chocolate peanut butter cup, etc).  They also have a few flavors of ice cream, and cookies are available made into ice cream sandwiches as well.

Original Review, May 2021

White Chocolate Macadamia. $2.25.

"This snack operates on island time. A coconut-y cookie with bits of macadamia nut and creamy white chocolate chips."

For my first cookie, I went for the most exciting, not caffeinated cookie: white chocolate macadamia. I was tempted to start super simple, with the sugar cookie, but, white chocolate macadamia really is my fav.

It was handed over, warm as expected.

I was a little shocked at how greasy the bag got, quickly.  Picking up the cookie, my fingers were instantly covered in grease (butter?).  It was honestly a little off-putting.

It was an ok cookie.  I appreciated that it was warm, and it was the perfect soft texture I like.  All that was great.  And it did have large white chocolate chunks, and nearly full size macadamias.  Again, good.  But it was very very sweet, very very buttery, and not necessarily in a winning way.  A bit hard to describe really, but, it wasn't quite as awesome as I had hoped it would be.  Fine, but not great.

Well made, the right texture, kudos for warm cookie, but not something I'd get again.

***.

Double Chocolate Chunk. $2.25.

"Our dark chocolate cookie is taken to its drool-worthy peak with chunks of smooth, melty milk chocolate."

My second cookie was not any better.  Again warm, soft, looked and smelt great.  The chocolate was all melty.  Awesome.

But it was just ... chocolate.  Chocolate brownie-like base, and the melty chocolate chunks were nice, but, still, it didn't pop.  Missing something essential, like a dash of sea salt?

I didn't care for it much, although it was better with ice cream when I got home.

**+.

Vegan Birthday Cake. $2.50.

"Sweet vanilla and all of the sprinkles make this an extra special vegan treat for an extra special day."

Am I vegan?  Ha, far from it.  So why on earth would I get a vegan cookie?

Well, I mostly did it out of curiosity, but also, for the flavor.  I like sprinkles!  Insomnia doesn't have a birthday cake classic cookie (although they have Deluxe Confetti one, which is a sugar cookie with rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate chips).  So if I wanted sprinkles, I needed to splurge for Deluxe, or go vegan.  So vegan it was.

I was pleasantly surprised by this cookie.  It was warm like all the others, and perfectly soft.  The texture was quite different though, not as greasy/oily as the others, and I appreciated that greatly.  The cookie was sweet and decadent tasting, in a buttery sugar cookie way, and I loved the sweet sprinkles throughout.  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this cookie, but I did enjoy it, and would get it again.  The best Insomnia cookie I tried.

***+.

Update Review, March 2022

Since my previous visits to Insomnia always smelt and looked better than they actually were, I didn't seek Insomnia Cookies out again.  Except, um, Insomnia Cookies seems to have sought *me* out.  Yup, they opened a location on the corner of my block.  Doh.  Remember that aroma I told you about?  Yes, inescapable, really, now.

So of course, I stopped in the first day they were open.

Lemon Poppyseed. $2.
(Spring 2022 Special).

"Melt in your mouth cookies with a pop of fresh tart lemon essence, sprinkled with poppy seeds."

In early Spring 2022, Insomnia launched two new cookies, for about a month only: lemon poppyseed, and hibiscus berry.  Although the hibiscus berry looked pretty, I wasn't really interested in it.  And I wasn't really excited about the idea of a lemon poppyseed cookie either, but since I hadn't been in love with any previous cookies, I went for it, mostly out of curiosity.  How *would* lemon poppyseed, a flavor I most associate with muffins, translate into cookie form?

Like all Insomnia cookies, it was served warm, so it was beautifully soft, just a slight chew to the edge.  It tasted like ... well, an overly sweet lemon poppy muffin?  I think it would have worked better as a shortbread base, with lemon accents and poppy seeds, rather than a sugar cookie base.  Somehow, it was basically just a sweet muffin taste, but, yes, in cookie form.  In a muffin, I can usually detect the poppy seeds as textural bits, but here I never really detected them, so that crunch was lost.

