Pillsbury Bake-Off

After reading the above story at Slashfood, I've decided to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off. That is all. Back to your regularly scheduled snark.

Source: SlashFood blog, 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off announced, January 19, 2007

Reese's Crispy Crunch

"Milk chocolate, crispy peanut butter candy, creamy peanut butter and chopped peanuts"

Hershey's actually did a fantastic job with this candy. The ratio of peanuts and peanut butter to chocolate was perfectly balanced. The crispy peanut butter layer reminded me of a Butterfinger bar; I'm not a fan of those, so I wouldn't buy it again for that reason. But I think this one deserves a thumbs up ; )

Savory Grilled Country-Style Pork Ribs

My project group made those tonight. They came out nice : D

Sources:
"RIB-STICKERS: Fire up the grill -- from Korean short ribs to Southern favorites, it's time for barbecue," Tara Duggan, Chronicle Staff Writer, May 25, 2005,SF Gate, Home of the San Francisco Chronicle

Savory Grilled Country-Style Pork Ribs, From "Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook," by Ray Lampe (St. Martin's Griffin, 302 pages)

Hershey's With Caramel and Hershey's With Brownie Morsels

Hershey's Creamy Milk Chocolate With Caramel

The milk chocolate in this bar does taste creamy. The bars are divided into big squares instead of the usual small rectangles. When I broke off a finger of chocolate, caramel dripped out. Don't let that fool you, though. The amount of caramel is minuscule. I wouldn't have said "Hey, I taste caramel" if you'd fed the bar to me blindfolded.

Hershey's Brownies 'N' Chocolate: Creamy Milk Chocolate With Brownie Morsels

Again, the chocolate was creamy. Where Hershey's failed was the most critical element : the promised brownie morsels. If you've tasted Hershey's Cookies 'N' Mint or Cookies 'N' Cream, you know about the yummy cookie bits inside those bars. Basically, Hershey's slapped something that looks like the cookie bits into this one, too. I seriously did not taste anything resembling brownie.

Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream

White chocolate raspberry truffle
"White chocolate ice cream with raspberry swirl and chocolate fudge truffles"

The raspberry swirls were just the right amount of sweetness, without leaving an artificial chemical taste. The fudge pieces were absolutely decadent and worth the calories ; ) The ice cream itself, however, does not taste of white chocolate. Stone Cold Creamery's white chocolate ice cream should have been used in this product to make it perfect.

Bailey's Irish Cream

My heavens, y'all. This one is off the charts good. My roommate had a pint of this in the freezer, so of course I had to go and find out for myself how it tasted. [No, I didn't dip into her ice cream]. This is a must buy for anyone who loves Bailey's and ice cream.

Favorite Food Memories

Do you have a favorite food memory ? Is it Grandma's cinnamon rolls baking on Sunday morning ? That crazy Thanksgiving where the turkey never cooked ? I'd love to hear about it : )

Frito Lay Flamin' Hot Snack Mix

This product is a mixture of Cheetos, Doritos, Rold Gold pretzels and Sun Chips coated in a bright red mixture of spices. I found it to have just the right amount of heat. I needed a glass of milk to wash down the spice : D A definite winner !

*Flamin' Hot is a brand name.

Yoplait Whips, Part 3

This is the last batch of the yogurt:
-Light and Fluffy Texture:Key Lime Pie Flavored: Note that there's no lime listed with the ingredients. This sort of tastes like that whipped cream, marshmallow, and lime dish you find at buffet salad bars.
- Chocolate Mousse Style: Chocolate Raspberry
- Light and Fluffy Texture: Lemon Meringue

These three were all extremely better than the chocolate mint yogurt. I would definitely buy these three flavors again.

Birds Eye: Voila ! Chicken and Shrimp Penne

"New ! Voila ! Chicken & Shrimp Penne with Vegetables Penne Pasta in an Herb Sauce with Grilled White Chicken, Shrimp, Italian Beans, Red & Yellow Peppers, Grilled Zucchini & Sun Dried Tomatoes. Taste the difference ! Creamy Herb Sauce !"

#1. How can one taste the difference if it's a new product ? Inquiring minds want to know.
#2. The sun-dried tomatoes are in the sauce. There are no slices of it in the actual vegetable mix. The sauce is good, but still, that's a bit sneaky.
#3. Birds Eye was rather heavy handed with the amount of Romano beans / Italian beans. Those did not go well with the other vegetables and meat.
#4. Definitely not enough shrimp and chicken.

I'll only buy this again if it's marked down to 2 for $3.99.

Yoplait Whips, Part 2

After the debacle that was Chocolate Mint Mousse, I gave Yoplait Whips another chance. Today's yogurt cup was "Light and Fluffy Texture: Peaches 'N' Cream Flavored." It definitely tastes better than the mint mousse. Just one gripe, though: The yogurt is peach colored and has a chunky ["whipped"] look to it. Chunky substance + peach color = not appetizing. I just can't get past what it resembled : X I'll have to stick with the normal peach yogurt.

Sour Skittles With Limited Edition Flavor

I bought a bag of Sour Skittles the other night. The sour flavors included strawberry, raspberry, orange, grape and "lemon sorbet, a limited edition ice cream flavor." Normally I pick out the lime ones and hand the rest of the bag to someone else. But these are pretty good [and y'all know I never eat non-chocolate candies that are anything besides peach, lime or pineapple flavored].

The lemon sorbet Skittle, however, does not taste like ice cream, sorbet, or anything along those lines. It tastes like a regular lemon Skittle with sour coating. Sour Skittles normally include sour lemon in the bag, so I'm wondering what's the difference between the two flavors ? Skittles sells a limited edition ice cream flavored pack, but lemon sorbet is not included in that. Hmm...

Reese's Big Cup With Mixed Nuts

This candy has a milk chocolate shell and a filling of peanut butter, peanuts, pecans, cashews and almonds. Or so Hershey's promises. There is too much peanut butter in proportion to the amount of chocolate coating. I was rather disappointed by the lack of cashews, pecans and almonds. I found one little almond piece amidst the huge amount of peanuts. The cashews and pecans were nowhere to be found.

Some of you are probably thinking "Crud, does this chick ever praise Hershey's products ?" Well, yes, I normally like Hershey's candies very much. Their Cacao Reserve bars are absolutely outstanding. [I tried those in December]. I actually think that is part of the problem. After trying the Cacao Reserve bars, I expect too much from a regular Hershey's product and end up disappointed by the taste.

Fiesta Cheddar Nacho Cheez-It

The package is brightly decorated and promises a "crispy tortilla flavor." The first thing I noticed upon opening the bag was a pleasant jalapeño scent. The crackers have also have a mild jalapeño taste, but without being spicy. [Jalapeños are not on the ingredient list of the package.] I would definitely buy these again.

Hershey's S'Mores

Hershey's S'Mores candy bar has, according to the package, "milk chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker bits." The overall taste and appearance was that of an overstuffed Three Musketeers Bar. There just way too much marshmallow inside. And the marshmallow filling didn't taste like marshmallow of any kind : / It left a rather chemical aftertaste in my mouth. The bottom layer of graham cracker bits did not stand out. The pieces were mixed in with something else to form one layer. Bleh.

Two thumbs down for Hershey's S'Mores.

Fettuccine Recipe

My project group made this in culinary class the other day [No, we're not culinary majors]. It was so rich and creamy. *starry eyes*

Source: Fettuccine Pasta with Prosciutto, Peas, and a Cream Sauce, Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, Food Network, 2004