Saturday, September 30, 2023

Locatelli Cheese Romano Grated Cup

If I knew this cost 12$, I would not have bought it. Alas, my store is under renovations and the price tags have mysteriously disappeared on all the most expensive products. This was for a recipe, and so it served its purpose, but it didn't 12$-serve it. Tastes like powdery cheese all right. I think grated cheese isn't my favorite, in general, although for meatballs we don't have much choice do we?

Overall
Cost: 3/10
Taste: 6/10

Friday, September 29, 2023

Tuttorosso No Salt Added Peeled Plum Tomatoes

Do I have canned tomato opinions? Not really, yet I liked these. In the aisle at the store I spent a super long time looking at the many tomtato options, and there was another woman right in front of these so I left to do the rest of my shopping, came back, and she was still there! But no woman can hide me from the tomato I choose. I got the no salt added for health, but they tasted like regular tomatoes -- no weird flavor, and in fact they were the highlight of the dish I made (at least when it was fresh). Really plump, juicy, and pleasant stuff. No complaints!


Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Progresso Panko Bread Crumbs - Plain

I don't have a lot of experience with bread crumbs because every other one has pea, soy, or sesame in it (usually all three). And these don't! So I like that. They're easy to use, added the right texture, and have no real flavor (which is what I want most of the time). There's 2c in one box, which isn't really that much it turns out. Decent product, so thanks, progresso.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

2016 Inspiration Reserve Laguedoc Cabernet

Shew! My very first reaction to this was "blech!" -- It was acidic, tart, and gamey. A weird flavor -- neither cherry nor wood but like, Dirt and Gristle. It's complex alright. Of course, after a few sips it just turned into a normal wine and all the grossness faded away. Refrigeration helped even more. Classic wine!! It ended up fine but the onset was very wild.

I also made the recommended Eggplant & Porcini "Meatballs" in Tomato Sauce, and it took the better part of a day to do, but they did turn out quite tasty (even though they were also bigger and wetter than expected, due to me using an entire package of fresh mushrooms instead of 1oz dried, and only 2c of breadcrumbs instead of 3 because I didn't buy enough! I also didn't puree the whole tomatoes, but it turned out fine and I actually liked having the whole ones in there). I didn't get a chance to pair them with wine yet because I am trapped at school right now away from both, but I am very much looking forward to both when I get home tonight! 


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

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Dunkin' Iced Coffee (can) - Coffee Cake Muffin

Alas, not all dunkins are slam dunkins. This wasn't my favorite canned coffee of all time, let's say. You can taste the cinnamon here, but not any other coffee cake muffin bits, including: coffee, cake, or muffin. No buttery creamy crumble, which is the best part of the muffin. There's also a STRONG can flavor in this one. Not worth the squeeze (or cals), dunks.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Monday, September 25, 2023

Mrs Butterworth's EPIC S'mores Pancake Kit

Whew. This makes quite a lot of pancakes -- it says 17, but I think I got like 14 out of mine. It's easy to make though, you only need water and cooking spray (I used a wee bit of canola oil). The taste is better than I thought, but not my favorite -- it's a sweet, cakey graham flavored pancake, and the choco and marshmallow frosting make it mostly a fudgey flavored pancake, which is tasty (and filling, and a lot of calories) but I think I prefer the butter/syrup/plain pancake vibe. Still, not terrible, and would feed like 5 people at once if you wanted (or me for a few days). Not sure if they give you enough sauces for the amount of pancakes, but we'll see. 

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 6/10

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Dunkin' Brownie Batter Donut Iced Coffee (Can)

This is pretty decent, maybe it deserves a 6.5. My first sip made me think: wow, it's chocolatey! So it does reflect the creamy, sweet, frosting of a brownie batter donut. At first. After that, you realise it's just a slightly more luxe version of any mocha-flavored canned coffee. The can taste slowly seeps in. By the time you get to the bottom of the class, you really notice the can flavor. Nevertheless, it's one of the better canned coffees I've had, and better than the other Dunkin' flavor of these I tried!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10