Pages, Pucks and Pantry

Foodzie Box June

Several folks have asked about the Foodzie box so I thought I'd post what I received in June.

There were three choices this month:

"Boardwalk Box" which included: Root Beer, Pistachio Caramel Corn, Spiced Almond Caramel Corn, Roasted Pistachios, Mini Swirl Lollipop - Strawberries & Cream and Cherry Vanilla Cotton Candy

"Energy Boost Box" which included: Coconut Water, Lauren's Mega Nuts Bar, Dried Blueberries, Granola with Raisins, Grassfed Paleo Kit, Paleo Krunch Bar and Almond Butter

I chose the "Backyard BBQ Cooking Box" as I wanted something different than the snacky type stuffs that the other choices contained.

In my BBQ box were the following (there is a print out that shows what each item is...this time there were no recipes included).

KANSAS CITY-STYLE  BBQ SAUCE - from Grillside Barbeque, Kansas City, KS - all natural ingredients and no high fructose corn syrup

WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE - from Bourbon Barrel Foods, Louisville, KY - sweetened with locally grown sorghum and aged in barrels that were used to make bourbon.

SALTED POTATO CHIPS - from Billy Goat, St. Louis, MS - just like the hand-selected ones, sliced and made in their restaurant

ANCHO CHICKEN RUB - from Just Cook, San Francisco, CA - bold blend can be used on chicken and corn on the cob

YELLOW EYE HEIRLOOM BEANS - from Rancho Gordo, Napa, CA - dense, creamy and can hold up to sauces.

All sorts of interesting things to try, and as you can see, they are all full sized bottles, jars, bags. I usually go to the website of the items to check out recipes they may have or additional products they may sell (or where and if I can buy the product locally if I like it). I'm excited to see how the Worcestershire Sauce tastes and works in recipes like a Bloody Mary or deviled eggs. I love Rancho Gordo beans though this variety is new to me and we're planning on having roast chicken for dinner next week so I know Mr. L will put the Ancho rub to good use.

Again, Foodzie is changing their format so I have no idea what will happen after August (the last month of subscriptions). I do know that they still seem to be selling all three of the tasting boxes on their website.

 

Free Ice Cream

Charlie's Cheesecake Works

Searching around on blogs one day last week, I came across a post about Charlie's Cheesecake Works. Or more importantly a kgb deal offering two 12-packs of their Cheesecake Poppers for the price of one (normally $9.50 each).

I had never heard of kgb deals so I had to check them out. You register and then they send you coupon deals in your area. That day the deal was for Charlie's Cheesecake Works and the buy one get one free for their Poppers. I figured that little mini-cheesecakes would be the perfect dessert to take to the Super Bowl party we had been invited to so I grabbed Mr. L last Saturday and we headed to Charlie's.

 It's in a small shop located in a strip mall. The sign on the roof just says "Cheesecakes". We were greeted warmly by a gentleman who said his name was Charlie (so I'm going to assume he was the big cheese!). There was no problem using our discount coupon. Charlie even told us he had a rule that we couldn't buy cheesecakes from him without taste testing first and he handed each of us a Cheesecake Popper. These came frozen right out of the freezer. Charlie even said he was having a special deal for the Super Bowl that day...for another $5 he'd throw in an additional eleven poppers and give us his special box of 35. Can you say deal? 35 of the Cheesecake Poppers for less than fifteen bucks.

Cheesecake Poppers are little mini bite size (1 ounce) cheesecakes. At about a 100 calories each, they come in the stores most popular flavors. They come frozen, and though Charlie and Mr. L like to eat them crunch frozen right out of the freezer, I preferred mine to sit five or so minutes to get that smooth, soft texture of a cheesecake. (Most folks seem to prefer them more on the frozen side, but to each his own). I've tried the Blueberry, Raspberry, Cappuccino, Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry and liked each one, though my favorite has to be the Cappuccino so far. I liked the fact that the flavors weren't so overwhelming and the cheesecakes weren't overly sweet.

Charlies Cheesecake Works  has been around since 2002. They actually make the cheesecakes there in the shop. They use all natural real California cream cheese and the vanilla they use is made in house. You can have cheesecakes shipped to you or pick them up in house (their website has a form to fill out). The list of flavors of cheesecake you can get is impressive...Amaretto, Bailey's Chocolate, Blueberry, Cappuccino, Caramel, Cherries Jubilee, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Marble, Chocolate Turtle, Double Chocolate, Eggnog, Grand Marnier, Irish Cream, Kahlua and Cream, Key Lime, Lemon, Lemon Biscotti, Mango, Mocha, Mocha Chip, Peach, Peanut Butter, Pumpkin, Raspberry, Raspberry Chocolate, Raspberry White Chocolate, Silicon Valley Classic, Snickers, Strawberry and Tiramisu. Whew, so many to choose from (I'm thinking Amaretto or Snickers next time we go). You can get a big 9 ounce cheesecake that feeds 16 for $29.95, they do sell 4 ounce versions called Charlies Bambinos for $3.95.

