Summer and fall obsessions.

Hello! I'm slowly resurfacing and it's taken longer than expected. But, here we go. Up and at 'em.

Let's see. I think I still had a few posts left on Japan, but it's friggen' November for Pete's sake. I might do a wrap-up later.

For now: A few summer obsessions that have trickled into fall.

YummyEarth Organic Hot Chili Pops


Particularly, the Chili Mango Mambo pop -- a sweet, fruity sucker with a hot chili kick. And it's organic and natural and made with real, good stuff. Win! I get them at my local Sprouts.

Breyers Rocky Road Ice Cream


I practically lived off this during the hot summer months. I originally thought I liked Breyers ice cream in only strawberry and mint chocolate chip, and that the more traditional, richer ice creams just weren't.. rich enough. But their good ol' rocky road proved me wrong. Maybe it's just 'cause Breyers makes rocky road just the way I like it -- marshmallow swirl instead of whole marshmallows (a pet peeve of mine), chocolate-covered toasted almonds instead of just plain nuts, all in creamy chocolate ice cream. Mmm mm.

Pumpkin and chocolate

Oh, man. I have been craving this combo like mad recently. My boyfriend even offered to stack a brownie on top of a slice of pumpkin pie to help satisfy my craving, and I probably would have eaten it if it weren't for the root canal I had earlier that day.

Terrible experience, by the way, that root canal. I do not recommend it.

Rutabegorz has pretty much saved my life on more than one occasion with its gargantuan iced pumpkin cookie. It is thick and soft, almost cake-like, and my attempts to savor it slowly are always met with utter failure. I only wish chocolate milk was at the ready to wash it down.

The other weekend, I trekked out to Claremont for Some Crust Bakery's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.


These are perfection -- the texture emulates a chocolate chip cookie over pumpkin cake, and the chips are always warm and gooey. I wanted to buy a hundred of them, but I walked away with only two. Whyyy did I buy only two?

It's ok though, because the following week I made these:

Pumpkin whoopie pies. Here's the recipe on MarthaStewart.com. When making the cookies, drop the batter in little spoonfuls unless you are planning to undertake whoopie pies the size of burgers.

I have been going pumpkin crazy -- expect future pumpkin posts.

Snack bonanza!

Lately, mostly due to lack of time to cook a full meal for myself on weekdays, I've been snacking myself into oblivion. Here are three recent favorites, to satisfy three separate cravings:

Pretzel Crisps (savory):


This buffalo wing-flavored snack might as well be laced with crack. I can't get enough of them. They're as addictive and light as potato chips, but are crunchier, taste way better and are better for you. Look how gloriously thin they are:


I bought the buffalo wing and garlic flavors at my local Sprouts, to justify my passing the sample tray about a dozen times to snatch up more and more of these. They really should not leave those things unattended.

Trader Joe's also has its own version -- and they're everything-flavored. Though, they carry them kind of sporadically, so don't get mad at me if you can't find them.

Isabella's Cookies (sweet):


These were a random impulse buy while waiting to purchase my lunch at Ivy's Cafe in Tustin (simple, healthy, yet somehow super delicious sandwiches/salads). I like these cookies because they (1) taste homemade (which they are) and (2) come in unusual flavors. The above is "The Paddy" -- mint chips and semisweet chocolate chips. And below:


"The Muffy" -- a tribute to a muffin top (undoubtedly adding to my "muffin top"), this cookie is studded with dried blueberries, white chocolate chips, and milk-chocolate covered blueberries. I've also tried "Chocolate Haze," which has whole hazelnuts and dark chocolate chunks. I'm still trying to find "The Shortcake," an homage to strawberry shortcake.

The Pure Bar (healthy):

Although it's not common, I'd imagine, I suppose it's possible to have a healthy craving. The Pure Bar is all-vegan raw food -- organic, nothing cooked, no preservatives, and all that jazz. Now, I am usually not into these super healthy meal-replacement bar dealios. In fact, I find many of them quite awful, especially when I have to think for longer than 15 seconds about how the vegan peanut butter and chocolate bar I'm chewing tastes even remotely like peanut butter and chocolate.

Maybe that's why The Pure Bar is not only tolerable, it's astonishingly delicious: It doesn't really try to emulate any flavor. It just is.

Example: The wild blueberry bar, my favorite, just tastes like dried blueberries, complemented with little bits of walnuts -- enough to satisfy, but rare enough to invoke a fond appreciation for each walnut encounter as I slowly make my way through. Same thing goes for the apple cinnamon.

While I tend to stay away from the ones promoting themselves as chocolate, the chocolate chip trail mix bars offer an interesting alternative: cacao nibs. It's not as indulgent as a good, rich bar of dark chocolate, but it's definitely still "the real thing," and a suitable substitute if you're trying to be healthy.

