Summer: YEAAAAHH
Welcome to SNACK CHAT
Jillian: SNACK CHAT
honestly i kind of can’t believe we haven’t done a chat about snacks yet
Summer: I know!!!
Jillian: it makes so much sense
Summer: I feel like I’ve become much more snacky since the pandemic too
Jillian: i have always been a very snacky person
i grew up with lots of snacks in the house always, so i don’t really know how to Not have a snack while i watch tv at night
Summer: that makes sense!!! i definitely was the opposite. the Traditional Palestinian Table is basically generally a Large Collection of Dishes so a lot of things that people consider a post-meal or pre-meal snack are just Part of the Meal? my family did get super into doing our own popcorn seasonings for a while though
Jillian: ooooh homemade popcorn seasonings are good
Summer: we had a fancy glass thing you put the kernals in for the microwave and i broke it twice so we stopped buying it LOL
Jillian: my mom always used to do powdered parmesan cheese + onion powder on popcorn and it’s delicious
Summer: oh fuck yeah
Jillian: i generally like a cheesy popcorn more than a buttered popcorn, although both are great
Summer: me too, i love a good powdered cheese that makes my fingers all orange
i love the styrofoam texture of popcorn more than the crispy texture of normal cheetos so it’s a best of both worlds
Jillian: i also don’t have a microwave so i’ve tried to get in the habit of popping it on the stove
Summer: omg you don’t have a microwave! we never use ours anymore tbh. i like reheating stuff in a skillet more
Jillian: when i moved into this apartment a few months ago, i didn’t take my microwave & i figured i’d get a new one at some point but i’ve just been trying to see how long i can last without one
and honestly there have been a few times when i really wished i had one to reheat certain dishes, or to make microwave meals or something
but for the most part it’s been fine
Summer: ooooo ok yeah
ok what do u define as a Snack
Jillian: really most things can be a snack, it just kind of depends on how & why you’re eating it i think
like, a snack is something you eat between meals usually
something you eat just for fun
something you eat casually
but also something like popcorn is still a snack even if you’re eating an entire bag for dinner because depression
Summer: yup!
Jillian: i think i wrote about this in snax
the first essay in it is called “what makes a snack a snack”
Summer: right!
Jillian: ok so here’s what i wrote: “Not everything can be a snack, of course. It’s hard to refer to a Sweetgreen salad as a “snack,” no matter how much I want to. The word suggests size (easy to eat by the handful, doesn’t fill you up), flavor (either extra-salty or extra-sweet), and style of consumption (quick, in between one thing and the next; or lazy, while watching TV). A snack depends on context, the same way a meal does.”
Summer: this rocks but also im thinking of the funniest image of just shoving a handful of greens in your mouth as a snack
Jillian: i think honestly that counts!!!
my feelings have changed slightly since i wrote this
Summer: i definitely depression ate a bag of spinach with just olive oil and salt before
Jillian: i still mostly agree but i don’t think flavor matters really
a little bowl of soup can be a snack
Summer: yeah!!! i had a little bowl of salad as a snack last night actually
Jillian: i also wrote: “A snack doesn’t have to be contained to one category, or one aisle in the grocery store. A snack isn’t just a food product, something you eat when you’re hungry—a snack is a mood, a feeling, a time and place. A snack is a transition from one thing to the next, a liminal space between lunch and dinner, between being out and arriving home, between episode one and episode two. Snacking is a universal experience that can’t be summarized by a neat category, no matter how much you try to.”
which i stand by 100%
Summer: it was tomato cucumber red onion and olive salad
Jillian: that does sound like a nice lil snack
i had shrimp chips last night
Summer: shrimp chips!!!!
i also had a bowl of grapes after i kind of had like a series of snacks for dinner
Jillian: soooo good
i feel like i need a little sauce to dip them in
Summer: i think grapes are one of my favorite snacks
Jillian: some kind of spicy mayo situation maybe
Summer: so cold and small
SPICY MAYO FUCK YEAH
Jillian: i’m not really into grapes to be honest
Summer: oooooo do you like to snack on other fruit
Jillian: yes! fruitwise i really love blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, any kind of melon
STRAWBERRIES
Summer: strawberries!!!! the strawberries this season have been ridiculously good i’ve been indulging so much
Jillian: i’m so happy it’s strawberry season finally
Summer: i’m so happy it’s FIG SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on week two of getting to eat figs after 0 in 2020
i am alive
Jillian: i also just got some lychees which i have never tried before!!! but i love lychee flavored things so i’m excited
Summer: oh i love lychee !!! they’re an interesting texture n taste sooooo good
Jillian: and i have a little baby watermelon sitting in my fridge
fruit is such a good snack especially in summer
Summer: fruit is one of my favorite things to snack on in general i think ? b/c it’s hydrating
Jillian: it does make me feel Good about snacking
Summer: yes! i was so dehydrated yesterday lol and i couldn’t drink enough water to catch up but the grapes helped
Jillian: not that i like to feel a lot of guilt about snacking in general because snacks do make me happy no matter what they are but eating fruit does make me feel better than eating a bag of chips i guess
I GUESS
Summer: yeah same. i also feel like i can portion myself better with fruits than chips because there isn’t the secret additive that is making u eat it LOL
however i do love chips. sour cream cheddar ruffles. king shit
Jillian: my recent thing that our friend selena taught me is putting snacks in little bowls to eat them out of. instead of just eating straight out of the bag or whatever. it’s more work but it’s so cute and it makes me feel like the snack is an event instead of something i’m just doing passively!
Summer: omg
yes i do that too
it’s cleaner too less chance to cross contaminate
Jillian: yes very true
what’s a snack that you loved growing up that you maybe don’t eat as much anymore
OR alternatively a snack you have loved your whole life that you still eat a lot of
Summer: OH i used to get chocolate pretzels all of the time in undergrad but i don’t anymore????
