UHA High Concentrated Milk Candy -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

UHA High Concentrated Milk Candy -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Today I have some concentrated milk candy to review.

The packaging caught my eye right away because it was so plain. In a sea of bright colors, happy mascots, and pop stars, this pale pink box stood out. The packaging is made of cardboard, and it’s about the same size and shape as a pack of Starbursts. (Just a few inches shorter.) The design is very minimal, and the colors are quirky. The text is navy blue, the box is white, and there are green, pink, and red accents. This design doesn’t wow me, but it did draw my eye on the candy shelf because it looks so different from everything else. 

Key Lime Cake Doughnut -Krispy Kreme : Collingswood, NJ

Key Lime Cake Doughnut -Krispy Kreme : Collingswood, NJ

The key lime cheesecake doughnut I reviewed yesterday was pretty yummy, even though there wasn’t much filling, but how will this cake doughnut taste?

This time, the doughnut has a cake base with the same key lime icing, but the whole thing is topped with cream.

Right off the bat, this doughnut is a mess! It is a typical doughnut with a hole in the middle, that hole is topped/filled with cream. When I opened the package cream was everywhere!

Key Lime Cheesecake Doughnut -Krispy Kreme : Collingswood, NJ

Key Lime Cheesecake Doughnut -Krispy Kreme : Collingswood, NJ

The original, glazed, Krispy Kreme doughnuts are amazing, but their seasonal flavors have always been a bit of a let down. Right now the company is promoting 2 different key lime donuts: Key Lime Cake and Key Lime Cheesecake. Since key lime is one of my favorite flavors, I am giving these a shot.

This cheesecake-doughnut is topped with graham cracker pieces and a tangy lime icing. Inside, there is supposed to be a creamy key-lime-cheesecake filling.

Homemade Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

Homemade Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

Okay, I fell in love with the pizza dough recipe I reviewed yesterday, so I made another batch. It was just so delicious AND easy! I may have a pizza addiction. (And by “may,” I mean I totally do. And by “problem,” I mean don’t judge me.)

I used the same pizza dough recipe to make the base of these garlic sticks.  Lauren, the original recipe writer, also has a cheesy garlic stick recipe, but I kind of made my own so I could use up more stuff I had in the fridge.

Homemade Pizza - Pinterest Recipe Review

Homemade Pizza -  Pinterest Recipe Review : The Pin

Here are some photos of the pizzas I made for dinner tonight!

I used THIS  pizza dough recipe, that I found on Pinterest.

The recipe was VERY easy to put together, and the finished crust was crispy and delicious. What I really liked was that the finished product was sturdy enough to hold all the toppings I added.

Parmesan Goldfish -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

Parmesan Goldfish -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

I am not a fan of the original Goldfish crackers. (My sister and mother love them.) As a kid, Cheese Nips were my go-to cheesy cracker. Now that I am an adult, I am addicted to Parmesan, so I decided to give this flavor a try.

Goldfish are made by Pepperidge Farm, which uses foiled-paper-bag packaging for a lot of their products. The sweet Goldfish (reviewed here) actually broke the mold and used a foiled plastic bag, which I surprisingly liked more. Typically I like paper packaging because it provides a lovely texture, but I feel like the plastic bag kept my graham crackers fresh for a longer period of time. As for design, the bag follows the traditional Goldfish branding. Instead of cheddar, it features a little block of Parmesan. Instead of orange, it has a swoosh of green. This is not an amazing or innovative design, but it’s simple and it works.

Botan Rice Candy - Five Below : Cherry Hill, NJ

Botan Rice Candy - Five Below : Cherry Hill, NJ

This was a little gift from my mother. She likes to read my posts (hi mom!) and wanted to get me a little something to review. I’ve actually had this candy before, but it was so many years ago I can’t remember what it tasted like, so I feel like I am reviewing it for the first time.

The packaging features large, bold, illustrations against a neon red and a true green background. While the colors are bold, they work quite nicely with each other. The illustrations and black text give the box a vintage look and feel.

According to Wikipedia, "The candy’s name, Botan (kanji: 牡丹, hiragana: ぼたん), means "peony" in Japanese. A peony blossom is shown on the label, next to an inu-hariko, a dog-shaped traditional toy for Japanese children."

I like this packaging, but I wish the “Botan Rice Candy” was written in white instead of black. I think the black is easily lost in the background.

Strawberry Grapefruit Syrup -Homemade, Recipe

Strawberry Grapefruit Syrup -Homemade, Recipe

I’m trying to use up a lot of the things in my fridge this week, so I used a couple strawberries and a grapefruit to made this syrup. It’s really delicious over ice cream, but I bet it’d be great on waffles and pancakes too!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 large strawberries
• Juice from 1/2 a grapefruit

In a small pot, combine the sugar and water. Place it over low heat, stirring occasionally. This will create a simple syrup to act as our sweetener and our base.

