Good Thins

Update Review, 2020

I continue to have fond memories of the first Good Thins I ever tried, so I always try new varieties when I see them offered.  I recently tried a new base: "the corn one".

The Corn One

"The Corn One" is actually corn and rice flour based, not just corn, but besides oil and salt, there is nothing else added.  Gluten-free by nature.

Unlike "The Potato Ones" or "The Rice Ones", there is only one flavor offered, and it is ... quite plain. Sea salt only.

Sea Salt.

These were honestly a fairly boring cracker.  Square shaped, with some bubbles to them.  Very mild corn flavor ... I would have believed they were just rice crackers.  The corn was not dominant in any way.

They were crispy, salty, and healthy, and, if you were looking for something just slightly more interesting than a rice cracker they would fit that need, but for me, they were just ... boring.

Update Review, July 2019

After success of the sweet potato and spinach & garlic Good Thins, I was eager to try more varieties.  And many more varieties have popped up since, made with a slew of different bases: potato, rice, chickpeas, corn, and oat.

I tried several more, but also got another box of the sweet potato, since, well, they were just so good.  The sweet potato remain the best, no question, but I'm glad I tried a few more.

Beet

Good Thins dabbled in a veggie base, picking beets.  They have been discontinued however, clearly not one that consumers went for.  Still, I got to try them before they disappeared.

The Beet One: Balsamic Vinegar & Sea Salt.

"The Beet One" I selected was Balsamic Vinegar & Sea Salt flavor.  I got these thinking they would be more like actual beet chips, not realizing that potato flour was the first ingredient.  Ooops.  They really belong in the "The Potato One" product line ...

The Beet One.

They were much like the other varieties I had tried, a baked thin savory potato based chip, not greasy or fried, healthy tasting, well seasoned.  And they tasted like beets.  The color was that of beets.  But clearly weren't actual beet chips.

I wasn't a big fan, since I wanted real dehydrated vegetable chips, but, I think these will likely be better crowd pleasers (although I think they have been pulled from the market already?).  I didn't really taste balsamic, but they were savory.

My beet loving mother enjoyed them.

Potato

Potato based thins remains the largest product line, and since that is where I had found previous success, I decided to try more.

The Potato One: White Cheddar.

They were ... eh.

First, um, many were burnt?  My box had probably 50% burnt ones.  Not the best quality control!

But really, they were just ... boring.  Potato flour + cornstarch + wheat flour make up the base, which turned out to just be kinda starchy and plain potato chip seeming, just with a bit more body to it like  a cracker rather than a chip.

The white cheddar flavor was too mild, it was sorta there, but a cheesy snack these were not.

The Potato One: Sweet Potato.

Finally, I went back to my old favorites, the sweet potato.

These continue to be my favorite.  They are salty, slightly sweet, and have a wide variety of uses for me.  Sure, great as an afternoon or evening snack, or alongside a meal instead of chips, but sometimes, I even like a handful with my breakfast.  The sweetness from the sweet potato, and added brown sugar, really does make for a nice breakfast pairing.  They sometimes even taste like they have cinnamon to me, although I know they do not.

Original Review, February 2017

One day, I was walking down the street in San Francisco, and a little van pulled up, giving out samples of some cracker looking things.  They had little plastic cups, each with 2 or so crackers in it.  They turned out to be called "Good Thins", a product sorta like a cross between a cracker and a chip, boasting all the labels you'd expect: no artificial flavors or colors, no cholesterol, no partially hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup.  They have 60% less fat than standard potato chips.  A healthier snack.

While I do love snacks, these quasi healthy chip like things didn't really sound that interesting to me, but of course I tried some.  They turned out to be rather awesome.

Good Thins come in a slew of varieties, with all different bases: potato, chickpea, corn, oat, rice.  The rice and corn ones are gluten-free.  The ones being sampled that day were all potato based, which come in white cheddar, sweet potato, spinach & garlic, and "original".  (If you are curious, rice based varieties are salted, veggie blend, poppy & sesame seed, and sea salt & pepper), chickpea ones come only in a garlic & herb flavor, corn come only salted, and oat with flax).

I tried the spinach & garlic and the sweet potato at the sampling site.  I liked them both, so much so that when I saw them in the store later, I actually bought a box, a rare move on my part, since I don't tend to have a shortage of snack foods laying around the house.  I'd gladly eat more of these.

Sweet Potato.

"Sweet Potato GOOD THiNS are made with real sweet potatoes. So if you share them, you're sure to hear "Sweet. You're the sweetest."