Overall, different I guess, but perhaps there is a reason we don't see lemon poppyseed cookies?

***.

Birthday Cake (Vegan). $2.

"Sweet vanilla and all of the sprinkles make this an extra special vegan treat for an extra special day."

The only cookie from Insomnia Cookies that I quasi-liked before was the Birthday Cake, available only in vegan form.  Nothing else called out to me, so I got it again, although I was tempted to try another vegan option, either chocolate chunk or double chocolate chunk.  If I didn't really care for the regular one, maybe the vegan base was better?  One of these days, I'll splurge for the Deluxe Confetti cookie, that has sprinkles and white chocolate chips, but costs nearly double ($3.50).

Anyway, the cookie was about as I remembered.  Soft and warm as always, sweet, sorta buttery tasting (even though, clearly, not butter), sorta cake batter tasting.  A good enough cookie, better with some ice cream sandwiched between it.

***+.

Update Review October & November 2022

Double Chocolate Chunk. $2.

"Our dark chocolate cookie is taken to its drool-worthy peak with chunks of smooth, melty milk chocolate."

I'll admit that I forgot I had tried this variety before, and didn't care for it.  I was really in a chocolate mood though, and this just called out.

The chips were nicely melty.  The cookie was soft and warm.  It *should* have been good, but ... I just really didn't care for it.  It was too rich, and not in a good way.  I tried dunking it in milk, I tried doing it a la mode, and it was just ... too much sweet and too much I didn't like.  I still don't understand how I dislike it so much, but, I do!

Dear self: do not be tempted by this one again.

*+.

Side: Chocolate Cookie Butter. $3.50.

"We’ve blended our ooey-gooey Classic Chocolate Chunk into a spreadable treat. Amp up the warm, delicious dessert action by adding to ice cream, brownies and your favorite cookies."

At some point I discovered the fun sides at Insomnia.  I think intended to be spread on a cookie, but they have things like buttercream or cream cheese icing, and some different cookie butters, all available as a side.  I decided to try the most decadent sounding one, the chocolate cookie butter, after having gone through a bit of a cookie butter craze after trying crazy delicious cookie butter (lotus cream) from Anita Gelato.  Now, obviously this would be different, since made with their chocolate chunk cookies (which I don't care for), and not Lotus cookies, but it still had potential right?

When I picked it up, I mentioned that it sounded fun, and the staff member told me pretty clearly that she doesn't like it.  She said it was too rich, too chocolatey.  Well, that wasn't an endorsement (and it kinda mirrored how I felt about the double chocolate chunk cookie ...).  I appreciated her honestly.

I thought it was fine - it was indeed quite rich, it was reasonably chocolately.  Very thick.  Slightly nutella-eque, even though it doesn't have hazelnuts.  It was tasty enough spread on just about whatever I had around - pretzels, strawberries, toast, rice rusks, etc.

I probably wouldn't get this again, but it was tasty, and the portion was quite generous for $3.50.  ***.

Update Review, September 2023

Confetti Cookie Cake: Hunk.

"A tricked-out sugar cookie filled with rainbow sprinkles and vanilla-flavored chips."

My co-workers ordered one of those big cookie "cakes", and had plenty left over.  I of course took a hunk, curious to try the non-vegan version of the confetti cookie, as I had actually quite liked the vegan one.

It was soft, sweet, buttery, loaded with sprinkles and some sweet chips, and it was quite enjoyable.  Definitely my style of cookie.  ***+.

Vegan Double Chocolate Chunk. $2.95.

"A vegan spin on our Classic Double Chocolate cookie with the same levels of dark chocolate decadence and melty (dairy-free) chocolate chunks."

