Potbelly Sugar Cookie

My brother was in town this week, all the way from Podunk, Kansas (OK, technically it's Manhattan, but that makes it sound way too cool).

This meant I spent a lot of time out and about, finding Giant Cookies to review. I actually only found one, and it was just another variety from Potbelly, which I reviewed not too long ago. I don't usually go for sugar cookies, but this one looked pretty tempting, and anyway, it's been a whole 11 days since my last Giant Cookie review, so I had to get it!

This sugar cookie, like the last Potbelly cookie, was deliciously soft, bordering on gooey. In fact, being of the sugar variety without a lot of flavors or textures to make it interesting, this was its chief virtue, but that was really the only virtue it needed. It was delicious! (It did have coarse sugar on top, which added to its texture appeal.)

I forgot to note the price, and I had to eat the cookie on the run, so I was unable to weigh it before devouring it, but I will assume it was 1.25¢ a gram like the last one.

The Bottom Line:
Taste: 5 stars
Texture: 5 stars
Price: 3 stars

What I got

For some people, shopping is a chore: they do it when they must to acquire the stuff they need. For some people, shopping is a pleasure in itself: they do it to feel the joy of owning delightful new things. For me, shopping is a game of strategy, carefully planned out to minimize the resources spent while maximizing my reward. Today I had an especially successful shopping trip (I think I won) and I'd like to share it with you. 'Cause I know you're just as excited about what I got as I am.

I had to venture out to Lanham today to pick up some things someone was Freecycling. Normally I don't Freecycle out as far as Lanham, because it's a small hike (like 6 miles—quite a distance for someone who doesn't like to drive at all), but I got so excited about this offer that I didn't notice the zip code. Normally an offer like this one (two coats in good condition) would get snapped up in an instant, but I just happened to check my email about 10 minutes after it was posted—making me the one who did the snapping! And the coats are perfect! One of them is going to be the perfect "playing outside in winter" coat (I never do that, but maybe having a coat reserved for the purpose will encourage me), and the other is a stylish black fitted coat that will perfectly supplement my two grey coats which are often, respectively, too light and too long.

On my way home, I stopped at Target, because it had been entirely too long since I got a bag of Doritos (the last bag I tried to buy I ended up leaving at the checkout because it had a hole in it). And apparently I was lucky enough to shop the Doritos right in the middle of a design change! I used to collect packaging redesigns—I would actually clean the package as best I could and squirrel it away in a box along with a sample of the new design. But that didn't really appeal to my non-hoarder side, so I ditched the whole collection. I think I'll restart it here on my blog, right now, with the very last of the old-style Doritos bags. The new packaging boasts a new look and a claim of something like "even more nacho cheese flavor," so I can't wait to see if I notice the difference. Maybe they've also intensified the Cool Ranch flavor, which I like, but have always thought doesn't have enough flavoring relative to chip.

Ye Olde Doritos Bag

 At Target, I also picked up two boxes of hair color, on a whim, because they were marked down to $2.48 each. At the checkout, I received a 5$ gift card for having bought two boxes. Do the math on that one!

My next stop was the back alley of Mom's Organic Market, where they sometimes put out boxes of discarded produce for the riffraff to rifle. It makes the perfect diet for one's bunny (and occasionally oneself). I'd been there 3 times already in the last three days (including once when I traveled out of my way, on my bike, at night, through dark woods, hills, and puddles, in miserably cold weather) and came away empty-handed. This time I hit the jackpot. Not only were there boxes full of leafy greens (pretty standard fare) but there were also Roma tomatoes! Somebody's bunny is getting a treat tomorrow! I might even make a sandwich for myself—but nah, that would probably be too much effort. Funny how I will travel over hill and dale fruitlessly and repeatedly in search of free food for a rabbit, but I can't be bothered to take 5 minutes to make myself some lunch. Well, I guess we all have priorities.

Tonight, mine have been well satisfied, and I will go to bed happy.

Jimmy John's Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookie

Jimmy John's was kind enough to deliver this Giant Triple Chocolate Chunk cookie directly to my office's conference room on Tuesday, which surely helps make up for its price. Said price is $1.50, and said cookie is 85 grams, making the value 1.76¢ per gram, or, pretty bad.

The cookie itself was not quite so disappointing as its price. It came to me in three pieces, making me think it was going to be crunchy and prone to cracking. But it turned out to be nicely chewy, with just a bit of airy semi-crisp around the edges.

As far as flavor goes, it was pretty standard, except for a bonus feature: white chocolate chips! If you're aware of my white-chocolate-macadamia-nut cookie fetish, it probably doesn't surprise you that in my book, any cookie with white chocolate chips wins a few extra taste points. The only sad thing was there weren't very many of them.

The Bottom Line:
Taste: 4 stars
Texture: 4 stars
Price: 2 stars