nosh nook #93 - wednesday, july 22, 2009

space age snacks (link)
07.21.09 - the washington post - by jennifer larue huget

if you're one of those conspiracy-ignoring folks who believes that the moon landing actually happened & wasn't some staged event manufactured in a hollywood studio, then to you, this past monday marked the 40th anniversary of the day that apollo 11 & its three astronauts touched down on the moon's surface. since space is all wacky & stuff, for sustenance, those supposed astronauts supposedly brought along crazy astronaut foods specifically designed for the unique characteristics of space travel.

the washington post's jennifer larue huget is a moon landing believer who's pretty excited about the anniversary & as such, she's become nostalgic for space food sticks, "pencil-thin treats that (she) ate because, well, they were made for astronauts." unlike TANG, which was eventually adopted by NASA, the space sticks were developed by "pillsbury company food scientist howard bauman with the space program in mind" and "astronauts took the snack sticks (tucked into a special port on their helmets) along on EVAs (extravehicular activities) to 'munch on when hungry.'" with their ratio of protein, carbs & fats, they were basically "the original energy bar."

after realizing there was still a substantial demand for them, writer eric lefcowitz recently re-engineered the space sticks formula and revived the longed-for snack...so if you feel like playing pretend & acting like you're on the moon, just like the apollo 11 asronauts did forty years ago, you can head on over to the space snacks website & order up some magical space sticks. blast off!