Ghost Pops

These Ghost Pop crisps are from South Africa. Beyond the fact they are called Ghost Pops, they're really nothing very spooky or Halloweeny about them. They taste alright though.

Spooky Keyring

My Wife brought this great keyring home for me tonight. As you can see it's a bat, and it makes a spooky sound. It really does too, it goes "wooohooohahahahah". Sends a chill down your spine doesn't it?

Lindt Halloween Truffles

Definately not for trick-or-treaters are these Lindt truffles packaged up especially for Halloween. There are two boxes available, each with a spooky theme. The first is orange with pumpkin wrappers around the truffles and the other black box has a ghost theme.The truffles themselves are sublime if a little rich. These chocolates are available all year round and it's only the packaging that is different. However, I do appreciate the effort. These are definately ones to roll out if you want to impress at a Halloween party.

Squidgy Skulls/ Severed Fingers & Toes

I picked up these gums from a card shop. I forgot that these types of shops usually get on the Halloween bandwagon fairly early until I was looking for a birthday card for my niece. The packaging looks a bit cheap, but I quite like the Squidgy Skulls pack with the creepy tree and skeleton on it.The gums look pretty good. I was able to distinguish a severed toe from a severed finger and the skulls had a suitably creepy mottled effect. Unfortunately they taste foul. The skulls also have a strange grainy texture. I appreciate that these are at the cheaper end of the gum market, but they are quite horrible.

Squirting Skulls

The Halloween fare continues to trickle onto the shelves and it seems to be gums that are being pushed as this years "must have" in trick-or-treat loot bags. Either that, or that's all they've got room for in the stockroom so early in the season. These squirting skulls are seeking to grab your attention by being filled with flavoured liquid. A point rather gruesomley illustrated on the packet.The gums are all shaped the same, with no discernable change of expression from skull to skull. They also have a pleasant enough fruit flavour although the liquid innards are a little too sweet. Despite all that, these would still be a favourite in my trick-or-treat sack if I picked these up on Halloween.

Marks & Spencer Scary Gums

Continuing the promotion of Marks & Spencer's Halloween range, I have Scary Gums. The packet has colourful illustrations of various Halloween staples; a pumpkin, a witch, a frog and for some inexplicable reason an angry looking orange cat. There are four gum shapes seperated by two flavours. There is a blackcurrant cat and bat and an orange moon and pumpkin. These are high quality gums and the flavours are very good. I like the whole spooky ensemble. I must confess that I didn't think that the shapes were particularly realistic, but then one of my cats popped up and took a swipe at the bat gum. Realistic shape or stupid cat? I'll leave you to decide.

Marks & Spencer Halloween Chocolates

A far more favourable indication that Autumn is upon us, is the appearance of Halloween tat in the shops. Anyone who knows me, will vouch for my love of Halloween. It's largely ignored in this country but it is picking up some momentum. Guy Fawkes night on November 5th is still top dog as far as Autumn celebrations go in the U.K. Nonetheless, Marks & Spencer have always been at the forefront of clogging up their shops with black and orange goodies and I immediately filled my basket once I saw stock on the shelves.
I picked up a chocolate witch and a chocolate mummy, classic Halloween characters, no doubt. I also bought a bag of chocolate pumpkins and some caramel filled chocolates with bats, cats and rats pictured on them. Most of these were actually available last year and the foil wrapping appears largely unchanged. You do get a plastic spider with the net of caramel chocolates which is new and appreciated (although probably not by my wife once I start behaving childishly with it, trying to scare her). Marks & Spencer are always one of my top stops for Halloween foodstuff and they haven't let me down this year. My only (very slight) grumble is that it is the same stuff that gets churned out each year. It would be nice to see something new occasionally.

Starbucks' Skinny Stem Ginger Muffin

I dashed out of the house yesterday morning without eating any breakfast, so by the time I arrived at my destination I was famished. There was a Starbucks next to the tube station so I popped in for some sustenance.
Whilst browsing the pastries, I noticed that a few had been flagged as "New for Autumn". I suppose it is technically Autumn, but you wouldn't really know it. It's been so muggy and hot of late that most people are still strolling around in shorts and flip flops sipping frappuccinos.I ordered a skinny stem ginger muffin. I never particularly associated ginger with Autumn, but I'm open to fresh suggestions. The muffin was quite moist and the ginger wasn't overwhelming enough to blow your socks off. It filled the breakfast sized gap in my morning nutrition and I was reasonably satisfied with it.
There are other items in the range as you can see from the photo above, but I neglected to make a note of them. In fact I was in a bit of a dilemma about taking a picture of the pastry display. What would people think? Should I just boldly stroll up to the display and snap away? Or should I furtively take a shot from my table leaving people puzzled by the flash of light? I chickened out and went for the latter option.

Berries & Cream Dr Pepper

This is the latest flavour in Dr Peppers soda fountain classics range. I previously reviewed the cherry vanilla flavour and was not terribly impressed by it. Does this one fare any better?
Actually, yes. It didn't seem to be quite as carbonated as the previous soda fountain flavour and I found the mix of Dr Pepper, raspberry and vanilla to be quite pleasing. No one flavour was particularly dominant, but they were all there rolling over my tastebuds at various points of slugging it down. A definate improvement.

Universal Studios Kit Kat

Kit Kat have released a chocolate bar to celebrate 5 years of Universal Studios in Japan. I think. The majority of the words on the packaging are in Japanese, apart from 5, years, universal, studios and Japan, so I've come to a not unrealistic conclusion about its purpose
The packaging is gorgeous and quite over the top for a chocolate bar. You get the box you see above and inside are two smaller but equally lavish packs containing a double finger of Kit Kat.
The Kit Kat is white and milk chocolate striped. It has a similar look to old chocolate, where when things begin to seperate in the ingredients it takes on a dusty look. I passed the bar over to my Wife who is something of a connoisseur when it come to chocolate.
"It tastes like a normal Kit Kat"; she declared. I'm a little disapointed that such elaborate packaging would house a not-so-special Kit Kat. It is a nice box though.

Hubba Bubba Duo

These intriguing packs contain only one piece of bubble gum. It's banana flavoured with a creamy chocolate center. I quite like the colours on the packet and the notion of buying a single piece of gum makes me believe that this will be some kind of super deluxe gastronomic treat.
I popped one into my mouth and began chewing away. The banana flavour began strongly and then blended nicely with the chocolate. It's quite delicious and smooth. The chocolate begins to ebb away shortly after you've begun chewing, which seem to be fairly common for these stuff-in-the-middle bubble gums. However, on the upside the banana flavour has staggering consistency. I've been chewing away for around ten minutes and the flavour is more or less the same as when I originally bit down on it. It doesn't blow a very good bubble though.

Tic Tac Icegloo's

These Tic Tac Icegloo's originate from Germany. I have a cool cherry and a cool mint flavours. They taste fresh and will do wonders for stinky breath, but that's not why they are featured on this blog, oh no. These are here because they come in a different box to normal Tic Tac's. Admire.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: September

Six days late its the September calender. I've got a very busy month, so I'll confess up front that posting may be fairly haphazard. Sorry 'bout that.