Hatfield Applewood Smoked Bacon - Classic Cut

This sure makes a lot of bacon! Whew. It also sure took longer to cook than I'd expected (like 1 hour for the whole pack) and produced a lot more grease, etc. I'm just not cut out to make my own bacon, I think. Or at least not on the stove. But anyway, even though the cooking process was long (maybe 12min per strip) and confusing (when is the fat cooked?!), and the taste right away was nothing special, I put the leftovers in the fridge and gnawed on them for a few days, and then I really missed the cold bacons when they were gone. So ... not a huge fan, but I see why people get into bacon.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Wild Cherry Pepsi

I remember being a youngster at my grandma's house and a huge huge fan of these (along with my cousin Jeffy!), they were one of my favorite sodas hands down. Then again, I never really liked soda *that* much. And today, I find myself highly unimpressed. However, this particular iteration was, to be fair, from a vending machine and very expired. It was still "OK" -- very sweet. Very bad for you. Ultimately, I didn't finish the bottle. How our heroes have fallen!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Vermont Smoke & Cure - Honey Mustard Turkey Sticks

These are cute -- yellow labels for mustard and honey! So sensible. This flavor is good, but not great. It's healthier in terms of calories, being turkey and not beef/pork, and it feels healthier too if you know what I mean. A bit "dry" compared to the roni types. Not a super strong honey flavor or mustard flavor -- mostly meat flavor. A tiny bit of spice, but the spice is mainly like, black pepper.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

J.L. Kraft Garlic Aioli

The fact that Kraft gets initials when it wants to be fancy is very funny to me. I would like some J.L. Kraft Singles please. One J.L. Kraft Easy Mac to go please. Absurd!

I got this for a recipe. It's pretty niche in my diet, unfortunately, since I don't have any fries on hand (or like, bread). It tastes, basically, like mayo with a strong garlic flavor. Very strong garlic flavor! I'm sure there are places where this is good. Egg salad, as it happens, is not one of those places. I suspect a roast beef or turkey sandwich could do with it.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

2017 Odile Delpon Cahors

I think I might be having too much wine these days -- I got a lil redfaced and dizzy tonight after drinking this one! I've been lucky to have so many nut-free Mary Taylors to enjoy. This is another new one, although it's a Malbec, so nothing too zany. I enjoyed it; my first instinct was that it was a little gamey(!) but it faded quickly and became kind of "generic red" -- not too thick or thin or acidic or anything off base. Not super fruity either, but that's OK. It held up for 3 pretty solid similar days. Sadly, no bean soup for me, but I do like soup in winter and I bet that'd go with this nicely.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [17$]
Taste: 6/10

Lender's Plain Bagels (Frozen)

Gosh, my grocery store stopped selling all flavors of Lender's bagels, so I got to buy about 1 pack post-lockdown before they went away, and I'm so upset about it! These are really convenient, especially now that I have a good toaster. My bag did have a little bit of freezer burn going on, but I guess that's because they were selling off the bottom of the storage unit of bagels or whatever. Sniff. These are good, tasty bagels, and really good for little sandwiches too. I hope to find them again if I ever switch grocery stores!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Orangina

Gosh, there was someone in my life who was into these, and it was the first time I ever heard of them -- but I don't recall if it's my awesome friend from college whose name starts with "R", or my awesome friend from grad school whose name starts with "R". Either way, I miss them and adore the fuzzy memory I have of them talking about Orangina, which sounds like a name I'd give my doll as a child.

As for the drink: It's not bad! Like sweet, fizzy orange juice. Like a mimosa with no alcohol. Sweet and tangy. Obviously super sugary though, aka bad for you and not something I want to start consuming on a regular basis because of that. But tasty!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10