Yoplait Yogurt- Passion Fruit

Clearly I like yogurt

I was thinking about it and while I have had a ton of things that are Passion Fruit flavored I have never actually eaten a Passion Fruit. With that in mind I can't accurately tell you how true to life the flavor is- but I can tell you that it is on par with any of the other passion fruit flavorings I have ever had.
It's a strong, almost floral taste.

Personally, on it's own it is a little too sweet for me but I would be willing to bet it would make a fantastic addition to a smoothie.

Hershey's Kisses Ice Cream Popper's

I should probably thank my local mega mart for having all the Hershey products on sale these last 2 weeks.

I wasn't sure what to expect with these. The thing I have noticed with Breyer's ice cream is that it is really good or really not good. To clear that up- the flavors are usually pretty good but the texture tends to be gritty. Gritty and ice cream just don't belong together.

But I am happy to report I really liked these!
I tried the milk chocolate kiss with chocolate ice cream flavor. The ice cream was smooth and a deep cocoa taste to it. The slight bitterness of the ice cream was nicely off set by the traditionally sweet Hershey's milk chocolate.

I have to admit it would be way too easy to nuzzle my way to the end of these kisses.

Godiva Chocolate Pearls- 3 Flavor Round Up

I am surprised I stopped drooling long enough to write this

So I was at the check out at Barnes & Noble buying my copy of Stephen Colbert's "I Am America (And So Can You)" when I saw the Godiva display on the counter.

What actually caught my eye were the cute little tins the candy is packaged in. Probably sounds weird but I have about a zillion different craft projects going at any given time and I can always use little boxes to store things- and hey if I get chocolate along the way well that's just gravy. I could have bought just one but in the name of journalistic integrity I brought all three flavors- who am I to keep you out of the loop on the other flavors right? (work with me here I bought a lot of chocolate this week)

First up:

Milk Chocolate Pearls.
Creamy, rich. Starts to melt on your tongue immediately. Extremely milky finish.


Dark Chocolate With Mint
The first thing that hits you is a strong herby mint. The dark chocolate takes a back seat but in a way that compliments it rather then overwhelms it. The last notes are an almost bitter cocoa. Think of an Andes Mint but with high quality chocolate.


Dark Chocolate
My least favorite of the three. The chocolate that worked so well with the mint falls flat on it's own. The texture is almost gritty and flavor-wise it's one dimensional and weak. It tastes more like a bittersweet Toll House Morsel then some of Godiva's other candies. That being said I am willing to bet that these would be amazing baked into cookies.

Each glossy bead is about the size of your average pearl and they all start to melt on your tongue instantly forming your very own chocolate river down your throat.

Something I found interesting is that on the nutritional information they actually listed the serving size as being the entire tin. At 210 calories for a mere 1.5 ounces of (high quality) chocolate that might be more then most would want to eat in one sitting- but lets be honest chances are good that that is exactly what will happen. BUT they are so rich that I personally found myself satisfied with about 3 pearls to a serving. These would be great for a quick fix the chocoholics among us sometimes need.

I'm not saying I would ride topless through town to get them but I wouldn't rule it out.

Hershey's Cacao Reserve Milk Chocolate Truffles

You ever have one of those dates were you just weren't sure if you liked the other person or not?

Yeah, you went out and they didn't completely suck (of course that could have been part of the problem) but it could have been better.

That's how I felt about these truffles.
The flavor is decent. It leans more towards the taste of the Symphony bar rather then the classic Hershey bar or a Hershey Kiss. A little too sweet but that is basically a hallmark of Hershey's chocolate.
Deeply enrobed in the center of the truffle is a fudgy center that reminds me of solid hot chocolate. That part of the truffle is actually quite good. In fact even the after taste it leaves is pleasant. What's also interesting is that it is cool and creamy on your tongue.

What keeps it from being great to me is the waxy texture and melt of the outer shell. If only they could make the outer shell more like the Symphony bar in terms of mouthfeel and melt I might have a new addiction on my hands/hips.

This truffle has made me want to try the dark chocolate version so stayed tuned!

Lindt Petits Desserts- Lemon Tart

Lemon and chocolate! I really didn't need a lot of convincing to try these!

