The peanut buttery candy bar with a silly name, Whatchamacallit, now has a sibling, the Whozeewhatzit. Together they make for a cohesive pair branding and name-wise, but will the new chocolate-focused bar be strong enough bar to stand on it's own?
I know for a fact that I have eaten a Whatchamacallit before in my life, but I honestly can't remember when, or if I even liked it, so I picked up both to refresh my memory and see how they compare.
So, who's on first?
Not the most appetizing name...
I was immediately skeptical about this product, but it was so cheap that I figured it was worth the risk. Plus, it's blue!
It's been a minute since my last post, and since then my household has gained: a chalkboard wall, an 18" deep trench around the pool, a friendly baby chinchilla, and a thriving cherry tomato plant. I've also (unfortunately) discovered and destroyed a bunch of poison ivy in the yard (after kneeling in it, oops.), and I've managed to dismantle a small chunk of my cardboard-castle-filled living room. Who knew I had so much stuff?! (And so few chinchillas.)
So yeah, it's been quite the adventure, but it's a fun adventure, so let's celebrate some slim victories with some slim cookies!
Look out guys, they're are some new kids on the block! Sour Patch Kids came out with a new mix. Will it be just as good as the original version? Or is it a flop? We shall see!
The advertising behind these new Cookie Layer Crunch bars was...excessive. Hershey's posted these bold, hyped up, teaser images on their social media accounts acting like they had revolutionized the candy bar and that something big and possibly life changing was coming in December of 2016. In reality, their big reveal had been spoiled by stealthy food finder, CandyHunting, LAST APRIL. Whoops. Guess someone let the cat out of the bag.
So the big to-do was that Hershey's was going to release new Cookie Layer Crunch bars, and they were going to come in three flavors: caramel, vanilla creme, and mint. I like candy as much as the next food blogger, heck, I used to do a podcast all about candy with CandyHunting and Cybele from CandyBlog (FYI I really miss doing that), but I just..don't get it. I don't get the hype behind this product and I don't see what makes it different from tons of other (possibly better) candy-bars that already exsist. I was curious, but not curious enough to really hunt one of these candy-bars down. I do have a giant food hoard at home that I'm trying to whittle down, so I waited until I happened upon this bar chance (at a Walmart checkout) to give it a shot.
Hershey's are you going to prove me wrong? Will this blow my blogging mind? Let's find out!
Get ready for a nostalgic, fan-girl-ish, ranting-style review with tons of nostalgia! I know this meme has been done to death but...
 |
| Robin Williams ;_; |
Having all this novelty Ghostbsuters stuff on the grocery shelves has made me so irrationally happy. I was just a kid in the late 80's, so the adult humor in the live action films was lost on me (although I still enjoyed them). It was The Real Ghostbusters animated series with silly side-kick Slimer, bizarre blonde-pompadour Egon, and Garfield-the-cat sounding Peter Venkman that sucked me into the fandom. I still have some of my action figures and ghastly plastic ghoulies in a storage bin in my attic.
I love this franchise and I happily purchased all the novelty Ghostbusters snacks I could find. I bought a 10-pack of the Ecto-Cooler juice boxes, some Key Lime Slime Twinkies, some Slimer and Marshmallow-man-shaped 'mallows and these Stay Puft-themed Twinkies. That's right, Twinkies released 2 novelty limited edition flavors! Why? Well...
Back in college I lived off of espresso shots and caramel, but now-a-days I just drink water out of my oh so classy giant Walmart mason jar. I know that sounds super hipster-y, but trust me, I don't use it for the look. I use it because it's huge (it's a quart-sized soup jar for canning), and since it's nice and big, I only have to refill it 2-3 times a day. (I drink a LOT of water and constantly refilling a normal sized cup is annoying.I'mlazy.) Coffee got me through a lot of tough times in college, but I don't need that boost of energy in my every day life. (At least not yet.) I'll drink it maybe 4-5 times a year, but when Junk Banter posted a photo of Pistachio iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts...I knew I was in trouble.
Watch out world, I'm caffeinated! (Be afraid. Be very afraid.)
Here's another treat I picked up in preparation of our most recent Candyology 101 podcast. (Which was Trader Joe's themed.) For my podcast "homework" I walked up and down the aisles of Trader Joe's and tossed every candy that caught my eye into my cart. (Best homework EVER!) I picked a few that I thought I might dislike, just to have something to talk about, but for the most part I didn't have a strong opinion one way or another. I saw these jelly beans and figured, "why not?" So into the cart they went and now I'm here reviewing it! (Such an exciting backstory, right?)
Despite my own personal pumpkin obsession, the fall season is more than just pumpkin spice, there's also pecans and pecan pie! (Sweet potato is out there too, but it doesn't get enough love to warrant it's own m&m.)
