Let's dip into my stash and see what I've got.
Apparently I bought not one, but two tiny bags of orange themed gummies. (I guess I was feeling particularly zesty that day.) It will be more fun to compare them rather than write up two separate posts, so let's see which one is worth a re-buy.
Limited Edition Bantam Bagels - LidlBack in 2015 I attended the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, and there was booth for Bantam Bagels in one of the many MANY rooms of the convention center. The brand rep was baking up these bite sized bagel morsels in a little toaster oven on the convention room floor, the booth operators were really friendly, and overall I had a really positive impression of the product and the brand, so much so that after seeing hundreds of products, I still remembered them all these years later.
I felt a twinge of happiness seeing these in the freezer section, I'm glad to see they were picked up by a few grocery chains and were expanding into seasonal flavors. So I grabbed one of each to give them a try.
Strawberry Frosted Donut Oreos - GiftAnother Oreo I was going to skip, because I was pretty sure this was more gimmick than anything else, but a friend bought these and demanded I try them, so here we are. Was my assumption correct? Or will these blow my mind?
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?
Amaretti Cookie Italian Nougat - LidlI'm weird. If you've ever been to this blog before you probably know that already. I am not a picky eater, but like many people I do have a few weird food hang-ups. One of which revolves around nuts. I love smooth peanut butter, marzipan, and pretty much everything almond flavored...but when it comes to actual nuts? Not a fan. I don't hate them, but I just don't see the appeal. I could never be one of those people who just eat a tin of almonds at their desk or buy nut-heavy trail mixes, or who sit at Five Guys eating the bottomless salted peanuts. It just doesn't appeal to me.
That said, I do love absolutely everything related to almonds. In case you can't tell (because on a blog you're reading typed words and not watching me talk with my hands) I'm Italian, and Italians love almond everything. For Christmas we would get a big box of individually wrapped Ferrara's Torrone and slowly eat them as the holiday approached. (Turning the boxes backwards as they were eaten so there wasn't any sliding around. Does anyone else do that?) My mother and I love Italian nougat so much we even went on a tour through a factory in Italy to taste some fresh off the line.
Long story short, it's been such a weird and difficult year, and I have such happy and positive associations with nougat, that I decided to treat myself.
Things I have learned during quarantine: Vol 2
- Leggings are not pants, but they are superior to pants in every possible way
- Potatoes are the unsung heroes of thrown-together dinners
- 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.
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.
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.)
If you've never experienced a Hi-Chew, you're missing out. These are Starburst on steroids. I introduced my fiancee to these candies when we started dating, and since he loves all things chewy, they quickly became one of his favorite candies.
Thankfully they are getting more traction here in America. A few years ago I could only find them in Asian markets, but now big chains like Target, Walmart, and 7-Eleven regularly keep them in stock. It's beautiful. Still, for the more unique flavors and mixes, the Asian markets can't be beat. I grabbed these at H-Mart and I'm excited to give them a try since I have NEVER had a bad flavor of Hi-Chew, but you know what they say? Never say never.
I haven't bought anything from Trader Joe's since I moved into my house two years ago. It's too far of a drive, so I've been living vicariously through my friends over at What's Good at Trader Joe's. There have been some murmurs of a Trader Joe's AND a Costco being built in my area in the near future, but I'll believe it when I see it. We've been burned by business promises before.
Anyway, while myboyfriendfiance (still not used to it!) was out, he happened to see a Trader Joe's and popped in to grab me a pancake-y present because, "It looks like something you'd review." And he's right!
Today I'm going to skip packaging and get right into the review! (For the record, packaging is cute, but a little boring.)
No need to worry! These might be expired NOW, but they weren't back when I ate them.
These pictures and notes were taken from November 4th. I actually have a bunch of half-started posts from the last few months I'll be finishing up, so keep that in mind before turning me over to the botulism police.
Have you guys every been to Ollie's Bargain Outlet? Ollie's buys up all kinds of off-season stock (most recently all the leftover Toys R' Us) but they also get tons of junk food. I joke that it is where limited edition food goes to die, but it IS where limited edition food goes to die. The food related aisles are a seasonal graveyard. We're talking limited edition cereals, seasonal flavored Pop-Tarts, and quirky treats that maybe didn't do so well in grocery stores at full price, like these Funnel Cake Balls.
After falling in love with the recent influx of spicy sweet snacks, like the Sweet Heat Skittles and Starbursts I reviewed last year, I couldn't resist trying the trend in Gusher form.