I was the weird kid who when asked what kind of Birthday cake I wanted my answer was always the same- lemon cake with chocolate frosting (if there had to be frosting at all) Sadly I was always told that I had to pick something else because no one but me liked lemon and chocolate together. I was pretty sure that much like with many other things my parents were wrong about me being the only person who liked lemon and chocolate together. And luckily through out the years I have been able to find enough examples to know beyond a doubt I am not alone.

That leads me to the Lindt Lemon Tart. It's a large bar comprised of generous sized squares of milk chocolate layered with lemon cream and pieces of crispy meringue.

The lemon is good. On the sweet side but smooth and still tangy. The bits of meringue are addictive! I loved the little bits of crunch they added.
The chocolate is the let down. First off it's a milk chocolate. I really prefer the bite of a bitter dark chocolate with lemon because the bold flavors compliment each other so well. The milk is just not strong enough to stand up to the lemon. It's not that it is bad chocolate (lindt is not my favorite but it is better then most) but the mellow milky taste is lost here.

If this were a dark chocolate lemon it would be outstanding. As it stands it's OK. I wouldn;t turn it down but I wouldn't go looking for it again.

Hersheys Kisses Limited Edition- Candy Corn

Well the Kisses are cute...

Once you open the wrapper they are layered in three colors just like real candy corn. And that's about the best thing about them.

There is no actual chocolate in the kisses, it's not even white chocolate. It's just flavored sugar. They are supposed to taste like candy corn (well duh!) I didn't get that at all. What they reminded me of is the malted milk center of a Whopper. The melt is a bit gritty but even.

It's OK. Too sweet for my tastes but I would love to use them to decorate cookies/cakes.

They are exclusive to Target if you just have to have some.

Check out Cybele's review over at her site CandyBlog for her thoughts and a really nice picture of a sliced kiss.

Hersheys Snackster

Because anything ending in 'ster has to be cool

Snackster's is a 100 calorie snack pouch with a mix of mini cookies, cereal and two types of chocolate chips.

The the mini cookies aren't bad. Actually they remind me of really tiny version of Wal*Mart's store brand cookies.
The cereal I am pretty sure they are Cocoa Puffs.
The chips are both semi-sweet and milk chocolate. The semi-sweet is good. The milk however is cheap and oily even for Hershey's.

Honestly there are better 100 calorie snacks out there. I can see kids loving these but they don't do anything for me.

Icebreakers Gum- Lift

Lift is a strawberry flavored gum that contains Vitamin C and green tea.

If you are a fan of the red Flintstones vitamins you will love this gum. Lift nails the Flintstones experience. The fake strawberry with the bitter aftertaste. The chalky, gritty texture.

Yeah, unless you REAAALLLLY love those vitamins you may want to stay away from this gum.

Icebreakers Gum- Center

Center is a spearmint flavored gum that contains ginseng and antioxidants from Vitamin C.

The pieces themselves are about the size of a chocolate covered Altoid. There is a hard brightly colored shell on the gum. The flavor is great! it reminds me of those spearmint leaves candies. Sweet and crisp.

Once you chew the gum you are left with a very small wad of gum- there is not enough to blow a bubble with but if you are trying to discreetly chew gum at work when your not supposed to it makes it easy to hide (uh, not that I do that or anything...)

The only thing I don't like about the gum is that for the first few chews it is really chalky. Once you have broken down the outer shell the gum it's self is smooth and not sticky.

Great gum!

Cheesecake Factory Fried Macaroni & Cheese

Yes, I know that fried mac & cheese sounds right up there with the innumeral atrocities to food committed by Rachael Ray...

But if you have not tried it yet your life is just a sad shell of what it could be.
Can I please shake the hand of the person who got the idea to deep fry the gooey goodness that is mac & cheese?!

I have had a few places versions but Cheesecake factory has had the best with consistent quality. They use 5 different type of cheese. The pasta is al dente and the frying creates a perfect sphere of crunchy, salty, cheese. It is served on a river of creamy red sauce (well, to be picky it's more like pink sauce)

I have no idea what it is but I am sure the calorie count must be horrific. Clearly this is a sometime food. They come served in balls of four and love them as I do even I can only eat about 1 1/2 balls so be prepared to share.

They aren't highbrow, they don't even pretend to have any sort of nutritional value- and your friends might even tease you about ordering them. I promise by the end of the first bite none of that is going to matter.

Hershey's 100 Calorie Pretzel Bars

Chocolate and salt!

I like the 100 calorie snack packaging. It's makes snacking feel just a little naughty... of course if you eat 3 of the 100 calorie packages you have completely voided the purpose but we aren't going to talk about that now.

The Hershey pretzel bars are good. They are broken up in packages of two 3 inch pieces. The layer of chocolate is thin and covers the vaguely cracker shaped pretzel evenly. It's a good hit of salty, sweet and crunch. The Take 5 bar is still my preferred PMS snack but this is like an almost healthy version! (that makes it OK to eat 3 of them right?)

Peach Citrus Fresca

Damn that is a big picture!

I am a new comer to Fresca. I have heard that there are some pretty heated debates out there about the new versions and the older version and since I have no opinion on it I am just staying clear of that whole thing.

In fact this is the very first Fresca I have ever had. I however, do love just about any type of grapefruit soda handed to me.

I would not have picked the Peach Citrus to start with- but my mother had it in her fridge and I thought what the hell.

I honestly can't decide if I like it or not.
That probably sounds like a cop out but I am honestly torn.

It has a nice middle of the road carbonation level. The grapefruit is tart but not too strong. It's the peach that gets me. Not surprisingly enough it is extremely artificial tasting. The best way I can describe it is to tell you that the flavor reminds me exactly of the way cheap peach scented candles smell. It's another one of those flavors that are so bad they are almost good.

In the end I don't think I would buy this flavor on my own but I could see them going missing from my mother's fridge on occasion

Dannon Activia Yogurt- Prune Flavor

There are so many jokes that can be made they practically write themselves!

The Activia line from Dannon's hook is that it contains the active cultures "Bifidus Regularis" which if you eat the yogurt every day for two weeks is supposed to help regulate your digestive system. And of course we all know what Prunes are famous for. That's why the thought of the Ex-Lax of the yogurt world being made with the Ex-Lax of the fruit world just sort of struck my funny bone.

And well, maybe this should be no surprise but I like prunes. Yes, I am saying it loud and proud I LIKE PRUNES!
Even after the recent attempt at renaming them "pitted plums" they are still looked down on. Which is a shame. They're sweet, and juicy and well yes if you need a little extra help "getting the job done" well they are good for that too.

The yogurt is good- really good.
The texture is smooth and creamy. Flavor-wise it reminded me of a cross between plum and raspberry. There are small bits of prune mixed in.

It may seem like the worst idea ever but give it a chance because it is worth it.

Totino's Party Pizza- Pepperoni

I am so embarrassed to admit this...

But the Totino's Pizza has long been one of my guilty pleasure. The Pepperoni speciffically.

When you get down to it there is really very little redeeming qualities to the pizza-
There is next to no cheese- and I suspect it is more like "cheeze" then real cheese. The sauce is too sweet, the pepperoni is questionable on every possible level and the crust is a glorified cracker. Oh and to make it all worse when I make them I microwave them which even the Totino's box it's self will tell you is a bad idea.

Even if with all that working against it. Even with my horrible choice of cooking method there is just something devilishly addictive about them. the fake cheese, the sauce the "puperoni" (I try not to think about it) I defy you to find a better late night meal for $1.00 or less.

No, this is not the best frozen pizza out there. No, you will not impress anyone if you admit to eating them. No DAMN they are just great in that so-bad-it's-good way.

Russell Stover- Buzzard Egg

Is it fitting that buzzards are known for circling things that are dying?


Buzzard egg's are maple cream centers enrobed in dark chocolate shaped like an egg.

The chocolate layer is thin and surprisingly good. This makes the third time in recent history I have liked Russell Stover chocolate- this has actually made me rethink the companies candy as a whole.

What unfortunately was not good was the maple cream. The cream's texture it's self was good- light and airy and just a tad gritty from the sugar. Gooey and sticky. The perfect whipped cream center. Sadly what was not good was the taste. It's just too sweet and too strong. It's like pancake syrup in chocolate.
If they would just tone the maple down a bit this could be great.


Check out Cybele's review of the RS Orange Marshmellow Pumpkins for more halloweenie fun

Froasted Mini Wheats- Cinnamon Streusel

MMMmm Cinnamon!

