Little Debbie Does Easter

God, I love holidays!! Easter is a big one at the Church of Chocolate (and not for the reasons it's big everywhere else). I mean we're down with the whole pagan celebration of spring thing and hey, the Son of God stuff is amazing, but for us - this is the last big candy holiday for a while. And it's a doozy!

According to the NCA (National Confectioners Association - hosts of Candy Expo) 88 percent of Americans create baskets for their kids (yeah, right - one for you Little Johnny, two for Mommy) - using 90 million chocolate bunnies! 90 million! And you guys thought I had a lot of chocolate bunnies!

Today, however, I say - let them eat cake!

My girl Little Debbie is back in the house!

This is a staple in both chocolate and white - change the sprinkles - change the cake. This shape with red, yellow and orange sprinkles was a Fall Party Cake. But there was yellow cake and chocolate icing, so I can't give Lil' D too hard a time.


Here's the main problem - they are kinds dry. I keep finding this with theses cakes and it's breaking my heart. Come on - my childhood memories of these being good are being replaced by my adult reality of them kind of sucking. Lil' D hook a girl up and fix these things!

Look at these festive things:

There is something about these. something that makes me want to eat them. I'm not even a big brownie lover. They are definitely moist and chocolately. They taste pretty damn good. They are a whopping 200 calories each so it must be all the fat and sugar. Lil' D maybe you don't need to hook me up anymore than you already have.

You gotta laugh at this shape for an egg:

But pretty damn creative and so good! And cheap. I warn you, if you get these, you will eat them. But the box and keep one, take the rest to the office. Play Easter bunny and leave them on people's desks. They are so random and funny!

Once again - the seasonal Marshmallow Treat:

This time I decided to do a taste test with the King of marshmallow treats - Rice Krispies treats.

The Little Debbie treat is about twice the size of the RK treats for the same number of calories - 100.

Now these all have chocolate, which puts them ahead right there.

This one is my favorite - with just the right ratio of chocolate to rice crispy:

This one has too much chocolate in my book. But sometimes that's what you want.

Bottom line - there is more of the Lil D treat, so if you want quantity - go with that one. Also it has the cool seasonal factor - a big hit with me. But for sheer taste - the Rice Krispies treats are better - more flavor. And my favorite is the second one - chocolately drizzle. YUM!

I decided to go ahead and review these while I was on a cereal bar roll:

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Marshmallow Golden Graham Treats. Not as light and airy as the Rice Krispies like things, these are heavier. I thought I would love the peanut butter one, but it was nothing to write home about. I took a couple of bites, then trashed it.

Chocolate marshmallow, however, was a different story. Now the picture looks bad because there's some bloom on the chips, but that's probably because it got hot at some point. It still tasted great and I ate the whole bar. These are giant and have 260 calories. I'd say this was better than the typical cereal bar and very filling. Try one next time you're grabbing something on the run and don't want to go completely insane with a Snickers.

I reviewed these last year and I love them just as much this year. I'm not even that crazy about marshmallow! But I love these! Only 100 calories each.

These I hate. They have orange filling - maybe supposed to look like an egg yolk?

See how big the Little Debbie is?

Boo! Orange! But egglike - points for creativity! The chocolate coating is great, but the orange was so overpowering to me - I just didn't like these at all. Bleech.

Yay - chocolate! The base is like the Little Debbie brownie - rich and moist. I don't know exactly why this crazy thing works, but it does, baby, it does!

For $1.79 you get 8 of these - now if that's not worth celebrating, I don't know what is! Cheap, festive, fun - and, well, depending on how you look at it, holy.

Thank you, Easter Bunny! More marshmallow to come! As well as Easter candy by See's, Bissinger, and L.A. Burdick.

