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.
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.
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 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.
Snack Facts is a fun comic that follows Barbara and Sir Francis Sweetums as they uncover the surprising history behind some of the world's most popular treats.
Grab your copy at candycritic.org/snackfacts/ or on Amazon.
Check out my latest purple potato treat review, this one's from Japan.
This got me thinking about how difficult it is to do certain tasks while making candy and snacks. It made me think about the dedication some candy scientists and engineers must be for small detailed aspects of making treats. The stamps on the M&Ms are completely not necessary, but yet it seems like they put a great effort into putting them on, even when the natural shape of a candy and chocolate coated peanut wants to make it extremely difficult.
I’ll be honest, I have no idea how the M&Ms peanut stamp machine works. If given the opportunity I’d love to see it in action in person. I’m also going to eat the rest of these M&Ms with a little more care, inspecting each and every stamp on each and every M&M. I’ll feel a little sad when it doesn’t have a stamp, but feel great pride for the candy makes with every stamp I see. Each time I see a stamp that’s only partially on, I’ll wish them better luck next time.
It’s also a good time to think a little more about the treats we eat. From what I understand puffed corn snacks like cheesies are super challenging to make. I also can’t imagine how one layers wafers and chocolate so thinly as you find inside a Kit Kat bar. Even getting the well sliced potato chip or perfectly formed gummy can’t be easy. I may not know how they do it, but I think I’m going to stop a slow down when I’m snacking and pay a little tribute to the brilliant scientists and designers of the candy world.
Taste testing some Twix alternatives from Tunisia to find out if you really need the real thing.
Treats and Beasts!
This colourful alphabet book takes readers on a journey from A to Z, introducing a new beast and treat combination on every page.
Whether you’re learning your ABCs or just love fun animal adventures, this book is sure to bring a smile.
Pick up your copy today:
bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/
Also available on Amazon
Check out my latest toasted marshmallow review, with s'more added flavours as well.
Slathering on some barbecue sauce and showing off their ribs at the Ottawa Ribfest in Canada.
Blue Orchid is my manga-inspired comic series about a young South East Asian girl who must face incredible creatures, dangerous challenges, and the adventures that come with discovering her own path.
You can read every issue now at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon.
Check out my latest minty review that caused me to think about this problem again.
KD (Kraft Dinner for Americans) is a brand that's well known for their macaroni and cheese. Most people know about it because of the sheer bright colour of the orange powder that you use to make this mac and cheese. It has a certain reputation as being for kids, or for people who don't eat healthy foods. I can't really say anything about that since I'm not a dietitian, or any kind of health expert. I can tell you that I do enjoy a boxed mac and cheese now and again, and I also enjoy the fact that there's been a trend over the last few years of making strange versions of this popular meal.
This is where the KD Ramen comes in. If you're to judge the social media and marketing around this product, one would assume that this is just a gimmick, a weird food for the sake of being a weird food (I'm looking at you cotton candy KD). My argument however is that this actually isn't that weird at all, in fact I would argue that it's not even original. A quick Google search lead me to at least 3 different Thai (I believe) brands of ramen that have cheese flavouring.
Also, if you think about it, ramen is a noodle based dish, so just adding cheese to different noodles isn't that strange... kind of. The difference here is that they didn't just add their classic KD cheese sauce to ramen noodles. Instead what you have is a cheese flavoured ramen soup with noodles. It even offers two flavour packets, one with classic ramen flavouring, and one with the bright orange cheese sauce. So this is a little different than just KD with ramen noodles.
The real question is, does it work. The answer is that it works well enough, but I don't think I have to try it again. The big problem is the lack of creamy texture or flavour. What you end up with is a watery soup that kind of tastes like cheese. The ramen flavour package could have also been a little more complimentary to the cheese sauce. It just felt like they repackage a ramen soup and added their cheese powder. It wasn't horrible, but my guess is it isn't going to turn into a staple either.
Here's a quick list featuring the best looking gummy treats I've ever seen... or eaten.
