£20 Waitrose Easter Egg - The Cracking Pistachio [@NLi10]

 I saw this online way before Easter and thought - well we are having that one!  And we happened to be in Waitrose that same week and picked it up.  Then I saw it in the Motorway services Waitrose for £20 - I think we paid £15 which is frankly still a lot.  But people do like the reviews - so we went ahead with it - but unfortunately we decided to eat all the cheap eggs first so have only just cracked this open.

So - what is it?

Stealthy white chocolate outer, but with caramel in it - and the inner claims to just be pistachio chocolate.

It comes in a safety sphere, and looks like something from the film Alien

The chocolate is thick - and it costs as much as two eggs because it really is just two eggs.

The outer layer is like a light Caramac.  Not too sickly like standard white chocolate, and very sophisticated.

The inner is the main event - bright green and full of nuts.  This isn’t hopping on the Dubai trend so much as showing why most of those bars are a bit naff.  This is the quality stuff.

I’ve not looked online to see if these ended up in the sales like we’d usually risk for the Christmas range (they always over order locally - what a shame) but even if they are only reduced to £10 this feels like a steal.  Perfect for parents and partners alike - especially as both are likely to be generous and give you a bite.

The Curators Pork Puffs Chilli Lime (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

I miss pork scratchings. I broke a tooth on one some time ago, and very rarely dare to have a packet of pork scratchings just in case I break another. I do love pork puffs as an alternative.

I have tried most of the Curators’ pork puff flavours. My favourite flavour so far has been the Salt & Vinegar. I haven’t tried this new The Curators Pork Puffs Chilli Lime, with Tajin chilli lime.

I decided to try these The Curators Pork Puffs Chilli Lime with a pork and apple sauce sandwich for my lunch. On opening the packet there was a salty pork puff aroma from the reddened puffs inside. I was pretty surprised, as the pork puffs themselves looked like they were on fire.

On taste there was an instant chilli heat from the crunchy pork puffs. There was also a lip-smacking sourness from the lime that quickly mixed with the chilli burn. Gosh, these The Curators Pork Puffs Chilli Lime are tasty and exceptionally moreish.

Information on the packet; The 25g bag contained 130 calories, with 6.3g of fat, 0.2g of sugar, 17g of protein, and 1.2g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Iced Coconut Strawberry Matcha Latte (Costa) By @cinabar

There is a lot on social media about the health benefits of matcha. I have seen everything from it fixing your skin to giving you an energy boost. It does contain antioxidants, which are good for you, but I have no idea how valid most of these claims really are.

The main point is that matcha has become popular online, even though it has quite an acquired taste. It is very leafy and almost grassy. Some people love it, but this feels like Costa aiming for people who do not. The approach here seems to be to soften the matcha by adding plenty of flavour, and that is exactly what this drink does with coconut and strawberry.

The drink itself looks great, with distinct layers. Red at the bottom, white in the middle, and green on top. I was not sure whether you are meant to mix it or drink it as it is, so I just went straight in.

The first hit was strawberry, with a strong jam-like flavour. Sweet, fruity and really enjoyable. The coconut added a creamy element, while the matcha was not too overpowering. It was slightly sweet, with that familiar fresh, leafy taste.

I enjoyed this one. The strawberry was the standout for me and helped balance the bitterness of the matcha. This definitely feels like a matcha drink for people who are not fully sold on matcha yet.

Kenco Chocolate Hazelnut Latte (Iceland) By @cinabar

I do love a flavoured instant coffee, so when I spotted these labelled as new, I couldn’t resist picking up a box. Made by Kenco, you get eight sachets inside, which is fairly standard for this kind of product.

While the “new” label might suggest something adventurous, chocolate and hazelnut is about as classic as it gets. That’s not a bad thing. Sometimes simple is exactly what you want. Kenco have tried more unusual flavours in the past, but this feels like a deliberate step back to something safe and familiar.

Preparation is as easy as you’d expect. Empty the sachet into a mug, add hot water, and give it a stir. It mixed smoothly with no lumps, and even produced a light frothy layer on top, which always makes it feel a bit more like a proper latte.

The flavour is genuinely comforting. You get that base coffee taste, but it’s softened by a sweet chocolate and hazelnut blend that really does lean into Nutella territory. It’s not overly rich or sickly, just nicely balanced and very easy to drink.

It might not be the most exciting flavour on paper, but there’s no denying it works. Sometimes the classics stick around for a reason.

7Days - Oreo filled Crossaint [@NLi10]

 My 'corner shop' often has some interesting imports because the owners like crazy stuff as much as I do.  Case in point is the large range of 7Days pastries.  These are essentially buns masquerading as croissants but close enough that they aren't disappointing - and occasionally are amazing.

This one is the standard model - bun is filled with brand-name - this time Oreo!

As ever thats a lot of ingredients that no-one will ever read.

And it looks like a disappointing bun, but they are always pleasingly soft and light and fluffy.

And this one is genuinely gooey in the middle, unlike some which have gone hard on the trip here.  And - much to my amazement it actually tastes of oreo creme. The biscuit adds a dirty grain to the paste, but not in a negative way.  The sauce itself adds a needed sweetness to the (lets face it) bread that surrounds it.

Overall as a little treat its filling enough that I'm happy to keep trying these as long as the owner is happy to keep buying the odd ones.