Chupa Chups Stranger Things Lollipops (Co-Op) By @Cinabar

I’m loving this Stranger Things and Chupa Chups crossover. Even the logo on the bag looks like it’s from the Upside Down. The packaging features a Demogorgon front and centre, and I picked these up specially to hand out to Trick or Treaters.

The flavours are presented as a mystery, with themed names to match. There’s a blue one called Mind Flayer, a red one called Code Red, a black one called Vecna’s Layer, and a purple one called Demogorgon. I went for the black lolly first and was pleased to find it was cola flavoured, a nice surprise. A look at the back of the pack reveals the flavours are actually the usual mix of things like cherry and raspberry, so it’s the names and packaging doing the heavy lifting on the theme.

They’re not particularly spooky once you start eating them, but the branding is great fun and perfect for Halloween. I’ll be keeping most of them for the Trick or Treaters, but if there are any left over, I’ll happily finish them off myself.

Hope you’ve got your seasonal sweets ready - have a fantastic Halloween! 🎃

Jedburgh Abbey & a McSween Haggis Burger [@NLi10]

 We went across the border to Scotland for the day while we were in Northumberland - to Jedburgh - because we wanted a look round the ruined abbey.

It's a great little town with a lot to offer during the high season, but as Halloween approaches it gets a little spooky, and the hot chocolates call.

We popped into a little gift shop & cafe and decided that the national delicacies should be enjoyed

My partners hot-chocolate was stacked with choc orange pieces that flipped the cream upside down and melted lovingly into the drink

I had a perfectly ordinary burger...

Not so! It's an Angus burger with McSween haggis piled on top!

We know them form back in the days when we got sent PR guff - I used the tote bag they sent me for years! No idea where that's hiding now.

The veggie haggis was my favourite, and we still buy that on occasion - but the meaty one was a bit of a large person for one person to make it through in time.  So having a portion while out was a nice treat - it's mostly oats and good things... 

This was one heck of a lunch and I didn't need to eat until we were back across the border - a great (if not a bit heavy) hearty meal for the cold days.

Booom Vampire (Pound Stretcher) By @SpectreUK

Halloween is just a couple of days away and I found some weird looking Vampire themed sweets. Apparently they are extra sour gum by Fini. What's more is that once they have twisted your face from their sourness, they make your mouth go blue.

There is a Fini sour Booom Challenge on the back of the packet, which encourages you to try six sweets at a time. I decided to try just one to begin with, in case I didn't like them.

On first taste there was a super sour blueberry flavour that made my face twist and turn. I sucked the sweet like a wanton vampire before chewing the rest. There was a little gum flavour, but it certainly didn't feel like chewing gum when I swallowed the brittle fragments down. The sourness was pretty scary for the first few seconds though, and my tongue is still blue three hours later.

Information on the packet; The 65g packet had 344 calories per 100g, with 0g of fat, 73g of sugar, and 0.2g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Galaxy Green Hot Chocolate (Home Bargains) By @Cinabar

When I grabbed this, I was convinced it was a Halloween special. The reality? It’s not flavoured, no mint, no pistachio, just plain white hot chocolate coloured green. Look closely at the packet and you’ll see… nothing spooky, nothing pumpkin-y, nothing hinting at a witch’s brew. So why green? Who knows. I’m rolling with it as a Halloween drink, even if I’m clearly stretching the theme.

This is instant hot chocolate, so it’s easy to make. I put four heaped teaspoons into my mug. The powder looked pale and a little boring, but the moment it hit the hot water, it transformed into a vibrant green drink. No lumps, easy to mix, very Instagram-ready… if only the tub itself matched the colour drama.

Taste-wise? Meh. The colour is fantastic, but the flavour is mild, white chocolatey, with a hint of… something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Flat? Slightly cardboard-ish? Honestly, just a little underwhelming. I suspect a bigger mug might need an extra spoon of powder, or a splash of syrup to save it. On its own, it’s green and cheerful, but it’s not exactly thrilling. Still, it’s a fun little Halloween experiment, if nothing else.

Halloween Doughnuts (Krispy Kreme) By @Cinabar

It’s that time of year again, the Halloween decorations are up, and we’ve started our annual marathon of horror films. After a weekend of two comic cons, we stopped at a service station on the way home and couldn’t resist treating ourselves to a couple of Krispy Kreme’s seasonal doughnuts.

First up is Howl-O-Ween, the chocolatey one in the photo. This is a classic chocolate ring doughnut, neatly decorated for the season with a spooky screaming face. The flavour is familiar but delicious, and the festive design makes it feel extra indulgent.

The second doughnut is Pumpkin Spicemare, the one that looks like a pumpkin. The orange icing and pumpkin face are spot on for the season, and the flavour inside is something a little different, pumpkin spice cream. The filling is packed with warming spices, rich and comforting, and works perfectly with the sweet icing on top.

