Trick or Treat: Favorite Day Filled Gumballs

Normally I try to go in and write these with a first-taste experience, but I cracked into these the second I bought them, they're great! Probably my favorite Favorite Day product I've ever had. 

You get three flavors, and each have a unique filling. 

Teeny Doses of Nostalgia - Mini Mini Chicles

I was grabbing some poster frames at Michel's and it turns out, their check-out aisle is lined with tons of nostalgic candy. Who knew? 

 

I grabbed two packs of these, one for me and one for my sister, because looking at them almost broke my brain. 

Familiar, and yet, wrong? Like that whole Berenstein vs. Berenstain bears debate. (I am one of the kids who swore it was "Stein.") The colors are right, the paper pouch feels right, but something about it looks wrong. I think it's the name? I'm pretty sure these were called, "Tinys," or something like that. Whatever they go by these days, it's still tiny bits of fruity gum in a paper envelope, and the child in me says, go for it! 

This is What Dreams are Made of? - Coke Dreamworld

Coca-Cola's Creation line are sodas that are flavored using abstract concepts and unique labels. So far we've had Starlight, Byte, a collaboration with Marshmello (which was actually strawberry-watermelon flavored), and now we have Dreamworld. 

 

Normally I hate marketing that take a normal product and hypes it up to go viral, but I have actually been having a lot of fun with this! While I have found most of it's flavors to be rather conventional, with Starlight tasting like cotton candy, and Byte having a raspberry-fruity flavor, the elaborate labels and just barely unpretentious product descriptions keep me coming back for more every time. Is this the new limited edition Oreo for food bloggers? 

I'm on a Tea-Kick Lately (Master Kong Tropical Iced Tea)

Master Kong Tropical Fruit Iced Tea - Hung Vuong

Colorful packaging always wins me over, and this features every color in the rainbow PLUS a bunch of appealing fruity imagery. Other than it being labeled "Iced tea" and having tons of fruit on it, I know absolutely nothing about this product but...

Technology is really amazing you guys. I have a Pixel phone, so I took a photo and ran it through Google lens, and not only did it translate some of the bottle for me instantly, but it reverse image searched and found out that this is Master Kong brand tropical fruit iced tea. (And you can scan the code on the cap for...something. Prizes I presume?) We're living in the future.

 Now that I know what it is, let's see how it tastes. 

Ah Chex Mix, We Meet Again - Strawberry Yogurt Simply Chex

Strawberry Yogurt Chex Mix - Target

Did anyone else go through obsessive snacking phases as a teen, or was it just me? There was one summer I was absolutely obsessed with Herr's BBQ potato chips. I ate them until I was absolutely sick of them. I moved on to Pizza/Ranch Doritos which I ate religiously until they were discontinued. Then I became obsessed with Chex Mix for a few years, but this was back when it was new, in a blue and white bag, and it still had bagel chips. (I also think the pieces covered in extra seasoning were far more plentiful back then.) There is actually a fun rant about which pieces are the best in The Venture Bros. episode, A Very Venture Halloween.

The extra-seasoned rice Chex were my holy grail during snacking, I could easily demolish an entire bag while seeking them out. But, like the BBQ chips, eventually I made myself sick of it, so I moved on to something else. 

During my Chex-Mix-less years, things changed. More flavors, both sweet and savory, have come and gone, and, as stated earlier, bagel chips are MIA in the original mix (but we still keep two different types of meh-flavored-pretzels? Blasphemy!)

I think I have only tried a handful of the different varieties. I remember a caramel turtle flavor, a chocolate one, and the bold mix (which I hoped was 100% extra seasoned pieces, so I was very disappointed when it wasn't). I think that's it, but honestly, none of the other flavors appealed to me. Even now, I bought this flavor on a complete whim. At best I had hopes this would taste like breakfast cereal, at worst? Chapstick or maybe NesQuik. So, will this be a new snacking obsession, or a regrettable impulse buy? 

Puccho, is that you? - Puchao

Puchao

Lookie what I found at Walmart! Puchao, or really, Puccho, just repackaged and rebranded for international audiences. Over the years Hi-Chew has gotten far easier to get in the states, with various flavors available at places like Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Five Below. I guess Puccho realized they have a similar enough product, so why not make it look similar and target the same audience? 

