Bite-Sized Reviews: Austin Peanut Butter & PBJ Cracker Sandwiches"

I'm a pretty big peanut butter fan.  I also really like jelly and jam.  If I could figure out a way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich where the layer of the two in the middle was the same width as either layer of bread, I'd be extremely happy.

I also have extremely fond memories of peanut butter cracker sandwiches from when I was a kid.  They were ultimately superior to the "cracker and cheese" sandwiches that were the regular option, but even when I was young I think I was suspicious of cheese that didn't require refrigeration and "crackers" that looked like they were cut from traffic cones.

Nothing screams "delicious" like something teenagers drive over repeatedly during their driving test.

So at the cafeteria where I work, I decided I wanted a late-day snack, and I saw Austin brand Peanut Butter cracker sandwiches and thought I'd have a fun little trip down Nostalgic Lane.  Then I spotted the PB&J cracker sandwiches next to them.

Boom, I thought.  Instant blog post.  I'm reviewing a snack food.

Bite-Sized Reviews: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Gummy Turtle Power Candy Pizza

That might seriously be the longest name for a candy I've ever seen, unless they did a Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King candy bar.

I can also already imagine this is going to be the worst thing I've put in my mouth in a long, long time.

Bite-Sized Reviews: Kinder Bueno

Any time I travel, I make it a point to explore the various foods that are available in a region.  In Arizona I watched for ingredients and flavors I couldn't get in, say, Maine, Ireland, or Italy.  Overseas, of course, you're going to explore the local cuisine, but there's one thing that I always love to do when I go into a grocery store:

Hit the snack and candy section.

I'll go into more detail later about how I used to binge on ice cream bonbons in Sweden like a drug addict, or my exploration of the different types of gummy candies in Europe, but for now I'm going to spotlight one that is now carried here in the United States, since I found it at a Walgreens in California.

I present the only candy I know with a name both German and Spanish: the Kinder Bueno.

Let me start by pointing out that I love chocolate mixed with hazelnuts.  I keep a jar of Nutella at work and at home, and I indulge now and again with some Italian Baci candies.  However, the treat I found in Italy when I was there were these chocolate bars, and I immediately felt them call to me.

Now, the first thing to remember is that this bar is actually made by Ferrero, maker of those little golden wrapped hazelnut chocolate balls that are only advertised as belonging to the swankiest parties.  Odds are they know their hazelnut.

What makes this treat different from every other hazelnut treat I've had is that this isn't just hazelnut blended into chocolate or sprinkled throughout.  Instead, this is a hazelnut cream-filled wafer with a chocolate coating.  Doesn't that sound luxurious?

The bar is also segmented, and when you break off a piece, hazelnut cream doesn't leak out everywhere, but when you bite into it, your tongue will get a tasty coating of flavor.  It has a nice crunch to it with the wafer, and the chocolate is consistently creamy.

This is one of my favorite candy bars on the market, and I need to find a local Walgreens to see if they carry it nationally, or if that one shop was just special.  Otherwise, looks like I might have to hit up Amazon.