Both of these were a real treat after a busy weekend. I heartily recommend grabbing them while you can, Krispy Kreme’s Halloween range is as short-lived as a ghostly apparition, but every bit as delightful.

We’re not done haunting the snack aisle just yet, check back tomorrow for another spooky Halloween find!

Spooky Pick'n'Mix - Sugar Mountain Berwick-Upon-Tweed [@NLi10]

 I got some Pick N Mix Halloween themed Candy while we were on holiday from Sugar Mountain in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, a lovely little Borders town in the North of England.

I deliberatedly chose spooky things, as well as those I needed to get through the cold day on the coast.

These are the two main reasons - Jazzy's in the shape of orange slices (which turned out to only be slightly orangey) and weird blue mice - of which I got a few.  Just about in shot is the brain, a 4 layered jelly sweet which was absolutely amazing and easily the best thing in the bag.  It had just the right mix of textures and flavours to be exciting -sad I only put one in the bag!

I got a chocolate frog for old times sake, and a yellow chocolate Simba that tasted a little odd.

The other spooky jellies couldn't compare to the brain, but each had their own appeals.  The candy letters tasted more like the swizzles necklaces than the traditional chalky letters which was odd but not in a bad way.

For £3 this isn't an activity I'd do regularly, but with the idea that this would keep me buzzing enough to make it around all the walks it worked well - and some even made it home.

Tiny Rebel: There Will Be Blood Orange Beer (Morrison’s) By @SpectreUK

Halloween is very soon, and Spooky Season is well underway. I haven't found many Halloween themed beers, asides this There Will Be Blood Orange, from Tiny Rebel. Let's hope it's a treat rather than a trick.

At 7% in volume, blood orange concentrate was added in the brewing, to produce an intense flavour next to the hops, and malted wheat and barley. I know it doesn't sound very scary, but I'm not sure my Moussaka and baked bread dinner does either, but I hope There Will Be Blood Orange ale will wash it down well anyway.

On opening the can there was a blood orange aroma from the dirty pinkish beer inside. On taste there was a very bitter hop flavour battling with blood orange. This bitter struggle tried its best to smooth out with the sweet malted wheat and barley into the aftertaste.

It certainly wasn't horrific, it wasn't altogether pretty either from its colour, but There Will Be Blood Orange ale certainly washed down my Moussaka dinner a treat rather than trick.

Wicked Butterkist Fizzafying Lemonade Popcorn (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I spotted this Wicked Butterkist Fizzafying Lemonade Popcorn in Tesco and couldn’t resist the packaging. It’s themed around Wicked, complete with Galinda the witch on the front, and has a lovely Halloween vibe. It seemed the perfect snack for a spooky film night, not a Scary Movie, but Aliens (close enough).

I’m not entirely sure what lemonade has to do with the Wicked films, though to be fair we haven’t seen the second one yet, so maybe there’s a reference hidden in there somewhere.

Normally I stick to the regular Butterkist Sweet popcorn because it reminds me of proper cinema popcorn, so this flavour felt like quite a departure. There wasn’t much aroma when I opened the bag and no visible coating, but the taste really surprised me, sweet, zingy and properly lemony. It’s fruity and fun without being too sharp.

The popcorn pieces were big, fluffy and crunchy, and there weren’t any of those annoying unpopped kernels at the bottom of the bag either. Overall, it’s a bright, cheerful twist on classic popcorn and a fun seasonal treat. Perfect for a Halloween movie night, or just an excuse to make any film feel a bit more magical.

Kellogg's Made A Bluey (cereal) [@NLi10]

 Parents all over the UK have been forced to watch the cartoon Bluey.  Apparently it's 'fine', but I've not really had to suffer it yet.

But here we have the multigrain cereal version - not too exciting for kids, but not too boring either - hooray!

It was on special offer, and next to the suspiciously similar Rice Krispies version of the same thing.

Look - licensed puzzles for kids - yay!

And here's the cereal!  Like the show - it's 'fine'.  Kids aren't going to be too excited, adults aren't going to be too disappointed.

It's a bit nothingy - the bite vanishes and it goes to mush. It's definitely suitable for kids, but I'm already contemplating mixing it with other ones that have exciting flavours or textures.

Fruit Skittles Giants Gooey (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

I like Skittles. I probably don't have them enough. I usually go for sour Haribo or Maynards, but Skittles definitely have their place in my 'sweet diet', if you can call it that.