The Good Thins actually look just like their box picture (those are the real things on the right hand corner here, on top of the box).  They are round, thin, and crispy.  The form is perfect for munching, much like a chip, but a bit bigger.

The flavor in the sweet potato ones was a bit sweet.  I really was impressed with how much sweet potato I could actually taste.

But the best part?  The salt level.  They were so salty, in a totally addicting way.

I thought these were remarkably good, and they hit all the check boxes for me - sized just right, crispy, salty ... just excellent snack food.  I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that a serving is only 130 calories, and a serving is a whopping 23 chips!

Spinach & Garlic.

I didn't take notes on the Spinach & Garlic when I tried them on the street, but I also liked the thin, crispy form, and the excellent salt level.  I remember finding this flavor quite savory, and appreciated that they tasted kinda healthy from the spinach, but also, actually tasty.

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Waffling Leftovers: Mashed Potatoes & Potato Puree

Update, December 2019

As you know from my earlier posts, leftover mashed potatoes are something I often try to throw into a waffle iron, as they always seem like they should waffle beautifully, but they really do require a bit of extra love to get perfect.

This is a story of being lazy though, and not entirely putting in that effort.  The result however was still tasty!

The Original: Homemade Mashed Potatoes.

The original was my sister's mashed potatoes, served as part of our Christmas eve spread.  Butter, milk, and her "secret" ingredient: cream cheese.  Good, classic, creamy mashed potatoes.

The Leftovers: Cold Mashed Potatoes.

But we had a ton left over.  Trying to get others to help me eat them up, I kept offering them to my father in particular, who I thought liked mashed potatoes, but only learned then that he loves hashbrowns, homefries, fries, roast potatoes, baked potatoes, anything like that, but NOT mashed potatoes.  I somehow never noticed that in all his potato eating, he never went for mash.

I asked about potato pancakes.  He hadn't ever had them.  I offered to transform the leftover mashed potatoes into potato pancakes, and he said he'd try them that way.

But then I got lazy.

Very Advanced Prep!

I got VERY lazy.  Instead of making potato pancakes, forming patties, pan frying them ... I ... uh ... just dumped a big pile of mashed potatoes into the waffle iron.

Now, of course I know from my own previous experiences, that mashed potatoes don't usually waffle very well without crusting.  I knew I should crust them.

But, lazy.

Partway through cooking ...

I set the waffle iron to a standard 350*, and set off to gather other leftovers to pair with his mashed potato waffles.

When I checked once, they were looking pretty pale.  I knew better than to just do them this way ...

Golden Brown Potatoes!

Yet I left them, and let them go a bit longer.

They did get a nice light golden brown, and even extracted fairly easily.  Were they crispy though?  Not really.  But at least they didn't make a mess?

Waffled Mashed Potatoes & Mom's Meatballs.

I served them with some leftover meatballs, really, a meal that made no sense, but hey, it was leftovers season, and this was at least slightly interesting?  He had leftover meatballs the day before with leftover brunch hashbrowns on the side, so it seemed not much different.

I'd say he ... tolerated the mashed potato waffles.  Declared them better than mashed potatoes, but, as I knew, he wanted something crispier than this.

I really should have crusted them, or at least maybe oiled the waffle iron.

Original Review, May 2017

Do you really need an intro to my Waffling Leftovers series at this point?  By now, you know what I do.  I reheat my leftovers, generally as is, in my waffle iron.  And I usually love the results.  I've covered Italian main dishes (lasagna, pizza, etc), I've covered casseroles (tuna noodle, shepherd's pie, etc), and now, its on to side dishes (like the crazy successful grits from last week).

Mashed/pureed potatoes: Will it Waffle?  Yes ... but, like mac and cheese, some crusting is required to maintain structural integrity.  Or ... make it opened faced.  More on that below ...

Mashed Potatoes

The ingredient I had in mind for this experiment was simple: leftover mashed potatoes. 

Mashed Potatoes.

The potatoes actually came from leftover shepherd's pie, so there was a bit of peas, carrots, and corn also in the mix, but, just go with it.

Inside the waffle maker ...

I thought the mashed potatoes would waffle up and get a crispy exterior, like a potato pancake.  It sorta did ... except, there was absolutely no structural integrity.

I left it cooking for quite a while longer, and it got slightly more crispy, but it was clear that there was no way I'd ever be able to extract it as a full waffle from the waffle iron.

Tasty, and I liked the crispy bits, but certainly not a waffle.

