Dole Real Fruit Bites: Apple Chunks

Yogurt covered fruit snacks are one of those things I really like, yet never remember to buy. So when the nice PR people behind these Dole snacks sent me a box containing three new varieties, I was pretty excited.

I decided to start with the Apple Chunks because I don't think there are enough apple snacks out there. (The other flavors coming up are Pineapple and Mango) The Apple Chunks Real Fruit Bites are sold in bags of six individually wrapped packets with 90 calories each. (Although if you look at the website, it is listed as 80 calories per packet -- so I don't know what happened there.)



There are roughly a dozen individual bites in a packet. The bites are nicely sized -- about the dimensions (and shape) of chocolate covered peanuts. They're lightly coated in vanilla yogurt, with little speckles of whole grain oats.



Their aroma isn't strong, but it is pleasant. Think of sweet and floral apples, and just a little hint of the vanilla yogurt. (It would make a pretty good Yankee Candle!)



As for the taste? The yogurt gives a slightly tart bite that pairs well with ripe, sweet apple. A truly good combination!

The oat flavor was a lot stronger in some chunks than others. On the strongest pieces, it was like having a mouth full of uncooked, solid apple-flavored oatmeal. I much preferred the pieces that had less oats in them (as I am not a huge fan of oatmeal to begin with). But if you love oatmeal, this would be a definite selling point.



The texture is interesting. While not hard or crunchy at all, at the same time it was not mushy or like a jelly candy. I think the best way to describe it would be to say that the texture is firm and almost papery. Imagine an apple that had been cut and left out long enough that the surface moisture was gone, but had not yet turned brown (and thus mushy). I realize that probably sounds strange -- but it's one of those things where the more you eat them, the more you want to eat them. I could see these being tasty in cereals (hot or cold) and even over ice cream.

Yep, these are really good. If you see them, you ought to give them a try.



PURCHASED FROM: Sample from company

CALORIES: 90 calories per packet

ADDITIONAL INFO: Contains sulfites, milk and soy. Ingredients processed in a facility that handles tree nuts, wheat, and other cereal grains.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: dole.com

Streit's Potato Pancake Latkes Mix

I loooooooove latkes. LOVE them! And I am far from alone. As is often the case, what was once a humble peasant food has found its way into mainstream culture. Even my local IHOP has potato pancakes on the menu (that said, I have not reviewed them for a reason).

Latkes are made in two different styles, and I like them both pretty equally. One way of making them resembles hash browns. Potatoes are thinly shredded, along with some onions. Sometimes there is matzoh meal added as a binder, and egg holds the whole thing together. Then they are fried -- either in a shallow pan, or deep fried.

I consider this the safer style. At worst it is merely a hash brown patty, and let's face it -- hash browns are one of those foods that are pretty hard to screw up.

The other style uses mashed potatoes instead of shredded potatoes. Again, there is onion added for flavor, and matzo meal helps to form the mixture into something more of a potato croquette. This version can also be fried, but I have also seen them oven baked. It can resemble the really firm stuffing of a twice-baked potato. At its worst, if the potato is not mashed finely, it can be lumpy.

Honestly, the single best latkes I have ever had came from the hot case at Whole Foods (specifically, their Upper West Side of Manhattan location). It was actually a zucchini and potato latke. It was crispy, and had onions that were very thin and fried so that they had that great caramelized taste. They had a crunchy crust, yet were just soft enough on the inside that there was a nice contrast in texture. And the flavor was well worth parting the sea of boorish, arrogant yuppies and unwashed, badly aging hippies that I had to wade through to get to the case. I don't know if this is an item carried at more than one Whole Foods, or even if they still have them available. It might be something done just as a local item. But should you see them at your local store, get them. And at the very least, prepare for no other hash brown -- let alone potato pancake -- to ever be as good.



I had never tried to make my own latkes before. I have helped other people make them (well, I dropped them into the oil), and that resulted in what were possibly the worst latkes/hash browns on the planet. So yeah, I was a little nervous.

This time my luck was better.



Streit's directions are simple. The box contains two bags, each of which makes about ten latkes. For each bag, you mix one large egg and one cup of cold water in a bowl. You then add the contents of the bag, mix well, and let stand for ten minutes. Then -- regular old pancake style -- you drop tablespoon-sized dollops into hot oil and fry on both sides.



I, of course, chose to fry in lard because that makes everything taste better...

OK, that was wrong, I admit it. That was probably even more wrong than saying that Moses used The Force to part the Red Sea. No, I did not in fact use lard. But I did -- maybe -- break the rules a little, depending upon your point of view. I used vegetable oil (which, according the label, is all soy but is not a certified as kosher product). Yes, I could have used olive oil. I always have olive oil in the kitchen, and olive oil can in fact be kosher (the bottle I have is, at least). And there are olive oils available that are kosher for Passover. I just personally do not like the flavor of things fried in olive oil. Yes, I know that there is a particular shrill-voiced television "personality" who will expound upon the uses of olive oil for absolutely everything. But I don't agree, so I didn't do it.