Magnum Gold -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

Magnum Gold -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

I’m sure most of you have seen the televisions ads for this gold ice cream bar. The packaging says that it is a new flavor, but this ad was made in 2010, so maybe this is a second release. Anyway, I had to give this bar a try.

The packaging really plays up the ‘gold’ aspect. The font is gold, the bar is glowing with a gold aura, and the typical Magnum logo has been morphed into a vault. For a brand that tries to appear high end and sophisticated, this is pretty playful. I think the design works well and it definitely caught my eye.

Qoo - Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Qoo - Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Qoo was actually a drink I learned about from my friend Matt who vlogged during his time in Japan. (Check out his youtube channel HERE.) After seeing the cute mascot, and learning about it from Matt, I wanted to give Qoo a try.

The bottle is pretty impressively detailed. The mascot’s face is at the top of the clear plastic bottle twice (1 face is seen in photo #1) with various expressions and fruits. Then, at the top, he is even on the cap making a snarky little expression. It turns out you can actually get a few different expressions on your bottle cap and a few people collect them.

Herr’s Boardwalk Salt and Vinegar Chips -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

Herr’s Boardwalk Salt and Vinegar Chips -Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

Salt and vinegar seems to be an acquired taste. People either love it, or hate it. As a kid I hated this flavor of chips, but now, as an adult, I can’t get enough of them.

The packaging has metallic pops of color with a matte background. (Most kettle chips seem to use a matte packaging, I wonder why?) The design uses overlayed textures to create a cohesive look between the brown, matte, areas and the blue metallic ones. This is a technique I use a lot in my digital work, but it is rare to see it applied to snack food packaging (especially chips). I think this design is really quite simple, but well thought out.

Frozen Yogurt - Kiwi Yogurt : Cherry Hill, NJ

Frozen Yogurt - Kiwi Yogurt : Cherry Hill, NJ

The weather is finally getting nicer here in Jersey! To celebrate, my sister and I stopped to get some frozen yogurt. (We both suffer from a fro yo addiction, so I have actually posted yogurt from Kiwi before, see that post HERE. Or see more of my fro yo posts HERE.)

I got 3 flavors of yogurt:

• Salted Caramel Pretzel
• Vanilla Latte
• Mint

And 2 Toppings:

• Mini Dark Chocolate Chips
• Mochi

Chicken Teriyaki and Amanda Roll -Mikado : Cherry Hill, NJ

Chicken Teriyaki and Amanda Roll -Mikado : Cherry Hill, NJ

My sister and I went out to lunch today, and since I was craving sushi, we decided to go to Mikado. (I actually reviewed this place before and talked a bit about the atmosphere, here’s my last review.)

I ordered:

• 1 Amanda Roll
• Chicken Teriyaki Lunch Box

Mikado has an amazing lunch menu. (Plus you get a LOT for your money.) The “lunch box” special is $9.00 and there are a bunch of options to choose from: curry, sushi, teriyaki, yakitori, and many more. With that, you get a salad, miso soup, a spring roll, 4 California rolls, and white (or brown) rice. I chose the teriyaki style chicken and my sister picked the yakitori chicken. That was plenty of food already, but I HAD to get the Amanda roll. My sister’s name is Amanda, so it was too quirky a coincidence to pass up.

The food was delicious. (I’ve already raved about the ginger carrot salad dressing, so I’ll skip over that.)

Meiji Almond Oats Crunch -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Meiji Almond Oats Crunch -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

This is the third flavor of Meiji Almonds I have tried. (I have already reviewed the Melty Kiss and Crispy Puff versions.) This candy is foolproof. Almonds AND chocolate? Toss anything into that mix and you have a winner. (Unless you’re allergic to nuts.)

The packaging is similar to the Melty Kiss version. It’s the same size, shape, and it opens the same way. Personally, I preferred the Crispy Puff box with a sliding tray, but both designs function as needed. The color scheme and design for this package both have an earthy feel that plays off the cereal/oats flavoring, and I think this is the most cohesive design of the bunch.

Meiji Grape Punch Tablets -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Meiji Grape Punch Tablets -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

As a kid I hated grape flavored candies, but now I can’t get enough of them! I tossed these grape punch tablets into my cart the second I saw them.

The box is pretty small, roughly as big as a pack of cigarettes, and it features three purple cartoon-y grape mascots. (The one on the far right looks a lot like Mr. Sparkle to me. Maybe it is an intentional joke?) The color scheme is purple heavy, but the little hints of orange, red, and green prevent it from looking monochromatic and boring. The design and exaggerated expressions are playful, so I can see this appealing to kids more than adults.

