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The Fine Art of Snacking
I love snacking. Love. It. Of course, I adore eating in all its forms, but there is something special about snacking. Watching a movie, reading, playing with my phone, working on the computer, or chatting with family and friends: all of these delightful activities are made even more sublime with the addition of snacks.
So herewith, my nominations for the best snacks in each of the theme’s categories (plus one: savory). It’s important to note that a snack is different from a meal course: that is, my favorite dessert (chocolate chip cookies with milk or mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches) will be different from my favorite sweet snack.
Sweet
Post Honey Ohs cereal, dry, straight out of the box. This snack can’t be beat for crunchiness, sweetness, and sheer shove-it-in-your-face-like-there’s-no-tomorrow snackability. I’m (not really) ashamed to admit that one box contains approximately one serving. Best consumed while playing with your phone. Suggested beverage: fizzy water.
Sour
Salt and vinegar potato chips, preferably Cape Cod or similar extra-crunchy texture. (You can keep your Lay’s, thank you.) So sour and vinegary they make you pucker but you just can’t stop once you put that first delicious chip in your mouth. Best consumed while watching football. Suggested beverage: plain room-temperature water.
Spicy
Chips and salsa. I’m partial to Tostitos Bite Size Rounds because the size is perfect (I hate having to bite into a huge chip or try to fit a too-big chip into my mouth) and the quality (crunch, subtle saltiness) are very consistent. I know there are lots of other better tortilla chips out there, but Tostitos Bite Size are my choice for affordable, mass-market chips. As for salsa, any medium to hot salsa is fine: jarred salsa, the refrigerated kind from the deli, or fresh salsa made with vegetables from the garden. I usually blend it first because I don’t like slimy vegetables and prefer a smooth consistency. Best consumed when you are sitting at a table to use the computer and you can arrange the chips and salsa and laptop in a pleasing and convenient way. Suggested beverage: orange juice/diet ginger ale mixture.
Savory
White Cheddar Cheez-its. The best cheese cracker, hands-down. Cheez-its have the perfect amount of cheesy powder on each cracker and they receive bonus points for being so perfectly bite-sized. They are also filling, so they are a good choice for a mid-afternoon snack when you still have several hours before dinner. Best consumed while reading a book on the couch. Suggested beverage: Diet Pepsi.
Any other dedicated snackers out there? What are your favorite snacks, in any category?
Published in Group Writing
Oh, I kinda like these. I’d probably eat more if they weren’t so expensive.
Lately whenever someone mentions having a “Charcuterie Board” at an event, I respond “Oh, you mean a deli tray.”
My mom had some kind of blue cheese substance that went in the chute.
I actually kind of like those, not the best but something interesting and different.
Snacking is a highly personal choice, so recognize that’s only my opinion conditioned by generations of eating stuff like Fritos cheese dip.
For my part, parsnip and taro are not good things, yuca really tilts things, and it’s case closed with batata. The sweet potato doesn’t save things.
Homemade original Chex Mix is my favorite. Dry roasted almonds are pretty high on the list for something salty. I must say, though, Fritos or Lay’s Chips are a must with a sandwich (meal course, not snacking).
Almond M&Ms are spectacular.
Rainier cherries, when I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for them, are my favorite natural snack although I rarely turn down dried apricots.
Guacamole is a meal. See avocado toast for breakfast but no ruining it with an egg on it, for goodness sake.
I refuse to eat guacamole with someone who likes carrots but brings broccoli. Their best strategy is to eat my carrots and then once out of carrots they can use the broccoli to finish off all the guac.
An avocado toast purist! Mr. Charlotte likes sliced hard boiled egg on his. I prefer to top it with diced sun-dried tomatoes.
Not a big potato chip guy, but if there’s some onion dip . . .
I am skeptical about guacamole with any vegetable as the dipper. At least any vegetable that isn’t fried.
Forced to eat celery?
I confess. I killed ’em…. I killed ’em all!