Crusted Mashed Potatoes.

I had a tiny bit left of the mashed potatoes, that I was planning to just heat up and eat as regular mashed potatoes, but I couldn't resist trying to improve on my failed experiment.

Remembering how adding a cornflake crust made waffled mac and cheese a success, I added a crushed cornflake crust to the mashed potato and made a tiny little crusted mashed potato patty and waffled it.

And ... it worked.  While this was a small test, it held together fine and got super crispy on the outside.  I didn't mind the slight cornflake contamination of my mashed potatoes either, although I certainly wouldn't think of combined the two normally.

Next time, I'd certainly go for a crust again, although I'd try breadcrumbs.

Potato Puree

A few months later, I again had leftover mashed potato.  Ok, technically, it was potato puree, not mashed potatoes. 

Potato Puree.

The puree was incredible, loaded up with soooo much butter and cream, plus chives for even more flavor.  It was crazy creamy, crazy decadent, and oh so delicious.

Thus, into the freezer the leftovers went.

Leftover Potato Puree.

I pulled out the leftovers, and heated one block up in the toaster oven.  It came out fine, and I was impressed at the texture of the potatoes, even when frozen and reheated.  I think because it was such a smooth puree, no strange texture resulted from the freezing, as usually happens with mashed potatoes.

But you know me, I wanted to waffle things, so, into the waffle iron the other chunk went.

Almost there ...

Except ... I forgot to read my previous post, and failed to crust it.  I remembered this when I opened the lid to check on it, but actually, it looked like it was holding its structure fine, just obviously not done yet.

So, I let it go a bit longer, so the two halves would bind together.

Done!

I waited a bit too long though, as the top got a bit burnt.  Somehow the bottom side didn't though, which upset me slightly, because it means that my waffle plates aren't the same temperature ...

Anyway, even without crusting, this was a success.  It held together nicely, was super crispy on the outside, and a bit creamy inside.  It was kinda like hashbrowns or fries even.  I really enjoyed it, even if slightly over done.

Mashed Potato - Open Faced?

Another day, another batch of mashed potatoes to waffle, but this time, something didn't go quite as planned ...

The Original: Silky Smooth Mashed Yukon Golds.

I started with some seriously good mashed potatoes.  Just mashed yukon golds, with the perfect amount of butter and milk.  Creamy, with a bit of texture from a few chunks.  They were really fantastic potatoes, somehow not too decadent, but also still very delicious.  I think there was likely more butter than I realized, but, hey, they were great.

They were great cold the next day.  They were great warmed up in the oven.  But, I had to try waffling them too.

Cooking Underway.

I did not crust the potatoes.  I set the waffle iron to 350°  fairly randomly.  I was having them for breakfast, so I was going for more of a thin crispy hashbrown style than a big potato pancake, so I spread it in fairly thin.

After a few minutes of cooking, things didn't look good.  After 5 more minutes, it still didn't look good.  Because I did it so thin, the top grill didn't make contact with the potatoes, so it looked like a pool of mush, not crisping up.  I thought it was going to be a disaster to remove.  I didn't take a photo, and decided it was likely a waste.  I put another batch of potatoes in the regular oven, and returned to the waffle iron to clean up.

Lightly Waffled Mashed Potatoes!

And then I realized my creation was actually fine.  The bottom was in contact with the plates.  It did crisp up, lightly, and it didn't burn.  The waffle extracted from the iron with no problem.  And the top (now underside once I flipped it out), was creamy and moist.  It was the best of both worlds.

I actually loved this creation, and it inspired me to think about more "open-faced" style waffles, where I only intentionally waffle the underside, either by doing it thin like this, or, by not closing the top.

The evolution continues ...

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Toblerone

Toblerone.

A very old chocolate maker, created over 100 years ago in Switzerland (now owned by a US based company).  Well known, but at least for me, not entirely commonplace, although I first encountered the brand many years ago, when I participated in selling them as a school fundraiser.

I've somehow never reviewed it before, so when I recently received a bar as a gift, I was mostly excited to have something new to review (and try).

I liked it, pleasantly surprised by it, really.  I think I had written it off in my mind as just a school fundraiser chocolate, and not actually quality.

Distinctive Packaging.

Toblerone is unique in that it comes in a distinctive form factor, the entire bar is triangular, with triangle shaped peaks, which you can easily break off.

Distinctive Shape.

Bar sizes are done by peaks - e.g. a mini is 3 peaks, the largest bars are 12 peaks.
While they do make a number of varieties now, including white chocolate, filled versions, and more, the standard formula is not just plain milk chocolate, but rather milk chocolate with honey, almonds, and nougat.

