Bourbon Marshmallows from Wondermade

Photo from Knoshbox.
Click on the pic to go there.

Product Information:

These could be our favorite new product of the year. These delicate morsels are crafted with pure Maker’s Mark Bourbon and exhibit notes of wood, vanilla and oak. Each box contains 16 marshmallows, a perfect amount for eating.

I received a box of these amazing marshmallows in my November Knoshbox!

What I Think:

For quite a while now, I have sung the praises of a certain marshmallow making company, so please don’t take this review as my way of changing “favorites.”  I still love that company, but I think there’s room enough at the top for two marshmallow favorites.

These marshmallows are amazing.  As in … they are SO GOOD.  They are fluffy and chewy and sweet.  And I can definitely taste the bourbon in them.  I could even smell the bourbon when I opened the package.  I’ve never been big on alcoholic beverages (as I’ve said before, I’m more like a TeaTotaler!  ha!) but I like the contrast of the flavor of bourbon with the marshmallow sweetness.  It’s like a sweet confection that’s just for adults.

And it isn’t just the flavor that I love … I love the size of the marshmallows (bite size!), I love the packaging (the box is adorable, isn’t it?) and I love the variety of flavors that Wondermade offers (I think I’m going to have to this Christmas Pack before the holiday arrives as a special Merry Christmas to me!)

My Final Thoughts:

I love these marshmallows.  I’m so happy that Knoshbox put them in the November box!  These taste amazing as a topper for hot chocolate or for sweet potatoes, and they’re delightful eaten on their own.  If you have a soft spot for homemade marshmallows, you’ve got to try these.

My Final Goodies Box arrived…

Yes, that’s right, my final goodies box.  I resubscribed to Love with Food, and I really think that two boxes per month is enough for me (and I gotta keep my Knoshbox!) and this … Goodies Box … I hate to say it … but, I’ve come to the realization that it’s just … not up to par with the other boxes that I receive.

So, instead of receiving my box from Goodies, I decided to upgrade my Love With Food box to receive their deluxe box every month.  I’m hoping this was a winning decision.

The first thing that I notice with this box is that instead of a card explaining that there will be no product card in the box … there’s just … no card whatsoever.  OK … now, I understand … this is an inexpensive box.  $7 a month … no big deal, right?  But, come on … please make some attempt to make the box special … put more effort into it.  I’d be willing to pay more per month if I felt like there was some effort in these boxes, but I’m just not feeling it anymore.

So, here’s what I received in this month’s box:  a bottle of Acai Grape flavored Pure Life Splash water, a bag of Kashi Hummus Crisps, a pouch of pitted snack olives, a bag of Fuji Red Apple Chips from barefruit, a Zone Perfect bar, a tube of Attiki Honey, and a savory tea (Spinach Chive) from Numi Organics.

Of these items, I will be giving my youngest daughter the snack olives and the apple chips because they’re more up her alley, so I won’t be reviewing these products.  The item I’m looking forward to most (and it probably comes as no surprise) is the savory tea, as I’ve wanted to try Numi’s savory teas ever since I noticed that they are carrying them.  That review will eventually publish on the SororiTea Sisters blog.

The other items, I’ll give ’em a try and publish my thoughts about them when I do.  Anyway … my Knoshbox should arrive soon … and that’s what I’m looking forward to!

Dark Chocolate Dreams from Peanut Butter & Co.

Product Information:

Our all natural peanut butter blended with rich dark chocolate. It’s like a peanut butter cup in a jar! Great on a sandwich, but just as wonderful spooned over ice cream, spread on fruits, or simply eaten out of the jar. It’s equally delicious as an ingredient in your all-time favorite baked goodies like chocolate cake and bread pudding. 

I received a sample of Dark Chocolate Dreams in my February Goodies Box.

What I Think:

For the purposes of this review, I tried this product several different ways.  The first was to slather some on my Toasted Sesame Seed Graham Crackers.  Then, I cut up a Honeycrisp Apple (I love it when my favorite apple is in season!) and dipped the apple into the peanut butter.  Finally, I tried some spread onto the Banana Nut Bread Bakery Crisps from Stacy’s Bake Shop (my review of this product will post soon!)

My overall impression of this product is very good – I like that this is very peanut butter-y … the chocolate is there but it doesn’t overwhelm.  Don’t get me wrong, the chocoholic in me is all about as much chocolate as possible, but, the parent in me is more inclined to purchase this product for my daughter knowing that there’s at least some peanut butter goodness to this.  It is sweet, creamy, peanut-y, and salty.  Luscious!

On the graham crackers, this peanut butter is insanely good.  I love the way the salty and sweet interact this way.  The salty really comes out to “play” on these graham crackers, and I like the way the chocolate tastes with the salty notes.

