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Crazy for Kit-Kats

Kitto Katsu! 

I've been dying to travel to Japan for years and for a multitude of reasons. I want to tour the Tsukiji Fish Market, sample blowfish,  photograph cherry-blossom season, meet Kogepan,  and do some serious retail damage at Omotesando Hills.  But my reason du jour is to eat a Kit Kat bar. The Soy Sauce flavored Kit Kat bar, in particular.

Nestle's Kit-Kat bars are the leading confectionery brand in Japan, and the Soy-Sauce Kit-Kat is the top selling flavor, out of a vast array of flavors.  Ad Age reports: " Kit Kat varieties now range from yubari melon and baked corn from Hokkaido island to green beans and cherries from Tohoku in northeastern Japan to uzu fruit and red potatoes from Kyushu island at the southern-most tip of the country. The Kanto region, including Tokyo, contributed the sweet potato, blueberry and kinako (soybean) flavors."

These varieties of the brand were developed for the palates of specific regions in Japan and only sold in those respective markets. So, the only way to taste them is to book a flight!

For kicks, I've included a a list of all the crazy kinds of Kit-Kats (standard bars)  that are out there in the world, courtesy of my wise, knowledgeable, and dependable friend, Wikipedia:

1. Kit Kat Original — (different taste and texture in different countries)
2. Pickled Plum — Japan
3. Bubblegum — Japan (made with blue chocolate)
4. Mango — Japan (made with yellow chocolate)
5. Rose: Japan
6. Lemon vinegar — Japan
7. Kit Kat Fine Dark — UK, Spain & Germany variant of Kit Kat Dark Chocolate
8. Kit Kat Cacao 61% — Japan (newer version of Kit Kat Bitter with 61% cocoa content)
9. Kit Kat Sakura (Cherry blossom) — Japan —
10. Kit Kat Cacao 72% — Japan — dark chocolate petits with 72% cocoa content
11. Kit Kat White Creme — US permanent edition (current version of US Kit Kat White made with vegetable oil based candy coating rather than pure white chocolate)
12. Kit Kat White — Japan & Spain
13. Kit Kat Iced Tea — Japan
14. Kit Kat Wasabi — Japan
15. Kit Kat Caramel and Salt — Japan
16. Kit Kat Cucumber — Japan
17. Kit Kat Kinako (soybean flour) — Japan
18. Kit Kat Wa Guri (Chestnut flavour) — Japan
19. Kit Kat Green Tea (Matcha) — Japan
20. Kit Kat Milky White — Germany variant of Kit Kat White Chocolate
21. Kit Kat Mint — UK permanent edition, US limited edition (mint flavoured milk chocolate coating)
22. Kit Kat Mint Chocolate — Australia (mint green colour wafers)
23. Kit Kat Apple — Japan
24. Kit Kat Orange — UK permanent edition, US, Japan, Malaysia limited edition.
25. Kit Kat International Recipe — Malaysia, Singapore and selected East Asian countries (the chocolate was made from Ghana cocoa beans and thus had the tendency to melt down very easily when compared to Kit Kat Original)
26. Kit Kat Café Latte with Hokkaidō Milk — Japan
27. Kit Kat Kiwifruit — Japan
28. Kit Kat Strawberry — Japan
29. Kit Kat Peach — Japan
30. Kit Kat Caramac — UK
31. Kit Kat Chocolate Overload — Australia (milk chocolate outside, chocolate creme filling and chocolate wafers)
32. Kit Kat Gold — Japan — petits with fudge-like covering and dusted cocoa powder on outside
33. Kit Kat Noisette (Hazelnut) — Germany
34. Kit Kat Lite — India — two finger bar with 50% less sugar
35. Kit Kat Carb Alternatives — US (low carbohydrate version with 50% less sugar)
36. Kit Kat Low Carb — UK
37. Kit Kat Cantaloupe — Japan
38. Kit Kat Pineapple — South Africa
39. Kit Kat Cappuccino — Poland and UK
40. Kit Kat Triple Berry — Japan
41. Kit Kat Mango — Japan
42. Kit Kat Azuki (red bean) — Japan
43. Kit Kat Green Grape Muscat — Japan[19]
44. Kit Kat Caramel Macchiato — Japan (September 2008)[20]
45. Kit Kat Zunda — Japan (only in Yamagata and Miyagi prefecture,mashed edamame beans)
46. Kit Kat Beet — Japan (only in Hokkaido prefecture)
47. Kit Kat Hascapp (Hokkaido blueberry) — Japan (only in Hokkaido prefecture)
48. Kit Kat Soy Sauce — Japan "Tokyo Limited Edition"
49. Kit Kat Yakimorokoshi (grilled corn) — Japan (only in Hokkaido prefecture)
50. Kit Kat Jyagaimo — Japan (only in Hokkaido prefecture, potato)
51. Kit Kat Daigakuimo (candied sweet potato) — Japan
52. Kit Kat Pepper: Japan
53. Kit Kat Kobe pudding — Japan "Kobe Limited Edition"
54. Kit Kat Houjicha (Japanese roasted tea) — Japan
55. Kit Kat Kokuto (black sugar) — Japan
56. Kit Kat Watermelon and Salt — Japan
57. Kit Kat Pumpkin — Japan
58. Kit Kat Edamame — Japan
59. Kit Kat Banana — Canada
60. Kit Kat Lemon Chocolate — Japan (Valentine's limited edition)
61. Kit Kat Cookies & Chocolate — Japan
62. Kit Kat Cookies PLUS — Japan
63. Kit Kat Dark Chocolate — Italy
64. Kit Kat White Chocolate — Italy
65. Kit Kat Apple Vinegar — Japan
66. Kit Kat Veggie — Japan [19]
67. Kit Kat Ginger Ale — Japan
68. Kit Kat Ramune — Japan

Via: Ad Age
Photo: Inventorspot.com 

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New York Times Motorino Review

 

Tasty pizza pie.  

