Truffles + Macadamias + Dates

Rating: 10/10

Snack mix of chocolate truffles, macadamia nuts, and deglet noor dates. My three favorite tiny round foods eaten together = perfect combo. Like a super awesome bag of trail mix to carry around and snack on throughout the day. Got to fight the urge to down it all in one sitting though. Really, what's not to love? The sweet, rich, melty chocolate. The crunchy, smooth and salty macadamia. The chewy, caramel sweet dates (from Tunisia apparently, makes me want to go there next).

Nutrition:

• 5 Truffettes de France Truffles = 250 Calories, 2g fiber, 8g sugar, 10% of daily Iron
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium
• Made in Nature Delectable Deglet Noor Dates (1/4 cup) = 120 Calories, 3g fiber, 28g sugar

Total Calories = 580
A bunch of fiber here. Quite substantial snack, keeps you full for awhile.

Chocolate Truffles + Egg Scallion Pancake

Rating: 8/10

Chocolate hazelnut truffles eaten with a fried multi-layered scallion pancake. Can't go wrong with either here. Awesome contrast of taste and texture. Crispy, chewy, savory pancake with sweet, creamy truffles. And just the way the chocolate melts in the mouth as I'm biting off the pancake, rocks my mouth world.

Nutrition:

• 5 Maitre Truffout Fancy Hazelnut Flavor Truffles = 250 Calories, 14g sugar, 2g fiber, 30% of daily Iron
• whole egg scallion pancake = 850 Calories, 4g fiber, 1240mg Sodium, 60% of daily Iron, 32% of daily Vitamin A, 10% of daily Vitamin B-12

Total Calories = 1090
No one said this was gonna be a light breakfast. Couldn't find nutrition info on egg scallion pancake, so just added nutrition for regular scallion pancake plus one egg.

Cookie Dough Blizzard + Club Sandwich

Rating: 7/10

Nothing like Dairy Queen to finish off a road trip. And can't stop at DQ without getting a ice cream Blizzard, cookie dough all the way. The crispy hot sandwich with all its melted chewy savoriness gives stark contract to the cold, creamy, sweet Blizzard. Really brings out the best in each other. Although the cookie dough of the Blizzard became a bit overpowering and tiring after awhile. So really half a Blizzard plus a whole club sandwich would be the perfect portion.

Nutrition:

• Dairy Queen Small Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard = 710 Calories, 75g sugar, 1g fiber, 35% of daily Calcium, 25% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Iron
• Dairy Queen Iron Grilled Classic Club Sandwich = 560 Calories, 1790mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 15% of daily Calcium, 15% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 1270
Typical fast food. Chock-full of Calories, sugar and Sodium. Still, got in some vitamin and minerals along with all the junk. That's something.

Crumpet + Nutella + Macadamia

Rating: 8.5/10

Toasted crumpets spread with Nutella and topped with macadamia nuts. Quick and delicious alternative to pancakes or waffles in the morning. Love the soft, spongy, crispy texture of crumpets toasted combined with the creamy, sweet, chocolatey Nutella melted on plus the crunchy, smooth macadamia on top. Takes my delight over chocolate-covered macadamia to a new level.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's British Style Crumpet = 110 Calories, 170mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• Ferrero Nutella (3 spoonfuls) = 300 Calories, 1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium

Total Calories = 620
That's like a fifth of a day's fiber and just a splash of Sodium.

Nutella + Saturn Peach

Rating: 7/10

Further proof that Nutella makes everything better. Just spread it over saturn peaches and instant dessert. Had a bunch of these flat donut-shaped peaches lying around and couldn't do a thing with them. They're cute but kind of boring tasting. Was almost going to make a smoothie out of them when I came across darling Nutella. Problem solved.

Nutrition:

• 3 spoonfuls of Ferrero Nutella = 300 Calories,1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• saturn peach = 60 Calories, 3g fiber, 15% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 360
Decent fiber, some vitamins, sugar energy. Good deal.

Oreo Ice Cream + Pineapple

 

Rating: 8/10

Oreo ice cream topped with (well, surrounded by, actually) fresh pineapple slices served on a plate by moi. Looked pretty cool like an oreo-centered sun. First off, pineapples are ridiculous to cut (glad I didn't have to do that part of it). Seriously, there needs to be a machine built for cutting this fruit. But anyway, the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream plus the sweet, sour, juicy, chewy pineapple kind of rocks the summer vibes. A bit tropical island and a bit Alaskan igloo feel to it if you ask me.

