Psycho Donuts

Donuts.  Glorious, glorious, donuts.

I love my baked goods, and I love sweet carbs that masquerade as "breakfast".  Thus, I obviously love donuts.  But so many fail to impress, and I don't just mean Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme.  What I really dislike are trendy donut shops, you know the type that load their donuts up with all sorts of toppings, or crazy fillings, yet are never actually good (I'm looking at you Dynamo Donuts).  The sort of places that put bacon on their donuts, just to be cool (not that I'm against bacon!).  Really, the only decent donuts that also are gimmicky that I've enjoyed came from  Fill 'R Up Gasto Garage in Los Angeles, with their made-to-order ridiculous filled and topped donuts.

Pyscho Donuts is one of those places that sounds way too trendy to be good.  Our admin brought in 4 boxes of donuts one day at our office.  I took one look at the boxes of donuts, and immediately made all kinds of assumptions.  I saw donuts topped with giant chunks of Oreo.  I saw Rice Krispies.  I saw Fruity Pebbles.  I saw bacon.  Sigh.  I read the names of the donuts, all crazy sounding, plays on mental illness.  I looked up the establishment, to find that they call the people who work in their shops "pyscho nurses".  Double sigh.

And then I tried one.  And another.

These are damn good donuts.  I am not going admit how many I had.  Woah.

I can't tell you anything about the donut shop, with locations in Campbell and San Jose.  But if you ever get a chance to try these, do it.  I tried about ... 12 different varieties, and honestly, enjoyed them all.  Yes, I tried at least 12, which sounds insane, I know.  But these were too awesome to not try as many as possible.  The fact that I didn't try all 30 or so is a testament to my willpower!

I skipped all the basic looking ones (not that any are really basic, but I skipped all the buttermilk bars, the ones that looked like they were just regular donuts with icing or glaze, and all the ones topped with cereals).  I focused on the crazy (pyscho?) looking ones.

After reading the Pyscho Donuts website, I have my eyes on a few more varieties I'd love to try, all the "premium" donuts that were not included in the offerings we had.  Perhaps I'll have to take a journey some day to Campbell, just for the donuts ...

Four Dozen Assorted Donuts. $22.95 / Dozen.

Like I said, I uh, tried a lot of these.  I did have only chunks of some of them, once others started bringing over knives to cut off portions.  But yes, I had ... a lot of full size donuts in the end.  Ooph.  I do it for you, dear readers?  (Well that is true, sometimes, who am I kidding?  I did this for me.  All for me!)

Fung Shui

"Green tea icing with dark choco chips and a hint of vanilla drizzle. Find your bittersweet balance!"

I started with this one, as it had green topping, and that just looked cool.  This was the bar shaped donut, bottom right of the front box.  I hadn't read the descriptions yet, so I had no idea what to expect.  Would it have filling?  Did the green taste like anything?  Who knew.

It was a standard raised donut, in bar form.  Light, fluffy, not too fried tasting.  Decent.  The matcha icing was fantastic, not too sweet, a little bit bitter, and the vanilla drizzle on top of that complimented it perfectly.  I loved the crunch from the tiny little chocolate chips.  Wow.  So far, so good.

[ Side note: I went back later in the day, and had another chunk of this variety.  Still quite good, my second favorite overall. ]

Vegan Donut

Inspired by the green, I went for the next green donut, the ring shaped green donut you see in the two boxes on the right hand side.  It didn't seem very interesting to me, had no real flavor, and I only learned later that it was the vegan selection.  It wasn't bad, but, it just wasn't very interesting.

Raspberry Road Rash
"Don’t fall off the donut wagon! This donut will bring you back from the skids with cheesecake icing and real raspberry dust!"

I continued my theme of being drawn in by colors.  I still hadn't read the descriptions of any of them yet.  This one had little unidentifiable red bits all over the top (top left corner round donut, front right box).  The bits were ... raspberry dust?  I think this was freeze dried raspberry?  Either way, tons of flavor, strange texture.  I didn't taste the cheesecake icing.  I wasn't really into this one.

Strawberry Fields
"Something to get hung about! Strawberry icing, freeze-dried strawberries & a Pocky stick. Deliciousness forever!"

Continuing on the red/pink theme, I went for the Strawberry Fields.  It is in the top box on the right, left hand side, behind the green donut.  This one was a square shape, glazed raised donut, not filled, with strawberry icing, bits of freeze dried strawberry, with a strawberry Pocky sticking out of it.  It was a looker, for sure.  Again, a good glazed raised donut, flavorful strawberry icing, and tasty bits of actually identifiable freeze dried strawberry.  The Pocky stick was perhaps a bit excessive.  Great for strawberry lovers.

Kooky Monster
"A customer favorite, topped with crushed Oreo cookies and blue drizzle. It will leave you all googly-eyed & wantin’ MORE !!"

Getting braver, I moved on to the Kooky Monster, topped with massive chunks of Oreo cookie (center, front box).  It was again a nice raised donut, but this one was definitely a sugar rush.  Sweet icing, massive chunks of Oreo.  Turns out, Oreo bits drizzled with even more icing are delicious.  Do they make icing glazed Oreos?  If not, they should.

Headbanger
"Death metal knocked this guy off his rocker! If raspberry jelly filling gives you a head rush, he's your head slammin’ trauma man!"

