When tomato gets spiked

Zapps Potato Chips!

SPECIFICALLY, WHEN spicy creole tomato gets spiked with Tabasco® brand pepper sauce (a.k.a. “hot sauce”), what you get is the limited edition Zapps Potato Chips!

I don’t know who distributes this locally, because the packaging says it came all the way from Louisiana – hence all the Southern references to its name – but whoever does, I owe them a big thank you.

You should know by now just how much I love anything tomato.  But to have it in the spicy “original cajun kettle recipe,” laced with hot sauce, and dusted all over “tastier, crunchier, cholesterol-free chips” just blew my mind away.

There are just days when only the perfect combination of sour, salty and spicy will do.  And snacking on these chips earlier today gave me a pow-pow action party in my mouth.  The crunch is the first one you will get, and then it will give way to the layers of flavors these chips have.

And I like the sound of the name too – Zapps!

Thin, crunchy potato chip "spiked" to ultimate spiciness!

Sweet ending from Bag O’ Beans

WITH A steaming hot cup of “Mocha Manic” coffee in hand, I’m delighting now in what I’ve recently discovered as what could be the “best ensaymada”… ever!  Loosely translated, “ensaymada” is brioche, smothered with buttercream (just butter and sugar) and sprinkled generously with grated cheese.

With this ensaymada and hot coffee, all the worries and stress of this day just seem to fade away.  Coming from my last meeting – a successful presentation to our Site Managing Director! – I found the ensaymada on my desk.  Just the sight of its perfectly brown brioche bread, the glistening buttercream, and the ribbons of what could only be top notch light cheddar cheese has actually washed away all my cares.

This ensaymada comes from Bag O’ Beans, all the way from Tagaytay City.  It’s a most pleasant surprise from one officemate who realized just how much I loved the first bite of it, when she offered me some a few weeks back.

The best thing about Bag O’ Beans’ ensaymada is the high milk content of the brioche that actually lends richness and tenderness to the crumb.  The shade of brown that shows just how well done the bread was baked belies the delicate and smooth texture the bread actually has.

For such a busy day, no such thing could be as sweet an ending as this.

My sweet ending - Bag O' Beans Ensaymada

 

You can't help but love all that cheese!

All things amazing… definitely Swiss!

I AM going against the theme of my blog to make this special shoutout.  The “definitely Swiss” on this post is neither chocolate nor wristwatch.

CONGRATULATIONS to THE Roger Federer for winning his first French Open.  I’m not a tennis fanatic. But having sort of “followed” Roger’s journey this past year – leading to his triumph on clay last Sunday – speaks volumes of just how charismatic this legendary athlete is.

Truly, for everything there is a season.  And there was no giving up on THE Roger Federer, even after Jessica Zafra proposed a group therapy session for all his fans after his loss in Australia.  I’m not going to go into the details of his track record.  That’s not my thing.  Besides, I don’t want to end up just printing here “research” material.  I’m leaving that to the real “vanguards” of the sport.  Superman being foremost of them.

Anything and everything I know about tennis, I learned from Superman.  Anything and everything I appreciate about THE Roger Federer, I got from Superman.

Which makes me think – why not get a Lacoste Roland Garros 2009 shirt for someone special?