Weirdos From Another Planet!

Southern Comfort Vanilla Spice Egg Nog Coffee

2006-12-30T14:15:00.000Z

I've been supping away on this coffee since Christmas Eve and I'd like to tell you all how good it is. It's a decent tasting coffee that has a nice but not overpowering egg nog flavour. We don't get too many flavoured coffees here in the U.K. but it does seem to be gaining in popularity. I'd imagine that we're some years away from the concoction above though. Egg nog seems to be simply used as an ingredient in a snowball cocktail over here.

Jones Soda Holiday Pack 2005

2006-12-28T17:39:00.000Z

It's my 100th post on this blog and I've got something special. This is a Jones Soda Holiday Pack. Admittedly it's from 2005 but you have no idea how hard this was to obtain in the U.K. It's not readily available over here and the shipping costs from ebay sellers made in more expensive than gold. However, I frequented a skateboard shop in Essex that sold Jones Soda and happened to mention the Holiday Pack to the guy behind the counter and he said that the Jones Soda rep had been trying to fob them off on him but he didn't think there would be any interest. Isn't it strange how things just fall into place occasionally? For the princely sum of £25 (still overpriced) I got my mitts on one. This pack has been blogged to death, but not by a Brit, so this is a vaguely unique entry in the blogosphere. For the unitiated the Jones Soda Holiday Pack contains flavours that you may associate with a holiday meal. For example; turkey and gravy, smoked salmon pate, corn on the cob, broccoli casserole and pecan pie. I had some friends visiting so I decided to rope them into the fun.We started with the turkey and gravy flavour. It smelled like meat fat and it tasted like meat fat. It's like drinking the juices from the turkey tray. It's disgusting. My first reaction was to suppress a gag. My friends were all looking at me like they wanted to kill me after taking a sip. It even felt like it left a fatty coating on the inside of my mouth. It's the foulest thing to pass my lips ever!
Realising that nothing could be worse that the turkey and gravy we moved on to the brocolli casserole. It was a very sweet taste and I could detect no broccoli whatsover in there. That's not a grumble though, at least it wasn't repulsive.
The smoked salmon pate was passed over by myself as I really can't stand fish and my stomach was still weak from the turkey and gravy soda. Those that did drink it said that it tasted just like Skips, which is a brand of prawn cocktail flavoured crisps over here. I'm still not going to try it.
The corn on the cob proved to be a strange flavour, mixing a sweet, almost toffeeish, taste with salt. It definately smelt like corn and my friend Paul declared it; "better than the fish one."So, it was a relief to all when I passed around the last drink for sampling; pecan pie. At least this was pudding flavoured. The general consensous was that it was ok, if a little maple syrupish. As disgusting as it was, this was great fun. I'm glad I wasted so much money and effort getting hold of one. I'm not sure my friends are though.

Holiday Messages M&M's

2006-12-27T14:45:00.000Z

We've got some friends coming over today for a Christmas killer double bill (Christmas Evil and Black Christmas), so we're rolling out some holiday candy to help enhance the experience. I have a packet of M&M's with holiday messages on them.These are basically your standard M&M's in a white shell with a green M on one side and a picture of a tree or a short word like joy on the flip. Very festive.

Chocolate and Banana Sandwich

2006-12-26T12:43:00.000Z

I picked up this sandwich from Tesco's on Christmas Eve, then stuck it in the fridge and forgot about it. Any sense of adventure that I originally had regarding the eating of this sandwich has gone, especially seeing as it's two days out of date. Nonetheless I marvel at the fact that such a sandwich exists. The bread is even made with cocoa.

Tylenol PM

2006-12-26T12:30:00.000Z

This is slightly off the beaten track for this blog, but I'd just like to offer praise to the genius who thought up Tylenol PM. Ever had pain that made you toss and turn and struggle to get to sleep? Well, Tylenol have married a pain killer with a sleep aid to help with such moments. I had a stinking headache last night and I took a couple of these and wham! I'm out like a light and when I woke up? No headache. Brilliant.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T10:35:00.000Z

What did you get for Christmas? Anything cool? I did!

My ideal car is a Dodge RAM Mega Cab. An impossibly huge truck that would stick out like a sore thumb on British roads. My Wife decided to pick me up a toy version (although this is the 1500, not the Mega Cab). It's very nice bar the outlandish colour scheme and the fact that it plays the Village Peoples camp classic Y.M.C.A. when you press one of the many sound buttons on it. This gift is possibly a slur on my masculinity, but I like it.
High on my list for Santa were the Weird N.J. books and he delivered.
Usually, I get loads of DVD's for Christmas (mainly because that's all I ever ask for) but this year it was down to only two; Miami Vice season two and the new Superman II release with Richard Donner's fabled cut of the film included. Superman II has always been my favourite of the series and I'm itching to see how it was originally intended to be seen before the studio took it from Donner and gave it to Richard Lester. That's my post dinner film sorted out.
These camouflage slippers will come in handy should I need to suddenly engage in armed combat at home. I'm a big fan of C.S.I. (every flavour) and my Wife bought me this board game. Even better than that though, attached to the front was a letter that informed me that she had enrolled me at the local college on a part time forensics course.I also got loads of small gifts, all of which I love. It's been a good Christmas to me, I hope it's a good one for you. Merry Christmas.

What's On The Tree?

2006-12-23T12:59:00.000Z

Just to get myself further into the Christms spirit, I thought I'd give you a quick tour of the more esoteric decorations on our tree.This Mickey Mouse decoration was a gift from a neighbour who'd recently been to Disneyland Paris. The Sponegebob decoration was from a Shaw's in Boston. There are three decorations in the pack, Spongebob, Squidward and Patrick. I've lost the Patrick, though.

The I Love New York decoration is something that my Wife and I picked up on one of our Christmas trips to New York. We adore New York but especially at Christmas time and this is a reminder for us of our favourite place to be in December.This N.Y.P.D. car is on the tree for much the same principle except it's slightly more absurd to have a police car dangling off the tree.
The same goes for the F.D.N.Y. fire truck too.This fellow somehow eluded the box of Halloween decorations that were put into the loft so I decided to hang him on the tree (much to my Wife's chagrin, I might add).

Santa Hat Cat Bed

2006-12-23T08:59:00.000Z

My Wife and I bought this cute looking Santa hat cat bed, which has been studiously ignored by all four of our cats (the photo above was staged, I hid a treat in there). They'll probably take a big shine to it just as we're taking down the decorations.

Marzipan Topped Mince Pies

2006-12-23T08:23:00.000Z

I've struggled to get into the Christmas mood this year. Usually I'm really into it, enjoying all the trappings of the holiday season, but I've not felt it this year. I think partly it's due to my job becoming more and more difficult and stressful. However, I'm off for a couple of days now, so I decided to try and bring some Christmas zing into my day with a post about mince pies.
I've covered mince pies before when Mr. Kipling tried to make an extra buck by giving them an Easter twist. This time, it is a least Christmas but the marzipan topping is new.
The pies have good moist mincemeat in them. Mincemeat is a concoction of raisins, currents spices, various fruits and usually a bit of booze (cognac and port in this case). Mincemeat originally did have meat in it but it is much less common these days. Interestingly the first mincemeat factory was in Port Byron, New York which I find strange as mince pies are not part of the American Christmas tradition. Perhaps they were, once upon a time.
The pastry is up to Mr. Kiplings usual high standards and the marzipan topping is an interesting addition. The marzipan forms the lid and baked with the rest of the pie. It adds a subtle extra sweetness that really makes this very traditional, yet different and new at the same time. Nice pies.

Samuel Adams Winter Classics

2006-12-14T19:13:00.000Z

As some of you may know from previous posts, I quite like Samuel Adams beer and I found this collection of Winter Classics irresistable. Inside each box are 2 bottles each of; bog standard Sam Adams, Holiday Porter, Cranberry Lambic, Black Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale and Winter Lager. I'll dispense with the standard Sam Adams and move straight onto the Holiday Porter.
Allegedly brewed to a recipe that dates back to the porters of Victorian London (or some such, I read it on the label but didn't note it down) the beer has a complex malt flavour. Personally I thought it tasted just like a sweeter version of Sam Adams.
The Cranberry Lambic was very fruity and had a nice refreshing taste. I was quite impressed. There is a distinct taste of cranberries in there. The only thing is, I always feel kind of weird drinking fruity beers. It seems unmasculine somehow, like I'd just sunk a Malibu and pineapple or something. Nice beer, but I probably wouldn't drink it in public.The Black Lager had me quite intrigued. Alot of people drink stout in England which is black and I wondered if this was a take on that. It turned out it was not. It was, in fact, a very dark and strong lager with a coffee aftertaste. This was easily my favourite from the collection despite having the least obvious tie to winter.
The label on the Old Fezziwig Ale says that it has been brewed with spices, caramel and orange peel. I could taste the orange and the spices in the brew and It had a definate sweetness to it. I'm also impressed with the use of a lesser literary character for the name of the beer. Nobody throws a Christmas party like Old Fezziwig.
The last bottle, the Winter Lager, is one that I'd had on previous trips to the States and I think my familiarity coupled with some rather more outrageous and distinctive flavours left me thinking this one was rather bland.
All in all this is a great box of beers and I'd be more than happy if Santa left this under the tree for me.

