Junk Food Nation, the Washington Post recently came out with its Top 20 all-time TV moments. When I first saw the title to the list, I started thinking of television shows (like the last episode of M.A.S.H., or Seinfeld), and maybe sports moments (World Cup, Olympics, Super Bowls).  But when I saw that the first moment on the list was 9/11, I thought “oooooh….THOSE types of moments.”

The radio show I listen to, The Junkies, recently discussed this list, trying to remember where they were during each moment on the list.  Scanning through the selections, I have some very vivid memories about each moment:

Number 1: The Attacks on 9/11. I definitely remember watching the footage of this on TV after I managed to get out of New York City. It’s funny – thinking back, I remember getting from my place to my then-girlfriend’s place in Princeton, NJ, but I have no recollection of how I got there.  Did I take a train? Did I hitchhike? That part is a definite blur.

Number 4: The Challenger explosion.  Second grade, I remember this shuttle launch was a schoolwide event.  We all stopped class and my teacher wheeled that TV to the front of the room. When the explosion occurred, we all weren’t sure what we were watching, but teachers began scrambling.

Number 13: Obama’s Acceptance Speech. Love him or hate him, it was a big moment, and I remember being in a bar in Dupont Circle (one of those with 30 TVs) as the election results came in.  DC was definitely buzzing that night – people poured out of establishments and homes to march on the White House.

I’m not old enough to remember anything with JFK, and I’m suspect of some of the moments on the list being in the Top 20 of All-Time (Whitney Houston’s death?  That happened like yesterday!). Still, what say you, Nation? Where were YOU for some of these TV-viewing moments?

Today’s junk food is on the healthier side of snacks: Dr. Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss & Ginger Snap Cookies!

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss & Ginger Snap Cookies: The Money Shots

I received this free batch of Dr. Lucy’s cookies by mail direct from the source; these Dr. Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss & Ginger Snap Cookies are just 1/2 of the haul I received.  Dr. Lucy is Dr. Lucy Gibney, an M.D. dedicated to creating a treat for those with extreme food allergies.  These cookies have a whole lotta nothing, in a good way: no gluten, no peanuts, no tree nuts, no milk, no eggs, no trans fats, no cholesterol. Would they have no flavor as well?  Time to find out – let’s start with the Maple Bliss.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: The Money Shot

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: 40 calories a cookie is nice, and there’s lots of oats in this. Don’t see maple sugar listed though…

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: Kind of a creepy cartoon, but I like the message…interesting that they advertise “not too sweet.”

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: These are made nearby me in Norfolk, VA!  Score.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: 15 cookies in a box, and I like the non-traditional packing method.  Just jam em in there!

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: Plain looking, nothing too startling here

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss: Flaky and sweet

Lucy’s Gluten Free Maple Bliss cookies are super crunchy, right off the bat.  No staleness or sogginess here –  this is a nice crunchy cookie with good crumble. “Not too sweet” was right. The flavor I got right away was the pecan-like molasses flavor.  Very strong, and earthy tasting.  The rest of the chew was a nice satisfying sweet dough sugar-cookie-like flavor.  Did I get a lot of maple flavor?  Sort of…but molasses was what jumped out at me more than any maple sugar flavor.  Good cookie, but I wasn’t quite in “maple bliss.”

Moving on to the Ginger Snap:

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: The Money Shot

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: I like that lemon and chipotle flavor is part of the equation.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: “We put the SNAP into snap” ? I’m not sure that phrase…means anything.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: Focusing on making non-allergic products is Lucy’s hallmark…let’s hope it doesn’t impact taste.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: Again, just fit as many cookies as you can in these trays, and don’t look back.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: Nice surface cracking

Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap: Good bite, and good give

When I bit into Dr. Lucy’s Gluten Free Ginger Snap cookies, I got ginger RIGHT AWAY.  Like the Maple Bliss cookies, I also got a nice crunchy texture right away, but as I chewed, I noticed tiny chewy pieces of real ginger.  Eat bite into these ginger pockets let off a spark of ginger flavor that went a long way.  These were not overly sweetened but still tasted sweet.  A more subtle version of a ginger snap cookie (one not enhanced with artificial sugars and artificial ginger taste,) this ginger snap cookie packed a good natural gingery punch.  Really good.  Between Ginger Snap and Maple Bliss, I say go for the Snap.

It’s hard to make gluten free cookies that don’t taste like cardboard (I’ve had some at Whole Foods that qualify as such), but these held up pretty well.  Not sure I would take these over Oreos just yet…but I could see myself eating these again.

Part 2 of my haul tomorrow!

PURCHASED AT: I received these via the mail for free but you can purchase them at a lot of grocery stores – go here to search for nearby locations.

COST: Online these go for about ~$5.00 a box.

Thoughts? Please comment below (I always reply) or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s hang out.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy