Whether you hate Valentine’s Day, love it, or are as confused as I was about it a year ago, here’s to all of us agreeing that this is pretty clearly a heart.
Breaking Off A Piece
Treat, Pray, Love
Tag Archives: peanut butter
UPDATE: Reese’s is the best
You probably remember this.
Here’s how Reese’s responded [Ed. note: For some reason Twitter embed doesn’t work on my template. Sorry, Twitter.]:
And when someone tried to throw shade?
You win, Reese’s.
Pick literally anything else to be angry about
No fewer than four independent people sent me a link to stories about people being mad about the shape of this year’s crop of Reese’s Trees, the cups’ Christmas seasonal shape varietal similar to the pumpkins and eggs of Halloween and Easter, respectively.
It seems the detail on the sides is not up to snuff.
That’s it. Apparently it resembles a turd. Because the edges aren’t jaggy enough.
Bruh. Continue reading
It’s not often that a candy bar describes itself with its name …
… but here we are. I am nutraged.
Tasting Notes
– There wasn’t much balance to the bar; the fun of the caramel was completely overshadowed by the nutpouring of peanuts.
– That being said, if you’re down with peanuts even remotely, it’s fun to go all-nut sometimes. I’d eat another.
Frozen Week: Reese’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cup
All I was expecting out of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cup was some peanut butter ice cream surrounded by a cup-shaped chocolate shell.
Which would have been outstanding.
But upon first bite [Ed. note: /or upon first reading of the box, had that been something I’d done], I discovered that there was also a thin ribbon of actual peanut butter dispersed throughout the ice cream bar.
Game done changed.
Peanut butter ribbon visible on the right side of the cup.
Nah, game the same; it just got more fierce.
This is a simple, subtle and altogether wonderful ice cream novelty for anybody who’s a fan of peanut butter ribbons.
A salve for your Girl Scout Cookie withdrawal
Girl Scout Cookies are a thing that everybody forgets about loving until the day they go on sale again. [Ed. note: Think I’m kidding? Tell me what day they go on sale. You can’t, can you? It’s the most ambiguous time of year.] After that? Look out. Frenzy time.
People buy boxes and boxes; they freeze them, they share them, they talk about them and they write about them. When the supplies dwindle, there’s a little bit of lament, then we go back to jammin’ on Oreos, E.L. Fudges and Girl Scout Cookie facsimiles, until the next season comes around again. Rinse, repeat.
I typically avoid them.
*ducks*
I know enough about my levels of self-control to know what will happen when I bring them into the house: a sleeve becomes a serving size.
A single bar, though? Not a bad way to get your fix, be it on account of withdrawal or abstinence. Nestle offers Girl Scout Cookie-themed Crunch Bars typically in the May-August months, though they’re less like Crunch Bars and closer to a Reese Stick or a Kit Kat in their wafer-based nature.
They have three offerings based on three cookies. My thoughts:
Peanut Butter Creme (based on Tagalongs or Peanut Butter Patties, depending on your regional nomenclature) (pictured above)
This bar tastes like if there were a romantic comedy where a Little Debbie Nutty Bar stars as a clumsy-but-lovable man boy who accidentally conceives a child with the uptight Reese’s Sticks after a boozy post-kickball happy hour — even though they couldn’t be more different — then end up falling in love and raising the child candy bar, only if that bar was played by the same kid who played Anakin Skywalker in Episode I: The Phantom Menace and only did a serviceable job, so you really were left wishing that you had just reached for one of his parents.
A Reese’s Sticks or a Nutty Bar would both have been better, but I have to say that if that pod racing part is on, I watch it every time.
Caramel & Coconut (Samoas or Caramel DeLites)
Caramel DeLites were always my favorite growing up, and I think that the Caramel & Coconut is my favorite of the Girl Scout Cookie Crunches.
The Goo Goo Cluster, the Titanic and the Berlin Wall
Friends Alex and Abby Bar recently returned from a trip to Nashville, and since they love me and have somehow not grown sick of Drunk Uncle Carp coming over and playing with their dogfriend, brought me back a regional gift bar: the Goo Goo Cluster.
It seems the Goo Goo Cluster has some historical significance, with a 100-plus-year legacy and an accompanying infographic.
More on this momentarily.
You see, according to its website, the Goo Goo Cluster was The First Combination Confection,
In 1912, in a copper kettle at the Standard Candy Company at Clark & First Avenue in Nashville, TN, the world’s first ever combination candy bar was invented. A roundish mound of caramel, marshmallow nougat, fresh roasted peanuts and real milk chocolate; its renegade shape was more difficult to wrap than the conventional rectangular or square shapes of the day. More importantly, this was the first time multiple elements were being mass-produced in a retail confection. Previous to the advent of the Goo Goo Cluster, candy bar manufacturing consisted of bars solely using chocolate, caramel or taffy. The Goo Goo Cluster represented the first time a bar consisted of more than just one principal ingredient.
which, if in fact true [Ed. note: This is quite a boast.], is really something, and laid the groundwork for the Snickers, the PayDay and the candy bar scene of today.
The bar itself was a lovely wad of flavors, with chocolate, caramel, peanuts and a most impressive layer of marshmallow nougat. It was a hearty wad, but not an unbalanced one: multiple textures, a hint of salt and an appropriate level of chewiness.
Now, this is all well and good, a solid old-style candy bar that you can pick up when you’re in the Nashville metropolitan area. But … hold up. Let’s take a look at that graphic. Continue reading
Here Comes Playoff Giannis
The NBA playoffs start today, and the Bucks are in it.
This isn’t necessarily new; they’re often the 7 or 8 seed and politely get destroyed in the first round.
But this is a new year. We have Giannis now.
May this be the first of many adventures with Playoff Giannis.
#FearTheDeer #KnuckIfYouBuck
Tasting Notes
– This is a really good candy bar. I don’t know why it never took off.
– A less messy, more portable and infinitely more nougaty version of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
It’s Bunny Season: Happy Easter
You see, in this world, there are two kinds of people, my friends: Those who bite the ears off the chocolate bunny first, and everybody else. Continue reading
Happy Birthday Mama!
Today’s my mom’s birthday. She’s a pretty awesome mom. She tells some pretty mean stories.
And raised a pirate and didn’t even care.
Happy birthday to you, Mom. You made me more than your fair share of PB&J sandwiches, though they were usually just straight ‘ol PBs because you knew I didn’t like things that tasted like fruit for a very long time.
[Ed. note: I asked her what her favorite candy bar was and she mused, “Like music, it depends on my mood.” Snickers and the Bar That Keeps Hitting On You At The Bar were tossed out there as top contenders as well.]
***
Tasting Notes
– This candy bar tastes like a chocolate peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
– Please, could you tell me if that tastes good? Because I’m still not sure.
Breaking Off A Piece 