Barbie-sized Ice Cream Cones

Senjaku Soft Ice Cream Candies - Hung Vuong

In spite of decorating my home with skulls and spooky objects year-round, I am not immune to pastel cuteness. That said, this is hella cute. (When have I ever said, "hella?" It felt right at the time, but now I'm getting early 2000's No Doubt flashbacks.) 

We have uniquely shaped packaging, pastels, stripes, confetti, and the promise of tiny ice cream cone shaped vanilla candies. I had to have it. 

As far as the candy inside, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. The descriptor says "soft ice cream shaped cute candy," so it'll be ice cream shaped, but the "soft" refers to this being based on vanilla soft serve ice cream, so I wasn't sure what form the candy inside would take. Gummy? Mellowcreme? Turns out they're actually hard candies and they're 3D!

A Hit and A Miss - The Yogurt Flavored Sweet-Tarts No One Ever Asked For

Lemon Candies  - Asian Food Markets

I'm alive~! I took a short (unscheduled) break, but I'm back at it again with the Tuesday & Thursday food posts and today's pick is a double feature with two different flavor variations of the same candy. 

I picked these up during the great "Hoard everything 'cause Asian Food Market is closing forever," sale. Instead of the usual case of me being suckered in by pretty packaging, this time I was blinded by the fear of missing out. (Also known as FOMO but that sounds stupid.) I bought everything that I had never seen at other Asian markets, these candies included, and the results have been hit or miss. Mostly miss, if I'm being honest, but I regret nothing!

What's The Difference? - 3 Kinds of Apples

Pine Brand Apple Candy (3 Kinds) - Asian Food Market

Another item from my Asian Food Markets farewell-haul. (I miss them.) Last I heard, they were scouting new locations for a South Jersey store, but things have been pretty quiet. I hope for the best, but I fear that this might have been goodbye, for good. 

Contextually, this is easy to figure out. These are hard candies with different apple flavors, a pink, a red, and a gold. And since my hiatus, I still haven't learned to read Japanese, so we're going to be winging it a little in this one. I mean, I can tell it is three different varieties of apples, but I am not sure which ones and if these are region-specific.  Thanks to the almighty-Google, I was able to find this, which looks almost exactly the same, but the golden apple in the center (on the right) is replaced with a green one. Pretty sneaky, sis. I guess apple variety packs are this brand's thing? 

Since the top and bottom apple image are the same as the one found online, I can assume they are Johnathan Gold and Fuji. The gold is still a mystery, but I am going into this with some healthy skepticism. Will these actually taste any different? 

A Candy Farewell Toast! - Goodbye to My Beloved Asian Food Markets

Tokachi Wine Candy - Asian Food Markets 

Two weeks ago, the Asian Food Markets, arguably, the best Asian grocery store in South Jersey, broke my heart by closing it's doors. 

According to articles online, their lease was up and they are currently looking for a new location, but as of now, they haven't found one. I'm a little nervous that this could be goodbye forever...

(Before I get too dramatic, these are a chain and there are other locations, but there are none within reasonable driving distance of my home.)

I couldn't let my favorite store disappear without one last hurrah, so the day before they closed, I stopped by and took advantage of their 30% off everything sale. Normally I stick to a simple hand cart, but if this was (potentially) a "good bye forever" situation, I was going to go out with a BANG. I grabbed a full-size cart and filled it with all kinds of goodies. We're talking candies, tons of tea, snacks, curry cubes, wasabi tubes, and tons of cooking ingredients. Pretty much I grabbed everything I had always wanted to try and knew I couldn't buy at H-Mart or the other Asian markets here in South Jersey. 

When I got to the check-out, my cart was pretty heavy and practically overflowing with stuff, and the total? Only $109.76 for 50 items! The frugal part of me was stoked, but it ultimately a bitter sweet victory. 

To celebrate my love for the oddly pluralized "Asian Food Markets," (and to get my butt back into blogging semi-regularly) I'll be reviewing a bunch of the stuff I purchased there, starting off this these wine flavored candies. 

A crunchy candy farewell toast!

Teddy Pop - Asian Food Market

Teddy Pop - Asian Food Market

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! (Well the few minutes left of it anyway.) The last two years I went all out and cooked up some fancy holiday-themed recipes, but...it's Thursday night and it's been a very long work week. I am barely sane as it is, so I'll be typing up a few reviews for some green colored packages in my food stash instead. It's win-win! You guys get multiple posts on the blog, and I clear out a tiny corner of my food haul. First up, something I've been looking forward to for months, Teddy Pop! (Plus this is not only green but RAINBOW themed. If that's not festive, I don't know what is.) 

Strawberry Powder Snow Candy - Asian Food Market

Strawberry Powder Snow Candy - Asian Food Market

So far New Jersey has been snow-less this winter, but I'm not complaining. Snow loses all it's magical winter-y splendor the second you have a car to dig out in order to get to work on time. No more snow days in adult-land. (Unless you're a teacher, but even then you still gotta work.)