Nutrition:

• scoop of oreo ice cream = 280 Calories, 1g fiber, 27g sugar, 15% of daily Calcium, 10% of Vitamin A
• 8 quarter circle slices of pineapple = 166 Calories, 362mg Potassium, 4.6g fiber, 32g sugar, 264% of daily Vitamin C, 20% of daily Vitamin B-6

Total Calories = 446
Holy Vitamin C! I'm good for two and a half days.

Panna Cotta Gelato + Marcona Almonds

Rating: 6.5/10

Panna cotta gelato topped with Spanish Marcona almonds. Neither really amazing by themselves, so I decided to have them join forces hoping for a better taste experience. Success! And what an interesting taste experience it was. Don't come across too many foods that are both spicy and frozen. While I still don't love this as a whole, it was an inspired taste smash. The spicy, crunchy, roasted almonds definitely adds a kick to the somewhat bland gelato, and the creamy, sweet gelato smooths out the monotonously pungent almond. Wouldn't recommend eating one without the other. They sort of balance each other out in a way.

Nutrition:

• panna cotta gelato (small cup) = 180 Calories, 1g fiber, 20g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of Mitica Spicy Marcona Almonds = 190 Calories, 240mg Potassium, 3.5g fiber, 28% of daily Vitamin E, 14% of daily Phosphorous

Total Calories = 370
Cool Vitamin E, don't get that from too many places. Skin happy. Not sure what good Phosphorus serves but got some of that too.

Honey Greek Yogurt + Hobo Bread

Rating: 8.5/10

Hobo bread dipped in honey Greek yogurt. Such an awesome combo of sweet, sour, creamy, and chewy goodness. Both good on their own but killer when they join forces, without losing what made them so great on their own. I'm so obsessed with the texture of Greek yogurt and the taste of molasses in hobo bread. Ah, mouth happy!

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Greek Style Honey Yogurt = 290 Calories, 24g sugar, 290mg Potassium, 25% of daily Calcium, 15% of daily Vitamin A
• slice of Trader Joe's Hobo Bread = 170 Calories, 1g fiber, 23g sugar, 230mg Sodium

Total Calories = 460
Been trying to keep track of my Potassium intake, could be the cause of some muscle cramps lately if my body is low on it. Getting some from the yogurt yay.

Cream Soda + Red Bean Ice Cream

Rating: 6/10

Cream soda float with red bead ice cream. Surprisingly, I'm not the biggest fan of floats. I swear at some point I thought I really liked them, or maybe that was just in theory. You know, the whole ice cream melting into soda imagery. Oh well, still a decent combo these two. I hate Root Beer, but Cream Soda and Dr. Pepper work for me. And red bean is a fun ice cream alternative to vanilla.

Nutrition:

• glass of Dr. Brown's Original Cream Soda = 120 Calories, 30g sugar
• 2 scoops of Maeda-en Red Beans Azuki Flavored Ice Cream = 140 Calories, 14g sugar, 1g fiber

Total Calories = 260

Chocolate Fortune Cookie + Red Bean Icecream

Rating: 8/10

Crushed chocolate fortune cookie sprinkled on red bean ice cream. Why not combine the two most Asian desserts? They're kind of lonely always on their own. Besides, they do a lot more for the taste buds when they join forces. The crunchy, lightly sweet chocolate cookie takes nothing away from the cold, sweet, chunky-smooth ice cream. This is like the healthiest junk food ever here.

Nutrition:

• King's Chocolate Fortune Cookie = 30 Calories, 3g sugar
• 1/2 cup of Maeda-en Red Beans Azuki Flavored Ice Cream = 140 Calories, 14g sugar, 1g fiber

Total Calories = 170
Light and delightful snack.

Rainbow Milkshake

Rating: 8/10

Jammin' homemade milkshake. Just toss an Italian rainbow cookie, some gelato, milk, and ice in a blender. Voila! Icy, creamy texture plus the cakey bits of the cookie that adds some colorful specks of pink, green, and yellow amidst the frosty white. Pretty and delicious.

Banana Chips + Dark Chocolate

Rating: 7/10

Bar of dark chocolate with almonds eaten with banana chips. A bit like trail mix, minus all the other stuff. I'm no fan of the banana taste but in chip form I can tolerate. The sweet, lightly bitter, smooth bar stacks up well against the crispy, chalky, sweet chips.