But like many good things, The Pure Bar does not come cheap, and so far I've only been able to find it at Whole Foods.

As my snack preferences change as often as my cravings do, only time will tell what my tastebuds have yet to discover in the tasty world of munchies!

A mangled Pocky box. :(

This is what happens when hunger takes over logic in the darkness of your car while driving home:


As you can see, I was attempting, unsuccessfully, to open it at the fold. (To give myself a little credit, Pocky boxes were originally designed to open at the top, not the side like this photo shows.)

After I overcame this temporary confusion, the actual Pocky sticks, thankfully, escaped unscathed.

Goodnight and sweet corn.

I clutched the bubble-like bag of Golden Sweet Corn snacks in my hand and just stared.


I know it's still Lent. I just don't care.

The bag broke open with an easy pop and I proceeded to pour them into my mouth in a steady stream of salty-sweet snacky goodness. I grinned as my cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk's. I ate the whole damn bag, and they were heavenly.

And then I woke up.

Wow. I can't believe I actually dreamt about eating snacks. I don't think Lent's ever done that to me before. When I decided to give up snacks, soda and non-homemade confections, I thought it'd be easy. But apparently it's had a profound effect on my subconscious. Okay, I'm probably being very melodramatic, but really, I can't recall the lack of fried food, red meat, or bread ever haunting my dreams before!

These corn snacks by Regent (they come from the Philippines!) are one of my favorites. What I find so special about them is: not only are they made from corn, they mimic the flavor. Other snacks will trick you, and show a cartoon of a giraffe eating some corn, or a potato-person roasting a cob of corn, or even the corncob itself dancing and speaking Korean. But these snacks won't taste anything like corn. These cartoons apparently just illustrate that the snack is made from corn. I know, it's all very disappointing.

These, however, do not disappoint:


By the way, after I took this photo, I had a very difficult time putting them back into the bag. Man oh man.

But I did allow myself to lick the corn-flavored crumbs that were graciously left on my fingers. Hopefully it will hold me over for the next two days.

Golden Sweet Corn is available at many Asian grocers. Your best bet is probably 99 Ranch Market.

Heavenly heifer: Divine Bovine beef jerky.

I just spent more than $30 on beef jerky.

Why, might you ask?

Because it's divine. In fact, it's Divine Bovine. She's graced me with her tender, sweet, succulent jerky goodness.


That photo still might not be convincing enough. Okay, imagine eating popular, name-brand beef jerky you buy at the grocery store. Tastes alright, but tough, dry, over-salted, and shoe-leathery may come to mind. If that's beef jerky hell, Divine Bovine welcomes you to beef jerky heaven.

The Original is savory and a little smoky, with just the right level of saltiness; Honey Teriyaki is its sweet companion.

But my very favorite, the one I fell in love with in a car dealership gift shop*, is Wild Honey Teriyaki. For a brief moment on your taste buds, it poses as its sweet angel sister, the normal Honey Teriyaki. All of a sudden, your tongue envelops in flames.

It's a heavenly heifer that will give you one hell of a mouth burn. But as your ears redden slightly and tiny sweat beads start to form on your temples, you will reach for more.


Mmm-hmm. Holy Cow is right.

*A little anecdote: I actually happened upon Divine Bovine while waiting for a routine car check-up at Longo Toyota. Bored and feeling snacky, I browsed the gift shop for something to munch on.

"Ooh, what's this? I loves me some beef jerky."

So I paid $6.99 for a 4 ounce bag at the cashier. And it was so good, I had to buy it again the next time I was back at Longo Toyota for another service.

And then since I didn't have to return for another 4,000+ miles, I turned to the Internet to get my jerky fix. I ordered one of each flavor, pulled out my credit card, and placed my order. And I got a confirmation e-mail..

.. from Anthony Longo.

COINCIDENCE?!? HA! I think not. I mean, how common of a name is "Longo"? And I was wondering why it wasn't cheaper to buy the jerky online. Don't gift shops -- especially in car dealerships -- hike up the prices? But this jerky pretty much costs the same online as it does in the gift shop. IT ALL MAKES SENSE.

Actually, I have no real idea if Anthony Longo is or is related to Mr. Longo of Longo Toyota. But thank you Mr. Longo(s). Thank you for the beef jerky.

* * *
Longo Toyota
3534 N. Peck Road
El Monte 91731
626.580.6000

UPDATE 2/5/08, 11:09 PM:
So uh... apparently.. this jerky is available at your local Stater Bros. ... for only $5.99..?? Dude, I could have gotten an extra bag with what I paid!

I've got a sheepish smile on my face right now. Heh..