Valentine's Day 2010: Part 1

there weren't nearly as many candies for Valentine's Day as i had anticipated. whether that's due to a rise in health consciousness, or possibly because Valentine's Day falls on a weekend this year (supposedly people rely less on candy-related gifts and focus more on going out), i do not know. either way, here is a selection of what i came across.

these Lovey Gummy Tummies from Trader Joe's are a cute take on the classic Gummy Tummies. i wasn't that excited about them, partially because i hadn't heard great things and partially because they are cherry flavored, but i was kind of hoping for them to be unexpectedly good. too bad they're not. the gummi isn't that bad, there's a distinct cherry flavor and they are the right amount of chewy. the gooey inside is where these are lacking. each piece is a pretty good size (roughly the size of a quarter), yet there's only a little dot of liquid inside. i definitely wish there was more in there, that's why i like the penguins with their super-gooey tummies. so far none of the seasonal variations have lived up to the penguins, which is so sad considering how good those are.

rating: 4

i was so happy when i saw Milk Chocolate Strawberryfrom Ferrara Chocolate. since i just reviewed the Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Orange, i thought this was a great follow up, not to mention that it's marketed for Valentine's Day with cute imprints on each wedge with little sayings and pictures. there are quite a few differences between this and the TJ's orange. first of all the flavor, obviously this tastes like strawberry as opposed to orange, but i think the chocolate is actually quite good. there is a slight dairy taste to it which i like; it doesn't have the tang that Hershey's milk chocolate has. the strawberry flavor is prevalent but it doesn't outshine the chocolate. i also think this orange broke a little easier, but there are so many factors to take into account with the smashing that it's hard to say that one orange is better than another. regardless, i definitely prefer this chocolate orange to the Trader Joe's brand.

rating: 8


the last item on today's post are these Peeps Chocolate Mousse Bears. while i've never been a huge fan of Peeps, i thought i'd give these a try. the chocolate mousse flavor sounds interesting, perhaps it will help to mute the overpoweringly sugary taste of the regular Peeps. as soon as i opened the package a strong scent of cocoa wafted out. it reminds me of Nestle Quik in a can. makes sense since the chocolate mousse flavor comes almost completely from cocoa powder (plus a few natural and artificial flavors). i really like the little tray they come in, and i also like the way they are all stuck together at the hands so they look like those little accordion-style cutouts. although they smell strongly of cocoa, they don't really taste any different than the way i remember regular Peeps tasting, with the exception of a slight chocolate milk aftertaste. i have to say that i really don't dislike these at all. they aren't quite as puffy as classic Peeps; i think i prefer the flatness of these bears. side note, as the package has informed me, these are gluten free. so that's pretty cool.

view the individual slices here

rating: 6

i'll be out of town for the week without internet access, so i'll post the remainder of my Valentine's Day haul (and maybe some others that i find on my journey!) when i return. hopefully i'll get it up in time for the actual holiday...

Wildly Cherry M&M's

b.paul says "these taste like cough syrup, don't like em, blah." i say, "these taste like red flavor, and m&m's, blah."

actually, i don't really remember what these tasted like, but what i imagine they taste like is cherry skittles with chocolate inside instead of fruity chew. although i don't dislike that idea, i probably won't be running out to buy more. they can't compete with the dark chocolate peanut M&M's or the peanut butter, but i'd give these a better rating than coconut M&M's any day (even though i haven't tried coconut M&M's, i just know i won't like them). they're a little bigger than regular M&M's, not quite as big as the peanut, and way smaller than the almond (what was up with those? they were enormous. like those shrek ogre M&M's, they were big too). overall, not the worst. i do think that i like the strawberried peanut butter version a bit more.

rating: 5

Trader Joe's Gummy Tummies

i love, love, love these gummy tummies. they are the perfect gummi, and the juicy filling in the tummies is delicious, they have a delicious burst when you bite into them. kind of like gushers, only not gross. they come in three flavors: cherry, lime and strawberry; all three flavors taste pretty much like their fruits (i could tell the difference between the cherry and strawberry, at least). i'm generally not a fan of cherry flavoring, but here it isn't too phony or overwhelming, very subtle. i also like it that these don't have any artificial coloring in them, only natural fruit and vegetable colors. around halloween they have a creep-crawly version of these which is not as good. i don't know why they don't just use these ones and package them as ghosts. i think that would work. maybe i'll write a letter...

rating: 9

Cherry Ripe

oh man, this was just a disaster. everything about this was unappealing to me. cherry and coconut? no thank you. but b.paul got it, so i had to try it. to begin with, this was clearly an old bar. the chocolate had bloomed. it had bloomed so much it was the most bloomed chocolate i have ever seen in my bloomin' life. bloom! yes, this chocolate had that. to make matters worse the texture inside was similar to what i imagine that of gummed particle board to be. whether this was from age or just simply the way it always is, i do not know. sigh. it's kind of painful to think about this.

rating: 1