Pretty much the only cookies I've liked from Insomnia are the vegan birthday cake and the confetti cookies.  I always want to like their chocolate cookies, but, never have.  But the vegan birthday cake is so good, I decided to try another vegan cookie, to see if maybe the vegan chocolate base was better than their regular chocolate base.

This was an ok cookie.  Soft, nice chew.  Decently deep chocolate flavor.  Definitely didn't taste odd or vegan.  Nice melty chips.  Better than the regular ones I think, but not a particularly compelling cookie overall.  ***.

Update Review, Dec 2023

As you know from my previous reviews, I have no particular love for Insomnia Cookies, but, I do love freebies, and they do them frequently, and there happens to be one literally on my street corner.  And thus, I find myself eating far more of their cookies than makes sense for someone who generally considered them "meh".

My visits this time all featured seasonal specials, which I enjoyed trying just for variety sake, and, my first ever Deluxe cookie (since not normally included in the free options, I've never splurged for one).

Candy Apple (Fall Seasonal). $3.20.

"Sugar cookie packed with toffee, apples, HERSHEY'S Kisses + M&Ms® MINIS."

This cookie just sounded, well, confused.  Toffee apples are a thing, and fall seasonally appropriate.  But ... why add Hershey Kisses and M&Ms to it?  Yes, those are also fall seasonally appropriate in the trick or treat sense, and are a version of "candy" as in "candy apple" but ... I mostly got this because it just sounded odd.

It tasted basically exactly as I expected.  It was kinda just a simple M&M cookie, but then it had little chewy bits of apple, and little bursts of toffee.  I don't think of chocolate and apples as going together particularly well, and they didn't really.  I did like the different textures, and every component was fine, but, it tasted as muddled flavor-wise as I thought it would.  A nice soft cookie though.  **+.

This seasonal special flavor was $3.20, slightly more than the rest of the classics that are $2.95.

Reese's Peanut Butter Filled Deluxe (Fall Seasonal). $4.95.

"HERSHEY'S dark chocolate cookie + mini REESE'S peanut butter chips filled with the iconic REESE'S peanut butter you're obsessed with."

For Halloween, Insomnia went all in Reese's candies, stuffing this one with Reese's peanut butter and including their peanut butter chips.  No iconic Pieces or cups, but, all the chocolate and peanut butter vibes nonetheless.

The cookie itself was a chocolate cookie, not particularly interesting, not a nice deep brownie like flavor, even though they said it was made with dark chocolate.  Because it is a Deluxe cookie, it is much thicker than the classics.

Reese's Peanut Butter Filled Deluxe: Inside.

The cookie was studded with a few tiny peanut butter chips, but the real peanut butter component was inside, as the center was entirely made of peanut butter.  It was not particularly good peanut butter, and not particularly creamy, but it did taste strongly of peanut butter.

Like most Deluxe cookies, it clocks in a heavier calorie count, which is also expected due to the peanut butter, with 630 calories.  A solid "meh" and not a cookie that I felt was worth eating.  It might be better warm with a scoop of ice cream? **.

This seasonal Deluxe was $5.45, a bit more than the rest of the regular Deluxe at $4.95.  I can't imagine paying that much for this.

Speculoos (Winter Seasonal). $3.20.

"A cookie made with cookies? Nope, you’re not dreaming. Well, maybe you are, but it’s real. Cookie-butter inspired cookie dough with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove."

Ok, so I don't really like Biscoff cookies (e.g. speculoos) but I do love cookie butter, so when I saw this seasonal special I somehow looked right past the fact that it was made more seasonally appropriate with winter spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove).  I was thus a bit surprised when I took my first bite and tasted, well, savory seasoning, and not just delightful sweet cookie butter.  

Frankly, I didn't really taste *any* cookie butter, and mostly just tasted a spiced cookie with some sweet bits (which turned out to be caramel chips and Heath toffee bits).  It was a fine "winter spice cookie", nicely soft, and I liked the pops of caramel/toffee, but it certainly let me down in the cookie butter department.