On the apple, I found that the sweetness came out more.  I liked how the juiciness of the apple kept my mouth from feeling dry from the peanut butter.  But my favorite way to enjoy this chocolate-y peanut butter – by far! – is atop the banana nut bread crisps.  My favorite way to enjoy peanut butter is with bananas, and then to add chocolate to it … it was heaven.  YUM!

My Final Thoughts:

I think I’m going to pick up a jar of this the next time I see it on a grocery shelf.  My daughter, who is a nutella fan, would really enjoy this, I think!   And I’m envisioning how good this will taste on a peanut butter, banana and marshmallow cream sandwich.  Oh … goodness … just the thought of that is enough to send me to a very happy place!

Cheddar Jalapeño Pasta Chips from Pastitas

Product Information:

Crunchy wagon wheel pasta flavored with cheddar cheese and a hint of jalapeño heat. These unique pasta chips combine the look and taste of pasta with the delightful crunch of a chip. With 50% less fat than regular potato chips, it’s okay to indulge.

I received a bag of these pasta chips in my June Goodies Box!

Tea Suggestion:

With these zesty chips, I wanted something that I could guzzle when I needed to help quench the jalapeño heat that builds on the palate, so I turned to iced tea.  The iced tea that I had chilling in the fridge when I opened this pouch of chips was this Lime Cola Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas.  YUM!  I really like the way the tangy flavor of the lime contrasts with the warm spice of the jalapeño.

What I Think:

I didn’t know what to expect when I opened this package … pasta chips?  Weird!  And they are indeed weird!  These are the most unusual “chips” I’ve encountered in some time.

The size and shape is reminiscent of “Honeycombs” cereal.  The texture is crunchy, I was almost expecting them to have the texture of uncooked pasta, although I’m not entirely sure why.  They have a texture that resembles a dense corn chip, but without the grain-y mouthfeel.  Very different, but not at all unpleasant.  On the contrary, I’m actually enjoying these quite a bit.

The chip itself is very “different.”  It doesn’t taste potato-y or corn-y or like any other type of chip that I’ve ever tasted.  I like that these don’t taste or feel greasy like a potato chip usually does, I like that these have a good, crisp texture, and a really hearty taste that is quite satisfying.

There is a good balance of cheddar and Jalapeño pepper flavor.  These aren’t super hot as I thought they might be given the fact that they’re called “Cheddar Jalapeño” … this is more like a nacho cheese sauce kind of heat … you know the kind of cheese sauce that has some diced jalapeño peppers already in it?  It’s a lively amount of heat, but not so much that I have to extinguish a fire on my tongue after each chip.  The warmth builds gradually in a very agreeable way.

My Final Thoughts: 

I would definitely buy these pasta chips again.  I really liked them.  I visited the Pastitas website and found that they have six different flavors and I’m definitely intrigued!  I’d love to try them all!

Sea Salt and Butter Poplets

Product Information:

You know the crunchy half-popped kernels at the bottom of each popcorn batch? The ones with crisp, concentrated corn flavor and a healthy dose of butter and sea salt? Yeah, here’s a whole bag of those perfect, delicious morsels. You’re welcome.

I received a small bag of Poplets in my August Goodies Box.

Tea Suggestion:

I chose iced tea to drink with these salty Poplets, and I had a frosty pitcher of Root Beer Float Black Tea from 52Teas in the fridge, so I poured a big glass.  The tea was much better than the Poplets, I’m afraid.  (In fact, I absolutely love this tea iced!)

What I Think:

Once upon a time, I received a package of Half Pops in one of my foodie tasting boxes.  I loved the Half Pops, because I love it when I pop a bowl of popcorn and I find those yummy half popped kernels of popcorn at the bottom of the bowl.  They’re crunchy and delicious.

When I received this package of Poplets, I thought that my experience would be similar to what I experienced with my package of Half Pops.

Not!

These … well, a sizable portion of my package wasn’t even “half popped.”  There were quite a few kernels that were completely UNpopped.  The ones that were at least partially popped … tasted stale.  They tasted like they came out of a bowl of popcorn that had been popped three days ago and left out on the counter, uncovered.

Very disappointing.

My Final Thoughts:

I didn’t even finish the tiny bag of these Poplets.  I was really disappointed by the stale taste of these.  At least the Half Pops … had a very memorable and fresh taste to them.  These Poplets taste like some popcorn company trying to pawn off their waste on me.  No thank you.

Veggie Sticks from The Daily Crave

Ingredients: 

Potato flour, expeller pressed safflower oil, rice flour, tomato flour, spinach powder, salt, beet powder.

I received a bag of these Veggie Sticks in my August Goodies Box!

