QUICK REVIEW: Hershey’s Caramel Apple Filled Milk Chocolates

Hershey's Caramel Apple Filled Milk Chocolates

The apple-flavored caramel oozing into my mouth once I broke it from its chocolatey womb was the only real satisfaction I got out of these new Hershey’s Caramel Apple Filled Milk Chocolates. The feeling took me back to the days when I ate Fruit Gushers or chewed bubble gum with a liquid center.

But once that caramel filling hit my taste buds, those pleasant memories turned into perplexing musings. There’s something off about the caramel. Maybe it’s the ingredient that’s trying to emulate the tartness of an apple. Maybe my taste buds are revolting because it expected pumpkin spice this time of year. I’m not sure.

But what I do know is that I opened this package a week ago and it’s still five-sixths full. Wait. Lemme go pessimistic because this is a negative review. It’s only one-sixth empty. I don’t even know if I want to give these away to trick-or-treaters for fear of retribution.

Look, I think the flavor is a bit off, but I can see others enjoying these chocolates. Maybe the trick-or-treaters will like them. It does have a flavor that most would instantly recognize as caramel apple. The exterior is the Hershey’s milk chocolate you know and love and have to suck off your fingers if you hold them for too long on a day that 75 degrees or warmer. And they do come in fun apple shapes. But, I don’t think the caramel works.

Hershey's Caramel Apple Filled Milk Chocolates 2

Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 10 oz bag
Purchased at: Walgreens
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (4 pieces) 190 calories, 80 calories from fat, 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Brunchfast Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich

Jack in the Box Brunchfast Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich

It’s okay to admit Jack in the Box’s Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich looks tasty in the photo above. I won’t tell anyone. Okay, the cheese looks a bit plasticky, but so do the faces of many celebrities, but we still love them…Tom Cruise.

The sandwich features crispy all-white meat chicken topped with a fried egg, American cheese, hickory smoked bacon, and bacon mayo on a toasted English muffin. It’s part of Jack’s new Brunchfast menu that sounds like it’s available during a small window during the day, but is actually available all day.

While it looks good in the photo, I have to admit the sandwich doesn’t taste as good. My main issue with it is that it tasted too much like other chicken sandwiches I’ve had from Jack in the Box. The “breakfast” parts of the sandwich didn’t make it taste breakfast-y.

The fried egg added nothing to the flavor. It was pretty much the lettuce of the sandwich. The only way you’d know it’s there is if you had eyes to look at the sandwich or had eyes to see the milligrams of cholesterol it has by looking at its nutrition facts on Jack in the Box’s website. I thought the yolk would’ve made a difference, but it just blended in with the rest of the egg’s blandness. If the yolk was runny, then it might’ve added something, but that’s never going to happen due to food health concerns.

But the English muffin was worse. It had a spongy texture that’s more like a stale bun than what folks in London call a muffin. I don’t know if the FDA has rules regarding English muffins, but if I were to write them, I’d make sure that this wouldn’t be considered one.

Jack in the Box Brunchfast Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich 2

The hickory smoked bacon was fine. I’ve had it many times before. It added a nice smoky and chewy element to the sandwich. But the winner of Best Bacon Ingredient on the Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich goes to the bacon mayonnaise. It’s creamy and had a bacon flavor that was tastier than the actual bacon included. The breaded chicken had crispy edges, but was dry inside (not surprising). And the cheese kept the bacon from falling out and looked like something made by Fisher Price, but did nothing beyond that.

The Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich was not horrible, but there wasn’t anything about it that would make me want to get another, even the bacon mayo. Heck, I didn’t even feel like finishing it in one sitting. I ate half for Brunchfast and the other half for Linner.

(Nutrition Facts – 649 calories, 351 calories from fat, 39 grams of fat, 301 milligrams of cholesterol, 1629 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 37 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $4.99*
Size: N/A
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Bacon mayo was nice. Chicken was crispy on the edges. Available all day. Tom Cruise action movies. Cheese is the seat belt that’ll make sure the bacon never falls out.
Cons: Fried egg was the sandwich’s lettuce. Dry chicken. Tastes like other chicken sandwiches. “Breakfast” ingredients didn’t make it taste breakfast-y. Tom Cruise looking younger than most of us.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Trader Joe’s Quasar Bar

Trader Joe's Quasar Bar

Each Halloween, we are given an invitation to be That Place.

You know. The one at the top of the hill with the full-sized Take 5’s and Reese’s Pumpkins that’s decked out with trap doors, creaky porch stairs, and an abandoned basement that’s haunted by Captain Windemere, the one-eyed Disc Jockey who refused to play special requests.

That Place? Is the coolest place in town.

