Recent snacks and other unpremeditated detritus...

Cathy recently stopped by to drop off a few food gifts..

such as this cute seasoning container...

which is the "animal" counterpart to the female one she gave me along with other fun seasonings at the beginning of the year.

(photo from my San Diego Soup Shoppe" post from January 2014)

For the record, the baby seal container held black sesame seeds and salt granules. I like dipping my boiled eggs in it. Tasty.

Last week, C from Manitoulin Island sent us our belated Xmas gift...along with a few gifts for TC and a beautiful purple fringed scarf  and stationery for me.

Behold...Canadian Candy....

There were boxes and individually wrapped "toffle" candies by local Manitoulin Island company, Ultimately Chocolate. The candy is toffee that is shaped and twisted at the ends and then dipped in chocolate. The flavors she sent us were hazelnut, peanut butter, and peppermint.

TC was excited to see Smarties again while Bert and I were excited to get another stash of Coffee Crisp!!! Thanks C!

TC bought these taro mochi during our recent trip to the newly opened Daiso in Mira Mesa (post will be forthcoming). I didn't try them because it seemed too artificial. Too many preservatives listed in the ingredients.

Purchased from Lucky Seafood supermarket,  this was Bert's choice. The coating looks too wierd and white to me.

We still have to try this snack.

From Namaste (an Indian market in the same strip mall as Pho Cow Calli and Yogurt Swirl), I stocked up on these snacks. The Panchrattan is one of my favorites. The Bhelpuri is new to me but I wanted to sprinkle it on top of roasted potatoes mashed with sour cream. I like having a bit of crunch in my food. As long as it's not a cockroach shell.

It's a mix of salty, sweet and crunchy.

This snack has such a unique flavor which comes from the curry leaves.

Also from Namaste, this super cheap bag of crispy fried onions - $1.99 yo! A small can of those French's fried onions is $2.99 or more at the regular grocery stores. I like eating these sprinkled on top of Vietnamese bun with meatball patties.

The fried lentils are also a neat snack that taste good on top of potatoes and sour cream.

Below, VINTAGE radio station stickers from the mid 80's, saved by Bert.

Yes, that is a KGB card on the left. Owning one was de rigeur for rockers back then, plus the card entitled the owner to discounts at certain places.  I recently went to a friend's birthday party and everyone had to dress up 80's. Sorry, no photos here, but I pretty much dressed like Joe Elliott from the Def Leppard "Photograph" video. Yes, a dude. A rocker dude. Been there done that already for Halloween a few years ago. Fk those girly looks like "Flashdance", "Madonna Wanna" and "Jane Fonda jazzercise/leotards look. At least I was comfortable in jeans and sneakers!

Last Sunday, Kirk and I almost collided when we (practically) simultaneously noticed the demist of Mariscos Godoy on Palomar (behind Target)...

Read his post about it here...We must have been leaving at the same time since I texted him while I was at a light and he was getting out of that parking lot!

A Mexican snack truck seen on the 15 while on our way to Mira Mesa...

I've never had their snacks before but TC had something by this brand and didn't like it for whatever reason.

A stripmall along Broadway in Chula Vista - a new Thai place? I tried looking it up online and nothing popped up, so I'm not sure if they are open yet or have already closed...

A few blocks up on Broadway...a trio of Mariachi musicians waiting for the light to turn...

As seen at our locals Sprouts - Kettle Chips Maple Bacon flavor! I've been looking for these forever!

Darlene once gave me a bag of this as a gift last year and everytime I'd look for them at Sprouts, they'd never be there...until TODAY.

Remember when these "peeing Calvin" stickers were popular (Calvin from the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes")? He would often be peeing on logos like, "Ford", or "The Raiders" or "Toyota" or whatever the owner didn't like.

Gawd, it's so vulgar!

I got over my hatred of feta cheese just to try these spinach pies at Luna Grill (while on lunch break with Mr. TJ and La Ley). These were rather large and cost $6.48 for the pair. I wish they would sell them individually rather than a pair since these are pretty big (the other one went to TC as leftovers).

I liked the flakiness of the phyllo dough. The feta cheese wasn't strong, thank goodness. Perhaps it was masked by the spinach within. Nevertheless, I'm surprised that I even ate one of these.

I thought that Rita's Ice Cream (located in the Ralph's shopping center) would have been open this weekend. I recall reading somewhere that it was set to open last Saturday, March 7th...

The signage is now up. It wasn't up earlier this week.

While driving home from the gym a few days ago, I saw that the lights were on. Yesterday we went to check it out and were sorely bummed out. See the ladders and sheets in there?

They're still fixing it up inside...Apparently, Rita's is supposed to open 70 locations in San Diego and two neighboring counties. Wow, 70? I think that's a bit of overkill. I think this location will do well since it's near a high school, middle school, and community college.

In the same shopping complex on the northern end, Manna was OPEN, finally!

The parking lot was jam packed and we saw many people in the restaurant. We'd already eaten so we would have to give Manna a shot another time.

Yesterday, Bert's work had him in the IB area, which mean a trip to Star Dust Donuts, which was OPEN. These were the three he selected - a jelly filled donut, a cinnamon pecan roll and an old fashioned (even though it doesn't look like one, but the man working there called it that and therefore that is what is was).

Two thirds were entombed in this waxed paper bag...

which was enjoyed later that evening...

While not as nutty as the pecan rolls from Cream Pan, this was pretty damn good. The caramel topping was thick but not overly gooey. The nuts were chopped rather than whole. The roll itself was so fresh...

Star Dust's jelly donut is a thing of perfection...

So light and airy with just the right amount of glaze.  Kicks ass on any of the other donut shops around.

That same weekend Cathy gave me the white seal seasoning, she also gave us a bag of a new snack she and her husband had been enjoying. They ordered theirs online and since it was in bulk, she was nice enough to give one bag to us...

Let me amend this by saying, this was Bag Number 1. These are called Pretzel "Shells" and they are from Reading, PA and they are also known for their other product, Pretzel "Splits". But let's focus back on these shells...

Whoever thought of this was a genius...

Humminah...

The first bag was finished in a couple of days but it could have been sooner.

Then, yesterday after a $#%@ day at work, I arrived home to find ANOTHER bag on my doorstep. Apparently Cathy was in my neck of the woods doing her work rounds (tax season, you know) and was nice enough to gift us another bag. It really made my day.

These are like little crunchy pillows!

I like to bite them and spoon cheese in the hollow shell! These are so addicting, seriously they are.

Another candy I tried recently were these Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups. This is a smaller version of the candy Cathy gave us gals during our Que Huong luncheon. These were bought half off when the Alberton's near Proctor Valley Road was going out of business.

I like that there's no paper wrapper to deal with  The crunchy butterfinger shards add a fun texture to this candy as well.

Lest you all think I eat candy and snacks all the time, it just seems more picture worthy than the healthy stuff that we actually eat every day. C'mon, do you really want to see pictures of my chicken patties, fish portions or steamed carrots and broccoli? Do ya?

I thought so.

So candy and snacks and weird $#%@ seen while driving by it is!

You're welcome!