Swiss Milk Chocolate with Honey and Almond Nougat.

I'm sure I tried other varieties back in the day, but on this occasion, I had just the classic.

The milk chocolate was smooth, creamy, and the style I do like.  The bits of nougat and almond added pleasant texture.  The honey was a good sweet accent.

Overall, it just came together quite well.  Creamy, smooth, sweeter than average milk chocolate due to the honey, a bit of texture.  Seems like a winning combo to me, and I gladly polished off the bar over the course of a few mornings alongside my coffee.

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Waitrose Desserts

Waitrose is a popular chain of grocery stores in the UK, with a slew of regular full size stores, plus a convenience store brand dubbed "Little Waitrose".

I ventured into a Waitrose during my trip to London, just to do my favorite kind of tourism: grocery shopping!  No, really, I love checking out what products are unique to different countries, and being around "regular" people.  It is my version of going to see an attraction, just with no entrance fee, and the entire place is basically a gift shop!

I joke, but only kinda.  I really love this part of my travel experience.  I can't say that the British grocery stores were all that interesting, but I did pick up a few special dessert items to share with my family over the holidays.

Heston from Waitrose Spiced Shortcrust Mince Pies Lemon.

"Zesty mince pies made with spiced shortcrust pastry, richly fruited mincemeat, lemon curd and a zesty all butter crumble topping." 

When I was in London in November, I got a tiny bit obsessed with mincemeat pies.  Really, it was because the previous year I was in Sydney in December and really liked the mincemeat pies served at the Sheraton on the Park in the Executive Lounge, and then didn't encounter mincemeat again until I was in London right before the holidays.  And mincemeat was everywhere there.

I had a few traditional versions whilst in London, but, I didn't really like them.  Meh to the pastry, meh to the filling.  But I knew I do like some mincemeat, so when I saw that the nearby grocery store, Waitrose, had partnered with Heston Blumenthal to come out with a fancy shelf-stable mince pie ... I had to get a package.  (Waitrose is just a chain of British supermarkets, fairly generic.  Heston is a 3 Michelin star chef.  I was fascinating to see the partnership).

I brought them home to the US, eager to try them, and share them, with my family.

Packaging.

The pies came 4 to a package, individual sized, but once you opened the package, they were all exposed, so, you kinda had to use all 4 at once.  Instructions were clear that you shouldn't ever reheat them once baked, which I found a bit odd.

The pies removed fairly easily from the packaging, but were a bit fragile as I moved them onto a baking tray, losing some of their crumble top along the way.

Oven Ready.

The directions were to bake them at 180°C for 10-12 minutes (given in Celsius of course, which lead to a fun discussion on temperature conversions where I learned that most of my family really has no concept of other temperature scales) in an oven.

Easy enough.

Cooked!

After 11 minutes I pulled them out.  The pies were piping hot after 11 minutes, and we needed to let them cool a tiny bit before digging in.

The top had changed, the white powder gone, the color deeper, and, more of the mincemeat layer exposed.  While it looks a bit too dark, it really wasn't burnt.

Insides.

I knew this wasn't going to be a traditional pie, but, I was still a bit surprised by the composition.

The crust on the bottom and side was a spiced dark crust, more like a gingerbread than a traditional shortbread.  I didn't quite care for it, it was fairly dry, and not as buttery as a shortbread would be.  The idea of a spiced crust with mincemeat is a good one, I just didn't particularly like the texture nor dryness.

On top of that was the mincemeat layer, which turned out to be perhaps the thinest layer of the whole thing.  There was certainly more crust and more crumble than mincemeat.  What was there was fine, but, really, I only had several raisins/currants/sultanas, and about two spoonfuls of flavored sweet goo.  It was really quite sweet, and lacked the depth I was hoping for, no citrus elements nor spicing in the mincemeat itself.  But really, just not much of it, and it didn't have any chew to it from a more generous fruit filling.

On top of that was the lemon curd, obviously not normally part of mincemeat pie, but, the lemon was a good match for the mincemeat, as orange flavors normally are.  I don't care for lemon though, so, I wished it was anything but.  And the lemon layer too was sweet.  Too sweet.

Finally, the crumble, a blond crumble, good little bits, topped with powdered sugar (yup, more sweet), fine, but not particularly good.