We all know I love cinnamon and this is no exception.

I haven't been too fond of the new Mini Wheat flavors but they did a great job with this one. Cinnamon Streusel is basically the classic Mini Wheat with the addition of a healthy dose of cinnamon.

The cinnamon adds a nice warmth to the cereal. This has definitely made my list of comfort foods.

Jones Soda- Dread Licorice

The eventual aftertaste is just like a Twizzler!
Of course the problem with getting to the red sugary goodness that is the after taste is having to stand the initial taste.

Remember when you were a kid and all the really nasty medicines came in red with some sort of cherryesque flavor?
If you were the one weird kid that liked that taste, today is probably a great day for you. Dread Licorice tastes EXACTLY like that- only with carbonation. After about five minutes you do get the taste of a Twizzler in your mouth... Of course that wonderful taste can be achieved much easier by bypassing the soda and going right to eating the Twizzlers.

Personally that is what I am going to keep doing.

Cabot Greek Style Yogurt- Chocolate

No I am not obsessed!

OK, I kind of am.
Another day, another Greek yogurt.
Chocolate was today's choice. I tried to get a good photo of the yogurt it's self but my camera was not working with me. It is a beautiful milky cocoa color.

The tanginess that was so overt with the vanilla is just as strong here. Honestly I didn't care for that at first- just like with the vanilla. But it grows on you and you find yourself dipping back into the container as easily as singing along to "Copacabana" at the top of your lungs when you think no one is looking.
The chocolate flavor reminded me of dutch cocoa powder. Had the yogurt not been tangy the chocolate wouldn't have been sweet enough. It would have been like eating melted baking chocolate. But everything balances out for the better.

The peach is still my favorite but all three flavors will work they're way into my cart again.

Haagen-Daazs- Belgien Chocolate

MMMMMM Chocolate...

So basic but so good. No there is no ingredient of the moment, it doesn't promise any health benefits (well beyond the normal chocolaty happiness) and it doesn't have a cool pop culture tie in. But it is outstanding!

The base ice cream is a deep cocoa Belgian chocolate. It's just a tad bitter and that sets the perfect stage for the part of this ice cream that steals the show.

Oh yes, the finer people at Haagen-Daazs worked over time to find yet another tasty way to destroy my thighs. Folded into that creamy cocoa there are bits of finely shaved Belgian chocolate. The crumbly texture that they add is addicting.

This is a limited edition flavor and according the Haagen-Daazs website it will only be available for the rest of this month so stock up now!

Jones Soda- Black Cat Licorice

Finally a soda that matches my wardrobe!

OK, OK, maybe I am just biased because something so sleek and jet black has got to be cool. Besides that I love black licorice. Of course it could just be my inner lush- I have been known to drink Sambuca/Anisette from time to time.

What ever the reason may be this is an interesting drink. As you probably guessed from the name Black Cat licorice is a black licorice flavored soda. When you open the bottle if you give it a nice sniff- don't look at me like that! I know I am not the only one to smell my soda. Anyway, if you give it a whiff you get just the tiniest sign of the licorice flavor of the soda.
The best way to describe the taste is to think of a pure cane sugar cola with just a hint of black licorice flavor in the back ground.

It is a little too sweet for me to drink the entire 12 oz bottle in one sitting (getting old) but it is good enough that I plan on nursing it throughout the night- and since it is caffeine free I can do that and still get to sleep before 4:00 a.m.

Try it!- and if you don't like it send your extra's to me!

Cabot Greek Style Yogurt- Peach

There is not enough bandwidth on the entire internet for me to say how great this is!


Really I can't remember having ever had a better yogurt.

Just like with the vanilla the texture and mouth feel is just out of this world. After having yogurt this smooth and creamy I don't know if I will ever be able to go back to regular old yogurt.
The peach flavor is natural, not too sweet with a tangy finish. There are also small bits of peach floating in the yogurt.


Outstanding!

Jones Soda- Monster Moijito

It's that time of year again!


It's time for the holiday Jones Soda's to roll out. The first of this years crop that I have tried is Monster Mojito.

