Purdy’s Himalayan Pink Salt Peanut Butter

Chocolate and salt have been a popular flavour pairing of late, and you can find it in anything from a latte to chocolate dipped pretzels. The combination of the sweet and salty seems to enhance the chocolate-ness of whatever the item is, and makes for such interesting flavours.

Purdy’s has gone a step further and added peanut butter to the combination, and it adds a whole new dimension to the sweet and salty. Their Himalayan Pink Salt Peanut Butter milk chocolates caught my eye while I was out shopping – admittedly because the pink salt looked pretty, but also because I just had to know how it tasted. The girl behind the counter who rang my purchase up said that their salted chocolates (they also offer a caramel version) are some of their most popular items.

There are 18 two-bite pieces in each box for $12.95, and although it may look small, I found once piece at a time was plenty to satisfy my chocolate cravings. With the first bite, the peanut butter was the most overwhelming flavour with its creamy texture and slightly sweet taste. The milk chocolate was smooth and light; almost an afterthought to the peanut butter, but it mellowed out the thickness of it with its sweetness. And then it hits you like a tonne of bricks. The salt packs a punch, even though the pieces didn’t seem like they had many grains on it. I was surprised at how salty it was, and wasn’t prepared for the sodium attack on my tongue. The second bite was no better, and I was again overwhelmed by the saltiness of it all.

I think the idea of the chocolate-salt-peanut butter combination sounds much more appealing than the actual end product. I thought it was my low tolerance for salt that made me not want to try a second piece, but I passed it around to the family and everyone had the same reaction. I think if there was a way to use a less potent salt, it would be a much less terrifying treat. 

Purdy's Chocolates

http://www.purdys.com/New-Himalayan-Pink-Salt-Peanut-Butter-P599.aspx

PC Fig & Goat Cheese Blooms

I think if I had to live only on appetizers, I would be one of the happiest people on earth. My love for appetizers goes hand in hand with my penchant for small foods, and my love of variety. I would much rather taste and sample a bite of 12 different things rather than eat one large portion of a meal. I wonder if I have an attention problem because I am so easily tired of things and I want to move on to the next shiny/new/fun thing. Plus my curiosity (or is it gluttony?) makes me feel like I need to sample a bit of everything because I need to know what it tastes like. Appetizers then, are a perfect solution to satisfy my gastronomic curiosities because then I won’t indulge if they are portioned into bite-sized pieces. Unless they’re really good; in which case I’ll eat 29,382 of them and not bat an eye. Self-restraint is not one of my fortes when it comes to delicious food.

Recently, we went to visit some friends and instead of making a sit-down dinner, they set out a smorgasbord of different appetizers and snacks...it was pure heaven. One of the items they served was a PC brand product (Don’t you love that the no-name brand of PC has now become an actual brand? If you go into a grocery store now, there’s no-name, PC, brand name...I thought PC was the no name?? I get confused so easily at the store, I know.) from the frozen appetizer section of the store.

PC Fig & Goat Cheese Blooms are squares of frozen puff pastry topped with goat cheese and a dollop of fig preserves. It all sits in a foil cup, and come 12 to a box. You simply take off the plastic wrapper on the tray and pop the whole tray into the oven. The puff pastry rises and puffs up while it bakes and the cheese and fig turn into a gooey blanket. I did find that I had to watch it pretty carefully once it was in the oven since it started to burn on the edges long before its minimum recommended baking time. This is something to be mindful of when you’re baking as well.

You’ll need to let it cool for a few minutes before serving, because you shouldn’t be impatient like me or else you’ll burn yourself biting into the hot cheese. Let me tell you, it was not a pleasant feeling! Once cooled to a reasonable temperature however, and safe to eat, these blooms were delicious. The pastry was light and flaky, and the goat cheese and fig combined to create a flavour explosion. The ratio of cheese to fig to pastry was spot on, and each bite had the perfect balance of crispy, creamy and sweet. I could have eaten these all day (and would have, if we didn’t run out) and was impressed with the taste and the presentation. For a quick appetizer that feels fancy, these would hit the mark for any occasion. And if you do decide to serve them, you may want to get more than one box so no one fights over the last one.