Jones Soda Dessert Pack

2006-12-11T18:26:00.000Z

This years Jones Soda Holiday pack is thankfully just a collection of desserts rather than the usual gross-out flavours. This pack is exclusive to Target and caused a great deal of excitement in me when I saw it, and made my Wife tut, sigh and wheel the trolley off towards womens clothes.The box looks great. It's got an old 50's stove vibe about it. There's hobs and knobs on the top and a collection of recipes on the side along with some information about how a percentage of profits from the sale of this collection of sodas will go towards St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. I'm always keen to alleviate my consumer conscience, so the charity angle is very welcome.
The flavours in the box are banana cream pie, blueberry pie, cherry pie, key lime pie and the all-American apple pie. I'll start with the banana cream pie. It had a nice natural smell and a creamy banana flavour. There was also a vague pastry aftertaste. A very impressive start.
Things went downhill though when I cracked open the blueberry pie. It tasted very grape-like to me. It also reminded me of the cough mixture that I was force fed as a child. The dredging up of traumatic childhood memories meant that this bottle had it's cap back on in a flash and was tossed in the (recycle) bin.The cherry pie had a very artificial flavour that was very bright and sweet. If you made a pie out of cherry twizzlers, this is what it would taste like. Twizzler pie? Now theres an idea.
Key lime pie was a return to more natural tasting flavours. The lime tasted good and wasn't to strong or sharp and there was just an underlying hint of coconut. I would like to point out that I didn't just sit down and drink five sodas in a row. Even I don't have that kind of tolerance. I purchased it early in my trip and picked at them over a period of about a week. So, towards the end of the trip, I finished off with the apple pie flavour. Again it was very natural tasting and there was a strong cinnamon tang to the whole bottle. It also had the same pastry aftertaste as the banana cream pie.
I adored the whole set, from the box design to the disgusting blueberry pie soda. This is the kind of thing I love to blog about.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: December

2006-12-11T18:14:00.000Z

It's December and Jambi is granting your wish that I update this blog. Mekka lekka hi, mekka heiny ho.

Doritos Blazin' Buffalo & Ranch

2006-11-20T20:28:00.000Z

These Blazin' Buffalo & Ranch Doritos are unbelievably hot. I really couldn't discern any flavour other than hot when I ate these. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway as I've never eaten buffalo and I'm only vaguely familiar with ranch. I gave them to the lady over the road from where were staying in the end.

Samuel Adams Octoberfest

2006-11-20T20:04:00.000Z

When I first travelled to the States some years ago, I was under the impression that beer brewed in America was weak and tasteless. In England we have some fantastic native breweries as well as the finest that Europe can offer on our doorstep. American beer is all about Budweiser and Coors isn't it? Well nearly...I tried a beer sampler in a restaurant that consisted of Budweiser (it's okay), Coors (tasteless, wouldn't serve it to a mule) and Samuel Adams.
As it turns out Samuel Adams is a great beer. It's strong and full of flavour. It claims to be a lager, but I would suggest that it's more of a light bitter. I fell in love with the stuff. So much so, that on a trip to Boston I visited the statue of Samuel Adams and had my picture taken in front of it. As it turns out, Samuel Adams didn't invent the beer, rather he started the revolution that saw my ancestors chased out of the country for raising the taxes on tea. Well I'll be. You live and learn, don't you?
Anyway, Samuel Adams, the beer, have brought out an Autumn variant which you know I had to try.
It actually tasted very similar to a standard Sam Adams, albeit a little maltier in flavour. It was very refreshing and I sunk all six bottles in the pack. I can't give it any more glowing praise than that really.
Learn more about Sam Adams the beer here, and educate yourself about Sam Adams the revolutionary here.

Lightning Pumpkins and Hubba Bubba Mummy Tape

2006-11-19T19:26:00.000Z

I forgot that I picked up some Lightning Pumpkins and some Hubba Bubba Mummy Tape. The Lightning Pumkins are identical to the Lightning Bugs that I blogged a while back except that they are pumpkins instead of worms.
The Hubba Bubba Mummy Tape promises six feet of black raspberry bubble gum encased in a purple case with a mummy on it. It's a very nice flavour, which for some reason suprised me. I just figured it would be sour or something like that, but it's a very mellow flavour that lasts a reasonable amount of time before you have to pop another piece in your mouth. Mind you, with six feet of gum you don't even need to wait that long. I promise that I have no more Halloween items to blog.

Starbucks Mint Mocha Frappucino

2006-11-18T15:31:00.000Z

You can buy Starbucks ready made frappucino's from shops other than Starbucks over in the States. This ready made mint mocha was pleasant enough despite it not really being the weather for frappucino's. It was creamy with a mild coffee/ chocolate flavour underscored by a slight mint tang.
I also had a pumpkin spice latte in a Starbucks whilst I was in America too. I didn't have my camera with me at the time. They're pretty good, although I doubt we'll ever see them in the U.K. though, as we don't do that whole pumpkin thing.

Breakfast at IHOP

2006-11-18T14:41:00.000Z

Every time I come to the States my Wife insists on eating breakfast at International House Of Pancakes (IHOP) as many times as possible whilst we're there as she adores the thick fluffy pancakes that they serve.We both opted for the coffee which is unlimited and not too bad. My wife then ordered something called the split decision which is ideal for someone like her who dithers endlessly over menus, unable to choose between the various dishes on offer. The split decision offers a bit of everything. You get; 2 pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 pieces of french toast, 2 eggs (over easy) and two link sausages.
My order was just a short stack (3 pancakes) and an English muffin. English muffins are a peculiar thing. They are just bread muffins, but they taste fantastic. Muffins in England, rather strangely, taste completely different. I have never found a muffin in England that tastes like an English muffin.
The pancakes are gorgeous too. They are so light and fluffy. There are strawberry, blueberry, butter pecan and old fashioned pancake syrups at every table for you to drizzle onto the pancakes. I opted for the old fashioned pancake syrup on mine (which tastes just like maple syrup to me) and my wife opted for a mix of strawberry and blueberry. I made an assertion a while back that the pancakes served in a mock 50's American diner in London's Soho were just as good as these. I was wrong. These are better by quite some margin.
My wife also polished off a large part of her breakfast and declared it uniformly excellent.
The IHOP we visited was very busy, but the service was friendly and efficient. IHOP definately lives up to it's strapline of "Come hungry, leave happy". The particular IHOP we visited was on North Dean Street in Englewood, N.J. if ayone knows it.

Another Trip To The Supermarket

2006-11-16T20:14:00.000Z

Following on from my trip around a Danish supermarket earlier this year, I just had to blog about the veritable Aladdins cave that is the American supermarket.In the fresh juice aisle there is plenty of apple cider to be found. Now this stuff is not be confused with the cider that we Brits drink in the pub. This is non-alcoholic and is a rich apple juice. It's delicious when it's spiced and served hot.There was a pile of Pirates of the Caribbean cereal on the reduced to clear shelf. I didn't bother picking any up though.
This pack of M&M's Pumpkin Mix was still lurking in the candy aisle.I had to grease a few palms to get one can of Dr.Pepper fountain classics to the U.K. There's boxes and boxes of the things for only four dollars in this place.
It was no great suprise to see the awful Coca Cola Blak reduced in price. Blech.I was quite amazed by shelf upon shelf of pre packed eggs, ready to be poured into a pan or baking bowl. English supermarkets have numerous products for lazy consumers but I don't ever recall seeing ready made egg mix.
Christmas is, of course, just around the corner and there was a vast variety of Egg Nog ready for the holiday season.
Variety was the big thing for me in this supermarket. There was so much choice. There were multiple versions of pretty much every product in the shop. It was dizzying. This huge open-24-hours-a-day store was also according to my guide; "Only a small one". Tesco's have got a way to go yet.

Orange Mallow Pumpkins

2006-11-16T19:47:00.000Z

These two orange mallow pumpkins (made by Hershey's and Russell Stover respectively) were much more pleasant than the Peeps Halloween offerings. The reason is primarily that they were covered in chocolate, but the orange flavouring helped too.The Russell Stover marshmallow came out on top in the taste test due to it's more consistent mallow and it's stronger orange taste. Keep that in mind for next years Halloween.

Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale

2006-11-16T19:25:00.000Z

There is quite an array of seasonal beers available to the Halloween drunkard and Blue Moon's Pumpkin Ale really caught my eye in the liquor store.
The box and bottles are decorated with a pumpkin patch eerily lit by a full moon.
The label claims that; "With it's clove, nutmeg and allspice flavours, this amber coloured ale is perfect for fall's crisp, clear days". This was looking like a promising beer to me and I couldn't wait to crack one open.
When I removed the top and took a sniff, there was a faint pumpkin smell. A large swig revealed a weak caramel taste with some faint spices. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was just a bit too weak to make me want to get another six-pack. It complimented the pizza I was eating well enough though.
A search around the net revealed that Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale is made by Coors, which explains the weak taste to me. I'm not a fan of Coors at all (especially after they I.D.'d me on the Coors stand at the ice hockey).

Peeps Cocoa Cats

2006-11-16T19:16:00.000Z

These Peeps Cocoa cats were mildy more palatable than the pumpkins due to the fact that they're coated in hot chocolate powder. I could only eat one.