We all agreed it was far too sweet on its own, and tried to cut the sweet somehow. My mom and grandmother added whipped cream.  And more whipped cream.  And more whipped cream.  Basically, they kept getting more to go with every bite, because, you really needed to cut every bite.  I thought the whipped cream was still too sweet with it (it was sweetened whipped cream), but moved on to ice cream, which worked better (and gave me the hot and cold combo I like). But still, you shouldn't need to do this.  We also all agreed perhaps it would be good for breakfast with a cup of black coffee to cut the sweet.

The size was decent for one person, not huge, but a bit more than I really wanted.  My mom commented that she really would have been happy with half, that a full one, particularly when this sweet, was just too much.

Overall, this just didn't quite add up for me, but it had some fantastic thought behind it.  Spiced crust and mincemeat is good.  Mincemeat and citrus curd is good.  Adding a crumble on top of a mincemeat pie sounds great.  But ... this just came out too dry and way too sweet.

 Christmas pudding with Remy Martin champagne cognac.

"Richly fruited Christmas pudding with Remy Martin Fine champagne cognac cream and pecans."

Next up, I had an aged Christmas pudding, loaded with Remy Martin.

Let me back up and say that I didn't entirely know what Christmas pudding really was.  Just like mincemeat, we don't exactly celebrate with Christmas pudding in the US.  I had a vague understanding that it was much like fruitcake?

The internet tells me that they are similar, but very different.  Both have some of the same ingredients, some kind of alcohol (usually brandy), flour, sugar, dried fruits (usually sultanas, raisins, currants, cherries, and mixed citrus peel), sometimes nuts ... but fruitcake is baked, and Christmas pudding is steamed.  Christmas pudding uses suet rather than butter, and is often flambéd at serving time.  They both do best with aging.

This was already 12 month "matured" (which, I guess is a good thing).

Packaging.

My Christmas pudding was intended to serve 4 (but, given how rich it is, could easily serve 6-8), and came wrapped in red foil.

The instructions recommended steaming it for an hour, but microwave instructions are provided as well.

I usually do *not* microwave things, but, I was trying it alone, so I wanted to just carve out one portion and heat it, as the instructions were incredibly explicit about not reheating any of it.  They also cautioned many times not to heat too much, else the sugars, fruit, and alcohol could ignite.

So, the microwave is where I headed, with just one portion.

Christmas Pudding: Inside.

"Made with plump vine fruit, cream, pecan nuts and a generous splash of Fine Champagne Cognac, and matured for a year to develop a rich, rounded flavour."

Of course I tried a bite at room temperature.

I was pretty fascinated.  It reminded me a lot of fruitcake, loaded up with dried fruits, every type of raisin-like thing you could imagine (sultanas, Chilean flame raisins, currants, regular raisins ...), cherries, and citrus peel, which all added up to give quite a bit of chew, and some crunch from both almonds and pecans.  But it was slightly crumbly too.  A fairly unique texture.

It was also crazy sweet.  In addition to the fruit, it had added "glucose-fructose syrup" and sugar.  I found it cloying, even moreso once heated.  And yes, it was boozy.

I first heated a bit and spread it with Fortum & Mason Spiced Christmas Rum Butter (omg, so good, review coming soon), but, although the rum butter accented the booze and melted in beautifully, this didn't really do it for me.  Still just too much sweet and booze.

I didn't have clotted cream nor custard available, so I opted to try vanilla ice cream (it was ok, definitely tempered the sweet a bit, and hot pudding and cold ice cream was nice), and I tried whipped cream (also helped cut the sweet a bit), but neither left me thinking I had found the ideal pairing.

I think the pudding really would be better with custard.

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Catering by Andrew

Catering by Andrew.  Not a retail storefront, only for restaurants, hotels, food service, and events.  I know catering, in general, is not just randomly accessible to you.  But maybe you need to plan an event in the Boston area?

And, uh, maybe you need a Kosher caterer?  If so, check out Catering by Andrew. 

I don't know much about the company, besides that they offer a large range of dishes, from breakfast buffets to lunch boxes to elaborate dinners with appetizers to desserts to challah and other baked goods.

I also don't know who Andrew is.   But I was shocked by how good some of the dishes were - the Caesar salad remains a favorite, the chocolate mousse is to die for, and I had no idea that ready-to-eat seafood dishes could be so successful.  I highly recommend.

Salads

Catering by Andrew makes a decent selection of salads, ranging from mixed greens based, to egg or tuna salad, to seasonal offerings like beets with oranges or mustard tarragon green beans.  I've tried a number of them, and ... spoiler: I adore this Caesar salad.