The Christmas Log

You know, when you have Wikipedia, why go anywhere else for information? I found this baby in World Market and I've always wanted to try one:

On Wikipedia there's a whole bunch of stuff about the Yule Log (which was actually a log that would be burned), but I thought that was kind of boring. The confection (yay!) is:


Bûche de Noël ("Yule log") is a traditional dessert served during the Christmas holidays in France, Belgium, Quebec, Lebanon and several other Christian-populated francophone countries as well as in the UK. (And we can score one in World Market.) As the name indicates, the cake is generally prepared, presented, and garnished so as to look like a log ready for the fire.

The traditional bûche is made from a Génoise or other sponge cake, generally baked in a large, shallow Swiss roll pan, frosted, rolled to form a cylinder, and frosted again on the outside. The most common combination is a basic yellow sponge cake, frosted and filled with chocolate buttercream; however, many variations on the traditional recipe exist, possibly including chocolate cakes, ganache and espresso or otherwise-flavored frostings and fillings. Bûches are often served with a portion of one end of the cake cut off and set on top of the cake or protruding from its side to resemble a chopped off branch, and bark-like texture is often produced in the buttercream for further realism. These cakes are often decorated with powdered sugar to resemble snow, tree branches, fresh berries, and mushrooms made of meringue.

Yeah, yeah - fancy, schmancy - started as a pagan tradition and my love of sweets is fairly pagan, but I think we can all agree that burning a log in a winter fire and/or eating a delicious cake is a good thing, so kumbaya!!

Now it does look like a log when unwrapped (kind of creepy):

But, it gets better:

Oh yeah, baby!!! This is like the world's biggest Swiss Cake Roll. And it is really, really good. The cake is not too rich, it's just right. The outer icing could be a little bit thicker, but overall - YUMMY!!!

It's made by DAN CAKE, the largest producer of family size Sponge Cakes and Swiss Rolls in Scandinavia. No wonder it's good! It's from the land of Swiss Rolls!

I also found these:

These are little cake balls covered with chocolate sprinkles. I thought they would be great! But - glaack! There was some kind of liquor involved. Yucko! Give me the huge Swiss Cake Roll any day! That Christmas Log is a beautiful thing.

Now these aren't Christmas things but I just found them, so let's look at them now:

I thought they were going to be candy bars, but they are cakes:

These are the Cadbury equivalent of Little Debbie's! They are baby Yule Logs! And you know what? They are too rich for me! I can't believe it!

Here's the deal. They have the same inside, but they are covered with a layer of that rich, creamy Cadbury chocolate - and it's too much! I can't believe it! Now, I bet there will be loads of people who love it. And it's a good thing. But it's just a little too rich for me.

If you didn't have a Christmas Log this year - try one next year - they are really good!

Also, after a Christmas Day of watching TV, I have some thoughts for you:

Isn't the kid who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story the best child actor EVER?

Do the people who buy the Chia Obama like Obama or dislike Obama?

How many people really have mesothelioma?

Whoever invented TIVO/DVR is a genius. Was it Al Gore? Martha Stewart?

Are leopard and zebra print really the "high fashion" Snuggies? Can high fashion and Snuggies really be used in the same sentence? Shouldn't there be a Shamwow Snuggie so if you spill something you can just roll around on it and it will be gone?

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday!! We're gonna stretch it out a little longer because I still have a bunch of Christmas candy, so keep those yule logs burning!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Ah wintertime down south! The weather people said it might snow today and by noon YESTERDAY we had already salted the roads and cleaned the milk and bread out of the grocery stores. Snow freaks us out. And, hey, I'm all for the freak out - I can't drive in the ice and snow. And judging by all the wrecks we have, neither can anyone else.

But I love the look of snow - so pretty!! And I love the idea of chocolate snow!! So here's our chocolate winter wonderland:

Look at these adorable chocolate snowmen from Lindt!

Not sure why he has a broom. If there were two brooms they could be arms. But one broom? I dunno - maybe it's a Swiss yuletide story. I don't even care enough to Google it. I prefer to think it's random and weird. There's just not enough random weirdness in the world.

