Partake Chocolate Chip Cookies

Honestly, these are not very good. But they are explicitly peanut free, which is nice. Of course, they are also gluten and milk free, which I guess is why these taste so bad. Must be the flour blend? They have that very "herbal" taste to 'em. The chocolate chips are real though, and they are fun even though they're awful small. The cookies are very crunchy. Even though I didn't like-like them, I ate 3 servings at once. I have a sickness. These are better than the birthday cake flavor, I think. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

2019 Maria Cruz Garcia Navarra Red

Ah, you'd think it would be difficult to find nut info on a random Spanish wine (which is almost always true), but this, my friends, is from the Mary Taylor collection, and I heard the good word from the woman herself that none of her wines contain nuts. So I dug in joyfully to this Tempranillo, which was pleasant. I thought it was a solid red -- it definitely has the "grip" to it, you know? Stickiness? Body? Whatever the winos say. But it wasn't super acidic. Not super fruity either, although of course the usual flavors of grape and maybe a light cherry/wood vibe. Overall pleasant both warm and cold, but didn't give me the deep nostalgia of some other reds. Definitely drinkable though!

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [18$]
Taste: 6/10

Twizzlers Strawberry Twists

These are OK. I was expecting better, but maybe I had a bad batch. They were a little chewier with a bigger hole inside than I was used to. It's no cherry flavor, I guess, and certainly no cherry nib or red vine. But I was also having allergy anxiety since they were single serve, so that might have contributed. Anyway, they're fine.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Dean's Sweets - Nonpareils

Ah, these are very fun! I like all the different color sprinkles. They're real pretty like. And while it is fun to have an assortment of chocolate type, my preferences are stable: the dark choco is just fine, the milk choco is great, and the white choco is also great. They all have a good size and shape for eatin' though, and although they make me yearn for the pastel mint-chocolate tiny nonpareils I got at Boscov's 20 years ago at Easter, these are still great. Yum. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

LaClare Apple Cinnamon Goat Cheese

Unlike the ranch flavor of LaClare goat cheese, I can say I wholeheartedly enjoyed this one! I was worried about a sweet cheese, but this was a really pleasant fruity spread, basically like a fruity cream cheese you'd put on a bagel or something. I put it on plain crackers (english wafers from PepFarm) and that was good. It was a little more "together" than the flaky ranch one, but still not super creamy per se. Still, stuck together, I ate it all at once (cut into pieces) and it was nice. Chunks of apple in there, cinnamon vibes, creamy tastes. Would definitely buy again if available!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

Dean's Sweets - Chocolate Sheep

These are so expensive for the amount of chocolate you get, but I guess that's because they're just so darn detailed! It's pretty incredible the things you can do with chocolate. They really are super cute, so if you have a sheep-lover in your life, that's a good gift. Baaaa. 

The dark choco one is just fine - the size and shape is perfect for chocolate, good texture and detail, I'm just kind of sick of dark choco. 5/10

The white+milk choco one is so clutch -- also extremely cute but also tastes amazing! It's actually mostly milk choco, just the "fur" is white, but it's a tasty boy either way. 8/10

Overall
Cost: 3/10
Taste: 7/10

Made Good Cookies & Creme Granola Bar

Ah, Made Good. Their granola bars are less sketch than their other products, and they all have slightly different ingredients depending on the flavor, so watch out. This one had chia and agave in it, which made me sweaty, but no sunflower butter so I ate it. It has the classic veggie powder in it which I do like. The taste was oaty, and it was overall pretty dry but basically like a cereal bar. Pretty sweet also. I liked the three (3) white choco chips nestled on top. :')

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Beemster Hatch Pepper Cheese

Mm, cheese. This is a gouda with peppers in it -- a pepper jouda? It looks tasty, but it's got a thicc rind and even thiccer plastic packaging, so it's a little troublesome compared to some other cheeses. What wasn't troublesome was the absolutely kind and reassuring email they sent about allergens, which is that they don't use any (except dairy). So I went in happy. The taste of this cheese was fine -- pretty mild, although the peppers are spicy. It melted well for nachos, too. I do like it, but it's deceptively small for a thick wedge! Goes fast. 'Cause I like cheese.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Annie's Shells & White Cheddar Mac & Cheese