These seasonal Pecan Pie flavored m&m's were the Walmart exclusive companion-product to the Target exclusive Pumpkin Spice Latte version, and I stalked several Walmarts for WEEKS trying to find these. Finally, after all the other foodbloggers had already reviewed them, my local Walmart got them in stock. Oh well. They aren't new anymore, but I still wanted to give them a try! So here we are!
How can you make cookie butter even more trendy? You make it pumpkin pie spiced of course! The brilliant marketing team at Trader Joe's took their ever popular cookie butter and spiced it up for the fall season. After all, everyone loves cookie butter and everyone loves pumpkin spice, so it's gotta be good, right? Let's find out if this is a tasty product, or a seasonal marketing ploy.
America finally gets some black-themed burger buns! I'm so happy! Like all the other food bloggers out there, I'm super jealous of all of the limited edition burgers available in Japan. They've had red tomato powder burger buns, pink sakura buns, and even all black squid ink buns with black cheese and a black sauce. Our American version isn't that intense, but hey, it's a start!
The HA1LOWEEN burger has black buns, but they aren't squid ink-based like the ones sold in Japan. Instead, these are "infused with A1 steak sauce," which is a popular condiment here in the states, but it actually originated in the UK. The sauce alone doesn't create the intense black colored buns. As far as I can tell, this bun is the result of massive amounts of food coloring, but we'll talk a bit more about that later...totally unrelated, but there will be some...trigger warning-type stuff towards the end of this review. I'll flag it, but be warned: black burger buns come with some...unique side effects.
I've already done a first impression video with my opinions on this year's flavors, but since I've been munching on these ever since, I thought I'd do a little update before I cast my official vote.
It's Independence day here in America, so that means backyard BBQs, fireworks, and a whole lot of red, white, and blue themed foods. Normally I'm not a huge fan of novelty food products like this, where it's a normal every day item with a seasonal color switch up, but I bought these thinking they'd be fun to photograph and post for the holiday. Hopefully the real pastries inside are as cute as their box-art counterparts.
Is it gummi? Or gummy? However it's spelled, these sweets are my absolute favorites.
Back in high school, long before I started a food blog, I was candy-loving goth mallrat and I'd buy a huge bag of gummies every Friday at the (now closed) bulk candy store in our local mall. I'd fill a bag with all kind of different gummi shapes and sizes, and I'd eat it all before the next weekend. (Although one or two gummy sharks may or may not have been released back into the wild, meaning the mall fountain. I'm so sorry early 2000's mall cleaning staff. I was a rebel.) I even used to joke that the best birthday present for me would be my weight in gummy candy! (Which I would still love by the way. *hint*hint*)
Now that I've proven my gummi-loving street-cred, let's check out this new flavor variety from Lifesavers that I found at the drugstore. (Where I was buying oh-so-sexy shoe inserts to wear to the convention center.)
It's rainy and gross here in New Jersey, and I have absolutely no energy, so it's going to be a lazy lunch/dinner kind of week. Unlike a lot of my reviews, where I'm eating an item for the first time, this is an item I buy every now and again for days like today when water seeps into my sneakers and soaks my socks. (The worst feeling ever.) I hadn't really planned on reviewing this item, but I figured I might as well review it.
Are any of you scrambling for a last minute gift this season? Do they like Reese's cups? BUY THIS! Seriously. Buy this spread, slap a bow on it, and tie a fancy spoon to it using red and white striped twine or ribbon. BOOM! Best gift ever. I'm normally not the kind of person to gush over a particular product, but this...this is just gush-worthy.
Not convinced? Go ahead and read the rest of this review.
Chocolate milk for coffee addicted adults! Are any of you subscribed to foodie Youtuber, Emmymadeinjapan? (If not, you should be.) She made a video last year talking about coffee milk, which is the official drink of Rhode Island. Over a year later, I happened to be wandering around a grocery store (waiting for my car to be serviced), and I found a bottle of coffee syrup to make my own coffee milk! From what I've read online, it seems like this is the branding and packaging for the same syrup Emmy reviewed in Rhode Island, but this is how that brand markets to other states. I figured it would make an interesting review item, plus it might be something new for my coffee addicted boyfriend to try, so into my cart it went.
There isn't much to this product, so this is going to be a really quick review.
I've said this before, but The Pumpkining is upon us! Which means that my 2014 Pumpkin Gallery will be starting up very soon. Those of you who have followed this blog (or the Sometimes Foodie tumblr) for a while, know that I do this every fall. So far I have two galleries full of pumpkin items from 2012 and 2013. (With 53 different pumpkin items reviewed!) To prepare myself for the onslaught of pumpkin and fall themed foods headed my way, I am working my way through my current foodie stash, so today I'm going to finally try these cookies that have been sitting in my "to review" pile for about a month. (First world food blogger/hoarder problems.)
These cappuccino chips definitely get points for creativity, but this contest is about finding a flavor that works well and appeals to the masses. Sure, people love coffee in all forms, but will these actually taste good? Let's find out...
