Happy Halloween!

 The only thing more terrifying than a well decorated cookie, is a poorly decorated cookie being baked.

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Gummy Bear Irony

Irony
by candycritic

I sometimes wish gummy bears could know how frustrating it is to step into gum.

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Halloween Reviews Are Getting Harder and Harder

 

My issue with Halloween reviews is by what I define as a Halloween candy. While there are hundreds of candies one might receive on Halloween, many of them (maybe even most of them) aren't really Halloween themed. They're often sold in bulk and smaller sized, and maybe there's a Halloween themed package. But how many are actually Halloween themed? In order for me to officially post something in the Halloween category on candycritic.org, it has to have a Halloween theme. While I did manage to find one this year, I'm not sure if I have anything in mind for next year.

Check out what could be the last Halloween themed candy I review on this site.

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Every Year I Post This Commercial

 I'm not sure that it's possible to make a scarier candy commercial, so it's perfect for Halloween.

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I Agree, But My Stomach Doesn't

You may not believe this, but I actually have a pretty sensitive stomach. I can generally handle a lot of that, but there are a few things that just always knock me down. The problem is I love to eat them so very much.

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Show Off Your Candy Corns

Candy Legs - Candy Corn
by candycritic

 These are probably the best corns you can spot when you're working out.

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Great Gummies

 As a category, gummies is really hard to judge. I mean what makes one gummy better than another? It's funny because it's also one of the most versatile of all candies. You can make a gummy into just about any shape, give it any flavour, and there are even several textures (although all soft and squishy) to choose from. I'm not sure what it would take to make the perfect gummy, but I can tell you that I was really happy to eat the gummies featured this week on candycritic.org.

Check out the full review to find out why these gummies worked out so well.

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Reese's Advice

 I feel like some of this advice may not be great. In particular this first commercial should have fine print mentioning how many eggs you might have to clean off your house.

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The Classiest Treat At McDonalds?

On a recent trip to Dubai I stopped in a McDonalds and noticed something interesting in their McCafe selection of desserts, macarons. I should make it clear, I'm not sure that this is the only place where McDonalds sells macarons, leave a comment if they sell them where you live. The thing about the McCafe dessert case is that it's strangely a place I rarely ever explore. In this particular case (no pun intended), the McCafe is attached to the front counter and sits right next to the place where you have to wait for your food. Many of the McCafe cases I've seen in the past are either near the cash registers (I use the touch screens to order my food) or the cafe is in another section of the restaurant entirely.

You might also imagine that any desserts are in my wheelhouse, but strangely that's not always true. When I'm at McDonalds I tend to focus on the classic desserts, the sundaes and pies, and I often ignore the fancy McCafe stuff. It's only been recently that I've even tasted their donuts, and that's only because we won a few in the Monopoly contest they had. So while waiting for my food, I happened to notice that the McCafe sold macarons, and I wondered how a fast food chain could handle such a sophisticated dessert.

I didn't buy any on the first visit, I instead decided to just gawk at them and wonder if anyone ever bought them. On the next visit my curiosity peaked, and I decided to give them a shot. Fortunately I could still order them from the touch screen kiosks, and I could even pick which flavour I wanted. The choices were very simple, which kind of surprised me. I guess they decided that they didn't want to be too outlandish with the choices. I still think making a macaron with a light brown cookie and a dark brown filling would have been fun, because it would look like a hamburger. 

The flavours were pretty basic, and I went with chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla. The box was the first thing I noticed when I got my cookies. I was kind of wondering if these macaron were regularly available items at McDonalds, and the fact that they have a box specifically designed for the macarons tells me they are. It also tells me that they realise that these are a little fancier than their other desserts as every time I've had a donut at McDonads it just comes in a paper bag. Strangely I feel like the macarons would have survived better in a paper bag than the donuts I picked up.

I decided to start with the vanilla, as it's really the basic flavour that's the most challenging to get right. Vanilla treats can go be amazing if done right, but if not they're just kind of boring. My first impressions weren't that great. First of all they were cold, and I don't mean not warm, they were actually very cold. The vanilla flavour was fine, but nothing that impressive. Finally the centre was a cream, not a jam or even something similar to an icing, it was like a small dollop of whipped cream. The chocolate and raspberry were fairly similar in that they were cold, fairly flavourless, and the cream in the middle was kind of disappointing.

This leads me back to my original idea, is this the fanciest thing ever at McDonalds, and if it is, is it worth it. To the first part of this idea, I do believe that this is one, if not the fanciest thing I've ever had at McDonalds, but as to the second thing, I'd probably say no, it's not worth it. They're not overly expensive, but they're not cheap either (over 1 dollar each US). Personally I still have yet to warm up to the McCafe. I don't drink coffee and so far the desserts have been a little disappointing. If there's something I'm missing, let me know. 

I really thought that the McCafe idea wouldn't have stayed as long as it has. I understand that the coffee at McDonalds is spectacular according to many people, but it was apparently spectacular long before the McCafe opened. Is this cafe gaining its success off of a product they sold before they even opened? So far the donuts where meh, and the macrons were pretty low quality too. I didn't hate either one, but I have no reason to get them again when I could have a caramel sundae instead.

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Time For My Annual Halloween Tradition

 Every year I eat a Molasse Halloween Kiss candy. Each one of these candies come from the same bag that I bought (now) 3 years ago. The plan is to eat 14 of them over the course of 14 years, and to find out if they ever get truly stale, like I remember as a kid.