Snack Facts combines both in a fun, illustrated adventure! Join Barbara and Sir Francis Sweetums as they explore the stories behind your favourite snacks and treats.
Available now at candycritic.org/snackfacts/ or on Amazon.
Check out my latest tropical fruit covered in chocolate review.
Ever wonder why I give a particular score to some candies? How does texture affect my reviews? I decided to break down my criteria for texture when I review treats.
That’s exactly what you’ll find in Treats and Beasts, a fun A–Z adventure full of animals, sweets, and silly surprises.
A perfect book for young readers, animal lovers, candy fans, and anyone who enjoys a creative twist on the alphabet.
Get your copy here:bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/
Or on Amazon.
The reason I bring all of this up is this “cookie” I recently discovered in a store in France. It’s called the Petit Ecolier and it really balances the line perfectly between being a cookie and being a candy bar. It’s not even subtle about it either. A Twix and a Kit Kat bar hide the fact that there’s a lot of cookie in them by covering everything in chocolate. This bar on the other hand keeps the cookie and the chocolate entirely visible. There are a few cookies out there that are stuffed with all kinds of things you might find in a candy bar too. This treat does not do that, the chocolate bar is totally visible on top of the cookie.
I can’t tell if the makers of this treat are lazy, or are trying to troll people. They really just took a cookie and smushed it together with a chocolate bar. There’s nothing really creative, but the fact that no one has done this before kind of makes it creative. The ratio of chocolate to cookie is almost perfectly split as well. I’ve never been so perplexed with a treat in my life. People often get mad at me if I review cookies or cakes on this site (claiming they’re not “candy”), but I’m tempted to give this a try just to see if anyone would react.
The only thing that gives this treat a category for me is the fact that I bought it in the cookie section of a grocery store. This brand also makes other cookie treat, but I’ve never seen any candy from them. It’s truly the treat that balances the line, it’s both a cookie and a candy bar.
P.S. I just wanted to note that these Petit Ecolier taste great too.
In today's episode of Chris Why Would You Eat That?!! I taste one of the most popular candies in France, Têtes Brûlées. I thought it might extreme, but...
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 Amazon.
A little interruption as I watch them make a tasty deep fried treat.
That's exactly what Snack Facts is all about.
Join Barbara and Sir Francis Sweetums as they travel through the history of some of the world's most popular snacks, uncovering surprising facts, unexpected origins, and plenty of sweet discoveries along the way. Presented as a fun and easy-to-read comic, Snack Facts is perfect for curious readers of all ages—whether you're a lifelong candy lover or just enjoy learning something new.
If you've ever wanted to know how your favourite treats became household names, this book is a fun way to satisfy your curiosity.
You can pick up your copy of Snack Facts today by visiting candycritic.org/snackfacts/ or on Amazon.
Check out my latest strawberry, chocolate and vanilla treat review.
Have you ever had a boxed dessert that seemed to easy to be true? This can really happen for two reasons, either there is truly very few steps to follow in order to make your dessert, or it’s such a complicated dessert (often requiring specific machinery) that you can’t believe that it can be made out of a box. This chocolate ice cream is the rare occasion where it’s both of those. This ice cream requires no ice cream machine at all, and the only other ingredient needed is milk.
It’s also not that complicated to make, just mix in the powder with the milk for a few minutes. Honestly it’s so simple that it had me worried about what was going to come out.
After my few minutes of mixing I was ready to let my freezer do the rest of the work. The liquid in my container looked and felt a lot like some of the ice cream starters I’ve seen in the past, so that was positive. The thing that made me nervous was the fact that it wasn’t going to be stirred while, before or after freezing. The instructions did suggest letting your ice cream sit for a few minutes before serving, so maybe that’ll help?