But, will it taste the same? Or did they reformulate? 

This Candy is Older Than My Dog, Let's Eat It!

Lilikoi and Pineapple Hi-Chew - Gift...from 2016

Like many people, to kick off the new year I started deep cleaning my house and what did I find? These Hi-Chew (from 2015). Five to six years ago Marvo from The Impulsive Buy sent me these exclusive Hi-Chew from Hawaii, and I totally lost them. Deep in a box of things from my old bedroom, there they were. I hated the idea of throwing them out, and does candy ever -really- go bad? I mean, it's not like they got wet or anything...

So today I will be tempting fate, and dental work, by trying these two Hi-Chew flavors that officially expired in October of 2016. Wish me luck! 

Starburst By The Foot

Fruit by the Foot Starburst - Target

I found them! I was really excited when I saw photos of these online and I finally found a box when I ran to Target the other day. I'm a big fan of Starburst, and after having the Jolly Rancher Fruit Roll-Ups a while back, I had high hopes that these would be equally delicious. Let's jump right in!

So Freaking Cute, I HAD to have it

Sumikkogurashi Puccho (with Washi Tape!) - Hung Voung Market

Hello, my name is Maria, and I am a sucker for cute packaging and a craft supply hoarder. It's like this product was made for me.

I am not a San-X fan, in fact, I had to google these characters to even know what they were, but I couldn't resist a tiny roll of (potentially) adorable washi tape. 

For those interested, these characters are Sumikkogurashi, pretty much adorable little animals/objects/anthropomorphic food who prefer living a solitary live in the corner of a room. An oddly specific interest for sure, and their bios indicate that each character has their own issues, like body insecurity, being generally fed up, and being discarded. The concept seems like a downer at first, but...same. 

See for yourself: 

Lidl's take on Skittles - Worth the Buy?

Sweet & Sour Crunchy & Chewy Candy - Lidl

Chocolates are easy to copy. I have seen variations of peanut butter cups from pretty much every store out there from big chains to mom and pop's, tons of candy bars that look an awful lot like Snickers, but aren't, and I have even seen plenty of takes on m&m's, but fruity candy? That's harder to dupe. 

There are a few exceptions, like gummy bears, which are available from tons of brands, but how often do you see a knock-off Skittles? 

I have seen a few faux Starburst over the years, but something that this closely matches Skittles is so rare. They even have 3 of the same flavors as Original Skittles, and it comes in normal and sour flavors. How will these compare? 

Crocos & Magic Mouse - Lidl Gummies

Crocos and Magic Mouse Gummies - Lidl

I am 90% sure these are rip offs of Haribo's Crocos and Mice, just Lidl-ified, but since those particular Haribo products are hard to find around here (in New Jersey) I figured I'd give these a shot and see how they taste! 

Heads or Tails?

Swedish Fish Tails

Is there anyone out there that prefers the mixed-flavor Swedish Fish to the original red? 

Maybe I'm just a Swedish Fish purist, but red fishies are the only fishies for me. However, it seems like Swedish Fish as a brand are changing with the times and branching out. We now have tropical fish, Crush Soda fish, and these fruity two-toned fish joining the...ocean? Tank? Family?

Whatever the terminology, It's nice to see a classic candy changing with the times, but will these new flavors live up to the original? 

MEGA Smarties

Mega Smarties  - Dollar Tree

Things I have learned during quarantine: Vol 2

1. Leggings are not pants, but they are superior to pants in every possible way 
2. Potatoes are the unsung heroes of thrown-together dinners
3. Gossip Girl holds up fabulously, and it's what Riverdale wishes it could be

Smarties, in the US, are compressed tablet-style candies that come in eye-pleasing pastel colors. I have been eating these for years, and they are one of my favorite candies, but do they really taste like they say they should? I know the company says each color corresponds to a flavor, but...do they really? 

According the the company, the flavors are: white-orange cream, yellow-pineapple, pink-cherry, green-strawberry, purple-grape, and orange-orange. 