The New York Times just reviewed Motorino. Check out this line: "a winter-special pie of brussels sprouts and smoked pancetta, dressed with mozzarella, garlic and pecorino, is like something from a magic act, a dog speaking BBC English. It is great and unsettling, far better than imagination would dictate. "

I'm not so sure if it's the BEST pizza in New York, but it's pretty damn good.  I haven't had a hankering for pizza lately,  but when the  urge hits,  Motorino is the place to go. I've actually only been to the Motorino in Brooklyn and I just found out that the location near me in the East Village delivers.  When the next snow day hits,  I'll be thinking about 3 things: my fuzzy sweater,  Netflix and Motorino.  DONE!


Via: The New York Times
Photo: Serious Eats 

Feeling Green...

I'm on a bit of a hiatus from blogging, because I've been on a health kick and there's nothing more boring than reading about a restricted diet. Excess is much more interesting than moderation.  But I'm convinced that I can still eat tasty and healthy food, so I stocked my refrigerator with loads of citrus,  yogurt and an assortment of greens. One night for dinner, I made myself this delectable kale salad with butternut squash, chopped roasted almonds, topped with a lemon vinaigrette and healthy sprinkling of this amazing, aged Gouda  (The dish was inspired by Nothern Spy Food's kale salad, but they use chunks of clothbound cheddar and shaved parmesan).

The next day, I'm with with my trainer. He's killing me with this double routine of lunges and pull down thingies on the effing weight machine that normally I wouldn't even think of touching. I realize, as I get up to do my second set of lunges, Zach Braff is next to me, who says to me, "I hate those things." He's so wise that Zach Braff.

As I'm huffing and puffing,  my trainer asks me what I ate for dinner.  I'm so excited because I can actually give him the right answer. I'm beaming with pride, listing out the ingredients for the salad that I made for dinner.  I barely even said the word "cheese" and  he instinctively shakes his head, and said "No, you shouldn't have that." I responded meekly, "It was only a little bit of cheese."  Then, my trainer says "Think of cheese like cocaine, you can't just have a little bit of cocaine. Always remember what Kate Moss said, 'Nothing tastes better than how skinny feels'. Oh boy, I have a feeling I'm going to have a very antagonistic relationship with my trainer.

Cleanse and Kale

You decide.

Cleansing is not for me. The juices were tasty, the raw meals were adequate with varying levels of blandness.  I was RAVENOUS at the end of the whole ordeal and went wild, boozing and bingeing, the rest of the week. So, I'm pretty much right where I started, except that I have more of an appetite for all things green and leafy, which I typically don't crave. To satisfy these new veggie urges,  I'm going to try these Kale Chips from New York Naturals  that I read about in New York Magazine this week, which they describe as  "Doritos for Health Nuts".                                

A leaf!!

Daily rituals can surprise on occasion...
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I'm on a Cleanse! Blueprint's Juice 'Til Dinner Cleanse

I hear the clarion call of  the New Year bringing its annual message of transformation and renewal. 2010 will be EPIC and I made resolutions to keep me on course and maintain my positive outlook.  For starters, I've bought a new winter wardrobe (Cake.), cleaned out my address book (Who is that rando?), made a vow to lock my phone (Ghost dialing/emailing will be a thing of the past, I swear! ), and put a stop to hailing cabs when public transportation is a obvious option (Uh, ok, haven't stuck to this.  I get lazy and subway poles in the winter are contaminated with H1N1 and snot.).  But the most routine-altering resolution I made is to embark on a juice cleanse. Yes, me, on a juice cleanse.  I like buttery burnt toast, crispy chicken skin and bacon wrapped around everything-- let's face it--the toxins are pouring out of my eyeballs. A  dietary intervention, in the form of a cleanse, is the necessary prescription.  Perhaps it's my flair for drama, but I  think taking the drastic step of  abstaining from solids will jolt my system into health...and I'm starting TODAY!!!  

I've decided to take a gradual approach and kicking off with Blueprint's Juice 'Til Dinner Option, which will last 3 days. Technically, it is not a cleanse, because solids are incorporated at dinner, hence the name. However, it's pretty close to a cleanse, as I'm weaning myself off of "dairy, meat, sugar, wheat, alcohol, caffeine, additives, or preservatives".

The bottles of juice and my raw food dinners were delivered last night.  For every day of the diet, I was given an insulated bag that contains 4 bottles of juice, a snack and a raw food dinner. 

3 insulated bags of juice/raw food + 2 wedges of cheese + 6 bottles of champagne+ 1 bottle of Creme de Cassis + 1 bottle of ketchup = My refrigerator contents

So far, I've only had the first bottle of juice and sipping the 2nd bottle. The first bottle was what they call "Green Juice", consisting of: Romaine, Celery, Cucumber, Green Apple, Spinach, Kale, Parsey and Lemon. It was actually pretty sugary and somewhat tart. I read some Yelp review that said it takes terrible if you have a ton of toxins in you.  Who knows?   As for the second bottle, it's called Pineapple, Apple and Mint Juice. It tastes pretty on the nose and also quite sweet.   I'm not craving solids at the moment, but damn I miss the taste my daily coffee and croissant right now.  To be continued....

I love my cappuccino...

...even if it is after 11 AM..
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