Ok, now I was ready to move on to filled donuts.  I didn't know what would be in any of them, but hey, I'm brave.  I went for the Headbanger, front box, second on the left.

It was a classic jelly donut, again, good raised donut as the base.  The jelly wasn't really my style, it was thick and gloopy.  The icing however I didn't care for ... it was just too much sweet.  I prefer my jelly donuts just dusted in sugar.  Also, perhaps I was just getting a bit sick of sweet donuts at this point.

Unnamed
This as the one in the top left box, 2nd donut up on the right.  I had no idea what it was, and it was not listed on the website either.  It looked like it was coated in cinnamon and sugar though, always a winning combination for me!

It turned out to be jelly filled, with the same jelly as the Headbanger that I didn't like.  I did like the cinnamon and sugar more than the icing though, but, this jelly just wasn't for me.

German Chocolate Cake
"A dark chocolate cake donut crowned with our house made caramel coconut concoction! Ich bin ein addicted!"

Eventually I moved on to a chocolate donut, the German Chocolate Cake.  I don't really like chocolate donuts, but, I do like coconut and caramel, so, I went for it.  This is the one on the bottom right corner of the top left box.

It was a standard chocolate cake donut, with a nice chocolate flavor, but not really my thing as expected.  The center was loaded with caramel and coconut, tasty, but, not as gooey as I'd like.  I think this was fine, just not the style that I prefer.

Suicide Squeeze
"Designed by our favorite little league team – The Psycho Donuts. They went all or nothing with Oreo dust and dark chocolate filling! "

I went for this last, just to try one that looked much different from the others.  This was the one in the top left box, second donut on the left.

It was also my hands down favorite.  The dark chocolate filling was incredible, basically, chocolate pudding.  Sweet, creamy, delicious.  The Oreo topping this one was actually crumbs, not giant chunks, and it combined great with the pudding.  It sorta reminded me of the Dirt Cake my mom used to make.  Really, chocolate pudding and oreo crumbs is just hard to resist.  So tasty.

Boston Scream Pie.

"A donut so good that it will make you scream! Skull adorned, choco frosted, and vanilla custard filling! You’ll come a-screamin’ back!"

Ok, I lied.  I obviously tried more donuts.  For Ojan, I grabbed the Boston Scream Pie, as Boston Cream is his favorite.  If you look closely, you'll see that there is a scull on this donut, sideways since I didn't realize it when I took the photo.

Oh, and I uh, took a bite before passing it off.  It was a decent donut, again, good raised donut, filled full of vanilla cream filling.  I appreciated how fully filled it was, so many places skimp on the filling.  The chocolate icing was as expected.

Good, but not my favorite donut.

Dead Elvis. $3.75.

"You’ll think you died on the throne! Cream filled, bananas, bacon, peanut butter and jelly. It’s a hunka hunka donut love!"

The final one I grabbed was because it just looked so insane.  I didn't know what it was, but I saw a raspberry swirl, I saw what looked like peanut butter topping, and slices of bacon.  It seemed like it would be filled too.  I was pretty sold into Pyscho Donuts at this point, so, why not go big?

Sadly, this one didn't quite live up.  The donut itself was good, a nice glazed raised donut.  I did like the peanut butter drizzle. The jelly drizzle however was just goo, but, it complimented the peanut butter well.  The bacon ... was soggy, and not crispy.  I liked that it had full strips though, the other bacon donuts on the menu only have bits or chunks.  Under the bacon was ... marshmallows, a bit odd, I think perhaps to hold the bacon off the donut itself?

Anyway, my real disappointment was the filling.  I expected peanut butter and/or jelly filling, and ... it was just cream filled, like Ojan's Boston Scream.  Doh.

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Bread & Cocoa

Bread & Cocoa is a cafe near Union Square.  They serve basic cafe fare such as soups, salads, sandwiches, espresso beverages, and some baked goods.  They try to provide a healthy option for shoppers in the area, and do make some of their baked goods in-house.  Reviews aren't great, but at one point they were listed on LevelUp, and I had some credits to burn, so I swung in.

Service was friendly enough, although the lines were confusing, seemingly for both patrons and the staff, as there were two registers, and no one really seemed to know who to serve next.  I tried two items, neither of which impressed.  I doubt I'll return ...

Orecchiette with Pesto Pasta Salad.  $4.75.

I read a lot of glowing reviews of Bread & Cocoa's chicken pesto sandwich, but I don't like chicken, or sandwiches really, so I wasn't actually interested in that.  But then I saw a pesto pasta salad, already packaged up, near the register.  Sometimes I can really like pesto, and pasta salad sounded perfect for the hot day.

The first container I picked up was really oily.  I'm glad I looked inside, the bottom was a huge pool of oil.  But the oil level was very inconsistent between the containers, and I found one that didn't have as much oil.

The one I picked also was much less full than the others, but since I didn't necessarily want a larger portion I was okay with that, although they really could work on the consistency here.

Also, even if it were full, $4.75 seems really pricey for such a small side dish.  This was most certainly a side, not an entree.

Inside the container.

Described as "orecchiette pasta cocked al dente, roasted red pepper, and black olives tossed in a rich pesto sauce".

I didn't like it.  The black olives were the same slices you can get in a can.  The red peppers were incredibly mushy.  And the pesto was the style of pesto that I don't like.

