Jamie Oliver Carbonara Tortelloni - little pasta parcels (@NLi10)

Jamie made my favourite ever UK Carbonara, then he changed it so it wasn't as good and his restaurants all closed.  I've had better Carbonara at Italian restaurants in Italy (of course) .

Here we have a home version - but how traditional is it?

Looks fairly like recipe one to me - yippee!

Boil water - time - eat!

Serve with bunny ears of Olive bread and actual olives and defend from cats due to enticing aroma.

And...?  Well they are fine.  Giovani Rana does better blends of pasta parcel - chopped not blended of course so they still have texture.  This is quite basic paste in luxury pasta.  Enjoyable light meal - but without all the additions I'd be convinced this was a stores-own brand pasta, not a top chef.

 

Sour Patch Kids - Lollipop with Sour Candy Dipping Powder (USA) By @SpectreUK

A friend of our's in the USA sent us these Sour Patch Kids - Lollipop with Sour Candy Dipping Powder as part of a candy swap recently. There are two flavours of lollipops and candy dipping powder, which we would likely call sherbet in the UK. There is Pink Raspberry flavour and also Red Berry flavour. Apparently these are our friend's favourite sweets, which I can understand, as sherbet Dip Dabs are a big favourite of mine in this country.

Pink Raspberry flavour

On tearing open the packet I found that there was a lollipop and some sherbet inside As you can see from the photograph there was a nice pink lollipop with a smiley face and curly moulded hair. I found that you only get enough candy dipping powder to cover the hair of the lollipop. Unless my memory serves me incorrectly you get much more sherbet in a Sherbet Dip Dab. We'll have to send a packet of Dip Dabs in the next candy swap box. 

This Pink Raspberry flavour does taste pretty sour. It tastes of pink raspberries, and is really tasty, not face twistingly sour, but a good sour zing. The lollipop is quite large for the amount of candy dipping powder you get in the pack. Maybe it's to keep the calories down to around 60 calories, but compared to the size of the lollipop, there could have easily been two or three times the amount of sherbet that was provided. It just needs more of the sour dip to cover the size of the lollipop, otherwise this Pink Raspberry flavour Sour Patch Kids - Lollipop with Sour Candy Dipping Powder is perfect for my sour sweet cravings.

Red Berry flavour 

The packets really need an easier way to open them, as I was nibbling and biting away at the corners trying to get purchase like a starving child. I'm not sure what the fruit flavour of the lollipop is supposed to represent exactly, but the red cheerful faced lollipop tastes a little like a blackberry and cherry mix. It's certainly fruity, but once I'd tried the Pink Raspberry flavour I was already hooked on that flavour. There was the same amount of candy dipping powder in the bottom of the packet. This Red Berry flavour is slightly sour, but not as sour as the Pink Raspberry flavoured version. 

I certainly appreciated trying both of these flavours of Sour Patch Kids - Lollipop with Sour Candy Dipping Powder. I have to admit that if I saw these two packets in a shop I'd go straight for the Pink Raspberry flavour every time. However I did like them both, but the addition of a slight cherry flavour to the Red Berry lollipop swayed it for me. I've never been a fan of cherries! 

They're Back! Quavers - Salt and Vinegar (Tesco) By @Cinabar

These Quavers Salt and Vinegar have newly launched (ok technically relaunched) and I spotted the multipack in a branch of Tesco Express when I was doing some top-up shopping. They have a “They’re back” label and as much as I remember them it also feels like it has been a super long time since I last tried them. I thinking it must be at least a decade? The green bag is still very familiar though!

 

I poured some of these Quavers Salt and Vinegar out to have with a sandwich and loved the blast of vinegar from the bag. They look like regular cheese Quavers but the smell is quite strong and give a big clue to the different flavour. In taste too these crisps come with a heavy blast of seasoning, there is a lovely strong tangy hit of vinegar and the contrasting salt is spot on too. I liked this flavour hit, and enjoyed experiencing it on the light bubbly crunch. It has been too long, I’m so glad they are back and I’m hoping they stay back too. Now all I need is to find myself some retro Prawn Cocktail Quavers to complete that nineties vibe.

Hazelnut Spread M&Ms (USA) By @Cinabar

So it might be a Monday and for me that makes it another five working days till the weekend but that is okay, because today is M&Ms Monday. I am brightening up my weeks. This is now the day of the week where I review an M&Ms flavour I haven’t tried before! I have a lovely American friend who is feeding my M&Ms habit and making this possible so sending him lots of hugs and thanks. Today’s variety is Hazelnut Spread M&Ms.

 

The M&M colours are the regular ones in this pack with a high number of yellow. Each M&M has the crispy shell, but then a coating of milk chocolate with the spread inside. This means there isn’t that much hazelnut spread in each one and the predominant flavour is chocolate, but there is still a nice nuttiness to these with a touch of saltiness to to make it moreish.

I do like interesting texture so I really like the way the shell cracks to the softer filling with these M&Ms too. As a fan of nuts and chocolate this bag of Hazelnut Spread M&Ms was gone far too quickly, but don’t worry I still have quite a few interesting supplies left to explore, more next week.