Junk Food Review: GFI Peppermint Mocha Coffee

     I realize that instant coffee isn’t necessarily a junk food, but I’m going to label it as one anyway.

     In retrospect, instead of dunking my Candy Cane Oreos in milk, I should have been dunking them in this stuff, General Foods International’s Peppermint Mocha coffee. 

     This coffee doesn’t have much scent, but does have a strong peppermint flavor.  Luckily, the chocolate flavor is also pretty strong so eventually they balance out. 

     If you’re not a big peppermint fan, though, I’d probably skip on this one.  It’s good, but you’re sure to be turned off by the strong flavor.

Junk Food Review: Oreo Candy Cane Cookies

     It’s been a while since I’ve had some limited edition junk food, but now I’m back with the Oreo Candy Cane flavored cookies.  I suppose these are a limited edition due to the holidays, what with candy canes being fairly popular this time of year. 

     Upon opening the packaging, the first thing I noticed was the  scent of peppermint.  It wasn’t overpowering, but it was strong.  At this point I began to fear for the worst: a sickly sweet, very strong peppermint flavor.  MrEntropy is not a fan of peppermint, really.

     The second thing I noticed was that the cookies don’t look any different from a regular Oreo cookie.  I was expecting a red and white striped thing, but it’s the usual black and white. 

     As far as taste went, they weren’t bad.  The scent of peppermint

was stronger than the actual taste.  Seeing as how I don’t care for peppermint it’s a good sign that I polished off the bag in short order.  They don’t, however, mix well with milk if you’re a dunker.

  At least, I didn’t think so.  It didn’t stop me from doing it anyway.

Dunkin’ Donuts

     Some of you may remember that I was lamenting the lack of a Dunkin’ Donuts in my area.  That situation has now been remedied with the arrival of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Round Rock, TX.

     Personally, I’m ecstatic.  Even though I won’t get there very often it’s nice to know that the option is there if I ever feel like going.  The store is pretty nice and it has places to sit at.  It’s different than the one I used to go to in Parsippany, NJ, in that you can’t sit at the counter.  That’s kind of a bummer, but I suppose it’s the way it is here in the 21st century.

     I did get a donut, though.  I had to.  And it’s just as good as I remembered them being.  I’m not a big fan of Krispy Kreme (and their close-by store has shut down), and the donuts at my grocery store are pretty horrendous when compared to a DD.

     Some other changes, since the last time I was at one, are the inclusion of “value meals.”  When I went to DD the only value meal they had was, “bowl bread donut.”  Or, a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and a donut of your choice.  Also, there’s specialty coffee (even though I think their coffee is good enough that they don’t need them).

     Now I have my pizza place, and my donut place.  Wicked.

The Moon Hits Her Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie

I come from New Jersey.  That may not mean much to you, but it means something to me.  It means that since I am transplanted certain things that I have gotten used to are denied to me.  That’s right, I said “denied.”

When you live in New Jersey you’re never more than 20 feet from a pizzeria.  Austinites may be thinking, “So what?  We have plenty of pizza places here, too.”  But that’s a lie.

Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns, Cici’s, Little Ceaser’s, and all those places that sell frozen pizza that they shove in the microwave for three minutes are not pizza places.  Real pizza’s do not have pineapple, or eggplant, or other weird and exotic ingredients.

A real pizza has a somewhat thin crust, but not thin and crispy like a cracker.  It’s thin and floppy.  You fold the slice so you can eat it, but first you hold it over your paper plate and let the grease just drip off, but make sure the molten cheese doesn’t slide off with it.  If you don’t get that grease drip, it isn’t a real pizza.  And if it ain’t floppy and foldable then you’re not holding a real pizza.

I found another pizza place in Austin that makes pizza similar to what I’m used to.  The only downside is that it’s New York style pizza, not New Jersey.  There is a difference.  However, Nikki’s Pizza is quite passable.  I don’t care for the crust at the edge because it’s too thin for me, but the sauce is spot on.  It’s not made with a ton of sugar and way too sweet to eat.  And that’s important to me.  I’m so sick of this sugary crap that all these other places throw on their pizza.  I hate sweet tomato sauce.

