These snacks were... less unique. Few new flavors, and no "this must be what Satan's asshole tastes like" flavors. Maybe bc I lived in Israel which has some similar flavors? Anyway, we did keep almost all of these for nomming post tasting, which is rare!
2/
First up, "crazy tomato" puffs!
Josh hates all things tomato (and I wish I'd taken a pic of his face on this). It kind of tasted and smelled like Campbell's instant tomato soup powder but in cheese puff form. Honestly, it worked for me! Salty and artificial tomato-y... yum.
3/
"Mind blowing pizza" cones. So like, Bugles with a corn chip taste, plus the flavors of the worst part of an olive pizza, combined with a Domino's pizza crust that's been sitting out for several hours. Not my fave, Josh liked em.
4/
"Burning BBQ" popcorn, from the same folks who brought you the prev 2 snacks (and bits of copy). These were good!
Had almost a nori undertaste, with chile pepper overtones and a good bit of smokyburnt flavor. IDK where the nori came from, but I dug it.
5/
Next up TIGER. A lemon-chili-pepper chip from the illustration. Maybe with mint?
They taste mostly of cumin, and then a hint of lemon, and then lastly comes the spicy chili kick. They're pretty awesome tbh! I'm wishing I could eat em all and not have to share em, shhh.
6/
Pretzo Original! With butter and herbs! Which herbs? Nobody knows, ingredients just say "spices".
They're coated in some sort of powder and taste like someone put bad movie theater popcorn "butter" on pretzels. No herbs, or spices for that matter, detected. Pass.
7/
Spaghetuss! Apple-flavored! Obviously we all know what spaghetuss is? Cuz it's a pull-and-peel sort-of gummy in a VERY unappealing color that tastes like a nice apple candy. Sort of has the vibe of a chewy juice box. Honestly, I'm down with this one.
8/
Duetto date-filled cookies! A "fig tut" if you will, since the obv comparison is to Fig Newtons. Inside is the same vibe (even tho dates, not figs?), outside is drier, stiffer, sweeter, more buttery. Shortbready, w a hint of nutrigrain. Not bad, but not worth the calories IMO
9/
Gero! Arrived pre-squashed! Sort of like a coconut Charleston Chew, down to the chocolatey-but-def-not-chocolate coating. Filled 100% with white chewy stuff, and gets VERY coconutty (even texture-wise) at the end. Excellent if you love artificial coconut, which we do not.
10/
CLASSIC quality butter cookies: the cinnamon cookie. A title that shd be a movie. They're a dry cinnamonny shortbread, a gingersnap with neither the ginger nor the snap. Inoffensive other than the ludicrous overpackaging. (Srsly, what cookie needs this much protection?!) Meh
11/
El Shamadan WHITE: wafer biscuits filled w chocolate & coated w white chocolate. Pretty nice, not very surprising. What it says on the package, tho the cocoa cream filling overpowers the white chocolate. Which is a plus. Much less dry than a Quadratini.
12/
El Shamadan WAVE: biscuit wafer filled w hazelnut cream and coated w natural (aka real) chocolate. Y'all, this is a GODDAMN DREAM COME TRUE. It's like if a KitKat were nutella-filled & was much better than a KitKat could possibly imagine. The winner of every #snackening yet.
13/
Finally, Sakalans wafer filled with halva (or halawa, depending who you ask) & coffee cream. Halva is a dense, sesame-paste-based sweet. This one was as dry as Quadratini, was more sesame than coffee by far, and had a little bit of cinnamon flavor. Not bad, but it's no WAVE.
14/
And that's the #snackening! Egyptian treats were far less... interesting than Thai treats? Maybe bc I grew up eating halva? But they had the highest hit rate yet of snacks we kept to finish later. (Tho the lemon-chili chips weren't NEARLY as hot as the Thai chili chips!)
Telling a sick or disabled person "oh but you don't look sick" is actually really crappy and hurtful, even if you mean it as a compliment.
Let's talk about the reasons why.
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First of all, some background. Not every illness or disability is visible.
Some flare intermittently, some are never visible. Sometimes people are in incredible pain but don't show it because they're used to it, or just don't want to talk about it with you.
Lots of options.
2/
Autoimmune disorders, autonomic nerve disorders, digestive disorders... tons of conditions are only visible on the inside. And not everyone's going to show you the proof, because more often than not it's none of your business.
3/
Every year I make a huge sculpted cake for a shared bday for me and my fiancé. This year, there's no point, because who's gonna come eat a huge cake in a pandemic?
So plan B is a pain-in-the-ass cake that's smaller.
Everyone please meet the (A Night At The) Opera Cake
Opera cake is a Very French Cake that is rarely around because it's a hassle. It's alternating thin layers of coffee-syrup-soaked almond joconde sponge, French coffee buttercream, and chocolate ganache/glaze. Traditionally it has the word Opera written on it in chocolate cursive
When you bake the sponge it looks really sad. It's thin and pale, but that's how it's SUPPOSED to look. This sucker wants you to beat whole eggs and egg whites in 2 different bowls and if you only have 1 bowl that works with your mixer it's super fun.
Do you need a break from the multi-pack of apocalypses happening right now?
It's time for a thread of... ANIMALS WITH BALLS. (No not like they can stand up to the man. Or like they haven't been neutered. Or like Cinderella-style parties.)
This doggo is having the BEST DAY EVER
This kitteh is ready for the WNBA with those dribblin skills.
This bebe panda has a ball and is never gonna give it up, never gonna put it down.
Y'all, we finished Legend of Korra and I'm honestly disappointed. No thematic resonance, no great earned catharsis. Shoulda just watched Last Airbender again instead.
Spoilers below, mute this tweet if you don't wanna see em.
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I'm super down for Korra being bi, and Asami was treated so terribly throughout the show (both by writers & other characters) that she deserves a happy ending dammit.
But like, you gotta develop their relationship to make the pairing feel right? And make em kiss you cowards.
2/
And DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED on how terribly Zhu Li was treated, and somehow her marrying Varrick was The Big Catharsis? For the whole show? When she didn't even have a character trait to speak of until s4? I'm sorry, whut?
3/