And you and me? We could be That Place. But first, we gotta find, taste, and stock up on the best full-sized candy out there.

So it is that, in a spot of convenient timing, Trader Joe’s gives us not one, but TWO full-sized candy bars to consider for the occasion: the Quasar and the Boffo, here to compete with Milky Way Midnight and Snickers. The Milky Way-ish Quasar is the first runner up for consideration. Let’s see how it goes.

Trader Joe's Quasar Bar 2

In a shape that may or may not look like the CTA-102 qausi-stellar object, this bar sports an impressively smooth coating that tastes of fudge, coffee, and Dove semisweet chocolate while the nougat provides an earthy fluffiness that reminds me of a malted milkshake. The caramel rounds things off with a hefty dose of stretchy toasted sugar. Taken together, there’s fluff, snap, and stretch, which sounds like it came straight from Richard Simmons’ 1995 classic, “Sweatin’ to the Oldies 2: An Aerobic Concert.”

And while that’s all well and good, it’s time for the true test: Milky Way Midnight v. Quasar.

FIGHT!

Trader Joe's Quasar Bar 3

First off, who needs carbon dioxide and stardust? If I’m reading this right, our universe is made of chocolate, caramel, and nougat, which makes me want to quit my job and hop on-board the next spaceship. Look out NASA! Here I come!

Confectionary-driven occupational transitions aside, let us put our science cap on and compare the differences.

Biting in, the Milky Way is softer and fluffier than our Trader Joe’s compatriot. The caramel is thin, but powerful in its toasted-sugar-and-vanilla way. The dark chocolate, on the other hand, serves as little more than a crispy shell that tastes of air, wood shavings, and disappointment. The center nougat works double-time in hopes to make up for the chocolate by giving us a double punch of bright vanilla, but it can’t quite edge out what’s been lost in the chocolate.

On a second chomp of the Quasar, the nuances are front and center. Alongside the malt, sugar, and chocolate, there are hints of brown sugar and toffee in the caramel while the milk chocoltiness of the nougat and the semi-sweetiness of the coating balance off each other in a way that would make Count Chocula jealous. The nougat takes a little more jaw work than its competition, but the chocolate is richer and the caramel is stretchier. Without a doubt, Quasar, you are my new Milky Way.

Trader Joe's Quasar Bar 4

Everything I know about Quasars I learned from Professor Higgins, Power Rangers, and these bars, and, while spatial distortions of gravity, magical swords, and chocolate bars seem dissimilar, they are connected by their capacity for their sheer, unlimited awesomeness. This bar reinforces that: the chocolate is just sweet enough, the caramel is stretchy, and the nougat is fluffy and light. In flavor, texture, and sheer “I want to eat that again,” the Quasar gobbles up the Milky Way Midnight, not even looking back as it cleans its teeth with a toothpick.

But are they good enough to make me That Place this year? I have hope.

Now I just need to find the ghost of a one-eyed Disc Jockey…

(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar – 220 calories, 40 calories from fat, 4 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 30 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: 99 cents
Size: 1.8 oz
Purchased at: Trader Joe’s
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Balance of milk and dark chocolate flavors. Thick, stretchy caramel. My new Milky Way. Quasar CTA-102. “Sweatin’ to the Oldies 2: An Aerobic Concert.”
Cons: Nougat takes some jaw work. Making Count Chocula jealous. The ghosts of Disc Jockeys who refuse to play special requests.

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Homestyle Potatoes

Jack in the Box Homestyle Potatoes

French fries.

Seasoned curly fries.

Hash browns.

I guess we should include Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges.

And now Homestyle Potatoes.

That, my friends, is the list potato sides you can get at a Jack in the Box. If you’re a potatophile, this list should give you a carb-on. Although, if Wendy’s can have a baked potato, why can’t Jack in the Box? Come on, Jack! Get on that!

The chain’s Homestyle Potatoes are part of their new Brunchfast menu and they feature diced potatoes mixed with bell peppers and onions. The side comes in one serving size and it’s almost the same as a large fries.

I’ve gotten my money’s worth at several brunch buffets in my lifetime and almost all of them had roasted potatoes that looked like these. Some were just potatoes while other included peppers and onions.

The flavor of Jack’s Homestyle Potatoes do remind me of the roasted potatoes I’d form mounds of on my plate at a brunch buffet. Well, to be more exact, they’re like the potatoes I’d get from a brunch buffet that have been sitting in the Sterno-heated tray for too long, but I took them because I didn’t want to wait for a fresh tray.