Spinach Salad.

"Baby spinach salad,  goat cheese, cranberries, spiced pecans, tomatoes, balsamic vinaigrette."

This sounded great to me, minus the goat cheese.  I planned to just eat everything else, since I like all the other ingredients.  And, I was very curious what the "spiced pecans" were like.

It turned out to be far less exciting than it sounded.  The pecans seemed ... well, not spiced?  Really, just plain pecans.

The baby spinach was fresh and crisp, the cherry tomatoes ripe enough, the dried cranberries not too hard, but, none of these are particularly exciting ingredients.

The balsamic vinaigrette was a bit too balsamic-y for my taste.

Overall, not for me, but not a bad salad.

Garden Salad / Balsamic Vinaigrette.

"Mixed greens with crisp garden veggies and a house made balsamic vinaigrette." 

The garden salad was fine.  Fresh vegetables (mixed greens, carrots, cucumber, radish, tomatoes), all crisp, nothing wilty.  The dressing was fine, fairly standard balsamic vinaigrette.

A very boring salad to me, but, they did it fine.

Caesar Salad.

"Classic caesar salad with crunchy garlic croutons." 

"Crunchy croutons" this did not have.  The croutons were soggy.  Really soggy.  I discarded them immediately both times I tried this salad.  They were always very mushy, likely due to the packaging.

But everything else about the salad was great.  The base was fresh romaine hearts plus just the right amount of radicchio to add some color and more complex flavor, but not too much bitterness.  The greens were fresh and crisp, although I did find a bit of brown lettuce in my second salad, but overall, a nice base.

But this salad was all about the dressing.

The dressing was incredible.  So flavorful.  Creamy.  Real anchovy.  Really fantastic.  The ingredients are fairly standard Caesar (mayo, garlic, anchovy, mustard powder, Worcestershire, lemon juice, sugar), and there actually isn't any cheese in it, but, somehow it is just ridiculously good.

Yes, somehow, just the greens and dressing were enough for me to be happy, a real testament to that dressing, as normally I'm all for jazzing up salads much more.

Caesar - my way!

But of course sometimes I do jazz it up a tiny bit.  I throw out the croutons every time, because they really are soggy every single time, but one time, I added a little Frank's red sauce to my dressing.  The dressing was good, but, I love Frank's, and though this might be extra fun.

And it was.  It wasn't necessary, but, it did give me a slightly different spin on the salad.

I could also imagine throwing on any sort of additional crunchy item (corn nuts? sesame sticks) and perhaps some marinated tomatoes, but, really, just the greens and dressing really is enough.

Entrees

Entrees change out weekly, and variety is such that I won't even attempt to enumerate.  There are plentiful seafood options, which I nearly always go for, along with an impressive vegetarian line up, and TONS of chicken.  Most meals come with simple sides, usually roasted herbed potatoes or rice and a seasonal veggie.  I've been impressed by many of the seafoods.

Pretzel Crusted Salmon with Cider Glaze / Vegetable Medley / Roasted Rosemary Potatoes.

This one was my pick.  I like seafood, and the description sounded great (pretzel crust!).

It likely would have been good fresh.  The pretzel crust was a fun concept, adding texture and saltiness, and I did really quite like it, except that it was soggy.  The salmon was fully cooked, so not my style, but a huge piece, and quality, not fishy.

The seasonal (summer) veggies on the side (cauliflower, summer squash, zucchini, bell peppers) were seasoned but pretty boring, same with the roast potatoes.

Quinoa Stuffed Grilled Rolled Eggplant / Vegetable Medley /  Herbed Basmati Rice.

This  vegetarian selection was for a friend, but I tried a few bites.

The marinara sauce was flavorful and went well with the eggplant.  The eggplant was nicely cooked, but I think this is another item that really would have been better fresh, as it was fairly soggy.   The filling was fine, but would have been much better if made cheesy.  Just quinoa and veg was too boring for me, even when smothered in yummy sauce.  They also make a Eggplant Rollatini with Ricotta, which I'd rather try.

The veggies on side (summer squash, zucchini, bell peppers) were the same as the previous dishes, although no cauliflower here, kinda eh, same with the rice (and why serve rice on the side with a quinoa stuffed dish anyway?).

Thai Fish Cakes with Mango Salsa / Steamed Basmati Rice / Steamed Green Beans. (December 2019).

Another one I selected, and this one was a real winner!  I *really* liked it.

