Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies

Deciding on the perfect cookie to take to a party can be daunting. Not really, but...pull out an old trick or try something new? I wanted something new.

Martha Stewart has an online Cookie of the Day feature, so I started my hunt there. Nothing sang to me as I clicked my way through many months of archives, then I landed on a recipe for a chocolate cookie with nuts (Martha used pecans) that looked perfect.
The cookies turned out to be gluten-free. Even better! A gluten-free friend would be at the party, and, believe me, it's ain't no party if you can't eat the cookies.

Then I realized, hey, it's almost Passover, and half our our household observes this Jewish holiday. These cookies will also work for that whiny, hungry week without leavened wheat. Double win!
With only powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate, nuts, salt, and egg whites in the ingredients, these cookies cook up light and chewy like a meringue, but taste like a rich brownie.

I'd make these cookies again even if there weren't a celiac at the party or Passover was in observance. These cookies are truly "a good thing." Thanks, Martha!
Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes about 24 cookies

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped cashews (can use any nut)
4 large egg whites, room temperature

• Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder and salt.
• Stir in chocolate and cashews.
• Add egg whites and stir until just incorporated. Do not over stir.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and drop cookie dough on the sheet by the spoonful, about 3 inches apart.
• Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until tops of cookies are dry and crackled, about 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through.
  

Vitamin Water Spark

Dear Foodette Reviews,

I have a little story for you.

I've cheated on my boyfriend with another man, and now I want to make things right. I tried to buy him a new Porsche, and he didn't want anything to do with it. I tried to buy him diamond studded cuff links, and he threw them down the garbage disposal. When I bought him a limited edition, Metallica endorsed Snuggie, he gave it to the homeless man living down the street.That's when I realized that I needed to put the Spark back in our relationship. Not the spark. I didn't want to have sex with his shapeless, lumpy, beer belly and crappy, unshaved chin(s). I mean, he's unemployed, stalks around the house watching Lifetime, and spends his days perfecting the curve in our couch when he should be perfecting the curves of his manly six-pack. I'm talking about the Spark- the newest flavor of Vitamin Water. It has grape and blueberry and other natural flavors, and it cost me $1.89. As soon as I gave it to him, and our fingers met against the sweaty contours of the bottle, I knew he'd forgive me.
The flavor is floral, with just a bit of sweetness, just like the aromatic spray I sprayed over the living room, bathroom, and laundry room after my dirty, nasty tryst to cover up the scent of cologne, vodka, and strawberry lubricant. The grapes are predominant, but the blueberries are just as important and taste pretty accurate to most blueberry beverages I've had. And believe me, I've been around the blueberry beverage block. It's slightly artificial, like my breasts and my boyfriend's mother's affection, but I know that at the end of the day, those vitamins will keep me going strong- with whomever I'm having sex with. So, readers, from me to you, bring the Spark back in your relationship, and drink this drink with someone you love tonight.Love,

Sparked in Seattle

Maynards Juicy Squirts Sours

Before one of my Flickr contacts pointed it out, the thought hadn't occurred to me that "Juicy Squirts" is a funny name. It does sound a bit like something you come across online and can't unsee, but luckily, it's candy. Still, it's not something I want to search for on Google.

Maynards is part of the Cadbury family of brands, but it originated as a small family company in the United Kingdom. I have never seen the Maynards brand in the US, but over the border in Canada, they sell many kinds of gummies. For example, Sour Patch Kids are now part of the Maynards brand in Canada, but they are released by Cadbury Adams in the US (without much mention of that on the package).


Right away, I had a bit of an issue: half of the bag was cherry. There were four flavors included, but I only got 1 purple, 2 raspberry, and 3 apple. The remaining 6 or 7 gummies were all cherry. Unequal flavor distribution aside, the gummies were pretty large - about the size of my thumb. Each gummy was full of a different color (and flavor) juice, and it reminded me of the Gushers fruit snacks I loved as a kid.

Green was a slightly floral green apple, but I'm not sure what the red inner juice was supposed to taste like. Maybe some sort of red berry? In any case, the flavors went well together.