Like all Insomnia cookies, I appreciated the soft nature, but didn't find it actually that great.  I wouldn't get this flavor again. **+.

This seasonal special flavor was $3.20, slightly more than the rest of the classics that are $2.95.

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Popcorn Factory Popcorn

Update Review - 2023

I've previously reviewed popcorn tins from Popcorn Factory, generally sent around the Christmas holidays, but this year, we were gifted some goodies at Easter, and they were a bit more unique than the classic popcorn tin.

Popcorn Eggs: Blue Raspberry, Purple Grape, Pink Strawberry, Yellow Lemon.

First up, the popcorn "eggs".

Yellow (Lemon):

When I tried this, I didn't realize the color meant anything.  I thought it was just yellow for Easter.  And I thought it was just a rice crispy treat.

I was wrong in so many levels.  And pleasantly surprised.

The yellow one was ... lemon.  Distinctly lemon.  No question.

And it was not a sticky rice crispy treat, but rather hard coated candy popcorn.  Um, yum?

Lemon is never my first choice of flavor, but this inspired me to try other colors. ***.

Pink (Strawberry):

So I eagerly moved on to the pink one, which promised to be strawberry.  Now that was a flavor I could get behind!

I ... didn't love it though.  I'm not entirely sure why.  It was sweet candy coated popcorn.  I like that, in general, but here it actually was just too sweet, too much.  It was vaguely strawberry flavored.  Also a good thing.  But ... I wasn't into it. **+.

Purple (Grape):

The purple one was the least flavored of them all, not much "grape" detectable, if any, really.  But the overall item was better than the others, although still, just too much sweet.  I think part of why I love coated popcorns is the constant seeking out of a balance of really well coated super sweet pieces and ones that are less coated (or, salty/savory/etc) and here it was just ... all sweet.  So much sweet. ***/

Bunny Corn.

Next up, "bunny corn", or, pearly candy corn.

These were pretty.  Shiny, pastel colors.  I thought that they might not taste like regular candy corn, but alas, just candy corn.  Pretty candy corn, but, pure sugar, and, I can't say I really like candy corn.  **.

Update Review - June 2017

My past experiences of The Popcorn Factory have all be of their giant tins of popcorn that show up around the holidays.  I adored the cheese popcorn last time I had it, and liked the caramel corn quite a bit, as you can go read about in that original review.

It turns out, The Popcorn Factory also makes popcorn that is distributed as part of gift boxes.  And just like those tins, folks tend to bring these to the office to get rid of the items they aren't excited about.  I'm not sure why no one is excited about popcorn like me, but, their loss, my gain!

I was thrilled to see a flavor I hadn't yet tried: kettle corn! (Side note: if you ever go to New Hampshire during the summer, and want the best kettle corn ever, let me know, and I'll tell you all about the best little kettle corn stand that pops up at farmer's markets.  It is the best ever, seriously, and I always bring home suitcases full, which I then store in the freezer, and enjoy year round.  Soooo good).  Sadly, The Popcorn Factory kettle corn was not for me.

I'd still love to try more of their flavors though, as the base product is good, and they have some awesome sounding options, like savory buffalo ranch or bacon cheddar.   Or sweet peanut brittle or pumpkin caramel praline crunch.  Or the crazy decadent drizzled birthday confetti or dark chocolate cherry cordial.  So many choices.

Kettle Corn.

"Our premium, all-natural Kettle corn is the best of both worlds-it's a little bit salty and a whole lot of crunchy sweetness. (It's so tasty, we use it as a base for many of our signature flavors, too!) Each bite reminds you of why you love popcorn as much as we do. "

This "kettle corn" made me angry.  Kettle corn is supposed to be lighter than caramel corn.  It is not supposed to be nearly as sweet.  It should be a magical hybrid of buttery popcorn that is a touch sweet and definitely salty.

