"Natural" Pepsi trial, "Healthy" chips, cops and donuts and one sinful cupcake

Being in the land of post-graduation, non- self supporting joblessness, I've been looking for lots of ways to get some spare cash. One way I've found is through research groups who pay you for your opinion. I've actually been part of this group, Fieldwork East, for a long time but I either wasn't available for the dates they had or didn't qualify for some reason. This week I did manage to qualify for a survey about soft drinks. Perfect. Food+ Money= happy.

I've never done one of these things before so I wasn't sure entirely what to expect except $60 at the end of an hour and a half. About 40 people, most of them looking fairly young, were lined up at tables in a mirrored room and given 5 soda samples to try over the course of the hour. The samples all have numbers and not everyone tries the samples at the same time. This particular study was to research Pepsi Natural, a cola drink made from natural ingredients. We were asked to rate the samples on sweetness, carbonation, how natural we thought it tasted, if it met our expectations of a natural beverage, if it was fun to drink ( I still don't really understand that question), how refreshing it was, if it tasted like regular or diet etc. It was an interesting exercise because they definitely all tasted different, but each time I moved on to a new sample it was hard to say exactly how it differed from the last one. They all started to taste the same really. I'm assuming that at least one of the samples was regular or diet Pepsi but I'm not sure. At first I would have one idea of how "natural" it tasted but then after drinking more I wasn't sure any more. The only one which was very different was the last sample I tried, which was obscenely carbonated and much darker in color than all the others. Depending on how we answered we would either be invited to stay for Part two, or sent home with our money. Sadly, I was sent home with my money, but I'm not complaining.

After filling my stomach with carbonation and completing some work I had to do, I found myself some lunch nearby at a sushi place/ deli. It was a pretty neat little place with a lot of natural foods. I wanted a little something to go with my tuna and avocado roll and amongst the interesting selection of chips and Pirate's Booty, I found Popchips. These chips claim to be healthier than normal chips, and they are neither baked nor fried. Some combination of heat and pressure allows these potatoes to 'pop'. I tried the barbeque variety and I was very pleased. They have a slightly similar texture to a rice cake, but much more pleasant. I'd say they are a pretty good compromise for chips. They certainly have more personality than a rice cake or even a baked chip and 1 oz has 4 grams of fat. Maybe I have to taste the plain ones to see if they really are a winner but for now they have my vote. Check them out here : http://www.popchips.com/

All my food healthiness abruptly came to a halt later in the night when I indulged in a ridiculously chocolate cupcakes at Starbucks in Barnes and Nobles. Ok, maybe the healthiness cut out somewhere around the eggnog latte I had after the sushi, but shhh. The cupcake was actually way too rich to finish. This sort of cupcake involves team work. The chocolate blackout cupcake lived up to its name, and indeed it would likely cause a diabetic to blackout. Rich chocolate cupcake plus REALLY rich frosting = a win. I don't think this is made by Starbucks because there was some other company listed in the display case, but I forget what the name was so I'll have to go back and find out! They also had desserts by the Cheesecake Factory, but this wasn't one of them. Either way, I was content to sit with my crazy cupcake and a newly discovered fantastic book, The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm. If there ever was a book written for me, this is it.

One final thought for the day, I realized while driving down the hellish route 4.There was a car behind me which was either a cop or a fireman, I think fire. He was drinking coffee and eating a donut so I thought, perhaps, I'm looking at the wrong career path. I've neglected the one which combines the two topics of this blog, food and driving. Maybe I need to look into public service since cops and donuts go together like, well, like cops and donuts. Seriously, what is it about cops and donuts?