The only redeeming quality was the orecchiette, as it was actually cooked perfectly al dente, and was a great shape for holding in some pesto ... if I'd liked the pesto.

I certainly would not get it again, and can't believe the price for not only a small portion, but for something made with such low end ingredients.

Lavender Oatmeal Cookie.  $2.

Many of the baked goods at Bread & Cocoa come from other vendors, but they do bake the cookies in house.  I swung in one afternoon to get a drink, and decided a cookie to go with it would be a nice idea.  The other cookies all looked better, but had chocolate, which I was avoiding at the time, so I went for the interesting sounding lavender oatmeal cookie.

It wasn't the style of cookie I prefer, as the cookie was crisp, rather than soft.  It looked fluffy, so I thought it wouldn't be as crispy, but alas, crispy style.

The oatmeal base was good, and the lavender was a really interesting flavor (subtle, not too floral), but the style of the cookie made this not a winner for me.  I brought it home to Ojan, who also didn't want more than a single bite of it.

$2 for a fresh baked, large cookie seemed fine.

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Catering Aboard Air Berlin, PMI-ZHR

Remember when I went to Mallorca almost two years ago?  You read all about my impressive First Class flight from SFO to London on British Airways (including really delicious waffles for breakfast), and the less impressive afternoon tea service on my business class flight from London to Barcelona.  And you heard about the cocktails on the beach at Playero, the epic trek across town to Club de Golf Alcanada, and even Michelin star dining at Jardín.

But somehow I forgot to publish one dining experience: the food served aboard my flight leaving Mallorca, bound for a work conference in Zurich, aboard Air Berlin.

We flew economy, because that was the only option.  The food was ... interesting.  Perhaps I didn't find this noteworthy enough to publish before?

Cheese Sandwich.

We were served one meal.

I was given the option: "Cheese or meat”.  No further description.  I didn't even know I was picking between types of sandwiches, let alone what type of "meat" or cheese it would be.  I went for cheese, having no real idea what I was getting.

It was a sandwich.  Served in a bag.

Oh boy.  The bread was a dark roll, a bit soggy, not exactly fresh, but shockingly, not horrible.

Inside the cheese sandwich.

Inside was sliced cheese, as expected given the name.  But it also had a really interesting spread, which seemed to be mayo based, plus a plethora of crunchy veggies.  There were bits of red peppers, shredded carrots, and many others that I couldn’t identify, but also things like corn kernels.  A random mix, for sure.

I didn’t hate this.  Sure, the bread part was pretty awful, but the inside was kinda like a egg salad sandwich, just without the egg ... only the mayo and tasty bits.  I did actually quasi enjoy this.

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North India Restaurant

This is a story of a very poor delivery experience.

First, you know I rarely order delivery.  I have too many issues with wanting my food hot and fresh, so I'm generally just not willing to order food that I know will be sub-par.  But sometimes, it makes sense to get delivery, and in those cases, my cuisine of choice is usually Indian.  Curries hold their heat decently well, and, if they do get cold, are easy to reheat without sacrificing quality too much.  Naan can be revived decently in the toaster oven.  Rice microwaves well.  So, if you stick to the basics, indian food can be an ideal fit for delivery.

One lazy Sunday, we ordered dinner from North India Restaurant, via Delivery.com.  North India Restaurant is a fairly new place, located just a few blocks from my house.  I hadn't ever had the food before (not in person, nor delivery), but Yelp reviews seemed fairly positive, plus, its close proximity made me think the food had a chance of arriving hot.

Our order came at a time when Ojan had fairly strict requirements about when he ate (for health reasons), so I made the order in advance, at 3pm, for a 6pm scheduled delivery, to ensure it was there in time for dinner.  I was shocked to discover, at 5:30pm when I returned home, that the food had been dropped off sometime before 4pm, and just left sitting in my lobby.  Yes, it was obviously not hot at this point, and I could obviously heat it up, but I was concerned with food being  leftout for 2 hours at room temperature actually not being safe to eat.

So I called up Delivery.com and let them know what had happened, hoping they'd replace the order.  They put me on hold (for 15 minutes!) while they called the restaurant to figure out what was going on.  Finally I was told that they had pretty serious language barrier when speaking to the restaurant, but they *thought* that a new order would soon be delivered.  I was told that if nothing arrived by 6:30pm to call back, because she honestly wasn't certain that the communication had been clear, and a new order made.

Shortly after 6pm, a new order did appear.  And they threw in rice pudding as a bonus, presumably to make up for the mistake.

The food was ... mixed.  I'm still searching for good indian cuisine in this city, and, just like with Thai, I welcome any recommendations!

Chutneys.

Our food came with two little containers of chutney, one was a basic tamarind and the other some sort of green chutney.

I was happy that the restaurant included these automatically.  The green chutney was fairly fresh tasting, loaded with herbs.  I liked having both to jazz up my food and dunk my naan in.

Garlic Naan: Naan studded with garlic & cilantro. $3.95.

The garlic naan came wrapped in foil, but was stone cold when it arrived, even the second time.  The restaurant is only a few blocks away!  They clearly didn't transport the food in a heat bag.

The naan was very thin.  I prefer a puffier naan, with some char, but Ojan said he liked this style.

We ordered garlic naan, but I honestly didn't taste any garlic.  It did have cilantro.