McDonald’s Buttermilk Biscuit with Sausage

When I was younger and woke up ridiculously early on weekends (oh, to have that kind of energy again), sometimes dad would let mom sleep in and he would take me for a drive and we’d end up at McDonald’s for breakfast. I always insisted on getting the Big Breakfast, even though I never finished half of it, and he’d have to help me finish it off. Hrm. Maybe that was his justification for eating a breakfast and a half. I would totally do that if I had children. Then I could eat more without feeling guilty, because I was helping. And I'm super helpful, you know. Anyways, thanks for walking down memory lane with me; I’m glad we had this bonding moment.

It’s no wonder I’ve always had a soft spot for breakfast at McDonald’s since I associate it with my carefree childhood days. The other thing that I like about their breakfast is that the majority of the items are still available – the things I used to eat 20 years ago, are still on the menu today. There are of course, new options, but the main things, and the memories that go with them, are still there. It’s a throwback to nostalgia and in an age where so many companies are constantly trying to change things, I appreciate the sentiment. 

That being said, this review is for one of the new options being offered – the Buttermilk Biscuit with Sausage. We tried this during the initial launch when McDonald’s was giving them away for free, and I reviewed the Buttermilk Biscuit with Bacon here. 

When we ordered this sandwich, we were told we had to wait a few minutes because they were just cooking up a new batch. I love when this happens because it makes such a difference to get a hot, fresh meal vs. a premade sandwich that’s been sitting under the heat lamp. I was more than happy to wait.

Before the wrapper was opened, I did notice that this sandwich was greasier than its bacon counterpart. The wrapper was actually sticking in some parts because of the wetness...just something to note if you’re deciding which one you want to have.

The biscuit is larger than an english muffin, and toasted to a golden brown. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that it looks shiny on the top – whether it is from butter in the biscuit or the grease from the sausage, I couldn’t be sure, but it was an oily texture. The biscuit itself was flaky and tasted rich like butter, and added a nice flavour to the sandwich. Directly under the biscuit top was a thick layer of soft and fluffy eggs, followed by a piping hot sausage patty. The sausage was juicy, but very greasy, and actually dripped off the sandwich when I held it upright and facing down. (Ick.) The cheese melted to the sandwich really well because of the fresh sausage patty sealing it in with the heat, but as I said about the bacon biscuit, it didn’t add much flavour either way, and I wouldn’t notice much if it wasn’t there. 

I liked this sandwich better than the bacon option because it was piping hot and freshly made, and the juiciness of the sausage patty gave the sandwich some good moisture. However, the grease from the sausage patty could have (and should have) been drained better so it wasn’t left on the biscuit. I did like the taste of it, and I would order it again, but next time I’ll order it without the cheese and hope that the sausage isn’t so greasy.

McDonald’s Buttermilk Biscuit with Bacon

Breakfast foods are some of my most favourite foods and I could eat them all day. There have been many nights when I will make breakfast for dinner because I love it so. What’s not to love, really? The simplicity of most breakfast foods makes it so convenient to throw a few ingredients together and before you know it your whole kitchen is filled with comforting, delicious smells. 

Of course I’m horrible at actually eating breakfast when you’re supposed to, because I would much rather hit my snooze button for those extra few minutes of sleep instead of getting up early enough to eat something before I start my day. Weekends are a different story though, and I like to put some effort into making a proper meal to enjoy while leisurely reading the paper. 

For people like me who don’t wake up in time to make breakfast, lots of fast food places are open early with breakfast offerings for a quick pick up. McDonald’s has been serving breakfast for as long as I can remember, and recently added buttermilk biscuits to their menu – which was fully launched through a giveaway campaign earlier this month. For two days, you could walk into a McDonald’s during breakfast hours and you could get a buttermilk biscuit with sausage or bacon for free. As much as I love the idea (because who can resist a deal that good?), just think of how many biscuits they must have given away. 

We thought it would be busy with a huge line of people like us who were looking to grab a cheap breakfast, but the location we went to only had one person in front of us and we were able to get in and out in a flash. We tried both the bacon and the sausage option (which I’ll talk about in a separate post) and were optimistic because they smelled so good.

A certain place in particular that I’m thinking of has been offering biscuits for breakfast for the past while, and I never really liked them, so I was a little wary that these would be disappointing. However, after opening the wrapper and looking at the sandwich, I immediately noticed that this was larger and hotter than any of the breakfast biscuits I’ve had from other places. This was already off to a good start.

