Tuesday, September 30, 2008

No,no, no... It can't be. Can it?

Have you ever done something that was pretty much out of character for you, taken that road less travelled (usually for good reason) and found something... good? Well, that happened to me recently. Ok, just moments ago actually.

So, ok - I admit it, I made another trip to the vending machine. But this time it wasn't because I was starving, it wasn't because I had that growling beast in me that, oddly enough, fake creamy filling can only satiate. That only happens a few times a year, so it's not something I'm all to worried about, but still - why do I crave that stuff, and nougat? Some day science may help me to understand, but for today - I'm just going to have to be ok with it and try to eat desserts that are good, well made and healthy. Strangely - today's foray to the vending machine seemed to fit all of those. Today I made a trip to the vending machine because it was recommended. I'm as surprised as anyone. Truly.




The 'Broad Street Bakery Apple Turnover' is today's trial, with no error and no guilty verdict. It's a snack that is very flexible, and really could fit into the dessert category, because it really could be many things to many people, or even just one person. Breakfast, dessert, mid day snack or late night nosh when you can't sleep, but don't want to turn on the lights or appliances to make anything. I could easily see myself bringing these home, putting it in the oven to give it a bit more color while warming it up, dressing it up with some cinnamon and sugar, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream. For sleepover nights with my daughter - this is a dessert her friends would be very happy with, I'm sure, and because they could really do all the prep and serving, I wouldn't make a mess of my kitchen - which is something I'm happy with.

So - after that - how does it taste, right? Well - damn good. It's better than the faint memories I have of going to the store with my meager allowance, or hard earned lawnmowing money of my childhood to buy a Little Debbie or Hostess Apple Pie, comic book and pack of Big League Chew or Hubba Bubba (I liked blowing huge bubbles with that stuff.) I always remember the Apple Pie Turnovers of yore tasted sweet at first, but then they had this bitter or preservative filled fakeness that would creep in. I shortly thereafter switched to nougat almost full time (thanks Snickers), and fell into it's grips for many a year. If I had Broad Street Bakery as a choice, I might never have fallen in love with chocolate. Ok, I'm sure I would have - but it would have been at least a bit of a challenge to pick my purchase. I actually bought this because I heard some co-workers talking, raving about how good it was when I was getting a cup of coffee. Thanks Carl - I owe this one all to you because someone you told, told someone else about it - and I overheard it while they were buying it in anticipation of it's tasty goodness. How pleasantly surprised I was that Carl was right on target. Man knows his vending machine choices, while I, on the other hand, get lost - make a poor choice under all the pressure of people behind me and walk away with buyers remorse before I even eat. Speaking of which - there really should be a way to return a poor impulse buy before opening the little trap door, or a 'the thing I bought is stuck on the coils, please shake it loose' button - but I digress.

The Broad Street Bakery is an arm of Flowers Foods Specialty Group and, they've been in The Biz for awhile. Here's what Flowers Foods said about Broad Street Bakery, "This is a collection of truly premium snacks made with the finest ingredients and baked to our high-quality standards," explained Brent Bradshaw, Flowers' brand manager, in a prepared statement. "We believe vending operators will be able to sell this new premium line of pastries at premium price-points." You can real the full article here if you like. Looking at the ingredients list, it does seem quite a bit shorter than many others I've read. Thankfully I recognize most of the ingredients, and many of the others seem like they are pretty innocuous, the strange one being Sodium Hexametaphosphate as it's an ingredient in most whitening toothpastes, and is used to help make ceramic slip - though, sadly, it was never invited into Julia Child's kitchen.

So maybe the trips to the vending machine aren't all that bad anymore. Ok - you might work in a place, or be near a place that has the amazing vending machines, the ones that are restocked with yogurts, apples, fresh made sandwiches or have coffee makers that grind beans for each and every person. While I've enjoyed those int he past - we just have two ominous looking vending machines that are stocked once a week and to have anything other than peanuts and pretzels I feel I can safely eat - huge. I mean Huge!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love those things! Really, I'll eat any of those prepacked snack pies (fun to say!) but some are better than others. You hit it when you mentioned the bitter wierd aftertaste but still, I yearn for them. Mmmmmm. It's a necessary evil.

razmarie said...

They're like the Mikey D's apple pies, which, I have to admit, are a guilty pleasure for me.

Kait said...

they just put these in our vending machine here at work for the first time ever and me and my coworker LOVE them!!!!

Kait said...

we just got these in our vending machine here at work for the first time ever. me and my coworker are in LOVE with these. We even left a note on out vending machine for the guy the fills it up to fill it up with the turnover. i have to find them somewhere in a store so i can stock up on them!