Purple was either grape or blackcurrant, but honestly, I'm not sure. It did taste a lot like fake grape, and was my favorite of the bunch. Maybe I'm just saying that because there was only purple in my bag.

Red (cherry-shaped) had a standard red, medicinal cherry flavor. My husband figures that the ingredients must be the cheapest, and that was why there were so many in this bag.

Red (raspberry-shaped) had a nice, mild raspberry flavor with a slightly sour bite to it. Again, I'm not sure what flavor the center juices were, but I enjoyed the piece.

Overall, I liked the firm, chewy texture of the gummies. My husband thought they were sour enough, but I hardly found them sour at all. Combined with the bad assortment, Juicy Squirts Sours just left me feeling disappointed.

C

These have also been reviewed at Candy Addict

Cadbury website

Gloji Seaberry and Ginseng

I'm a big fan of juices great and small, and when I heard that Gloji was doing some new juice flavors, I was all ready to sign up and review. My fetish for all things juice is surpassed by my propensity for juice in strange flavors, so I've put together a small list of things that a seaberry is and what a seaberry is not today.

For instance.

A seaberry grows on a bush, but will not scare you away like a bush scares Butters in South Park.
A seaberry is not made in the ocean.
A seaberry is also a place in the magical world of Strawberry Shortcake. Buy her merchandise. Buy it all.
A seaberry is a potential cure for cancer.
A seaberry is not a euphemism for anything sexual on Urban Dictionary. Yet.This drink is an interesting one, though, and even more interesting is the bottle. Not only is it a fine specimen of a receptacle for things like potting soil for plants or urine collection for the hip hobos on the streets, but it's...lightbulb shaped, inspiring this photo.
It was very hard to take. But it still looks like I'm churning out ideas by the dozen.

The drink itself was interesting. I was intrigued to and immediately drawn to the color, which might also attract some buyers, along with the pleasing shape of the bottle, is a lovely orange yellow, that changes in the light. It's opaque and looks thick, even inside the bottle, and I couldn't wait to crack it open and try it out.

The drink is thick, almost like a nectar than a juice, and has a vaguely sweet scent. The flavor is interesting, and very different. It's salty. It tastes like a hybrid of a tomatillo, mango, and a few apricots, but made into a steak sauce or a glaze for meats. It doesn't taste like it's supposed to be had as a juice drink or accompanied by something sweet. Although there were definite sweet notes, the predominant flavor was a savory beverage.I liked the mouthfeel of this. It was very complex and the layers of salty and sweet were definitely interesting, but I can't see this drink as being a multi-functional drink for the average person to carry around and just have as something to sip on unless accompanied by something special to offset the flavor. I looked up the seaberry and this is what they were supposed to taste like. It's not that it was a bad flavor, but I would have rather had something mixed in with it to cut down the natural flavor of the seaberry.

Papa Ben's Peanut Brittle

Over the years, we've seen the demises and returns of a ton of old fashioned treats from the quintessential penny candy stores like horehound, button candy, and a personal favorite, peanut brittle. And some of these favorites have been revived and redazzled into gourmet, upscale treats, like the Rice Krispie treat. Making one is like making a car- you can put anything you want on it for a base fee and then, the add ons just get worse. It'll only be a matter of time before you can get edible diamonds or gold crap on your damned lollipops.Some treats are sticking to the basics, though, like a peanut brittle that I got in the mail recently. Papa Ben's Brittle has six ingredients that do something insanely magic when they combine. It's different from many of the brittles I've had in that it's a little more substantial and less airy. The bubbles are packed closer together and it's got a dense, foamy crunch. The sugar has caramelized and burnt to the point of perfection. It doesn't stick to the teeth, it just gently releases, like a friendly dog, and the sea salt is an excellent counterbalance to all the sugar that brittle typically puts in.At first, I couldn't appreciate this brittle because of the subtleties of the burnt flavors and the complexities of the layers. The peanuts are soft and yielding and end up playing, oddly, a second fiddle to the medley of sweet and salty and bitter that goes on in the actual candy in this confection. You can taste the very vessel that this was cooked in. This candy needs no bling or packaging or crazy advertising. It's just, in a word, an art form. I can eat through four ounces and know that each piece will taste a little different each time. It's a company that truly does keep on keepin' on.

Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits

While filling up at a gas station on the way to see a concert, I stopped in the attached convenience store and was shocked and thrilled to find Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits. Since I wanted to consume them right away, I took pictures in the car, with the candy on my lap and in my hand.

These have been on my mind ever since Cybele's Valentine's Day 2010 candy tease, as I love Skittles and almost all fizzy candy. Unfortunately, the grocery stores near me are very slow to receive new items (they just now carry Crazy Cores on their shelves), but I always forget about gas stations. With pay at pump, I hardly have a reason to go inside and look at all the new, overpriced candy (these Skittles were $1.39 US).


One whiff of the open bag told me that the flavors were the same as the Wild Berry Skittles, so I won't go too deeply into how the flavors differed. They had the appearance of Sour Skittles, but the effect was entirely different.

These were very fizzy on the tongue - surprisingly fizzy! You have to suck on them a bit to get the true effect, but it made me think of a berry soda (close to the point of bubbles up your nose, but without the pain). Fizzl'd Fruits were tasty, nostalgic, and fun. If you like the berry flavors, definitely check these out. I prefer the original fruits, but it was nice to see a new spin on a different flavor set. Now, I wonder if they can combine fizzy with sour?

There's also a review of these at CandyBlog.

A-

Skittles Website (note: it's very graphic-intense)

Dim Sum Garden

Underneath a tunnel which acts as a homeless shelter, and next to a Chinatown bus station sits a the neon-fringed, sparsely decorated Dim Sum Garden. This Shanghainese eatery, which is not really a traditional dim sum house, has gotten praise for their hand drawn noodles and the (apparently in Philly) elusive Shanghai soup bun (Xiao Long Bao). Unfortunately, Shanghai soup buns — a sort of steamed dumpling filled with pork and hot soup — are not vegetarian. Carry on.
What I love about the grungy-looking (although, it was clean) Chinese eatery is the smiling service. What I love even more is the decisiveness and confidence our smiling server had in recommending the better of two dishes — even if she might have been lying just to get on with her job. Thank you for having conviction.
The vegetable steamed buns are not the steamed soup buns most people come looking for, but are the thicker bread-like buns, and are filled with a mixture of chopped Shanghai cabbage, black mushrooms, and tofu. Mildly flavored, be sure to douse the vegetable bun with one of the few condiments on the table, like vinegar, soy sauce, or chili sauce.
The vegetable steamed dumplings (again not the one's filled with soup) are filled with the same mixture as the steamed vegetable buns, so it may be best to pick one over the other so as not to grow tired of the filling.

Having just eaten a really bad dumpling that surely came from a freezer bag at another restaurant, rest assured that Dim Sum Garden's dumplings and buns are housemade. You can watch the employees make the doughy pockets behind the counter.The handdrawn dry noodles with tofu come slathered with a strongly anise-scented brown sauce studded with bits of craggy, chewy tofu and peanuts. I love the chewy noodles, but the extremely salty, though tasty sauce was borderline inedible. I managed to down most of the noodles by convincing myself that enjoying salty food is an indulgence, but an hour later found myself successively downing six glasses of water to quench my thirst.Feeling that the salty noodles with tofu were an aberration, I checked back in with Dim Sum Garden. This time I ordered the tomatoes and eggs over rice, simply because I've never seen a dish of that description on any Chinese menu.

What came out was breakfast on top of rice — a large plate of rice topped with scrambled eggs and ever-so-slightly-sweet cooked tomatoes with side garnish of cooked bok choy. This dish is the absolute opposite end of the salt and seasoning spectrum; there is almost none. Yet, it still tastes good. Condiments from the table livened things up a bit, though. An odd sounding dish, but trust me when I say it is the perfect meal for any time of the day.

If you eat meat, I'd say drop by Dim Sum Garden for the handmade steamed soup buns (every table orders them, so they must be good), but if you're veg, there are plenty of dishes to choose from on the menu.

Dim Sum Garden
59 N. 11th St., Philadelphia, PA 19176
215-627-0218