The reason I say I may have cheated on the kosher for Passover rule is because soy, while not considered chometz, is part of a group of grains and legumes called kitniyot. These are avoided because visually they are so similar to chometz that the two could be confused. But, not all Jews consider kitniyot to be unusable during Passover. Ashkenazi Jews will not consume kitniyot products, whereas Sephardic Jews will. So, depending on which side of the fence you're on, I may have cheated. Or maybe not. Personally, I am just going to say that it was close enough for me. For more information on the topic than you may ever care to know, check out this link for "Ask The Rabbi" at about.com.



So after all that preamble, how did Streit's latkes actually taste?

Well, because these came from a powdered mix, they are the mashed potato style of latkes. Granted, it was like instant mashed potato. But I actually like instant mashed potatoes, so I am not holding that against them. And for once, we actually followed the instructions (mostly), and the one-tablespoon dollops of batter did in fact form nice silver dollar sized latkes.



They crisped up well. The inside was sort of a generically smooth mashed potato. The main flavor note is onion, and it's fairly pronounced. I wish I had thought far enough ahead to get some sour cream or applesauce (both traditional toppings) to try with them.

Honestly, for a boxed mix, it's really good. Have I had better? Yes, but these were quite enjoyable. I did notice that, on the individual latkes that were made from slightly larger blobs of batter than the instructions called for (like I said, we mostly followed the directions) actually came out better than the others. There was enough to sink your teeth into, and the flavor seemed more rounded out. I will definitely make these again, but I know I am going to doctor it up a bit -- maybe add a little garlic, possibly some crispy onion strings, etc. And I will make sure I have the aforementioned toppings available.



PURCHASED FROM:
Vons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.19

CALORIES:
90 calories per 3 pancakes (assuming each pancake was made with 1 tbsp of mix).

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains wheat. Kosher, kosher for Passover, parve, sulfite free.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
streitsmatzoh.com

Disney Fairies Gummy Flowers: Sweet & Sour

Way back in July, Cybele reviewed a version of these candies (which were called "Pixie Perfect Gummies"). At the time I had no real desire to eat them -- but I did think that her pictures made them look quite pretty.



But there I was at WalMart yesterday, rifling through the candy, when I noticed the box of Gummy Flowers. (Its package photos still do not look as good as Cybele's). I am not sure if this is an entirely different product or simply a redesign of the the one Cybele reviewed. Besides the name being "Gummy Flowers" rather than "Pixie Perfect Gummies," the outer package is not a bag but a movie theater style candy box. It also says that it's a sweet and sour blend. (Although the candy is still in little individual pouches inside said box.) Tinkerbell's Pixie Pals have been banished from the box, and Tink herself leers up in a creepy come-hitherish way that makes me want to make sure Chris Hansen isn't hiding somewhere, just waiting to ask me to take a seat. Seriously, I have a feeling that this was drawn during a phase in Tink's life where she felt like she had to compete with some of the other wannabe Disney starlets; girls who hadn't quite mastered the concept of why it's a bad idea to text naked pictures of yourself...unless you want it to be mentioned on TMZ repeatedly until the end of time...or the end of your career...whichever should come first. (Yes, I am expecting email from Disney's lawyers in three...two...one...) No, folks, that wasn't even the hook that made me part with my dollar to buy the box.




No, that came when I read the back of said box and saw the proclamation that they were "Made Responsibly In China." Well, how could I resist that? Yeah...

In case you missed it, China has been in the news a lot over the last few years for having lead in candy, and all sorts of dire health warnings and recalls issued for food items manufactured there. There is so much information available on this topic that I wouldn't even know where to start linking. Just Google if you're interested. Not to slam an entire country here, but clearly Chinese QA is a concern. (Yes, to be fair, a number of other countries have the same problem.) Looking at this candy as a whole -- from manufacturing location to package to actual candy -- it's clear that Disney makes some interesting choices. (Expecting second email from Disney lawyers...right about...now.) But in any event, these candies were made responsibly -- and it was time for me to enjoy them.

The inner individual packets come with five gummies in each bag. There are three bags to the box. When the box said Sweet & Sour Gummy Candy, I had the impression that the sweet and the sour pieces would be mixed together. In fact, the sours are all sequestered into a mere one out of the three bags. This did sort of make sense -- clearly the candy is aimed at younger kids, and the sour pieces are probably not as popular as the sweet pieces.



There are three flavors, so I am going to do them flavor by flavor, with both the sweet and the sour versions.

In terms of texture, the candies -- while they are somewhat soft and pliable -- are simultaneously chewy to the point that you could call them tough. The candies are fairly large (almost an inch and a half across), and I wonder how hard a time small children would have chewing them or biting off pieces.

The only difference the sour pieces have from the sweet pieces is the dusting of sugar. It add a little crunch and makes the candy a little scratchy on the tongue.

Anyway, on to the flavors...

PINK: Watermelon. Although the box art showed one of the round flowers as being a rather vibrant purple, my box only contained pink flowers. Granted, some were darker (very, very slightly) than others, but I suspect that is just a fluke of the tinting rather than on purpose.