The fish cakes were cod based, with very little filler - some celery I think maybe (there was a bit of crunch), but mostly, these were just cod, panko, herbs, and mayo.  Two decent sized cakes, quite thick.  They were not a crispy style though, again, since pre-made and fully cooked, so if you wanted a crispy fish cake, this would be disappointing.  But for a softer style, I kinda even liked the bite I had cold.  Yup, cold and mushy fish cake ... it worked.   

I did scrape off the mango salsa and put the fish cakes into a panini press to grill them up, which worked quite well, forming a crusty layer.  Yes, they were better this way.  They were ... delicious this way in fact.

The mango salsa was tasty, sort of like a mango chutney, with chunks of mango, tomatoes, and onions, sweet yet savory, slightly acidic.  Quite flavorful, a good condiment.  I wouldn't really call it "thai" though, no thai chilies, no heat, but it was very good, and went well with the fish cakes.

I gave the rice to my father who had run out of rice with his Indian takeout, so I can't evaluate that.  The green beans were simple but nicely cooked, not too mushy, they tasted fresh and vibrant.

Overall, a nice dish, I'd get it again.

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Scrod Florentine.

This was really shockingly good, the first item I tried from Catering by Andrew in fact.  I can't say I had high hopes for a pre-cooked seafood item, but, it was great.

The fish was scrod, mild and tender, not at all fishy.  The standard Boston fish of choice, and it was good.  I loved the filling, and it was quite generously stuffed.

I don't have a photo, as I didn't intend to review Catering by Andrew, but, this dish is what inspired me to do so.  Really quite good, and an insanely huge serving.

Desserts

Always my favorite category of food items, Catering by Andrew produces a nice line up of desserts.  Spoiler: I LOVED some of them.

Chocolate Mousse.

This. Was. Incredible.

It is no secret that I have a sweet tooth and love my desserts, and especially puddings, but, I also tend to be a snob about them.

This was so good that no snobbery was warranted.

Very fluffy, very rich, very good chocolate mousse.  It had only a dollop of whipped cream, but, it didn't really need it.  I liked the chocolate garnish too.

Very, very good and I'd gladly devour another one of these on the spot.  They also make a chocolate mousse cake, and a chocolate cream pie, both of which I'd love to try.  And a lemon mousse and a pomegranate mousse, both of which I immediately wanted to try.

Lemon Mousse.

Since the chocolate mousse was so good, I was happy to try another one, even though I don't generally like lemon desserts.

The lemon curd at the base was as expected, eh, lemon curd.  I figured I could just skip that.

The majority of the pot was a fluffy light mousse that I would have loved … if it was not lemon.  While not lemon curd, it was lemon flavored, and just wasn't for me.  But the texture was amazing.

I did adore the fluffy non dairy whipping topping on the very top.  A unique flavor and texture, whatever it is made of (HFCS is the first ingredient ...), it works for me!

I think the chocolate mousse, with more of this non-dairy topping, would be amazing.

Assorted Mini Pastries: Chocolate Roulade / Apple Pie / Cake.

Next I went for a little dessert trio.

I started with the chocolate covered one, which looked like a swiss cake roll.  They call it a chocolate roulade, much fancier.

The chocolate shell on the outside reminded me instantly of Little Debbie.  The chocolate cake inside was eh however, kinda dry, not very chocolate flavored.  The cream filling was fine.  About the same quality level as a packaged junk food counterpart, no better nor worse.  Sometimes what you want.  My second favorite.

The roulade is also made in lemon and a seasonal variety.

The mini apple pie was the worst of the bunch.  The crust was soft, mushy, and seemed almost like a gluten-free item, if you know what I mean.  Not good.  The cubes of spiced apples were fine.

Apple pie is also available full size, as are blueberry and chocolate cream versions.

Cake: Inside.

Catering by andrew makes a large range of cakes, including crowd pleasing chocolate mousse, or local favorite Boston Creme, all available in multiple sizes.

Inside this one was two layers of cake, one plain, one chocolate colored, and a thin layer of caramel.  The cakes were both dry and fairly flavorless, the caramel was nice but not nearly enough of it.  The sweet coating was the best part.

This was the best of the trio of mini desserts, but it wasn't actually very good.

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Apple Strudel.

The apple strudel was also not very successful.

The pastry was not flaky.  The apples were too crispy.  It wasn't well spiced.  Not good.

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Smith's Snackfoods, Australia

By now, you likely know that I love to eat snacks, and, in particular, chips.  I just love to munch on things, the crunchier and saltier the better.

