Bakers Bring It for Halloween

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!  I wound up spending it at a friend's house, so I still have tons of candy I didn't give out.  Dear God.  What about you all?  Any good stories??  Share, share!!!

Okay - this is the last Halloween post.  (If there was election candy, I'd be all over that, but alas, no such luck.) 

Most of the candy makers just repackaged their candy in Halloween wrappers - something you all know bugs the heck out of me and seems like a cop out.  I found these in TJ Maxx:

Halloween packaging and colors, but no real flavor - just sugar coated almonds.  I love their butter pecan and toasted coconut flavored Jordan Almonds, but these were just boring.  Not worth the calories.

Chips Ahoy brought out some new Halloween cookies!  Yay!

I like the new wrapper and the festive orange chips, but they pretty much are the same old cheap chocolate chip cookies.  Big points if you love Chips Ahoy, but nothing to go crazy about.

These, however, are delish:

See all that great orange filling?  These are double stuff thickness - love them!!  And look at the cute designs:

Clockwise from upper left - witch on her broomstick, black cat, ghost, jack-o-lanterns, bats.  I like the creativity, love the color of the filling (and the quantity - yay!), the packaging and the designs.  Woohoo - thank you Oreo!

Even Pop-Tarts came up with a Halloween design:

Although Choc-o-Lantern is a pretty lame name  (Palmer would have called these Bloody Pop Hearts and filled them with cherry.)  These look great on the package, but pretty grim in reality (pretty ugly and terrible actually):

But the flavor isn't bad - like chocolate cookie dough.  So appearance is bad, but taste is great!

I'm not sure if these are special for Halloween or not, but I've never seen them before and there is a mention of a Halloween promotion in the right hand corner:

Now look at them on the box - pretty cool.  Look at them in real life - ewww!

At least they are cream filled, right?  Um - no.  Not good.  Weird taste.  Boo.  (And not in a ghostly way.)

Harry and David comes through with these adorable mini iced cookies:

Aren't they the cutest?  And they taste great too.  Although they are the most expensive of the lot at $9.95 for a bag.

And is that the Salvador Dali pumpkin?  Must be a mustache.

These are in Target - witches' hats, pumpkins, and ghosts:

They are shortbread covered in white icing with orange and black sprinkles.  And they, too, are delicious.  And addictive.  I think they are laced with crack.

I found these in TJ Maxx too.  TJ Maxx has some cool treats, but you have to dig through the chaos.  These are Too Good Gourmet's Candy Shortbread Cookies:

Love the adorable witch and the pumpkin cut out window on the box.  And the cookies?

OMG!  They are GREAT!  Delicious shortbread cookies with loads of candy coated chocolate bits.

So, not only did I eat too much candy this Halloween season, I ate way too many cookies and Pop Tarts.  But what a great adventure!  I am proud of the bakers and candy companies who went to the trouble of bringing us something new - woohoo!  I am saddened by the apparent demise of the mini (70 calorie) Reese's Pumpkin.  But loved the new Hershey's caramel apples Kisses.  When one door closes, another opens.  ; )

Have a great week!! And don't forget to vote!

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

I guess I should have known it wouldn't last.  The New Guy sounded pretty good, right? I thought so - hey - he treated me great, even read my book, I thought we had fun together.  I guess I was the only one having fun.

Last time I saw him, he told me I didn't drink enough and it was an issue for him.  Oh, I'm sure there are a myriad of other things wrong with me, but that was the one he mentioned.  I didn't think it was a deal breaker, I mean - look how fun I am!  Surely I bring some other things to the table (or I guess I should say, to the bar).  I hadn't said anything about his drinking or objected to any of the places we went.  But I might nurse just a glass of wine or two all night - apparently my latest downfall.

We were supposed to go out tonight, but he's been acting different lately, a little distant. One of my GFs suggested I check and see if he had reposted his dating profile - and - yep - he had.

I have to say, I was surprised.  Not about him changing his mind about me - he told me my not drinking was an issue - but I really didn't think he would repost his profile after we agreed to take them down.  I thought he would end things with me first.  Certainly not continue to go out with me until he found someone better.  I even told him about Afghanistan Man doing that exact same thing to me and how much it hurt.  It just takes an e-mail to set someone free before you start looking for someone else.

It's okay - I never, ever want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me.  And I'm never going to be much of a drinker.  But what bothers me is that I can't tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore.   And that makes me sad.

But enough of that!  I reposted my profile and I've already had a dozen or so contacts.  Sooner or later someone will like me for exactly who I am.  Until then, there's aways chocolate!!

Look at these beauties!!  I love Chips Ahoy and adding chunks of Reese's could only make them better:

Damn good - only wish I had a glass of milk to dunk them in.  A match made in heaven.  Why it hasn't been done before, I have no idea.

I LOVE soft cookies and hadn't seen these before:

They are really good, although I think the bag I got was a little overdone.

But if you like soft cookies like me - these are fab!

I told you about the new Bugles - here are caramel:

These are okay - really taste just like sweet Bugles.  (Mike - you were right!)

But THESE - chocolate peanut butter Bugles - these bring it!!! 

Okay, they don't look like much, but they are amazing!  You will be addicted and will be unable to stop eating these.  Don't say I didn't warn you.


I really shouldn't be allowed to leave the house.  This is what I found at Target yesterday:

That's Reese's no bake peanut butter bar mix in the background.  Dear God - how amazing does that sound?  And, the fall candy is starting to hit the shelves!!!  Those are Pumpkin Spice, Candy Corn and Caramel Apple Kisses - yahoo!!!  I've reviewed the first two, but I've never seen Caramel Apple before.

I don't know how the hell they did it, but these taste JUST LIKE caramel apples!  They are really good!  They make me totally ready for fall.  (And it looks like they'll be the only Kisses I'm going to get for a while, so I'm glad they're so damn good.  And, as far as I know, Hershey's Kisses think I rock!)

Motivational takeaways?

There are worse things than being alone.  Being with someone who wants you to be someone else is one of them.

If you have someone in your life who loves you, don't take them for granted!!!  It's so easy to do - we always think the grass is greener and it seldom is.

As long as peanut butter and chocolate are around, we can't be sad!

Here's to fall, the great new products coming out and all my beloved friends who like me just the way I am!  Thank you guys!!!!