Tea Suggestion:

I wanted iced tea with these salty snacks, so I chose my new favorite iced tea:  Pink Lemonade flavored Black Iced Tea from 52Teas!  YUM!  The sweet and tart drink went very nicely with the salt in these crunchy sticks.  Psst … click here to learn about Zoomdweebies (aka 52Teas) campaign to re-open their tea bar in Wichita, Kansas!

What I Think:

My first observation:  there a lot more potato sticks in here than tomato, or spinach or beet sticks.  They resemble an uncooked french fry from McDonalds.  (That is to say that the color is not golden brown like a french fry!)  When I bite into them, the texture reminds me a bit of my favorite onion ring snack “chip”:  Funyuns!

They don’t taste like Funyuns, though.  The potato sticks … taste like potato chips, but without the greasy feel that often comes with potato chips.  These still are slightly “greasy” but not quite as greasy as the chips would be.  I noticed some “grease spots” on the paper that I put out to catch these sticks … for my “grease test.”  As I continue to eat, I notice more of the greasy taste though.

There is very little taste variation when it comes to the greener “spinach” sticks and the reddish “tomato/beet” sticks.  The flavor is very mild here, and is most noticeable in the aftertaste.  If I eat a couple of spinach sticks together, I notice more spinach-y taste, and the same is true of the tomato sticks … and the flavor for the reddish sticks is definitely tomato (not beet), making these my favorite part of this bag of snacks.  Unfortunately, of the three color sticks … there were fewest of the red sticks.

My Final Thoughts: 

They’re tasty enough.  I didn’t really like the developing greasy taste though, especially since I would most likely purchase something called “Veggie Sticks” as a healthier alternative to chips, and if these are still greasy … that doesn’t feel “healthier” to me, you know?  Also … my favorite of the three flavors represented here was the tomato, and it was under-represented in comparison to the other two flavors.  So, I don’t think I’d buy these in the store, unless I was given an option to choose just the tomato sticks.

Original Multi-Seed Crackers from Crunchmaster

Product Information:

This gluten-free rice cracker is packed with tasty toasted seeds: sesame, quinoa, flax and amaranth, resulting in a crunchy cracker with excellent texture and nutty flavor. Enjoy them solo or with your dip, spread or cheese of choice.

I received a bag of these crackers in my July Goodie Box.

Tea Suggestion:

I thought that these would make a decent alternative to a sweeter tea time treat.  I ate these crackers with a cup of Razzleberry Flavored Genmaicha Tea from 52Teas, The natural nutty tones of the tea worked nicely with the nutty quality of the crackers, and the sweet-tart berry notes brought in a nice, treat-y element without going too sweet.  The tea was much tastier than the crackers, though.

What I Think:

These are very crunchy … almost to the point of being a bit more dense than I would like them to be.  I prefer a thinner, crispy cracker as opposed to a thick, crunchy one.

I can taste the seeds, and they give the crackers a very enjoyable texture and nutty taste.  But … they taste … healthy.  Let’s face it … we all probably would prefer to be eating healthier and making more sensible choices when we’re snacking, but, when we are snacking, we don’t like to be reminded by the food we’re eating that we’re not indulging.

These don’t feel indulgent.  They aren’t “delicious” … they’re edible, certainly, and I didn’t hate that I was eating them, if that makes sense.  But they didn’t excite me all that much either.  I wasn’t thinking to myself:  “oh yeah, I gotta go get me some of these.”

My Final Thoughts:

I liked these crackers alright, but, as far as gluten-free, multi-seed type crackers, I preferred the Mary’s Gone Crackers snack crackers that I reviewed recently.  These just … aren’t as tasty.  They’re alright, but, not anything I’d rush out to buy again.

My August Knoshbox … Hey … I’m caught up with my boxes!

My August Knoshbox arrived on the 26th of August … which is about the time of the month that I receive the Knoshboxes (sometime between the 20th and the 30th of each month … except for February because … there’s only 28 days in February!)  I was a little concerned when I received it because the box was dented up and there is a sticker on it that says “glass” so … I was a little worried that I’d have something broken in my box.

Fortunately, this wasn’t the case.  The “glass” that the sticker referred to was a jar of honey with the honeycomb.  Mmm!  The “theme” of this box … even though it isn’t really mentioned on the card insert … seems to be items you might find at a County Fair!  Or at least … that’s what the items in the box seem to be saying to me.

There are a couple of familiar items, including Cherry Vanilla flavored Cotton Candy from Spun City and Maple Kettle Korn from Bureau’s Sugarhouse.   I’ve tried and reviewed both of these items previously (to check out the reviews, just click on the item), so I won’t be writing reviews for them again.  But I certainly will be enjoying them again because these are seriously yummy treats!