The little poppers worked perfect for the Super Bowl party. I was able to take out small portions of the cheesecakes poppers at a time to put on the table for dessert. Folks were able to choose which flavor they wanted to try and the kids got a kick out of the size of the poppers. And we were able to figure that each cheesecake popper was 3 Weight Watcher points (which meant those trying to watch their weight could still get a little bit of decadent dessert without being tempted by a large slice of cheesecake).

I think the Cheesecake Poppers would be great to have at a party, take to a potluck, use at a buffet dinner or a kids party. I'm looking forward to my next event that I need to bring a dessert so I can buy one of the full size cheesecakes to try out.

If you happen to need gluten-free products, the store had a refrigerator to the right when you walked in the door stocked with different gluten-free items (pizza crust, pasta, breads etc).

Totally loved the Poppers, the service was excellent, and since this place is actually close to where I live...yep, I'll be going back to Charlies Cheesecake Works again!

 

Charlies Cheesecake Works
1179 Redmond Ave.
San Jose, 95120
408-268-4555
http://www.charliescheesecakeworks.com/

Zanotto's Willow Glen - Finally

I've been waiting for the Zanotto's in Willow Glen to open for months. We've desperately needed some sort of grocery store in the area since the Safeway (at Curtner and Almaden Expressway) and the P&W (at Foxworthy on whose site the new Zanotto's opened) stores closed. When I saw a sign that said the store opened Wednesday the 23rd at 10AM I knew I'd be stopping by after work.

They are still setting stations up inside, some shelves are not full but you can still find most of what you'd want for sale. The store isn't that big, so you're not going to see the produce or meat inventory you'd find at say, you're local Safeway or Lunardis, but Zanotto's does have a wide selection of items and most of them are of good quality.

Zanotto's sells only 100% natural and hormone free beef. The guy behind the meat counter said that most of the meat and poultry section is "local". The leg of lamb they were selling comes from a farm in Northern California, the chickens from Petaluma. Lots of organic items, be they fresh produce, meats or boxes of pasta, sauces, cereal. But no worries, they do sell regular items too (Stouffers Mac and Cheese, Pop Tarts, Lays Potato Chips etc).

 Lots of organic and healthy choices. A sign outside said "we sell brown rice sushi" but alas, the sushi counter was pretty bare when we got there so we decided to try the sushi bar another time. The deli section too, was pretty much wiped out (we got there about 6:30). We decided to do a "deli taste test" and get just a bit of a few items that were left. We took home some of their macaroni salad, a stuffed bell pepper (you could buy them by the half), some grilled tri-tip (Zanotto's is known for their yummy tri-tip), a small piece of meat lasagna and a dessert (a brownie topped with all sorts of goodies).

All the items were pretty decent with most being things we'd buy again. We were very fond of the macaroni salad (we love a good mac salad and have been partial to Lunardi's brand, but we may be switching back and forth with Zanotto's) . The meat lasagna was cheesy with a great flavor. The brownie moist and quite decadent. The stuffing for the bell pepper was really good, I just felt that the bell pepper itself was a bit undercooked. All in all a good "taste test". I can see stopping and grabbing dinner at Zanotto's instead of a quick trip to a fast food place. They also sell wonderful sandwiches which we hope to try soon.

 We picked up a small batch of pork ribs to BBQ this weekend along with some staples (we needed Cascade) and various food items that struck us as needing to be sampled (Ciao Bella Ice Cream being one :). They had a wonderful cheese section along with a section of pre-made packaged foods (their own deli foods packaged for quick pick up and go like tamales, salads etc).

I will say that Zanotto's is not cheap. I know that seniors in the area have been clamoring for a grocery store that wasn't so far away that they could shop at. Zanotto's might not be that store because of the prices. I'm going to take my mom there and have her check out items and try things and see what she thinks.

For Mr. L and I, I'm just glad there is a store nearby that I can grab a good meal at when the need arises, and that if (which happens more than I'd like to admit) I run out of an ingredient in the middle of preparing something, there is a place close by that Mr. L can run to to save my butt.

Note: Sorry for the lightning bug people in front of the store. My blur tool wasn't functioning.