These Fruit Skittles Giants Gooey are really big Skittles, with a soft gooey centre. They come in five regular colours. Yellow was a lemon flavour, with a sour gooey inside, the usual crispy shell, and a nice sour lemon tartness. Orange was more gooey inside, with a nice tangy orange flavour. Red colour was Strawberry flavour, with a lovely sweet strawberry taste, not as gooey as the other two flavours I tried, but really very nice. Green was a Lime flavour, more gooey inside than the Strawberry, with quite a face twisty lime tang, yet very fruity, and very nice. Purple colour was Blackcurrant. Mmm, they had a mouthwatering very fruity blackcurrant flavour, which was nice and sweet, nice and gooey.

All in all, I was very impressed with these Fruit Skittles Giants Gooey sweets, they were very moreish and were really very nice and flavoursome. I'll have to get some more in.

Information on the packet; The 125g bag contains 395 calories per 100g, with 3.6g of fat, 77g of sugar, and 0.06g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Peri-Mac & Cheese and Grilled Chicken Wrap (Nando’s) By @Cinabar

I love cheese and I love pasta, so when Nando’s announced their new menu with this Peri-Mac & Cheese and Grilled Chicken Wrap, I knew we had to make time for a visit.

It had been a while since our last trip to Nando’s. They are now encouraging people to pay using the app, which was a bit of a faff as it needed downloading, re-authenticating with my email, and then waiting for a code to come through. Once that was sorted though, the food arrived quickly and the service was friendly.

I ordered the wrap with a side of chips and a tomato side salad. I went for medium spice on the chicken, which is my usual choice, enough heat to notice, but still easy to enjoy.

The wrap was served cut in half, showing off a generous amount of macaroni cheese and plenty of grilled chicken. The mix of textures worked really well: the soft wrap, the tender chicken, the creamy pasta, and even the crispy salad in there too. The flavours were lovely too, with the gentle Peri-Peri warmth from the chicken blending perfectly with the rich, cheesy macaroni. It’s a combination that just works, cheese, chicken and pasta is always a winning trio.

The tomato salad added a nice sharpness and a hint of vinegar, cutting through the richness of the wrap. It made the meal feel a bit more balanced.

This is hearty, comforting food, perfect for this time of year. I really hope it stays on the menu for a while, because it’s the kind of dish that makes me want to go back to Nando’s.

All Things Butter: Cinnamon Bun Butter (Ocado) By @Cinabar

I love cinnamon, so when I was checking the new products on Ocado and spotted this, I immediately added it to my basket. Then a thought occurred to me, was this meant as a baking product, something you’d only buy if you were making cinnamon buns? I added some bagels to my order and decided I’d just use it as a spread, whatever its intended purpose. The packet clearly shows a cinnamon bun on the front, but cinnamon is my favourite spice, and I wanted to try it as a spread.

When my order arrived, the bagels were missing, and they hadn’t replaced them with anything, so I had to resort to toast. I also noticed the block of butter was quite small, not the usual 200g size but just 115g, which isn’t much for £2.85.

I unwrapped the butter and found it was brown in colour, a little sticky, and didn’t have a strong aroma. I toasted some bread and tried spreading it; it was a bit firm, though I probably should have let it soften first. The taste was quite sweet, with a gentle hint of cinnamon, which was pleasant enough.

I love cinnamon and had hoped to be more impressed by this, but I found myself just liking it rather than loving it. I don’t think I’d buy this All Things Butter: Cinnamon Bun Butter again, not for spreading on toast, anyway.

Street Food Master - Smile Egg Waffles [@NLi10]

 Birmingham has been deluged with a load of food halls recently - and it's hard to find time to visit them all let alone try all the stands.

Street food Master is in the Arcadian one and stood out by having a cute pudding.

All the other street grill options looked ace too, but we were off to comedy so a light dozen waffles was in order.  We chose Nutella & Taro as the two flavours.

They did not have the faces, but came in chicken themed egg boxes so I was happy.

They are pretty big, but they are £1 each so it's very much a treat not a regular thing.

The fillings had mostly sunk to the bottom, but as far as deep friend snacks go these were gorgeous.  I bought these with a friend and we had 3 of each - and I think the rest of the table expected to share but we devoured them.  

Certainly a good idea to get more next time, but I have to try the other stalls and the other menu items!

Beavertown Lazercrush IPA (Nando’s) By @SpectreUK

My tastebuds are slowly getting back to normal after a heavy cold, so we decided to have a cheeky Nando's whilst at the shops. I haven't had a Nando's for years. We usually go to the Smokehouse which is in the opposite direction, but I was looking for bargains to sell on my stall at Comic Cons instead.

I used to have half a chicken medium spice and peri-peri chips with another side, so I decided to go with what I know. Been as though I was driving, I decided to try a non alcoholic beer. Beavertown Lazercrush IPA is a 0.3% in volume India Pale Ale.