I spotted this at the Asian Food Market, and I had no idea what "powder snow candy" even meant, but it sounded winter-y enough. Why not check it out? I rather have snow in my cavities than on my car. (Plus it's strawberry flavored!)

Super Cola - H-Mart: Cherry Hill, NJ

Super Cola - H-Mart: Cherry Hill, NJ

First, I had Super Lemon, then I tried Super Ginger, and now? I have Super Cola!

Meville Candy: Honey Spoons - Marshall's/Home Goods: Cherry Hill, NJ

Meville Candy: Honey Spoons - Marshall's/Home Goods: Cherry Hill, NJ

It's that time of year, everyone around me has a cold, the flu, or one of those oh-so-fun viruses. Even though I'm surrounded by sick people, I'm still going strong, well not really. I have a bit of congestion and raspy throat, but so far that's it, and I intend to keep it that way.

This is another item that's been sitting in my review pile for a while, and what better time to try it out? Honey is perfect for raspy throats, so let's give these spoons a try.

Pomegranate Hard Candies -??? : Chinatown, Philadelphia, PA

Pomegranate Hard Candies -??? : Chinatown, Philadelphia, PA  

Time for another, potentially yummy, Chinatown goodie review.
I don’t remember which little shop I purchased this from, but it was somewhere near Arch Street.

This time the packaging is very simple, even more so than the Airheads, but I think it is visually stunning. I love the bold red on white design and the photograph at the top of the bag is absolutely gorgeous. (Look at that splash of juice!) It is rare, but I actually have absolutely no complaints about this design. This bag is simple, functional, and beautiful. (It’s resealable to boot!)

I’m pretty familiar with the gummy candies made by Kasugai, which are amazingly delicious, but I have never had their hard candies. (I can’t imagine they’d be bad though…)

Kanro Amanatsu Soda Nodo Ame - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Kanro Amanatsu Soda Nodo Ame - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

I wasn’t able to find any direct translations online, but from what I’ve gathered this is an amanatsu soda flavored hard candy. What’s amanatsu? Check out this link! (I didn't know what it was either. There are so many variations of citrus fruit I have never heard of!)

“Amanatsu (甘夏 ama natsu^?) is a yellowish orange citrus fruit. It is about the size of grapefruit and oblate in shape. The fruit contains 12 segments and about 30 seeds.”

The colors used in the packaging design are really refreshing. There are variations of blue mixed with white, orange, green and red. The design focuses on text and images of fresh amanatsu instead of any mascots or gimmicks. A simple, refreshing, design is always very effective, and I love the little fruit illustrations! (Especially the sliced one.)
Inside, the candies are individually wrapped in silver foil, just like the Puccho candies I have been reviewing.

Lion Soda Kids Candy - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Lion Soda Kids Candy - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Because this candy has 6 flavors, and such amazing packaging, I am splitting it up into multiple reviews.

Check out THIS POST on the aesthetics.
And THIS POST for the other 3 flavors.

Today I’ll review 3 flavors of this soda candy:

• Cola (brown)
• Orange (orange)
• Lemon (yellow)

Lion Soda Kids Candy - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Lion Soda Kids Candy - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Because this candy has 6 flavors, and such amazing packaging, I am splitting it up into multiple reviews.

Check out THIS POST on the aesthetics.

Today I’ll review 3 flavors of this soda candy:

• Melon (green)
• Ramune (blue)
• Grape (red-violet)

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. 

Cola Hard Candy - Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

Cola Hard Candy - Asian Food Market : Cherry Hill, NJ

I love cola candies! I have reviewed several cola-flavored gummies, but never a hard candy.

This package follows the red-trend I discussed in previous posts. (Cola is almost always paired with the color red.) Visually, I wasn’t “wowed” by the design. My favorite part is the glass of soda pictured on the front, but the rest of the design is pretty “meh.”
Inside, are individually wrapped candies. (Just like the Super Lemon I reviewed a few days ago.)  I noticed that these candies are pretty big just by holding a wrapped piece in my hand.

Meiji Chelsea, Salty Mix- Asian Food Market, NJ

Meiji Chelsea, Salty Mix- Asian Food Market, NJ

After falling in love with Chelsea’s patisserie mix I ran out and grabbed other flavors to try. Now, I couldn’t tell what flavors were in this bag, because there isn’t any English. I google’d them and found out that this is the “Salty” mix bag with salty milk and salty chocolate.

The bag has the beautiful flower patterns associated with Chelsea. I love it! It seems retro, but graceful. There is no image indication that this is the salty flavor pack, no images of salt or mention of it in the ingredients list. Without looking this up online, I’d really have no clue what the flavors were supposed to be.