Little Debbie Stole Christmas

I was determined not to miss the Little Debbie Christmas treats. I missed some of the fall ones and I wasn't going to let that happen again, so this season I think I got 'em all. And I am sorely disappointed.


Let's start with gingerbread - a holiday tradition and a personal favorite of mine:








They look festive enough, they were the perfect degree of softness, but - alas, they were just not good. I ADORE gingerbread but these seem to have some kind of weird aftertaste. Not sure what was happening here, but it was not good. Archway makes a MUCH better gingerbread cookie. I'd post pictures of the Archway ones, but I already ate them all.



These looked good:






Creative, right? Love the red and green. Again, not good - nothing bad, just kind of tasteless. I have a box of regular Rice Krispy Treats and they are WAY better. Something is missing here. ZZZZZ.



Okay, there's still hope! There's chocolate!!!

Okay, maybe the sprinkles need a little help, but these look good! And they were definitely the best of the bunch, but for 190 calories each, not amazing. Only average. I'd rather have one of Little D's pumpkin cookie things or her peanut butter bars. Or even an oatmeal cream pie! Sad, but true.

Okay wait, what about these?

Okay, artistically they don't really look like the trees on the box. Taste-wise...well, they are just kind of flat. They aren't bad brownies, they just aren't really good brownies. They have a great consistency, but again, the flavor is just, well - average. Again, not really worth the calories. Disappointing. : (

And finally:

Something clearly happens to the sprinkles between posing for the shot on the box and getting to the consumer, but hey, what the heck. I had high hopes for these too. I like frosted cookies like these - I know they are cheap, but I've always liked 'em. These? Not so much. Again - a weird aftertaste. A blah factor. So heartbreaking.

Now here's a shocker:

Okay - another sprinkle mutiny, but look at that radioactive green! I LOVE it! I was surprised by the shameless printing of their name on every cookie, but whatever. There are like 10 billion cookies in here and they were cheap as dirt. I got them at Target. I bought them for the name - Festive - and the outrageous color. And as cheap and cheesy as they are - they are the best of the lot!

Oh Little Debbie, why have you forsaken me? Was it what I said about Martha?

The lesson? We always want what we can't have. I really, really wanted the Fall Little Debbie brownies. When they were sold out, I was sure they would be the best thing EVAH! But now that I have the Christmas ones - well......

Here's the eternal challenge of the human race - continue to strive and grow vs. being happy with what you have. The secret is to find the mix that works for YOU. What works for your friend on the corporate fast track may not work for you. You might choose more time with family or more time to travel and less income.

So this holiday season, be very thankful for all you have and remember that what you don't have may not be as great as it seems. And if you do get it, it may not have nearly as many sprinkles on it as you thought.

Godiva, Schmiva

Yesterday I walked a mile! Oh yeah, baby!! Today I decided I could venture out into the world. St. Tracy carted me to run some errands, and you know I had to secure some chocolate! The Godiva Holiday stars weren't out when I went into the hospital and I didn't want to miss them like I missed some of their Halloween pieces. Am I dedicated to chocolate or what? I do it all for you, dear readers! ; )

But first, let me show you what I found in the grocery store by the Christmas candy:

Andes is at it again! Now it doesn't say these are new or are for Christmas, but I've never seen them before. Let me tell you, these put the mint Girl Scout Cookies to shame!

Like the green layer! These are really, really good. These would be great as a stocking stuffer, an office gifts - less formal than the original Andes mints - and guaranteed to be a hit. Would be fab crumpled over ice cream or dunked in milk. A+++

Now let's check out the outrageously priced Godiva offerings:

Definitely gorgeous - love, love, love the way they look. At $2.25 each, however, they ain't cheap. They are about the size of a 50 cent piece.

The red one is Aztec Hot Chocolate - a chocolate ganache with a hint of habanaro oil in dark chocolate:

There's a very slight hint of habanaro. I think a hint of cinnamon too would have made this better. The ganache is smooth and creamy, but it needs a little more ole'.

Green is Twilight Mint - chocolate mint ganache in dark chocolate:

A nice, sophisticated mint taste - like a real mint sprig. But as I said in the last post, mint doesn't rock my world, so this is only okay to me. Pretty though, very pretty.

Gold is Holiday Spice - chocolate ganache with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger in milk chocolate. Sounds awesome!!!

Hmmm......apparently my eyes see the world differently than the eyes of the Godiva people. That sure don't look like chocolate ganache to me! This is an interesting flavor - I think it would have been better if that were chocolate ganache. It's really sweet and the spices are there, but they need to be stronger or this mystery ganache needs to be a little less cloying.

And the one I have the highest hopes for - Almond Shortbread - almond shortbread cookies combined with creamy ganache in dark chocolate:

Okay - WTF? Dark chocolate? I don't think so! Godiva must have changed these after they printed their Chocolate Menu. The closest thing these taste like is sugar cookie dough. I don't taste almond at all. And there is kind of a slight aftertaste. Boo! What a let down!

For the price - remember $2.25 each - these are not worth it. Unless you have money to burn and want to use them to impress people. They do look pretty cool and I would be impressed if someone gave them to me and I didn't have to pay the $2.25! Or if they were on my plate after dinner. Maybe if I crash an event at the White House...

Let's see if their holiday truffles are any better:

Peppermint is already sold out at the shop we stopped by. What do I think? Toothpastey - needs some milk chocolate. And maybe some peppermint crumbles. Ghirardelli kicks Godiva's behiney on this one. I don't have a picture of a Lindt truffle, but Lindt does too. They have a dark chocolate Lindor truffle filled with creamy peppermint and it is AMAZING! Godiva is starting to become my high end Russell Stover. If I only had a golf club....

Next is Egg Nog:

I dunno - ZZZZZZZ. This was boring to me. I don't really think egg nog is the greatest thing ever, so maybe if you love eggnog, you'll love this. I'd rather have a Reese's Tree.

Now I'm excited about the gingerbread truffle - I love gingerbread!

This was my favorite of the truffles. It was very good, but I'd rather have gingerbread. But it was a great attempt and I would recommend it. I wouldn't go to the mall with a recently replaced hip for it, but if you are in the mall anyway, really like ginger bread, and are craving a bit of chocolate - get it, baby!!

Woohoo! Are you getting in the holiday spirit? I sure am this year! St. Tracy insisted I have a Christmas tree and went out and got one and decorated it for me. I love sitting here with my sparkly tree. I'm so grateful the surgery went so well, and I'm so lucky I have friends who were there for me. What are you grateful for this year? What fun can you have? What new things will you try and what old traditions will you share? If I have one wish for you it is that you not be too hard on yourself - you don't try to be perfect or do too much - that you take time to feel the joy and the fun. And to eat some chocolate!!