Today's Review: Being Cold

I'm cold. I've been cold for a while now, and I'm still cold. It's not a nice feeling, in fact, it's awful. I used to like the Winter, I figured you can always wrap up in more clothes. But I'm sitting here wrapped in a blanket after spending a good couple of hours outside today, and I'm still cold on the inside.

The human body wasn't made to withstand cold. Well, mine wasn't anyway. I prefer a warm temperature, not one that chills my bones and makes my teeth chatter. So when will the cold end? Winter seems to have gone on forever, and January has felt like an eternity. I can't wait until the days where I can leave the house with no danger of getting cold and staying like that forever. Well, off to bed I go, hopefully I can become less cold there.

My rating: 0/5

Today's Review: McVitie's Hobnobs Nibbles Hazelnut

McVitie's foray into the share size bag has been a pretty successful one, quite a few flavours have been released, and I've yet to find one I didn't like. This year they're going a bit nutty, as we can now pick up these little pieces of chocolate covered hazelnut Hobnob. Yes, instead of having a different chocolate coating, it's the biscuit itself that possesses that nutty flavour, and it's a pretty big hit of flavour. The hazelnut is apparent on the first bite, but I feel it does overcompensate, going a bit overboard with the nuttiness while the chocolate struggles a little to catch up. It soon balances out though, making for a pretty tasty choco-nut combination, but that initial taste keeps these from being perfect. Not the best variety of Nibbles out there, but another good effort.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Fruit-tella Jelly Foams

I love me some Fruit-tella, and look, here's a new bag that contains more fruit juice* and 30% less sugar*! Yes, asterisks abound. This less sugar craze is coming out in full force, and while it's not a bad thing, it's hard to question the authenticity sometimes. Everyone seems to only be able to get 30% less, and looking at the small print on this bag, that 30% is "compared to other jelly sweets". That doesn't mean much, they could have compared it to a disgusting jelly sweet that's 90% sugar. It's like saying "30% less sugar, when compared to a bag of sugar".

Actually, I take it back, it's clear there's less sugar in these foam gums. It turns out that sugar tastes good, and with less of it, these do not taste so good. The foam is a bit dry and lifeless, and the gums let that plain old gelatin taste through. The fruit flavours are alright, not particularly great but I guess they're the saving grace of these sweets. But comparing these to the classic Fruit-tella chews, the foams don't stand a chance. I don't care about less sugar or more fruit juice in my sweets, just make them taste good. We know they're bad for us anyway.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Walkers Max Strong Jalapeno And Cheese

Walkers have brought out a trio of flavours that are "perfect with beer", and while I'm not a big beer drinker, I can't turn down a pack of crisps that promise bold flavours. The Max Strong range from the one flame chilli and lime, to the two flame hot chicken wings, and these, the extra hot jalapeno and cheese. Obviously I went with the hottest, I can't resist something that promises to be extra hot, although I'm often disappointed.

Not with these though, wow, these are good. As soon as the first crisp touched my tongue it was hit with an intense wave of heat, a bold chilli flavour that made me instantly go "wow". It barely lets up, and I can still taste it now, ten minutes after eating my last one, to me that's the mark of a great chilli crisp. It may sound like the heat overwhelms the cheese, but that's also ever present in the flavour, a lovely mature cheddar taste that works wonderfully with the jalapeno, making this one awesome bag of crisps. I can't wait to try the others if they're all going to be as good as this.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Sofa Sales

We've been toying with the idea of a new sofa for a while now. All those sales and discounts, along with that interest free finance, is almost too good to pass up. Obviously we have passed them up thus far, but that doesn't mean we're not constantly trawling the websites looking for that perfect offer. But that's the thing. The offers don't end, there's always a sale.

"Ends Sunday!" the banners proclaim, but Sunday rolls around, and the price stays low, while the "Ends Sunday!" remains intact. To be fair to them, they never specify which Sunday, but I'm beginning to think that those retail prices they slap on there aren't exactly the price they sell for 99% of the time. Either that, or sofa retailers are stuck in a never ending time loop of low prices and special offers. I think I prefer the latter, because it's more exciting, and maybe next time I go in and sit on every available piece of upholstery, I can slow the cruel passage of time. I may even come out with a brand new sofa, because despite how elongated and confusing these sofa sales get, I can't resist a nice offer.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Halo Top Chocolate Ice Cream

I've heard a lot of people raving about this ice cream, and if not talking about the taste of it, they're intrigued by the idea of it. Of course it's an interesting sounding tub, only 320 calories in the whole thing. I wasn't too convinced it would translate to a tasty ice cream, but I was holding out hope that I could one day consume an entire pint tub and not feel guilty. Okay, I'd probably still feel guilty.

I went for the chocolate flavour to start out with (of course I'm going to try the others), and I have to say it's not bad. The ingredients predominantly feature milk and eggs, but there's a fair amount of cocoa in there, and it does show in the flavour. It's not as creamy as other chocolate ice creams, and the texture itself seems a little off, but considering how few calories are in here I was expecting a lot worse. It tastes like chocolate, it's pretty satisfying, and while it ain't no Ben & Jerry's, it's a great way to have a frozen treat without worrying about your waist line. Rejoice people, diet ice cream is here.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Sweet Petites Key Lime Pie

I picked up this interesting looking bag of treats from Poundland. These are little biscuit bites, with a key lime flavoured filling and white chocolate. They did sound good, but since they were only £1 I was a little dubious about how they would turn out. 

Well, they smell good at least, a definite key lime scent that permeates through the packaging. It's also present in the flavour, a tart and sweet kick that's complemented nicely with the white chocolate. Combined, the topping is nice and creamy, and substantial compared to the biscuit, which is very bland in comparison. I feel this would be better without the sad little biscuit at the bottom, the chocolate and key lime combination is pretty good on its own. There's also a strawberry cheesecake bag that I'm sure I'll pick up on my next visit. Check these out.

My rating: 4/5