Peeps Pumpkins

2006-11-15T20:45:00.000Z

I arrived in the States just after Halloween and was subsequently able to pick up plenty of cheap Halloween stuff.
I'll start with these Peeps Pumpkins. Peeps are a brand of marshmallows that are rolled out in various guises to coincide with just about every holiday imaginable. The pack is merely a cardboard tray which only intrudes a little at the edges, the main window is all about the Peeps. I think this is an odd strategy, as they don't really look like pumpkins to me. They look more like orange Mickey Mouse heads. I would have thought that a pumpkin shape was something that it would be very hard to get wrong when making a mould. I must also confess that the bright orange colour doesn't make me go "Mmmmm...." either.They taste of an artificial nothingness. It's a very strange flavour. I also don't think Peeps are as sweet as marshmallows in the U.K.
I'm so dissapointed, I was really looking forward to these and they're quite horrible.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: November

2006-11-15T19:45:00.000Z

I had, to all intents and purposes, abandoned this blog. My profile views had been stagnant for some time, and I didn't believe that anybody other than my Dad and my friend Chase were actually reading it. However, I have just returned from a trip to my favourite place on Earth; The U.S.A. and I have loads of things to blog about. If you do read this blog, leave a comment or drop me an email (it's on my profile). It's appreciated. Oh, it's November and it's time for pancakes in the playhouse.

Innocent Smoothie For Autumn

2006-10-03T19:14:00.000+01:00

Similar to the summer smoothie I reviewed back in August this one is the Autumn variant. The label suggests that this should invoke thoughts of bonfires, foraging squirrels and soaking your conkers in vineger. I'm sure that there are a number of readers not from the U.K. scratching their heads and wondering what conkers are. Well they're kind of a nut that drops from trees around Autumn time. Traditionally schoolboys have collected them, stuck string through the middle and battled their conker against another's, the idea being that the victor still has his conker in one piece at the end of the battle. Kind of like Pokemon with nuts. Wikipedia expands on it further here.
Anyway, back to the drink. It's a blend of blackcurrants and gooseberries which makes it a very sharp drink. It's not unpleasant though. Innocent once again have a winner on their hands as far as I'm concerned.

Skeleton Pops

2006-10-03T19:09:00.000+01:00

I love the look of these Skeleton Pops. I could only find an arm and a leg, but wonder if there's more out there. Maybe a spine or a hip? The pack says that they're strawberry flavour, but I'm sick of eating sweets so I'm going to take them at their word. I'll try them out on my niece and nephew when I see them next and let you know.

Scooby Doo! Spooky Snack Pack With Oozing Mallow

2006-10-03T18:55:00.000+01:00

More Scooby stuff with this pack of marshmallows. It's a nicely decorated bag with plenty of tombstones and bats surrounding the clear part showing off the actual mallows. The bold colours really caught my eye when I was browsing the Halloween section of Tescos.Once the pack is opened you are presented with individually wrapped marshmallows, which doesn't sit quite so well with my environmental sensibilities, but they've got bats on which is cool.
I suppose the individual wrapping makes them easier to hand out on Halloween too.
The marshmallows taste sweet and have strawberryish stuff inside which does not ooze despite the claim on the packet. I'm sure kids will lap them up though.

Scooby Doo! Halloween Party Pack

2006-10-01T10:19:00.000+01:00

It looks like Scooby Doo is looking to enhance his spooky credibility by muscling into the Halloween market with this Party Pack. At first glance it looks like a glorified lucky bag to me.
You do get alot of stuff in this bag. There are some lollys with pumpkin wrappers on them, some gummy eyeballs and small lenticular scenes depicting the gang getting into in various scrapes.
There are also boxes of sweets with various Scooby-Doo characters depicted on them. The sweets inside are red and black. Close, but the colours of Halloween are orange and black.
The most intriguing thing in the pack though, is the bat launcher. This is a device that launches mini frisbees when you squeeze the bat legs together. The frisbees go a reasonable distance, but may not fly as far when in the hands of a small child as all the power comes from the squeeze. Which is just tough really, stick it in a drawer and get it out when you've got past 30. It'll fly down to the bottom of the garden then.
I even managed to get a snap of a frisbee in flight (which is no mean feat when you are photographer and the launcher).All in all this is a pretty reasonable pack. It was only four quid and it's packed with stuff that would be great as party favours or passed out to trick-or-treaters. There are minus marks for having the wrong coloured sweets in the boxes though. That's a little bit lazy.

Marks & Spencer Trick or Treat Mini Biscuit Bag

2006-10-01T09:34:00.000+01:00

After asking for something new from the Marks & Spencer Halloween range, I got something new. Someone high up in the company must read my blog.
These are small bags of chocolate covered scary shaped biscuits. They come in a suitably illustrated package which bears the same witch from the gums packet and a couple of bats.
You can clearly see what each biscuit is supposed to be. There's none of the "I think it's a lion" type stuff like you get with Animal Crackers. It's a skull, bat, ghost, pumpkin or witches hat and you'll not mistake it for anything else. They're pretty decent little biscuits and they taste a little bit shortbready. There is a decent covering of chocolate on each one too.
These come in multipacks of 6 ready for you to dish out to eager little hands on Halloween. Ideal.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: October

2006-10-01T09:24:00.000+01:00

The King of Cartoons ushers in October. The month of my birth and of course, Halloween.

Ghost Pops

2006-09-27T06:55:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-25T21:58:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-25T20:34:00.002+01:00

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

2006-09-25T19:34:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-25T18:38:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-15T19:07:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-14T19:29:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-14T19:04:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-07T22:18:00.002+01:00

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

2006-09-07T20:00:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-06T19:00:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-06T18:53:00.000+01:00

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

2006-09-06T18:48:00.000+01:00

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.

Gummi Lightning Bugs

2006-08-30T20:39:00.000+01:00

These Gummi Lightning Bugs have beef gelatine in them as well, so I wont be eating them, but frankly I'm not sure that's the point of these. In the pack you have a selection of gummy sweets that look like larvae and a set of electronic tongs.Clasp a bug in the tongs (with the lights out) and voila! The bug glows.
It's a simple but impressive gimmick. It's just a shame about that beef gelatine, really.

Giant Size Mallow Burger

2006-08-29T17:47:00.000+01:00

I bought this giant mallow burger, but discovered that it had beef gelatine in the ingredients and being vegetarian, I'm not going to eat it.Looks impressive though, doesn't it?

Rachel's Organic Mood Yoghurts

2006-08-28T11:00:00.000+01:00

Rachel's Organic have released a range of yoghurts that are supposed to enhance your mood in an apparent response to consumer demand. I can be a bit up and down sometimes, so I figured these were worth a road test.
There are currently three moods available in the range; revitalising, refreshing and relaxing.
Last night I had the relaxing mood which was made up of plum, honey and lavender. It's a nice yoghurt and was I scraping around the tub for dregs in no time. As to it's relaxing qualities, I'm not so sure. I didn't feel any more relaxed than I already was. Mind you, I was watching Spike Lee's harrowing Hurricane Katrina documentary which probably didn't help.
I then tried the orange, lemon and ginger refreshing mood with my breakfast this morning. Again, the flavour of the yoghurt was excellent. The potentially overpowering ginger was kept to a minimum letting the citrus shine. However, my eyelids are drooping a little as I write this and I'm thinking of getting a cup of coffee in a minute.
Update: This morning (being the morning of the 29th), I tried the revitalising with my breakfast. The banana, blueberry and siberian ginseng was very tasty, but the yoghurt did nothing to brush away the excess of a long bank holiday weekend.
Overall the taste of these yoghurts was uniformly delicious, but they really didn't seem to do a great deal for my mood. Available only at Waitrose, these are worth grabbing if you're looking for a tasty yoghurt but perhaps not if you're feeling a bit crabby.

Innocent Smoothie For Summer

2006-08-28T10:41:00.000+01:00

I've got a couple of healthy posts for a change starting with the Innocent Smoothie for Summer. I'm already a fan of Innocent smoothies. Their drinks are generally just crushed fruit stuffed into a bottle and they have that Ben & Jerry's type of ethical quirkiness.
Innocent usually have a variety of short run flavours and this is the one for summer; cherries and strawberries. The bottle has a hand drawn lawnmower on it and declares that this is; "The perfect smoothie for summer, season of flip flops, freckles and rained off barbecues". There is also a small section of the label that tells you all about the world record for spitting cherry stones. All Innocent bottles have these strange facts on them and I have never read the same one twice. Impressive.
The drink itself is delicious. There is a strong taste of strawberries that is brightened by the addition of cherries. It's not quite summer in a bottle, but it's close.
There is nothing to fault here. Whimsical packaging (I'm always impressed when there is more to read than the contents on a label), natural ingredients and a moral conscience all add up to a fabulous drink. Get one today.

Pop Rocks Roller

2006-08-27T16:54:00.000+01:00

Ahhh...Pop Rocks...a source of great childish amusement and fodder for many an urban myth. Perhaps feeling threatened by Mento's as the instant Coke fizzer of choice these days, Pop Rocks have started appearing with a variety of novelty add ons, in this case a candy roller.
You have a pot of Pop Rocks in a mock paint tin container and some stripy candy posing on a plastic handle as a paint roller.You get an generous amount of Pop Rocks which explode like crazy in your mouth although the popping sensation doesn't last as long as higher quality Pop Rocks. They also got stuck together in the tin very, very quickly making it difficult to get them out with just the roller. The roller itself doesn't actually roll either, it's fixed in a static position and you can't get the whole thing in the tin, just the end. Overall, it's a nice idea cheaply executed.

