Garlic Bread and Lemon Citron Almonds - Hung Vuong Food Market
The last two Gilim Tom's flavors I reviewed were a lot of fun, and after learning about how many variations they have to offer, I was looking forward to trying even more. On my most recent trip to Hung Vuong Food Market, I grabbed Honey Citron and Garlicbread. Let's see how these compare!
If you're looking through the novelty ice cream freezer at Aldi, you're likely to see a lot of chocolate and vanilla, maybe the occasional seasonal item shaped like a snowman or whatever with a hint of fruit, but for the most part they play it safe. Lidl's offerings seem to lean more towards their European roots, and they don't shy away from nutty offerings like hazelnut or pistachio. They actually offer two different pistachio themed items, an ice cream bar covered in a layer of chocolate, and white chocolate, with pistachio pieces, and these chocolate pistachio cones. As a pistachio-lover, I had to give these a try. You know, for science.
Tiramisu and Strawberry Almonds - Hung Vuong Food Market
Nuts are my least favorite part of trail mix. I don't have anything against them, I'm not allergic and I don't mind the flavor, in fact I love things flavored with nuts, I just don't want to eat them as-is, for some reason. The idea of someone just snacking on almonds absolutely blows my mind. Yet, it's a booming industry. Look at the snack aisles. They're covered in different flavors of mixed nuts, everything from sweet to savory, and the Hung Vuong Food Market is no exception.
There was an end cap absolutely filled with different flavors of Gilim Tom's Almonds. From what I can tell, they're the Bertie Bott's of snacking nuts. They offer all kinds of varieties but the store I was in seemed to focus on almonds.
Here is a quick run down of the flavors I have seen:
I know that a decent chunk of the foodie community was hype about these "Flavor of..." items, but I'm not entirely sure why.
This new location-based series includes: California Strawberry Kit-Kats, Honey Roasted Reeses Cups, Texas BBQ PayDay bars, New York Cherry Cheesecake Cookies & Creme bars, and last, but not least, these Hawaiian themed Coconut Almond Kisses.
With the exception of the BBQ PayDay Bar (which I sadly couldn't find), this new series feels unimaginative. After all, Japan has had strawberry flavored Kit-Kats for years and honey roasted Reeses were out in 2003. Hershey Kisses previously released a coconut creme filled Kiss in 2007, and again in 2014, but those were milk chocolate based with a coconut center, so admittedly this is a new product, but it's not a new flavor for the brand, and so far I've never had a cheese cake flavored candy that I could stand...so I'm left with maybe 3/5 that are truly new, and only 2/5 that I find worth checking out.
In spite of my Scrooge-like views on this line, my love of coconut flavored sweets won out and I decided to try these Kisses anyway. Just because I think they're unimaginative, doesn't mean they won't taste good!
Sorry I missed yesterday's post. I'm currently in shortsale-home-buyers-hell. (Which is a misnomer, since it's anything but short.) It's a process I started in early October, and we're nearing the (possible) end next month, so things are getting REALLY intense. I'll try to keep up with blog posts as best I can but, In the meantime, I could really use some ice cream. (And super comfy sweatpants.)
I'm fresh out of ice cream, and there's no way I'm putting real-people-pants back on to go out and buy some, so gelato will have to do.
It's a Christmas Mira-kringle! (Boo!)
What's a Kringle? Well, it's a large halo-shaped pastry made with layered dough and various fillings and toppings. They're the official state pastry of Wisconsin, they have Danish roots, and here on the East Coast, seasonal Kringle offerings are often sold at Trader Joe's. When Trader Joe's does get a shipment of Kringles in, they never last long. People go crazy for these things!
A while back I reviewed the seasonal Pumpkin Caramel Kringle from O&H Danish Bakery, but before that I tried the O&H Almond Kringle (my first ever Kringle) and it was the absolute BEST! Since it's the holidays and they're in HIGH demand, it's hard to get my hands on one from Trader Joe's, so I decided to try this version from Aldi instead. Will Racine Danish Kringles taste as good as O&H? We shall see!
So there I was, strolling down Aldi's aisles looking for special buy goodies, and what catches my eye? A jar of peanut butter! But, this isn't just any peanut butter, it's chocolate, banana, and honey peanut butter!
It was a bit pricey for a jar of peanut butter, if memory serves one jar was $4.99, but it's organic, and I'm a sucker for all things banana, so into my cart it went. Let's hope that this lives up to my banana-loving expectations.
Even though I'm not a big coffee drinker, I do like a little coffee ice cream once and a while, so why not try it in Bingsu form?