This was totally unremarkable, and $3.95 was actually a bit pricy for a small, thin naan, particularly when compared to other places.  I probably wouldn't get the naan again, although, since I don't like rice, I really do usually require naan for my indian meals.

Saag Paneer: Cubes of homemade cheese sautéed with spinach & spice. $11.95.

My pick of dishes was saag paneer, since I adore paneer, and wanted a dish with some veggies too.  I've been on a spinach kick lately, which, of all my random obsessions, seems like a pretty healthy one, but I'm sure it won't last.  Anyway, paneer and greens was exactly what I wanted.

As you can probably guess, it was also lukewarm, but I heated it back up easily in the microwave, which didn't seem to alter the texture of the paneer.

The dish was actually quite good.  The chunks of paneer were decently sized, and there were a reasonable number of them.  The paneer wasn't rubbery, and was quite moist.  Above average paneer.

The saag was fairly fresh tasting, not too oily, although it was clearly not a light dish, I'm sure it had plenty of cream in it.

The part that impressed me was the spicing; it had a bit of kick to it, and small chunks of tomato and onion for additional flavor.

This wasn't the best saag paneer I'd had, but it was pretty solid, better than most.  I'd get it again.

$11.95 is a bit high compared to other restaurants in the area, but it was a decent portion (2 people could easily split this).

Kashmiri Chicken: Clay Oven roasted chicken cooked in butter sauce with spinach. $13.95.

Ojan's favorite dish at indian restaurants is butter chicken.  The North India menu didn't have butter chicken, but it had something we thought was going to be similar to butter chicken: Kashmiri chicken.  The description said it was cooked in a butter sauce, but it said it also had spinach.  We weren't entirely sure what to expect.

However, we weren't expecting this.  In fact, I thought that both the containers were the same, and that we just got two saag paneer, until we dug in and found chicken in one.  I still somewhat think this was chicken saagwala, not kashmiri chicken,  as it honestly tasted exactly the same as my paneer dish, just with chunks of chicken instead.

Anyway, since I don't like chicken, I didn't try the meat itself, but Ojan (and my mom who was visiting) both thought the chicken was flavorful and good, except ... loaded with cartilage and tiny bones.  They both wound up with a pile of rubble on the side of their plates from the bits they would bite into and crunch down on.  They commented that one or two pieces showing up in the mix was one thing, but this really was a remarkable amount of cartilage, to the point where it turned them off, no matter how good the flavor was.

And again, price of $13.95 seemed a bit high.

Kheer: Traditional Indian rice pudding. $3.50.

I think to apologize for the food being delivered at the wrong time, they added kheer to our order.  Since I'm a dessert girl, and a pudding girl in particular, this was very welcome.  In fact, I'd almost ordered it myself, except that I had a freezer full of ice cream I was hoping to put a dent in that night.

Sadly, this was not good rice pudding.  Short grained rice, a bit too al dente.  Really runny.  There were strange dark bits that seemed burnt stirred in.  The flavor was rather bitter.

I really, really didn't like this, and didn't even bother take a third bite (of course I took two, just to be sure ...).  Clearly, would not get again.

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Carman's Muesli, Australia

If you ever visit Australia, and enter the cereal aisle of a grocery store, you will undoubtedly discover Carman's.  Carman's is, well, everywhere.  The company specializes in muesli, and a large variety of related products (muesli bars, nut bars, muesli rounds, muesli clusters, porridge, and oat bars).

Carman's specializes in muesli, and, products made from muesli, like breakfast rounds and bars.  Many are gluten-free.  I've tried some of the muesli and many of the bars.  Most were all fine, but not really something I'd seek out.  The exception though? The muesli rounds.  Those were winners.

Muesli

Starting with the basics, the muesli.

Carman's makes 5 varieties of muesli, including one bircher muesli, one without fruit, and a gluten-free option.  Something for everyone. 

If you stay at a hotel with a breakfast buffet, chances are high that you'll see Carman's muesli among the lineup, which is where I had it.   I know I tried most of the varieties over the years, but, for some reason, I only have notes on one variety.  Ooops!

Deluxe Gluten-Free Muesli.

Carman's Muesli is the base of all of their other products, like the Deluxe Gluten-Free Muesli Bar that you'll soon read about.

Interestingly, the primary ingredient is actually dried fruit, which makes up 24% of the muesli, a mix of sultanas, raisins, and dates.  Then there are seeds, making up another 20%, a mix of sunflower seeds and pepitas.  Next comes rice flakes at 19%, and puffed rice (only 8%), and last, but not least, nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans), only 3%.  Not exactly the distribution I was expecting, and it explains why they offer a variety that boasts to be fruit free, if their standard offering is so fruit forward!

I didn't like this muesli.  I really didn't like the rice crisps nor puffed rice.  Sorry gluten-free folks, but, I like my oats!  I also never like sultanas nor raisins, and these were hard little pellets, my least favorite way to eat them.  I actually never really found nuts, they must have been ground up in the mix?  Really, the only thing I liked was the pepitas.

The mix was also strangely bitter.  I guess healthier this way, but, well, turns out, I like my sugar.

Bars

"Our nutrient-rich bars provide a unique balance of carbohydrates and protein. Did we mention that they’re also yummy? We have 7 different varieties of muesli bar and 2 gourmet protein bars - All soft, chewy and completely snack‘a’licious!"