Normally, I would order my breakfast sandwiches without the cheese because I never really liked the taste of processed cheese on my food. But for the purpose of this review I ordered it straight off the menu to see what it was like. Upon first inspection, the biscuit was larger than I expected it to be. It was about the size of an english muffin, but thicker. The top was golden brown, and there was a generous layer of eggs, followed by three small strips of bacon (think one bacon strip cut in half) and then a piece of cheese. The biscuit was flaky and buttery, which is a very good thing for a biscuit, but the top was a little crispy from being toasted a little too long. The eggs were soft and fluffy, but the bacon reminded me of the microwave bacon strips you can get at the grocery store, and were a little chewy. The cheese actually didn’t add much flavour or creaminess to the sandwich to be honest, and I don’t think it would have made much difference if it was there or not.   

When finished, I found it to be a lot more filling and satisfying than the english muffin option – I’m thinking because it was slightly bigger, but it was also breadier. It tastes rich from the buttery flavour of the biscuit, and the boyfriend and I both agreed that one was plenty for each of us (whereas he could probably eat two of the english muffin sandwiches). Overall, I liked it enough to say I would order it again. The bacon wasn’t my favourite, but I would generally be more inclined to get a sausage option anyway. The biscuit itself is pretty good – if I could ask them to toast it a little less the next time I ordered it, I think I would like it a lot better. Either way, it still tastes much better than other biscuit breakfast sandwiches currently offered at other establishments.

McDonald's Banana Chocolate Pie

The newest pie offering from McDonald’s is the Banana Chocolate pie, which sounded much too delicious to pass up. I have generally approached banana flavoured items cautiously because the taste can be tricky to master without tasting too artificial and reminiscent of children’s penicillin medication. Although, I was one of those children who loved the taste of the banana medication, so perhaps I’m not the best one to be writing this review here. In my defence however, that stuff was addictively yummy.

Bringing this back to the review and away from my love of children’s medication, I was hesitant that it would taste anything like real bananas dipped in chocolate and enveloped in pastry. The picture also did not help my hesitation because the gooey off-white centre on top of a layer of chocolate didn’t exactly scream “banana” to me. After the debacle that was the Blueberry Maple, I was really starting to wonder why I was looking forward to this, but I was intrigued.

All of the pies from McDonald’s look the same on the outside in the sense that they don’t have any distinctive markings on the pastry that would allow you to identify one from the other if they were lined up in front of you. The one I bought actually came in a box that was for the Apple flavour, but had a sticker to indicate it wasn’t apple. Maybe they haven’t made up new boxes for it yet, or ran out for the day? I just thought it odd.

 Similar to the Blueberry Maple, there was no smell other than the smell of the pastry dough once out of the box. Broken in half, it was very similar to the picture – a thin layer of chocolate topped with a thin layer of off-white banana. I would liken it to the consistency of vanilla pudding if I had to draw a comparison. There was a distinct banana smell once I broke the pie in half, with a hint of chocolate. The first bite was actually impressive. A crisp pastry with a warm inside that tasted exactly like bananas dipped in chocolate. Although the filling was a little on the sweet side, the blandness of the pastry cut the sugar well. The only complaint I had with the pie was that the filling was too runny for my liking. It needed to be thickened so it didn’t ooze after each bite and cause a mess. That said, it wasn’t enough of a deterrent for me to eat every last crumb and wish I had a second one. Overall, I really liked this flavour and would get it again in a heartbeat.

McDonald's Blueberry Maple Pie

One of my favourite sweets is pie. There’s something comforting about a flaky, buttery pastry combined with sticky fruit that makes me happy. Though I am fairly comfortable in the kitchen, I have never had the urge to bake my own pies, even though I love them so. I think it’s partly because I’m intimidated by the idea of making my own crust, but mainly it’s because I’m pretty lazy. Why bake your own when you can walk into the majority of fast food establishments and have a hot mini pie for a dollar? I know it’s not the same, but it still tastes good!

I have always been a fan of the apple pies at McDonald’s, but when I noticed the sign for blueberry maple pies, I couldn’t help myself. At 99 cents each or two for $1.49, I figured it was cheap enough that if I didn’t like it, at least I wouldn’t feel guilty not eating it all.

For those of you who haven’t had a pie from McDonald’s, they’re fairly decent as far as fast food pies go. McDonald’s takes it a step further than most places and bakes their pies, even though the majority of their competitors still fry them. Each pie comes in its own mini box and is about the length of a stick of butter.