Pink sweet:



Have you ever been using a watermelon-flavored lip balm and gotten a chunk in your mouth? It's like that. Waxy, with a very chemical fake watermelon taste. There is also a bitter aftertaste that I am assuming comes from the dye...or Tinkerbell's tears of shame, whichever.

Pink sour:



I like sour candy. I like sour watermelon. I do not like this sour watermelon candy. I can tell you exactly what they taste like: sour lawn clippings. Yeah, that sounds harsh, but I swear to you it tastes like blades of grass (or wheat grass) covered in sugar and citric acid. Blecch.

BLUE: Blue Raspberry. The blue pieces were nicely molded into little butterflies.

Blue sweet:



This is kind of like a generic blue slushie. It's raspberry flavor in the fakest possible way -- but it's so fake that it's kinda good. The aftertaste is like bad perfume, though.

Blue sour:



After the horrific taste of the watermelon sour, I was worried about this one. But it was merely sour. No immediate flavor, just sour. Once you get through the layer of sugar, it tastes just like the sweet version.

GREEN: Green Apple. The green pieces are also molded into flowers.

Green sweet:



This is the one I was most worried about, because it just doesn't smell good. It smells the way old gum tastes. I am torn on the flavor, though. On one hand, it is the most clearly artificial of the three -- at its worst moments, it also has that took-a-bite-of-lip-balm flavor that the watermelon has -- only amplified by ten. At its best, which comes about ten seconds into having the piece in your mouth (and ends approximately four seconds later), it does in fact taste like apple juice. But I would rather just drink the juice and cut out the middleman.

Green sour:



Again, just sour. But it does manage to cut through some of the most waxy parts. Actually, this was my favorite of the bunch. For the few seconds that it tastes like apple juice, the sourness is nice with that.

As candy, this ranks pretty low. But I will give them points for being nicely molded, and I can see where they would make good decorations for cakes, etc. (I will give them points for that -- but not a higher rating.)



PURCHASED FROM:
WalMart

PRICE:
$1.00

CALORIES:
90 calories per 5 pieces

ADD'LL INFO:
Fat-free. Contains gelatin.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
flixcandy.com. BROWSER WARNING: Site is done entirely in Flash.

Campbell's V8 Golden Butternut Squash Soup

Since we announced the winner of the Campbells V8 Soup Give Away yesterday, I thought this would be a great day to bring you another V8 soup review!

I love butternut squash soup, and Campbell's has some big shoes to fill on this one. My all-time favorite B.S. soup (yeah, there's that 12-year-old again) was the soup served at the now-defunct Wolfgang Puck Café chain. (They were popular here in Southern California for about two weeks...in 1996). Well, let me tell you, it was perfect. That stuff that Wolfgang is selling in a can does not even come close. I don't care what they say, something is different.

ANYWAY...so let's talk about the Campbell's V8 version. (Did I mention that one of the advantages is that one bowl of soup gets you a full serving of veggies?)



The texture is creamy but not perfectly smooth. It's not lumpy, mind you...maybe "rustic" would be a good word for it. You get little chunks of veg and the slight grain of the squash. It makes it seem more like homemade.



The soup is sweet and mellow. You can really taste the carrots that are in it. The squash tastes fresh and ripe, like a nicely baked squash -- not at all like that nasty frozen squash puree that haunts the frozen food aisle (and my childhood nightmares).

One thing that stands out is the richness of the soup. I can see that there is cream in the base, but it's the flavor of butter that stands out. Again -- how could butter possibly be bad?! There is also herbage floating in the soup. If I had to guess, based on the label, I would say it's parsley. Honestly, I couldn't tell. But it looks pretty.

All around, this is about as good a soup as you'll ever find in a supermarket. Wolfgang may still have my heart, but this soup is definitely gunning for his spot.




PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Special K Bliss Bar- Orange

Talk about truthiness in advertising!

I have been trying to give Special K a second shot. Somewhere along the line I decided that the cereal was a little on the bland side for me and I have avoided it for years. But I have been making a point of giving things a second chance.

I cheated and started out with these bars rather then the cereal.
The bars are the size of a Kudos bar and is made of Special K multi-grain cereal and small segments of dried mandarin orange. The bottom of the bars are enrobed in chocolate.

These bars are delicious! the texture is more like that of a Rice Crispy Treat then a cereal or granola bar (that is a HUGE selling point for me). The chocolate on the bottom is a respectable amount and it is a decent semi-sweet (reminded me a lot of Toll House Morsels actually). The star of the show hands down would be the oranges! they are sweet and tart and still retain some moistness (sort of like a dried apricot) I think orange is one of the most under used flavors at the moment and I hope that enough people flock to this bar to inspire more orange snacks.

OOOH! and before I forget each bar is only 90 calories! (no, that does not mean you can eat 3 of them in a row... not that I did that)
I LOVED these!!

PURCHASED FROM:
Kroger (Ralph's depending on your location)