I See You...

 

I wonder what the first creepy candy ever was. I feel like most traditional Halloween candy is just standard candy made in trick-or-treat sized. However, as the years have gone by, I think more and more candy companies are trying to make Halloween themed candy, and the best way to make any candy Halloween themed is to make it creepy. Sometimes the creepiness of a Halloween candy is kind of cute, but on occasion, like this new review, the candy is actually a little unsettling. 

Check out my latest of review of a really creepy candy.

Eating Really Old Halloween Kisses - Part/Year 6

 In this episode of Chris, Why Would You Eat That I eat another Halloween Kiss, for the sixth time. It's part 6 of a 14 year series where I'll eat a Molasses Kiss candy from the same bag till they get stale or until I finish them all.

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

Here's last year's Halloween Kisses review: youtu.be/EJbBIfqoR2o?si=VZZ9V4sV3E9nT2N5

Blue Orchid!

A teenage girl. A world filled with monsters. An adventure unlike any other.

Blue Orchid is my manga-inspired comic series following a young South East Asian heroine as she battles strange creatures and discovers what it takes to become a true hero.

Available now at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon.

Fruity Chocolate

Blending chocolate and fruit together is one of the most common flavour combinations out there. The thing is, many, maybe even most of them are not great. It's amazing how many companies blend fruit with chocolate and get it wrong. There are thousands of ways to get this combination wrong as well. Poor choice of fruit, poor quality chocolate, bad ratio of ingredients can all ruin what could be a great combination. Maybe on paper it seems like an easy thing to do, but I've tasted so many bad fruit and chocolate combinations that I'm pretty certain in reality it is not.

Check out the latest fruit and chocolate combination, spoilers, it didn't really work.

Healthy Chocolate Cereals

 I’m not sure which cereal was the first to introduce the concept of chocolate for breakfast. More importantly I’m not really sure when the first cereal brand added chocolate to their breakfast menu, but it’s been happening much longer than I’ve been alive. Chocolate and breakfast have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, sort of. The idea of chocolate and breakfast together has been something I’ve known about for all of my life, but in our house any cereal that had chocolate was considered junk food and not healthy enough for breakfast. The only time we would get these chocolate cereals was at my grandfather’s house, who fed us full of sugar all the time.

It should also be noted that I’m talking about both chocolate flavoured cereals, cereals a that contain cocoa as well as cereals that have full-on pieces of chocolate. I feel like in my younger days most “chocolate” cereals were in fact chocolate flavoured. I’m thinking of things like Count Chocula and Cocoa Pebbles Cereal. I can’t recall having healthy cereals with just cocoa powder or even fancy cereals with real pieces of chocolate.

What I’m getting at is, there appears to be a big shift when it comes to chocolate in cereals. I think it’s a shift that’s been growing for decades now. Don’t get me wrong, the old sugary chocolate regulars are still around, but the trend that just seems to be growing out of control is “healthy” cereals that contain pieces of real chocolate. It seems to be a really popular trend with granola mostly, but there are a few others as well. 

The trend is getting so extreme that many of these cereals not only offer you chocolate in each bowl, but they allow you to choose what kind of chocolate you might want. Many brands now offer their “healthy” cereal with white, dark or milk chocolate. On occasion some offer a combination of chocolate types as well.

I understand why people buy these cereals, chocolate in granola tastes great. What I don’t understand is if you can sell chocolate in cereal and sell it as healthy. If it was just cocoa I could understand it, but when you add full on pieces of chocolate it feels a little less authentically healthy. Now don’t take my word on this as I’m not an expert in healthy eating at all. Maybe chocolate (not just cocoa) has some kind of health benefit I don’t know about. Trust me I’d be very happy to hear that news.

Is chocolate going to take over the cereal isle? My taste buds might be happy about this prospect, but I feel like my waste line might be a little disappointed.

Folding Cranes with Kit Kat Wrappers

 I can't resist a fun art project, particularly when it's on the back of a bag of Kit Kat bars.

