It seems as if sampling programs are all the rage now, and I’m totally for it. For the most part, I try to experiment with different beauty programs, but I was contacted by Ben from Petit Amuse with a completely different sampling program specializing in artisan treats hand picked by Ben and his fiance Rosemary. I couldn’t pass this up. Well really, they say Rosemary is the palette and Ben is the business side of the company–but together they bring us a whole new way to discover food!
How often is it that you get a chance to have hand-crafted foods –or rather– how often do you get to experiment with food created by local or international food artisans who have made making food into a true art? Not at as often as we should, am I right?. What’s different about the food they choose for this program as opposed to what you will find at the big super market is that you will most likely never find these in a large chain store. Rosemary and Ben search and find new, tasty treats that will hopefully bring you something new to love. The treats that they find are usually made in small batches with better quality ingredients. While you may find these brands at their local market, they may never reach the state you live in. Here is where Ben and Rosemary from Petit Amuse help us expand our horizons.
I like how in their “how it works” section they fully explain HOW they do their program, and how it really does benefit all those involved. Us, the customer finds new unique food to drool over, the brand/artisan has been introduced to new people and Petit amuse continues to grow in popularity as more people discover the new options in their marketplace. Did I mention that earlier? The whole point of the sampling is to see if these are things you will buy for future use, and all the things you taste and try can easily be purchased through their site. Voila! Easy Peasy!
Now let me share with you the goodies I got, although there is one product I wont be able to write much about, and I’ll explain that shortly. Note to all of you: lock your sampling boxes up before leaving a big box of snacks on the counter for a boyfriend or hubby to get curious with!
So this happen to be the one thing I did not get to try because my boyfriend ate the entire bag and when I came home and realized, all I could do was ask…….did you like it? How was it?! Tell me EVERYTHING!…….the response “It was good”. Sigh. Men. So unfortunately, there is not much I can tell you about this other than my boyfriend ate every kernel before I got home. You can try it for yourself for a mere $3.99 a bag. The bag I got was the typical size you’d see at Subway. Possibly a little bigger, the bags gone! Sorry, Oogie’s! I never got to try you!
Lark Fine Foods creates “Cookies for Adults” with their unique flavors like Rosemary and Sea Salt and Chocolate and Spice. Lark Fine Foods uses pure, fresh, all-natural ingredients with NO preservatives. I checked out their site. Their food looks pretty enough to be gifted! One cookie is 80 calories. I think we can handle that! I was also given one of Lark’s Cha-Cha Cookies which are chocolately and spicy all at the same time. These were actually pretty darn good, and reminded me of cookies I used to eat at my grandparents house except spicer? It left a little bit of a spicy burn (im a mild salsa girl)– but not enough to make me say no to Cha-Chas. As for the rosemary and sea salt, it was OK. If I had my choice, I’d grab for another Cha-Cha. You can purchase a bag of either cookies (or OTHER flavors they have) for $6.99.
Garukabars! I love the name– it’s fun to even say. Yes, I know I’m a total weirdo. Handmade energy bars made with real honey, dried cranberries and peanuts. I’m not a big fan of peanuts but I do like cranberries and honey. As much as I love the name, and even the idea of a healthy energy bar, peanuts almost destroy it for me. I thought you needed to be a nut lover to love a snack like this, but it was actually pretty good! When I read whole peanuts I thought it was going to be like 99% peanuts, but it has rice cripie like stuff in there too that makes it soft and easy to eat. The totally smell like peanuts though. Garuka bars can be found on Petit Amuse Marketplace for $3.00. **added bonus this company donates a percentage of its sales to help the Mountain Gorillas of the Congo (one of which is named Garuka)!**
Caramoomel’s Ice Wine Jelly was the first thing in the sampling box that made me say, I need to try this. Ice Wine Jelly sounds amazingly tasty to me. I wasn’t really sure what to try it with so I first tried a little by itself, and then on a peice of bagel. It might have been to light for a heavy bagel but….. You can purchase a jar of this for $6.99. Just pace yourself, I think this is the best item in the box!
What can I say? This sampling program is pretty cool because I am CLUELESS when it comes to finding/inventing new things to eat. I’ve got a finicky eater in the house so it was nice to have some randoms to try! And when you first get the box in the mail? This may just be you:
You can check out their sampling program by visiting their website, their facebook or twitter. And if your into torturing yourself with pictures of food that you NEED to have NOW…I suggest you visit their blog because I saw an apple pie that was calling to me. Seriously. I want apply pie now.
Well, never thought I would be approached to try a food sampling program but I’m so happy I did! What do you think? Is this your bag? Do you like trying new foods? I think the price is pretty good for what you get getting to try! I know my blogger foodie friend Kat from She Cooks, He Eats would LOVE this—and P.S—you need to check out HER blog if you are a foodie yourself. She cooks up some amazing dinners and shows you how to make some. Ok, all I’ve got is food on my mind now.
Bye everyone! Until next time….
XOXO
Claudia C.
Aww Claudia thanks so much for the mention 🙂 ps. I’m glad they picked you otherwise you would of have never told us 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you get next month!
Kat sent me here. Lovely!
thank you for stopping by! :)))