Even MORE Chocorooms!

My other Chocoroom flavor reviews:

• Original (Chocolate)
• Caramel
  
• Strawberry
• Purple Sweet Potato
• Macadamia
  

This is the last box of Chocorooms I have in my stash. 

The packaging for this flavor is very vibrant. The combinations of red-violet and green are stunning. I think this is meant to be a fall flavor and design, but I’m not sure. (The Purple Sweet Potato was definitely a fall release with an obvious fall color scheme.) The box is smaller and thinner than the Macadamia version I reviewed a few days ago, so it’s more like the original Chocoroom box than any of the specialty flavors I have had.

Inside, the chocolates are smaller and not individually wrapped. For this flavor, the little chocolate mushroom cap is sunny yellow with a plain biscuit “stump.”

I was kind of surprised by the smell. These don’t smell like a sweet potato at all. In fact, these smell more like a flavored/specialty coffee to me than any sweet potato I’ve ever had.

When I ate one, it confirmed that these weren’t quite sweet potato. While there is a sweet fruity/vegetable taste, these are really more like a mild flavored coffee than anything else. Maybe sweet potatoes are roasted differently in Asia? Even though these don’t taste like a sweet potato, they are pretty yummy.

So far I don’t think any of the specialty Chocorooms I have had tasted like what they were supposed to. If you like mild flavored coffee, you might enjoy this version (my mother does), but my favorite so far is still the Macadamia.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Caramel Apple Milkyway - Walmart : Cherry Hill, NJ

I picked these up at Walmart because Milkyways are my favorite candy bar. (I love them frozen.) I was excited to try my favorite chocolate bar a new flavor. 

I had seen reviews of these before, on Candy Blog, but I had to try these for myself.

The packaging is VERY red. To me, it looks like a candy apple instead of a caramel one.  I think a lot more could have been done to convey a caramel apple, but overall it isn’t terrible packaging.

When I opened the wrapper I could smell cinnamon. A LOT of cinnamon. There is a slight apple aroma, but the cinnamon really stands out as the strongest smell.

Taking a bite, the first thing I could taste was the fluffy cinnamon mixed with nougat. After that, I got a hint of apple mixed with caramel and a nice chocolate finish.

A caramel apple does not include cinnamon, so this does not taste like a caramel apple. These candies are very sweet too, I can’t eat more than one or two in a sitting. While these were interesting, and fun to try, I didn’t care for the flavor. It doesn’t taste like any caramel apple I’ve ever had, and I wouldn’t miss this flavor if it didn’t return next fall.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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I was buying groceries when this little bottle caught my eye. I have had this brand before and they make an AMAZING mint milk drink that tastes like melted ice cream. So I was really excited that they decided to make a pumpkin version. Is this better than the Aldi version?

While I loved this companies labels for their other flavors…this one is rather dull. I think the forest-green color they used really puts a hiccup into their overall design. I just…don’t really care for it. I wish it was a brown, or another harvest color.

It smells VERY sweet, sweeter than the Aldi variety, and has a very strong pumpkin pie aroma. It is also a lovely color, if you whipped up some pumpkin pie filling with milk it would be exactly this color.

As I poured it, I noticed the consistency was thinner than the Wegman’s variety. This one is less eggnog and more of an actual milk.

It tastes divine! Like I am literally drinking pumpkin pie. If I had to choose this or the Aldi version…it’d be a really difficult decision. The Aldi one is richer, and gives you more liquid for your money…but this pumpkin milk is a nice single portion and it is thinner.

I’d have to say the Aldi one wins, I could always dilute that with milk to get twice as much for my money and the same consistency.

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 5!

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Candy Coated Ding Bats - ???

Another birthday gift from my boyfriend.<3 A bag full of these itty bitty batty candies.

Since these were a gift, I have no idea where he got them. I was able to find then in bulk online, so there is no packaging to review here, just candy.