Mr. Brown Macadamia Nut Iced coffee -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Mr. Brown Macadamia Nut Iced coffee -Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Another item from my favorite grocery store, The Asian Food Market.

As you can see in the first photo, this container is much shorter than a traditional soda can. Since I rarely drink coffee, a little portion like this is perfect for me. The design is kinda cheesy, and it reminds me of the carpets that are commonly seen in roller rinks. There are palm trees, sunglasses, coffee beans and stars scattered all over the can with a tropical gradient color scheme. Although the design reminds me of American off-brand (no frills) beverages, I was surprised to find out that this is actually a product from Taiwan.

Cheesy Garlic Bread Lay’s - Target : Delran, NJ

Cheesy Garlic Bread Lay’s - Target : Delran, NJ

I’m sure most of you have seen (or heard) about Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” competition. If not, here is the gist of it. Lay’s created a build your own flavor app on facebook. Users made their own flavors which were compared and voted upon. (I actually participated and submitted General Tso’s Chicken as a flavor.) From all the entries submitted, the final three flavors were actually put into production to be tasted and voted on by America.

The three final flavors are:

• Sriracha (My Review)
• Chicken and Waffles
• Cheesy Garlic Bread

This favor was really hard to find! I finally tracked down a bag (thanks to my friend Sean who texted me about their location) and now here is the review!

Penne with Zucchini and Parmesan- Homemade

Penne with Zucchini and Parmesan- Homemade

Just a little something I threw together for dinner the other night. I still have a ton of veggies in the fridge and I want to use them up before they go bad so I might be making more recipe posts soon. 

This used:

• 2 Tomatoes - diced and grilled with minced garlic
• 1 Zucchini - Sliced and grilled
• Penne Pasta - Boiled on the stove (I eyeballed the amount and just used what was left in the box)
• Pasta Sauce (Again, I eyeballed it and used what was left in the jar)
• Parmesan Cheese - grated, 1/2 cup

I filled a pot with water and a dash of salt and put it over med-high heat.

While waiting for the water to boil, I chopped the tomatoes, sliced the zucchini, and grilled them with a teaspoon of minced garlic in a grill-pan. (One of the best kitchen pans ever!)  Once grilled and ready, I set them aside and started grating the Parmesan. 

After the water came to a boil, I added the pasta and allowed it to cook until it was ‘al dente.’ (Penne is my favorite, but you can use any pasta you want.) Then I drained the cooked pasta, added the noodles and the rest of the ingredients to a glass baking dish, and topped everything with the grated cheese. 

Once combined, I used my oven’s broiler to melt the cheese to crispy, melty, perfection. (I broiled mine for about 5-7 minutes.)

This is a simple way to use up veggies that are laying around or overripe. (You could also add onions, peppers, or peas.)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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MEGA STUF Oreo - ???

MEGA STUF Oreo - ???

This was another Easter gift from my boyfriend. Although I am not sure exactly where he purchased this, I know you can buy these at Target or Walmart in both the original-chocolate and golden-vanilla varieties.

These Oreos came out about a month ago, so there are plenty of reviews out there already. (Plus I am pretty sure most of you have seen them in stores.) Just in case you haven’t seen them or heard of them, these are basically normal Oreos filled with an INSANE amount of creme.

The design, color, and package are typical for the Oreo brand. The only new addition is the small "cookie vs creme" logo in the corner that asks you to vote for your favorite component of the classic cookie. So really, there isn’t much design to talk about. Instead, I’ll focus on the cookie. 

FUN Sweets Banana Cotton Candy - ???

FUN Sweets Banana Cotton Candy - ??? 

This semester is finally getting the better of me, so I am queuing some reviews now so that I won’t miss another update.

Today’s update is an Easter gift from my boyfriend. A little tub of banana cotton candy!

The packaging is a mixture of cute and frightening. That face is just…off. I think it’s the eyes. I can tell that the designers were going for big eyes to be cute, but these are just too big and detailed when compared to the rest of the design. As for the tub itself, it is surprisingly sturdy and pretty useful. (I clean these tubs out and use them to hold supplies for my daycare art classes.)

I was a bit worried about how this would taste because I am not a fan of banana flavored sweets. They always taste the same. (They all taste like banana runts!) I expected this cotton candy to be artificial with an obnoxious scent, but it actually smelled very mild.

Lite General Tso’s Chicken and Wontons - Chinatown Garden: Washington DC

Lite General Tso’s Chicken and Wontons - Chinatown Garden: Washington DC

I had to grab a quick dinner before we made the 2 hour drive back to Jersey, so I headed into DC’s Chinatown for a bite to eat.