The only other problem I found was that their sausage pizza used some crumbled sausage meat.  That’s a shame, but I can live with it.

So now I have two pizza places I can order from and get an almost authentic NJ pizza.  Nikki’s Pizza and The Original Brooklyn Pie Company.

By the way, size does matter.  Most of the chain places have small pizzas and they try and make it look like they’re normal by calling them “large.”  They’re not.

For instance, Dominos sizes are thus: Small (10”), Medium (12”), Large (14”), and Extra-Large (16”).

Nikki’s sizes go this way: Individual (10”), Small (12”), Medium (14”), Large (16”).

Brooklyn Pie Company? They are: Small (10”), Medium (14”), and Large (18”).

See that?  Domino’s (and probably Papa John’s and the rest of them) “large” is the East Coast equivalent of “medium.”  Brooklyn’s 18” large makes Domino’s Extra-Large look like a Personal Pan Pizza.

And finally, price.  A Domino’s X-Large (16”) Cheese pizza with the “Brooklyn” crust?  $17.99.  This is according to their website, by the way.  Which is a major pain in the ass to use when you just want to find out the cost and size of a pizza.

A large cheese pie from Nikki’s?  $9.25.  And their large is 16”, the same as Domino’s extra-large.  And Brooklyn Pie Company?  The largest large with 18” will cost you $14.95.

I’m not sure what the point of all this is anymore, but I feel better for ranting.

Friday Nonsense

     Last night I made King Ranch Chicken for dinner.  I got the recipe here and followed the simple version, which uses canned soup.  It turned out pretty good, although I think my chicken was too tough.  Brennon, though, started eating and only stopped long enough to say, “Holy crap, this is good!”  I take that as a good sign.

     I wanted to get “Spore” when it came out, but I wasn’t able to.  I keep reading and hearing about what a disappointment it is, so maybe it’s best I didn’t get it.  I also wanted to get “Force Unleashed” but wasn’t able.  Ars Technica is saying that the game is crap.  Maybe I’m just not meant to get anything.  Although I don’t usually count a review as the word of God anyway.  I’d still like to play it, reviews be damned.

     Fallout 3 is the next in my line of things I want but I won’t get.  I hope it’s good, though.

A Football Themed Dr Pepper Contest

     Dr Pepper has a new contest going on.  Something to do with football, evidenced by the football motif on the label.  And I won my first prize today.  A cell phone ring tone.  I haven’t bothered collecting it yet.  I’m not even sure if it’ll work with my phone.  Or what kind of goofy ring tones they have.  I wonder if they have that old “I’m a Pepper” jingle?

     Normally I wouldn’t even mention it, but I see that Dr Pepper contests are poised to knock orange kittens off the most searched for item on this blog.  And I’m all about catering to my adoring public.

     So I’m watching TV in the Garden here, and this commercial comes on.  Some lady was going to tell me how to make these groovy nachos after another commercial (a commercial in a commercial, is there anything TV can’t do?).  I sit through the commercial and the lady tells me how to make these nachos.  I’ll share the recipe with you, but make sure you write it down because it’s really complicated.

1. Open a bag of Tostitos and put ‘em on a dish.
2. Open a bag of shredded cheese and pour it on the chips.
3. Pour some Tostitos salsa over the chips and cheese
4. Microwave it, presumably until the cheese melts.
5. Garnish with, well, whatever you feel like.

     I thought my recipe for the budget Thanksgiving Dinner was simplistic.

     Anyway, now it’s your turn!  Leave a comment with a great recipe like the one above.  I’d make it a contest, but I can’t afford any prizes so it’ll just have to be for Kudos’.  Not the candy bars, though, because they cost like $1.00 or something.

     Well, it’s late and I reckon I better find my way to Dreamland.

Snack Food Review: Oreo Cakester

I like Oreo cookies.  I know they’re not the original (that would be the Hydrox even though it sounds like an industrial cleaner) but I like them just the same.