Jack in the Box Homestyle Potatoes 2

The potatoes appeared to be seasoned with some herbs (although I couldn’t taste them), had a soft texture, and some of the potato skins had slightly crispy edges. The veggies, which there were not a lot of, were somewhat crisp. While I enjoyed the Homestyle Potatoes with my Brunchfast, a part of me wished I had hash browns. There’s something about that golden brown, crispy, greasy brick of potatoes, that appeals to me more.

Like all of Jack in the Box’s menu, the Homestyle Potatoes are available all day. So you can order them for Lunner, Dinnfast, Snacner, or whatever meal portmanteau tickles your fancy.

(Nutrition Facts – 259 calories, 106 calories from fat, 12 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 580 milligrams of sodium, 489 milligrams of potassium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.39*
Size: N/A
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Another potato side at Jack in the Box. Tastes like brunch buffet potatoes. Some vegetables. Some potatoes has crispy skin on the edges. Available all day.
Cons: I think I’d rather have hash browns. Tastes like brunch buffet potatoes that have been sitting out for a while. Couldn’t taste herbs. Not a lot of veggies. No Jack in the Box baked potato, yet. Making portmanteaus with a portmanteau.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Hershey’s Cookie ‘n’ Mint Bar

Hershey's Cookie 'n' Mint Bar

As I kid I wanted nothing more than to go to Disney World. My parents had other plans and made me wait. Every time I asked about it, they said things like “patience is a virtue,” “you won’t appreciate it as much until you’re older,” and “get out of our house already, freeloader.”

While they eventually gave in to my incessant whining, said parents dragged my brother and me to Hershey Park twice in the meantime. For that, I always used to think of it as a second-tier vacation spot.

Now, I’m older, wiser, nostalgic, and I have to say, Hershey Park is bar none the best theme park named after a candy I have ever been to!

Hershey, Pennsylvania smelled like chocolate! They had rides that stacked up with other theme parks. There was a mascot dressed like a pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups! I mean, you’re cool Mickey, but you’re no peanut butter cup.

Hershey Park was as close as I’d ever get to touring Willy Wonka’s factory.

Out of all those memories, there was one thing that somehow always stood out – the free chocolate bar at the end of the tour. It was the freshest, most perfect Hershey’s bar imaginable and for that I’ve always had a soft spot for Hershey’s.

I could already predict what I was in for with the Hershey’s Cookie ‘n’ Mint Bar. It smelled just like an Andes after dinner mint, or Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie. (Aka “Grasshoppers,” if you’re a heartless heathens who refuses to help out the Girl Scouts.) Chocolate and mint may not be your favorite flavor combination, but you can’t deny the smell is fantastic. Go ahead and deny it. I dare you.

Hershey's Cookie 'n' Mint Bar 2

The candy bar tastes like a Thin Mint with less cookie. I think I prefer the ratio here. They could have just called this a “Thinner Mint” bar. The chocolate is the star of the show, instead of it being just a light coating on a cookie. The texture is exactly the same as Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Cream bars.

The chocolate taste is distinctly Hershey’s. Hershey is the only chocolate I can pinpoint blindfolded. Actually, I could probably nail Cadbury too, but beyond that? I’m not so sure.

Here’s the kicker — the Cookies ‘N’ Mint bar is not standard Hershey’s milk chocolate, but rather mint milk chocolate. I assumed the mint would be in the cookie bits, but those are apparently just chocolate flavored. The base Hershey’s chocolate itself is where the mint is.

With that said, I couldn’t really tell. I would have believed there were mint chocolate cookie pieces in regular Hershey’s chocolate if the wrapper didn’t specify.

Hershey's Cookie 'n' Mint Bar 3

So all in all, this was a success. I’d easily put this on par with Hershey’s Cookie ‘N’ Cream bars. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Cookies ‘N’ Mint become a candy stand mainstay. Other than Junior Mints and York Peppermint Patties, there aren’t that many chocolate/mint staples available in your corner store.

I also don’t see why mini versions of Cookies ‘N’ Mint can’t sneak into Hershey’s mixed bags with the Krackel’s, Mr. Goodbar’s, and Hershey’s Dark’s of the world.

I realize it’s a lot to ask of that big shot Mr. Goodbar to put his ego aside and share a bag with an additional flavor, but it’s time for him to accept the times.

It appears Cookie ‘N’ Mint are going to be taking up permanent residence on candy racks nationwide, so no need to book that trip to Hershey Park to try one.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar – 220 calories, 100 calories from fat, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: 78 cents
Size: 1.55 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Balanced flavors. Great texture. Pleasant aroma. Walking Reese’s Cups. Hershey Park’s Hershey handouts. Lessons in patience. Helping the Girl Scouts.
Cons: Couldn’t really tell it was mint chocolate. That egomaniac Mr. Goodbar. Whiny kids. Dissing the Girl Scouts.

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