Cabot Popcorn

Cabot is an extremely well known dairy brand in the northeast where I grew up.  Nearly every restaurant that bothers to name their ingredient sourcing will proudly tell you they use Cabot butter.  When they want to make their homemade mac and cheese stand out, they'll definitely let you know it is Cabot cheddar in the mix.  If the whipped cream isn't homemade, it will at least be Cabot brand, no Redi-whip around there.  Even the corner stores carry Cabot products in their dairy case.

In addition to all the basic dairy products, Cabot licenses their products out to a few collaborations to bring Cabot ingredients to offerings outside their basic dairy line: mac and cheese (Kraft style boxed, more homestyle "Farmer's Reserve", or microwavable cups), potato chips, and, what I had my eye on, popcorn.  As you know, I'm kinda obsessed with snacks, and popcorn in general.

"What happens when “The World's Best Cheddar” is tossed with perfectly popped kernels? A seriously cheesy snack that will make other popcorns jealous."

The popcorn is available in 3 flavors: Seriously Sharp (cheddar), Pepper Jack, and Caramel Cheddar, and other limited editions from time to time.

Maple Cheddar.

"A lusciously snackable blend of award-winning seriously sharp cheddar and maple coated kernels makes for a cheesy sweet treat that makes other popcorns jealous."

I went right for the most ridiculously Vermont flavor there is: maple cheddar.

Oh, wow, this was extremely good.

I've consumed a lot of popcorn, sweet flavors, over the top decadent flavors, savory flavors, combo flavors, etc, but I'm fairly certain this was my first maple and cheddar combo popcorn.  It was a mix of two separate kinds of pop corn, the cheddar pieces, and the maple pieces, a riff on the more familiar Chicago mix of (usually orange) cheddar and caramel corn.

Both varieties in the mix were flavor powerhouses.  More than a few pieces of the cheddar and my brain would say, "woah, hold up, this is over the top too much sharp cheesiness!".  Same with the maple - this wasn't just a dusting of maple flavor, no, this was extremely well coated caramel corn with a maple finish, super sweet, to the point that more than a few pieces at a time, my brain also said, "sweet overload! No longer enjoyable!  Just one more and you are done!"  

And therein lay the beauty of this mix.  The pieces were quite visually distinct, pale blonde white cheddar pieces, or darker clearly caramelized maple pieces.  So you could just alternate between them, back and forth, back and forth, creating a completely addicting experience that made it near impossible to put the bag down.  

I really couldn't stop eating this.  It was super savory, it was sweet, it was cheesy, it was sophisticated ... it was everything I wanted and then some.  The bag said 6 servings, which I laughed at, as I looked down to see what was clearly less than a single serving remaining after my few minutes with the bag.  Oops.

I loved it.  Oh, and the pieces were well popped, evenly covered, etc.  Nothing I would change.  This was a limited edition special flavor, with the maple cheddar (as opposed to the regular caramel cheddar sweet & cheesy mix).  If I ever see it again, I will most certainly purchase. ****+.

Pepper Jack.

"Perfectly popped kernels tossed in our farmers naturally aged, award- winning pepper jack makes for a seriously cheesy, lusciously zingy treat that makes other popcorns jealous."

I also tried the pepper jack at some point, not a flavor I'd think I'd like, as I don't generally go for jack cheese, but, uh, the bag didn't last long enough for me to actually get a proper product photo.  Again I say, oops.  I also do not have my tasting notes, as I didn't intend to review it (it was just something my mom had picked up when I was visiting).  But my memory is that it was savory, lightly spicy, and, yes, gone in an instant.

Desserts from La Mousse

Desserts, baked goods, my favorite things to review.  And by "review", you know I mean "eat".  Even if they are not from traditional bakeries.

Like, La Mousse, a wholesale bakery providing to restaurants, hotels, and retail businesses.  I know it isn't quite fair to publish reviews of items that you can't just walk into a store and buy, but, you can find La Mousse products all around, they just might not be labelled with the brand.  And so it goes for wholesale bakeries, people eat their goods all the time, and just don't know it.

Anyway, La Mousse.

"La Mousse Desserts taste the same today as it did on the day when Nadine Korman first created them over 34 years ago. Every dessert is prepared by hand using the finest quality ingredients- from real butter to real eggs to real cream. La Mousse, the pursuit of sweet perfection, sets the standard of quality."

Based in LA, distributed nationwide, all products are distributed frozen. They make about 120 products, including mousses, specialty cakes, cheesecakes, scones, bundt cakes, cookies, bars, fat-free muffins, banquet cakes, bites, petites and hors d’oeuvres.  They claim to take no shortcuts, "not settling for anything but the best".  

I've tried an assortment of their cakes, pies, and bars, and was never particularly impressed.  

Update 2023: I took several years off from trying these products, but the past year my office has started sourcing items from them again, so, eventually I caved and tried more.  I'm still not impressed.

Update 2024: Yeah, why did I try more?  I'm not sure.  These just aren't good products.

Cakes

La Mousse makes 10 full size "Specialty Cakes" and several petites carried year round, plus additional holiday specials.  Most are layered cakes.

I've tried several, and although they tend to look really good, the cake really isn't ever good.

Petite Boston Cream Pie.