I find this a little mind blowing, because as a kid, I swore the white ones tasted disgusting, and refused to eat them, but now as an adult I think the white and classic orange are nearly indistinguishable. Was I really discerning as a kid? Or did the white ones just look like medicine so I simply refused to eat them? Who knows! 

Classic Smarties are so small, and delicate, that I never felt like I could get a firm grasp on each individual flavor. Maybe MEGA Smarties will shed some light on this life-long flavor dilemma.

When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip!

Skittles Dips  - CVS

Things I have learned during quarantine: Vol 1

1. My dark under eye circles are definitely genetic 
2. Adding potato chips to chocolate chip cookies is the best thing since sliced bread
3. I don't like yogurt even half as much as the rest of the world

I have avoided trying these not-so-new yogurt-covered Skittles because I think yogurt covered anything is disgusting. I know it has it's fans, otherwise the trail mix section at the supermarket wouldn't be 50% yogurt-covered-whatevers, but I just don't get the appeal. It's as if someone looked at chocolate covered raisins and thought, how could I make this, but sadder? Yogurt!

Someone must have looked at Skittles and thought the same thing, because these now exist, and after seeing them consistently on my Instagram feed for months, I finally caved in and grabbed a pack.

Solving A Mystery (But not Really)

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!

Going Overboard at 7-Eleven

7-Eleven Mystery Monkeys & Nerds Slurpee

I can't remember why we stopped at 7-Eleven in the first place, but I ended up leaving with a Nerds Slurpee, some mystery monkey gummis, the new Voo-Doo Mountain Dew and some White Castle refrigerated butter cake slices on a stick. I've never seen these sold at actual White Castle locations, but I'm excited! 

For starters, let's chow down on some mystery candy with a candy flavored Slurpee chaser. (Voo-Doo Dew and White Castle will each be getting their own stand-alone reviews next week.) 

Fancy Fruity Friends Drinking Beverages? - My New Tumblr Aesthetic?

Friends Drinking Beverage Clear Fruity Sodas - H-Mart 

These bottles are really freaking cute. I'm not sure if the size translates well in these photos, but each one is about half the height of a 16 oz. soda bottle and they're made of heavy glass. For their size, their price tag was a little on the steep-side (since they're imported and all) so it came down to aesthetics or frugality...

We all know which option won out. Let's pop these bottles!

Cute Packaging AND Pear flavored candy? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Pop Candy Peko Chan Lollipops (Pear Flavor) -  Asian Food Market $3.99

Peko chan is back with more lollipop flavors! Well, just one new flavor, but it's an interesting one! 

Last year I reviewed the insanely adorable Halloween version of these lollipops which included the standard grape, strawberry, and orange flavored candies which are also included in this bag. To see my thoughts on the original fruity trio, check out last year's review. This time around I'm only going to focus on the new, green-colored flavor addition: Pear!

NEW Sour Patch Kids Strawberries - Walmart

 Sour Patch Strawberry - Walmart 

Sorry for the long pause between written posts. I mentioned this before, but I'm currently house hunting, so talking to mortgage companies and looking at homes is taking up a LOT of my time. Once I find a place and settle in things will back to normal. In the meantime, don't be fooled! This bag says "new" but these have been out for months, maybe even half a year at this point. Still, "new" or not, I was intrigued.

Pac-Man Arcade Cabinet Candy - Five Below

Pac-Man Arcade Cabinet Candy - Five Below

It's a nostalgic novelty product-filled weekend! After having the moment earlier ranting about The Real Ghostbusters animated series and Twinkies, I'm back with another retro throw back, this time it's gaming related!

Growing up my mother and grandmother each had a NES. That's right, they were cool like that, and I used to watch them play all kinds of games. (Well mostly my mom. Grandma only played the original Mario and Duck Hunt and never tried anything else.) This was long before the Let's Play days on YouTube, for me, my mom was the original Markiplier. She'd play Megaman 4, Q*bert, Mario 1, 2 & 3, Tetris and Pac-man. I would play a little here and there, but I really got into Pac-Man and Tetris somewhere in my teens.