KitKat Little ~ Fruit Medley

And here we have yet another review of a funky Japanese KitKat product! These were a part of my previously mentioned eBay purchase and the ones I was looking least forward to trying. I think it had something to do with the idea of a "Fruit Medley" flavored KitKat.

Anyway, these came in a small package roughly the size of a bag of M&Ms. The outside of the bag states that they are "Little," and indeed they are. Remember the KitKat Popables that were on the market a few years ago? Well, these are pretty much the same thing: basically a bite-sized KitKat the size of a small marble.

The color of these little KitKats was not my cup of tea; they were a pale peach color, and almost every one of them had a random blotch of a darker peach color somewhere on the surface. The smell was very strong, too: a natural banana smell with a hint of fake strawberry thrown in for good measure.

Fortunately, the taste was pretty subtle. I still can't decide exactly what they were supposed to taste like; if I rely on the picture on the bag, then they should have tasted like a mixture of banana, peach, and strawberry. Personally, I was just relieved that they had a natural, mellow banana flavor instead of that disgusting fake banana flavor! My hubby said they tasted like banana pudding, and I'm pretty sure that's as close to an accurate taste description as I can get. At any rate, these were a big hit with the family despite the weird color and overpowering smell... if they were easier to find, I'd most definately pick them up again.

Product: KitKat Little ~ Fruit Medley
Place Purchased: eBay
Price: $2.99
Calories: 200 for a single serve bag

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Sweet Pudding KitKat

Woo-hoo!! My box of Japanese goodies has finally arrived! I feel like I've been waiting forever for it, but that's the price you pay when ordering stuff from half a world away. Anyway, Jbox.com didn't have the snacks I was looking for, so I went to my standby for Japanese stuff... eBay. I found some interesting KitKat flavors, and I also bought a can of feta cheese flavored Pringles. I had a hard time deciding what to review first, but I had to go with one of the KitKats.

This particular KitKat is one of the strangest that I have ever eaten, and I've had quite a few. The eBay seller billed it as being "sweet pudding" flavored, but the picture on the bag looked more like flan to me. Maybe "sweet pudding" is Japanese for flan? It doesn't help matters that the only English word on the bag (Mini) has to do with the size and not the flavor; these KitKats are what we would call fun-sized here in the U.S.

I have to say that the color of the KitKat freaked me out a bit; it's sort of a off-white yellowy color, almost like banana pudding. The smell is very strong but pleasant, and I can only compare it to toffee (which I love!). It has a complicated flavor, too; the yellow "chocolate" is very sweet, but the crispy layers have a malty flavor. I'm also pretty sure that I picked up an almost coffee like flavor as well.

All in all, I enjoyed this flavor despite all my confusion. It's not as good as some I've had, but it's by far not the worst. I'll have to share these with my daughter; she loves every KitKat that comes her way... even the abysmal pumpkin ones we had a year or so ago!

Product: Sweet Pudding KitKat
Place Purchased: eBay
Price: $9.99 for a bag of 14 mini-bars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Walker's Crisps ~ Prawn Cocktail

I don't eat potato chips very often, but when I do I tend to gravitate to unusual flavors. My hubby gets pretty tired of my adventurous streak and gets all passive-aggressive until I bring home a bag of plain ol' Lay's, but my kids are game to try out the new flavors. Junk food is junk food, after all.

Anyway, I picked up this single serve bag of Prawn Cocktail "crisps" (which is just the fancy British way of saying potato chips) on my last trip to Whole Foods. I was a little wary about trying these; I know that prawns are a type of sea creature (similar to shrimp) and I wasn't sure about how well that flavor would translate to a snack food.

They actually weren't too bad. I'm happy to say that they didn't have a fishy smell, just a scent of mixed spices. The flavor was a little odd, however. It reminded me of salt and vinegar potato chips with some ketchup mixed in. I do like salt and vinegar chips, but I just couldn't get used to the ketchup taste. I ate about half the bag before giving the rest to Spencer, who declared them "tasty." There's nothing quite like the culinary opinion of a five-year-old!

I'm not sure that I would buy these again, but they were most... interesting.

Product: Walker's Crisps ~ Prawn Cocktail

Place Purchased: Whole Foods

Price: $ .69

Calories: 131 per serving

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5

See's Candies ~ Awesome Peanut Brittle Bar

A few years ago I read a blog about See's Candies, a mid-range chocolate and candy company based in California. I decided to give them a try, and I ordered a bunch of items from their website. I wasn't disappointed... See's makes good quality candy at reasonable prices, and now I order from them on a fairly regular basis. Even though I have ordered many different products, there is one particular candy bar that is always on my order form- the Awesome Peanut Brittle Bar.

As of right now, I'm operating under the theory that See's peanut brittle bar may just be the most delicious candy bar ever created. That's really high praise coming from me considering that I'm not particularly fond of peanuts. See's has managed to find the right balance of ingredients to make a candy bar that has every right to be referred to as 'the nectar of the gods.'