When I first opened the box to see the pie, I was expecting to be hit with the smell of blueberries and maple. I was disappointed that I really didn’t smell anything at all, even though the pie was still warm. Upon breaking it in half to examine the filling, there was a faint smell of blueberries, but again, no maple.

The filling is vibrant purple-blue that is extremely glossy and sticky. The taste has hints of blueberry, but I wasn’t overwhelmed with the blueberry flavour that I was expecting. I could taste no maple in it, but I did find that it was so sweet it was border-line too sweet to enjoy. The crust was flaky and soft, but the filling was too strong and made me dislike the pie. 

If you’re going to have a pie at McDonald’s, I would probably take a pass on this seasonal product and stick to the apple. My favourite way to eat it is with some of their ice cream in a cup, and spooning the pie into it. A cheap and quick pie a la mode, but so very delicious. Sometimes, you have to take the shortcuts but the end result is just as yummy.

Sabatasso’s Deluxe Deep Dish Pizza Singles

If it hasn’t become painfully clear, I and the people I surround myself with are pizza lovers. It’s a pretty safe bet that if we frequent an establishment that has pizza on the menu, someone in the group is going to try it. Since we eat pizza so often, we fancy ourselves pizza experts of sorts: always on the lookout for good pizza so we can share our findings with others. It’s a task we happily attack with gusto.

 

For the most part, frozen pizza has never been high on the list of foods I like to buy. I normally find their toppings unappetizing and their dough inedible. Rising crust, deep-dish... so many options,  and yet so many disappointments. However, I am still drawn to new brands when I come across them, just to see if I can find the diamond in the rough.

While walking around Costco, we came across Sabastasso’s Deluxe Deep Dish Pizza Singles with Sausage and Pepperoni ($10.95 for a box of 12) in the aisle beside frozen sushi (I’m not kidding) and frozen garlic bread. I have never heard of this brand before, but the picture looked appetizing and the price was right. Apparently, I am living proof that advertising works and is aimed at people who like pretty pictures.

Each pizza is conveniently wrapped in individual packages with cooking instructions on each. I hate when cooking instructions are printed only on boxes and not on each wrapper, making me have to keep a large box because I don’t remember how to cook something the next time I go to eat it. But back to the pizza. You can either cook it in the microwave for a few minutes or in the oven. I prefer the microwave because I’m usually impatient and three minutes is a lot quicker than 25. Plus I hate having to turn on the oven and waste all that energy for something so small. However, for the purpose this review, I tried it both ways to compare results.

Microwaving takes 3 ½  to 5 minutes. The first time, I tried 4 minutes, and the pizza was so overcooked it became hard as a rock. The second one I put in for 3 minutes, and it came out much better. Typical of a frozen pizza, the dough was soggy and the cheese made a mess on the plate, but the sauce was very good and the toppings were flavoured perfectly.

Waiting for almost half an hour for tiny pizzas to cook is a difficult task when you’re as impatient as I am. That being said, baking these pizzas in the oven is definitely the way to go. After 25 minutes, I pulled out perfectly baked individual pizzas. The crust was crispy on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside. The cheese had bubbled into a gooey blanket, and the pepperoni had crispy edges without being dried out. A huge difference from the microwaved version; waiting the extra 20-odd minutes was completely worth it.  

If you like deep-dish pizza with plenty of toppings in individual sizes, I highly recommend this product. Be patient and pop them into the oven if you have the time because it makes a huge difference. Use the time to make a salad to pair with it, or polish off a glass (or two!) of wine – whatever you do, don’t microwave them if you can help it. Reach deep - some of us need to reach deeper than others - into yourself and find your patience! You’ll be so glad you did.

Michelina's Harmony - Fettuccine with Creamy Pesto

I feel like we’re really starting to bond now that I’ve written a bunch of posts. You’re starting to get to know me and my neuroses, and I’m OK with that. Since we’re in the trust circle now, I have a confession to make. It’s something not many people know about. Ready? I really like frozen dinners. There. I said it. I feel better getting that off my chest. I hope you don’t think any less of me now.

I like the convenience of a full meal packaged into a tiny, frozen box that’s ready in a matter of minutes. Most of the time I like how they taste, and I like that I can have a variety of meals at my fingertips, ready to go whenever I need them. Having a full meal ready after a long day of work, or a quick lunch that I don’t need to leave the office for is a wonderful thing.

