Spooky season is over - but autumn is still in vogue. Harvests have been harvested and pumpkins carved and discarded. But wait - what if we actually ate some?
These creepy Limited Edition Swizzels Squashies Squeletons should be perfect on top of my Jude's Strawberry ice cream tonight. There are three sour flavours to choose from; Apple, Strawberry and Orange flavours. On opening the packet I noticed these Squashies Squeletons had a nice squidgy texture, with no sour sugar coating. The Sour Strawberry had a good strawberry flavour, but wasn't all that sour. The Sour Orange had a nice strong orange flavour, with a bit of an orange tang at the end. The Sour Apple was a nice fruity apple flavour, not extremely sour, just a little towards the back of the flavour into the aftertaste.
Not all that sour, but I liked the skull faces, and the squidgy texture of these Limited Edition Swizzels Squashies Squeletons. They were all really nice and had distinctive flavours. Better still, they went very well on top of my strawberry ice cream, whilst watching Sleepy Hollow.
Happy Halloween…. Mwah, hah, hah, haaaaa…!
Information on the packet: The 120g contained 356 calories per 100g, with 0g of fat, 63g of sugar, and 0.07g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.
So this bar is themed on Beetlejuice; we have a slab of popcorn held together by purple white chocolate. It is very nicely packaged, and the bar looks bright and fabulous. The main thing is though that the purple drizzle is just white chocolate coloured purple and not any crazy flavour. It is very pretty and exciting to look at, but the content is popcorn and white chocolate. The popcorn is lovely and big and crispy but soft, and the chocolate is creamy and thick. This is a tasty bar; I just wish they had added a little blackcurrant into the Beetlejuice Popcorn Bar just to have given it a reason to be purple. It looks lovely, it tastes lovely, but it could have been a bit more creative on the flavour.
.jpeg "Beetlejuice Popcorn Bar (Home Bargains)")
The box was sealed with just a bit of tape, and the cookies were loose inside without being in a bag. The best before was December, but I don’t really get how those biscuits can last out until then without having been sealed in a bag, but I guess the reduction in non-recyclable plastic packaging is a good thing. There are four biscuits, some black icing, and some orange sugar sprinkles.
I opened the icing tube and started to draw with the black icing. I’m not going to win awards, but it was fun. I added some facial features and a few sprinkles. It was nice to do, and it did make me smile. I tried the biscuit, and the taste was good. There was lots of spice, ginger, and sweetness; these have a lovely autumnal taste. The texture was firm but soft. They don't have a snap; these are not hard Gingerbread Pumpkins, but I’m okay with that. I dunk anyway, so everything goes soft in my coffee.
At 4.8% in volume, Voodoo IPA was a live beer with active sediment, and was unfiltered and unpasteurised for maximum flavour. Brewed in small batches, "Beer With Spirit", was stated below the skull faced man on the side of the bottle, but unfortunately there were no spirits in this India Pale Ale, and it was not aged in a whisky or rum barrel.
Voodoo had a strong biscuit and amber malt smell, with sweet caramel malt at the back of the aroma. Poured with a luscious amber colour and a good head, this IPA made me make an " Mmmm…" noise on first tasting. There was a herbal hoppy bite to begin, followed by sweet amber malt and caramel malts into aftertaste. It was gorgeous, I really liked it. It went perfectly with my rotisserie chicken and colds meats meal, and as I gorged on thickly buttered French bread. Mmmm…
Not so spooky, but have a happy a Halloween anyway.
The drink looks very green in the bottle, a proper Wicked shade of green. The colour remains when it is poured out too. Thankfully this is a double strength drink, so when I added the water, it went much paler and palatable in colour to a light shade of pale green.
The flavour is lovely; it is a mix of lemon and lime and is sweet and refreshing. The citrus is well balanced, and the drink is easy to sip on and very tasty. They balanced the colour really well, in my opinion. The fab bright green draws attention in the bottle and when you pour it, but thankfully when you dilute it looks much nicer. This Robinson’s Wicked Amazafying Citrus Twist will be perfect as a soft drink for Halloween and something I would buy again.
.jpeg "Heinz (Scarily Good) Monster Munch Pickled Onion Flavour Mayo")
My favourite flavour of Monster Munch is Pickled Onion. Some strange people don't like the flavour of a Monster Munch Pickled Onion, but the crisps have been present in many of those snacking nights, as well as accompanying many a cheese, cold meats and port meal. Here, Heinz (Scarily Good) Monster a munch Pickled Onion Flavour Mayo have done most of the job for me, and of course, I have my packet of Monster Munch Pickled Onion flavour to try it with. I have a feeling this is going to be good.