On my recent trip to Sydney, I obviously had to try an assortment of "exotic" chips.  I was particularly excited, as I recalled the Australia has some of the most unique chip flavors ever, and eagerly dug into the offerings from Smith's.  Smith's was an independent company, but of course has since been sucked up by Frito-Lay, who's American offerings I've reviewed before.

"At Smith's we are very proud of our heritage and strive to ensure that we maintain our position as Australia's favourite chips - The Original and the Best."

Sadly, on my prior visits, my office didn't have that many crazy flavors. I still tried the offerings then, but sadly, there was no "Honey-Glazed Ham" or any of the crazy chicken, or seafood, varieties that I recalled. My next visit however the lineup improved, and in the summer of 2019, Smith's launched special edition flavors, dubbed "Taste of Summer". Of course I wanted to try limited new flavors, so even, gasp, went to a store to purchase some.

Crinkle Cut Smith's Potato Chips

"Our top quality Aussie potatoes are peeled & sliced to just the right crinkle cut thickness & cooked to perfection them sprinkled with our famous seasoning so you can enjoy the classic crunch & unbeatable flavour that only a Smith's potato chip can bring!"

 The flagship brand from Smith's Snackfoods Company is, well, Smith's potato chips.  All are crinkle cut.

Salt & Vinegar.

Next, a simple offering: standard salt and vinegar chips.

I liked the texture and wavy shape.  They were crazy salty, and super vinegary.  They certainly made you pucker up!

Still, just classic chips, but a decent version of classic chip.

Chicken.

Ahh, Australia and your fun flavors of chips.  Chicken chips are quite popular there, like the Chicken Kabob Pringles I reviewed a while ago.

These went much the same way as the Chicken Kebob chips.  Did they taste like chicken?  No.  Was that a problem? No, I don't like chicken.  Were they very seasoned? Yes.

The form factor was standard Smith's wavy thick crispy chips, clearly the unhealthy variety, with lots of seasoning, visible green flecks all over them.  I honestly have no idea what the seasoning was, but it was salty, it was ... ok, maybe like chicken ramen from a bag?  You know those seasoning packets?  Kinda like that.  Intense seasoning.

For a very flavorful chip, they were good, but again, not really something I'd want more of.

Cheese & Onion.

I feel like I can just copy-paste my reviews of other flavors here, and it applies to the cheese & onion flavor too.

Wavy thick crisp chips, kinda too heavy for me.  Very seasoned, flavorful chips, that don't taste anything like the promised flavor (literally, no hint of cheese in these!).

Meh.

Taste of Summer: French Onion Dip.

Wow, these really did taste just like classic french onion dip.  Exactly like the generic store brand dip.  It was uncanny, really, how strong the flavor was, inside that chip!

The chip itself was a standard chip, wavy form factor, that I just wasn't very into, but I think that is mostly because I was on a yucca/taro/plantain chip kick at the time, not potato chip.

Other offerings

But the Smith's Snackfood brand does have several other product lines, and I've tried things from all.

Burger Rings.

Ok, these sounded more fun. I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly.  What does burger taste like?

These just tasted like ... something.  I really don't have words for it.  Not really something I'd identify as burger though.  Not beefy, nor cheesy, nor the flavors of any toppings like tomato, lettuce, ketchup ... just a bit zesty?  The rings themselves were kinda like air puffs, not particularly interesting.

Twisties - Cheese.

Twisties come in several other flavors, like chicken and "wicked cheddar", but the office had only classic cheese.

They looked just like Cheetos, so my brain was confused with every bite, as they didn't taste anything like Cheetos.  The simple "cheese" name did not indicate that they'd be so zesty and spicy!  Much better than their American counterparts.

And of course, they did still leave cheesy fingers.

Grain Waves Sour Cream & Onion.

Next up, the healthy sounding "Grain Waves".

They reminded me of Sun Chips, which, not shockingly, are also made by Frito-Lay.

They were hearty from the multi grains, and shaped in a wave.  Yes, "Grain Waves".  Aptly named.

The sour cream and chive flavor was strong, and I actually quite liked these.  Somehow, an entire bag disappeared before I knew it!

I also tried the Sweet Chili flavor.  They again reminded me of Sun Chips, but I was disappointed by the sweet chili flavor, it was too subtle.

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Cheetos Cheese & Bacon balls.

How do you not try these?  Bacon!

These were like cheese puffs, light and airy, with a somewhat addicting slightly salty taste, which I guess was supposed to be like bacon.  Pretty good, and better than a simple cheese puff.

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