Competition To Win £100 Gift Voucher For Kitchen Stools Direct!

The lovely people from Kitchen Stools Direct http://www.kitchenstoolsdirect.co.uk have offered up a prize of £100 to be spent on their website.

That means you could be winning yourselves a fab Kitchen stool from their range, which covers everything from their modern looking Pod Bar Stool to their more classic Vista Bar Stool.



To participate in the contest to win a Kitchen Stools Direct gift voucher worth £100, you need to copy and paste and send the following Tweet on Twitter:

Kitchen Stools Direct has some fab bar stools in stock. Check it out http://www.kitchenstoolsdirect.co.uk #fsfinds

Make sure you are following @cinabar so we can get in touch with you if you win!

Terms/Conditions
• One winner will be chosen at random
• UK residents only
• Competition closes 8pm on 14th April 2011.
• If we can’t get in touch with the winner in a reasonable amount of time to obtain an address another winner will be selected.
• If you have any questions about this competition, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Spanish Oreos [Banadas and Doble Crema] [by @NLi10]

Ola!

Food Stuff Finds holidays are strange - not only do you spend as much time looking in the local supermarkets as the museums but you end up with holiday pictures that look like this:


While the majority of the euro snacks in Spain (Malaga, Granada, Seville to be precise) are very similar to in the UK there are some fantastic differences. Take Oreos for example.
First up is Oreo Banadas (with a wiggly over the n) which co-incidentally was the first review I saw on returning to the UK from Cinabar. You can read that here.



While I agree with the review - the chocolate outer does add a different dimension to the biscuit (in that it turns it into a stronger bourbon version of a Penguin) it also suffers from a fatal flaw. You see it hit 36 degrees while we were in Spain and I had some of these in my bag - while they are individually wrapped this did mean that all I had was Oreos coated in molten chocolate. They did look quite cool once they had set as they left an imprint in the chocolate that was now attached to the wrapper, but I think as a hot country variant this is a bit of a fail.

We also found Oreo Doble Crema (or double cream)


These are hopefully also hiding out in the UK somewhere if the other variant made it over.

I was both disappointed and happy with these at the same time. While the cream oozing out of the sides was a great novelty the first few times it just meant that there were less biscuits in the packet and the ratio tasted wrong too. If you love the cream then these are one to look out for, if you love the biscuit then it's worth one pack just for the novelty, but like me you probably won't go back.

Peanut butter Oreos are still my favourite variant, but these are interesting enough to warrant a hunt for if they are on general release.

By NLi10

The 1000th Post

Today is a special day. We have the bunting up, and the fairy lights, and the glitter ball, all because we are marking the 1000th post at Foodstuff Finds!!! Obviously we intend to spend the day partying, snacking (including those carrot muffins from Greggs) and popping party poppers at unsuspecting passersby!
On our happy day I wanted to take the opportunity to thank some people. First up has to be NLi10 and Spectre for all their support, fabulous blog posts and keeping it fun. There is so much work in the site what with daily updates and of course finding and trying everything. Thank you both so much for all your effort and contribution, you guys rock. ;-)
I also wanted to say a big thank you to everyone behind the scenes. We have an amazing number of ‘alerts’ from family, friends, and readers all letting us know about things that should be featured. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate every bit of support, thank you all so much.
As the speeches are nearly done, and Spectre is about to pour out the champagne, let me just leave you with a toast “here’s to many more post at Foodstuff Finds, and may the future be filled with interesting snacks and food”. :-)

Yoplait: Perle De Lait [Strawberry and Mango & Passion Fruit] (Asda) (By @Cinabar)

Perle De Lait is my current favourite yoghurt style dessert. To me it is yogurt, but the packaging manages not to mention it anywhere, so I wonder if it is made slightly differently to regular yoghurt? They are much creamier than ordinary yoghurts and even feel slightly cool in the mouth. There is not sour aftertaste, just pure smooth flavour.
I have only ever seen Perle De Lait in Lemon or Coconut, and both are divine, but I did feel that there wasn’t much of a range available. I always thought it was odd that they don’t even have enough flavours to do a mixed pack of four! Meandering around Asda, I stumbled across two new flavours on the shelf, which was pretty exciting. A bit like buses, you wait for one and then two arrive at the same time.

Mango & Passion Fruit
I peeled back the lid, licked it (obviously) and immediately knew that this was going to be a good pot of dessert. The flavour is a little more acidic than other flavours that I have tried, but the sweet mango flavour takes over and the creamy cool yoghurt blends that taste with an aftertaste of passion fruit. It is still a lot creamier than a regular yoghurt and the flavour adds a nice tropical twist. I will most certainly be buying these again.

Strawberry
There is something very pure about the flavour of strawberries and there simple sweet berry taste works perfectly with the consistency of this dessert. It is creamy and fresh, and sweet. The strawberry taste is very natural, and not at all sickly or artificial. The end of each mouthful still manages to make your palette feel clean but wanting another spoonful. You will find yourself scraping every last speck out of the pot, to ensure none goes to waste! These are my new favourite flavour and come with a big recommendation from me.

By Cinabar

Classic Cod Fish Finger Sandwich [Feasters] (By @Cinabar)

What a childhood classic. I honestly can’t remember the last time that I had a fish finger sandwich, but I know that I loved it and I think they call that nostalgia. I was really excited to see that Feasters have a microwavable Fish Finger Sandwich as it allows me to try this treat again, and it is something I can easily cook up at work too.
Inside the pack are three golden fish fingers, a Ciabatta bun and a sachet of ketchup. I have to say I thought that using Ciabatta bread made it really quite a posh version of fish finger sandwich, as it was always two slices of white bread when I was kid!
I put the sandwich on a plate and microwaved it as per instructions until it was good and hot, it was all ready in less than a minute. I added the heavy helping of tomato sauce, and tucked in. First thing first the bread really worked, it had the flavour and texture of a Ciabatta but was soft and easy to eat. The fish was lovely, flavoursome and succulent, and the fingers were big enough to give it a lovely meaty satisfying feel. My childhood taste buds did an “I told you so” and I don’t think anyone should underestimate the powers of a Fish Finger Sandwich. It was lovely and filling and made for a really nice lunch time treat, easy to cook up with only a work microwave to hand. Give it a try, there is a reason it is a childhood favourite food, the flavours and textures just work.

By Cinabar