Schweppes Summer Punch Lemonade

2006-08-27T11:14:00.000+01:00

As the balmy days of summer begin dwindling, I though I'd grab a bottle of Summer Punch Lemonade before it disappeared off the shelves to make way for Autumn fare.
It's an interesting flavour with a distinct fruit tang and an underlying taste of mint. As a stand alone drink it's not that great, but I could imagine it going well with Pimm's.

Kellogg's Smorz

2006-08-27T10:47:00.000+01:00

The campfire treat whittled down to a breakfast cereal? This should be interesting.
Smorz or rather s'mores traditionally consist of two graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate. The marshmallow is heated over a campfire and when it is sufficiently gooey, stuck between the graham crackers with the chocolate. The heat from the marshmallow should then melt the chocolate, thus creating a s'more. This is generally an American treat, so I'd never really had one until a few years ago. I've got a Hershey s'mores maker that I brought back from the States stashed somewhere too.
There is an Ice Age 2 tie-in on the box where you get a frisbee with characters from the film on it. Unfortunately you have to send off four coupons and be a resident of the U.S.A. to qualify. Bah! One day....
The cereal itself is made from grahams and is coated in chocolate. There is also a generous helping of marshmallows thrown in to help create that s'more authenticity. Does it work though?
Frankly, no, these do not taste anything like a s'more. It's unsuprising though, when you consider the effort required for a real s'more; build campfire, cook marshmallow for 5 mins, stick in graham crackers and eat as opposed to; pour in bowl, add milk, and eat.
It is pretty good cereal though. It has nice chocolate taste that isn't too overpowering and it's not too sweet. I'd eat it again.
Here's a link to a recipe for s'mores. It shouldn't be too hard to recreate a s'more round an English campfire as I saw graham crackers in Waitrose yesterday.

Sparletta Sparberry

2006-08-18T19:34:00.000+01:00

I wandered past a South African deli the other day and thought I'd pop in to see if I could find something to blog about. I found this can of sparberry drink. I have no idea what sparberry is and flavourant is as good as the ingredients get.
The can looks kind of amateurish with 70's style graphics depicting bubbles and rocket ships. However, the slogan "a product of the Coca Cola company" reveals Sparletta to be no smalltime operation. When I gave it a taste I still had no idea what sparberry's might be. The drink was a pleasant fruity flavour which wasn't too overpowering or sweet. It reminded me of a generic red drink that I used to have as a kid. I didn't know what that was either, as you tend to define flavours by colours when you are a child; "I want the red drink!" etc. I'd drink this again if it didnt cost me 95p a can.

Monmouth Coffee Shop

2006-08-17T19:08:00.000+01:00

I had to attend a meeting in London Bridge today so I took the opportunity to have a cup of the finest coffee that you can get in the city. There is a food market in London Bridge called Borough Market and it has a great old London atmosphere to it. There are stalls selling fresh fish, meat, bread and vegetables and all of it is mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just outside the market on one corner is the Monmouth Coffee shop and it is simply the best coffee that you can get in London.
I had a cappucino and it was lovely. A smooth rich, dark blend with a slight licorice aftertaste. Beat that, Starbucks!

McDonalds Rolo Milkshake

2006-08-17T18:43:00.000+01:00

Chase and I ventured out of the office to give the limited edition Rolo Milkshake a try at McDonalds. Rolo's, for those that dont know, are round caramel filled chocolates. For years the marketing tagline for them has been; "Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rolo?". I'm not sure who thought this up, but if I stuffed myself with a packet of Rolo's and only had one left, my Wife would not be impressed. The whole pack is the only romantic notion that she would be pleased with. The last one would only imply that she was an afterthought and I would be in trouble. I digress, however...
I'm not a huge frequenter of McDonalds, but these milkshakes have piqued my curiosity. The cup has the same logo and colours as the rolls of chocolates and there is a conspicuous limited edition stamp on it to remind us that these are only around for the summer. Chase and I grabbed a couple and took a sip. They do taste like Rolo's. I'm pretty impressed actually. I don't usually like chocolate milkshakes but the caramel/chocolate combo that's been captured so well in this shake is a winner for me. Grab one while you can.We also picked up the kid's meal toy out of idle curiosity and it's Filmore, the VW camper van from Cars. He's got some friction action, but it's a bit slow. He wasn't even going fast enough to fly off the tray.

Fake Lego Riot Police

2006-08-10T22:23:00.000+01:00

I was going to post about the limited edition Rolo milkshake that McDonalds are currently offering but they'd run out of shake mix in the one that I visited. So instead I picked up this fake Lego riot police car. There's probably no way that Lego would bring out riot coppers in their range so it's left to the bootleggers to fill that particular void.
On the back of the box it suggests that riot police are; "The conquerer of all violent and terrorist events". Cool. Rather more alarmingly it says 45 pieces....45 pieces? That'll take me all night.

Getting the stuff out of the box didn't exactly make me feel any better, but I set about it with resolve. 5 minutes later I'd assembled something similar to what was on the box, although there were some extra bits conspicuously lying around afterwards. None the less it looked OK to me. The back of the box shows a couple of variations like a jeep and a pick-up truck but frankly, I wasn't in the mood to faff around with a perfectly reasonable looking police vehicle. I must admit that I'm not sure about that red beret that the figure is sporting though, it looks more reactionary rebel than servant of the state. Maybe he'll turn on me and stage a coup later on.

Within seconds of being built he'd rounded up some trash talking basketball players and arrested them for disturbing the peace. Pretty impressive for 99p.

Mega Double Dare Dip & Lick Bubble Gum Filled Hot Chili Pop

2006-08-08T19:18:00.000+01:00

I try a fair amount of odd stuff for this blog, but I generally steer clear of anything that I think will make me sick or looks as though it may irreparably damage my insides. Fortunately my colleague and occasional food daredevil, Chase has no such concern for his stomach's wellbeing and didn't even flinch at the thought of eating a hot chili pop.

The packet is red and yellow and a sombrero wearing chili pepper is waving a lolly and a pack of sherbert around on the front.
There is a tear coming out of his eye.
I was under no illusion that the contents of the pack were going to be hot.
Chase tore it open and took an investigative sniff; "Nothing too bad here" he said "It smells sweet". The colleague sat next to him took a sniff and suggested; "That smells wrong".
Chase dipped the lolly in and swirled some sherbert around his mouth. "It's alright. It's not all that hooo-o-o-o-o-t". His mouth suddenly formed a large O and strange noises started coming out of him. So it is hot. The curious colleague next to him took a dab. "It's not that bad...ooh, I dunno". The packet was passed around as Chase croaked; "It's still burning, man".

In a brazen display of machismo Chase then grabbed the bag and tipped half the contents into his mouth. Impressively, he then proceeded to describe the burning sensation in some detail, suggesting it had a character more like a jalapeno than mustard as it didn't burn your nostrils.
Once the mayhem had subsided a little, Chase then took the lolly to task and complained about the gum inside being of poor quality.
I honestly can't tell if Chase enjoyed this or not, but it was very entertaining to watch.

Marvel Heroes Bio-Synergy Bars

2006-08-06T13:23:00.000+01:00

I eat way to much rubbish for this blog so when I spied these Marvel Heroes health bars I thought I'd give them a go.
Apparently for the superhero inside you, these bars are made up of dried fruits and combined together to create something sweet for kids to snack on.
I tried the pineapple, mango and apple wholefruit bar with The Flaming Torch on the pack first. It was nice and chewy and had a decent sweet tang to it. I wasn't so impressed with papaya, pineapple and coconut though, and that's despite it having Spiderman on the pack. It's consistency was a little dry and all I could really taste was the coconut.
There's nothing particularly stunning going on here, but I could see some kids being traumatised by the fact that Spidey and The Torch have sold out. Imagine opening a bar with Spiderman on it and finding out it's a healthy snack, and not a good one at that. Keep alert kids, and always check for those nourishing E-numbers before accepting snacks bearing superheroes from parents.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: August

2006-08-05T10:28:00.000+01:00

It's August and it's the Puppet Band. Apologies for the lack of posts of late, I've just been a bit busy.

Berry Lucky Charms

2006-07-29T10:25:00.000+01:00

Lucky Charms have added a new berry variation to their cereal range, and I'm a sucker for a new cereal. I loved standard Lucky Charms, but was a little unimpressed by the Chocolate ones. So which way would the new berry flavour go? Is it going to be thumbs up, or thumbs down?
The box is all purple and has Lucky the Leprechaun juggling marshmallows in front of a bowl of purple Lucky Charms. Purple is a pretty bold colour and I was getting worried that the cereal inside the box would actually be purple. I dismissed it as colourful marketing designed to draw in the very young.
When I opened the box there was a sweet, pungent aroma that immediately found it's way into my nostrils. It's not a nice smell. It has strong chemical overtones.
When I poured it out into a bowl, it was a vibrant purple colour. I'm clearly not against colourings in food, but there's something about a purple cereal that just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe it stems from the playground rumours about those dodgy looking purple crisps that you would occasionally find in a packet.
Nonetheless, I delved in and gave it a try. This does taste of berry's, but in an extremly artificial way. These are beyond sweet. In fact, for me, these are practicaly unpalatable. Thumbs down.

