Lately, I’ve needed to store up on snacks in my office. Why? Because I need constant sustenance. I’m not sure what it is… is it the heat? But I’m constantly hungry. I’ll eat a big meal and drink a large drink, but minutes later, I’m hungry. If it’s not the heat, then maybe it’s tapeworm. But whatever it is, I need snacks on hand. I actually don’t typically crave terrible things, luckily, but I’ve been enjoying all these crunchy snacks from trader joe’s. These veggie chips? Delicious! They’re crispity, barely salty, and really hit the spot. It also comes in a stick variety, but essentially taste the same. They’re made out of potatoes, but they just seem healthier than regular potato chips. If you look at the nutritional info, they’re actually not that terrible. They call these “Crunchy Curls” because that’s exactly what they are. These things are curly and they’re extremely crunchy. And you know what? They’re made out of lentils. Yes, lentils! And yes, you can tell that these are made with lentils, as they taste quite a bit on the healthy side, perhaps too healthy tasting. I did enjoy these, especially the extremely hard crunchiness, but I’m not sure I’d buy them again.
But these are probably my favorite. I love these snapea crisps! I love the crispity texture of these! And I think it’s so cute that they shape them into snapea shapes, but you know they really don’t have anything to do with snapeas. But they are made with green peas and aren’t that terrible for you! Really, as far as snacks go, all of these are healthier options. And it makes me feel psychologically good that I’m eating vegetables, somewhat, when snacking on these.

To visit my brand new nephew, I had to take a trip to america’s heartland – Columbus, OH. When I landed, we headed right out for a quick lunch at North Market. It’s like the West Side Market in Cleveland, or the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, or like a ghetto version of the Ferry Building. But then every market is a ghetto version compared to Ferry Building. There is a farmers market outside on Saturdays. Inside, there are a wide variety of food vendors.

My bro picked out Lac Viet, a little vietnamese counter. Their menu only has thirteen items, which is awesome. The more focus, the better! They also have a proper restaurant in the suburbs. The prices here are dirt cheap. Their banh mi is supposed to be out of this world.

It was a thousand degrees out so I could not bring myself to eat pho. But my nutjob of a brother did. Yum! The broth was great, which is always my sign for excellent pho.

I ended up having something I’ve never had before. I love vermicelli bowls, and I equally love rice plates. But I always get one or the other. On the Lac Viet menu, the vermicelli bowl/rice plate items are listed as being together with a particular topping, with your choice of rice/noodles. I thought this was for picking either rice or noodles. So I ordered grilled chicken with noodles. Then he replied with, so no rice? And I said no, just noodles. And then I said, wait, I can get both? And he said of course! I didn’t know you could do this! So that’s what I got in the end, a combination vermicelli bowl/rice plate with grilled chicken. And damn, it was glorious. There were noodles, broken rice, all the veggies that come with the vermicelli bowls, nuoc cham, and heaps of delicious grilled chicken. It was a surprising delight! Now, every time I go to a vietnamese place, I’m going to want this!

Oregon loves their beer and their microbrews. They love it as much as they love coffee and flannel. So we took advantage of the fact that so many different microbrews were available, from near and far, and drank a whole lot of espresso stouts. We purchased these at whole foods, and the check out girl actually chuckled at us after she rung everything up and was telling us how much it was. You don’t want to know. But hey, when in Oregon! The Overcast Espresso Stout, probably my personal favorite. It was super smooth. I don’t know what the open container laws are like in Oregon, but we drank it in Drake Park anyway. Arrest us, we don’t care!

The only non-stout that somehow snuck into our purchases was the Maui CoCoNut Porter. I think I saw this on tv once. It’s a good beer, but it does not have any kind of coconut taste in it, at all! Slightly false advertising. But a good beer.

Here’s the Laurelwood Espresso Stout, another favorite. J just happened to pour it out into a mug for espresso. It was just a coincidence. Also quite smooth, a bit stronger than Overcast.

Here’s where things start to get not so tasty. These two stouts by Mikkellen, Barrel-Aged Black Hole, are brewed with coffee, honey, and vanilla, and aged in either whisky or wine barrels. We thought these would be amazing. We were wrong. These just tasted strong and bad. And they were freakin’ expensive too. Coffee stout fails!

Dark Truth Stout. Ok, so this one was the worst one. It tasted like ashtray.
The Yeti Imperial Stout from Great Divide Brewing. This one was ok, but really strong, not necessarily in the best way, and just not really drinkable. I mean it wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t great. And there you have it! And no, we did not drink all of these in one sitting. Drink responsibly!