"Layers of white cake filled with a layer of fudge, chocolate mousse, and a layer of custard, topped with homemade fudge and white swirls." - Gourmet Express, Wholesale Distributor

"A layer of white cake topped with rich chocolate mousse, creamy custard and finished with a layer of chocolate ganache and white chocolate drizzle. " -- La Mousse

The first one I tried, a old favorite of mine, Boston Cream Pie!  It wasn't bad, actually.

The cake (bottom layer) was dry and boring, but, the rest was good.

The custard layer was thick and creamy.  The middle layer, milk chocolate mousse, was creamy and fluffy, with a decent chocolate flavor for a milk chocolate.  The fudge/chocolate ganache on top was awesome, really thick, really rich, intensely chocolatey.  I liked the sweet white chocolate drizzled on top too.

Was it real Boston Cream Pie?  Not at all.  The custard was far too thick to be real Boston cream.  The two different chocolate layers were a bit strange, I've never seen milk chocolate mousse in Boston cream pie.  But, I did enjoy the top 3 layers quite a bit, so, not really complaining.

I've had these several times, and felt the same way every time, pleasantly surprised by how good the cream layer, the mousse layer, and the ganache in particular are. One of the better items.  ***+.

Boston Cream Pie (full size slice).

"Two layers of white cake are filled with a layer of fudge, a layer of chocolate mousse and a layer of custard. The entire dessert is topped with homemade fudge." - Gourmet Express, Wholesale Distributor

So, if the above were the "petite" version, you know that means they make a full size one too!  And here you have it, the full layer cake.  Same types of layers, just, more of them.

Cake, custard, fudge, mousse.

I again was impressed.  Not with the cake, that was certainly a throwaway component, but the rest was quite good.  The custard rich and creamy, the chocolate mousse had great flavor, and the darker, thicker, richer ganache was wonderful.

I'll gladly have more of these, just, minus the boring cake parts of course.  ***+.

Lemon Cake.

"Three layers of moist lemon cake filled with lemon cream custard and covered with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate curls." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

This cake looked decent.  Promising, with all the white chocolate on the outside.

But ... it was not tasty.

The cake was incredibly dry.  And flavorless.  "Moist lemon cake"?  No.

The layer of cream filling was mushy and not ... creamy?  Even the white chocolate was fairly flavorless.

I couldn't find a component of this that I enjoyed. *.

Coconut Whiteout.

"Whipped cream and coconut covers three layers of fluffy white cake, apricot jam and cream custard between the layers."

This was also not tasty.  It wasn't bad exactly, but there was nothing good about it.

Dry, plain, stale-ish vanilla cake.  Flavorless cream custard between the layers.  A bit of sweet apricot jam.  Flavorless white cream topping.  Lots of coconut on the exterior. *.

German Chocolate Cake.

"Two layers of rich choc. cake, layered and topped w/blend of sweet butter, cream, coconut and pecans. Fudgy frosting w/white chocolate leaves."

I couldn't get over the toppings on this one.  And, that VERY, VERY thick layer of coconut pecan frosting filling!!!

Starting from the top.  The large white chocolate "leaves" were fine, sweet, creamy, white chocolate as expected.  Sadly, they were the highlight.

The other element on top was a decoration made from the same thick, rich fudge frosting that also coated the backside.  The frosting wasn't really that rich, not chocolately, and not remarkable in any way.

And then ... the other frosting.  Shredded coconut, mixed with chopped pecans, and buttercream.  So much of it.  It was sweet, it was gooey, but it was pretty standard, again, not remarkable in any way.

Then the cake.  Chocolate cake.  Boring, dry, not moist, not intense.  Just cake.

Overall, this was just boring. It was the quality level of what you'd expect from a home baker, who used a box of mix, a can frosting, and somehow developed the piping skills for the rosette on top.  **.

German Chocolate Cake (September 2018).

Even though I really disliked it last time, I couldn't resist trying it when it was featured at our dinner again.  I mean, *look* at those toppings!

But, it was again, truly not good.  I love sweet frosting, and pecans, and coconut, but this frosting doesn't deliver in any way.  Mushy coconut, just sweet, sigh.  I tried so hard to like at least that part, but alas, nope.

And the white chocolate on top, still the best part I guess, but not remarkable, it was a lower end waxy style.

Note to self: really, give up on this cake, no matter how good it looks! **.

Petite White Christmas Yule Log. December 2019.

"White chocolate genoise cake with a cream and raspberry filling, topped with white chocolate ganache and Christmas decoration."

For the holidays, La Mousse makes classic yule logs, both milk chocolate and white chocolate coated versions (the former with mocha cake, the later with vanilla).  They come in multiple sides - full size, elaborately decorated ones, or, "petite" individual servings, which I had.

While the decorations on the petite ones are not as extensive, just some "bark" ridged frosting and a decorative holly berry (?), I found them even more adorable than the full size (those have poinsettias, mini mushrooms, and more on top!).

These were as tasty as they were good looking.

The cake is rolled with raspberry cream and a thin layer of milk chocolate, to create the ringed look.  The cake was fairly average, just vanilla cake, but it was decently moist and light, and really was just a conduit for all the other components.

The raspberry and chocolate cream filling was slightly fruity and slightly chocolately, neither flavor too pronounced, but they combined nicely, and accented the otherwise plain cake.

The entire thing is coated in white chocolate ganache, fluffy, sweet, and definitely delicious.