Didn't the mojito craze peak like 4 years ago? it seems like every time I turn around this year there is a new mojito flavored something. Don't get me wrong I love a well made mojito. It just seems like the flavored items never end up tasting anything like a real mojito.

And this soda is no exception.
Yes, just like a real mojito there is lime, and yes, there is also mint. Sadly there is no rum but that is besides the point.

Let me tell you EXACTLY what this soda tastes like. Imagine that in your mouth is a piece of spearmint gum that you have been chewing for a good half an hour. The bulk of the spearmint flavor has worn off but the gum still has the essence of mint to it.
Now imagine that you have started sucking on one of those lime lollipops that only seem to be found being given away for free at banks and doctors offices- oh and the gum is still in your mouth. That my friends is EXACTLY what Monster Mojito tastes like.

Not completely awful but not good by any means.
Props to Jones for switching to pure cane sugar but I will be saving my soda calories for they're cream soda or vanilla cola.

Cabot Greek Style Yogurt- Vanilla flavor

Creamy and tangy!

I was thinking about it after I had eaten the container that I can't recall ever having eaten Greek style yogurt before.
I knew of it of course, being the good foodie I am. Just for one reason or the other I just had not tasted it... Until today.

Lurking on my local Mega-Mart yogurt shelf tucked in amongst the Yoplait and the Fizzix was the Cabot Greek Style yogurt. While they had several fruit flavors I went with Vanilla because I LOVE me some vanilla yogurt.

I would be lying if I said it was love at first spoonful. The yogurt was a creamy white that was studded with vanilla bean. The texture was rich and creamy- it actually reminded me more of sour cream then yogurt (since I also love sour cream that was a highlight for me). It had a great coolness on the tongue.
No, the texture was outstanding it was the taste that took awhile to win me over. At first the prominent flavor is actually kind of tangy. To put it bluntly it reminded me of vinegar and Miracle Whip. You would think that such a fabulous combination would have me swearing off Greek yogurt for life but I liked the mouth feel so much I kept eating (yeah, I don't know why I do some of these thing's either)

A few spoon fulls in the weirdest thing happened- it went from tasting like vinegar salad dressing to a nice balance of sweet and tart. The vanilla starts to come through and when it did it was a pleasant surprise to find it was a natural vanilla taste and not the usual super-sweet fake vanilla you tend to find now-er days. I may have a new addiction!

If you see this on the shelves get some!

Panda Licorice

I thought Panda's ate bamboo but I guess it is just hard to resist good licorice

The Panda pieces little honeycombed logs just under an inch in length. They also have a nice soft chew to them, although they can be a little sticky to get out of the box. I happen to prefer my licorice this way. Maybe I am just getting old but having to gnaw on anything or risk yanking out my fillings just doesn't have the appeal it once did.

The box proclaims the candy to have the "real" taste of licorice. I don't know how accurate that is but they do have what I consider to be the BEST licorice flavor.
Unlike some black licorices that can be overly heavy on the fennel/anise flavor to the point it ends up tasting like cheap sambuca. But the Panda version has a subtle anise flavor that compliments the rich, deep molasses.

I like these so much I just might eat the whole box!... oh wait I DID. Well I gotta go buy some more.

Which P.S. I don't have to feel too guilty about because this candy is fat free and comes in around 130 calories for 15 pieces!

Hershey's Kisses Confetti Edition

The cutest special edition of the year


Before I read the label (which really would have helped) I had thought the kisses were white chocolate. Now I know that some of you out there love white chocolate- well send me your addresses and I will send you all of mine because I HATE the stuff. But be that as it may I was willing to try it in the interest of cool blogging. When I finally got around to reading the label (again helpful) I found that the kisses are actually made with no cocoa/cocoa related ingredients at all. The body is instead a vanilla creme. Buried like little crunchy treasure in the kisses are colorful dragees.

So how do they taste?
One word: Sweet. Really sweet, I am talking call the dentist sweet. There is a vague hint of vanilla mixed in there. It does have a nice even melt going for it but what makes the whole thing worth eating would be the dragees. Between the bumpy, grainy kick they add to the texture. And the crunch that you aren't used to finding in a kiss I found myself wishing they would add the dragees to other kisses in the future.

Worth getting for the dragees alone!

Yoplait Fizzix Yogurt

Fizzy yogurt?


