Okay, this post is going to be a little different…

I’m going to do my typical review, but I totally bought this without knowing what I should do with it, so I am going to ask all of you for suggestions. 

What should I make with this? 

I was drawn to this product because of the packaging. The sugar is inside a thick glass jar with metallic detailing, which gives this product an industrial look, but the typography feels a little off. The lowercase font that is used for “strawberry” looks out of place when mixed with the distressed information in all caps. I like the look of either font on it’s own, but something about mixing the two just doesn’t work. 

The only ingredients listed are raw sugar, dried strawberries, beets and red cabbage (the latter two were for coloring purposes only), so this is pretty good stuff. This smells exactly like I expected. I can smell delicious cane sugar mixed with tangy, ground up, dried strawberries.

I love the smell and taste of this fruity sugar, but I have no idea on what to make with it.

PLEASE SEND ANY SUGGESTIONS MY WAY!

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

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I’m trying to use up a lot of the things in my fridge this week, so I used a couple strawberries and a grapefruit to made this syrup. It’s really delicious over ice cream, but I bet it’d be great on waffles and pancakes too!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 large strawberries
• Juice from 1/2 a grapefruit

In a small pot, combine the sugar and water. Place it over low heat, stirring occasionally. This will create a simple syrup to act as our sweetener and our base.

While that is heating up, hull and dice up the strawberries. Chop them into small pieces, they don’t need to be perfect because we’ll mash them later. Once all of the sugar has dissolved, add them to your pot of syrup. Then, squeeze the juice from half of a grape fruit into the pot. (You can also use lemon or lime if you have them on hand, but it will change the flavor.)

Let this cook down, stirring occasionally, until the berries have become soft. (About 15-20min on low) Once the strawberries reach the desired softness, mash the berries with a potato masher. At this point you can let your syrup cook down to your desired thickness. (Thinner syrups are great for adding to sodas or lemonades. Thicker ones are better for ice cream and cakes.)

This syrup is delicious and full of flavor. The tangy grapefruit prevents it from being overly sweet and it enhances the flavors of the berries. (This recipe makes enough to fill a half pint mason jar.)

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

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It’s restaurant week in Collingswood! If any of you are New Jersey locals, you must know about Collingswood and it’s restaurants. For restaurant week, participating locations make a special menu for the event (usually 3-4 courses) and list it at a reasonable price. This is a great way to try something new. I have been looking forward to this for a while, and tonight my boyfriend and I ate at That’s Amore. 

I had never been to this restaurant before, but I had heard very good things. I felt like their restaurant week menu was the best menu available. I was able to get a lovely 4 course meal for $35.00. (You also get a voucher for $10.00 off for a return visit)

I ordered:

• Grilled Caesar Salad with Pancetta Chips and Parmigiano Shavings
• Olive Oil Crostini with Artichoke & Olive Tapenade
• Grilled Citrus Scottish Salmon over Mascarpone Risotto
• Zabaglione Cream over Drunken Strawberries

My Salad was presented in a beautiful and interesting way, which was very enjoyable and easy to eat. The star of this dish was definitely the salty pancetta. All of the flavors worked very well together, but that pancetta was to die for.

For my second course I chose the crostini with olive tapenade, It was savory and intense, especially with that drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I LOVE balsamic vinegar and this one was sweet and thick. (It must be a good age.) It was a very nice touch, especially with the salty olives.

My main course of salmon was well cooked and presented. The salmon had nice texture, but it practically melted in my mouth. It was delicious, especially when mixed with the creamy risotto. Also, this sauce made me into an asparagus eater. I normally NEVER touch the stuff, but it was delicious in this sweet and tangy sauce.

Now for my favorite part of any meal, dessert. A combination of strawberries, rum, and cream. What is not to like? If I had any complaint at all it would be to double the size of this dessert. I wanted even more!

This restaurant had a lovely atmosphere, and delicious food. The floor-plan makes you feel warm and cozy and the decor was colorful and textured. (I really loved the light fixtures and the logo for the restaurant.) The staff were very attentive and the owner also visited our table. If you’re in the area, I definitely recommend visiting That’s Amore. (Especially this week for Restaurant Week.)

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

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I tried a little something different and used a patterned background for the one photo. The packaging was so kitschy and adorable I felt it warranted a little something different. (Let me know if you like this and would like to see more!)

The packaging is as adorable as it could possibly be. The mascots alone scream cuteness, but combine that with polka dots, bows, and red scalloped trim, and it’s a recipe for heart-exploding “kawaii.” The design is cute without being overwhelming or busy and I feel like it has a touch of sophistication with the limited palette.

A silver foiled bag inside the box holds all the little strawberry chocolate shapes. This candy is similar to Meiji’s Apollo, but the shapes are all very “girly.” There are two different bows, a slipper, flowers, and a purse.

These chocolates smell just like Meiji’s Apollo, there is a sweet milk chocolate aroma mixed with a sweet artificial strawberry, but I am not a big fan of fake strawberry flavors. Maybe this will taste a little different?

As I tasted the candy, I noticed that the fake strawberry flavor is a little more subdued, but the chocolate is very waxy. The lighter, more palatable, strawberry flavor is nice, but the waxiness really takes away from the candy.

These are super adorable, and would make great cupcake toppers or cake decorations (especially for a baby shower for a little girl or a Lolita tea party), but as a candy they are waxy and artificial tasting.

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

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Here’s a Valentine’s gift I received this year. I am not sure exactly where this came from, but I bet you can find these in shops like Target or Wegman’s.

