Quick List - My Go To Snacks and Candy

 Here's a quick list of my go to snacks and candy. They may not be the best, but their the ones that I crave and that are close to my heart.

Treats and Beasts!

 If you love beasts and you love treats, then you’ll love Treats and Beasts!

A fun A–Z alphabet adventure packed with wild animals, tasty treats, and silly surprises. The perfect book for little readers and anyone who still loves a good alphabet adventure (even if you already know your ABCs).

Grab your copy today:

bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/

You can also find it on Amazon.

That Bar Has No Name

 For those unfamiliar, "No Name" is a discount brand in Canada. It's made by one of the largest grocery store chains in Canada, and sold in all (or almost all) of their stores. The idea is that these brands are not fancy at all, they're basic products that are perfectly good, but nothing amazing. I'm not sure where the name "No Name" came from, but it's been around for as long as I know. It's even gained a bit of a cult following, they have No Name t-shirts and other apparel as well. I would say that I buy a good number of No Name products when I go grocery shopping, even candy.

Check out my latest No Name review.

Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) Wrap Up

This year I was fortunate enough to return to the CNE. It's the first time I've been to the CNE two years in a row for a long time, and from a snacking perspective I felt a different vibe. Last year when I attended everyone wanted the next crazy food. Deep fried pizza, mustard flavoured ice cream and even a cookie flavoured hamburger. There were tones of crazy foods for sale and huge lineups for each and every one of them.

This year there were a few more crazy treats and snacks, but the lineups for these foods weren't nearly as long as last year. I would even venture to say that there were more crazy food stalls available, but not nearly as many people going to them. Now I don't have the hard numbers to prove that, only the fact that I walked by a few of these stalls and they were empty. I'm not sure what's causing this change, it could be the high prices of these odd foods, or it could be a nostalgia for the classics.

I say this because the lineups for many of the classic CNE foods were really long. I've never waiting for a waffle ice cream sandwich before, but this year it was pretty packed. It's odd too, but I also lost a bit of drive to sample all of the new and weird foods this year, and really craved some of the classics. So here's a quick look at everything I ate.

Ironically I started my day with something that's a little odd, but not that crazy. It was a plate of tater tots covered in mac and cheese and then covered in cheese sauce. It's a little extreme (particularly for your first meal) but it's not that crazy. It was also pretty tasty.

Next we went for some Tiny Tom donuts. 

These have been a staple at the CNE for years. It used to be the only place you could get them, but I see them around a lot more now a days. We thought cinnamon sugar was the way to go.

Our next treat is not only a CNE classic, but I'm pretty sure every county fair and festival has corn dogs. A little mustard makes it just a bit better.

The next treat we got was the classic CNE waffle ice cream sandwich. It's something we rarely miss, even when we go with the weird foods.

I particularly liked their system of selling them. You go to the cashier and buy an ice cream sandwich coin. Then you line up for your fresh (and slightly warm) sandwich. It keeps the line moving and the coin's kind of fun as well. It's too bad you have to put your coin in a hole to get your ice cream sandwich, because I'd love to have it as a souvenir.

My last meal was also a little extreme, but once again not so gross out weird. It's pulled pork on fries with all the fixin's. 

Junk Fud and You - What I look for in a Candy - Novelty

 Ever wonder why I give a particular score to some candies? How does novelty affect my reviews? I decided to break down my criteria for novelty when I review treats.

Blue Orchid Fun!

Did you know I’m currently writing and drawing my own comic series?

Blue Orchid is a fun adventure about a teenage South East Asian girl who battles incredible monsters and faces the challenges of a world unlike anything she has ever known.

You can pick up every issue now at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon.

Purple Is Awesome

 

I don't think I've ever been disappointed with a purple coloured treat. It's not to say that I've loved every single purple snack I've ever eaten, I just find that most purple snacks either taste great, or at the very least are very interesting. I'm not sure I've ever had an amazing flavoured, really interesting purple treat, but generally you're likely to get one or the other. Maybe one day I will get the perfect purple treat, but for now I'm just happy when they're either interesting or really tasty.

Check out my latest interesting purple review.