Cotton candy grapes?!

So these little beauties made the circulation last year and I just didn't get a chance to get a bag.  They are only here a short amount of time and sell out pretty darn quickly.  Luckily, I got the last bag of these at Big Y on Friday and I've never been so stinking excited to eat a grape in my life.

People go ga-ga over pumpkin every year.  As I mentioned previously, I'm not as huge of a fan as most people think I am.  I do, however, feel the same giddiness about cotton candy as most people do about pumpkin.  It's just my jam ;) So, to finally get a hold of these...well...I heard angels singing.  I was impressed with myself that I waited until I got in the car and didn't eat them while I got the rest of my canning ingredients for peach salsa.

Wash your fruit?  Not when it comes to something I've been wanting for well over a year, I just rolled that grape on my pants and went with it.  Popped it in my mouth hoping for the best but expecting the worst.  Oh em GEEEEEEEEEEE they really DO taste just like cotton candy!  I couldn't believe it.  The flavor is subtle but it's there.  The more you eat, though, I feel like more of the typical green grape flavor comes out, but there's always that cotton candy undertone.  It just blows my mind that these taste so much like the real deal and so it's been my mission, since Friday, to force people to try these.  I've been carrying them everywhere.  I even have them at work and made 2 co workers and the mailman try them.  Every time I start with...have you tried these yet?  And every time they give me that confused look..."cotton candy...GRAPES?"  YES!  You have to try one or ten!  And then I wait...as they pop one in their mouth and chew...I get that same pondering look and then BAM everyone gets that HOLY CRAP look and follows that with a "wow, that really does taste like cotton candy!"  I KNOW!  It's like the most fabulous thing in the world!

Final rating ***** - 5 stars!  RUN to the store to try these before they are gone for another year!

The pumpkins are coming the pumpkins are coming!

Pumpkin season is literally right around the corner.  Already my news feed is filling up with pictures of actual and rumored pumpkin spice flavored items new (and sometimes not new) for this year.  This only means one thing...I really have to get cracking on my annual pumpkin party details!

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not that big of a fan of pumpkin.  I don't like pumpkin pie, or anything overly pumpkin flavor.  Which is odd because I love butternut squash and I think they taste pretty similar.  Maybe it's a texture issue.  ANYWAY, what I do LOVE about pumpkin spice season is the fact that we are at that tail end of summer and ready to make our way into fall.  I absolutely adore fall and everything that comes along with it and I love pumpkins (as in the gourds not as in eating them).  I have pumpkin items out all year long...I mean, they're cute and orange!  DUH!

So, back to pumpkin spice... my awesome husband got me a new screen for my laptop so hopefully that'll get fixed sometime this weekend and I won't have to blog at odd times in places I probably shouldn't be blogging and will get cracking with items past and present that have to do with pumpkin including last year's oreos, DQ blizzard (which comes back out 8/31, btw), pasta sauces, cookies, m&ms and what ever else I can remember.  I will be on the look out for the new stuff for this year and report back!  In the meantime, here's a pumpkin teaser from last year just to tide you over ;)

Brownie Batter Oreos

I decided to take a small break away from the Lays potato chips because I walked by the new LTO Brownie Batter Oreos on my way to the check out line yesterday at Big Y.  I only needed garlic, but of course I just *HAD* to get them.  I even talked to the cashier and the lady standing behind me about them and my addiction to LTO flavors.  I couldn't wait to get back to my parents' house and give them a try!

So, unlike potato chips, taking a big whiff of cookies doesn't really work.  I eat my oreos in a certain way...taken a part, one cookie eaten, then the cream, then the other cookie.  The rule of three still applies, though.  I eagerly opened the bag to see the typical chocolate oreo cookie with a very dark chocolate center.  The cream is very rich...for an oreo anyway.  I initially do get a brownie type flavor out of it.  My dad said oh yeah it tastes like brownie to him.  My friends also said it tastes like licking a brownie bowl.  My mom said it tastes just like the brownie batter they have at work (DQ).  The more I eat it the more I get a brownie-esque flavor to it but I think they are a darker chocolate than a typical brownie.  Don't get me wrong, the darker the better when it comes to chocolate for me and the three of us (okay mostly me because...well...it's my eat week) had no problem polishing off the entire bag.

As of late, Oreo has thoroughly unimpressed me...down right disappointed me.  The past few flavors fell very short of what they were supposed to be.  So, to have a cookie actually taste pretty close to what it was supposed to taste like, I have to give them props for that.  They may be on the path of redeeming themselves!

Final score - **** 4 stars

Lays New York Reuben

Two down...two to go.

Let's talk about Reubens.  Have you all had one?  I hope so!  I have to admit I like them, but it's not my "go to" sandwich by any means.  And, then, there's that whole pastrami vs. corned beef debate.  Personally I like both but would pick pastrami over corned beef for this sandwich.  If you are unfamiliar with a Reuben, it is a sandwich made with either thinly (hopefully) sliced pastrami or corned beef, Russian dressing, sauerkraut and swiss cheese grilled on rye bread.  In many cases, the meat to mouth ratio is about four to one, so you better hope you don't dislocate your jaw trying to eat the darn thing.

When all four flavors came out, this flavor intrigued me the most even though it sort of disgusted me at the same time.  I've had chicken flavored chips and let's just say those shouldn't exist.  So, I didn't really think pastrami chips would go over too well, but that morbid curiosity really clouded my judgement when I debated whether or not to try them.  Of course I tried them who was I trying to kid?

So, per usual, I opened the bag and took a nice deep breath of chip air.  You know that face that kids make when you ask them if they want broccoli?  Yeah, I made the same face.  All I smelled was sauerkraut.  That's it...nothing else.  The vinegary smell literally burned my nose and I had to turn away.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love vinegar but this wasn't appealing at all!  I actually didn't even really want to try them, but I did.

It is my theory that it takes at minimum two tries but ideally three tries to make your final decision on whether you like it or not.  Sometimes the initial flavor shock is a huge turn off but you learn to like it as you try it again.  This was not the case for me.  I was turned off from the get go and continued all the way to the third and final chip.  I did not get "Reuben" going to my brain.  I got "freshly opened can of sauerkraut" to my brain and nothing else.  I like sauerkraut but not as a chip and I really felt the pastrami, cheese, dressing and rye aspect was missing or if it was there it was just being over powered.  One of my friends, however, was delighted by these chips and said they tasted just like a Reuben to her.  Maybe my taste buds aren't equipped to handle something so sour and get the undertones at the same time.

Final score: * one star for originality but I wouldn't buy these again.

Please note:  This is not my photo, just a general one found on google.

Just a little introduction...  My name is Tammy and I'm addicted to flavor.  Limited time only flavor that is!  I don't know what it is about them but oreos, chips, cookies, seasonal flavors, etc. I HAVE.TO.HAVE.THEM!  Luckily I have a few select friends who share my craziness for trying the lastest and greatest (or more often than not, nasty) or at least the allow me to carry on like a fool about it.  So, I decided to start a blog simply to keep my mind busy instead of being on the time suck called Facebook and because we've tried so many we are starting to forget which ones we've tried and liked or disliked.  I will go back to the ghosts of flavors past as well to make some posts until the new ones come out.  Feel free to visit my other blogs...Anxiously Living Life and Run Crazy Purple.  Both have been neglected but I do get on there from time to time to spill my guts.  I'm off to Dallas tomorrow until Saturday so expect the first real post sometime next week!

~Tammy