July 29, 2007
Pringles Select Parmesan Garlic
I love Pringles potato chips (who doesn't???), so I was very interested in the new Pringles Select chips that I found recently at the local Wal-Mart. They come in several different flavors - Sun Dried Tomato, Cinnamon Sweet Potato, Szechuan Barbecue, and Parmesan Garlic. I bought a bag of the Parmesan Garlic variety, as they looked the most promising. Wow, was I wrong. Pringles touts them as being "gourmet" and just from the name, I expected an improved, more refined chip. Instead, the Pringle Select chips are smaller, thicker, and heavier tasting that the traditional Pringles I'm used to. I can describe the flavor only as being altogether ordinary and boring. There's nothing gourmet about them, in my opinion. I'll stick with the regular Pringles.
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July 20, 2007
California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust Sicilian Pizza
The California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust Sicilian Pizza is not the type of frozen pizza I usually buy, but I'm really glad that I tried it. It is really delicious and an example of just how good frozen food can be. The crust is very thin and perfectly crispy, with a great flavor and texture. The pizza is topped with Italian sausage, spicy ham, and salami. There is a modest amount of mozzarella and fontina cheeses. There's not a lot of sauce on it, which I like. The minimal sauce really lets you enjoy the crust and toppings. As far as frozen pizzas go, it is on the small size and costs a bit more than most. Even so, it is definitely worth buying for its great taste.
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July 13, 2007
McDonald's Oreo McFlurry
For such a simple dessert - soft-serve vanilla ice cream with Oreo cookie pieces swirled in - the McDonald's Oreo McFlurry is surprisingly tasty. The ice cream is semi-hard when delivered to you, and softens nicely as you eat it. It's certainly not the highest quality ice cream you'll ever eat, but were not talking about Spago here. It has plenty, but not too many, Oreo cookie pieces in it. The McFlurry comes with a unique spoon with a big, sturdy handle that makes it even nicer to eat because you can really dig in to the ice cream and don't ever have to worry about the spoon breaking. Interestingly, the spoon doubles as the beater that is used to mix the McFlurry on a blending machine. I think that a McFlurry tastes good any time of the year, but I especially love one on a hot summer day.
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July 10, 2007
Carl’s Jr. Hawaiian Teriyaki Six Dollar Burger
The Carl’s Jr. Hawaiian Teriyaki Six Dollar Burger is quite possibly the best promotional burger that Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. has produced. It is hard to know where to start in describing this culinary masterpiece. For starters the teriyaki sauce is amazing. I love to BBQ and I particularly love teriyaki sauce. I can honestly say that this sauce is easily one of the best I have ever tasted. If Carl’s Jr. bottled this stuff and sold it in supermarkets I bet they would turn a nice profit. The grilled Dole pineapple was perfectly charred, sweet and juicy and complemented the sauce beautifully. The use of a mildly sharp Swiss cheese on this burger helped balance the sweetness of the pineapple and sauce. As with the other Six Dollar burgers the patty was grilled and seasoned to perfection. Lettuce, tomato and onion give the burger a fresh, crisp finish.
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July 5, 2007
Banana Twinkies
According the Twinkie entry on Wikipedia, the original Twinkie (invented in 1930) had a banana creme filling but was changed to vanilla creme during WWII. Now, Hostess has re-introduced the Banana Twinkie. It tastes like - you guessed it - a Twinkie with banana creme filling. I found it to have a nice banana flavor that is an improvement over the vanilla creme variety. It may be tempting to think of the Banana Twinkie as a "healthy" snack due to the banana flavor, but I wouldn't take it that far. Just enjoy it for what it is - tasty sponge cake with a sugar-creme filling.
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July 2, 2007
Snickers Marathon Multi-Grain Crunch Bar
To me, most nutrition/energy/protein bars have a texture similar to vulcanized rubber and a taste to match. However, to my surprise the Multi-Grain Crunch bar was an awesome snack worthy of the Snickers name. The crunchy texture of the peanuts, oats, wheat and rice was quite invigorating. The soft chocolate layer on the bottom of the bar tasted just like the chocolate on a Snickers candy bar and complemented the crunchiness perfectly. In addition, I could detect only a trace of the vitamin and mineral supplement flavor that is often prominent in most energy bars. To be honest it tasted more like a candy bar than a nutrition bar. Hence, the only problem with the bar is that it falls into a kind of candy bar/nutrition bar purgatory. For a nutrition bar it is somewhat modest in terms of, well… nutritional value. But it’s not quite a candy bar either. Bottom line, if you aren't a serious athlete but are craving a candy bar and don’t want to overwhelm yourself with guilt, this bar is perfect.
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