These are good - Lindt chocolate is always good. They are hollow, so there's not much to them. Cute, though. Would be great decorations/party favors.

Check these out from Cadbury:

These are, quite frankly, addictive. They are like really, really good M & M's (good because there is more and better chocolate) coated in powdered sugar. Or maybe it's cocaine.

I got them at World Market and they are fantastic.

More snowballs:

These are malted milk balls covered with chocolate, then white chocolate, then white powdered sugar. They are good, but not as good as the Cadbury Snow Bites. Not enough chocolate.

There's a problem with all of this powdered sugar, however:

This was just after taking the pictures! Give these messy things to children at your own risk. Good God! At least real snow melts.

A less messier snowball:

Whoppers Sno-Balls! I reviewed these last year. They're good (they ain't no Snow Bites, mind you) but they are a helluva lot less messy - candy coating, no powdered sugar. The red and green dots get a little out of control sometimes (see the green blob sn0-ball) but overall they are pretty good. It's a malt-ball thing. If you like 'em, you'll like these (and they are WAY cheaper than the Harry & David ones).

But look at these:

After the way cool tin, this is a bit of a let down, but it gets better:

These are "a truffle-like fudge center, enrobed in a creamy white coating, and a snowfall of coconut on top" according to Harry & David. My description - "Holy smokes! Get me a glass of milk!" These are VERY rich. Fudge-like? I don't think so - I think they ARE fudge. And you know how rich fudge is! And I don't know what the "creamy white coating" actually is, but it's pretty rich too. These are very good and it would be great to have one. Only one. Ever.

Snow is an amazing thing, isn't it? Every flake different. And I have to admit, I like my people like that - yep - a little flaky and different. The kind of people who might read a candy blog. The kind of people who laugh out loud and don't care who hears them. The kind of people who are real - and everyone of you I've come to know is real - authentic - a gift. So I say again, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!

Chocolate and Jam

Our Halloween adventure continues! And marshmallow seems to be big this year - check out these Halloween Mallows by Cadbury:

I love the packaging and these would be fabulous if not for the blackcurrant jam center:

The chocolate coating and the cookie base are great (just what you'd expect from Cadbury) but the jam had a bitter taste that took away from the Mallow. Maybe strawberry jam would have been better. BUT I think this is a matter of personal taste and those who like blackcurrant jam would really like these. Maybe it's a UK thing.

One of the things I'm finding as I try more chocolate offerings from other countries is that there are definitely some different taste preferences. That makes sense of course - think of the differences in southern cooking and what you might eat in say, California. My parents are from New Jersey and I still don't like sweet tea or grits. We drank crazy stuff like water and soda and ate cereal at my house. We tend to like best what we grew up with.

Now, of course, that doesn't mean our tastes can't change over time. As we try new things and learn about different flavor combinations we broaden our horizons. For success, just realize how those early experiences impact ALL aspects of your life - the people you are comfortable with, your values, your beliefs, other likes and dislikes. Try to keep an open mind and try new things - you might find something you like even better than your usual. (Maybe even blackcurrant jam.)

Easter Eve

Hey Gang!! It's the night before Easter and I have been eating WAY too much Easter candy. One of the cool things about being an adult is you don't have to wait for the Easter Bunny. Even if maybe you should.



Here are a few quick reviews. We'll start with something you just can't go wrong with - Reese's Rabbits! (Well, they are actually Mini Reester Bunnies (ouch), but I like Reese's Rabbits better):





They are cute - this guy looks funny because my bag got a bit melted - and they taste great. Not as good as the Reese's eggs in my book because there's not as much peanut butter, but a great choice nonetheless.



Caramello also has a bunny:

This bunny is cute as well (so cute he looks like the rodent version of Hello Kitty) but I think it's pretty weak on the caramel. Too little, too thin - get the amazing Cadbury caramel egg - pass on the cute bunny. (Sorry, cuteness just ain't enough when it comes to candy. I mean, I will complain if the wrapper isn't cute enough, but cuteness alone can't carry a candy. I think the only thing cuteness alone can carry is a pop star.)