 

I have generally had good luck with Michelina’s and its line of frozen meals. I suppose it makes more sense to call them frozen meals rather than dinners since you can eat them at whatever point in the day you like, but it’s a habit I can’t seem to break. I digress. Michelina’s has a number of product lines, and this time I felt like trying its Harmony line because a creamy pesto sauce sounded like it had the potential to be delicious. I also thought that a dish without meat was more likely to be better, because there was less to mess up. Was I ever wrong.

The picture on the box was of a pasta dish brimming with vegetables with a creamy pesto sauce beautifully covering each noodle. What I got after I followed the microwave instructions and opened the lid was far from the picture. The noodles were separate from the sauce and vegetables, and needed a good stir to create the dish. However, the noodles were a clumpy ball and it was hard to mix the sauce into something that didn’t want to cooperate. The sauce itself looked like alfredo with flecks of green in it, and there were very few vegetables. There was one lone carrot in the whole box and some small broccoli florets. I realize that we generally eat portion sizes that are too big compared to what we really need, but this portion seemed exceptionally small. The fact that it was a large ball of noodle made it look smaller, I’m sure. It tasted watery, and there was nothing that made the pesto sauce distinguishable. 

 As I mentioned, I am usually a fan of Michelina’s various product lines. However, this particular meal is an emphatic pass on my part and I would never buy it again. There are plenty of brands and choices that make a far better product than this one. I’m not sure why it’s called the Harmony line of products, but the Fettuccine with Creamy Pesto was definitely off-key.  

Michelina’s
http://www.michelinas.ca/english/

simplyrice - Organic Brown Rice Crisps

Me: We have nothing to eat!

Person X: What do you feel like?

Me: I don’t know. Something... crunchy?

Person X: ...

I’ve got an unnatural addiction to crunchy foods.  When I crave something, it’s rare that it’s a specific food. I crave sweet or spicy or other seasonings, but there’s always a soft spot for crunchy. I always order my fries and bacon extra crunchy, and have been known to ask servers what the crunchiest item on the menu is. I cannot express this enough: I. Love. Crunch.

My latest crunchy treasure is actually a healthy one! I came across simplyrice’s Organic Brown Rice Crisps while hunting through the chip aisle during my most recent crunch expedition.  Offered in three flavours – Spicy Chili, Sea Salt and Tangy Tamari – these cracker-chip hybrids are surprisingly good for you in the grand scheme of snack foods.  Only 90 calories/2 g fat/50 mg sodium for approximately 18 crackers, these organic and wheat-free/gluten-free beauties may as well be considered health food! Armed with ambitious visions of becoming a supermodel (I’m buying rice crisps! Of course my modelling career is well on its way!), I grabbed a bag of the Spicy Chili crisps and daydreamed about which hot movie star was going to propose to me once I became famous. These crisps were powerful and I hadn’t even cracked open the bag yet! The anticipation was killing me.

The crisps come in a small 70-gram bag and can be found at most grocery stores. When you first open the bag, you’ll notice that the crisps come in different shapes – maybe to add a whimsical factor to detract from the fact that you’re about to eat rice chips?  What I liked most about them was the short-and-sweet ingredient list: brown rice flour, sunflower oil, chili powder, sea salt. That’s it. Nothing weird or hard to pronounce in these bad boys.

Each crisp is about the size of a small cracker and looks like a mixture of a potato chip and a Wheat Thin. There were flecks of red on them, so I was hopeful that there would be some spice to them as the name suggested. First bite and I was pretty impressed. The crunch was significant and airy, which is always a good thing. Unfortunately, the flavour was a bit of a letdown. I could taste the rice – a very toned down version of a fluffy rice cake – but that was about it. The salt and chili were too subtle for my palette and the whole thing tasted like a bland, ultra-crunchy rice cake.   

Ultimately, they were kind of disappointing. I would buy them again because I like rice cakes and the crunch these crisps generated, but I would need to pair them with something with more flavour. A really good hummus would make these rice crisps sing. Also, if I was on a diet and really needed a snack fix on the go, these would probably do the trick. Unfortunately, I won’t be giving up my potato chips for them any time soon... guess this means I won’t be a supermodel just yet.

simplyrice
Organic Brown Rice Crisps
http://simplyrice.ca/