There are problems and there are crises. Last year an announcement was made: Gibble’s Foods, a company that baked my favorite nostalgic Central Pennsylvania snack, cheese puffys, would be halting production, closing down the snack food business. How can a company with a great tagline–Nibble with Gibble’s–possibly close down in America, the noshing epicenter on Earth? Well, it happened. And my palate was sad.
Another announcement was made this year: Gibble’s was bought, the production line restarted. Yessssss. I checked their website for updates like I was searching Wonka bars for Golden Tickets. I told my family. I bided my time. Photos and comments appeared online with consumers enjoying Gibble’s chips and pretzels, but no cheese puffys. Sigh.
Eventually, my favorite snack appeared on the web, too. Hooray. However, I don’t live in PA anymore, so when I visited my family one weekend, I called up a few grocery stores to see if they stocked cheese puffys. Determined I was to find some.
One grocery manager asked if Gibble’s was my favorite brand. I admitted without shame, “There is but one cheese puffy!” He explained their shelves didn’t bear the puffys yet. Neither did the other store. No luck that weekend, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the fluffy carbohydrates hit my system again. I settled in to wait. I’m patient. If I can endure facedown hell after retinal surgeries, I can wait for some puffys.
The other day when Stockton arrived home, he carried a large cardboard box as he entered the house. He fielded the terrier’s greeting and smiled at me, saying I needed to open the box. He enjoys a surprise. Don’t you just love him?
As I pushed aside the box flaps, rows of bright yellow bags reflected off my pale, grinning face. It’s okay to get excited about the little things in life. I sure do. Stockton had ordered us a box of my favorite snacks. Munch, munch.
With metaphorically cheddar-dusted fingers, I contemplate the puffys at the keyboard. I nominate them for Best Snack Food for people with low vision, next to baby carrots. You can’t miss these neon orange curls. They blend in like traffic cones. Great contrast. Builds your hand/eye coordination. You’ll never miss a pick-up with cheese puffys. Your hand-to-mouth rate will increase, too. That reminds me, it’s time to walk the dog. I don’t want to add a side of back fat to my body due to my grazing.
Do you have a favorite snack food? Actually, that’s a stupid question. Everyone has a favorite snack food. Tell me about yours.
Adventures in Low Vision 
I’m partial to another Central PA snack- the big barrel of Utz cheese balls! 🙂
Yes, Utz! Those will cheddar-dust your fingers, too.
Baby carrots are one of my favorites! And I can justify Oreos because they’re high contrast!
But I think my favorite snack is cheese and fruit – a white cheese and some dark berries. Easy to spot, no mess, and fun to prepare!
I could live on cheese and fruit.
Sounds delicious. I dont usually have a sweet tooth but it has become a ritual following my regular Eyelea eye zap to have a coffe and a bar of Cadburys Fruit and Nit chocolate. Not very good chocolate for the gourmet but unchanged since I was a child it is the perfect comfort snack. Don’t know if you can get it in the USA
I love Cadbury chocolate. We don’t have as many varieties over here, but I remember buying Dairy Milk bars with my Daily Mail at the shop. My flatmate loved Dream bars.
That’s nice. Glad you like it. I live in Bournville close to Cadburys factory in a garden. You used to be able to smell the chocolate on a hot day! It drove our dog crazy!
What a great way to find home–follow the scent of chocolate. Our terrier would go nuts too with that smell.
Whenever I go to visit my parents in Kentucky, I always bring back a 12-pack of Ale-8. The weird thing is that I never craved it until I moved out-of-state, now it’s one of the things I most associate with home.
It’s like a very mild, creamy ginger ale. But really bubbly and highly caffeinated.
http://ale8one.com
That sounds delicious. I’m a fan of ginger ale. I’ll have to see if that’s sold around here.
My super delectable absolute fave is gourmet truffles from Trufflehounds (trufflehoudsfinechocolates.com) in Ventura, California. Not only are they an extraordinary pleasure on the palate, they are artistically beautiful. Good thing they aren’t in walking distance!
Those sound exquisite. I know where I’m stopping by if I’m ever in Ventura!
I adore Pickled Onion Monster Munch. Possibly the most anti-social snack ever, as they stink and are really messy – but they’re just so bloomin’ moreish. I’ve been known to consume multiple packs on occasion. Oops!
Pickled onion, I wonder if those are like the Funions we have in the US? Snack on, you can always brush your teeth before leaving the house!
Ha, ha! So true! The best is eating them on public transport! You can always guarantee you’re gonna get a seat to yourself when you eat them! 😊
Sneaky, I like it!