Brazi Bites

Do you watch Shark Tank?

It's an interesting show. Entrepreneurs pitch companies ideas to investors (the sharks) who might or might not invest. Sometimes one shark will bite, but sometimes two, three, or more sharks will join up to offer a deal. Sometimes sharks will bid against each other.

It's fun to see what ideas they thing are worth investing in, and which aren't. Not that I want to start a business. But I like to see new products.


Most of the products on Shark Tank aren't things that I'd buy, but every once in a while, there's one that piques my curiosity. Which is all good when it's something sold at a major chain.

So anyway, I was watching the show and something called Brazi Bites was being pitched. They're little round Brazilian bread-like puff. Then I heard that they were gluten-free. Hmmm. I don't have gluten issues, but I'm often suspicious that gluten-free items will be ... sort of ... imitations of foods they aren't. While gluten-free cooking and baking has come a long way, those of us who can eat gluten would probably not choose the gluten-free product as their favorite.

Then I found out that these little morsels didn't have the gluten taken out of them. They never had gluten to begin with. So, that's way different. And everyone on Shark Tank seemed to love them.

I promptly forgot about the product after the show. Totally dismissed it from my mind. Until the Brazi Bites folks emailed me and asked if I wanted samples. Well, heck yeah!

The packages arrived, still frozen.

Okay, these don't come fully cooked. They're not a bakery item. Instead, you need to pop them into the oven. They start out the shape of DOTS gumdrop candies, but they bake into roundish puffs. Flat on the bottom, but otherwise round. And they had this sort of cracked, turtle-shell like appearance on top.

And they're crazy good. They all have some kind of cheesy flavor, so if you're a fan of cheese ... you need to try these. I was popping them into my mouth like candy. Well, really big candy that I had to bite into. I had some with a salad. I thought about making little sandwiches. I thought about stuffing them. And then I found out they sell them at one of my local stores. So I'll be able to buy them whenever I want.

Oh, yum!

Who's it for: Gluten free or not, these are really tasty.

Pros: Since they're frozen, they're great for those emergency situations when you need a little bit of something bready. And ... you can bake as many as you want. No need to bake the whole box.

Cons: Since they're frozen, you have to bake them.

Wishes: I'd change the packaging. Recloseable bag instead of bag in a box.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

GIR Trivets and Coasters

I first "met" the folks at GIR when they offered to send me one of their new spatulas.

Spatula, smatchula. I had plenty of spatulas. But, okay, send it, I said.

And then I kind of fell in love with the spatula. It was the right heft, the right sturdiness, the right bendiness, and the right shape. It was one piece, so it wouldn't lose its head, and there were no crevasses where junk could accumulate. It was silicone, so I wouldn't melt it (I've melted spatula handles before.)

And it come in a ridiculous number of colors.

Since then, they tend to send me new stuff as it comes out. I saw some really cool coasters and trivets (they call then Kitchen Mats) at the Housewares Show last March, but they were still in the development stage. I really liked the patterns and knew they'd be good in photos. Besides using them as trivets, the kitchen mats would be good as pot holders, or to grab a jar lid you're trying to open.

Who's it for: Pretty much anyone.

Pros: They have a nice design, easily washable, heat resistant.

Cons: Ummmm.

Wishes: More colors, of course. I always love more colors!

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

GIR sends me new products now and then. Coming soon is a review of the new bottle stoppers.

Nonna Box

I'm really having fun reviewing the different boxes that are available. I mean, I love when I get one product to test, but these boxes all have a variety of things. And often, they're things I never would think of buying.

But then I try them and I like them.

Anyway, this time I got a box from Nonna Box. I was way overexcited about this one, because I totally love Italian food.

And I was right to be excited. Here's what I got:

Carnaroli Rice. Wowza. This is one of the rices that's traditional for making risotto. I adore rice of any kind, and I particularly love risotto. I usually use arborio rice, because it's easy to find. But carnaroli made me really happy, because it's kind of rare except in specialty stores.

I actually have a risotto recipe that I'll be making in the next few days, so I'll be using this rice. Yeah, I'm excited about rice.

Elderflower Fizzy Soda: I'm saving this for a cocktail, I think. I haven't opened it yet, but it's intriguing.

Corn Cookies: Oh my heck. These things are totally awesome. They're not too sweet, which is great for me. They're crisp and a little crumbly. They're like the best bits of the browned edges of cornbread. They'd be good with coffee in the morning, or for a light dessert. Just yum

Dried Porcini Mushrooms: I adore mushrooms, and porcinis are really amazing. These weren't little crumbles or small bits - these were nice slices. I mean, I'll probably chop them or maybe even grind them before I use them, but it's nice to have the big slices to work with.

Moscato Wine Cream: This is like, well, hmmm. Like lemon curd but with wine. Or maybe like a flavorful pastry cream. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with this, but I might just eat it with a spoon.

Acacia Honey: Okay, how can you argue with honey? I seem to go through a lot of it, in cooking, baking, salad dressings, and sometimes in tea. I usually have a couple different types, for different uses. This is a light honey that would work pretty much anywhere. Love it.

So there ya go six very Italian items. Yum.

Who's it for: People who want to try a box o' food, but limit it to Italian.

Pros: It all looks high quality. Not stuff you'll find in most grocery stores.

Cons: This is kind of expensive.

Wishes: I'd love to try a couple more boxes ... this was awesome, but I'm curious what others would contain.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.