Design-wise, this product is sticking to the same guidelines as the "Sweet Heat" treats. We have a basic, black, backdrop with some hot rod style flames. It's simple, bold, and to the point. The black box definitely stands out among the cartoon-covered fruit snack boxes on the shelves, so even though I feel like it's a little "Blah" looking as far as packaging is concerned, it more than serves it purpose.
Apparently Gushers, as a brand, do not vary their individual packet designs? If you look at the back panel there is some black stamped text claiming these are "Sweet Heat," but it's very easily ignored. (Interesting that the text says "Sweet Heat" and not Sweet & Fiery" like the box.) Keeping the pouches the same is a cost effective choice, for sure, but it also lends itself well to pranks. Think you're getting sweet, normal, Gushers? Think again!
Inside the pouch are three different flavors:
I blink, and Oreo releases a boatload of newabominationsflavors.
I was going to ignore them (since I suck at blogging and all) but I had to run to target today to grab some ice cream sandwiches for my boyfriend. (It's a long story, but the short version is, Aldi was sold out.) I walk into Target, all determined to run to the freezer aisle, grab the sandwiches, and get our before my groceries in the car melt...and there it is.
A big ol' display with all three of the newest releases front and center. Their calorie-crushing siren song worked, and my 60 day diet has officially been drowned, but hey! I'm blogging again! (Woo!)
So let's find out if these gimmicky contest cookies are worth the calories!
Wanna know something crazy? I've been counting my calories. (Don't worry, this isn't going to become a diet blog or anything.)
It's been a very eyeopening experience. For example, I normally drink a ton of orange juice every weekend, because that's healthy, right? Welp, my large 16 oz. glass of OJ clocks in at over 236 calories! It's nuts. That being said, this one 12 oz. bottle or Irish Cream Soda? 210 Calories! Nearly twice the calories found in a 12 oz. can of Coke.
Are those calories worth it? We shall see...
I don't even know what to say for myself. I keep saying I won't go back to Project 7, because of the artificial sweeteners, but their gimmicks sucker me in every time.
This is unicorn gum. UNICORN. GUM. What am I? Made of stone? So yeah, I don't have high hopes for this, but it's pretty and I wanted to photograph it, so... here we are.
Functionality-wise, the packaging is the same packet-style as all the other Project 7 gums I've reviewed in the past. Plastic foiled packet, re-seal-able, matte-finish, etc. It photographs like a dream and the colorful fruity unicorn illustration is Juicy Fruit meets Lisa Frank. It's wonderful.
That's right! It's a Déjà vu-Round 2 of Limited Edition Peeps Oreos.
Last year's take on this seasonal sweet used the golden cookie base with a bright highlighter-pink marshmallow creme flavored filling, and even though I bought several packages of it last year, and definitely photographed them, but I guess I never wrote them up? (Which isn't surprising, 2017 was a very VERY bad year for my blogging habits.)
Anyway, I thought they were pretty good, sickeningly sweet and sugary, but good. However, my boyfriend's daughter LOVED them. Of all the Oreos I've dragged into our pantry over the years, these are her favorite so I made sure to buy several packages. I did a quick search online to see what my fellow foodies thought of the neon-pink pucks, and it turns out reviews weren't so favorable? That's news to me!
Check out my thriving fig tree in the background!
New (written) posts are coming up this week.
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Another tea-themed candy! This time it's a gummy candy, which is my favorite kind of candy, so I'm pretty excited.
The packaging is really simple, it's another gusseted plastic bag, but this time it has a shiny finish and it's resealable. Instead of the faux vintage look of the hard Tea Candies I reviewed yesterday, this product is going for a crisp, but colorful, design that lets the product do all the foot work. (Along with some nice fruity imagery.) The outside is really appealing, but there's something inside that I wasn't prepared for...
I actually found an awesome Lionel Richie mug with that exact saying at the thrift store.
Most of you know that I got a new job a few months ago, I'm still a graphic designer, but instead of making business cards and custom invites, I'm working with food! Right before the holidays I received a big gift basket filled with different specialty products, like these tea-flavored candies. They sound really refreshing, so let's get this review started!
Good o'l Ollie's. Where all limited edition food goes to die.
If you're not familiar with Ollie's, it's a bargain shop that gets closeout goods and off-season products and sells them are lower price points. I was there buying last minute Christmas ornaments (because all I own are Halloween decorations) and couldn't resist picking up a few snacks.
If you search the blog you'll see that in all my years of blogging, I've never reviewed a Fudge Stripe cookie, and that isn't an oversight. I'm not a fan, but I love the combination of chocolate with mint, and I love a bargain, so maybe these will win me over?
