Herr's Barbecue Corn Chips

Image courtesy of Herr's website

These were interesting. I bought them while walking home from a doctor's appointment and was determined to find new chips.

I hadn't tried them before, and they seemed like a decent value at 99 cents, so I picked them up and carried them home.

On my way, I was thinking about them. The best corn chip is relatively flat, thick, and salty, with lots of seasoning. Herr's like, legitimately delivers spices, with their hot chips and salt and pepper, they're normally really great. But these chips were weak. The texture was like eating uncooked noodles or Fritos Twists, and the salt was...eh. On my fingers, it was less of a barbecue seasoning than just a flavored salt.

My verdict? Go with Fritos barbecue if you crave flavored corn chips.

4/10- NOT VERY GOOD

Foodette!

Hello, everyone!

I've always skulked around food blogs and snack review websites and have been frustrated by the lack of tailored blogs, so I decided to create my own!

I'll be reviewing all sorts of things- frozen meals, chips, candy, fast food, new fruits and veggies...you name it, I'll review it!

Except mushrooms. God, those are fucking gross.

I'll accept any tips for food, especially if you send me a sample. I'll have photos and high-quality, detailed reviews every time.

Thanks!

The Foodette

Fu-Wah's Tofu Hoagie

Every vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike will tell you that Fu-Wah makes the best tofu hoagie in town. I know this because anytime I mention or write about a banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich that is clearly the inspiration for Fu-Wah's hoagie, someone will chime in with, "Aw, man, you gotta try the tofu hoagie at Fu-Wah!"

After sitting in my to-do list for over two years, I finally made it over to Fu-Wah, a West Philly neighborhood grocer, to try the infamous tofu hoagie. I've got good news, bad news, and good news.Good news - Fu-Wah's 6-inch tofu hoagie for $3.75 is a tasty little sandwich loaded with fried tofu pulled straight from a warm vat of soy saucy sweet juices; a nice big pile of thin, pickled strips of daikon and carrots; a couple sprigs of cilantro; shake of black pepper; and a healthy squirt of sriracha sauce. I've heard talk of jalapenos, but there were no jalapenos on mine, even though I asked for everything.

Bad news - The bread is all wrong. The soft, 6-inch hoagie roll is not a thin, long, crispy crusted baguette that is usually used for a banh mi, and perhaps that's why Fu-Wah doesn't dare call this sandwich a banh mi, but instead calls it a tofu hoagie. In the ten minutes it took to get the sandwich to my dining destination, the juices from the tofu made a soggy mess of the soft roll. If you're really jonesin' for a traditional banh mi on a baguette, Fu-Wah's not going to do it for you.
Good news - OMG, this is the best little neighborhood grocer I've ever seen! Besides serving up sandwiches and hot eats, Fu-Wah has a mix of Asian foods, vegan and vegetarian foods, European foods, American grocery store standards, and fresh produce. You can pick up toilet paper, mochi, trail mix, Kinder Chocolate, Newman's Own cookies, bean sprouts, spaghetti sauce, and inari all at one place! And, get this, you can even pick up a package of active dry yeast! Swoon.

OK, now I know the Fu-Wah tofu hoagie is a beloved institution in Philly, so before you lambaste me with nasty comments, let's be sure you're picking up what I'm putting down. The sandwich is tasty and cheap, and I would gladly gobble one up any time you want to put one in front of me, but a person walking in there looking for a banh mi is not going to be happy with the bread. Fu-Wah's tofu hoagie is a hybrid of a banh mi and a hoagie. Philly is a hoagie town, so I guess it's only fitting.

Fu-Wah Mini Market
810 S. 47th St., Philadelphia, PA 19143
215-729-2993
open 7 days a week, 9am-9pm

Strawberry Orange Marmalade

The bitter orange rinds and not-too-sweet jelly of orange marmalade always seemed like a condiment of little old ladies, not children or anyone who worships the cult of sugar like I do. Why would anyone opt for bitter jelly when there were sweet jellies like peach, strawberry, and blueberry?

My tastes have evolved just slightly since I was a child averse to marmalade, and I can appreciate and even enjoy orange marmalade (my Dad makes a fab orange marmalade from the little fruits of his citrus tree), but orange marmalade is never my first jam or jelly choice.When I saw the strawberry marmalade recipe in the the canning book I got for Christmas, Putting up: A Year-Round Guide to Canning in the Southern Tradition, I just knew that this sweeter marmalade hybrid was for me and my childish taste buds.

Putting Up is written by Steven Dowdney who runs Rockland Plantation, a successful canning business out of South Carolina, and I've purchased many of his yummy pickles and chutneys when visiting home, so was excited to see a collection of his recipes. I've already made his pickled asparagus, and the strawberry marmalade is my second attempt at one of his recipes.