The concept is pretty simple; it's a rectangular plank of peanut brittle covered all over in milk chocolate. The brittle itself is divine; it's the perfect combo of sweet and salty with a hint of buttery flavor. The peanuts are crunchy and have a wonderful roasted flavor, and the milk chocolate compliments the brittle perfectly. Normally I find milk chocolate to be a bit too sweet for my tastes, but in this case I don't think any other type of chocolate would have had the same effect.

See's has a lot of unique chocolates and candies, so if you're into the sweeter side of the snack world you should definitely check them out. They have a website as well as a catalog, and they have several physical locations as well... but most of those are out west.

Product: See's Candies ~ Awesome Peanut Brittle Bar
Place Purchased: www.sees.com
Price: $7.80 for a box of 8 bars
Calories: 150 per bar


Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Ritter Sport ~ Dark Whole Hazelnut

Ugh. I have had a horrible week! I was sick, Spencer was sick... pretty much the whole family was sick. Since I've had such a tough go of it lately, I decided to treat myself to one of my favorite indulgences: a Ritter Sport bar.

Ritter Sport has long been one of my favorite candy bars. I'm a first generation American on my mom's side, and as kids my brother and I always got packages from Germany containing all kinds of candy. I loved the milk chocolate Ritter Sport bar with raisins and hazelnuts... yummy! Nowadays there are all kinds of flavors, and I don't have to wait for my German relatives to send them to me. Finding Ritter Sport is as easy as making a trip to your local Target, which is where I happened to find this dark chocolate and hazelnut bar.

And it is a really good bar. The chocolate is smooth and creamy, and it's smoky without being bitter. And the hazelnuts! There are so many of them; you can't take a bite without getting a mouthful, and that's not a complaint. The nuts are crunchy and flavorful, and they add just the right balance to the chocolate. It took a lot of self control to stop at one serving instead of devouring the whole bar.

The "normal" 100g Ritter Sport bars are pretty hefty; one bar has three servings. Fortunately, the company has made it easy to save some for later. The bars can be broken into rows, and the package it comes in can be resealed. All in all, it's a great value for the price.

Ritter Sport bars aren't too hard to find. They're sold at Target, Whole Foods, amazon.com, and Cost Plus World Market. You can also find some of the hard to find flavors, such as Blueberry Yogurt or Irish Coffee, at Germany's Best or German Deli.

Product: Ritter Sport ~ Dark Whole Hazelnut
Place Purchased: Target
Price: $1.99
Calories: 210 per serving, 3 servings per bar


Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Orville Redenbacher's Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper Popcorn

I don't really care for pepper. I think it's the smell; it kind of grosses me out a little bit. Nevertheless, something about the new Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper popcorn flavor from Orville Redenbacher just called out to me.


This is good stuff. I didn't think I'd be able to eat it... the pepper smell is overwhelming after popping a bag. I tried it anyway, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's fantastic! It tastes like good popcorn and it's only slightly buttery (not drenched in the stuff like the "movie theatre" flavors), and there's not so much a pepper flavor as there is a nice spicy burn.


Orville Redenbacher has a hit on their hands with the salt and pepper popcorn. It makes a nice change from the traditional popcorn flavors... but be sure you keep some water nearby!


Product: Orville Redenbacher's Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper Popcorn
Place Purchased: Wal-Mart
Price: $2.50 for a box of 8 mini bags
Calories: Info Coming Soon!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

3 Musketeers Dark Chocolate with Cherry

Well, yesterday was Valentine's Day, and I am now suffering from candy overload. I can't resist buying all the shiny new products that get put out for the holidays, even though I ought to know better by now. This new 3 Musketeers flavor is a prime example of holiday induced buying, and I really should have left these on the shelf.

I'm not a huge fan of the original 3 Musketeers, but it's acceptable when I need a chocolate fix and nothing else is available. When they came out with the Dark Chocolate and Mint flavor, I decided to try it out (since I like both dark chocolate and mint) and found it to be absolutely divine. I didn't even hesiatate buying the new cherry minis, but I forgot one important fact: I don't like cherry flavor. I like real cherries, but we all know that artificial cherry flavor tastes nothing like the real thing.

I had really high hopes for this, but I was sadly disappointed. The fake cherry flavor was the only thing I could taste; it completely overpowered the chocolate. The flavor was so terrible that I think I went into shock. I convinced myself that it couldn't be that bad... my expectations were just too high. I tried one again the next day, but nope, it was still terrible.

I didn't even get a picture of these; they were so bad that all I could think about was how to get rid of them. I decided on the spur of the moment to send them to school with Lily so she could give them out to her class for Valentine's Day.

You might like these if you enjoy cherry flavored candies, but if you don't, your best bet is to stay far, far away.

Product: Musketeers Dark Chocolate with Cherry

Place Purchased: Target

Price: $2.99 for a bag of minis

Calories: I'm ashamed to say I didn't even look.