Nutrition:

• 1/2 Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate With Almonds = 125 Calories, 8.5g sugar, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Iron
• 1/8 Trader Joe's Banana Chips = 160 Calories, 3g sugar, 2g fiber

Total Calories = 285
Some fiber and Iron. Eh, not terrible.

Oreo Gelato + Deep Fried Wonton

Rating: 7/10

If I can't get fried ice cream I'll settle for fried stuff dipped in ice cream. Hence the deep fried wonton with Oreo gelato. Okay combination. Neither did much for the other, but both still delicious. The gelato with its sweet, chewy, chunky creaminess. And the wonton with its crispy shell and salty, sour cream cheese filling. Really can't go wrong taste-wise with deep fried stuff and ice cream. Dependably good every time.

Tiramisu + Kimchi Fried Rice

Rating: 8/10

Tiramisu eaten with kimchi fried rice. Such an abundance of distinct flavors here. The salty, savory, sour, mildly spicy, chewy rice. The sweet, coffee, creamy, moist, cakey, cool tiramisu. So much going, mouth thoroughly stimulated. I'm not much a coffee or kimchi fan (one's too bitter and the other too sour for my taste), but in these particular incarnations and eaten together I could happily overindulge.

Lingonberry Preserve + Crueller + Arugula

Rating: 8/10

Man, I ate so many random combinations of food this morning, I can't even narrow it down to one. But I guess I'll start with all lingonberry related stuff. Cruellers dipped in lingonberry jam eaten with arugula. So much divergent flavors here my mouth was genuinely confused but in a good way, I think. The lingonberry really gave the crispy, chewy, mildly sweet crueller a hit of tarty sweetness. Then, the punch in the mouth that was arugula was like whoah where did that come from? Taste buds slightly shell shocked.

Linzer Tart + Italian Wedding Soup

Rating: 7/10

Great way to start a day in Sleepy Hollow. Italian Wedding soup eaten with a Linzer Tart in lieu of bread or crackers. I'm no fan of crackers unless it graham and bread is boring, so cookie to the rescue. Not a bad mix these two with the Tart's sweet, tarty, crunchy, powdery consistency and the soup's salty, chunky, chewy, smooth consistency.

Buffalo Chicken Roller + Half Baked Ice Cream

Rating: 7.5/10

This was like a midnight snack except eaten at about 10 PM and as dinner. Result of a late night trip to 7-Eleven in a strange town for toilet paper that turned out rather unnecessary. I totally thought the rollers were some kind of taquito-like wrap, but no just fried chicken in stick form. Anyway, the strongly salty, spicy, chewy, crispy chicken was nicely complimented by the lighter touch of the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream. Worth a nighttime redo.

Nutrition:

• 7-Eleven Buffalo Chicken Roller = 190 Calories, 880mg Sodium, 1g fiber, 10% of daily Calcium
• 1/4 Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream = 270 Calories, 27g sugar, 10% of daily Calcium, 10% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 460
Not great but fairly harmless.

Beef Chili + Chocolate Eclair

Rating: 8/10

Beef chili eaten with chocolate eclair. I was debating between the eclair or a red velvet cupcake, but the eclair won out. I figure the light creamy custard and crunchy-chewy shell goes better than the heavy cream and cake taste/texture with the already heavy chili with its hot, savory, spicy, chunky taste/texture. Good call on my part. The chili could be better but this combo is killer.
(eaten @ Sculpture Garden Restaurant, Washington DC)

Scrambled Eggs + Ice Cream

Rating: 9/10

Scrambled eggs chock-full of turkey plus basil and cumin seasoning eaten with Haagen-Dazs Blueberry Crumble ice cream. I was going for ham and eggs scrambled but ran out of ham, so turkey slices to the rescue. Probably healthier anyway. The hot, moist, savory, salty, cumin tasting eggs wonderfully compliments its opposite in the ice cream's cold, chunky, creamy, sweet and sour range. I feel good about the world after eating this. I mean, with a start like this the rest of the day can do what it wants to me. I'm set.

Oreo Gelato + Bread Pudding

Rating: 10/10

Oreo gelato over freshly baked and glazed chocolate-caramel bread pudding. The combo's probably been done before since it's basically the same idea as a hot fudge brownie sundae. But so much better. The cold, creamy, sweet ice cream with the warmth of the sweet, chewy, moist cakey-pudding texture is just perfection. Any time these two amazing things can be put together, never not choose this option! Neither would meet its full potential without the other.
(eaten @ Phillips Flagship, Washington DC)