One aspect of being a person who is passionate about food is the opportunity (whether you choose to take it or not) to produce what you eat. I have at several times in the past been able to manage a small-scale garden with moderate success. I enjoyed the time I spent maintaining it almost as a kind of therapy, and not only did I enjoy eating what I grew, but it also gave me a sense of accomplishment to literally reap the fruits of my labor. Before the advent of all those wacky inventions like the steam engine, electricity and Pinterest, we were an agrarian society; most everyone gardened or farmed and produced a sizable portion of what they ate. There is a comfort in knowing , particularly in this age of GMOs and mass-produced “faux” food, precisely where your food came from, what was added to it (if anything), and how many hands were involved in its growth. The increase in popularity of farmers’ markets and farm-to-table restaurants speaks to this notion that doesn’t seem to be waning in popularity.
Most folks have their favorite beverage. Whether it’s that cup of coffee you can’t start your day without or a refreshing cocktail to kick off the weekend, most of us know what we like and like what we know. But there is also the nostalgia factor to consider; many of us can be returned to our childhood with one sip of a product we grew up with. While there are many, I’m going to talk about two in particular that are major hits on the east coast: Cheerwine and Moxie colas.
Brace yourselves guys, we’re gonna go a few rounds with the good stuff: chocolate. While I by no means consider myself a chocoholic, I am always intrigued by the new range of flavor-enhanced chocolates being offered by both artisan companies and more well-known, mainstream producers. One major player in the commercial chocolate business is Lindt, a company best known for their variety of truffles. Developed by a father and son team in Zurich Switzerland in 1845, they apparently knew a good thing when they tasted it, because they’ve been rolling out all manner of chocolaty goodness ever since. Their latest release is the Hello My Name Is line, an exceptional selection of milk chocolate squares with various flavored fillings, available in bars and bags of individually wrapped pieces.
While the more traditional flavors are offered (salted caramel, etc.), I was a little more intrigued by the Strawberry Cheesecake and Cookies and Cream flavors. But first, the chocolate. Obviously, Lindt has the matter of rich flavorful chocolate well in hand. Unlike other chocolate products, the milk chocolate actually tastes like chocolate, not just an overwhelming flavor of straight sugar. I am much more a fan of chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa (50% or more), but was very impressed with the grade and texture of these squares.
I try to be somewhat guarded about what I put into my body. I have a fairly busy schedule and the hours I keep are consistently…inconsistent. Therefore I’m usually looking for something convenient to grab on my way out the door for a snack or what I might loosely term as “dessert”. Enter the protein bar, an item that companies spend millions of dollars on every year to research, produce and market to the snacking public, with what seems (to me) to be a focus on women. I have been sticking with a particular brand, the Luna Bar, for quite some time now. It meets my three basic requirements; it is affordable (usually around $1 per bar), it is widely available (not just health food-focused retailers) and yep, it’s delicious. However I’m open to giving new items a chance, so I decided to test drive a few other brands and a spin-off product of Luna’s as well.