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Isn't it odd how you can expect to hate something but wind up liking it instead? That's the sort of situation I experienced while trying this candy, which is a movie theatre staple. I'm not sure why I thought I wouldn't like them; I love raw cookie dough, so this candy would seem to be a perfect alternative to sitting down with a roll of uncooked Toll House cookies.

I finally decided to try them this weekend. My daughter got to see the new Hannah Montana movie, and that got me to thinking about all the various movie theatre candies out there. Most of them are larger versions of candies we already know, but a few of them are oddballs. I thought I would review these because out of all the movie theatre goodies out there, Cookie Dough Bites are one of the few I hadn't tried.

To be honest, I wasn't really crazy about them at first. The chocolate is definately not high quality, and it tasted sort of fruity to me... sort of like they had scraped the chocolate off of some chocolate-covered raisins and reused it. However, the cookie dough part of the candy was terrific! It had that grainy, sugary texture that you find in real cookie dough, and it was surprisingly soft (I had kind of expected it to be crunchy for some reason). And the more of them I ate, the more I wanted. Luckily, I managed to exert some self-control, but between me and my hubby the box was gone in less than 24 hours.

Overall, these were pretty awesome. I'm still not sure about the chocolate, but they were addictive nonetheless. They're made by Taste of Nature, and the company has a few different flavors--such as Peanut Butter Cookie Dough and Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough-- although I'm not sure where you can find them.

Product: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Place Purchased: Target

Price: $1.00

Calories: 127 per ounce, 3.1 ounces per box

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Hostess 100 Calorie Pack ~ Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cakes

Whoever invented the idea of the 100 calorie snack pack is a genius. Those little packages make it so easy to keep up with how much you're eating, and you don't even have to measure stuff out! I'm especially fond of the Hostess brand 100 calorie treats; for some reason, cupcakes seem more decadent to me than cookies or cheez-its.

The Hostess 100 calorie line origanally started out with three flavors: Chocolate with Chocolate Icing, Golden with Chocolate Icing, and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Those little cupcakes must have been a boon for Hostess, because while browsing at my local Super Target I found three new flavors. The new products are billed as muffins instead of cupcakes, and they come in Blueberry, Banana, and Cinnamon Streusel. I was tempted to grab the blueberry muffins, but it says right on the box that they're made with artificial flavor... and it's getting harder and harder for me to buy anything made with fake flavorings. I know that plenty of chemicals go into our food, but shouldn't at least the flavor be natural?

Anyway, I decided to go with the Cinnamon Streusel because the box didn't say anything about artificial flavors, and, well... I like cinnamon. It turned out to be a good choice. The muffins are absolutely adorable, all tiny and cute and covered with streusel topping! They taste wonderful, too; the amount of cinnamon was just right, and although I thought there was a bit too much sugar, it really wasn't enough to stop me from devouring the whole pack. The cake part of the muffin was nice and soft, a change from the rather dry texture of the original 100 calorie cupcakes.

Overall, these muffins are definitley worth checking out. They make a nice addition to breakfast, but they're also good as a snack anytime. Target stores are pretty good about being ahead of the curve when it comes to new products, but I'm sure the new Hostess line will hit other grocers soon (if they haven't already!).

Product: Hostess 100 Calorie Pack~Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cakes

Place Purchased: Super Target

Price: $3.99 for a box of 6 packages

Calories: 100 per serving

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Graffiti Zoo ~ Zanzibar Racing Snails

I'm in a good mood today; my brother's first child was born on January 30th, and now she's coming home! What better way to celebrate than with a delicious treat of some kind? In honor of my new niece Ava, I've decided to review the scrumptious Zanzibar Racing Snails from Graffiti Zoo.

I couldn't resist picking up these chocolates. The ingredient list reads like my own personal candy fantasy-"All Natural Dark Chocolate, Cranberries & Roasted Almonds topped with Sea Salt & Sugar Crystals." I absolutly love all those things by themselves, and combining them is simply an act of providence.

This stuff is delicious! The chocolate is basically a bark-style candy: a thin plank of dark chocolate with cranberries and almonds added in and sea salt and sugar sprinkled on top, then broken into irregular pieces. The flavors blend very well together, and the amount of each ingredient used is just right. The chocolate is perfect; it has the dry notes that I'm used to in dark chocolate and just the right amount of sweetness.

Graffiti Zoo is a family run company based right here in my home state of Georgia, and their products are sold at several retailers statewide. They also sell their different types of chcolate from their website, so you out-of-state folks are in luck. They have all kinds of flavors and combos, and they all have animal-based names. Hey, what do you expect from a company named Graffiti Zoo? To top it all off, the company donates a portion of its proceeds to the Conservation Endowment Fund of the American Zoo & Aquarium Association. You can treat yourself and help animals all at the same time!

So, here's to my little niece Ava... may she live long and enjoy snacks as much as her aunt Alley Cat!

Product: Graffiti Zoo~Zanzibar Racing Snails

Place Purchased: Whole Foods

Price: $5.99 for 4.5 oz

Calories: 200 per serving, 3 servings per 4.5 oz package

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5