I decided to get an order of General Tso’s with some dumplings, but this restaurant actually offered a “lite” version which I have never seen before. I was curious, so I gave it a try.

Vanilla Peach Tea - Matchbox: Washington DC

Vanilla Peach Tea - Matchbox: Washington DC

I’m back from DC with some foodie photos!

I met a lovely gentleman in The National Portrait Gallery who recommended a local restaurant, The Matchbox. Sadly, I hit the dinner rush and the wait for food was a bit too long for me to have a meal. Instead, I grabbed a drink at the bar.

I like sweet drinks, so I ordered off the “girlie” drink menu.

_{vanilla peach tea
absolut vanilla / peach schnapps / peach puree / ginger ale / iced tea}

For a mixed drink it was fairly strong, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The tea was really delicious, it tasted fresh brewed, and the puree was very sweet. The liquor mixed well with the other ingredients. I really liked this a lot! (Here is my review of Peach Schnaps on it’s own.)

It’s a shame I couldn’t grab any food here, the menu looks amazing, but I plan on checking them out the next time I’m in DC.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Coconut Kuai Kuai Corn Snack - Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Coconut Kuai Kuai Corn Snack - Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ 

I liked the strawberry puffed corn snacks so much that I bought these coconut ones.

The design is a bit different than the strawberry variety I purchased before. This time, instead of a cute little face there is a little mascot that seems to be a mixture of leprechaun and hillbilly. I don’t see how he relates to the coconut flavor, so maybe this is a general mascot for this brand? I’m not really sure. Also, on the back of the bag there is a short song and writing that seems to be a game or puzzle. If so, that is a pretty fun detail. Overall, I liked the design of the strawberry bag more, but this bag isn’t terrible.

Cotton Candy Pop Rocks - ???

Cotton Candy Pop Rocks - ???

This was a gift from my boyfriend, so I’m not sure where he purchased it. (Although I’m pretty sure these packages are easy to find.)

Pop Rocks are a classic American candy that became really popular in the 1980’s. It even has it’s own Urban Legend! The rumor was that the mixture of Pop Rocks and Coke can make your stomach explode, but this myth was busted.

The packaging is a beautiful bright blue with magenta lettering, pink cotton candy, and graphics that remind me of Jem and The Holograms. (A show from the 80’s that I adored! I have the series on DVD.) I love everything about this package and it’s design.

Inside, the candies are baby pink and sea foam-green. They look gorgeous! There is a faint sugary smell, but the scent isn’t very strong, and I can’t detect any burnt sugar or cotton candy notes.

I had Pop Rocks all the time as a kid, so the taste is very nostalgic for me. The candy pops and sizzles in your mouth with a sweet, slightly fruity, flavor. I can’t quite place the specific flavor, but I think it is more-so a pink/strawberry cotton candy than a blue/raspberry one.

I love this candy both for the nostalgia and the taste. If you haven’t had Pop Rocks you are definitely missing out!

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Meiji Kinoko No Yama Roasted Sweet Potato - Asian Food Market, NJ

Meiji Kinoko No Yama Roasted Sweet Potato - Asian Food Market, NJ

What? Even MORE Chocorooms?

My other Chocoroom flavor reviews:

• Original (Chocolate)
• Caramel
• Strawberry
• Purple Sweet Potato
• Macadamia

This is the last box of Chocorooms I have in my stash.

The packaging for this flavor is very vibrant. The combinations of red-violet and green are stunning. I think this is meant to be a fall flavor and design, but I’m not sure. (The Purple Sweet Potato was definitely a fall release with an obvious fall color scheme.) The box is smaller and thinner than the Macadamia version I reviewed a few days ago, so it’s more like the original Chocoroom box than any of the specialty flavors I have had.

Gobstoppers Eggbreakers - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

Gobstoppers Eggbreakers - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

Happy belated Easter! Sorry for missing yesterday’s update! My mother usually hosts Easter dinner but she is currently recovering from surgery, so I took over her duties this year and between cooking and cleaning... I didn’t get around to posting an update.

I actually forgot I had these to review!

Gobstoppers are one of my favorite candies. While I love the original, my absolute favorite version has to be the Heartbreakers. (I love them so much I used them to make THIS animation.) Today I have the Easter variety, which is a version I have never had before.  

This time, instead of a bag, the candies are inside a cardboard carton in the shape of an Easter basket. The colors are REALLY bright, but that is standard for all variations of Gobstoppers and most (if not all) Wonka candies. Unlike the original or Valentine’s Day version, the portion is much smaller, and the price is much lower.