Moving on to snack bars, made using many of their mueslis as the bases.   For varieties, they produce a bar for each of the base mueslis, plus two featuring dark chocolate (trying to be enticing!), one with greek yogurt (trendy!), and two with added protein (get the athletes!).

As you know, I don't love snack bars, but, I end up trying them all the time anyway, they really are so convenient to carry around.

Original Fruit-Free Muesli Bar.

The base to this bar is Carman's Muesli Blend (oats, sunflower seeds, pepitas, and sesame seeds) plus some nuts (almonds and pecans).  Most of the other bars have puffed rice also, but this one doesn't.

It was really quite boring.  Slightly sweetened, slight spicing from some cinnamon, but really, not much going on here at all.  It also had a bitterness that I couldn't identify, like it had flax, except, I know it didn't ...

Fruit free seems to mostly mean flavor free?

Deluxe Gluten-Free Muesli Bar.

So I moved on to a far more exciting sounding "Deluxe" bar, made from the base of Carman's Gluten-Free Deluxe Muesli (rice flakes, puffed rice, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and cranberries) that I reviewed above.  In addition to the muesli base, it had currants, sultanas, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans.  If "deluxe" implies a TON of ingredients, then yes, deluxe it was. Also notable, is that it doesn't have oats like the original bar, since it was gluten-free.
It was a soft, chewy style.  It reminded me of a rice crispy treat, except a healthier tasting one.  Except ... I don't like rice crispy treats, so I didn't actually enjoy this.

Dark Choc Cranberry & Almond Bar.

I moved on to the more enticing offering, with dark chocolate.  Add some chocolate in, and then things get tastier, right?  I tried the dark chocolate, cranberry, and almond bar.

I'm not quite sure why they chose to name it "cranberry & almond", as there were seemingly more sultanas than cranberries, and as many hazelnuts as almonds.  Anyway, the base was oats and puffed rice, and it was loaded with assorted goodies: almonds and hazelnuts, sesame and sunflower seeds, cranberries and sultanas.

This was more like a classic granola bar, a bit sweet, with decent size chunks of fruit and nuts in it, but meh, it was just granola bar, with an ok chocolate coating on the bottom.  Nothing very interesting.

Yoghurt, Apricot, and Almond Bar.

 Ok, if chocolate coating didn't do it, maybe yoghurt would?

The base of this was again oats and puffed rice, with almonds and hazelnuts, plus pepitas, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, and apples, currants, and apricots.  And the yoghurt coating of course.

Yoghurt, Apricot, and Almond Bar: Sideways.

It was another hard style bar, generously loaded with the assorted goodies. The bar itself had a strange bitterness to it, like many of the others, and I'm still not sure which ingredient caused this, I don't see any obvious culprits in the ingredients line up.

The yoghurt coating however was incredibly sweet.  It seemed more like white chocolate than yoghurt.  As you can see, it was applied in a generous layer.  I like sweet, but, I was still not a fan of this one.

Nut Bars

"If you're nuts about nuts like us, then these gluten free roasted nut bars are going to make the perfect companion for you.  They're satisfyingly chewy and contain a delicious blend of wholesome nuts and seeds.  We take pride in being able to offer you even more products with natural, simple and honest ingredients.  Enjoy!"

Moving on from meusli bars, I found the nut bars.  These sounded better, since I really do love nuts.  They make 4 varieties of these, including one with chocolate and one with Greek yoghurt.

I liked these more than the granola bars, as expected.

Macadamia & Coconut Roasted Nut Bar.

I actually quite liked this one, which surprised me, since, it was still sorta a granola bar.  I clearly like the bars that are mostly nuts just bound together with sweetness better than standard granola bars (although this did have little rice puffs in it).

There was a good crunch from all the nuts, and no soft flakes of oat to distract from the nutty deliciousness.  It was nicely sweet.  The only thing I didn't care for was the fruit, I'd rather just leave it out.

Sadly, this variety was discontinued.

Almond, Cashew, and Cranberry Roasted Nut Bar.

I also tried one of the classic nut bars.  Nuts were the star, 41% of the bar is made of a mix of peanuts, almonds, and cashews.  Throw in some seeds (pepitas, sunflower, sesame) to get the next 14%, and then, sadly, the next 13% is cranberries.  However, it DID have cranberry in the name, so, what should I expect?

The bar is rounded out with a little bit of puffed rice, and sweetened with glucose, honey, and rice syrup.

It had a nice crunch from the plentiful nuts, and it was sticky sweet from all the sweeteners, in a good way.  Really not bad for a bar, but, like I've said, bars are never something I actually crave.

Muesli Rounds

"Rounds are deliciously soft and delightful muesli bakes. Filled with all the natural goodness of wholegrain oats, honey, cinnamon, fruit and nuts they’re perfect for breakfast on the go, as a lunchtime treat or with afternoon tea. A source of fibre and 100% preservative free, you’ll savour every last crumb of these moreish muesli morsels."

These are also described as "A perfect after-school snack for kids who love their bikkies."

Ah yes, their ... bikkies?

Let me translate some of this for you.  Bikkies are what go in the bikkie tin.  Duh.

Still not helping?  Here is a hint: Australians like to shorten and cutesify words, thus, "bikkie" is just slang for "biscuit".

