Our readers' kitchen panel returns with its latest round of reviews, from the new minty MoonPie and local chocolates by WR Chocolatier to yogurt that sneaks veggies and fruit into your toddlers.
We chose the panelists last fall from among almost 500 readers. The panelists are Jimmy Wilson, a bachelor who lives in Morehead City; Alice Spickard, a Raleigh mother of four; and Sarah Armstrong, a Raleigh mom and career woman who suggested the panel. These readers receive free samples of new food products, and they share their thoughts on the one item they will buy again and the one that they will not.
This is their second set of reviews. For other reviews, go to our food blog, Mouthful, at blogs.newsobserver.com/Mouthful.
More, please!
Wilson's favorite was MoonPie Crunch Chocolate Mint, $1 for two-pack or $2.69 for a carton of eight, available at Harris Teeter.
Wilson: The folks at Chattanooga Bakery have updated their 1917 classic treat, the MoonPie, by making it smaller than the original, minty and crunchy. I've never been a huge fan of Moonpies because I'm not crazy about marshmallows or the moon, but the new Mint MoonPie Crunch is a tasty, marshmallow-free snack.
Fans of the Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies should enjoy these chocolate-covered treats. As a bonus, they're slightly larger than Thin Mints, which appeals to the glutton gene. I tried them two ways, out of the package and frozen. Both were delicious, but I preferred the frozen one; it enhanced the mint flavor.
The drawback was that they didn't send me a box of the peanut butter ones. They know I like peanut butter.
Amstrong's favorite was the Horizon's Little Blends Yogurt with Fruits and Veggies, $3.49 for a four-pack, available at Food Lion, Kroger and Target.
Armstrong: Evaluating products for the food panel is often a family affair. That was true for these yogurt cups, which are marketed for babies and toddlers. The typical adult may not crave their fruit and vegetable combos (e.g., strawberry carrot), but my 1-year-old gobbled them down. In fact, we've been to the grocery store to get more. Like other flavored yogurt, these could do with a little less sugar, but I am happy the fruit and vegetable purees are listed before sugar in the ingredients.
Spickard's favorite was from WR Chocolatier, $11 for six pieces, www.wrchocolatier.com or call 302-2453.
Spickard: A little black box labeled "WR Chocolatier" appeared at my door just before my deadline. Would this chocolate compare to Hershey's Bliss, the Maramor Probiotic Chocolate and the fashionable and well-known Scharffen Berger chocolate, all fine choices in their own right?
Did it ever - and then some. WR Chocolatier is based in Raleigh, founded by Teresa Wilkerson. The chocolates are hand-crafted and expertly flavored, which left me scouring the box for the smallest of crumbs, lest any flavor be missed. Six small filled chocolates arrived with flavors such as Habanero Orange and Espresso Cinnamon, along with a 72 percent dark chocolate.
Skeptical at first (remembering a particularly strong orange cream I tasted as a youth from my grandmothers' chocolate sampler box - which I later spit out), I cut a taste from the Habanero Orange delicacy and let it melt on my tongue. And melt it did, leaving a perfect combination of orange and spice that accented the smooth chocolate. I wish there were more. These small boxes of chocolates would make perfect special occasion gifts for those with the most discriminating palates. The downside is the high price, but you pay more for any fine work of art.
No more!
Armstrong's least favorite was Fisher Culinary Touch Salad Toppings, $3.79 for a four- to six-ounce bag; they are not yet available in Triangle stores. Armstrong: Available in five flavors, these salad topping blends are to be mixed with plain salad greens and are promoted to be so good that even the "dressing is optional." On the contrary, when I combined the Italian Blend salad topping with baby spinach and balsamic vinaigrette, it was not the dressing that I identified as being optional. Instead of a salad topping with "aromatic, exciting Italian flavors melded with crunchy nuts and tangy sun-dried tomatoes," I detected overwhelming Italian spices coating almond slivers that congregated in the bottom of the bowl and extremely chewy bits of sun-dried tomatoes that got stuck in my molars.
Spickard agreed.
Spickard: My least-favorite samples this round were the salad toppings, specifically the Italian Blend with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I simply didn't care for the over-flavored seasoned bread chips, which seemed a bit stale, or the too-chewy sun-dried tomatoes. I found myself fishing the lettuce out of the salad bowl and leaving the topping ingredients behind. Needless to say, this topping did not add pizzazz to my salad. Fisher also makes a Culinary Touch Sweet Asian Blend Salad Topping, which is better, but still not out of this world. (As an aside, when I checked the back of the Italian blend package, I found that the sample sent to me was out of date, which is probably why the ingredients were stale and hard to chew. Always check the package "best by" dates.)
Wilson's least favorite was the Larabar Pecan Pie, $1.69, available at Whole Foods, Kroger and Trader Joe's.
Wilson: Brought to you by Small Planet Foods (our planet, unfortunately), Larabars are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and vegan. Afraid of commitment. Kosher. Non-GMO. Really, do I need to say more? It's like somebody crept into my spacious head, stole my nightmares, shaped it into a food (Ha!) bar and packaged it for sale. Larabar's Web site says "Inspiration for LÄRABAR struck during a hike in the Rocky Mountains. It was a 10,000-foot idea." That explains it: Oxygen deprivation led to its creation. I knew it was either that or Satan.
I received two flavors: peanut butter and jelly, and tropical fruit tart. The peanut butter one, to be fair, was at least tolerable. The flavor wasn't 100-percent repulsive, and it did have a peanut butter quality. Still it was thick and dry, like eating a dehydrated rope.
The tropical fruit tart on the other hand, is fit for neither man nor beast. It tasted exactly like a fruitcake only without the goodwill. If you're going to capitalize on the popularity of something, would you choose a fruitcake? I threw mine in the yard. It's still out there ... waiting.
Both looked like hunks of particleboard. At least they have truth-in-advertising going for them.
