Some Recent Finds

I am not that trendy and I am not up on all that is new and exciting. Therefore these "recent" finds may be more like SOOOO 2010 for some people.

First of all, mint M&Ms. Yes! So good. Why is there so much M&M innovation going on in the US and not here in the UK? The US gets dark chocolate, pretzel, mint, coconut, peanut butter, I could go on and on. I walked down the Target candy aisle when I was home in June and was amazed by all the selection. Well, that's true for almost any aisle at Target, I mean have you seen the cake mix department lately? But seriously, mint M&Ms are so, so good. When we were in the south of France I almost bought a small bag of plain dark chocolate M&Ms until I saw they cost three euros. But those are an improvement over the lack luster M&M selection here. Not even the huge M&M store in Leicester Square sells the fancy ones. What a scam.

Secondly, I dig these chickpea things. I randomly bought them one day when I was looking for popcorn (the un-popped kind), as both the popcorn and the chickpeas were in the same "Indian" section at Waitrose. These are good. Kind of spicy, kind of crunchy (OK, they could conceivably crack a tooth or two but I am willing to chance it) and a bit chewy when you shove a whole hell of a lot in your mouth at once. Kind of addictive too; good when you want a quick snack like 15 minutes before dinner.

Lastly, have you tried this stuff? Oh lord. I read about it last week and immediately decided I had to look for it. Waitrose has it, on the bottom shelf below the peanut butter and jam, at least in my store so be aware. It is so good. It's like you took a gingersnap cookie and got it all mushy but evened out the consistency and then spread that mush on bread. I have eaten about 1/3 of the jar in three days. No joke. I can't buy any more bread for fear I will finish the damn thing tonight. I read that Trader Joes (sigh...TJs) sells a similar but ultimately inferior product. You need this authentic Belgian one, it's called "Speculoos" spread elsewhere and "The Original Caramelized" spread here in the UK. They also sell a crunchy version but I'm not sure about that. Where does the crunch come from? Who knows.

I just googled the spread to make sure I had the right name and saw that it's sold on eBay. The description states it contains "unsaturated fats, is rich in Omega 3 and there are no artificial flavors, colors or added preservatives." OK, come on, just tell it like it is. It's fatty and tasty. Nuff said.