Category: Reviews 
I don’t have a muffin pan because I don’t make muffins that often, and with a Manhattan apartment kitchen, storage is at a premium so every device in there needs to be used often or have multiple purposes (or just be easy to store). In the past few weeks I came across several muffin recipes that I would love to try out and during this time I was made aware of silicone muffin/cupcake baking cups that you just place on a baking sheet (which I have). They were $8, so I decided to pick them up and give a few muffin recipes a try.
There are few things I like more than bacon. Chocolate is one, and banana flavored things is another. For some reason, I’m not a huge fan of bananas, but I love banana flavored things. If you combine those two flavors in a muffin, you can bet I’ll be all over it. Last night, I gave them a try.
As you can see from the pics above they didn’t come out looking all that great, but boy did they taste incredible. The woman I marry will need to make these, and in fact, should bring samples to the interview.
Continue reading . . .
In the run-up to any big summer blockbuster, there are usually any number of tie-in products hoping to take advantage of the cross-promotion possibilities. With ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ right around the corner, M&M’s has introduced a new variety, Mint Crisp.
I picked up a pack to give them a try, not really knowing what to expect. Upon opening, I was greeted by M&M’s that were colored with the three generic mint related colors of white, light green, and mint green. I was also treated to a slight minty aroma. The candies themselves were about the same size as the standard crispy M&M’s, but their shells were less uniform in shape. In keeping with the tie-in to Indiana Jones theme, some of the M&M’s have an additional symbol printed on the side with the ‘m’. Upon biting one in half, I could see there was the standard candy shell, a layer of mint, chocolate, and the crispy rice center.
As for the most important characteristic of the new variety, taste...they tasted exactly like a crispy Andes mint would. Since Andes are the gold standard of drug-store chocolate-mint candies, this is not a bad thing at all. Would I have them again? Yes, absolutely.
Rating: 8/10
Skittles advertises that you should, “Taste the rainbow”. I always thought that rainbows were bright and colorful, but tonight I found out that they can be dark and monochromatic. They can also taste pretty good.
For whatever reason, I had a craving for chocolate tonight. I tried to fight it, but it was too strong, so at 10pm I found myself on my way to the corner newsstand to get a Hershey bar. What I found there was something surprising...a package of Chocolate Mix Skittles. Since I had a craving for chocolate, and since I like Skittles, I decided to give it a try.
It’s a normal sized pack and claims to have five flavors: S’mores, Vanilla, Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Pudding, and Brownie Batter. First off, if it’s a Chocolate Mix pack...so what exactly is Vanilla doing in there? What does Vanilla have to do with Chocolate, other than being it’s arch nemesis? That aside, I found the taste of Brownie Batter and Chocolate Pudding to be quite good. Chocolate Caramel tasted just like the caramel square candies, but I couldn’t detect any chocolate in it. Vanilla tasted like a bland vanilla, not the sharp vanilla that I love. As for S’mores...I really can’t comment on it because I don’t know what real s’mores taste like, but it was nice nonetheless. Their consistency is that of a regular pack of Skittles, and the flavors are released almost immediately upon bitting into them. They are not even close to the amazing taste experience that can be found in a pack of Jelly Belly’s, but in their defense, I don’t think they’re trying to compete with them.
Did they satisfy my chocolate craving? Nope, and that’s why I thoroughly enjoyed the Hershey bar. Would I buy them again? Possibly. The problem I have is that when I bite into a Skittle I expect to be greeted by a rainbow of fruit flavor, and these are quite different; and that’s most likely its true weakness.
Rating: 5.5/10
Straight out of the “How Did They Land A Man On The Moon Before They Did That” Department comes Doritos Collisions, where some genius took two complimentary flavored Doritos and threw them into one bag. As soon as I saw a bag, I had to grab one to experience the thrilling evolution of Doritos. The flavors I grabbed were Hot Wings and Blue Cheese, and I’m glad I tried them.
You can easily tell the difference between the two flavors because the Hot Wings flavored ones look much redder than the Blue Cheese ones, which look just like the Cool Ranch flavor. If you eat a Hot Wings flavored Dorito (is that the correct term for a single chip?), it tastes just like you took a nacho and dipped it in hot wings sauce. Same for the Blue Cheese variety. If you eat one of each at the same time, it tastes just like you’d expect...a nacho chip dipped in hot wings sauce then dipped in blue cheese. In other words, not bad at all.
Will I get them next time I want Doritos? I’m not sure because it depends on the mood I’m in, but they definitely do not suck.
Overall rating: 7/10.