I wasn't aware that somewhere out there in the cold dark world a child sat weeping, thinking that if only the Go-gurt tube in their lunch would fizz they wouldn't feel the need to trade it for some of that sugary bliss that hussy Little Debbi is pushing.

That is probably not how Yoplait R&D came up with Fizzix, but my version is probably more interesting. Being the mature grown up that I am I had been perusing the yogurt section for something like healthy and diet friendly like Activia- however, my inner 9 year old saw the Fizzix and whined until I broke down and bought it. I ended up with the Blue Raspberry/ Strawberry Watermelon combo in my cart.

The Fizz:
What I was expecting fizz-wise was Pop Rocks suspended in yogurt. I am not sure why I thought it would be that extreme of a fizz. It is not but I would have liked it if it was.
No, rather then the rapid popping and fizzing of Pop Rocks what you get is more like soft fizzy sparkling wine or lightly carbonated water. Coupled with the cool, creamy yogurt on your tongue it is still an interesting sensation even if it is not very strong. I did notice that if you stick your tongue out (with the yogurt on it of course) that the fizz does get stronger- but that does not exactly make you the most popular person in the room if you are not eating alone.

The flavors:
Blue Raspberry. This is clearly a raspberry aimed at kids. It is super mild to the point it would be more aptly named "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Raspberry and sweet. It's not bad, it's just not anything special- and hey it is blue! there are just not enough blue foods out there!

Watermelon. If Jolly Rancher made a yogurt this would be it! artificial and tart the foodie in me is embarrassed to admit it but I really did like this flavor.

I could see where these could be a good way to get kids to eat yogurt- and for those of us old enough to know better they make a tasty treat.

Trader Joes Figments

Large bits of figs covered in dark chocolate!


MMMMM Figs...
WAAAAAAAY back in the olden early 1980's when Gigi was but a wee little lass her Grandfather has a fig tree in his back yard. Grandpa would share his ripe figs with me. OK it was less sharing and more like I would sneak them from his plate. At any rate the long story short is that I was the only kid in the state of Arizona who liked figs.

Moving on. As a fig lover since 'back in the day' I have always been somewhat disappointed that save for Fig Newtons there are not a heck of a lot of fig snacks out there. Trolling the candy selection at Trader Joe's guess what I found!

Since the title of this review is "Trader Joe's Figments" you probably have guessed it was the Figments I found.

The figments are glossy orbs roughly the size of a Whopper. It is labeled as being made with dark chocolate but personally I think semi-sweet is a better description. Taste-wise it is like a higher quality Toll House Morsel. The chocolate is smooth and cool on the tongue. It starts off waxy but once you are through the first layer it melts quickly (but in this case that's good)
The fig piece is chewy and still moist. The figs also still have they're seeds.

What a combination! the bitter-sweet notes of the chocolate, the gritty chew of the fig. The only downside is that they are addicting!

If you like chocolate covered fruits like raison's, cherries or blueberries you should love these.

Caramelized Pear & Toasted Pecan Haagen Dazs

I love the thought of this flavor. It just sounds so decadent yet refreshing.


Caramelized Pear & Toasted Pecan is supposed to have a base of pear flavored ice cream studded with chunks of Caramel covered pears and pieces or toasted pecans.

Like all Haagen Dazs the ice cream it's self is rich and creamy. The base flavor is supposed to be pear (you know like I already told you). I say "supposed to be" because it actually ends up tasting more like apple sauce ice cream. In it's own way apple sauce ice cream is not all that bad, I just wasn't expecting it.

The Caramel covered chunks of pears. Now those were interesting. I loved the caramel coating. It was just thick enough to add some depth but not thick enough that it was sticky or ran off into the ice cream- which could have been great. The pear themselves were weird. It was kinda like a chunk of caramel covered paper. I have to wonder If the R&D department of Haagen Dazs has ever actually tasted a pear because they are 0 for 2 so far.

The nuts. If they had had some crunch left in them they would have been good. They are lightly salted- which is outstanding with the caramel. The nuts in my pint however were rubbery and that just killed it. Of course on that count I could have just gotten a pint that had been on the shelf a little long.

If they tweaked the pear issues and the nuts were crunchy this would be a damn good ice cream. As it is it's not bad but there are better ways to consume empty calories.