And finally, the holly berry topping, with a sweet crunchy white chocolate leaf and little berries that seemed like marzipan.  I loved both toppings.

I liked how this came together, and I added some white chocolate ice cream on top, and loved it even more (for me, cake always needs ice cream with it, even when it already has excellent frosting components ...). ***+.

One negative aspect of these is just ... how not wholesome they are.  Now, I know this is a dessert item, but I was still impressed (and not really in a good way) at the ingredients.  Manufacturing cream is #1. High fructose corn syrup, lots of emulsifiers,  and lecithins, interesting items like "sugared egg yolks" and "liquid egg whites" ...

Cheesecake

They also make a slew of cheesecakes, including seasonal ones (of course they have a pumpkin one for fall), and some petites as well.

The cheesecake fared much better than the cakes.

Petite New York Cheesecake.

"A delicious blend of sour cream and cream cheese slowly baked on top of graham cracker crust and topped with ground almonds."

Wow, this was really excellent cheesecake.

The base was a standard compressed graham cracker crust, not really my favorite thing, it always seems like such a throwaway crust to me.

But the cheesecake.  This was excellent!  Rich and creamy, the perfect texture, perfect intense tang from the use of sour cream alongside the cream cheese.  I was really, really impressed with the quality of the cheesecake.

On top was ground almond crumble, which I also liked.  It added some texture and crunch, and bit of interest to the top of the cheesecake.  Others weren't fond of it though.

Overall though, I thought this was excellent.  ***+.

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake.

"Creamy dark chocolate and luscious cheesecake perfectly blended atop a chocolate cookie crust.  The top is decorated with a white chocolate marbled design."

Sorry for the bad photo here, it really lacks a lot of the detail of this one.  The top did indeed have a chocolate / white chocolate marble design, and the side was coated in a chocolate cookie crust.

So, it looked decent.  The taste though?  Not so good.

The base was a "chocolate cookie crust", but it really seemed cake like, dark, dry, cake.  Nothing good there.  The majority of it was the "luscious cheesecake" that also seemed more like a cake, in a really strange way.  It wasn't smooth and creamy as cheesecake should be.  It wasn't rich.  It was ... just kinda pasty, a strange texture, and not a good mouthfeel.

The dark chocolate on top was perhaps the best part, but there is nothing much to say about it besides that it wasn't awful. **.

New York Cheesecake with Nuts.

"Our New York Cheesecake topped with ground almonds."

Well, this was awful.  I think some of it may have been the fault of the distributor, or perhaps the cafe I got it at, as you can even see that it looks like it had large ice shards on it at some point ...  But even so, I don't think it was a good product to begin with.

The crust?  Cardboard.  Not buttery, not flavorful, just, sawdust cardboard.  Not good.

The cheesecake? Grainy.  Not creamy.  Not rich and decadent.  Texture all off.

The white topping?  The white layer looked like whipped cream, but tasted sour.  Maybe sour cream based?  Or maybe gone bad?  It really did not taste good.

The nut topping?  Not horrible I guess, nice texture.

Overall, I didn't want a second bite of any component of this. *.

Bars

La Mousse invests heavily in their line of bars, double the size of any other product line, clearly one of their top sellers for retail.  I never really want bars, but, I've tried many over the years through our catering department.  They ... are pretty awful.  

Apple Cobbler Bar.

"Our famous shortbread is filled with a towering portion of fresh apples and cinnamon, then finished with a cobbler topping. " 

This was not good.

I'm not sure what is famous about the shortbread, it just seemed like any old shortbread.

The apple layer was extremely mushy.

The "cobbler" was mostly oats, not buttery, and mushy too.

It basically tasted like applesauce with some mushy oats on top.

I did not like this. *.

Strawberry Cobbler Bar.

"Our light and flaky shortbread crust is filled with a natural strawberry jam and dried cranberries, topped with a delicious cobbler topping and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. "

Next, the strawberry cobbler.

Not any better.

Same crust.

"Strawberry" layer actually meant strawberry jam and ... cranberries?  Fruity, sure, but not very good.

And the cobbler topping was different, less cobbles even, and coated in powdered sugar.  

Meh. *.

[ No Photo ]

Blueberry Cobbler Bar.

"A shortbread crust is filled with blueberry jam, dried blueberries and dried apples."

Ok, finally.  One I didn't hate.  Although, honestly, it seemed to have the same composition as the others (it should be the same crust and cobble right?), and they did add dried apples to the blueberry (why!)

I didn't think it was extraordinary or anything, but, the bar was sweet, the crumbles gave good texture, and the fruity layer was sweet (and luckily, I didn't taste the apple!).

I would really call this a dessert, at least not for me, but perhaps with some whipped cream it could be one?  I found it more breakfast appropriate, alongside a coffee ... **+.

Pumpkin Cobbler Bar. (Seasonal).

"Buttery shortbread crust layered with pecan pieces and a creamy pumpkin pie filling and topped with brown sugar crumble topping."

This bar had some good elements.

The pumpkin layer was great.  It was well spiced, and a thick, creamy texture.  I loved that layer.  I also liked the pecans mixed in, and think the pumpkin + pecan combo is a match made in heaven - I always take a slice of pumpkin and a slice of pecan pie at Thanksgiving, so, I liked the flavor combination, and the extra texture.