I love all noodles and cheese, but Annie's is honestly not any better than other noodles-and-cheeses, even though you'd think (or I'd think) it would be! This really was just not that good. I didn't use butter, but they didn't say you had to, so I don't blame me. It was gritty, and makes a good amount but also tasted really - artificial? Maybe that's just the white cheddar flavor, but it also made my ears itch and I plain didn't enjoy the experience. Kraft all the way, fam.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Dunkin Caramel Macchiato Cereal

Yay, Dunkin'! Yay, cereal! Of course, I was destined to like this. To be honest, I'd maybe rather have Kix, but I still love it. True to form, it tastes of Coffee, Caramel, and Chocolate - a very accurate flavor profile. And it isn't overwhelmingly sweet, either -- better at this than a real caramel macchiato for sure. Fun to eat and easy to eat many bowls at once!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

YumEarth Organic Fruit Snacks - Favorites

This one time, possibly prior to the existence of this blog?, I bought a huge case of these (in older packaging) on Amazon because I thought they were so good. But the more I ate them, the more I was like "hm, these actually aren't very good." They have a very distinct (weird?) taste and texture. The texture is firm and not sticky, and so I like that very much. But the taste is something like....tropical fruit + chemical? A little odd, a little mineral-oily in my mouth. The point being, these are fine for an occasional snack but not for a whole case. Also, I wonder if the non "favorites" flavor(s) are better!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

2019 Decibel Sauvignon Blanc

I enjoyed this, on the whole! My first reaction was that it was a little sweet and fruity, like canned peach juice, but not super sweet at all. Not OVERWHELMINGLY acidic, which is all you can ask for apparently! So, I liked it. And then on day 2 it didn't degrade much, and in fact I think I finished 'er off in 2 days, which means it must have been pretty good. All the better is that it's nut-free confirmed via the makers, so I really really like that!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

SunRype FruitSource Bar - Apple Strawberry

This is really just fruit juice, so it's not necessarily a healthy treat - not much fiber or vitamin or anything good for you, and lots of sugar (although "natural" sugar). It's pretty thick and filling though, and I like the strawberry flavor that does come through. Not bad, considering the genre. 

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Dean's Sweets - Chocolate-Dipped Peeps

I can't resist a good peep! These are adorable and the chocolate elevates them beyond their pedestrian peep origin. :) 

Milk-Choco Chick: Really tasty, basically like a marshmallow egg (which I adore). The chocolate is good as always, and the peep too. 8/10

Dark-Choco Chick: The peep is the highlight of this one for me - the dark choco is just a little too thick or overpowering. Still good though! 6.5/10

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Miss Jones Baking Co. Peppermint Frosting

Is most frosting made with coconut oil? I'm not sure, but this one is! A peanut/treenut free facility though, which is nice and is why I bought this. I put it on some brownies, but that wasn't amazing because it was just too overwhelmingly sweet and weird, so for now my plan is to just eat this out of of the tub, lol. It is good, tastes basically like a frosting equivalent of the Hershey's peppermint kisses, which is to say, a minty sweet treat but not creamy or complex in any particular way. I think this would actually go really well with plain white cake, which I normally don't love. This has a strong mint flavor. It would also probably go with like, vanilla ice cream. But chocolate I guess not so much. The texture is good, very spreadable and not too runny or weird. Comes with little crushed candy cane pieces to sprinkle on, which looks very pretty and taste like candy cane. I just poured em in the frosting after my first take. To conclude: I don't have many occasions to buy frosting, but if I needed frosting I'd go for Miss Jones again!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Haribo Sour Vampire Bats

I'm becoming more interested in the world of Haribo with time, but unfortunately my pack of these was super old and so they were very, very firm (even for haribos). Really tuff. I also ended up with only purple, orange, and green ones in there, but I don't know if those are the only possible colors (this picture makes it seem like there are red ones too?). The green was the only notable flavor for me, it was a nice sour lime. The other two were super generic, not very sour either. More fun than regular haribo but just too firm for me.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Dean's Sweets - Solid Chocolate Easter Eggs

Sorry as always for the potato pic -- you can tell the publicity photos they have on their website are much nicer!! Anyway, these are solid chocolate Easter egg candies. Kind of like Hershey's chocolate eggs except not foil wrapped, ribbed on the outside, and also, more delicious. I'm so glad I got these in milk chocolate because they're really great. Soft, creamy, nice milky chocolate. Would eat at any holiday.