Star Wars Pop Toppers

2006-07-22T17:26:00.000+01:00

I found these Star Wars Pop Toppers in the bargain bin at Woolworths. They're an interesting idea, a large plastic head depicting a character from Star Wars (as you can see, I picked up Chewbacca, Yoda and Darth Vader) to protect your lollipop when you are bored of sucking it.
When I was a kid, you either ate the lolly in one go or you left it somewhere where it might get dirty, but ants and stray dogs couldn't make off with it. Keeping it for later was far more important than keeping it clean.
But todays kid's are a safe generation and keeping sweets free from dog licks and insects is probably a big sell to todays overprotective parents. There's even a large clip for attaching it to yourself, so you don't lose it.You can put any lollipop you like inside, but these come with a high quality Chupa Chup (all strawberry flavour). I don't know how much these retailed for before they ended up in the bargain bin, but the 54p I paid was great value. If you need to store a lolly somewhere, then a plastic Star Wars character head is as good a place as any.

Coca Cola Black Cherry Vanilla

2006-07-09T14:01:00.000+01:00

What do you know? Another Coke flavour variant. This one is black cherry vanilla flavoured as illustrated by a couple of black cherries dropping into a vanilla coloured swirl on the can. Something else I noticed on the can was the statement "very low sodium" above the ingredients list. Does anybody drink Coke for it's intrinsic health properties? Strange.
It tastes just like Dr. Pepper to me. I couldnt taste any black cherry or vanilla flavours at all. The overall taste was very smooth, but frankly, if I want a Dr. Pepper, I'll buy a Dr. Pepper. Unimpressive.

Free Water

2006-07-05T17:53:00.000+01:00

The weather has been really hot today, pushing into the thirties (or nineties depending on your preference). I'm sure there maybe someone from Texas or New York reading this and thinking "Pfffttt...so what? It touches forty here". Well that maybe true, but England just isn't prepared for this kind of weather. Air conditioning is still something of a luxury and travelling on public transport is a horrible, sticky experience. The tube is to be particularly dreaded.
The company that's responsible for running London's tube network has applied a novel solution to the overbearing heat by giving out free water to travellers. Marvellous. There's even a big blurb on the label about the regeneration and renewel of the system. No mention of air conditioning I notice.
I've no idea where the water inside was sourced. I just hope it wasn't from aquifers underneath King's Cross.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

2006-07-04T13:11:00.000+01:00

Those of you familiar with the Harry Potter series of books or films may remember a line of sweets called Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The magical twist was that they were literally every flavour you could conceive of, with earwax and vomit sitting alongside apple or blueberry.
Jelly bean makers extraordinaire; Jelly Belly, have sought to bring the world of Harry Potter closer to us muggles with a licensed range of jelly beans based on Bertie Bott's. A close inspection of the box revealed flavours such as bacon, booger and rotten egg waiting inside. There was no way I was eating that stuff, so I roped in some work colleagues to do it for me.
Stepping up to the plate were my good friends Chase, who has a sense of adventure where his stomach is concerned and John. John's recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, so some iffy flavoured sweets should be a walk in the park for him. I rounded it up to a trio by forcing the work experience boy, Danny to participate.
I poured the beans into a cup and hid the box. Each volunteer had to remove a bean and without looking, eat it. Things went quite pleasantly at the start with some decent flavours being pulled out; cherry, popcorn, lemon drop etc. But then Chase's face wrinkled up as he coughed "Urghh...it's earwax", soliciting a sympathetic round of guffaws from the rest of us.
Things went swiftly downhill from there with participants reeling from dirt, soap and sardine flavour beans. Poor Danny on just his second day working in the office, managed to get the only dreaded vomit flavoured bean in the pack.
The general concensus was that these are horribly authentic and the disgusted faces that I witnessed seem to second that. These are great for gags or dares, but probably not if you've just got a sweet tooth.

Sprite Remix Aruba Jam

2006-07-03T22:13:00.000+01:00

It's hot, hot, haaawt tonight and I just sank a Sprite Remix Aruba Jam to cool down. Very nice it was too. I have no idea what aruba jam is (fruit flavours is as good as the description gets on the can), but it's a nice light, refreshing addition to the regular lemon/lime Sprite tang.

Bassett's Dessert Allsorts

2006-07-02T10:42:00.000+01:00

Bassett's have been tinkering with licorice allsorts and trying to lure in those who detest licorice. The fruit allsorts that appeared about a year ago seemed to have filled that niche, but evidently not well enough, as Bassett's are having another crack at it.
The ones in this pack are based on a variety of desserts such as chocolate tart, lemon cheescake and summer fruit pudding.
Bertie Bassett takes up his usual spot on the front of the pack with a pile of allsorts in a dessert dish. A sign also proclaims that there is no licorice. It's not particularly imaginative, but Bassett's probably don't have to try too hard as they are pretty synonymous with any kind of allsort, licorice or otherwise.
The sweets themselves look like standard Bassett's except instead of licorice we have some brown toffee flavour stuff filling them out. They tasted for the most part very artificial and nothing like their dining table counterparts. The apple ones were especially nasty.
There has been a strange glut of dessert flavoured items appearing of late, and every one I have tried has been a miserable failure. Bassett's Dessert Allsorts join that list.

Breakfast at Ed's Diner

2006-07-01T19:31:00.000+01:00

There's a great little 50's style American diner just off of Old Compton Street in Soho, London and that's where I had breakfast this morning. My Wife and I had enjoyed a fairly raucous night out in town and fancied some maple syrup and pancakes to get our energy levels back up.
The diner looks great. The whole thing has as an authentic 50's vibe as someone who didn't live through the era can tell. Lots of chrome, gingham and signs imploring the patrons not to dance in aisles. Red vinyl stools line the counter where you eat and there are jukeboxes in front of you to browse whilst you mull over your food selection.
The whole place was also bedecked in balloons too, as today is Gay Pride and Soho is the starting point of the march.
I ordered the silver dollar haystack. Four pancakes, butter and Maple Syrup. The pancakes were done to perfection. Very light and fluffy. The last time I ordered pancakes for breakfast it was in an IHOP in New Jersey. These were easily their equal.
I washed it all down with a banana and coffee shake, which was also superb.
If you're anywhere near Soho one day, then check Ed's out. The place looks great, the staff are amazingly friendly and the food is great. I've also eaten burgers in there before and they are also worth having.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: July

2006-07-01T19:27:00.000+01:00

It's July. Click the pictures to make them bigger.

Fantastic Four Electronic Thing Feet

2006-06-27T20:46:00.000+01:00

I wasn't overly enamored with the recent Fantastic Four film, but the minute I read about these wearable feet that make crashing and smashing sounds as you stomp around...well I just had to have them.
I didn't pick them up when Fantastic Four was all the...uh...rage, but I recently saw them on sale in T.K. Maxx and my heart leapt like no grown man's should upon seeing giant plastic feet.
The box is great. It's all feet. There's a couple of bits around the edges letting you know that this is a Fantastic Four tie-in, but the bulk is taken up by a clear window showing off those big orange feet.
Once out of the box, they look even more awesome. They're huge. The box claims that they will only fit up to a man's size five, but these slipped over my size tens with no trouble.
And once they are on? It's clobberin' time. There is a vast array of destructive sounds emanating from your feet as you stomp around. I really can't do justice to the sound of glass smashing and concrete pounding that comes out of these. You really do start to feel a distinct "don't mess with me" attitude as you clomp around.
I decided to see if I could scare one of the numerous cats that we own with their awesome destructive power.As you can see she is completely frozen with fear. Thing feet get a big tumbs up from me. They're huge and noisy. I dont know how any kid (big or small) can resist these.

Krispy Kreme England Doughnut

2006-06-21T21:38:00.000+01:00

Krispy Kreme have jumped on the World Cup bandwagon and are seeking to fatten us up with the addition of an England doughnut to their range.
It's a standard doughnut with white icing and an England shirt slapped on top. My one bore the number 10 in celebration of our crocked striker, Michael Owen. The doughnut tasted great. The icing had a pleasant vanilla taste and you simply can't fault the distinctive flavour of a Krispy Kreme. I have one slight grumble, there was no filling in the doughnut. A big bit of red jam oozing out would have sealed it as a proper English doughnut.

Update: It appears I was somewhat hasty in my condemnation of the innards. I had basically taken a bite and given the rest to my wife. She subsequently discovered not only red jam but white cream too. I now have to proclaim this as the greatest doughnut ever. At least in footballing terms.

Football Crisp!

2006-06-17T09:22:00.000+01:00

For breakfast this morning I thought I'd try Football Crisp! cereal. Officially licensed by FIFA (the world governing body for football) and on the shelves in time for the World Cup.
The graphics on the box show a pair of goalkeepers gloves catching cereal in a football shaped bowl. There are also plenty of dull facts dotted around the box about the various different balls used during World Cups gone to send you back to sleep. A large portion of the back is taken up telling us about the fantastic revealing vanilla balls gimmick. When milk hits the cereal a football pattern is revealed. It's no prize in the box, but I figured I'd give it a go.
The cereal has a pleasant vanilla taste that isn't too overpowering. It also turned into mini footballs when I added the milk as promised.
I'm not sure this will tear the average fan away from a full English in the morning but for those without any bacon in the fridge, this might just suffice.