But just like the other bars, I didn't like the crumble top.  I didn't like the shortbread crust.  Both were dry and strange tasting.

Luckily, the bars were huge, and the pumpkin + pecan layers generous, so I just extracted them, added whipped cream, and was quite happy. **+.

Butter Brickle Blondie.

"A butter brickle, chocolate chip brownie with chopped walnuts. " - La Mousse

"These creamy and chewy butter brickle choc. chip blondies are exquisite!" - GourmetXpress, Distributor

I fall firmly in the "cookies and bars are not desserts" camp ... unless warmed up and made a la mode or something.  So this blondie?  Yup, just a bar.

It was chewy, it had walnuts and chocolate chips, but ... yeah, a bar. Not my thing. **.

Pecan Square.

"A shortbread layer is topped with the most wonderfully chewy mixture of dark syrup, brown sugar, butter and lots and lots of pecan pieces."

I adore pecan pie, so, pecan bars are one of the few types of bars that I tolerate.

But these I didn't care for.

The shortbread crust was ok, soft, buttery, sweet, but the gooey layer above it had a strange flavor (it had honey and brown sugar, both which I like, but didn't work together well here).  The pecans were chopped and kinda burnt tasting.

Not a success. *+.

Dulce De Leche Bar.

"Shortbread crust with butter brickle candy and topped with Dulce de Leche cheese and decorated with Dulce de Leche cheese frosting and caramel." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Our buttery shortbread crust is layered with a crunchy butter brickle, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and dulce de leche frosting. Each bar is then decorated with dulce de leche drizzle. " -- La Mousse

I did not like this either.

The shortbread crust, again, lackluster.

The cheesecake was just too sweet, and not a great consistency.  Kinda mushy. *.

Dulce de Leche Cheese Bar (2023).

"Our buttery shortbread crust is layered with a crunchy butter brickle, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and dulce de leche frosting. Each bar is then decorated with dulce de leche drizzle."

I don't know why I keep trying La Mousse bars.  But I do.  I forgot that I had tried this before, and not like it.  But I like dulce de leche after all ...

The base was the same as all the others - not a delightful buttery shortbread as advertised.  Soft, crumbly in not a good way, fairly throwaway.

Above that, dense sorta-cheesecake.  It is thick, not particularly cream cheese flavored, nor particularly dulce de leche inspired.  At least it wasn't cloying sweet?  Really, it is hard to describe, because it was relatively uninteresting.  Sweet, dense, quasi-cheesecake. The drizzle on top was perhaps the best part. 

Meh. **.

Carrot Bar.

"One layer of our popular carrot cake in the form of a bar topped with cream cheese frosting and chopped almonds."

Why do I keep trying La Mousse bars?  Captive audience, what can I say.  Plus, I've never had their carrot cake products, and generally, even a mediocre carrot cake can be pretty good.  And, this *did* look good.

It was ok-ish.  The cake was extremely moist.  But it was absolutely loaded with raisins, so many raisins.  I don't mind raisins in carrot cake, but, the dominant flavor, and dominant component, was really raisin.  Slightly spiced raisin cake seemed more accurate.  The carrot element was entirely lost.  

The cream cheese frosting was average, not cloying sweet, but not particularly strong cream cheese flavor.  Tons of nuts on top, which I liked, although almonds are a bit of an odd choice, not what I normally associate with carrot cake (usually walnuts or pecans).

So, overall, not a disaster (high bar La Mousse has set in my expectations!), but, not particularly good either.  Lower end of average.  ***.

Berry Cheesecake Bars.

"A shortbread crust with cheesecake and marble blackberry filling on top."

Another truly awful shortbread crust.  Seriously, calling it shortbread should be outlawed.  It is just mushy sawdust.  

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, the rest is fine, reasonable creamy cheesecake with a touch of berry swirl.  But that crust ... so bad.  *** cheesecake, 0 star crust.

Egg Nog Bar.

"Decadent Egg Nog cheesecake with a hint of rum on a shortbread crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

I really don't know why I keep trying these.

Soft, stale, low end shortbread crust.

Mushy not very good cheesecake that tasted vaguely like egg nog.  MEH. *.

Chocolate Cherry Brownie.

"A dense fudge like brownie is covered with a glace cherry filling and finished with bittersweet chocolate drizzle.  A cherry chocolate dream."

Eh.  These weren't great either.  The texture was odd, softer than a brownie, more like a ganache than a cake.  Not that ganache is bad, but these weren't really something you could pick up, and, the bar itself just wasn't anything special.

The glace cherry topping was sweet and gave it a very "low end" feel, but if you like those kind of cherries, and you like the chocolate cherry combo, perhaps these were good. *+.

Creme Brulee Cheese Bar.

"We start off with a shortbread crust and bake it with creamy cheesecake, rich custard and vanilla bean specks and top it with a caramel glaze."

By now you likely know how I feel about crème brûlée, given that I have a label on my blog devoted to it.  I also do like cheesecake.  But, I don't tend to like La Mousse's bars, so I was slightly wary of this one.

It was ... mediocre.  The crust was the same as other items, which isn't particularly great.  They say shortbread, but shortbread should be more buttery and sweet.  This is not a shortbread to be excited about, and is just a step about a throwaway crust.

The cheesecake/custard/whatever it is had a reasonable consistency, thick, sorta like a flan, but, more cream cheese forward.  Not really a great cheesecake, not really a great flan.  But not awful.

