From the Sublime to the Hilarious

I may be the only human who gets pulled over, not for texting, but for looking at leaves. (I think that makes me an Eco-Geek.) They finally started to turn here and they are gorgeous. I am already wishing they could stay this way forever. I so love the fall. I spent a few years out west and I missed the fall more than anything. No trees = no leaves. Bummer. Fall is the most glorious season.

I also have to give a shout out to everyone who has offered help or ideas or info about the hip replacement!! Kris in New England posted a whole blog about her hip replacement experience and sent me a link: http://mygermanshepardproject.squarespace.com/ I have no excuses for not knowing what to expect. The Internet ROCKS!! Remind me what we did before? Wasn't there something called the card catalog?

Okay we have got to get down to business! Halloween is fast approaching and I have way too much candy still to tell you about! Holy Holidays, Batman! Where does the time go?

Let's start off with something delicious, mouthwatering and simply sinful:

Lindt's Lindor Truffles are simply the creamiest, sweetest, most decadent things EVER. They melt in your mouth, they are soooo rich and creamy. No one in their right mind is wasting these babies on Trick or Treaters. This is an adult candy. What I love beside the great taste are those adorable ghosts. So cute!! Yes, I dream in chocolate and I would probably marry for Lindt.

Now you can see in the autopsy photo that these are filled with white chocolate. Dark chocolate lovers will find this way too sweet, but I loved it. (Hey you're dealing with a woman who loves fried Reese's and thinks eating frosting out of the can is a good idea.) Suggestion - buy the heck out of these when the Halloween candy goes on sale if any are left. Keep them all for yourself. And before you say anything about calories, they are so rich one will hold you for a while. Although they might call to you at night. Lindor Truffles really are the thing dreams are made of.

And now for something completely different......

Oh Palmer - such bad chocolate, but such creative candy!! Palmer mockolate is mostly sugar and the dreaded partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, so it has a waxy taste unique to cheap chocolate. But damn, look at those fangs - some have blood on them - how cool is that??? I'm sorry - I have to give Palmer huge points for creativity. Okay - so all the white vampire fangs don't come out perfect - most do and they tried!! Russell Stover has crummy chocolate and we've seem their "artistry." BAH!

Palmer didn't have to make some of the wrappers with bloody fangs, but they did! And I celebrate them for it! That is very, very cool. As far as taste, these have the waxy chocolate outside with a fudge filling and I have to say, for el cheapo chocolate, they weren't half bad. The fudge filling really helps.

I found all of these at Party City for .99 a bag. A whole lotta fun for a few bucks! These were the least creative and my least favorite:

Although Plumpkins is at least a funny name. They did use different foil wrappers, but the waxy chocolate was too much to overcome. And you know I'm no fan of the whole crisp rice thing. Rice Krispy Treats - yes! Waxy chocolate with some crispy air pockets - no.

Next up - the audacity of Boo's:

Now - let's take a moment to appreciate the sheer audacity of this - someone had to say - "Let's make a chocolate Boo!" I know I for one would have crushed that idiotic idea - I can hear myself right now - "You have got to be kidding me! All the material you have to work with on Halloween and you want to make a chocolate Boo! Send in the Ooompa Loompas - you're fired!"

But it works - these are kind of crazy and cool. And look at that - I found eight different foil wrappers! Eight! And these aren't huge bags! I like that scary ghost skeleton thing - that's no Lindt ghost - you don't want no dreams made out of that!

Taste? Waxy chocolate with a fudgey inside. Sugar and fat - kids will love it. If you buy it, you'll find yourself eating them. (That is the really scary part!!)

It gets better - look at these:

You gotta love that! What a great twist! Very creative! Very artistic! Very peanut buttery! And I'm about to scare myself - very good!!! I know, I know - how can it be? But these are good! They're sweeter than a Reese's and God knows what's in them, but I say - hit me again! They taste good, they are creative and festive - Go Palmer! Screw my arteries!

And the grand finale, Creepy Peepers:

Waxy chocolate eyeballs filled with caramel. I can't believe it, but these too are good. Now we ain't talking sea salt sophisticated caramel, we're talking sugar and weird chemical fats caramel. And it's damn good. It's so good, I ate the whole bag and WENT BACK TO FIND MORE. Let me repeat that - I went back to find more PALMER chocolate. I have clearly crossed over to the dark side.

Guess what? The eyeballs were the only one completely sold out! So I have been vindicated! My recommendations are valid! The marketplace agrees with me! And so does this guy:

Lindt - thank you for your quality and your elegance. Palmer thank you for way more than $5.00 worth of fun. There's a place in this world for all of us - make the most of your strengths and the right people will love you. You'll have customers, friends, and associates who value you for the unique things you bring. Celebrate you - don't even try to be anybody else. Rock the world like only you can. Happy Halloween!!!

Thing One and Thing Two

Just got back from Norfolk, VA and made sure to check out some things for you guys! (My excuse to do random things like raid the Lindt store and visit a pound cake factory. Tracy - thanks for enduring the Lindt expedition.) Let's talk cake first.

Rowena's (http://www.rowenas.com/home.php?cat=9) is based in Norfolk and makes some awesome looking cakes. I bought their double delicious chocolate tea cake:

Can you tell how moist and awesome that is? There are chocolate chips in it and it is SOOO good!

I had to chop it up and freeze most if it so I didn't eat the whole damn thing!

Rowena's is one of those cool stories - places I like to discover when I travel. This is from their website:

Rowena opened her gourmet manufacturing facility in May of 1983 and in 25 years, her facility has grown to 18 employees, a retail store, staff offices, call center, tearoom, two spacious kitchens and two warehouses. Rowena’s has been featured in national publications such as Lady’s Home Journal, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Taste of Home and Southern Living, and has appeared on Food Finds on the Food Network, QVC, The 700 Club and The Today Show.

Pretty impressive, huh? And her amazing cakes deserve it!! I want to try her chocolate cappuccino pound cake and the chocolate turtle cake too. Sigh. So much chocolate, so little time.

Driving back I stopped at a Stuckey's to see if they had anything new we needed to know about. The first scary thing was:

Yes - Halloween candy! Can you believe it? Already? I bought two. I wasn't that scared.

Now check this out:

I hate the name Whatchamacallit and I hate even more the new and stupid name Thingamajig. Come on! These are not great candy bar names. They sound like some crap out of Dr. Seuss. BUT here's the amazing thing - the Thingamajig - ROCKS!!!!!

I'm so not kidding you. I'm not a big Whatcha fan. I've reviewed it before - the peanut flavored crisps are lame, the caramel is only okay, overall, it's lame. I'd rather have a Rice Crispy Treat.

But the Thinga - whoa!! It says Limited Edition - and I haven't seen it in many stores - so keep your eyes peeled and grab one if you see it. It's got cocoa crisps and peanut butter (pictured on the left) - and the combo rocks!! It's heavy on the peanut butter - I loved it! I threw away the rest of the Whatcha and scarfed down all of the Thinga. I wish I'd bought more!

The picture doesn't do it justice - it doesn't look all that peanut buttery, but it is! Get one, get one, get one!

I have so much fun trying these crazy new things and then telling you all about them! So much fun for so little cash! What's your fun thing? Just remember - your life is as fun as you decide to make it!!