But this ... this was caramel corn.  I did not detect any salt.  And the kernels were absolutely coated in sugar/corn syrup, making it just as sweet, and just as glazed, as any caramel corn.  If I didn't know better, I'd honestly think they accidentally packaged up the wrong popcorn and put it in the box.  

I actually looked this up, and found that an ounce of the caramel corn has 14 grams of sugar, and an ounce of this kettle corn has 16 grams.   Yes, it is more sugary than the caramel corn.  That is not right!

To be fair, the popcorn was good, the kernels well coated, but, grumble, not kettle corn.  A friend tried one bite and he too also exclaimed, "This isn't really kettle corn!"  As kettle corn? *.  As caramel corn?  ***.

Original Review, May 216

ZOMG, popcorn.  Yes, I have a problem with popcorn.  I'm obsessed, and I freely admit it.  It is my favorite of all snack foods.  But ... I don't actually really like standard microwave butter popcorn.  Or even movie theater popcorn.  

No, this doesn't mean that I like high brow popcorn, just, that I like it savory or sweet, with interesting flavors.  (And, strangely, I usually like it frozen.  Seriously.  Try it sometime, particularly caramel corn.  It gets even crispier!  And it lasts forever!)

Peek-A-Boo Snowman Popcorn Tin, 3.5 Gallon, 3-Flavor.  $39.

So, you know that time of year, when people get those popcorn tins from clients?  The ones they groan about, and bring to the office, and hope someone else will eat it?

That happens to be my favorite time of year.  (And not just for the popcorn tins!)

Every year, without fail, a few of these wind up around our office.  This year, one tin was from Popcorn Factory, as it has been in past years, but I never bothered write up a review before.

This time, I finally snapped a pic.  Behold: the tin!

Popcorn Factory is an online retailer of popcorn tins, gift baskets, and the like.  Generally used for corporate gifting, last minute Father's day gifts, etc.  They offer all your classic savory popcorns (butter, cheese, white cheddar, etc) and sweet (caramel, kettle, etc), but also like 30 other flavors including the fascinating sounding fruit flavors like sour green apple (also, um, its bright green!), crazy combos like butter toffee almond with pretzels, and a birthday flavor with sugar drizzle and rainbow sprinkles that I really really want to try.

Of course, no one sends the fun flavors, they stick with the classics, so that is what I was able to try.

Cheese Popcorn / Caramel Popcorn / Butter Popcorn.

Inside the tin was 3 varieties, all divided by a cardboard insert: cheese, caramel, and butter.  All you folks who actually like butter popcorn can have that one, while the savory cheese one and the sweet caramel corn can be mine, all mine!

The tin is also available in a 4 flavor version, with the addition of white cheddar popcorn.

My reviews, in order of preference (least to best):

Butter Popcorn: "The popcorn classic with freshly popped kernels and buttery deliciousness."
I tried it, just for trying it sake, but, well, yes, it was just butter popcorn.  Not fresh, not hot, why on earth would I ever want this?  I left it all for the rest of you, who seemed to devour it.  No one else touched the ones I kept returning for. **+.

Caramel Popcorn: "Super crunchy and super delicious, one of our most popular popcorn recipes."

I fully expected the caramel popcorn to be my favorite.  And I did like it, I easily polished off the rest of the tin.  Each and every kernel was very well coated in caramel.  It was crispy.  Nice buttery caramel flavor, not the burnt caramel flavor you sometimes get.  Good, sweet, satisfying.  But the best was yet to come. ***+.

Cheese Popcorn: "A must for any popcorn fan. When you think of cheese popcorn, this is it!"
Huzzah!  Now this, this was amazing.  Like the others, the kernels were perfectly coated, no kernel left behind untouched.  It was so cheesy, in that fake cheese that you-know-you-love way.  It coated my fingers and left them orange.  You can bet I licked them clean.  I loved this.  It mixed nicely with the caramel corn for a sweet and savory combo, but really, it was just fantastic on its own.  I wasn't even tempted to freeze this one! ****+.

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