Visually, these candies are stunning! Each little bat is bright, glossy and perfectly shaped. They feel very nice in hand and so far I haven’t had any trouble with the candy coating melting onto my fingers.

I love how these look! They have nicely detailed wings and you can even see a hint of the bat’s body. Personally, I think they sound very nice in their baggie when they clack against each other, but that might just be me.

Beneath the shell, they have a sweet-tart center. The orange bats taste like an orange sweet-tart inside, and the black might be black cherry. I haven’t found any flavor listings online, so I can’t say for sure, but I would definitely guess black cherry.

I have been munching on these since he got them on October 6th…and now I have less than half left. ^^;

These are delicious and addictive! I had to move them away from my computer so I wouldn’t eat them all before posting a review. 

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Candy Corn m&m’s - Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

This is the first non-pumpkin review in 21 days!

Candy corn is a fall and Halloween staple, some people love it, and some people hate it. I am picky when it comes to candy corn, and even when I do eat it I HAVE to bite off each color individually. I NEVER put the whole candy in my mouth and chew.

Hershey’s and Mars both made candy corn flavored products, the candy corn kisses and these candy corn m&m’s. I was excited to try both of them, but I was only able to find the m&m’s. 

The bag is delightful, Red is dressed up as a candy corn and there is a nice gradient of colors on the bag. There is also the faint image of a cornfield in the background. I think the bag looks adorable and I have left it out on display since I bought it. (Almost a month ago!)

Opening it up, there wasn’t any smell at all. The candies are larger than normal chocolate m&m’s, and more like the coconut ones I reviewed before. The candy corn colors are all present, orange, white ad yellow, and there are a decent amount of them in the bag.

Biting into one of the candies, the shell seems a lot thicker. Thicker than any other specialty m&m I can remember. I like the thick shell, but inside…the flavor is disappointing. The overall flavor of the white chocolate…is white chocolate. It almost reminds me of a can of butter cream icing. (Very sweet and a little buttery.) It isn’t necessarily a bad taste, since I do like white chocolate, but it is definitely not candy corn. I really couldn’t taste anything candy-corn-ish about them. 

Overall, if you like white chocolate, I imagine you’d like these a lot. Personally I loved the art and packaging, but I was very disappointed in the flavor. This is NOT candy corn, and I won’t be buying these again.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Pumpkin Spice Pancakes - Aldi : Medford, NJ

Tomorrow is out last day of pumpkin! After that, I’ll be posting some Fall/Halloween treats. For now, here are some pumpkin pancakes.

The box is a nice size and color, I can easily find it in my cabinet, but the overall design feels dated. That isn’t a bad thing, but the box feels like it is an older products (and I know it isn’t.)

I bought the same pancake mix last year, and followed the directions on the back of the box to make them. They weren’t very pumpkin-y at all. So when I bought the mix this year I tried to experiment.

This time, instead of following the directions (which said to add 1 cup of milk, 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of oil) I replaced the milk with pumpkin milk. I was hoping it would make the overall pumpkin taste stronger and richer.

With the addition of the pumpkin milk, I also served them with my homemade pumpkin syrup. This year, the pancakes tasted more pumpkin-y, but I am not truly satisfied with the flavor. I think I might play around with the recipe more. Maybe I’ll add applesauce instead of oil and see how that goes.

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 1 on it’s own. A 2 if it is made with pumpkin milk and served with pumpkin syrup.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Pumpkin Ravioli - Aldi : Medford, NJ

We’re almost at the end of my pumpkin stash, only 2 more items to go!

I have had pumpkin based pasta before, but not ravioli. Reading the bag I wasn’t sure if these were meant to be a sweet, or savory item. The bag mentions has a recipe on the back for a brown sugar pecan sauce to serve them with, so I think this might be on the sweet side.

The picture on the bag is….well…gross. I am sorry, but that sauce on top looks disgusting! I think it is supposed to be the suggest brown sugar pecan topping.