The outside wrapping has a Valentine’s Day inspired design featuring hearts and chocolate dipped strawberries. (Which relate to the flavor combination.)  Inside, there are three peeps nestled in a white plastic tray. The package design isn’t bad, but it does remind me of student work.

Artificial strawberry and milky chocolate were the first things I could smell when I took these of the of the package. It was very sweet and very artificial, like someone had mixed Marshmallow Fluff with strawberry and chocolate Nesquick.

Man, these are sweet! Each component is very sweet enough on it’s own, combined these are a diabetic’s worst nightmare. It really does taste like marshmallow fluff mixed with strawberry milk powder, topped with a coating of red sugar crystals, and dipped in sweet milk chocolate. The chocolate is VERY sweet on it’s own, like Cadbury chocolates, which was way too much. I think they should have used a dark chocolate instead to cut through all this sugar.

These are cute, and novelty, but they are WAY too sweet for me.

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

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If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I teach art and Spanish at a local daycare (kids ages 2.5-5 years.) Well this semester I am also observing a 3rd grade classroom for my teacher certification. This means that I have a LOT of Valentines this year. So I put together a little goodie bag for each one of them.

One of the candies I am handing out to my little learners are these Yummy Earth lollipops.

This is just a teaser post for now, because there are 8 flavors that I’ll be breaking up into seperate reviews and posting throughout the week.

For now, enjoy the eye candy!

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

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Although this is an American product, I had a really hard time finding it in American shops. I finally saw a can of the strawberry Arnold Palmer at SunSeng market. 

The entire can is black (except for the bottom) and it’s covered in little metallic strawberries. I love that the can is black, and I love the little strawberries…but the overall design feels off. It doesn’t feel finished and it reminds me of a first year design assignment. A contributing factor is the “Half & Half” logo on the bottom. I think it looks out of place on all of their designs and really dated. The can does it’s job, but it doesn’t feel like a successful overall design.

When I poured the beverage, I was surprised by the color. I was expecting it to be artificially red, but it has a deep tea color to it.

It smells like strawberry nectar from Goya, very sweet and syrupy, with a hint of instant lemonade mix.

It tastes like Arizona’s typical Arnold Palmer drink, with a splash of strawberry Goya nectar. It’s very sweet, and artificial tasting, but not bad.

Although this drink isn’t especially amazing, I did enjoy it. With Arizona iced teas being 99 cents I could see myself buying this again, but I might also try and recreate it on my own. I feel like you could easily recreate this yourself using ice tea mix, lemonade mix, and a can of strawberry nectar.(Although you could make your own natural version with real tea, lemons, and strawberries that might be much better!)

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

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I guess I went on a marshmallow spree. First German chocolate cake, now ice cream cones!

Unlike the German chocolate cake design, I love the colors used for the ice cream variety. Neapolitan ice cream colored stripes draw the eye in to the center of the bag. The overall look is playful, and it gives off a fun ice cream shoppe feel.

Inside the bag are little ice cream cone shaped marshmallows. There are pink, brown, and white scoops of marshmallow on top of graham-cracker colored marshmallow cones. They look…adorable.

Supposedly each one is supposed to be a different flavor.

• Brown = Chocolate
• Pink = Strawberry
• White = Vanilla

After several attempts at eating the tops separate from the bottoms… the difference in flavor is VERY mild.

Even with my eyes closed I can’t taste a difference between any of them.They honestly taste a lot like normal marshmallows. (These are just ice cream shaped.)

If you’re tired of traditional marshmallows and want to switch things up, give these a try, but don’t expect the flavor to be intense. (Another great addition to hot cocoa.)

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

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Godiva Chocolates - Godiva: Cherry Hill, NJ

Here’s another chocolate review, a Strawberry Tart truffle!

I think this one is the strawberry tart truffle. It was hard to find it on Godiva’s website and it kept crashing Firefox. I had to open it with Chrome.

This truffle is almost the same pink as the birthday cake one I reviewed a few days ago. This time the truffle is topped with delicate chocolate crosshatching. Inside is milk chocolate, and two chambers each filled with a fruit paste and white cream. The white cream taste just like the previous truffle. It’s milky and melts instantly in your mouth. The fruit paste is very bright and has some nice strawberry flavor.

Like the previous truffle this one is VERY sweet. Even for me. I like the fruit paste filling, but it is overpowered by all the other elements. Even so, I liked this strawberry tart truffle more than the birthday cake.

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

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Gummy Bacon - ???

For my birthday this year my boyfriend gave me a big bag of candy. Inside, I found Uncle Oinker’s Gummy Bacon. Thankfully, this is strawberry flavored and not bacon flavored. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE bacon and I LOVE gummy candy, but bacon-flavored gummies? No thank you.

The packaging is pretty rough, it feels like a student project. I wish they had put more cheesy jokes and such on the packaging and really pushed the bad-ness of it. I love things that are so bad they are good. What I DO like is that there is a little “bacon viewing window” just like real packages of bacon.

Inside the box there is a plastic pouch with four strips of gummy bacon.

Once opened, I could smell a sweet strawberry aroma. The smell is really nice, but the taste? After such a strong smell I was really surprised by how mild it was. It has a generic artificial strawberry flavor, like what you would find in gummy bears. The taste is similar to gummy bears, but the texture is VERY different. Each slice of gummy bacon is pretty thick, so it is VERY chewy and bouncy.

Overall I enjoyed gummy bacon. The flavor was mild and pleasant. I wouldn’t seek it out to eat it again, but it was really fun to try. This would be a fun stocking stuffer or silly gift. (I know I enjoyed it.)

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

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