On a related, but side note, I'm really excited about Marisa's new blog, Food in Jars, that features lots of canning recipes. Take one of her canning classes at Foster's in Philly if you're interested in canning, but are daunted by the whole process. Canning is easy, but I highly recommend participating with an experienced canner; it'll alleviate any fears you have.
Strawberry Orange Marmalade
adapted from Putting Up
makes about 6 pints

I, of course, tweaked a few things - like pureeing the majority of the strawberries instead of leaving them whole (orange rind chunks are enough chunkiness, in my opinion), and reduced the sugar from 12 cups (!!) to 6 cups. In the end, I still ended up with a sweet marmalade, albeit one with minimal rind, that even a child like myself could love.

5 plus cups strawberries, cleaned, topped and quartered,
4 oranges, thin skinned, sliced thinly, then seeded and chopped (I like the rind to be no longer than half an inch)
2 lemons, sliced thinly, then seeded and chopped (I like the rind to be no longer than half an inch)
1 cup water
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 packs pectin
6 cups sugar, divided

• Pulse all but a handful of strawberries in a food processor for three or four pulses.
• Place all ingredients, except sugar, in a large pot. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
  
• Add half of the sugar, mixing well and stirring until ingredients boil. Add the remaining sugar, and return to a rolling boil, continuing to stir. Time boiling for 3 minutes, but check for jelling after 2 minutes (I actually boiled for about 15 minutes, and probably could have gone a bit longer, so go with your gut feeling or plate test [scroll down]).
• Remove pot from heat, and ladle hot jam into sterilized jars, wipe rims of jars, apply sterilized lids and bands, and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Sour Patch Cherry and Blue Raspberry

There is a somewhat old-fashioned candy shop pretty close to my house, and oddly enough, I've never been there. I always mean to go, but parking is messy and the hours are weird. But my husband has been there, and he came back with, among other things, these two kinds of Sour Patch candy.

We are both big fans of Sour Patch Kids, and get them pretty much any time we go to a movie. I had never seen either of these flavors in normal stores, so I was quite excited to try these (although cherry is one of the normal flavors, I think).


Cherry was up first, and the little candies were red and shaped like cherries. They tasted good but not great, and not very sour. They seemed less sour than the cherry that comes in Sour Patch Kids. B-

Blue Raspberry was next, and it also wasn't very sour, but had a nice blue fruit snack-like flavor and firm texture. The pieces were blue and shaped like a raspberry (or a little bunch of grapes). I liked these better than the cherry. B+

Although these were fun to try, I'd rather eat the regular Sour Patch Kids. My husband said the candy store carries a peach variety, but it was sold out, so I'll definitely have to go for myself and try to find that.

Sour Patch website

Too Tarts Xtra Sour Goo Candy Gwape

A few years ago, my husband and I saw this candy on Unwrapped. We didn't think much of it until we saw the actual candy on the shelves at a zoo gift shop, of all places, but it must have made an impression because we were compelled to buy it. And yes, it's another one of those candies where the fruit would have looked cool in 1995. Also, why is it called Gwape? Is it supposed to sound tough?

The package says "smart choice" and, according to the back, there are only 36 calories in the entire tube. The first ingredient is water, and the second is fruit juice concentrate (apple and blueberry, pear, or strawberry). Apple puree is also listed, but (unfortunately) along with artificial flavors and sucralose (second to last on the list). Oh well, it's a pretty small tube, and that's how they keep the calories low.


The candy goo was an unappetizing brownish color (which came off looking nice and purple in my picture - don't be fooled), but I suppose you're not really supposed to look at it when you eat it. A little squirt onto my tongue, and I was immediately hit with sour. I wouldn't call it xtra sour, but it was pretty strong, especially for kids (but I would have loved it as a kid).

It definitely did taste like grape juice and not medicine. The artificial flavor and sweetener showed up as an aftertaste, but only mildly. Although the tube said it was 2 servings, neither my husband nor I can have very much of this at once. It's not bad at all, but maybe it's the sour factor. In any case, it does a decent job of killing cravings for sweet stuff, so Gwape is all right. Maybe next time, we'll try Blue Bewwy.

B

Innovative Candy Concepts website

Pimento Cheese Happy Dance

You don't know how excited I am to see the presence of grocery store pimento cheese at the newly re-fabbed Superfresh on 5th and Pine St. in Philly! I've kept my eyes peeled for tubs of this glowing orange cheese spread for the past seven years since arriving in the area, and have yet to spy one*.

Make no mistake about it, grocery store pimento cheese** is not a thing like real pimento cheese - saying grocery store pimento cheese tastes like real pimento cheese is like saying Nacho Doritos tastes like cheese nachos - but this junk food is a guilty pleasure of mine that can now be had at any time (crossing fingers that it stays stocked), and not just when I go home to South Carolina once or twice a year.

*I can't be everywhere all the time, so let me know if you've spied pimento cheese being sold somewhere.

**Some grocery stores down South do carry real pimento cheese made by small local businesses.