happy lady eats

{taste tested}: vosges bacon & eggs...

I'm a huge fan of Vosges Bacon Chocolate Bar, so I was excited to try their new Bacon and Eggs edition just in time for Easter. This version spins your childhood Cadbury Egg upside down and injects a gooey bacon caramel center into a dark chocolate egg. The result is a sweet, salty, savory, and off-beat treat.

Final thoughts...3.5 out of 5 happy ladies! The original Mo's Bacon Bar is still the best version of this combo in my book, but I love this rotund take as a fun Easter treat.

{photo by happy lady}*

{taste tested}: ruby jewel ice cream sandwiches

Dear Ruby Jewel,

I really do believe that ice cream sandwiches are the perfect combination of two of life's greatest pleasures: ice cream + cookies bundled into one hand-held little package of delight. So I was thrilled to come across your homemade ice cream sandwiches at my local gourmet grocery store. While you're pretty low frills in the looks department, I love that you embody a pure and natural state of being.  I enjoy the mix-and-match outfits you adorn and that I can surprise my most deserving friends with your treats in the mail. Whenever I'm craving a compact frozen treat, I'll be sure to think of you...especially your minty fresh outfit which is surely my favorite.

Yours truly,
Happy Lady {4 out of 5 happy ladies in fact!}

{photo by happy lady. dark chocolate cookie with fresh mint & ginger cookie with pumpkin shown above.}

{taste tested}: chocolate covered pomegranate seeds

This Happy Lady is always looking for new ways to snack. While a cupcake-a-day would be lovely treat indeed, it's not always a realistic option to satiate that afternoon sugar fix. Feast your eyes on Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds. Chocolate + antioxidants = the perfect bit of sweet just about any time. The texture is both crunchy {from the seeds} and chewy {from the dried pomegranate flesh} creating a guilt-free fruit and chocolate concoction worth sampling.

Final thoughts...4 out of 5 happy ladies for taste, texture, and for being so darn hard to stop eating.

{photo by happy lady}

{taste tested}: petite bouchée salted butter caramels

 

Dear Petite Bouchée Salted Butter Caramels,

I think I am in love. You are sweet, salty, soft, buttery rich, and delectable. I love that you have a variety of moods, but I think I love you most when you are caffeinated, hot-tempered, and salty. Do you want to get married and have tiny salted butter caramel babies? Don't tell Fran that I am cheating on her. I love you both...just in different ways. I would even consider spreading you on my toast tomorrow morning.

-Happy Lady {5 out of 5 happy ladies, indeed!}

{top photo by happy lady eats. bottom photo by petite bouchée.}*

{taste tested}: yummy earth gummy bears

Known fact: I will gladly consume artificial sweeteners whenever necessary and have never really given much thought to organic candy. However, I have a secret love affair with gummy bears and gummy snacks. So when stumbling across these organic gummy bears by Yummy Earth, I had to give them a try. What I expected to be a tasteless gummy was a flavorful, perfectly firm {yet chewy}, and somewhat refreshing treat. Even better, they're all natural, contain 100% of daily Vitamin C, and come in fun flavors like Pomegranate, Sour Apple, and Strawberry.

Final thoughts...4 out of 5 happy ladies! My gummy taste buds are indeed happy.

{photo by happy lady eats. guest check tray from fishs eddy.}

{taste tested}: calpico

Since living on the West Coast, I've been exposed to more fun Japanese staples then I previously knew about. Calpico {known in Japan as Calpis} is a tasty and refreshing yogurt-based beverage that I now totally adore. The milky white water tastes like a very watered-down tart yogurt. While it may not sound or look too enticing, it's super refreshing and good for you with its lactobacillic components. The thirst-quencher comes in concentrate, original, or soda form. I recently had a calpico cocktail {the soda version mixed with saki}, and it was good! You can find Calpico at your local Japanese or Asian grocery store or at the online sites below.

{Photos by Taku Satoh Design Office. Purchase Calpico online stateside here and here.}

{top it with}: tajin seasoning

Tajin seasoning is a powdered concoction made of ground chili peppers, salt, and dehydrated lime juice. I discovered this Mexican staple during a recent farmer's market trip where it was sprinkled on fresh sliced heirloom tomatoes...like salt-sprinkled tomatoes bumped up a notch with a bit of lemon and peppery kick! We like to sprinkle this zesty seasoning on top of popcorn, cucumber stalks, tomato slices, watermelon, and so much more. Yum!

{Photo by Happy Lady Eats. You can purchase Tajin in the states right here.}

{taste tested}: readymade mochi rice cakes

A few months ago, I posted this recipe for making your very own mochi rice cakes to sprinkle on top your faux Pinkberry homemade frozen yogurt. While the recipe isn't too difficult, I've found pre-made mochi you can buy! {And isn't buying something always easier than making it?}

Nuts Online carries mochi rice cakes in 1 lb. bags that can be stored in the refrigerator for up to six months. This version is pretty comparable to the mochi found at Pinkberry and is perfect to have on hand for home snacking. One their own, the sweet rice flavor is magnified and tastes similar in texture and flavor to marshmallows. But these suckers really do shine when topped on tart frozen yogurt as the tart balances out the sweet mochi leaving a firm, chewy, and yummy texture.

Final thoughts...4.5 out of 5 happy ladies!

{photo by happy lady eats. flower salt & pepper box from tabulatua, napkin from dwellstudio.}

pomelo love...

Native to Southeast Asia, the pomelo {also known as a Chinese grapefruit} is usually pale green to yellow on the outside when ripe, with sweet white or pale yellow flesh and very thick spongy rind. I first tried a pomelo last year and have since fallen in love with this grapefruit doppelgänger. It's like a mild, less bitter grapefruit and way more fun to eat.

{taste tested}: maison bouche les croquants bar

There are two camps of chocolate lovers. #1...the purists who want nothing but pure, smooth chocolate when consuming their morsels of delight. And #2 {my camp}, those that enjoy their cocoa with a bit of crunch and texture...with nuts, puffed rice, or any other added kick of crisp.

Maison Bouche's Les Croquants bars are perfect for the crunch camp folks like me. With crunchy ingredients like crispy crêpes, butter cookies, caramelized almonds, and baked rice mixed into the bars, they are like the french grown-up version of the Crunch bar {if the crunch bar took etiquette classes and spent a semester in Paris at art school}. I enjoyed the Crêpes Croquants bar–baked and crumbled crêpe blended into dark chocolate –creating a fine, sweet, delicate wisp of crunch in every bite.

Final thoughts...4 out of 5 happy ladies!

{photo by happy lady eats}