Still not clearing it up?  This clearly isn't a Southern United States style "biscuit", which is the first type of biscuit I think of.  Slathering this in gravy?  Um, no.  Remember the "bikkie tin"?  What if I told you that was a "cookie jar"?

Ok, so, bikkies are biscuits, biscuits are cookies.  Now, you can take Carman's second tag line: "Carman's Rounds are what we call biscuits upgraded to first class."

Ok, so ... a "muesli bake" is a biscuit which is a cookie, but this one is upgraded to first class, and, I'm allowed to eat it for breakfast?  While I may not love cookies as a dessert item, a cookie for breakfast had me intrigued.

Available in two varieties, again with Carman's muesli as the bases.  I tried both and was very surprised by how much I liked them.  They do work great for a quick breakfast item alongside a cup of coffee, and I think they'd be equally good as a mid-afternoon treat with a cup of coffee or a cup of tea.  You can pretend they are breakfast, or you can pretend they are a cookie, both with equal success.  I'll continue to get these whenever I'm back in Australia.

Classic Fruit & Nut Muesli Bake.

I started with the Classic Fruit & Nut Muesli bake, made from a mix of dried fruit (sultanas, apricots, raisins), nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pecans), seeds (sesame, sunflower), and oats, in a basic baked goods base (flour, butter, sugar, eggs).  Hmm, this sure sounds like a cookie, with their granola as the central component.

I opened my package, happy to see that it looked like a cookie too.  Round, not bar shaped.  It was fairly soft.  In fact, if I hadn't seen it labelled differently, I would have thought it was just an oatmeal raisin cookie, although perhaps a slightly thick one.

I tried a bite, expecting to pass it on to Ojan quickly.  But hmm ... it was pretty good!  Nice and soft, absolutely loaded up with the assorted fruit, nuts, and seeds.  There was plenty of flavor, lots of textures from the crunchy bits of nuts and the soft bits of fruit.  It had a pleasant subtle sweetness from brown sugar, treacle, and honey.  Not much additional spicing, just cinnamon and vanilla, but that was all it needed.

The oatmeal cookie base really reminded me of a regular oatmeal cookie.  I felt a bit scandalous eating it for breakfast. (Ok, who am I kidding, this was no way less appropriate for breakfast than any danish or donut.  And, um, I'm known to eat all sorts of actual desserts like fruit crisps and cobblers, rice pudding, etc for breakfast on a regular basis).  But still.  It was a cookie!  A breakfast cookie!

The size was just right too, perfect for a light breakfast on the go.  It really would work as an afternoon snack too.  Or even a mid-morning treat alongside your second (or third ... ) cup of coffee.

I was pretty impressed, and for an easy breakfast item, I'd certainly grab another.

Update:
On my next visit to Sydney, I grabbed a few more of these over the course of my stay.  I continued to really enjoy them.  The texture of the bar is great, just slightly crumbly.  I love the crunch of the nuts and seeds, and the sweetness of the bits of dried fruit.  I'll continue to enjoy these, whenever I need a quick easy breakfast to go.

Apricot & Almond Muesli Bake.

Next I went for the apricot and almond bake.

It is made from the same ingredients as the first one, just in different amounts, highlighting the apricot and almond bits a bit more.  It uses Carman's Natural Bircher Muesli (oats, sultanas, apricots, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans) as the base.  It also has the same seeds (sunflower, sesame), and more spicing including ginger and orange oil.  It is again sweetened with treacle and brown sugar, but replaces the honey with grape juice.

So, slightly different recipes, but very similar results.

Just like the classic round, I really liked how soft it was, and adored the crunch from the chopped up bits of nuts.  The fruit was also perfectly sized, just little pops of sweetness.  A very balanced, well crafted treat.  It too had a slight crumble, and broke apart easily.

I'd gladly get another, and can't say that I could pick between the two varieties.

Update:
After having a few more of each type of round, I decided I liked the classic a bit more.  I'm not quite sure why, as I do like apricots more than raisins or sultanas.  I think perhaps the almond was a bit too strong?  I still like this one, but if I have to pick one, I pick the classic.

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Shari's Berries

Update Review, January 2016

Given my original review of Shari's Berries (below, go read first if you wish for context), as you can imagine, I didn't actually seek out more of their products.  But, another co-worker received a gift box from Shari's Berries, and after everyone else consumed all the good looking options, there was one sad cookie left.  Now, I'm not a cookie lover, as you well know.  But ... it looked so sad, and clearly, no one wanted it.

Hand Dipped Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.

Why did no one want it?  Well, it was oatmeal raisin, the general loser of all cookie categories.  And Shari's Berries specializes in, well, berries, not cookies.  Why would anyone want this?

But, I couldn't let it sit dejected.  Plus, it wasn't just a cookie .... it was a dipped cookie, as Shari's Berries dips all the things (fruit, pretzels, chocolate, caramels, nuts, etc).  Even if I wasn't excited for an oatmeal raisin cookie, I do sometimes love sweet white chocolate coating (judge away).

The verdict?  Well, I liked it.  The top was covered completely in white chocolate, as were the sides, but the bottom remained uncovered.  The white chocolate was just crazy sweet, but, I was in the mood for it, and it paired nicely with my coffee.

The cookie itself was not a wholesome, hearty, almost-healthy-seeming oatmeal raisin.  Yes, it had oats.  And tons of raisins (that were NOT rock solid).  But it too was super sweet, and clearly horrible for me, even without the white chocolate.  It was crispy and sweet, and well spiced.

