Salsa Verde Doritos

On the last day of our annual Las Vegas trip, my husband and I went to a cute little restaurant called Island Style for some Hawaiian/Korean brunch. After some tasty Loco Moco (and great service, I might add), we had some time to kill, so we walked over to a nearby CVS drugstore.

While traveling, I love checking out grocery stores and drugstores for local releases, and one such product in this Las Vegas CVS was Salsa Verde Doritos (and some Chile Limon Lays that got consumed on the plane home). These aren't available in the Midwest, so I'm guessing they're limited to the Southwest. There were many more curiosities at this particular CVS, including slot machines, video poker, and a full liquor store, but that's Las Vegas for you.

The chips smelled a little like lime. Right away, I could taste tart lime, along with cilantro, then onion and garlic. Finally, there was a bit of jalapeno heat at the end. All in all, these Doritos did taste like salsa.

The best part about the Salsa Verde Doritos was the slow-building heat. After a couple chips, my mouth was a little warm! It never got too spicy, but these were certainly spicier than most varieties of Doritos. I hope these make their way to my neck of the woods in the future!

B+

Doritos website at Frito-Lay

The Doritos website has a neat little search feature that you can use to check if a certain product is available in your area. Sadly, no Salsa Verde Doritos are sold within 50 miles of my zip code.

Fujiya Vegetable and Fruit Cookies

Bear with me readers, because this is kind of a weird one. These Anpanman (red bean paste filled bread man) cookies are made with spinach and banana. Even though there were vegetable characters on the bag, I can't help but wonder if, like other sneakily healthful foods, the idea is that kids are supposed to gobble them up without thinking about the vegetables inside. Either way, these cookies were passed on to me through two different friends whose kids didn't like them, so I don't think it's working.

Truthfully, I was supposed to give them to my nephew, but I figured he wouldn't like them, either, and I couldn't resist having a taste. My nephew is a big fan of real vegetables, so I didn't feel too guilty about keeping them. There was also a bag of carrot cookies that I didn't photograph. Although carrot seemed like a safer bet, those actually tasted worse.

The cookies smelled like grass and vanilla. They tasted very faintly of banana, and the flavor seemed a bit fake to me. While they were sweet, there was something weird about them. The cookies tasted sour like chewable vitamins, but not in a good way.

The cookies were crunchy, but like vitamins, they had a chalky texture. The banana killed some of the sourness, but let's face it: even kids don't like these. At least they were better than the carrot cookies.

D

Fujiya website (Japanese)

Boyer Butterscotch Smoothie Peanut Butter Cups

As a peanut butter lover, I'm always on the lookout for different types of peanut butter cups. Although the Boyer brand is new to me, the wrapper had the look of an old-timey candy, right down to the play money "rebate" offer. I'm not it's worth it to buy 50 packs of cups just for a $1 rebate, not to mention the postage to mail 50 cardboard pieces of play money is probably close to $1 itself, but I got a chuckle from it.

I said the Boyer brand was new to me, but that's just because I had no idea Boyer made the more famous Mallo Cup until going to their website for this review. Boyer has been around since the Great Depression. Though the brand has been sold a few times since then, the nostalgic look of the packaging hasn't changed much.

The cups had a lumpy look to them, offering a preview of the small nut pieces I would find inside. The coating was sweet and creamy, the nutty center was dense, and I liked the slight crunch from the small peanut chunks.

I didn't notice that these were butterscotch peanut butter cups until I tasted them. The butterscotch was a bit too sweet, but the warm, buttery flavor went well with the peanut butter. The cups were salty on the finish, and while they were different from the usual peanut butter cup, I found them too sweet to want to eat often.

B

Boyer Candies Website

Romney's Kendal Mint Cake

Here's a curious little confection that my boss brought back from England on her last visit. Traditionally, Kendal Mint Cake is intended for mountain climbers as a source of energy, and all it contains is sugar, glucose, water, and peppermint oil.

The two varieties here are made with white sugar and brown sugar, but there is also a chocolate-covered version. Both pack a seriously minty aroma, and pieces break apart like fudge.

The white sugar version, found in the blue package, had the slightly crunchy texture of fudge. It reminded me of the center of a peppermint patty (so it would probably be quite nice if coated in chocolate). The mint was cool and refreshing, but not too strong. Of course it was sweet, but there wasn't really much flavor to it. I suppose flavor isn't the biggest concern for mountaineers.

I much preferred the brown sugar version, simply for the added hint of molasses that brown sugar imparted. The mint was stronger in this version as well. The texture was a little firmer than that of the white, but still very much like fudge.

These mint cakes reminded me of the molded maple sugar candies found in areas known for maple syrup. While the peppermint oil was nice and refreshing, eating a piece of mint cake resulted in an immediate urge to go brush my teeth. The experience was interesting, but I think I'll leave this one for the mountaineers.

B

Kendal Mint Cake website

Justin's Peanut Butter Cups

This pack of Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups was an impulse buy at my local fancy grocer. It wasn't the fact that these are organic that won me over - it was the fact that they are dairy free! I'm willing to put up with the side effects of lactose intolerance for chocolate, but it's nice when I don't have to!

The wrapper isn't too exciting, but it gets the job done. I'll admit to succumbing to the charms of a flashy wrapper, but this is one of those times when the product just speaks for itself.

Even though I had a great experience with these, I must mention that a fellow blogger and Flickr contact had a pack of these that was extremely dry and crumbly.

There are two pictures of the cups because I thought they were just beautiful. The dark chocolate was glossy and I loved the unevenness of the cross-section. The cups smelled dark and distinctly nutty. The dark chocolate had a good snap and a smooth, even melt.

The peanut butter filling was subtly-flavored and soft. It had the right amount of saltiness, and just a hint of sweetness. The balance was great overall, and the texture was smooth, without that oiliness that other peanut butter cups can have. Very good, and did I mention they're dairy free?

A

Justin's Nut Butter Website