New and Noteworthy Foodstuffs

I love trying new foods! Cindy, not so much... But I'll try any new food I can get my hands on - providing that it actually looks good... or rather as long as it doesn't look gross or too scary. I decided that since I try all this exciting new stuff that many people shy away from until they hear that it's good, I may as well be the voice that tells you to go forth and sample the new tastiness!

First off, the new treat that I was most excited about. Hershey's has been gently expanding the Whoppers line over the last couple years, starting with the Strawberry Milkshake whoppers that showed up a couple years ago. Well, the other night after an otherwise fail-filled trip to WalMart (which I hate, but they were rumoured to have a clearance deal on Wii Points cards... which were all sold out by the time I got there, hence the fail) I saw a display with this amazing new entry to the Whoppers family:

No, it's not a crafty photoshop job, there really ARE Peanut Butter Whoppers now!! I suppose it's possible that some of you don't know about me and Peanut Butter... I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER!! There aren't many snack foods that can't be improved by adding some... My sister Janice helped awaken my love of Peanut Butter when we were kids, by teaching me the simple, yet amazingly good trick of taking 1/2 spoonful of Peanut Butter, filling the rest of the spoon with Hershey's Syrup, and topping it off with a squirt of whipped cream. It is heaven on a spoon, my friends! If you were to ask my wife, she'd say my love of Peanut Butter borders on the un-natural. In fact, she'd probably describe me as something like this:

While I don't think I'm THAT bad, the most sure way to get me to try a new snack item is to add Peanut Butter. (White Chocolate is a close second, making the White Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups an all-time favorite!)

Sooooo, I got home and tried the PB Whoppers and my mouth began a celebration. They're nearly perfect, and I like them BETTER than the classic chocolate ones. I think mixing the two in a candy dish would make for snack nirvana, or maybe mix in the strawberry ones for a PB&J Whopper experience.

VERDICT: BUY LOTS!!

Next up is another variation on a candy classic, only this time it fared about as well as my WalMart Bargain Hunt. How would you promote the highly anticipated fourth Indiana Jones movie?? By creating a (thankfully) limited edition Snickers bar, of course!! And what special add-in would make each bite resonate with a sense of adventure, exploration and Spielbergian magic?

If you answered "Coconut," you're WRONG!!

Unfortunately, that's what the people at M&M's/Mars answered too. It must be a trick question. Or maybe it actually IS the right answer, but their execution was too weak to pull it off. Either way, each bite of my "Snickers Adventure Bar" was disappointing. Probably because I REALLY wanted to like it! For example, a few months ago while trolling Target's snack clearance section, I saw Kraft Toasted Coconut Marshmallows. At only 79 cents, I bought a couple bags, thinking even if they weren't good, they'd make a good white elephant gift at Christmas time. It is now safe to say that nobody will be getting Toasted Coconut Marshmallows from the Brinkerhoffs for Christmas, because I loved them!

Based on that experience, I was excited to see how chocolate, peanuts, caramel and nougat worked together with toasted coconut. But they didn't work together. I think maybe there was just too much stuff crammed into that bar, because NOTHING really stood out. It probably could use MORE coconut to make a statement - I mean, it's an ADVENTURE BAR!! Let's get ADVENTUROUS!! As I consumed the bar, with each bite I anticipated that THIS one would be the payoff, where all the ingredients combined to make me glad I dropped the 75 cents. Nope. Didn't happen. I'd say I had buyer's remorse, but if I hadn't bought it, I'd keep wondering if it was any good, so the peace of mind of knowing I never want to buy one again was well worth the three quarters.

VERDICT: SEE THE MOVIE INSTEAD (even if the movie isn't as great as everyone hopes, it'll still be better than this candy bar)

Clearly, those first two items aren't exactly compatible with my fitness program, so even though I love the PB Whoppers, I don't anticipate eating them more than a few times a year. I'm okay with that - I just hope enough of YOU buy them often enough that they keep making them, so that the next time I DO want some, I can find them. Do we have a deal??

Getting back in line with my health plan, I tried something yesterday that two days ago I didn't even know existed.


Again, there's no photoshopping going on there, that really does say "Cashew Juice". I love cashew nuts, but NEVER knew that they grew at the end of a fruit. And I certainly didn't know that the fruit they grow on is sweet 'n' tasty, but doesn't travel well so it hasn't made it to mass markets outside of the tropical region where it grows.

But learning these things made me curious, so I gave it a try. The box says it's a slightly sweet tropical flavor with less acid than orange juice. Considering that I hate orange juice as much as I love peanut butter, that sounded like a good thing, although I was a little concerned that they'd make such a comparison, hoping it wouldn't taste like OJ.

I was VERY pleasantly surprised that it did not taste like OJ at all, but was, as promised, a sweet tropical flavor that was very enjoyable! I've never been much of a juice drinker - I love grape juice, but never cared much for apple or most other juices. But this is one that I would happily drink any time. I think I may have to pick up a few boxes to keep on hand for when I would otherwise grab a pop but want to choose healthier.

VERDICT: BUY!

And that wraps up my first foray into food blogging (flogging??) and I hope that maybe it inspired you to try something new! I'll revisit this concept whenever I come across fun new foods!