Would I go purchase these?  Obviously not.  But, uh, I enjoyed this quite a bit.  Far more than most cookies, even soft, fresh out of the oven, homemade cookies.  Perhaps I was just in the right mood for it?

Original Review, May 2013

My mother is the master of care packages.  I honestly can't believe that I've lived away from home for so long, yet still continue receiving amazing boxes for every holiday.  This past year, for Valentine's Day however, my mom did something a little different.  I did not get a box filled with standard Valentine's candy.  No conversation hearts, no red hots, not even chocolates!  In fact, Valentine's Day was approaching, and I hadn't received a box at all!

So when my concierge notified me that I had a perishable package that afternoon, I thought, "ah, how sweet, my mommy sent me flowers for Valentine's Day".  I knew flowers would be fine without me rushing home to pick them up, so I went back to my busy day and forgot all about the package.

When I arrived home much later in the evening, I was shocked to be handed a large box, with the words PERISHABLE and KEEP FROZEN all over it.  Whoops!

I eagerly opened it, and discovered that my mom had decided to try something totally different, sending treats from Shari's Berries.  I only vaguely knew of them, from seeing advertisements somewhere.  I had no idea what to expect.

I didn't love any of it, but it was nice to have something different.

One of two boxes, nice packaging!  

They win on presentation points, but not on taste.

Half Dozen Gourmet Dipped Swiveled Strawberries.  $19.99.

"Each strawberry is individually dipped and swizzled then gently tucked into a protective gift box, waiting for you to enjoy."

The strawberries are their signature item, and it is easy to see why.  The packaging was impressive.  Each berry was in its own little slot, on top of a doily, and the entire box had a very thick foam protective layer inside of it.  They were so pretty!  The OCD person in me couldn't stand the distribution of the berries in the box though ...

Speaking of the berries, there were 2 each of 3 varieties.  The berries were clearly real berries, as they were all totally different sizes.  They also ranged in ripeness, but I was pretty disappointed with how un-ripe they were.  It is winter, but still ...

• White chocolate dipped with dark chocolate swizzles: The white chocolate was exactly the sort of white chocolate that makes people hate white chocolate.  Basically just sweet wax.  And the berry I had inside this one wasn't ripe at all.  The tip was pink, the middle was white, and the top half was actually still green.
• Milk chocolate dipped with white chocolate swizzles: Unremarkable chocolate coating, less waxy than the white, but not great.  In this one, the strawberry was at least more ripe.
• Dark chocolate dipped with milk chocolate swizzles: The dark chocolate and milk chocolate seemed exactly the same.  Again, a fairly unripe strawberry.

I just really didn't cafe for these, but Ojan like the non-white chocolate ones. Someone was happy with this gift!

Mini Cheesecake Trio: Classic New York, White Chocolate, Rocky Road,.  Each 3".  $19.99.

Next up, was a far more exciting box - a cheesecake trio!

Classic New York Cheesecake

Traditional cheesecake, chocolate graham crust on top and sides, chocolate frosting, and a white chocolate drizzle.

I'm surprised they called this a classic New York.  Does a classic NY cheesecake have chocolate fudge on top? Or chocolate crust?

Anyway.  The cheesecake itself was a plain one.  It didn't really have much cream cheese flavor.  It wasn't that creamy.  Honestly, the cheesecake I make is better than this.  But at least it wasn't bad like the one from Soup Freaks!

The crust on the top and bottom was apparently chocolate graham, but was basically just soggy black stuff.  Calling it a crust is generous, as it was more like a spray-on coating.  It was too finely crumbled to even add texture.  Did not like.

The chocolate fudge layer on top was very thick, and didn't go with the cheesecake very well.  It was very creamy however. It also went very well with the fresh sliced strawberries I added to jazz the whole thing up.

Sadly, the white chocolate drizzle on top was my favorite part.  No, I'm not joking.  Least favorite of the trio, would not get again.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

This was a white chocolate cheesecake, topped with a layer of white chocolate, a chocolate decoration, and the same thin chocolate graham crust around the sides and bottom.

It was very creamy, but I would not have known it was the white chocolate one, rather than the Classic New York.  I had to look it up online to figure out what variety it was.  The white chocolate flavor in the cheesecake itself was very, very subtle.  The white chocolate on top was thick, brittle, and hard to cut into, a strange choice for a topping, but I liked it more than the white chocolate used on the strawberries (which is strange, as I expected it to be the same).

The crust was again very thin, really just adding a slight brown color to the outside and bottom.  It was too thin to really taste like anything.

Second favorite of the trio, but I still wouldn't eat again.

Rocky Road Cheesecake

This was a chocolate cheesecake, topped with a chocolate fudge layer, mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts with the chocolate graham crust on the edges.

I don't normally like chocolate cheesecakes, but this was pretty good.  Again creamy, smooth, with a nice chocolate flavor and some cream cheese essence coming through.

The fudge layer on top was the same as the Classic NY, very thick, but unlike the white chocolate, it wasn't brittle so it was easy to cut through.  It added another layer of richness to the already ridiculous cheesecake.

And then it was covered in assorted "rocky road" toppings - mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and chopped nuts.  I'm not really sure it all worked together that well, marshmallows on top of a cheesecake are a bit weird, but it was a good representation of rocky road.

