Here’s an expeditious convergence: three dark brown delectable delicacies, each with a spin of strangeness.
Exploding Coal: Do You Dare?
This chocolatier specializes in off-beat flavors like Churros and Carrot Cake chocolate bars, so it came as no surprise to find this chuao Exploding Coal bar marked down in Harris Teeter. It was on clearance after the winter holidays, as chuao only produces it as a seasonal specialty. (Coal in your stocking, right?) Dark chocolate with pop-rocks mix-ins: what could go wrong?
And it did in fact feel like fireworks going off in your mouth. My daughter, who grew up biting down on pop-rocks, loved it. Her fuddy-duddy mother thought that once a year was just about right. Great dark chocolate, by the way.
Do They Know It’s Crapulous?
I get a lot of email from the Brownie Points people. They are trying to corner the sizzle end of the “sell the sizzle, not the steak” paradigm. They will supply you (or more to the point, your giftee), by mail, with a selection of specialty brownies for every holiday and gift-giving occasion. Their latest is a line of “browniemojis” which, yes, feature the most popular internet emoji memes in the form of decorated brownies.
Sad face, smiley-face, LMAOF-face: all fine and good, until you spot the one that looks just like the Smiling Poop emoji.
Now, I don’t know how your mother (or other significant other) would feel if she opened the box and found that her beloved relation or friend had seen fit to gift her with a Smiling Poop brownie emoji. I just hope she has a good sense of humor. Or you have a good explanation.
And More Unboxing Fun
I just received a box from the Renewal Mill folks with two sacks of intriguing content: a brownie mix made with okara flour; and the pure okara flour to make of it what you will. Okara is made with the heretofore discarded byproduct of soybean processing, and is a shining example of reducing food waste by turning a bug into a feature. Though one hopes there are no bugs to be found in the flour.
This requires an entire article unto itself, and I will be reporting soon both on the Renewal Mill backstory and the results of my experience with the (especially!) brownie mix and okara flour. Stay tuned!
