Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum - Dollar Tree
As soon as Collecting Candy posted these jelly donut gumballs on Instagram, I knew I had to have them.
I'm not sure how historically accurate this is, but in my mind, the 90's were all about bubble gum. We had Blow Pops, Bubble Tape, Big League Chew, and Bubblicious, but there was also a wonderful world of gumball machines to explore. At roller rinks and malls, I could buy seedlings, which were gumballs shaped like fruits filled with tiny candy sprinkle "seeds," Tongue Splashers, which would change your mouth to a different color, and tons of other novelties. I even lost a decent chunk of my hair, and a few articles of clothing, to childhood gum-chewing mishaps. Getting the chance to re-live that in my 30's, and only paying a dollar to do so? Priceless! (Being an adult and paying one dollar for an entire bag of gumballs makes you realize how messed up paying .25 cents just for one gumball actually was/is back in the day.)
I went to Dollar tree to grab one bag, but left with two, so today's post isn't only Dubble Bubble, it's Dubble Trubble!
First up, the main event, Jelly Donut!
I Can't Believe It's Not Hamburger Jerky - Bed Bath & Beyond
I was at Bed Bath and Beyond, probably because I had a coupon or something, and I found myself wandering around the mini World Market section. I grabbed the usual suspects, Tim Tams, some fancy teas, and a bunch of European candy bars, when this caught my eye. I Can't Believe it's Not Hamburger beef jerky. At first, the name made me think it might be a vegetarian product, but it isn't, and then I was curious about how this might actually taste. In my mind, this would taste like beef jerky cured in Big Mac sauce, which sounded really appealing, so I figured it was worth a shot!
So, will I believe that this isn't a Hamburger? Let's find out!~
Airheads Mystery Bites - Five Below
We've got a lot of ground to cover, so let's get down to business.
I picked these up because I wanted to see if:
a: I could guess what these flavors are
b: If there really is any difference between the white mystery flavors
c: If this is just a colorless version of normal Airheads Bites
Let's grab our comically over-sized magnifying glasses and get to work!
Unicorn Cupcakes - Walmart
We seem to be at the tail end of the unicorn trend. It was going strong for several years, with notable detour through mermaids, before taking a shocking left turn into llamas. I'm not sure how we went from magical creatures to a real-life furry animal, but, here we are.
I myself am not a unicorn-person, but I have several unicorn-people in my life with ages ranging from single digits, to nearly 30, so I get the appeal. They're magical, they're colorful, they're a symbol of innocence, and they inspired Peter S. Beagle to write one of my favorite books, "The Last Unicorn." (I actually met him at Otakon once, he was a really cool guy and they totally screwed him over the animated movie rights.) I'm not shocked that unicorns were trending, and I'm not even annoyed by the trend itself, but I am annoyed by how lazy most of these products seem to be.
Mentos Rainbow- Five BelowThe
When was the last time you bought Mentos? At one point, back when their catchy theme song ruled the world, they were one of my favorite candies. If Tic-Tacs and Starbursts combined to create a crunchy, chewy, minty baby, it would be Mentos. One day I just stopped buying them. No rhyme or reason really, but they seem to be doing just fine without me. I see them in every checkout aisle, and they keep releasing cool new flavors overseas (which make me incredibly jealous.) Why not jump into the wacky flavor market here in the States?
Anyway, I saw this fruity rainbow variety pack at Five Below, and I thought this might be fun to check out to get a little taste of what we've all been missing.
Spice Kake Krimpets - CVS
Tastykake is kind of a big deal around here, especially in Philadelphia. They may not be as pop culture friendly as Twinkies, but they get their fair share of shout-out's, like in the Ol' Dirty Bastard song, "Brooklyn Zoo." Honestly, I was never much of a Tastykake fan, but, in a not-so-shocking twist of fate, my Philly-born fiance is a Butterscotch Krimpet addict. I honestly had no idea. Since I buy all the groceries, and I'm not into Tastykakes, I never kept them in the house, but it turns out that he was buying them from a vending machine at work... until they ran out. That's when I started buying them, and let me tell you, I have bought more Krimpets in 2019 than I have purchased in my entire life.
Little did I know, 2019 was going to be the year of the Krimpet.
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Jelly Belly Beans - Five Below
As a kid, my grandparents always had jelly beans in their house, but they were either Brach's fruit or spiced flavors, and I was perfectly fine with that, until we discovered Jelly Belly. Flavors like strawberry jam and chocolate pudding blew Brach's out of the water. There was no going back. I remember my mom would buy the large variety boxes of jelly beans with "recipes" printed on the lid and we'd have fun mixing and matching flavors to create new experiences, which was a completely new concept. It was like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Now-a-days, I appreciate Jelly Belly's contributions to the candy world, but their products just don't "wow" me like they used to. Maybe all their competition catching up to them with the wacky flavor and mixing trend is drowning out their achievements, maybe their products just aren't as good as they used to be, or maybe my adult taste-buds are just harder to impress. All legitimate factors, but I just don't feel excitement for this brand anymore.
Pumpkin Pie vs. Sweet Cinnamon Kit-Kats
I know I said I wasn't going to jump into the winter stuff...but these were ALSO on clearance, so let's pit Halloween against Christmas and see who comes out on top!
I'll let Halloween go first, because it's my favorite, and it's obviously the superior holiday.