I have to tell you, I really can't decide between these two:

I mean, there are differences - Hershey (on the right) is bigger and the candy coating has a different texture (smoother). But they are both good - I liked them both. You can't go wrong with either one. (Now these are not the German truffle eggs of Williams-Sonoma - but they are a cheap and good alternative). Hey - do kids really need German truffle eggs?

Here was a surprise - Snickers Sports Creme Egg:

Now I gotta tell you - I totally don't get the sports thing. Why a sports egg? Why are there tennis balls on this wrapper? What the hell is going on?

No clue - but this egg was GOOD!! Not what I expected (which was a Snickers bar in the shape of an egg) this was creamier and sweeter and delicious. You should try one! Eating a sports egg might be as close as I come to exercise on Easter.

Enjoy the day!! Have fun, eat some candy, practice your faith, celebrate spring - most of all - celebrate life.

Easter Secrets from Beyond the Grave

Okay - if anyone didn't know what the heck I was talking about in the last entry when I said - Okay - there's a robin CARRYING an egg! (Do you think that's an African or a European robin?) This was a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail - the whole coconut/swallow episode. My buddy Wally pointed out to me that he had no idea what I was talking about. Sorry - my brain works in very mysterious ways. Thanks, Wally!!

I'm going to have to figure how how to pace my candy reviews better. I have more Easter candy than I have time. And let's face it - who will care after Easter? Heck, I'm not sure who cares now!

But I have made some startling discoveries in today's batch of Easter treats. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the truth is in the autopsy. Let's start with Wonka's Golden Creme Egg:

So much for the illusion of Willie Wonka - there's Nestle stamped on the egg as clear as day. (Where's a good Ooompa Loompa when you need one?)

Now the wrapper describes this as "chocolate creme and caramel with graham flavored cookie pieces in a milk chocolate shell." But the autopsy reveals:

A sadly thin layer of caramel - a swipe really - I don't know where the "chocolate creme" is. See how thick the chocolate "shell" is? This is a lot like a Nestle Crunch bar - I couldn't really tell what the graham flavored cookie pieces were. Could have been graham flavored, could have been those rice crisp things. Not as good as the wrapper makes it sound.

If you want caramel, here's where to look:

Look how oooey, gooey and downright sensuous that is! (That's the best cut I could make, by the way - the caramel was exploding out of there.) That's the best caramel egg I've seen. Now, there's no exotic sea salt, this is ghetto caramel compared to all that, but it is damn good. I mean look at it!!!

Now before we go having the Cadbury Easter parade, I have a bone to pick with them. I loved the regular Cadbury creme egg and I had vivid memories of eating the white creme and the yellow yolk. So delish and so cool because it was like a real egg! So I was thrilled to find these:

The big egg was always a little much - I thought these would be perfect! But look what the autopsy revealed:

Do you see it?? Do you? The horror, the horror! That is ORANGE creme!! ORANGE! These are not supposed to be the orange creme eggs! I cut open a few more just to make sure. How can this be? Do I really have to cut all my candy open to make sure it is what it is supposed to be? The hell with pistachios - the FDA needs to get on this!

But just when you think all is lost:

Yahoo!!! Look at that! That is Butterfinger pieces in a peanut butter creme!!!! Yeah, baby!! This was a great surprise and awesome!!

So what do we learn from this?

Don't judge a candy by its wrapper, a book by its cover or a person by their looks. What matters at the end of the day is what's on the inside.

But don't start autopsying your friends and associates. Time will show you who they are inside - and you can stay out of prison.

I still have no explanation for the Cadbury creme eggs filled with orange. A mistake? An overrun of orange creme? Or an Easter miracle? Some things in life will never be known - like the airspeed velocity of a coconut laden swallow.