The topping is brulee-eque in looks, but is just a soft topping, so it lacks the actual fun part of a crème brûlée with a great candy shell to break in to.

So, overall, definitely not as a decent cheesecake, certainly not a real brulee, and overall just kinda "eh". ***.

Mocha Crunch: Top View.

 "Two layers of Bavarian mocha cake filled with a mixture of whipped cream and butter brickle pieces, topped with Bavarian chocolate ganache and covered with Heath Bar chunks."

The first ingredient in this bar?  Manufacturing cream.  Then English toffee.  Then sugar and vegetable oil.  Does that tell you what you need to know about this bar?  Yeah, there are "liquid egg whites" and "sugared egg yolks" in there too, plus espresso, butter brickle candy, and chocolate, and more, but, uh, not exactly wholesome.

The top layer was fine, just chocolate ganache and Heath bar bits.  I do adore my Heath Bar from time to time (it was my long time favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor when I was younger!) 

Mocha Crunch: Side.

From the side, you can see the other layers, with the mocha cake and cream layers.

These, however, were awful.  The cake was mocha flavored, but, it was both dry and cardboard like at the same time.  Really not tasty at all.  And the cream filling?  Flavorless, and also strange texture.

I pealed off some topping, but, otherwise, this was not a winner. *.

Mocha Crunch Bar (2023).

"Two layers of mocha cake filled with a mixture of whipped cream and pieces of butter brickle, topped with chocolate frosting and covered with pieces of heath bar candy."

This product *should* be good.  Heath bar candy topping.  Chocolate frosting.  Butter brickle.  Whipped cream.  I mean, really, how could that NOT be good?  I don't know, but somehow La Mousse makes these great components not good in any way.

I had this many years ago, and didn't care for it then, but, I've been on a Heath bar kick lately, so I wanted to give it another try.

Where to start.  The cake was dry.  It didn't taste like mocha.  The whipped cream had an odd taste and texture.  The frosting was essentially non-existent.  Even the pieces of heath bar couldn't save this, as I tried to extract them from the rest of the disaster, but couldn't really.

Really not good. *.

Tortes

La Mousse doesn't call any of their creations "pies", but there is a "torte" category which includes, um, a pecan pie.

Pecan Pie.

"Pecan pieces w/dark syrup, brown sugar & sweet butter, poured into a shortbread crust, topped w/pecan halves meticulously placed, glazed." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Large pecan pieces combined with dark corn syrup, brown sugar and butter are poured into a buttery shortbread crust and topped with hand placed glazed mammoth pecan halves. " -- La Mousse

Well, ooph.  Pecan pie isn't ever a light pie, but this was a particularly heavy pie.  In physical weight, too.  It literally weighs 5.3 lbs.

Huge slices, super lofty, and dense.

Pecan Pie: Cross Section.

As you can see from the cross section, the color of the filling was very dark.  It was a rich gooey custard, with a stronger flavor than I am accustomed to in pecan pie.  I couldn't place the flavor though, it wasn't quite molasses, but it was more than just corn syrup and brown sugar.  I couldn't tell at first if I liked it or not, it was quite strong, and in the end, I decided I did not like it.

The pecans on top were very generously applied, several layers deep.  Plenty of pecan in this pie.

The crust was tasty, a soft, sweet, buttery shortbread, but, the pie itself I just didn't care for.  **.

United First Class, ATL-SFO

Another day, another business trip, another one with United, another one with a meh aircraft for a fairly long domestic flight.  Decent crew, boring food and drink. 

Flight Details

Flight: UA1259

Aircraft: Boeing 737-Max 8

Departure: ATL, 6:55pm (scheduled), 6:42pm (pushback, actual) 6:58pm (takeoff, actual)

Arrival: SFO, 9:28pm (scheduled)

Seat: 3E

Standard 737-Max 8 aircraft, and lack of amenities.  I wanted a little pillow and/or blanket.  I wanted lotion, if not in an amenity kit, at least in the bathroom. I wanted headphones that were not just earbuds.  I wanted a seat that was more comfortable.  But alas.  Not on this aircraft.

Standard recliner, 2-2 layout, not particularly useful space around the seat, just space for my bag under the seat in front of me, a little cubby for water bottle beside me, drink tray between the seat with my neighbor. No amenities.  Basically bare bones US domestic business class, not competitive with other airlines I generally fly transcons with.

Food  & Drink

Meal service began in a timely fashion, drink orders taken and meals confirmed/selected by those who didn't pre-order once the FAs could get up.  Warm towels came soon after.   Our meals were delivered within 10 minutes of the drinks. I had my meal within 42 minutes from takeoff, and I was in the third row.  The first row had theirs within 30 minutes!  Very efficient staff.

Nuts.

Mixed nuts were offered along with our beverages.  They were not warm.  Just almonds and cashews. 

Drinks.

On domestic non-premium transcon flights United does not have any particular wines on offer.  Just, "red wine" or "white wine", no options for either.  I went for "red wine" and was never told what it was, but did later see a bottle of chianti in the galley.  I also opted for the blueberry pomegranate flavored sparkling Aha, which I really do like . I was happy to get a full can without even asking.

The red wine was bo-ring, but not offensive.  No acid, no tanin, not too much like grape juice, but just pretty flat flavorwise.  I wouldn't ever pick it again, but I finished my glass (and did not ask for more).  **+.