Read my full Halloween Kisses review here: http://www.candycritic.org/halloween%20kisses.htm

Here's last year's video: https://youtu.be/FOlXM-Iuo0s?si=zPYwoGxUFakndhBR

And here's the first video: https://youtu.be/9heIrajA7y0?si=nIgXJVOccDOfTm8w

Baby Candy Corn

Baby Halloween Candy Corn
by candycritic

 A little something for your little candy corn.

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Time To Crack Some Corn

Corn is an interesting ingredient in the snacking world, particularly when you're looking at sweet treats. You don't really think of corn as being a common ingredient in candy, but it's actually very common. Corn is one of the more common sugars (or syrups) used in making many sweet treats. Even though many of our treats are sweetened with corn, when regular corn gets added to our sweet treats it's looked at as a little weird. That is unless you're in parts of Asia where corn flavoured candy are common. It's a curious ingredient, and just like this week's featured review, I'm always interested in trying it new ways.

Check out my latest corny review.

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Ze Frank Breaks Down Candy Trading

 I'm not sure I totally agree with all his values, but this video is entertaining either way.

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A Creepy Candy Corn

Happy Halloween T-Shirt
by candycritic

 I feel like this t-shirt appeals to those who love and those who hate candy corn equally.

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Creepy... Maybe Not Scary

 Snickers is great at making scary Halloween commercials, this ones fun, but I think it's more creepy than scary.

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UAE Highlights

 

I'm trying to think if there's any other country that I've visited more than the United Arab Emirates. I've mentioned many times in the blog that I have reasons for visiting places that have a lot of western stuff. I have, and currently live in countries that are a little off the beaten path. In fact, I've lived in at least two countries that have never had a McDonalds. Depending on your opinion of McDonalds, you might think that's a good thing, but what it means is that I've lived in countries that are often short on western comforts. While that gives me a great opportunity to sample what many would consider to be exotic goods, it also makes me miss some of the regular things I can normally get at home.  You might be wondering why I wouldn't just go back home regularly then, that's a simple answer, price and time. It's both expensive and very time consuming to get back home from where I am. Fortunately there are many countries and cities dotted around the world that offer some of the comforts that I'm used to in Canada, and when I have the chance I like to get my fill of comfort food.

United Arab Emirates is probably one of the best countries in the world to get wester comfort foods. I haven't been in a while, but I've found that's become even more true. It used to be a place that had all the regular places, with a few more obscure western restaurants. Now it's chock full of all the regular places, and plenty of very specific and obscure western treats too. Allison and I decided to take advantage of these, while still managing to make regular stops at one of our favourite places, Cheesecake Factory.

One of the stops we managed to make was at Dickey's Barbeque, which was fine. I believe Dickey's is a chain of BBQ restaurants in the US, but I'm not sure if it's made its way to Canada yet. It wasn't the best barbeque either of us had ever had, but filled the gap.

The strange thing about Dickey's is their obsession with their yellow cup. They really seemed keen that I not only get my soda in this yellow cup, but that I take the cup home. I'm presently using it as a cup to hold my paintbrushes, so I guess that's something.

We also managed to stop at 5 guys, which was a first for us. This is a weird one because this is a place that's actually fairly common in Canada, but we just never go. It's not that we have anything against the place, it's just that all of the 5 Guys locations near my house in Canada are in places where I have other restaurants that I love. If we're in those areas, it means we're going to those restaurants, and we never really try anything new.

That might change after this visit as the burgers and fries were pretty good. I also like the idea of getting peanuts before a meal.

We didn't just eat western food on this excursion, we also managed to sample a really famous and very tasty Pakistani restaurant. It was nice to go to a Pakistani restaurant since there really aren't that many around. Having lived in Pakistan for a few years it was some wonderful and familiar flavours.

While the food was great, the real highlight was the fact that they also sold custom Adidas... sort of. Apparently they may or may not be authentic, but I have my suspicions.

While we did eat a lot of foreign foods, we also managed to enjoy a few iftar dinners as well (since it was Ramadan). Iftar dinners are one of my favourite meals since they're often buffets and they also often have foods I've never tried before. The format allows for a great sampling of new and fun foods including amazing desserts.

You also can't go wrong when you start a meal with a delicious date.

The candy scene in the UAE hasn't changed much over the years. Plenty of over the top candy stores, lots of imports, but only a few treats that you could really call local. I can't say that I completely hate the fact that most of the treats in the UAE are imports as it's a great place to take a look at the popular treats from all over the world. It also lets you really see how exotic western treats actually are.

The candy and desserts you could call local are also always presented in a big way, with lots of pageantry. 

I do however admire their very modern candy machines found all over the place. Video screens make for a much flashier and fun place to buy snacks.

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You Should Give Out This Candy For Halloween

 Here's a list of the top 5 candies that no one is giving out for Halloween this year, but probably should. Sure some of it is a little expensive, but it's cheaper than cleaning egg off your windows.

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Candy Corns Keep You Warm

Candy Corny Sweats
by candycritic

 Check out this amazing candy corn hoodie!

Define The Word Pie

The most I see of the world, the harder it is for me to define the word "pie". When I say the word "pie", your mind probably first pops into a round baked treat filled with things like apples and cherries. It likely has some kind of top crust keeping these fillings piping hot too. But maybe you'll then start to think about cream pies, and instead of a hot filling it's cold, and likely has no top crust. Then you might wander to the kind of pies that you find in stores and gas stations, a single piece of crust folded over and stuffed with fillings (like this week's featured review). Finally, if you're Greek (or if you've visited Greece), you might think of pies as also being any pastry filled with vegetables and cheese. This is only the tip of the iceberg, as I'm sure this post alone might turn up people with other "pies".

Check out my latest pie review because it's filled with chocolate.

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