Not a fan of guacamole, or really anything with avocado. Pretty much the texture of avocado puts me off.
I agree on the taro. The rest don’t bother me much. Plus it is one of the few things I can still snack on so that colors things.
The most important characteristic of drinking water is wetness.
Although I had some the other day that was undrinkable despite the wetness. I didn’t get the full story from the campground owners, but apparently, because of the nitrates in the groundwater from agriculture, the water was somehow treated to make it potable. It smelled like asphalt and tasted salty. I was low on water after a long day’s bicycle ride, but couldn’t make myself drink it. At that point I didn’t care about temperature. I didn’t care about nitrates, either, but the campers next to me had an infant and it was a relevant factor for them.
I use celery to roll peanut M&Ms down into my mouth. I figure that’s healthy enough.
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Healthy:
Cherry tomatoes with mozzarella pearls. Perfectly sized. Best for watching tv as it doesn’t lend itself to keeping hands clean.
I have been known to mix the bite size cheese balls with pesto.
I used to like dark chocolate, but after a pregnancy where I craved baking chocolate , I can’t touch it anymore.
Except with roses. Made of salami.
My entire family is into these things. I haven’t joined the party, clearly embracing my less sophisticated roots. However, I did learn how to do salami roses for the last family get together.
If you are ever in Minnesota or one of it’s neighbors, you may want to get yourself some Old Dutch – Dutch Crunch kettle cooked potato chips. They make a Salt & Vinegar flavor, but I don’t recall ever trying that flavor. I always got the Parmesan & Garlic flavor. They are outstanding. Their Pepper Jack flavor is really good, but darn hard to find.
I really can’t narrow it down to just a couple snacks that are at the top of the list. Many people have mentioned popcorn. I make air-popped corn and melt some butter and Cheese Whiz with many shakes of Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce. Someone mentioned eating caramel corn until they were sick. I could picture that, it’s pretty fantastic.
Original Cheetos are awesome. Lay’s Cheddar and Sour Cream Potato Chips are terrific. I think original flavor Cheez-It crackers are pretty bland, but really like the White Cheddar flavor. I could eat mixed nuts every day. Apples are pretty good, particularly Gala, Fuji, and Honey Crisp. I practically never see Pink Lady, Sugar Bee, or SweeTango apples in stores, but they are also very good. Pop Tarts are a nice treat. And ice cream . . . I have a love affair with ice cream. There have been times when ice cream has not been a snack or dessert, but the whole meal. Simple nachos with shredded cheese and sour cream are really good, but they are better with jalapenos, and if one has some left over ground beef or shredded chicken in the refrigerator, so much the better. I’m sure there are some other leftovers I have successfully added to nachos, I just can’t remember what.
Charlotte, I think in December you should write a post on Christmas treats.
I hate to be a downer (well, not really) but I just returned from a shopping expedition to Food Lion, which is considered relatively downmarket in my area (i.e., cheap). The prices in the chips, pretzels, Fritos, Cheetos, and Doritos row had gone up substantially. Bidenflation is hitting my junk food now. Sorry, but I will not pay five bucks for Doritos or even four bucks for my beloved Pretzel Bites. This cannot stand.
Yeah. It’s a lot like boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk. Just too weird.
I do have a health newsletter, but it’s highly controversial. I prescribe eating potato chips in bed as an ideal soporific (Potato chips, 1 bag, by mouth, at hour of sleep, consume until drowsy).
I like these too. But nothing healthy about them. Still deep fried starch.
Original Cheez-its and Crunchy Cheetos are my go-to’s for savory.
Chips Ahoy (the blue, not that soft abomination in the red package) with milk would be my favorite sweet snack.
M&Ms with peanuts. I ate an entire pound one Sunday afternoon. :-)
I keep a Family size bag in the fridge.
Ice cold Peanut M&Ms…. the best.
Amen.
Atta girl.
It appears that my wife (aka the boss) subscribes to your newsletter. I frequently go to bed with phones on to drown out the crunching (and also Gutfeld).