CC

Some Snack Facts!

 

Ever wondered where your favourite snacks came from?

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.

Cheese and Chips

It's a little weird, the name of my company is Beware The Cheese, yet for the most part I'm not really a big fan of cheese. Actually, that kind of makes sense now that I think about it. Most people assume that I might love cheese because it features so much in my creative life, but I'm actually pretty picky. There are only certain cheeses that I enjoy, and even then there are only certain ways I enjoy them. Fortunately as a potato chip flavour I'm generally pretty happy. There are few versions of cheese flavoured potato chips that I don't like. Oddly, from a creative standpoint, I'd actually like to taste one that I hate.

Check out my latest cheesy review.

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.

Snack Facts Is Here!

Ever wondered where your favourite snacks came from?

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.

Purple Isn't Always Grape

When I was kid, if you handed me a purple potato chip I would have assumed that it was grape. I don't think there were many purple coloured treats in the world that weren't grape. I'm not sure if times have changed, or if I've just seen more of the world, but I'm seeing more and more purple in the snacking and treat world all the time. Probably the most popular purple flavour that's out right now is ube, a popular flavour that I believe came from the Philippines. But Japan also has some pretty impressive purple potato treats too.

Check out my latest purple potato treat review, this one's from Japan.

Candy Technology We Never Think About

 

Recently while enjoying a bag of peanut M&Ms I realized that stamping the “M” on each and every of these oddly shaped candies must be an incredible challenge. The peanut M&Ms are the most challenging of all M&Ms to print on because each and every peanut M&M is shaped differently. This is the nature of the peanut inside, it cannot be controlled (or so I imagine). So while chomping on my peanut M&Ms I stared in amazement at how many of these treats actually had the famous stamp on them. I will note that there are a few with no stamp at all, and also a few with partial stamps too.

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.

Candy Experiment - Twix Copies Taste Test

 Taste testing some Twix alternatives from Tunisia to find out if you really need the real thing.

Treats and Beasts!

 What do you get when you mix amazing animals with delicious treats?

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 

Toasted Marshmallow Flavour?

I've said it before on this site a few times, but I'm not a huge marshmallow fan. There are a few exceptions to this rule, I often enjoy them when their an ingredient in a dessert, I've tasted a few handmade marshmallows that are pretty good, and I love them toasted. In the last few years I've seen a trend where toasted marshmallow has become a flavour, rather than a way to eat a marshmallow. I've sampled treats and ice cream that claims to taste like a slightly roasted marshmallow and weirdly enough, it works. I'm not really sure what gives these treats a toasty flavour, but it often actually tastes like a toasted marshmallow. It's not often that this kind of flavour trickery works for me, but toasted marshmallow seems to work almost all of the time.

Check out my latest toasted marshmallow review, with s'more added flavours as well.

10 Second Kitchen - Ribfest Ottawa

 Slathering on some barbecue sauce and showing off their ribs at the Ottawa Ribfest in Canada.

Blue Orchid!

 A teenage girl. A strange new world. Countless monsters standing in her way.

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.

What Is Mint?

This is not the first time I've ever mentioned this, but I have a real fascination with the difference between mint flavoured candies and real mint. It's probably one of the most perplexing of fake flavours because it's actually not that far off from the original. I would even bet that many fake mint flavoured treats contain some real mint. The main difference I find between fake and real mint is an earthy flavour, which makes sense since it's actually an herb. Are there any people out there who like fake mint over the real thing, or the other way around?

Check out my latest minty review that caused me to think about this problem again.

KD Ramen

This is a quick meal that at first glance seems like it might be weird or at the very least unique, but if you dig down a bit it's actually kind of logical. Don't get me wrong, that's not my review of this treat, I'll put that at the end, but don't expect super high praise.

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.

Quick List - Best Looking Gummy Treats

 Here's a quick list featuring the best looking gummy treats I've ever seen... or eaten.