The item I’m most excited about is the Salt Water Taffy from Salty Road.  You may recall that I previously reviewed the Salty Peanut flavor of Taffy from this company and I absolutely loved it.  The flavor I was absolutely DYING to try from this company is Bergamot … and guess what’s in this month’s Knoshbox!  Yes!  Bergamot Taffy from Salty Road!  Yay!  Just another reason why I love Knoshbox more than all the other boxes out there.

Two other items round out this month’s box:  a package of sundried, sweetened cherries from All Good Provisions and the aforementioned jar of honey from Full Bloom Apiaries.

So, even though this box has a couple of repeats … they are repeats of previously sampled favorites, so I’m not complaining.  I love my Knoshbox this month!

My August Goodies Box arrived!

And it actually … not only arrived IN AUGUST … but it also arrived BEFORE my Knoshbox which was quite remarkable, especially since when the Goodies Box started last year, the box was more often than not arriving a few days into the month following the month it was actually intended to be for.  I’m glad to say that Goodies Co. finally has it running smoothly!  Hooray – or should I say Goodie – for them!

This month, we received six goodies.  The goodies are getting smaller in these boxes … which I guess is acceptable since this is supposed to be a sampler box and since it does only cost $7 a month!  I don’t mind, really, because it’s still a great opportunity to sample some treats that I might not otherwise try for a really affordable price.

In August’s Goodie Box was a small package of Sour Wild Berry Tangy Zangy Twisties which are tiny, sour gummy like candies that are like the size and shape of a small tootsie roll.  I’m not in to sour gummy candy, so I gave the package to my 12 year old daughter to try and she gave these candies an enthusiastic thumbs up.  She tried them, said these aren’t very sour at all and that they were really good.  Then she asked if she could have the rest of them.  So, I guess she liked them!

The first thing I reached for from this box was a sample bag of Hidden Valley Ranch flavored Sunflower Seeds from Bigs.  These are tasty … I can taste the ranch flavoring, and it adds a nice savory taste to the salty seeds.  An enjoyable snack.

I also found a bottle of Bright Alō Light Aloe Vera Juice, A bag of Veggie Sticks from The Daily Crave, Sea Salt & Butter flavored Poplets, and a Cool Café Blues Liquid Coffee Brewstick  from Pronto!

I won’t be trying the Coffee Brewstick because … I don’t drink coffee.  Coffee is evil.  (Sorry if I’ve offended any coffee drinkers out there.)  Coffee does all sorts of mean, horrible things to me after I drink it, and I’m better off with tea.  But I’ll pass the brewstick along to a friend so it doesn’t get wasted!

The other items, other than the coffee and the candy … I’ll be writing up  separate reviews for at some point in the near future!  I hope you’ll watch for them!

Goodies Box for July

Getting caught up!  Yay!

July’s Goodies Box brought something a little new … the box itself!  The box is a little smaller, but, with a smarter design with two compartments which makes it an ideal shipper for the drink that is often included in these boxes.  Usually, the drink is together in the large box area, and it moves around and possibly crushes the food … or, they need to wrap the drink package with bubble wrap to help prevent the crushing of the food.  This new box design keeps the food separate from the drink … and this way, the delicate chips and cookies don’t get crushed!

Cherry Lovers Candies from Gimbal’s

June brought some very intriguing offerings from Goodies Co.  The first item that I tore into was the Cherry Lovers Candies by Gimbal’s Fine Candies.  Overall, these were a really great addition to the goodies box.  Some of the candies were super yummy, while others I found a bit too much on the “too much” side.  Let me explain:  I love Jelly Bellys, however, my least favorite flavors are the cherry flavored ones, because they are just too … tart yet cloyingly sweet – if that makes sense.  That’s what I mean by “too much”.  The Cherry Lovers have nine different flavors:  Cherry Daiquiri (too much), Chocolate Cherry (YUM!), Kiwi Cherry (I only had one of these in my bag, and it wasn’t enough to form an adequate assessment.), Bing Cherry (too much), Wild Cherry (too much), Black Cherry (too much), Cherry Vanilla (Very YUM!), Cherry Cheesecake (my favorite!), and Cherry Cola (another very, very YUM!).  So, as I said, overall, a yummy package of candies … but, some of them were just a bit too much for my liking.

Also in June’s box were Fresh Corn and Sea Salt chips from The Better Chip, Caramel Corn from Cosmos, Original Multi-Seed Crackers from Crunchmaster, and black raspberry flavored fruitwater from Glacéau.  Individual reviews for each of these will be posted later!

Overall, I was a little disappointed by this box, as it seems like there were fewer “goodies” than in past boxes.  However, I did enjoy the Cherry Lovers candies and look forward to trying the other items as well.  Still a great value at $7!