Flash in the Pan

Yotta bars are a snack food in the new tradition of hiding-vegetables-so-you-don't-notice-them. Each is a combination of granola with fruit and six to nine different vegetables. There's a bit of irony in the marketing, as they stress that they both "eat like a fruit" and "nothing beats the taste of fresh vegetables."

But enough quibbling. The bars taste good, and are certainly better for you than a candy break. I don't think that all the versions equally mask the presence of the vegetables. For example, the orange tastes just like that, but the cherry has some aftertastes that don't taste like fruit. However, those secondary flavors are pleasant, even if a bit unusual in their juxtaposition. You can get them at Whole Foods stores and various places online. List price seems to be in the $1.60 each range, though they're available for less.

Labels: fruit, products, reviews, snacks, vegetables

A weekly round-up of food and drink oddities:

• Frozen Pizza A pizza parlor employee forgot to turn the heat off one night, so the owner turned off the heat, period, and threatened to fire any employee who complained. The manager won't - she's married to the owner and gets her own space heater. (KING-TV)


• Cheesy Vacation In an apparently different pizza climate, 54 current and former employees who saved $115,000 in tips over 13 years are taking a week-long tropical vacation. (AP)


• Big Bean Country The leading coffee-producing countries. (The Economist)


• Lamb Rashers A new development in bacon, from our friends at Crispy on the Outside, who follow the subject with obsessive care, is lamb bacon. (Crispy on the Outside)


• Chipped Business Waterford Wedgwood goes into receivership. (The New York Times)


• Head (En)case To avoid a new helmet law, many motorbike-riding Nigerians are tying things like dried fruit shells to their heads. (Reuters)


• Lotsa Latte Chicago public schools spent $67,000 on espresso machines for a culinary arts program, but largely haven't used them. Would Starbucks gift cards have been cheaper? (AP)


• Swallow that Gum To avoid the roughly 70 pieces of discarded chewing gum per square meter of sidewalk space (which seems too large to be believable), the Mexican government is now telling people to swallow their wads. (AP)


• Lobster Liberty An aged lobster - conventionally clocked at 80 years and a full 20 pounds - avoided ending up on a plate when a New York restaurant gave it a reprieve. (AP)


• Unhappy Hour Depressed consumers are still drinking, only at home or during happy hours. (Consumerist)


• Burrito Betrothal A couple gets married at a Taco Bell. (UPI)

Labels: news, odd, strange, weird

A weekly round-up of food and drink oddities (and an apology for a delay in posts caused by repeated Blogger.com outages):

• Cracker Cash Proving that snacking can be rewarding, a California couple found $10,000 in a box of crackers. (AP)


• Brain Busted Supermarkets know a whole lot more about how you shop than you might like. (The Economist)


• Decaf Detection A new product lets you test whether the coffee you're drinking is decaf or hitest. (MedGadget)


• Somewhere Over the Rainbow Manhattan's famous Rainbow Room has closed. (AP)


• God Made Her Do It A New York judge ruled that religious duty doesn't excuse smuggling monkey meat into the country. (AP)


• Now That's a Pour Someone built a device to achieve the perfect beer pour. Does it drink, as well? (Engadget)


• Top Tuna Two sushi bar owners in Japan paid more than $100,000, or $370 a pound, for a blue fin tuna. (AP)


• Big Bread A 22,000 pound bread was part of the Magi celebration in Mexico. (AFP)

Labels: news, odd, strange, weird