This container is several months old. I intended to review it right away, but it got wedged behind a few other things in my freezer and I completely forgot about it until I bought that strawberry version in New York. Now that I'm home, busting through my stash like a food blogging pro, it's time to finally try this frozen treat!
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!
Remember how I went a little overboard with the seasonal (fall) coffees? I bought two of these Fall in Love themed packages and one "Sweetie Pie" during a trip to Home Goods. (Which is the source of my most random foodie review items. Like nutritional yeast covered, raw, vegan kale-chips.) I am finally getting to review them!
Next Saturday is the first official day of winter, so this is still technically fall, even though there is snow on the ground in New Jersey. (I'm totally not trying to make excuses for posting this so late. I totally am.)
Why did I buy so much coffee! I hardly ever drink coffee, so this is going to last forever! Bah! I blame the beautiful packaging. The font reminds me a lot of "Lucidity," which is my favorite font ever, and I love the cutesy pun-like names. I'm such a sucker for pretty food items. That being said, I obviously love the packaging. This bag is functional, simple, and bold. (Side note: Ignore that little hole in the front of the bag. I accidentally stabbed it with my long nails while picking it up, so no worries. It wasn't opened when I bought it.)
Last year the Pringles company decided to change things up and they released three different dessert flavored chips: White Chocolate Peppermint, Pumpkin Pie, and Cinnamon Sugar. I was really excited that the company tried something new, but it turned out to be a big disaster. I was only able to get my hands on the cinnamon and white chocolate varieties last year, and both were disappointing. All the company did was take normal, salty, Pringles and coat them in a light dusting of cinnamon or mint. It was like eating Pringles after brushing your teeth or eating something cinnamon-y.
I noticed that the dessert flavors quickly disappeared from the shelves, so I figured the company decided to scrap the idea, but they are back! What else? Pringles released a new Pecan Pie variety. (With a really weird ad to boot. Is it just me? Or is this really creepy?)
I was going to ignore this culinary innovation due to being burned in the past, but other foodies said that these were worth trying, and they actually got some good reviews. I caved in and bought a container when I casually saw them on a Target end-cap. Let's hope I wasn't tricked into another foodie fail. I put the last two sweet Pringles flavors I bought out at a party with over 20 people and NO ONE liked them. There were a few half eaten chips on napkins, but I was stuck with those tubes until the snow thawed and they could be given to the birds and squirrels. I hate wasting money on foodie fails, so I really hope these are at least tolerable.
The other day my mother and sister went to the farm to take care of my sister’s horse, and they got me a salad from Panera on the way home.
I LOVE Panera. I actually worked for Panera for several years as an associate trainer, and I can honestly say it is a great place to work and eat. I don’t have any food horror stories from behind the scenes, and I still go back to visit my old bosses and grab a bite to eat. (Unlike my time working at Friendly’s, I haven’t eaten there since 2004.)
The packaging Panera uses for their to-go salad orders has really changed. When I worked there, the clear plastic containers used in restaurants were used for to-go orders. Now, the company uses this nifty, waxed, cardboard box with a clear window. It functions the same way, stacks in the fridge the same way, but it feels more recyclable now. I’ll have to look into it, but I am pretty sure this is more Eco-friendly. I like it.
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.
Even MORE Chocorooms!
My other Chocoroom flavor reviews:
- Original (Chocolate)
- Caramel
- Strawberry
- Purple Sweet Potato
This box has a blue color scheme and a winter theme. (Similar to the purple sweet potato version and it’s fall theme.) There is a little village covered in snow with scatter snowflakes all over the box. While I do like the overall look and design of this package, I hate that I need to tear the front cover to open it. I mean, you really could open it any way you wanted, but the suggested way of opening it is to lift up a perforated flap on the front of the box. It always seems like a shame to rip a pretty design, but that is just my opinion.
My mother and I joined BJ’s, which is both a great AND terrible thing. There is so much candy! (Good thing I have dental insurance.) I had seen UNREAL candy featured on Candyblog, and I was really excited to try it. It had such a good review, was I going to like it just as much?
The UNREAL design is very enigmatic. At first it looks like a big QR code. (In actuality it is a very stylized font.) The font gives it a foreign, almost alien, feel. Inside the bag are several mini chocolate bars.
These #8 bars are very similar to a Snickers. They contain peanuts, nougat, and caramel. How are these different?
I have heard a lot of good things about Meiji Almond. It is just a chocolate covered almond, what is so special about that? I grabbed two of the special flavors, Crispy Puff and Melty Kiss, to try. (My sister was dying to try these!)
The packaging is very bright with an orange square right in the middle. I feel like they are trying to make it look more like an American candy. The box design is actually really neat! It has a slide out section, like a drawer, that is full of the delicious little almonds.