Menu.

Oh, United.  I've had this menu before.  Chicken, other chicken, or other chicken (yes, 3 chicken), two vegetarian dishes that I've had before and disliked (enchiladas, mezze rigatoni) , and a single beef option that gets meh reviews.  Or salad (with chicken).  I truly didn't want any of them.  

So ... I asked if I could order one of the economy buy-on-board meals, which was accommodated.  I said I would still like the rest of the setup (bread, side salad, dessert).

Tray.

I had to laugh when my tray was delivered.  I kinda thought they'd actually plate the lasagna on one of the glass bowls used for F meals, but perhaps they didn't have any extra?  My lasagna, in a box, came with the rest of the standard setup.  

Bread.

The bread of the day was a dark roll.  It wasn't very fresh, and didn't have any real flavor.  I usually actually don't mind the United rolls (at least some of them) but this one was pretty lackluster.  It was not particularly warm.  Standard pat of butter on the side.  **. 

Salad.

The salad was a bit sad, not much in terms of volume of mixed greens, and they were fairly limp.  It just didn't seem that fresh.  Sun-dried tomatoes rather than fresh tomatoes, which I don't really care for, but likely were better than their lackluster mealy off-season regular tomatoes.  The shards of cheese were nice, although slimy.  I avoided the cucumbers that looked slimy too.  Interestingly, my tray came with the Italian dressing that goes with the entree salad, rather than the little lemon dressing that goes with the standard side salad that everyone else had.

Anyway, not a particularly compelling salad.  **.  

Bistro on Board: Cheese Lasagna. $11.

"Warm cheesy lasagna with cauliflower Bolognese sauce."

So, the economy lasagna.  I had done my research of course and knew what to expect  (besides the box and lackluster presentation).  The internet believes this was the same lasagna American Airlines used to serve in domestic first class.

It was only lukewarm.  I think the FA went to fetch it from economy before she began our meal service, and it had just been sitting up front in the box rather than kept hot in an oven until she got to my row to serve the trays.    

Ingredients ...

Also, uh, beware of the ingredient list.  This was kinda scary long.

Lasagna: Close Up.

It was ok.  The pasta was not too mushy, but certainly wasn't al dente.  It had layers of ricotta cheese, lightly studded with flecks of green, but not particularly much flavor, and it was kinda grainy.  Fairly average red sauce, with some chunky bits that seemed to include carrots.  Not quite as much sauce as I'd want.  A bit of melty cheese on top.  

Like others who had reviewed this, I found myself wondering where the cauliflower was exactly.  It is described as "cheesy lasagna" with "cauliflower bolognese sauce" so I think it was incorporated into that chunky sauce rather than anywhere in the lasagna itself, but, I didn't taste it, and I didn't see any bits of it.  I do actually really love cauliflower, and think it could have been used in a far better way in a lasagna if they wanted (particularly in the layers), but, yeah, this was basically just cheese lasagna.  

Overall, TV dinner quality cheese lasagna, about what you'd expect from a frozen product heated in a microwave.  But, decent enough I guess.  Low *** given the setting and context.

When purchased in economy as part of the Bistro on Board lineup, this is $11, but I was able to just sub for my meal.  I don't think I'd get this again, but, given my menu lineup, I still think it was the best choice available (unless I had just wanted salad, which would make sense maybe for a lunchtime flight).

Dessert.

"Magnolia Bakery - United signature banana pudding."

"Indulge in our new frozen-to-thaw Banana Pudding, a delightful, naturally flavored treat whipped to perfection and made with real bananas." -- Magnolia marketing, from their grocery store version

In December, some exciting news came out.  Well, two bits of related exciting news.  First, a month prior, Magnolia Bakery announced that after years of R&D, they had produced a version of their famous (and truly exceptional) banana pudding that would be sold in grocery stores (frozen).  I love that pudding when purchased fresh from the bakery, and I love pudding in general (hence the label on my blog), but I'll admit I was a bit skeptical about the thaw-to-serve concept, particularly when a key element of the banana pudding is, well, fresh bananas.  So that is piece of news #1.  And then, yes, in December, United announced that they were replacing the onboard dessert (previously sliced pies or their precursors, the pie-in-the-sky from Eli's Cheesecake) with a special version of the Magnolia banana pudding, made just for them.

I'm not sure what exactly is different about the pudding served on board United flights compared to the grocery store version, other than that it comes in a branded cup, and is smaller (the grocery one is 14 ounces, and listed as 2.5 servings).  I did find the size a bit comical, it was more the size of a kid's pudding cup than a proper adult portion.  Frequent fliers are extremely displeased with the fact that they get served a cardboard pudding cup with a paper top they need to remove, rather than actually being plated up in any way.  And that the ingredient list is a bit lengthy, given the long shelf life.  But I was still excited.

Stay tuned for this review, which I'll be adding to my Magnolia Bakery master post soon!

The grocery store lineup features three flavors: banana pudding with wafer cookie bits (as we had), along with a version with red velvet cookie bits, and one with chocolatey hazelnut swirl.  I'll need to try them next to compare.

Proper Foods

"Proper Food is a fresh take on takeaway – offering delicious, wholesome grab-and-go fare. The made-from-scratch menu of sandwiches, salads, soups and Chef’s specials evolves with the seasons."