The ravioli are frozen, so they really had no smell, even when cooked the aroma was hidden inside the little pockets of pasta.

When I cut the ravioli open, the inside looked like ricotta cheese mixed with pumpkin pie filling.

What little smell the filling did have, was quite sweet. I don’t think any additional sugars were added, but ricotta cheese has a sweet flavor on it’s own. So my adding the sweet, nutty, pumpkin and spices…these turned into a mild dessert treat.

I might see if these can be paired with tomato sauce later tonight, since I love the pumpkin salsa.

These ravioli are interesting, and quite different, but I don’t think this is something I would buy again next year.

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 2.5.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Pumpkin Spice Syrup - Pinterest Recipe

Time for another pinterest recipe! Recipes for your own pumpkin spice latte syrup have been all OVER lately. As I have said before, the only pumpkin-coffee beverage I really enjoy is Panera Bread’s Pumpkin Spice Latte. (Because I worked there and drank it religiously every fall.) I wanted to try this recipe out to see if it was Panera-worthy.

This recipe is very simple and used very little ingredients: Sugar, water, pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spices. Almost everyone should have these ingredients in their cabinets already, so I like that it is very accessible. I don’t have to run out to the store to buy anything crazy that I will never cook with again.

I followed the recipe to the letter, and made some very delicious ‘syrup.’ Why is it in quotes? Well it is VERY thin and watery, which is what the recipe is meant to make. I understand that a simple syrup is usually 1-to-1 ratio (meaning even amounts water and sugar) but I like a bit more substance to my syrups.

What does the completed syrup taste like? It tastes a lot like the filling of a pumpkin pie, only MUCH sweeter. The recipe includes pumpkin puree, so you can definitely taste the pumpkin, and it includes a nice balance of the pumpkin pie spices, I don’t find that one really overpowers another. Instead, all the flavors blend together and create a genuine pumpkin pie taste.

This syrup tastes VERY sweet, so if you plan on using it, don’t use any other sweeteners or sweetened creamer. (Unless you want to go into a sugar-coma!)

As for storage, I used iced coffee bottles that I washed out and removed the labels from. I think they look pretty cute!

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 5! 

I think this recipe is delicious, easy, and can help you pumpkin coffee and latte addicts save a few bucks! If you want it thicker, just half the amount of sugar used in the recipe and use less of i in your drink.

(I plan on making a thicker batch to use for pancake syrup!)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream - Aldi : Medford, NJ

Now, I have had the popular Edy’s pumpkin ice cream before, and it IS delicious, but very rich. If you like Coldstone’s ice cream you’d love Edy’s version of pumpkin. Personally, it was too much for me. I was hoping this version from Aldi would be a little lighter.

Compared to Edy’s, this container is nothing fancy. It’s your standard tub of ice cream with a picture of pumpkin pie on it. Personally, I am not a fan of the bright blue lid, but I think that was meant to tie in with the brand’s logo. Maybe the ice cream inside will be more impressive.

Peeling back the lid, I could smell the pumpkin pie spices right away. This smells like a real slice of pie with whipped cream on top. It has a really nice balance of the spices. I couldn’t sense one being stronger than the others, which has been a problem with the other products. (They either went really heavy on the cinnamon or nutmeg.)

Visually, I really like that the product isn’t strongly colored. For those of you who haven’t seen it, the Edy’s variety is a really pigmented orange color, which I was not a fan of. This brand of ice cream has a frothy peachy color to it, which feels a lot more natural. You can see little flecks of the various spices everywhere.

As far as taste goes, this one is a LOT lighter than the Edy’s, but you can still taste a very good amount of pumpkin pie flavorings. The overall taste is a lot like the Pumpkin Milk I reviewed (which is practically pumpkin eggnog). This ice cream is flavorful, but it isn’t overwhelmingly sweet or rich.

I definitely prefer this ice cream over the Edy’s variety.

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 4.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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