My favorite of the trio, and I would get it again.

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Delivery from Navin Thai Restaurant

I don't order food for delivery very often.  I'm really just too much of a snob for it, and I know it.  I want my food hot and fresh.  I get annoyed when it sits at the pass in a restaurant for more than a few minutes.  Delivery, even if done under optimal conditions, will always be fairly lukewarm.  But ... sometimes delivery is what you need.

One night, we had friends over, and no one felt up for going out to dinner, and we didn't really have anything on hand to feed the group.  So, delivery it was.

We opted for Thai food, as it generally holds up decently for delivery, and everyone seemed happy with that style of cuisine.  Since we never order delivery, we don't have a standard go to, so just took to cross referencing places from delivery.com with Yelp, looking for something reasonable.  Navin Thai was one of the higher rated Thai choices that delivered to us (although it only had 3.5 stars on Yelp).

I found everything unremarkable, which, I guess is an endorsement of sorts.  There was nothing clearly awful about anything we got, and everyone else seemed happy enough, but I wouldn't order from Navin Thai again.

Do you have a recommendation for delivery, for when the situation calls for it?

Clear Labeling Each Dish.

I opened the delivery bag, and immediately noted the clear writing on each container.  Large block letters, easy to read.  Points to Navin Thai for the nice labeling.

Curry Contained Within a Bag.

And further points for putting the curry inside a second plastic bag, just in case there was a leak (there was not).  (Minus one point for "veggy" curry?)

The food was also somehow still hot when it arrived, particularly the curry.  While it took an hour to receive our food after we ordered, the food clearly wasn't sitting somewhere getting cold, which I appreciated.

The delivery person was also friendly and polite.  No issues with service.

Appetizer: Thai Beef Jerky. $7.50.

"Dried and deep-fried marinated beef strips."

To start, we ordered Thai Beef Jerky.  None of us really knew what to expect, but we needed one more item to make the delivery minimum, and Ojan and I had fond memories of the ridiculously tasty beef jerky-like bits that topped the papaya salad at our favorite Thai restaurant in Sydney (Sailor's Thai Caneen, if you are ever there.  Still my favorite Thai food anywhere).

It is hard to see in the photo, but in the box is little chunks of ridiculously chewy, dry, jerky.  It wasn't sweetened or candied like our precious Sailor's Thai jerky.  In fact, it didn't taste like anything.  Which I guess is why it came with a cup of sauce on the side, slightly spicy.

None of us really liked this.  Ojan's comment: "It just needs some flavor.  It is totally fine otherwise", which I didn't really agree with as I found it too chewy and dry, but, to each his own.

The portion also seemed pretty small for $7.50.  Maybe just because it only filled about 30% of the box it came in, it just looked meager?

Vegetarian Panang Curry. Medium. $8.95.

"Tofu and mixed vegetables, string beans, bell peppers, and basil in panang."

For one main dish, we picked a curry, since curry holds up well for delivery.  It was still hot when it arrived, so this was a good decision.

The tofu was firm triangles, and the "mixed vegetables" were carrots and broccoli.  The curry also had string beans, basil, and bell peppers in assorted colors.  The vegetables were all a bit overcooked and mushy.  Because Ojan can't handle spicy food, we ordered medium, and it was not spicy at all, certainly mild, not medium.  I'd normally go for spicy, as I like the spice to compliment the sweeter panang sauce.  The curry sauce was fine, but lacking any dimension, it was just sweet.

The portion was pretty large, the container about twice as deep as most deli containers, so the $8.95 price tag was very reasonable.  (Amusingly, when we first selected the panang curry from the regular curry section of the menu, and put tofu as our protein, it showed a price of $9.95.  When we got to the vegetarian section of the menu, we saw that it was listed for $8.95, so we added that one instead.  I'm pretty sure there was absolutely no difference in the two items, just a pricing glitch with vegetarian vs regular?).

Pad See Ew, Chicken. $8.95.

"Flat rice noodle with broccoli, egg, and chicken in black bean sauce."

For our second entree choice, we went for a noodle dish, my standard, Pad Se Ew.

Our protein options were tofu, beef, pork, chicken, or shrimp ($2 extra), but the others wanted chicken, so I went for it, knowing I could just eat around it since I don't like chicken and didn't particularly want one of the other options anyway.  The others all remarked that the chicken was well cooked, not dried out, and lacking any cartilage (unlike other delivery we'd had a few weeks prior).

The dish was unremarkable, fairly bland.  I wished it had more sauce.

The primary ingredient was noodles.  We all wished for more broccoli.  We joked that we should have just asked to have extra broccoli added to this dish, with a surcharge, to meet the delivery minimum instead of ordering the jerky.   The noodles were a bit mushy, but I expect that for delivery.  I appreciated the fact that it had both American broccoli florets, and Chinese broccoli, although, again, not much.  There was a very small amount of egg, plus the chicken.  I think the version from Modern Thai is a bit better, the noodles certainly were better there, and they had more generous veggies inside, but, it also lacked much flavor.

One of the other diners noticed that the curry and pad see ew on her plate combined to be tastier mixed together, and advocated for smothering the pad see ew in curry.  Everyone quickly agreed that this was the best approach, since both dishes were fairly bland on their own.

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