Proper Food is a chain targeting a very specific market, trying to offer healthier options in the fast convenience, takeout only space, to office workers.  Their locations are all grab-n-go, and, besides optionally heating up your items behind the counter, it is more of a convenience store model than take out restaurant even.  They are only open on weekdays, with breakfast and lunch options.

"We craft our fare by hand fresh every morning the only way we know how – with whole, seasonal ingredients sliced, chopped and seasoned with care. Nothing phony or factory-made. Just good, proper food that’s packed and ready to go."

But, the food is fairly fresh (packaged up that day), the menu changes seasonally, and the quality is higher than any US based convenience store.  Unsold items are donated to charity every night.

Proper Foods only has locations in San Francisco and New York, but they are expanding rapidly.  In SF alone, we have 9 locations, and I feel like I walk by a new one every few months.  The model seems to be working.

Layout

Spacious Interior.

Some locations are tiny, more like kiosks, but the location I visited was quite large and spacious.  They could have put in seating if they wanted, but, they didn't.  Just a huge open space with coolers along the walls, and a register at front.

The register is where you could order hot coffee (drip only), tea, and pastries only, everything else is grab-n-go.

Breakfast Sandwiches.

Most breakfast sandwiches are in the cooler, but two different croissant ones were also available at the register, presumably as they are the most popular in the morning, and usually people want them warmed up.  The croissants looked pretty good.

Muffins.

The only baked good, besides croissant sandwiches, is a single type of muffin, also available at teh counter.  No, you can't get just a plain croissant, which I found a bit odd.

Beverages, Snacks.

The beverage cooler contains a mix of higher end bottled drinks (Maine Roots, Boylan's, Gus's, etc) and their own housemade drinks (juices, lemonade, lassi, cold brew, ice tea).

In the morning, this section also includes chilled breakfast small snacks, like fruit cups, yogurt parfaits, overnight oats, and hardboiled eggs.

Entrees.

The larger section is entrees, breakfast sandwiches/egg bowls/frittatas at breakfast, sandwiches/burritos/salads at lunch, all packaged in clear packaging for easy viewing and selection, but, there is no menu posted so you do need to examine them to see what is available.

Food

Proper Energy Bar. $3.95. 2018.

"Goji berry, rolled oats, flax seed, coconut peanut butter, dark chocolate, dried cranberries."

This was an interesting bar.  Not a granola bar, not a breakfast bar, not a dessert, not a snack.  I don't know how to classify it really.  I guess, an "Energy Bar" is right, for post-workouts?  It is a firm but soft and mushy texture, and requires refrigeration.  If that helps give any context.  Its a rather high maintenance item.  And if it matters to you, also gluten-free.

There were things I loved about it.  It was very, very peanut butter forward.  So many bars promise peanut butter and don't deliver.  This one was undoubtedly peanut butter, and I loved that.  The oats were a good base, and the somewhat odd texture actually worked for me.  There was very minimal chocolate, just a few chunks here or there, and I of course would love more.

There was a fruitiness to it, from the cranberries and goji berries, that I didn't quite like though.  Peanut butter and fruit is a good thing (obs, pb & j).  But, this was just slightly not right to my taste buds.

Overall though, I think I liked it.  Good textures, particularly with the mix-ins, and nice peanut butter.

I had one for breakfast, and it kinda worked, but was clearly a bit of an odd choice.  I made one into dessert, topping it with whipped cream and crumble, which also kinda worked, but not quite as well.  And then I just had one as a post-workout bar, and that made more sense.   Finally, I had one kinda warmed up, I know these are a refrigerated item, but, I did let it get warm (oops), and I liked it more than way.  Particularly when paired with additional chocolate. ***.

Proper Energy Bar. $3.95. (June 2019).

"Goji berry, rolled oats, flax seed, coconut, peanut butter, dark chocolate, dried cherries, sea salt."

I remembered liking these far more than I expected last time I tried one, more than a year prior, and I was again really pleasantly pleased.  So many things in it aren't things that really appealing to me (flax seeds, oats, dried fruit ...), but, somehow, these bars really are fairly delicious.

Most of the credit certainly goes to the peanut butter, a primary ingredient, no question.  The peanut butter flavor is strong, and I love it.  While I don't normally like dried fruit, the fruity dried cherries and goji berry coating bring out a PB&J aspect to the bar, and, well, that works great too.  Flavor-wise, its basically a PB&J, and that is not a bad thing at all.

Every other ingredient mostly adds texture, and, unlike nearly any other energy bar, this one has a great texture.  Soft, and does need to be kept in fridge or it would "melt" (word choice of cashier), but not mushy.  Crumbly, but not messy. It is pleasing to eat. ***+.

Proper Bran Muffin. $2.50. June 2019.

"Peace, Love, & Bran."

Yes, it really is called a "Proper Bran Muffin", not just a "Bran Muffin".  And yes, the description really did read only "peace, love, & bran", no actual mention of what was in it.

I really wanted a baked good, and the bran muffin was the only option, so, I went for it.  It was freshly baked and looked decent, although certainly didn't really look like a bran muffin ... it looked too blonde on top.  I also asked if it had any mix-ins (e.g. raisin, nuts) as bran muffins often do, and the staff didn't really know, but said they didn't think so (it didn't).