Pepsi Max Coffee Cino

2006-06-16T20:41:00.000+01:00

Anything Coke can do, eh? It's worse than Blak. At least that has essence of coffee and sugar in it. This thing will do you no harm whatsoever (assuming you ingest it as directed). If you have to have coffee flavoured soda, stick with Coke.

England Lucky Bag

2006-06-15T19:37:00.000+01:00

I've got some more World Cup tat in the shape of an England Lucky Bag. I find Lucky bags to be somewhat hit and miss. The Simpsons variety , for example, are excellent. Inside you'll find jokes and pranks, good quality sweets, some stickers and maybe a lolly or something. The King Kong pack on the other hand consists of just masks and colouring books and is generally a bit disappointing. I appreciate that these things are meant for kids, but I'm reviewing them on my website and I'll say what I like. So ner.
With that childish outburst in mind let's take a look at what my national football team have to offer.
Opening the pack reveals an activity and poster book. 8 pages of simple puzzles and jokes which look mildly distracting. There's also a foam tic-tac-toe game with coloured footballs substituting for the noughts and crosses, a generic three colour sticker declaring "I love football", a lollipop, some reasonably pleasant jelly sweets and a strange white plastic/sticker combo called a Top Scorer.
Oh, and a multi-coloured pencil.
I didn't have anyone to play tic-tac-toe with so I had a go at a few things within the activity book and was very pleased with my design for a new football kit.
The Top Scorer turned out to be a pretty groovy expanding frisbee. It's just a plastic circle but when you throw it with any momentum it opens out and becomes a frisbee of sorts. I don't think the change of shape particularly adds to it's altitude, but it does look cool. Sort of like a Fisher Price ninja death star. I couldn't be bothered sticking on all the stickers though.
I have to say the Top Scorer raises this Lucky Bag to just above the King Kong bag, but way below the Simpsons. The stuff inside is clearly very generic and is being stuffed inside various national team bags around Europe just in time to cash in on the World Cup.

Diet Coke Sango/Twizzler Strawz

2006-06-13T19:00:00.000+01:00

It's yet another Coke variant and this time it's blood orange flavour. This can only be found on the shelves of Belgium and Luxembourg, and only as a diet variety (for now).
Being light, the can is silver with some unsuprising orange and red bubbles dancing up the Coke swirl. There is actually no indication that this is supposed to be blood orange...well...as far as my limited flemish translation skills would take me anyway. Maybe Sango means blood orange.
This is also the first flavour variant to be developed outside of Coca Cola's Atlanta H.Q. and frankly it's not too good. It reminds me of the time my friend ordered orange juice and lemonade in a bar and was inadvertently served Coke and orange juice. It looked like dishwater and tasted just like Sango.
Twizzlers, however, are one of my favourite things and they've brought out some new ones called Strawz which are...uh...straws as well as Twizzlers. They're just giant, thick, strawberry flavoured Twizzlers with a hole running the length of it. I thought I'd see if if I could improve the Sango by supping it through one of these beasts.
Neither flavour particularly imposed itself on the other. The Sango remained untouched by strawberry and thankfully the Twizzler stayed Coke free. I'm not sure that it's advisable to drink Coke through a candy straw though.

Update: There's a guy from Belgium attending the same course as me and I asked him what Sango meant in Flemish/Belgiumese. He asked me to spell it, stared at me blankly and then just shook his head. Strange.

Chocolate Lucky Charms

2006-06-10T12:30:00.000+01:00

I tried Chocolate Lucky Charms for breakfast this morning and I'm sad to report that I was disapointed. I just wasn't quite as taken with these as I was with standard Lucky Charms. You don't seem to get as much in the way of marshmallows and the maze on the back is the same as the one on normal Lucky Charms. It's even got the same hidden key marshmallow promo.
So the big distinguishing feature of these is that they are chocolate flavour (which to be fair, is what made me buy them in the first place).
The milk goes brown and they do taste of chocolate, but I think they're just too sweet.
Chocolate Lucky Charms have their own website here.

Mars/Believe Bar

2006-06-08T17:51:00.002+01:00

The World Cup kicks off in Germany tommorow and England has worked itself into a lunatic frenzy. St. Georges flags hang from every available pole, aerial and car window. The talk around the water cooler is of metatarsal bones and robot dances. Of course, when the public imagination is caught like this someone, somewhere is wringing their hands and looking to fleece us of every bit of cash by association.
Mars, for instance, have changed the packaging on all of their bars from Mars to Believe. The notion being that if we believe that England can win (and presumably stuff our faces with chocolate bars that tie into that ethos), then win they will.
The new packaging is linked to a heavy marketing campaign involving an England fan singing that; "I believe that on July 9th in Berlin we will win". Good for him, because no one else does.
Check out the promotional website here.

Danish Licorice Sweets

2006-06-06T18:12:00.000+01:00

As I've previously mentioned, Europeans go mad for Licorice. So I have here two bags of sweets that I purchased in Copenhagen. Original Skole-Kridt and the more sinister looking Dracula.
Skole-Kridt, I assumed meant school chalk as the sweets in the bag look like chalk and there's a blackboard on the front of the pack with the logo in what looks like chalk. However, online translators came up a blank, so maybe it means something else. Who knows?
The sweets themselves really, really look like chalk. I was beginning to suspect that I may have inadvertantly purchased an actual bag of chalk. I was even able to write on the concrete outside my house with it. So it was with some trepidation that I put it into my mouth and began to chew. Thankfully they are just licorice sweets. They taste a bit like licorice comfits but with an intense minty rush. They're not that bad really.

The Dracula sweets had..well..Dracula on the front in the classic cape open "I vant to suck your blood" pose. I have to comment on how dull the packets are. They're almost minimalist in their design. Three colours max, plain graphics and a to-the-point logo. No film tie-ins, no bragging about faux health properties, it's very different to what we're used to in England.
The sweets inside look like a lozenge, almost like a Fishermans Friend. The colour was dull and dusty and they looked quite unappetizing. I wish I'd heeded that thought, as these are horrible. They taste of salt. I quickly spat it out and cursed Count Dracula and his shoddy candy. This is easily the worst thing I've eaten for this blog. In fact it's one of the worst things I've ever eaten. I suppose the "Salte Lakridsbolcher" description on the bag should have wised me up a little.
I find it difficult to believe that licorice and salt is what Scandanavian kids are scoffing in playgrounds. Thank God for Haribo.

Pepsi Max Advert

2006-06-05T08:58:00.000+01:00

I know that Europeans are supposed to be fairly liberal, but I was suprised to see this billboard dotted around Copenhagen.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: June

2006-06-04T22:10:00.000+01:00

June already? A quick look at my Pee Wee calender reveals a super fly looking Conky. What's todays secret word? Slacker? That's right, I have been a bit of a slacker (arrrgggghhh) when it comes to updating my blog. However, I'm back for the month of June and I've got a few posts lined up. So click on the pictures to make 'em bigger and check back soon.

A Trip To The Supermarket

2006-05-26T12:53:00.000+01:00

I visited a supermarket whilst in Copenhagen to pick up a couple of bits and naturally, I had to break the camera out when I saw a couple of things that I couldn't get elsewhere.

Kung Fu ice-cream. I did continually try to purchase a Kung Fu lolly although they didn't look the same as the ones on the boxes above. They were an ice-cream centre with crispy licorice coating. That's right licorice. They go mad for the stuff in Europe. Unfortunately events conspired against me and I never did get one.

In the cereal aisle I found the supermarket own-brand Choco Spooks. They looked fairly non-descript really. Just chocolate shaped ghosts. There was a comic strip on the back featuring a ghost, but I struggled to follow the plot as it was all in Danish. Tsk.

Finally we have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Superman wafers. As a rule, the Danes don't seem to have succumbed to the same tie-in mania we have in England and these were almost the sole nod to any kind of franchise pimping in the whole store.

Coca Cola Slurpee

2006-05-17T08:46:00.000+01:00

Ahhh...Slurpee's. I used to love getting a Slurpee from the 7-11 when I was younger but alas I now live in an area devoid of 7-11's. I'm not sure how much of a presence thay have in the U.K. anymore but I'm sure it's been steadily dwindling over the years. Fortunately Copenhagen is awash with the places. There was about three within fifty yards of my hotel.
I actually wanted to try the Frozen Fanta Blueberry, but none of the damn machines had it working. I did actually fill up a cup without realising there was no ice and I should have paid attention to the sign that says; "Do not use when red light is on". I had to surreptitiously hide it from the clerks view whilst he was distracted serving pastries (you can see it lurking in the background in the picture on the right). Trust me, you do not want to pay for things twice in Copenhagen, it's expensive. I had to compromise in the end, and settled for a frozen Coke, which was ok, but I'm convinced that the blueberry Fanta would have been nicer, especially as I couldn't have it.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, Copenhagen

2006-05-16T20:20:00.000+01:00

I went to Copenhagen, Denmark for a long weekend. I've got a few posts about my trip planned but I'll kick things off with the fabulous Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum. I've always been intrigued by Ripley's world after someone gave me a Believe It Or Not! annual when I was a kid. I was fascinated by the odd stories and facts inside, and as soon as I saw this place, I had to go in.
There are numerous exhibits but the ones that really caught my eye are, untypically, the more grisly ones.
This is a genuine shrunken head. Yeah, yeah we've all seen shrunken heads in the movies, but this one was real. It also rotated in the display case. There was a card describing how shrunken heads were made and how this one was decorated for some ritual or another (the stuff dangling from the mouth), but could never take my eyes off it as it rotated long enough to really read it. I do recall it being described as "rare". You'd hope so.

