Sunday, August 27, 2017

Texas Rattlesnake chocolate; Cactus Trail Mix - Aug. 26, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

(Made for Paradies Shops*)
Texas Rattlesnake Poop
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 7.8 oz. (221 g.) in total container
Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. serving
Cost: $7.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Airport shop, DFW Airport, Dallas, TX

Arizona Cowboy Foods
Cactus Trail Mix
Good - Good +
Weight: 4 oz. (113.2 g.) in total package
Calories: 560 calories (estimate) in 1 package
Cost: $4.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Airport shop at PHX Airport, Phoenix, AZ

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Wild West Theme Week.

Travel to South and North Dakota this week meant no photos today. Being in these states presented the opportunity to see jackalopes (at Wall Drug and elsewhere), and to stray into Wyoming to visit Devils Tower. I resisted the urge to buy chocolate jackalope poop on the at Devils Tower Trading Post (Devils Tower, WY), in part because I'd already picked up some Chocolate Texas Rattlesnake Poop in Dallas, TX.

Today's Texas Rattlesnake Poop pieces (sorry, no photos) were, in fact, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. There were no real rattlesnake ingredients, just compound** chocolate, seeds and other ingredients one might expect with high-volume, novelty items.

I paired theses chocolate seeds with a Western-themed Cactus Trail Mix from Arizona Cowboy Foods (Phoenix, AZ). The mix did not contain chocolate, but it too came from an airport (Phoenix). Airports in multiple states were a great source of Western-themed chocolates this week.

This relatively conventional trail mix contained nuts (peanuts, almonds) and dried fruits (cranberries). It also included pumpkin seeds, banana chips with honey, pineapple bits, dried papaya, and real (prickly pear) cactus candy pieces, which were quite nice (sweet but slightly lighter with more floral flavor than the other dried fruits).

*Paradies Shops, now known as Paradies Lagardere, has travel retail shops in several airports. 

Airport and travel-related shops seem to carry an abundance of chocolate scat pretending to be from local animals these days; and several of these have been featured on Chocolate Banquet in years past. It isn't always clear who is manufacturing all these chocolate-covered droppings (likely several different companies who prefer to private label or remain anonymous); but it must be a big, high-profit business.

** Compound chocolate is made with cocoa, vegetable fat and sweeteners. Today's chocolate ingredients list included: partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, lactose, cocoa powder, reduced mineral whey powder, non-fat milk powder, soy lecithin and vanillin.
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