An open letter to the New York Times

Dear Arthur Sulzberger,

I write to inform you of some blatant and dire PLAGIARISM on behalf of your newspaper today. In an article entitled "Having a Snack? Make It a Holiday," Kim Severson steals some pretty intense and original ideas from a series of SnackManiac posts, specifically one dated April 15th, entitled "grilled cheese-gate: a Snackspose."

While your piece has some delightful anthropomorphic snack cartoons, it also contains the intellectual property of SNACKMANIAC. My tipster and I expounded on the thesis of why PB&J only gets a day, while other foods get a whole month.

I know that competition is fierce in today's media marketplace and that, surely, SnackManiac challenges your writers to work just a little bit hard for their Pulitzers everyday, but Artie, seriously, a don't think a snack-tation would have been too much to ask.

Sincerely,
SnackManiac

was Luigi the one who made the pizzas?

Check out this pizza! I made it myself (with some directions and smiley encouragement from Rachel Ray!) I did NOT buy it at a restaurant.

It has three kinds of cheese, some cured meat, and a tiny amount of vegetables. For decoration.

You too can make this at home.

As a side dish, I had 3/4 of a bottle of champagne. I was celebrating my cooking accomplishments. This celebration may or may NOT be directly related to the somewhat misshapen nature of the pizza itself.

snacks on a plane

ok, so I know I already made that joke once before in my tenure as a professional record keeper of snacks, but this time it is LITERAL. Nikki and her sister Vicki (not joking!!) sent me this snack shot from their flight to Mexico for vacation this week.

Well done ladies, it looks like you hit all the food groups!! And you went with the brave pairing of Fudge Stripes and beef jerky (which SM is being petitioned by readers to cover as it is "both delicious and made almost entirely of beef. I don’t believe there to be other requirements for snack foods.")

Finally, a note to those considering a border cross: I think getting hopped up on what appears to be a half pound of Sour Patch Kids might be what it takes to clear that fence.

401snacK

Check out this shot of the snack closet at Google!! It's not just "cookies" at the web giant, it's CHEX MIX too!!! I am going to do try and unearth some more snack findings from the GooglePlex; I understand that it is non-stop snacks there, including full meals everyday. Further proof that the net is POWERED by snacks!!!

I could eat all those cupcakes in a New York minute

My snackers in the field are always on the lookout!!

This cupcake shot just came in from the BIG apple, where G is on the road. Look how pretty and delicious these are! From what I understand, you New Yorkers just sit around, stuffing your faces with cupcakes day in and day out. In between trading stocks and going to those Rockette shows, of course.

M.A. in SNACKING

SnackManiac was lucky enough to be back in Minneapolis last weekend and we hit the snacks pretty hard in honor of my brother's graduation. We went to a hip place called the 112 Eatery which was excellent. Upon our arrival, we were greeted with these snacks, they were already waiting for us!!! (There are always perks to making your reservation under "SnackManiac...") The olives were in some delicious fennel related brine and those nuts, you wouldn't believe them, they were spicy, sweet and sticky, all AT THE SAME TIME!!!

Those almonds were so delicious that I dumped the uneaten ones into a Ziploc in my purse for snacking at a later date. Unfortunately the baggie already had 6 Pepto and about a dozen Advil tablets in it, so I wound up with what I am now calling "GRADUATION SNACK MIX." I was quite lucky to have this on hand during the ceremony itself which lasted 3 hours (WITH NO SNACK BREAKS!!) Anyhow, I think that celebrity chefs should start incorporating "Pepto dust" into some of that conceptual haute cusine that is all the rage. Bobby Flay, you can have that idea, I'll just give it to you, no ThrowDown necessary.

snacking your way up the corporate ladder

So the Washington Post did a hard-hitting story yesterday on "snacking in the workplace." I'm glad to see they are paying attention to the media frenzy around snacks, but it was a little lame: "Among office snackers, two-thirds said they bring their treats. " And had some obviously erroneous data: "our favorite snack food is fruit" (?? give me a break.)

Dear Washington Post, here are some ideas for future office snack coverage:

Idea #1: "The SnackEO," what are the nation's top executives snacking on?? JACK WELCH, what is your snack of choice?

Idea #2: An investigative report as to the recent jacking up of the snack prices in my office building's vending machine. 85 cents for a Snickers?!?! That is certainly worthy of a little Woodward and Bernstein action, or at least Bernstein.

Readers, any other ideas?

snacks fit for a queen

So you probably won't believe this, but SM has such an incredible investigative reporting team we got someone INSIDE the Queen's garden party here in Washington this week.

Even though cameras and cell phones were strictly prohibited, my snack-formant risked life and limb to snap these shots of the royal snackfest.

All reports indicate the snacks were bountiful yet tiny. Lots of tiny cakes and scones. It must make for more polite (and efficient) snacking when you can just pop 'em in your mouth between making DECREES or waving.

Apparently the Queen has her own caterer who travels with her and caters events all around the world. WHAT A SNACK DREAM!! This is a new reason to be Queen, guarantee of snacks on demand at all times.

so good I can't believe TSA allows it!!

While SnackManiac was sad to leave Minneapolis, my tears were dried when I determined that there was a DQ near my gate!! Hot Eats, COOL Treats, indeed!!



This here is a Butterfinger Blizzard that I enjoyed at gate C6.

Another blizzard flavor I enjoy is mint M&M. It is green. Like a vegetable. Which I hear are stuck all the way at the bottom of the food pyramid, unlike DQ, which it all the way at the top, exalted like the SNACK ROYALTY that it is.

horse related snacks (sounds grosser than it is)

Yesterday was derby day and we took that business seriously. (If you think I am kidding, check out G's SHOES!)

We went to Gold Cup, some non-Kentucky Derby horse race in Virginia. There were loads of snacks, but I scarfed them down before I remembered to take a photo. All you need to know was that there was fried chicken and potato salad loaded up with bacon. Yes, please.

I also had this delicious mint JULEP. They weren't messing around, which I APPRECIATE. Particularly when I am watching a steeplechase.

My horse LIGHT SPEED came in dead last, go figure, but snacks PREVAILED.

snacking my way through the midwest

Snackmaniac hit the road earlier this week and traveled to Minneapolis where some incredible snacking happened. check out this action from a restaurant called the Sample Room, where we had a feast of snacks for dinner! Imagine that, snacks for dinner! Sanctioned by a restaurant! And my mom!!

We had three "sample platters," this first one here is "vegetables" which actually meant a HUGE has brown bomb the size of my head, whipped sweet potatoes and green beans with chipotle cashew topping.

Next up was wish which included crabcakes, walleye fish sticks, and some spicy serrano shrimps which Nikki believed tasted like cannabis, but I think she was just experiencing a SNACK HIGH.

Minnesota meats were next which included a "grain belt" sausage with spicy mustard, ribs, and meatloaf.

Finally there was the cheese platter (CHEESE is a food group, did you know that? NUTRITION!!!) There were delicious breaded goat cheese balls with basil oil and tomatoes, melty camembert with carmelized onions, and some fancy pants macaroni and cheese.

It was truly a snack BONANZA. Please stay tuned for further reporting from this excursion once I get copies of photos from the freelance photographer that I brought along to cover all the snacks. (I was too busy shoveling snacks in with both hands to be available to handle my own photography.)