On Adventure - Big and Small

I'm a big fan of adventures - of not letting your life get boring.  

This past weekend I had persimmon pudding for the first time.  Pretty good.  I went to the NC Persimmon Festival just to try it. 

I also visited two Walmart stores to find the new Gingerbread Oreos.  They are pretty darn good.  The cookie part is the golden (vanilla) Oreo, it's the filling that is gingerbread.  Yum!

Basically if I see something I haven't tried, I try it (well, if chocolate, sugar, peanut butter, cake or frosting are involved).  Why not?  What a great way to have a mini-adventure!  And you may not be a fan of sweets, so you can name your thing.  But it sure helps if it's inexpensive!

My next big adventure is not inexpensive, but it will be fun and will push me out of my comfort zone.  I've always wanted to go to Italy.  To stand in the Sistine Chapel and see all the glories of the Renaissance.  And who doesn't want to see the canals of Venice and the coliseum in Rome?  I've been putting the trip off, waiting until after the recession or until the European economy settled down.  I was also waiting until I met Mr. Right.  Well, I've met Mr. Right, and he just started a new job and can't go!  If you wait to live your life, you'll never live it.  

I'm headed to Venice on November 15th.  Recession still here, Europe far from settled down, and going solo.  I'm going with a tour group, so I'll make new friends.  The recession might hang around for a long time to come, and who knows when Europe will get it together.  Meanwhile the great wonders of history are eroding.  There is no better time to go than now.

Is there something you've always wanted to do?  What are YOU waiting for?  There will never be a perfect time or a perfect situation.  The only time you are guaranteed is now. You'll never be any younger.  Your life is now - live it!

Football and Foliage

Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like there are a whole lot more football specific candy/baked goods than ever before.  Have you seen these babies?  Football Oreos:

Look at all the different designs!  Gotta love "lick the competition."  Do these do anything for me?  While I admire the different shapes and the many designs, I have to say - not really.  There seems to be more cookie and less cream and I am so NOT about that.  I was born for Double Stuff.

Little Debbie (LD) has some football shaped brownies (oddly these are the same shape as their Easter egg brownies, but the shape is better for footballs, so you go, LD!)  They taste pretty good - the same as all the other Little Debbie brownies I've reviewed.  A new shape is just a good excuse to buy more.  Cheap and pretty chocolately - while not a touch down, I'd say definitely a field goal.

Look pretty good, huh?  Always moist - Little Debbie has the cheap, mass produced brownie down cold.

And look at these!  Reese's Footballs!

These are totally the Reese's eggs repackaged as footballs.  But they are still that delicious Reese's peanut butter, so I'm not complainin'!  And the bag weighs like a ton!  (2 pounds!)

Since football is a fall sport, I'm going to include some other fall flavors.  (Yeah, yeah I know it's January - give a girl a break!  I've been busy!)  Harry and David has these Red Apple Caramel balls:

And while you guys know I love most of Harry and David's stuff, I did not love these.  They had some kind of funky aftertaste.  Boo!  If Hershey can get the exact taste of caramel apples in their Kisses (reviewed on September 5th), Harry and David can do better than this.  Flag on the play!

Godiva also has a caramel apple Gem:

Now it's just pathetic when Hershey does better than Godiva.  Once again I rant at how damn expensive Godiva is and how not so great.  (Just like some pro football players we could name.)

Not to be limited by football, LD also had these for the Fall and their usual brownie trees for Christmas:

A solid performer.

Marshmallow Treats again - this time for Fall.  Nothing wrong with them - they are basically second rate Rice Krispy treats in fall colors.  A little less crispy, a little less sweet, just not quite as good as the original. 

But you gotta give LD credit for those colors.  I like a little originality and flash.  (Just like some pro football players we could name.)

My favorite decorated sugar cookies from Harry and David:

Good tasting, not rock hard like some of these decorated cookies can be.  They are VERY hard to stop eating.  And they are in adorable little designs.  I'm glad to see they have remained politically correct and not included an Indian head dress.

These little marzipan works of art were in World Market:

You know they are from Europe when you see the toadstool.  We would have never included that in the good ol' US of A.  Leaves yes, fungi no.  They come from Germany.  Land of the fairy tale (and the fungi).

Really pretty, aren't they?

The taste isn't bad - they have a good, strong almond flavor.  I would like it if the chocolate coating was thicker.  Marzipan can be so sweet - I like it best with paired with heavy chocolate.  But I really like the artistry of these - very nice.

If you are intrigued by any of these - Harry and David stores are having a great sale right now.  I got the cookies for half price.  Little Debbie's never stay around for long - I have to grab them as soon as I see them.  The Reese's footballs I found in Wal-Mart.  But two pounds is a lot - be ready. 

Go Team Chocolate!!  Coming up next - my other beloved - pumpkin!!!!!

Let ME Eat Cake!

World Market has a pretty good rewards program (you all know what a sucker I am for those!). You get a $10 credit for your birthday and $10 for every $100 you make in food purchases. I had $20 in credit burning a hole in my pocket, so I tried some stuff I've been eyeing. I like to try the seemingly improbable.   Cake on a shelf for some indeterminate amount of time seems improbable. 

The picture on the top is the outer package, inside are six individually wrapped cakes:

Now this doesn't look a dang thing like the cake in the picture:

I didn't see any chocolate filling.  Maybe the cake absorbed it - they were pretty moist, I have to admit.  But not that chocolately.  These (cherry) were actually better!