The box above really caught my eye. It's a vampire killing kit circa 1850. People were so convinced that vampires existed that they used to lug one of these packs around with them just in case they happened on one of the children of the night. Unfortunately there no replica sets to be had from the gift shop.
On the right we have a genuine Papaun cannibal skull. Thankfully, this is another exhibit described as "rare". Apparently these trophy skulls were worn as amulets by head hunting warriors in New Guineu. After all that grossness it was quite a relief to see a model bust of Three-Ball Charlie. A man who could fit three pool balls in his mouth. Impressive.
Needless to say, if you are ever in Copenhagen check this place out it's awesome.

Gummy Army Men

2006-05-10T22:26:00.000+01:00

Here to protect your sweet bowl from thieving hands are the gummy army guys. According to the back of the packet you can play and eat with "Bazooka" Bob, "Fighting Forster, "G.I." Johnny and "Rifleman" Rich. The jelly soldiers inside do look a little like the toy soldiers I had when I was a kid except a bit flatter.
They also stink of apples. The pack gives a loose "fruit flavoured" description of what these infantry are supposed to taste like, but it's definately apple. The gummys themselves are not too greasy, but they really are way too appley. It's like they've been doused in Calvados or something.

Chocolate Duff Beer Can

2006-05-08T17:08:00.000+01:00

The weather has been miserable today, so I decided to look in the clearance chocolate bin at Alldays on the way home. I found a treasure too, a chocolate Duff beer can.
This bar is from Kinnerton, the same fine people who brought us jelly fries and The Simpsons Easter egg.
The packaging is fairly straightforward, showing off the hand decorated chocolate inside with only a woo-hooing Homer really intruding.
The chocolate can itself does look first rate. It's a good approximation of a beer can right down to the ring pull. I'm not entirely sure about the hand decorated claim though, it's all too neat. Perhaps someone switched on the machine in the morning and that passes for "hand decorating".
When I finally bit into it I wasn't expecting much, because a) it was in the half-price bin and b) the Easter egg I ate was a little nasty. However, this bar is quite pleasing. Nice creamy milk chocolate thats a million miles away from the bitterness of the egg. I can't help wondering about all those colouring chemicals I'm consuming though.

Coca Cola With Lime

2006-05-05T11:04:00.000+01:00

There's a new Coke in town. This time it's with Lime. I think this has done the rounds in The States and I could be getting muddled up but I'm sure these have appeared on British shelves before too. Nonetheless, I'm certain it hasn't been packaged in a metallic green bottle before.
The label proclaims this as a new limited edition, but I can't work out if they're talking about the bottle or the flavour.
I like the bottle, although it does look like something you might find in a garden center. It's almost disappointing to pour the drink out and find the same brown colour as every other Coke rather than a bright green.
The drink itself tastes, once again, like a standard Coke, but the lime seems to kill something in it that makes it slightly more palatable to me than a straight Coca Cola. I'm not sure what it is..sweetness, maybe? This would go nicely with Jack Daniels, that I'm sure of.

Pac Man Cabinet

2006-05-03T09:17:00.000+01:00

Over the long weekend, I went for lunch in a pub with some friends and what did I spy collecting dust in the corner? A retro Pac Man cabinet.

Strangely the board in it was Ms. Pac Man rather than the original, but seeing as the only discernable difference is the red bow on her head I plowed a few quid into it. It was an old school 20p a go as well.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: May

2006-05-01T11:32:00.000+01:00

It's the first of the month and I have some retro calender madness for you. May in the Playhouse brings us Miss Yvonne, Pee Wee and Globey posing with the flowers. Very spring like.

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

The Mork & Mindy Board Game

2006-04-28T19:12:00.000+01:00

Before film and T.V. tie-ins used to play on consoles and cost forty quid, the humble board game was the only way to step into the world of your favourite show. I have here the Mork & Mindy board game from 1979. How cool is that?
The game is presented as a game of Splink, which is an Orkan game that Mork brought with him to win over Earthlings everywhere. You basically move around the board doing such out-of-this-world things as "splinking" and "grebbling up" all the while trying to win some coins known as Grebbles. Everything clear then?
Inside the box you get a colourful board depicting Mork in a variety of costumes, plus one or two token Mindy's. There's also a Splink Blinker, a gleek card, 2 Orson cards, 4 Orkword cards, 50 Grebbles some markers and dice.

The game starts with 50 Grebbles stored in Orsons nest which you can try to win by landing on certain spaces that trigger events. The first is the "Na-No, Na-No! Everybody Splink!" space.
Apparently splinking is bluffing on the planet Ork, so you must engage in a game of bluff with your fellow gamers. You drop the dice into the Splink Blinker (which hides the roll) and then try to bluff the others about what numbers are showing. Everyone playing has a go. The winner gets 2 Grebbles. There is a variation of that theme with the "Splink with any other Earthling" space, which is the same thing but not everybody playing has a go.
The "Roll them wumpers in daylight" spaces require an open dice roll on the board which everybody can see. Add the numbers together and help yourself to that many Grebbles from an opponents pile thus ensuring petty rivalries build during gameplay.
"Mork Calling Orson" spaces are for making mental contact with Orson by guessing what he is thinking. Sounds tricky, right? I mean, I don't have E.S.P. or any other telepathic powers, so I initially thought this was a sign that the game designers had been enjoying the 70's a bit too much. However, it turns out that an opponent sticks a card bearing such wisdom as "You're a wurble!" onto your forehead and you have to guess what it says. 2 Grebbles if you get it right.
If you land on "You're a Nimnu" you have to put two of your Grebbles in Orsons nest and the "One, two, three...wump!" space everybody rolls one die and and shouts out a number. If your number comes up you win 2 Grebbles.
The person with the most Grebbles by the time Orsons nest is empty, wins. My friends and I never made it that far. About five minutes in people started drifting off and I found them stealing beer from my fridge and smoking cigarettes in the garden. To be fair the game is pretty tedious and isn't much fun for a group of thirtysomethings looking for something to do. Actually, it's probably not much fun if you're thirteen either. Maybe if you're a big fan of Mork & Mindy.

Starbucks' Banana Caramel Frappucino

2006-04-26T12:42:00.000+01:00

Summer's nearly here and Starbucks are seeking to lure customers in with a new frappucino for 2006. So like a moth to a flame I went in and got one. Things were not looking good for this drink to be fair. The weather was brisk rather than scorching, there was a peculiar smell in the Starbucks I visited and the barista put cream on the top despite me saying twice that I didn't want it. This drink was going to have to amaze me.
As it happens, it's pretty good. The banana flavour is quite subtle and blends very well with the coffee. I think the caramel is just draped over the cream rather than mixed in and I have no idea what that tasted like because as soon as I could taste cream, I threw it away.
I could definately see myself sinking a couple of these when the weather hots up a bit.

Almond Joy Limited Edition Flavours

2006-04-25T17:54:00.000+01:00

Hersheys have released some limited variations of their classic Almond Joy range. Almond Joys are sticky coconut chocolate bars very similar to our Bounty bars except that they have an almond on top. Hence the name, I suppose.
The key lime bar is white chocolate, which immediately distinguishes it from a standard milk chocolate Almond Joy. I couldn't taste any lime and really didn't want it lingering in my mouth too long, so I really never picked up on any subtle nuance in the flavour. It tastes very sweet and artificial and I wouldn't eat one again.
So, onto the passion fruit. I must admit after the key lime, I wasn't looking forward to this. I bit into it and was alarmed by the almost dayglow yellow colour of the coconut inside. But then that was soon forgotten as the taste settled on my tongue. Yuck. I'm no expert on what passion fruit should taste like, but I'm pretty sure this isn't it. This tastes like cleaning liquid.
Avoid. These are foul.

Lucky Charms

2006-04-22T09:41:00.000+01:00

When I was a kid breakfast cereals were dull. The British are obsessed with their bowels and this was subsequently reflected on the supermarket shelves with morning fare such as All Bran or Fruit & Fibre. I always wanted to have something more like Calvin's Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.
Fortunately the Americans churn out loads of cereal that has no great nutritional value and gets the kids through the morning on a sugar high. So, this morning I have Lucky Charms for breakfast.
The box is bright and colourful with a maze on the back which ties in with some promotions on the Lucky Charms website and the extra hidden key marshmallows in the cereal (of which they're were loads. Not very hidden).
Lucky Charms provides a bowl of sweetened oats and marshmallows. Loads of marshmallows too. I reckon there was one marshmallow to every ten bits of cereal in the bowl I poured out this morning.
I like this cereal. It's sweet, but not too sweet, packed out with marshmallows and has a maze to do whilst you're eating it. Combined with a coffee this'll keep me wired until lunchtime.

McCoys Nacho Cheese & Sour Cream Tortillas

2006-04-21T12:11:00.000+01:00

I bought a pack of McCoys new specials to spice up my lunch today. You should get some too. They're nice.