There was a strong aroma of peach and a little grapefruit on opening the beer. There was a crispy citrus flavour to begin with reminiscent of orange and also peaches from the hops, followed by sweet pale malts into the aftertaste. This IPA washed down my succulent spicy chicken and chips a treat.

Terry’s Chocolate Caramel (Tesco) By @Cinabar

It’s very hard to say the words Terry’s Chocolate without automatically adding Orange afterwards. Terry’s Chocolate Orange is such a classic, and it’s been around for ages. There have been a few different versions over the years, like ones with popping candy, but this is the first time I’ve seen Terry’s Chocolate Caramel.

It’s still orange-shaped, but the wrapper inside the box is cream rather than orange, which does make it stand out. It opens the same way too, a gentle tap on the table, then unwrap it and the slices neatly spread out (and yes, I still want to call it an Orange).

The first thing I noticed was the smell, a rich, slightly burnt caramel aroma. I tried a slice, and honestly, it didn’t grab me straight away. The flavour isn’t as sweet as I expected. After a second piece, though, I started to enjoy the more grown-up caramel flavour, and by the third I was completely hooked. It just took a moment to get used to it.

Doritos "That's Nuts!" Flamin' Hot [@NLi10]

I reviewed the store-brand version of these on Sunday - and here are the luxury version from Doritos!  Well - I mean - KP Nutster's did it first (and best) but those always felt way too expensive. Maybe they still exist?

Doritos put these on the end of the row, and I obliged.  I used to love the Lime Doritos when they first launched in the UK and ate as many bags as I could afford as a 6th Former.  Luckily I grew out of it.

160g is a decent amount of snack.  They think 30g is a serving, so this is 5 servings and some to share.

Oddly there were 4 other flavours that the store didn't have - and a couple of them would be more my taste.  You see Flamin' Hot is one of the most odd trends in snacks - it's copyrightable but it's not that good for fans of hot spice, and it's not that good for fans of interesting spice.  It just exists.

And it gets on your fingers like the original Cheetos Flamin' Hot.  But as a bowl of peanuts, evenly coated in pringle and spice it ensures that every bite is the same.

so if you want to eat a bowl of peanuts that are slightly crunchier and that have the Flamin' Hot flavour -- and not really notice that you've done so - then these are for you.

If you want variety, or a kick, or just a change of pace occasionally then there are much better options out there.

This said - I'm getting a bag of the Salt & Vinegar ones and eating the lot.

Walkers Festive Emmental Cheese (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I’m not sure Emmental cheese screams “festive,” to be honest. Sure, people tend to buy more cheese boards at Christmas, and Emmental is a popular choice, but so is Cheddar, and no one’s putting that in a Christmas hat. Still, I’m not complaining. I love cheese, and I’ll happily try anything cheese-flavoured. For those who don’t know, Emmental is Swiss, nutty, and yes, it’s the one with the holes.

There are five bags in the multipack, not six, which is a bit cheeky but seems to happen a lot with limited editions. I opened one up and was immediately hit with a gorgeous cheesy aroma. Promising start! The flavour didn’t let me down either, these aren’t just cheese crisps, they’re wow cheese crisps. The nutty Emmental flavour really shines through, and I was hooked straight away.

The crisps have that familiar Walkers thin and crunchy texture, but the flavour is proper full-on cheese heaven. They’re strong, moreish, and just that bit different from your usual cheese variety. Who cares if Emmental isn’t exactly a Christmas flavour? These are absolutely delicious, and I’m more than happy to find them in my festive snack stash.

Bon O Bon Original (WH Smiths) By @Cinabar

Spotted something new in WH Smiths today that I just couldn’t resist.

We were visiting the hospital and popped into the WH Smiths there to grab a newspaper, just something to read while waiting. As always, I couldn’t help but browse the snacks, and that’s when I spotted these Bon O Bon Original chocolates. I didn’t recognise the packet at all. The word original made me think there must be other flavours, so of course, I had to give them a go. I bought a tube for myself and waited until I got home to open them.

Inside were three big individually wrapped chocolates, which already felt promising. They’re filled with peanut butter and wafer, and from the very first bite I was hooked. The texture was spot on, a crisp layer from the wafer, a creamy peanut butter centre, and that lovely snap from the chocolate shell.

I’m a total sucker for anything peanut butter and chocolate, so these were absolutely my kind of treat. Salty, nutty, chocolatey, and ridiculously moreish. I told myself I’d only have one… but all three somehow vanished before I knew it. Oops. A quick Google told me Bon O Bon is actually from Argentina, and it seems they’ve got quite a few varieties. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this brand, if they’re all this good, I’m in trouble!

Have you tried any Bon O Bon flavours? Let me know if you’ve spotted them anywhere else!