Jillian: oh i love chocolate pretzels!!!!
i don’t eat them very often either but they’re always soooo good
kind of a perfect snack
Summer: YES it does everything…salty…sweet…crunch
i’ve been eating carrots a lot as a snack lately, the crunch is just so satisfying
Jillian: crunchy snacks are good
Summer: what about you what’s a snack that’s sustained you
Jillian: i forget what they’re called but one of my favorite snacks is these little rice cakes wrapped in seaweed
very crunchy and salty and good
Summer: o fuck that sounds so good
Jillian: a couple of snacks that i went through huge phases with and don’t eat much anymore are all dressed ruffles, which are SO fantastic but hard to find here; and sour patch watermelon which i ate a scary amount of when i first moved to new york and eventually got bored of
but snacks that i have loved basically my whole life: GOLDFISH CRACKERS. i love those lil guys. especially the flavor blasted ones but the regular ones are S tier also.
and: hint of lime tostitos. i ate them all the time at home and i still love them. just a big bag of chippies.
Summer: HINT OF LIME TOSTITOS!!! god tier!!!
Jillian: they’re sooooo good
Summer: i had them at a friends house the other day and was just like Fuck right these are So Good
i’ve been having chips and salsa a lot lately which is a very phase-based snackie
Jillian: there are a lot of other brands of lime chips at bodegas here but the tostitos ones are just the best unfortunately
Summer: i do the corn chip scoopers from trader joes….so satisfying
Jillian: i also go through phases with chips and salsa
although i do tend to treat it as more of a meal than a snack for some reason
the salsa makes it feel like more of an occasion to me i guess
Summer: i can see that
i think part of snacks is the messiness factor for me
Jillian: ooooh yeah
ok i’ve gotten myself a bowl of those rice crackers wrapped in seaweed
Summer: omg perfect
Jillian: and also a sanzo sparkling water which i’m into lately
Summer: ugh i love sparkling water now i do not know what changed in me
sometimes soda feels like a snack
Jillian: soda is definitely snack-adjacent
i like to call any non-water or non-caffeinated beverages “fun drinks”
so soda is a fun drink
sparkling water is a fun drink
Summer: YEAH
Jillian: juice or kombucha is a fun drink
Summer: this makes sense to me. honestly i used to just drink coffee and water and tea but again, the pandemic has changed me
i get ginger ale or flavored sparkling water more often
and crave milkshakes lmao
Jillian: MILKSHAKES
so good
you’ve been kinda into the five guys milkshakes recently
Summer: YEAH mostly because our friend selena put the idea in my head and i am one of those people who sees a pizza on tv and is like “i need pizza”
Jillian: absolutely
i also got a five guys milkshake last week because of you both, so
Summer: but there was one night when i was at my apartment in oakland when hazem and i ordered milkshakes from five guys at like 9pm and it was just so NICE and FUN
HELL YEAh it’s just so good!
Jillian: i really like the oreo one
Summer: their ice cream is good and i am never going to buy malt powder
so like. if that’s what i want….
i made my own milkshake yesterday and it was good but my ratios were off….they are a very particular craving though
Jillian: my grandpop used to make us chocolate and vanilla milkshakes every summer when we went down the shore for a week with family
Summer: WOW
Jillian: but other than that i’ve never made a milkshake myself
Summer: i am definitely more versed in smoothie making
which are also a snack
Jillian: although i will say i’ve been on a quest to make taro milk tea at home which i think is kind of a similar struggle of getting ratios right
i finally got some taro powder and a boba kit
my first attempt was not great but i have hope that i’ll get there someday
Summer: yeah i think the problem w/ milkshakes is if you accidentally put too much milk (at least for me) i’m like i actually really do not want to put another scoop of ice cream because i will feel sick and so it’s just kind of a loose milkshake
Jillian: ah yeah
Summer: but with smoothies it’s always fine to add more frozen fruit as long as you have it
i bet with milk tea the ratios are difficult to master
Jillian: smoothies are good i wish i ate (drank?) more smoothies
yeah i truly have no idea what the ratio is supposed to be
i’ll let you know if i ever master it tho
Summer: now i want taro wow
Jillian: taro is soooo good
i also just got like. actual taro. and i want to make taro fries with it.
Summer: VERY COOL
Jillian: i have no idea how that will go but i think it’ll be fun to try
Summer: yes! i love making baked fries
Jillian: mmmmmm
fries are good
i’m thinking, again, of five guys
Summer: five guys…they’re really good at it
i never was someone who dipped my fry in my milkshake
Jillian: fries in milkshake is such a classic
wow am i gonna order five guys tonight
i shouldn’t……unless……?
Summer: đź‘€
Jillian: we’ll see
i might
what snacks will you have tonight?
Summer: my friend sent me FUDGE for my birthday so that is definitely on the list
Jillian: wow!!!!!
that’s such a good one
Summer: it’s so sweet and little and satisfying. perfect. maybe some pretzels with it too
what about you (to accompany your pre-five guys dinner)
Jillian: hmmm i will probably have some more shrimp chips, although i don’t have any spicy mayo to accompany them
but also i’d like to try a few lychees at some point today
Summer: maybe at the same time…
Jillian: ohhhh maybe
Summer: any last snack thoughts
Jillian: just that i love them
snacks are good
Summer: SNACKS ARE GOOD!
and i am hungry
Jillian: i am also hungry lsdjfsdk
it’s lunchtime i think
Summer: perfect
Jillian: enjoy ur snacks!!!!
Summer: see u in the other tab!
Jillian: bye friend!