Snack Facts!

 Love treats? Love learning random facts?

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.

Tropical Fruit and Chocolate

 

There are a few tropical fruit and chocolate treats out there in the world, but not as many as you'd think. I feel like most fruit and chocolate combinations are about raisins, but maybe there are a few other berry and definitely cherry and chocolate treats out there too. The thing about tropical fruits might be the fact that they're often very sweet already. When you dry them out they get even sweeter, so adding some sweet milk chocolate might just be too much. It could also be that most places that grow tropical fruit are already warm, and chocolate doesn't last very long on a warm store shelf.

Check out my latest tropical fruit covered in chocolate review.

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

 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.

Treats And Beasts!

 

Can you imagine an alphabet where every letter brings together a wild beast and a tasty treat?

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.

So Weird, But In A Good Way

There are two kinds of unique candy out there. There's candy that's weird by design, constructed to make you wonder what's going on. Then there's candy that's unique because it's culturally different than what you might expect. I like both, but I find that few candy makers can construct weird or unique candies well. It takes years to perfect a candy, and trying to make it very different and good takes a lot of time. Unique because I'm not familiar with it culturally is different because it's very possible that it's been around for longer than I (or even my grandparents) have been alive. This means that it'll be new to me, but perfected over time.

Check out my latest unique candy review.

When a Cookie is a Candy Bar

I think I might have found the missing link. The cookie/candy bar that’s both a cookie and a candy bar at the same time. The candy world has had a great debate for many years now, it’s even become a legal matter in a few places. It’s a question that gets put to me many times, sometimes aggressively. It’s all about trying to define candy and treats. In this case it’s a look at what’s a cookie and what’s a candy bar with a cookie in it. Legally this question is asked when countries are trying to define what should or shouldn’t be sold in the candy isle. A Twix bar is a great example of this kind of treat, most people would call it a chocolate or candy bar, but in reality it’s actually mostly cookie. Even a Kit Kat bar is debatable in this context.

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.

Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! - Têtes Brûlées

 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

 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 Amazon.

Is Yogurt Underrated?

While I've tasted a few yogurt flavoured treats in my day, it's not a flavour that you really see everywhere. I think it's mostly found in the Asian candy world, with maybe a few European treats participating as well. The thing about yogurt flavoured candy is, it's hard to simulate yogurt and be super sweet at the same time. While yogurt can have some sweetness in it to cut down the sour, the sour itself is really what makes yogurt great. Too much sweet just turns it into a sweet cream. This is exactly what happened here, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see more candy companies attempting this unique flavour.

Check out my latest yogurt themed candy review.

10 Second Kitchen - BeaverTails Ottawa

 A little interruption as I watch them make a tasty deep fried treat.

Discover the Sweet History Behind Your Favourite Snacks

 Have you ever stopped to wonder where your favourite snacks came from? From classic candies to beloved treats, many of the foods we enjoy every day have fascinating stories behind them.

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.

Unlikeliest Of Flavour Combinations

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that strawberry, chocolate and vanilla together is the most common flavour trio in the world. I can't think of many cultures that don't have at least one or two treats with this flavour combination. Oddly, I don't actually know where this flavour came from, other than possibly Italy (based on the name). I'm not sure if ice cream was the first time it was used. It's objectively an odd flavour combination, unless you break the flavours into pairs. Then you realize that in pairs these flavours are pretty common, but all together it just seems a little weird. The thing is, it works.

Check out my latest strawberry, chocolate and vanilla treat review.

Boxed Ice Cream

One thing I’ve discovered in grocery stores in Tunisia (where I’m staying right now) is that they truly love desserts that come out of boxes. There are full isles in the grocery stores dedicated to baking and dessert making that comes out of a box. While most of these desserts and baked goods are fairly similar to what you find in many countries, there is one thing that really stood out to me, boxed do it yourself ice cream.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen ice cream in a box before, and there’s no way I was gong to let it pass me by.

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.