Update: The dark choco ones are good too (for dark choco!). Very biteable, a fun shape. I just prefer milk choco. 6/10

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10 (milk), 6/10 (dark)

Dean's Sweets - Buttercream-Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Oooh heck these are good. I don't need the Easter grass that comes with 'em, but the size and quality of these surely rivals all the fancy Easter chocolate I was always so jealous of throughout my life that I could never eat safely. Big stars in my eyes for these buttercream eggs! So lovely.

Espresso: This is a dark chocolate shell with the yellow icing swirl on top. The inner buttercream is not skimpy and it is truly Dec A Dent. I could see this being, like, a wedding favor for me (god willing that I ever get married lol). It's so substantial and tasty and creamy, and because of the coffee flavor, it feels classy too. But also this must be like 800 calories at least. I do love it, though. The only possible improvement would be if this weren't a dark chocolate egg, but even though it is a pretty thick layer of dark choco, it's not too excessive because of the very sweet creamy innards. Yom. 8/10

Raspberry: This is also a dark chocolate shell, with a pink icing swirl. And the inside is also actually pink! It's got actual raspberry seeds inside it, too! My first thought was that I actually like this even more than the espresso; it does seem less "DECADENT!" but also maybe more TASTY. I love these cremes, dang. 8/10

Vanilla: Alas, alas, a milk chocolate shell but somehow this wasn't my favorite one! It tastes like a bigger version of the milk chocolate buttercream, which I loved, but big size is a looot of sugar. The milk chocolate shell is very tasty, but of the three fillings, this is my least favorite. It's not as nuanced or complex, just very very sweet. With a tiny bit less sugar and more butter and/or vanilla flavor, this would be a star. Still, 7/10.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

Dean's Sweets Floppy-Eared Easter Bunny

These are freakin' adorable with their lil ears and their lil scarfs. I'm not religious but I worship Easter Bunnies. And it's so rare to have a nut free easter bunny, too! 

Dark choco: This was big but not huge (and I think it's the smallest size), and the chocolate was firm as per usual dark choco, but it wasn't impossible to bite, especially in the ears. It was a solid piece of dark choco - but you know how I feel about dark choco by now; it's my least favorite type of choco. Did I mention how adorable this is, though? 6/10

Milk choco: Oh yeah, milk choco reigns supreme again! (Well, white choco would be even better I bet, but still.) This was great, tasty and adorable. Not quite as delicious as the milk chocolate eggs - I guess it's less creamy in a bunny shape? but still a delightful treat. 7/10

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 7/10

Barilla Spaghetti

I actually ate this a while ago, and the only note I left for myself was "10 minutes to cook". What an inscrutable note, past self. Is that a long time? Maybe compared to elbows or penne, but it seems pretty standard. These noodles were, to the best of my memory, fine. They taste good and are a fun shape for red sauce or maybe lo mein types of stir fries. I ate them all. The end. (Sorry readers, I'll be more elaboratory next time.)

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Pop-Tarts - Frosted Strawberry

A sweet snack! I was craving Pop Tarts for a while, so I got these. They are super convenient and pretty tasty, but so nutritionally void, alas. I also found them to be a little bit TOO sweet for my taste, which is really saying something. I'd like to try them toasted but I gotta buy a toaster first (mine is contaminated by nutroommates). Microwaved isn't great, just makes them hot inside and dry outside. Cold isn't bad but not amazing. Also, did I mention these are very bad for you? It doesn't look like they make the peanut flavors anymore though, and many peanut allergy moms seem to trust these (lol).

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 6/10