Again, nothing like the picture, but moist and tastey!  These would be great for a lunch box - YUM!  Made in Italy - I should have known they would be pretty good.  The Italians know their food.

I was certain this would be terrible.  I mean - these cakes are just sitting on the shelf!  How can they be any good at all?  This is decorated sponge cake with strawberry jam and custard filling:

Looks kind of scary, right?

I can't believe it, but it was pretty good!  The jam and custard made it.  This one is made in Portugal.  Wow - cakes from around the world!  How cosmopolitan is my birthday celebration?  Looks crummy, but tatses light and sweet - pretty good!

I got this one from A Southern Season - a peanut butter torte - holy smokes!!!!  But it's in a box, so I had my doubts:

But look at this - it looks great, right?

But when you cut it - holy God!  Is that radioactive?  The orange really is that shocking!

WOW!  It might look weird, but it's pretty damn good!!  And pretty damn dangerous - OMG!!!  I can't stop eating this thing!  Thank God my birthday only comesd once a year!  Made by Sweet Treasures, distributed by Green County Foods out of Monroe, WI.  Screw Portugal.

And you can't have a party without cookies!  These are new by Oreo:

I was surprised when I opened the box and there were so few inside - Oreos are usually packed!

These are Oreos without their tops, covered in fudge and they are damn good.  No kidding!  Pretty rich with all that fudge, but this is a mighty fine cookie.  It doesn't look like much, but it brings it, I promise!

These are a new limited edition flavor - Oreo Blizzard:

Zzzzzzzzzzz.  You gotta be kidding.  These did nothing for me.  Taste like regular Oreos.  Not even DoubleStuff.  Don't waste your money.

Sprinkles seems so festive and springy to me!!  Whee!!  So let's look at some nonpareils with colored sprinkles. These are by Choclatique:

And these are by a German company - Horst Schluckwerder:

And while I like the cute flower shape of the German chocolates, those by Choclatique are WAY better.  They have more chocolate and thus fewer sprinkles.  Way, way better.  But nonpareils are not my fav - those round balls always taste a little stale to me.  Great for decoration, not so great for flavor.  But that's just my opinion - my best friend, Missy LOVES these things.

Yay!!  Cake, cookies and chocolate!  And a lot of it was free!  Happy Birthday to me!!!  The only thing that could have been better was to have you all here to share it with!

Creativity, Peppermint and Chocolate

I really am not a big peppermint person. I like it and all, I'm not opposed to peppermint, but it doesn't rock my world. I like mint chocolate chip ice cream, I like those mint girl scout cookies, I'm not inhuman. But well, let's just say it's not peanut butter. It's not caramel either. It's above orange, but below almond. Neck and neck with raspberry. Kicks butt on lemon. That's my peppermint placement. Just so you know where I stand.

But what better flavor to kick off the Christmas postings? It's tradition! It's festive! It's decorative! And it's everywhere!

Real Simple Magazine made some great candy wreaths I want to share with you:

A little too weddingish for me, but very creative (and easy to make - the mag gives full instructions).

I'm glad someone finally found a use for those God-awful Goetze's caramel creams (glaack!).

And, my fav:

Very cool and contemporary. Like I said, full instructions are in the mag. I don't want to infringe on the copyright laws any further than I already have. If this posting disappears, you know I got busted.

Now I won't be making any of these wreaths - I am so NOT a hand crafter. A buyer, an admirer, but that's it. They did get me in search of Andes mints, however, and this is what I found:

LOVE the seasonal designs and the colorful wrappers. Although green was in short supply in this bag. However, the shapes don't seem to correspond to the color, so they might have been more evenly mixed. I have no plan to open them all to find out.

These are just like the standard Andes mint - always a solid, if not earth shattering, choice. BUT because of the extra chocolate used to form the Christmas designs, they are better! Stuff those stockings, Santa!

But Andes didn't stop there! Check these out:

Ah- ha! Very different!!! You all know how I like creativity for the holidays. Don't just be giving us the same old candy in some kind of festive wrapper. Show us something! Bring it!

These, unfortunately, remind me why I don't like peppermint. There's a fine line between tasting like candy and tasting like medicine. These cross over. I don't like 'em. Creative, yes. Good, no.

For comparison, here's Ghirardelli:

Another assortment - with Eggnog (apparently the least popular) and Pecan Pie. We'll review those another time. Peppermint is the star of this show.

Ghirardelli did very, very well. There was the crunch of peppermint, but it was prevented from becoming too strong by better white chocolate and a milk chocolate backing. So far, these are the clear winner in the festive peppermint category. But we are just getting started, dear readers! It is early in the game!

I had great hopes for these:

Don't they look awesome????

Here they are in real life:

They look a little different, huh? Those damn glamour shots!! Kind of like online dating pics.

But the important thing is the taste and I was pretty excited! I like the colors - the sprinkles! But the taste - GLAACK! Yucko! These have a weird aftertaste. What a let down! Skip these and buy peanut butter Oreos again. Why mess with genius? Roll the edges in red sprinkles if you want. But don't get these.

Creativity is good, but at the end of the day - it's about the flavor. Just like with people - a hot exterior is great, but who will be there when you need a new hip? Know what really matters and don't get distracted - it's too easy.