They offer to warm it up, which I accepted.  A nice touch.  It was handed over quasi-warm, certainly above room temperature, but only the very top seemed to have really gotten warm.

I don't have much very positive to say about the muffin though.  It looked far, far better than it was.  Perhaps this is why the staff didn't know anything about it, they don't bother eat it?

The muffin was a crispy top style, not too hard, although a bit dry.

Proper Bran Muffin: Inside.

As you can see, it really wasn't anything like a standard bran muffin inside either ... e.g. darker in color, hearty, grainy.

Inside it was kinda fluffy, not moist exactly, but fluffy, cake-like.  But not sweet like cake.  And not sweetened like most bran muffins, no molasses detected.  The base flavor actually sorta almost tasted like banana, although I didn't see any banana, I do think it might have been used for sweetness?

There were some slightly darker brown swirls, that I think were bran batter.  It had a hint of some kind of grain flavor.

Overall, this was just a shockingly boring muffin. No real flavor, and ... just not what I think of as a bran muffin.  Warming it up more, adding butter and jam, nothing really made it stand out. **.

Nutella Cookie. $1.95. (May 2019)

"Extra Dark Chocolate / Crunchy Hazelnuts"

I'm not really a cookie person, but I heard good things about Proper Food's cookies, they looked decently soft, and I wanted some form of dessert, so I also grabbed a cookie.  Cookies are made fresh daily, and come in 4 varieties: chocolate chip (regular or gluten-free), oatmeal walnut, and Nutella.  I selected the later as it sounded most interesting.

Calling this a "Nutella" cookie is a bit ... odd. I'm pretty sure it didn't have any Nutella in it, and, I imagine "Nutella" is trademarked?  Anyway, it was Nutella inspired at least, a chocolate base with whole toasted hazelnuts inside.

The cookie was decent, pretty intense chocolate flavor, reasonably soft, crispy around the edges but not burnt.  The base didn't seem to have any hazelnut flavor, just, deep chocolate, almost brownie-like in taste, but not in texture as it wasn't fudgey.  The hazelnuts added nice crunch and texture, but didn't give the "Nutella" feel really, since many bites came without a nut.

Overall, a fine cookie, perhaps even above average, but if you were expecting it to taste more like the integration of chocolate and hazelnut, e.g. Nutella, or to have any gooey components, it certainly did not.  I think a touch of sea salt on top would also go a long way in giving the flavor a bit more pop. ***.

Oatmeal Cookie. $1.95. (June 2019)

"Cranberries / Walnuts / Hint of Orange."

I am not sure what struck me when I got this cookie, as I don't like dried fruit bits (although cranberries are a bit better than raisins ... maybe), and I certainly don't like citrus tones in my dessert.  And a healthy looking cookie?  I dunno.  It looked soft, and I guess I was in the mood.

It was a nicely made cookie.  It was soft.  It was loaded with cranberries, and truly did taste of orange.  If you wanted those things, they were certainly there.  I didn't really detect a lot of walnut, but I think there were little bits through, just hard to distinguish from the oats.  The base had a slight sweetness, but most of the sweetness came from the fruit.

Overall, it was fine for what it was, but, um, I needed to add buttercream, and quickly grew weary of all the cranberries.

And finally, the sea salt, the touch that sets it over the top, with a bit of ooph.  One note is that the dark chocolate kinda seems like a lie.  I haven't ever tasted, nor seen it, in my bar.

Now, I do taste some flax, and it does taste healthy overall, and it certainly isn't a dessert in my mind, but, for a healthy snack, or a mini meal post workout, honestly, it is tasty.  ***.

Chocolate Chip Cookie. $2.95.

"House-made, dark chocolate and sea salt."

Proper Food used to make several cookies, including the chocolate nutella one and oatmeal raisin that I had reviewed before, but now they only offer a single kind: chocolate chip.  Classic.

The cookie did look quite good - a large size, not too thin, lots of sea salt on top.  It was a decent cookie - not too crispy, nice chew, slight buttery flavor, lightly sweet.  I wished for far more chocolate though - the few chips were small and barely discoverable in the cookie.

Overall good, not amazing.  I was told they are baked fresh in house daily.

***.

GF Chocolate Chip Cookie. $3.50.

"House-made, dark chocolate & sea salt."

Next I tried the gluten-free version, still only offered in chocolate chip, but it looked entirely different than the regular one.  Considerably thicker, loftier.  It was nicely soft, and didn't taste oddly gluten-free.  Absolutely normal texture.  

The notable aspects of this cookie, besides seeming entirely normal, is the significant amount of sea salt, large crystals all over the base.  The salt really made the flavor pop.  The chocolate was also notable, unlike the regular cookie where I found the chips small and lacking, in here they were large chunks, and well distributed throughout.  

Overall, just a totally decent cookie, and even more noteworthy that it was gluten-free.  I'd get another if in the mood for a soft, large chocolate chip cookie. ***+

Note that the gluten-free cookie is $0.55 more than the regular.

Drinks

Proper Food doesn't make any beverages fresh, but they do have bottled juices and cold brew.

Cold Brew Coffee.  $3.95.

"100% organic, fair-trade cold brewed Weaver's coffee."

The cold brew was Weaver's brand, and it was ... fine?  Not a particularly complex coffee, slightly acidic.  Fine, but not great, and I wouldn't get it again.

 **+.