The end product kind of resembled ice cream. It did have ice crystals throughout and also seemed to be darker on the bottom and lighter on the top. Other than that the everything seemed okay... ish. Honestly those two problems do make for unimpressive ice cream. The end result was a little softer than I expected, and tasted pretty good too. The ice crystals were the most annoying thing about this ice cream, but it wasn’t the worst. The two different layers tasted the same as far as I can tell, but the texture of the darker parts was a little gooier than the light stuff.
All in all it wasn’t the best ice cream I’ve ever had, but it was remarkable considering how little work I had to do to make it. I’m not sure I would suggest this as an all the time ice cream substitute, but as a science experiment it was kind of fun.
A quick list of the worst candies and treats in each and ever continent. Maybe some day I'll do each country, but that also seems a little complicated.
Treats and Beasts is a fun A–Z alphabet adventure where wild animals meet tasty treats in a world full of imagination, silly surprises, and colourful illustrations. Each letter introduces a new combination of creature and confection, creating an alphabet book that’s a little different from the usual ABC adventure.
While it’s perfect for little readers who are learning their letters, it’s also a book for anyone who enjoys playful artwork, animals, and a good dose of creativity. Even if you already know your ABCs, there’s still plenty of fun to discover!
From amazing animals to delicious treats, Treats and Beasts brings together two things that everyone loves — imagination and a little bit of sweetness.
Whether you’re looking for a fun bedtime read, a gift for a young reader, or simply a colourful book to enjoy together, Treats and Beasts is ready to take you on a tasty A–Z adventure.
Get Your Copy of Treats and Beasts
You can grab your copy here:
https://bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/
You can also find it on Amazon.
Ever wonder why I give a particular score to some candies? How does taste affect my reviews? I decided to break down my criteria for taste when I review treats.
You can pick each and every issue of Blue Orchid right now at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon.
I think the two dishes I found most in my time in Prague was deep fried meats and stews. While both of these dishes are fairly common in this part of Europe, the Czech people do them really well. They also on occasion mixed things up a bit and give these classic European dishes their own twist. There’s a popular dish called svíčková which is beef with dumplings, cream sauce and uniquely cranberry jam. What I’m saying is that the food is both very European, but also Czech as well.
Dessert wise I feel like they have the same beautiful combination. I would probably say that when it comes to the sweets I found, they had a more traditionally European feel to them. While I did visit near the Christmas holidays, I found several places that offered gingerbread all year long, including one store that sold gingerbread exclusively all year long. When I went into bakeries it felt comfortable and safe. While I rarely saw anything that was totally new to me, I felt safe with just about everything. The quality of the sweet treats and desserts was also really high. It was rare to bite into something disappointing.
Probably the most popular Czech dessert is větrník, and it’s well worth giving a try. It may seem like a simple puff pastry with cream in the middle, but it’s so much more. More often than not the creamy centre just has some kind of rich flavour that I can’t explain. However, the crowning achievement is the caramel coating that you often find on these clouds of delight. While I’m all for eating healthy, I love it when a dessert doesn’t lie about being unhealthy, and větrník does just that. When you bite into this rich dessert you know that it’s only there to please you, and not make you skinny.
I also can’t talk about Czechia without mentioning Kofola. Kofola was first described to me as the cola for Czechs from before they had Coke or Pepsi. This is their classic carbonated drink, and it’s as unique as it comes. One might describe it as cola created by people who had only heard a description of cola but never tasted it. I would describe it as almost a cola, but with a more spice/tea flavour. While I’m not sure it’s for everybody, I feel like it’s something everyone should at least try once.
Fast food wise there’s a lot going on in Czechia. The standards are there, and for the most part they’re fairly similar to what you might find in most countries, however there’s always a little twist. A great example is that McDonald’s offers deep fried brie cheese that you can pair with cranberry sauce. It’s way too classy for McDonald’s if you ask me, but it was fun to try. As an additional note, their special pie was a blueberry cream pie, and it was fantastic.
On this trip, I can’t say that I had one bad meal. From fancy dining to fast food it was all great. On the surface it all looked fairly simple, old fashioned European, but dig a little deeper and you could really find some true Czech originality.