Banana Milkshake Choco Koala

2006-04-21T08:19:00.000+01:00

These are apparently a very limited flavour run from the popular Choco Koala range. Beyond that, Google tells me nothing about these biscuits. A perusal of the pack also tells me very little as I can't read Japanese. There is a logo declaring "Save the Koala - Australian Koala Foundation" which seems odd. I mean, I understand the Koala connection but these are only sold in Japan. Perhaps the Japanese have a particularly altruistic attitude towards the indigenous species of other countries?

The biscuits themselves are quite nice. There's banana cream filling inside a nice light crunchy shell. Each one is shaped like, and has a print of a Koala on it. The taste is quite artificial, but it is very similar to the last banana milkshake I had. I'm quite partial to banana flavoured stuff and these were a winner with me. Nice box, tasty biscuits and a socially conscious message.

Check out Save The Koala's website here.

Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper

2006-04-19T20:30:00.000+01:00

It's not just Coke that fiddles around with their flavours. Dr Pepper has rolled out a splash of cherry with a hint of vanilla. This new taste is being marketed under the banner of soda fountain classics in the hope of bringing back memories of the 1950's.
It's a nice looking can with a cherry sat in the Dr Pepper logo and plenty of yellow in the trim to emphasise the vanilla. The drink itself doesn't taste spectacularly cherryish, but I did catch the vanilla in there. I didn't feel particularly nostalgic for the '50's either but then I was sat in front of a PC typing this.
Interestingly, whilst I was Googling around for some extra info, I discovered that some people drink Dr Pepper hot. You just boil it up in saucepan and pour it over a slice of lemon. Of more interest to me though, was that fact that you can get Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper in 21 ounce "football" bottle which has a surface that resembles the texture of a football. I want one of those.

It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

2006-04-18T10:19:00.000+01:00

Nothing says holiday like a Charlie Brown special, and I managed to catch the Easter one over...uh...Easter.
Linus claims that nobody need bother purchasing or painting eggs as The Easter Beagle will do all that (a situation very reminiscent of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown). Naturally everybody ignores him and goes about their Easter business. Lucy plants some eggs she has made and notes their location so she can win the egg hunt, Snoopy buys Woodstock a birdhouse (which he then decorates with some funky 70's funiture, before Snoopy trashes the place with his nose) and Peppermint Pattie and Marcie attempt to make some Easter eggs (they fail miserably as Marcie cannot boil an egg. Fry, grill, roast, waffle and even turn into a soup, but boil, no). Eventually Snoopy pinches Lucy's eggs and distributes them to all, thus making Linus' loony prophecy come true. All in all, a pleasantly whimsical way to while away half an hour over the Easter break.

Easter Mince Pies

2006-04-15T14:56:00.000+01:00

Usually the preserve of Christmas, mince pies have some how snuck their way onto our springtime shelves under the guise of an Easter edition. I approached these with some trepidation, I mean, I love mince pies, but they really are part of a traditional Christmas for me. The pies claim to have the flavour of hot cross spices. Well I just had to find out if this was true.
They look like classic Mr Kipling mince pies, which is frankly no bad thing, although they do have a cross on the top to distinguish them from their yuletide counterparts. The pies taste pretty standard but there is a definate hint of hot cross spices in there. Not loads, but enough to make them different I suppose. This is a curious one because I like mince pies and I like hot cross spices, but really mince pies are something I look forward to at Christmas. It just seems wrong to eat them at Easter.

The Simpsons Easter Egg

2006-04-14T14:07:00.000+01:00

Easter is here and that means chocolate eggs! I got a Simpsons egg with travel game.
So with Eastery eagerness, I tore open the pack to digest the goodies inside. I had high hopes as these are from the same people who brought us jelly fries. Opening up the actual egg, I was a little disappointed to see that there was nothing inside. No jellies, no mini chocolate balls, no nothing.

I took a bite and it's ok. It tastes a bit cheap, but nothing terribly unpalatable. So, on to the real reason for getting this egg, the game. It describes itself as "a travel guessing game" and judging from the instructions on the back of the box, it's a variation of the game Guess Who with the Simpsons on it. You have to shuffle some quite fiddly small cards and then slide them into the board with one person taking centre stage at the front. Your opponent can see none of these and has to whittle down the field with questions like "Does he wear glasses?".
All entertaining enough, but I obviously can't gauge it's true fun factor without whipping it out on a long journey. I'm not going anywhere this Easter so it's possibly got some unfulfilled potential there.
It's an ok Easter egg. I feel cheated by the lack of jellies, which is strange because you get a travel game to compensate.
Possibly the bar was set so high when my parents bought me a Texan Easter egg many, many years ago. It came in a box that doubled as a saloon bar when empty. It had cardboard swing doors on it with which todays eggs don't seem to be able to compete.

Raspberry Coca Cola

2006-04-10T19:11:00.001+01:00

Another flavour of Coke is being trialed. This time it's Raspberry and it's only available from New Zealand. Apparently the Kiwi's have always been partial to raspberry in their coke, chucking in some cordial or mixing it with raspberry soda.
The can looks pretty standard with some mildly funked up graphics and a couple of Raspberries on it. It's not as nice looking as Coca Cola Blak but they get kudos for spelling flavour correctly.
So how does this one taste? Suprisingly good actually. To be honest I'm really not the biggest fan of Coke (unless it's supporting Jack Daniels) but this actually tastes like raspberry. Not just raspberry alongside Coke either, it has a nice blended taste to it.
It suffers from the usual problem that all Cokes have in that it's too fizzy and had me burping two seconds after sipping it. Nonetheless it was a nice enough to have me slurping at the dregs stuck in the reservoir on the top of the can. It's a shame they've discontinued it really.

Complimentary Jelly Beans

2006-04-09T18:06:00.000+01:00

My wife stays in hotels alot. For work apparently. However, I'm not going to dig too deep when she brings me home the jar of complimentary jelly beans from her room. These particular beans were from a Hilton in Watford which doesn't initially suggest class, but they do come in a jar. That's right, this is no plastic pot or bag, its a fancy jar with the Hilton logo on the lid. The beans are the big English variety rather than the small American type. They have a handful of different flavours:
Green=Lime, Pink=Strawberry
(I think), Black=Blackcurrant, Orange=Orange (duh), Red=Rasberry, Yellow=Lemon and some generic white flavour that I couldn't identify. Overall they're pretty bland apart from the rasberry flavour. Nice package, dull beans.

Banana Twinkies

2006-04-08T12:54:00.000+01:00

Look what came in the post this morning. Twinkies with banana flavoured filling, endorsed by King Kong himself. Such sticky wonderousness is here to remind us that King Kong is out on DVD. I suppose it makes sense to make things banana flavoured if you're doing a Kong tie-in although I never really pictured Kong as a banana eater as I figured they'd be too small and fiddly to peel.
The cakes themselves look exactly the same as a normal twinkie and even the cream inside is the standard white but they do have a pleasant banana flavour. I'd been led to believe that they tasted exactly the same as a normal twinkie, but they don't. The cream has a definate banana tang to it.
I quite like these, but I must confess I haven't had the urge to rush out and buy the DVD yet. There's ten in the box though, so there's still time. These are only available in the States so don't bother looking in Sainsburys.
There's also a promotional website for banana twinkies here.

Star Wars Lightsabre Spoon

2006-04-08T09:11:00.000+01:00

This is a lightsabre spoon that came free in a packet of Apple Jacks and it is quite possibly the best impliment made for eating breakfast. Yeah it looks funky with it's authentic looking handle, but what else does it do?

It glows Darth Vader red when you press the button! Alas it doesn't make any noise (unless you count me going whoooom whoooom when I wave it about). I'm off to have my breakfast. Die Skywalker!

The Simpsons Jelly Fries

2006-04-06T18:27:00.000+01:00

My wife bought this pack of jelly fries for me some time ago from a motorway service station and now I can capture the moment for posterity, I've decided to open them up.
You get a pack of jelly fries (obviously) a shaker of super sour powder and a bottle of super sour ketchup. Some considerable effort has gone into providing everything you may possibly need for the ultimate jelly sweet experience.
The fries come in...well...a fry box that has the Kwik-E-Mart brand on it to give it some Simpsons authenticity (although I don't recall Apu ever selling fries. Hotdogs maybe). The super sour powder shaker has a twist top dispenser lid and the sauce bottle has a nice squeezy feel to it.
The fries themselves are already covered in sugar and have a faint lemony taste. So I decided to spice them up with a liberal sprinkling of the super sour powder. Whoah...that right there is the Ronseal of super sour powders. It does exactly what it says on the tin. When I'd managed to unsuck my cheeks, I dabbled on some of the sauce, which claimed to be sour but certainly didn't seem it. Although I could have sucked a lemon after eating that powder and not noticed. Overall the fries were ok, but the experience wasn't quite as tantalising as the packet suggested. I certainly never felt as though I was eating real fries at any point. I'm also suprised at the sourness of it all. I'm sure these are aimed at kids, but what would they use that powder for? Dares?

King Kong in Virgin Megastore

2006-04-06T08:27:00.000+01:00

Roarrggghhh! There's a huge statue of Kong in the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street. He looks pretty mad too. That's because I stole his bananas and ran for it.