Now the taste of the Oreo cookie comes to you in the guise of a

cake.  It’s kind of like a Hostess cupcake but without the top icing, and with the creme filling visible. Okay, two cupcake-like things sandwiching the creme.  The same kind of creme you get in a Twinkie or cupcake, not the kind you get in an Oreo cookie.

And that, my friends, is the Oreo Cakester.

They come in two flavors: regular and chocolate creme.  They both taste kind of the same, though.  Which is okay, because they taste pretty good.  They’re not dry at all, so they go down nicely.  They’d probably taste better with a glass of milk.  Even a plastic of milk.

My biggest issue, though, is that the tops don’t have the Oreo name and design stamped on them.  I think that’s a horrible oversight and should be remedied.

Strawberry Milkshake Trilogy

Strawberry milkshakes are in style.  After sampling a Strawberry Milkshake Pop-Tart, I tried the Strawberry Milkshake Oreo cookie.  Finally, I can complete this trilogy with the Strawberry Milkshake Whopper.

I like Whoppers.  I don’t think I would go out of my way to get any, but if one were offered I would graciously accept.  I also like strawberry milkshakes.  The real ones that come in a cup or glass.  What could go wrong?

Not much, really.  Out of the three strawberry flavored items, I think I liked the Whoppers the best.  Probably because they can be taken in small doses. 

They still look weird, though, being pale pink and spheroid.  My co-workers wouldn’t touch them even after I asked them to try sucking on my small pink balls. 

Anyway, they’re not as sweet and over-powering like the Pop-Tarts.  They almost taste like strawberry, being slightly less Quik flavored than the Oreo’s.  And you can still bite them in half and let your tongue dissolve them from the inside out.

They also have them in a funky retro-looking package.  Evidently Hershey’s has been releasing a few of their candies with retro packaging.  It’s neat.

Dr Pepper Indiana Jones Contest Stuff

The Dr Pepper site is working again so I entered in my four caps this morning.  Three of them had “uwin” at the bottom so I knew I won something. 

This is what I got for my three “uwins:”  a screen saver (the same screen

saver I won before), a screen saver (the same screen saver I won before), and a wallpaper picture (which is the same picture that’s on the screen saver).

Now, I don’t want to seem ungrateful but the whole purpose of a contest is to get something that’s worth more than what you’re paying for.  But of course, the chances are stacked against you so you end up paying a lot of money to win something.  In the end, you may end up behind rather than ahead.  But in terms of one item, the prize should be worth more.  I pay a dollar for a 20oz Dr Pepper.  I expect a prize to be of equal (another Dr Pepper) or greater value (Lamborghini Muira).

This screen saver and wall paper don’t cut it.  In fact, Dr Pepper shouldn’t even be annoyed if someone puts them both on their website because it’s just additional advertising for Dr Pepper.  I’d be happier if they mailed me a poster.

Still, I suppose they didn’t have to have a contest at all.

Oh, and why am I entering in the ones without “uwin” at the bottom?  Because I’m a clever bastard and if I were running the contest I would have all the crappy prizes be given away with the caps that say “uwin.”  Then people would get accustomed to having “uwin” mean you win something.  And I would put all the good prizes on the caps that didn’t have the “uwin” so people wouldn’t bother entering them.  Then I’d take all the left over prizes that are never claimed and live the good life.

Hah.

Strawberry Milkshake Saga: Oreo

A few of you might remember that I was less than enthusiastic about the Strawberry Milkshake Pop-Tarts.  In short, I thought they were way too sweet and they didn’t taste very good at all.

My mom graciously donated a package of Strawberry Milkshake Creme flavored Oreo’s so that I could try them out.

Since it actually does say “Limited Edition” on the package, I ripped it open right away.

The cookies look like Oreo’s, of course.  The only difference being that the inside is pink instead of white.  I really can’t say anything bad about them.  They aren’t my favorite cookie, but they don’t make me want to throw up and give the rest of the package away, either.  They are quite sweet, though.  Almost too sweet, but the cookie part mixes well with it so it’s not overwhelming.  Overall it tastes a lot like Strawberry Quik.  You could probably make your own “Strawberry Milkshake” anything if you had a canister of Nestle Strawberry Quik.