Reviews

Starbucks Natural Fusions (+ a Giveaway)

Starbucks Natural Fusions (+ a Giveaway)

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Over the past month, I’ve had plenty of posts about tea thanks to the Tazo Cookoff. Today I’m switching up gears with a post for all the coffee lovers out there.
If you know me, you know I love coffee. I started drinking it the summer before my senior year of high school and I’ve rarely spent a morning without a coffee cup in my hand since. In fact, I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I write this post (no, I don’t have a problem or anything…) So I was super excited when Starbucks contacted me about trying their new, naturally flavored coffees, which will be available in stores this fall.
I was really impressed by these! The flavors are there, but are very subtle — more like putting cinnamon in your coffee grounds or adding a drop of vanilla extract to your coffee cup than the overwhelming flavor that some coffees like this have. Since I generally drink my coffee with just a splash of milk I also love that, unlike adding flavor with a syrup, these aren’t sweet or full of calories.
I like the cinnamon flavor the best if I’m drinking hot coffee and the caramel flavor best if I’m drinking it iced. The vanilla is great either way. But why take my word for it when you can try it for yourself? Starbucks has agreed to send three lucky readers full-sized bags of each flavor along with a French Press and a mug. Just leave me a comment telling me which flavor you’r the most excited to try.
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2010 NASFT Fancy Foods Show

2010 NASFT Fancy Foods Show

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I spent last weekend down in New York City, living it up foodie-style. It was awesome. On Saturday, Christine and I went to the Food Truck Drive-In, which was a ton of fun and will be featured in another post. This post is about my real reason for making the trip down – the 2010 NASFT Fancy Foods Show. The show is an amazing event that brings members of the specialty food trade together with restaurants and retailers who might be interested in purchasing their products – and its a great opportunity to scope out new and exciting products. With over 2,500 exhibitors showcasing over 180,000 products, it was a little overwhelming: I kept forgetting to take pictures, and there was a point where I realized everything was starting to taste the same and I simply didn’t feel like eating any more. But I did find some great (and some not-so-great) new products and got some insight into emerging food trends. I’ll mostly let the pictures do the talking on this one…
Click to continure reading 2010 NASFT Fancy Foods Show –>
Wanchai Ferry Beef & Broccoli Review

Wanchai Ferry Beef & Broccoli Review

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As I’ve mentioned a few times before, even though my preference is to eat fresh, whole foods, I’m not above picking up a frozen dinner in a bag to use in a pinch. In fact, I almost always have one in my freezer for those “in case of emergency” moments. While I generally tend to go for Italian/Mediterranean type meals, this Chinese style Beef and Broccoli from WanchaiWai Ferry couldn’t have arrived on my doorstep at a better time. Last week was more than a little crazy, and I was happy to enjoy a good meal that didn’t require a ton of thought, energy, or effort.

I was a little wary of this meal at first, since I’m really not a huge fan of Chinese food and frozen meat in the types of meals tends to weird me out, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was actually very enjoyable! The back of the bag suggested adding more vegetables — while this would certainly have added some more bulk to the meal and freshened up the flavor a little, I didn’t have any that would have been appropriate to use and I honestly didn’t feel that they were needed. The broccoli, red peppers, and water chestnuts included in the bag was plentiful and flavorful. I particularly enjoyed the broccoli, which wasn’t soggy at all and which soaked up the sauce really nicely. Unlike the meat-heavy beef and broccoli that you might get from a take-out place, the vegetables made up the bulk of the dish. I thought that this was great, but those of you who are looking for a very meaty dish might be disappointed.

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Of course, there were a few downsides to this meal: The beef, while very tender, did have a little bit of an oddly fake flavor to it (not the “freezer” flavor that meat in these meals can sometimes have, but something artificial tasting, like they tried to “enhance” the beefiness somehow). The sauce was also a little thick and syrupy for my liking, but probably not unlike a similar dish would be if you ordered it from a local Chinese restaurant. The directions also call for the rice to be microwaved. We actually don’t have a microwave, so we improvised by warming the bag in a pot of simmering water. It came out just fine, but was a little annoying – I wouldn’t have expected a “skillet” meal to require anything other than a pan and a stove.

At about $6 for a two-serving bag (what you see in the photos is one serving, it was on the small size but was enough to satisfy me) this is a good value for a quick meal. Would I buy it again? I’ll be honest and say that it isn’t likely. I did enjoy it, but it was a little sticky and fake tasting for my liking and I’ve had similar meals that I enjoyed more. If you like Chinese take-out a lot though, you might enjoy it!

Want to give it a try? MyBlogSpark has offered to send a meal — plus two teacups with infusers and loose-leaf green tea — to one reader so that they can try the meal for themselves. Want to give it a try? Leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite dish to order from Chinese take-out is. I really enjoy steamed dumplings and vegetable lo mein! (Sorry, but this giveaway is only open to those of your who live in the US)

Disclosure: This sample, along with the giveaway items, was provided to me by Wanchai Ferry through MyBlogSpark. All opinions are my own.

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