Then, of course, I opened the bag and dunked my first Monster paw. Oh yes, the ultimate Pickled Onion dipped sauce has now been invented. Not only did this Heinz (Scarily Good) Monster Munch Pickled Onion Flavour Mayo go perfectly mixed with tuna in a sandwich, but it went scarily good with my Monster Munch Pickled Onion Flavour crisps. Keep this mayo coming by the barrel please.
On the positive side, the biscuits do feature a fun spooky pumpkin design moulded into the cookie, which adds a nice Halloween touch. The bright orange filling, though not flavoured, certainly adds to the Halloween vibes and is visually striking. And of course, the Oreo biscuit itself tastes great, it’s the classic chocolate and vanilla combo that’s always a winner, and one I buy regularly. There's even a bonus: a discount offer for Warwick Castle, which is a nice perk!
But honestly, what would have made these Spooky Edition Oreos truly special is if they had a limited-edition seasonal flavour. Oreo is known for releasing fun, unique flavours, so it feels like a missed opportunity here. Pumpkin spice, caramel apple, or even something completely unexpected could have added that extra "wow" factor to the Halloween experience. While the biscuits are still enjoyable, I can’t help but wish for something a bit more creative.
.jpeg "Mr. Kipling Terrifying Toffee Whirls")
Inside the box are six fully loaded Mr. Kipling Terrifying Toffee Whirls. They consist of two pieces of soft, sweet biscuit filled with a toffee buttercream and a butterscotch sauce. The biscuit, although it has a much softer texture, tastes similar to a buttery shortbread. I didn’t think the toffee in the filling was very strong, but it was sweet and pleasant, and it was elevated by the rich butterscotch sauce also layered in there.
These Mr. Kipling Terrifying Toffee Whirls are an indulgent treat; they taste yummy, and I would buy them again. They are not the most adventurous Halloween products you could hope to find, but the packing since, and they will make a lovely snack watching a Halloween movie.
Is green food safe to eat? I mean, probably, they don't want to get sued...
Asda have decided to take the calculated risk of competing with M&S for the Horror Stakes and opened the Horror Emporium! And no - it's not just the in-store toilets at the end of the day - it's a whole range of Halloween goodies - with green & spooky.
Marks & Spencer's (M&S) in the UK and Europe always has a good food hall full of decent food, and they always make a special effort at Christmas & Halloween. I remember almost 40 years ago wondering what my Grandma would pick out to let us have on the weekend nearest spooky Christmas and whether I'd be able to go and pick up more in the first week of Nov sale.
Itsu frozen Bao are great, but what if they were also a pudding?!
Happy Halloween leftovers! Spotted these in the Korean grocery shop, but obviously left over from Trick-Or-Treat. They'd not been discounted but need to be eaten pretty fast.
The pumpkin cupcakes are very nicely decorated with a cheery but scary face. I peeled down the wrapper and was rather pleased to see a lovely, thick layer of icing. This is my kind of ratio for cake to icing. I gave the cake a try and found it to be melt in the mouth light with a sweet vanilla taste. The icing is thick and holds together on its own. It is firm but still gives when you bite, and it has a delightful, delicate, sweet vanilla taste. These cakes are a bit of fun and a nice seasonal treat for Halloween. I loved the cakes so much though that I will go back and see if I can find any other flavours or varieties in the same style at the supermarket, as I would love to try a chocolate cupcake with that lovely icing on top too.
This 5% in volume Spell Casting by Neonraptor Brewing Co. is a sour beer and bright blue in colour, of all things. It was brewed with lemon and blue raspberry, as well as hops, barley and wheat. On pouring this beer could possibly be seen from space, let alone in any dank dark dungeon. It really was very blue in colour.
There was a spiteful sour fruity smell on pouring, just like the deep holes and sawing blades of the Knightmare dungeon. On taste the sourness just kept on giving throughout each mouthful, with sour blue raspberry and slicing lemon biting away at my tastebuds, and a little malted barley and wheat after the added blades of herbal hops. Not for the faint hearted or for me I'm afraid. I faltered after a short while, just like mostly every contestant of Knightmare.
