These crazy rolled tortilla chips with “medium” heat are currently a Kroger-exclusive. But what’s even crazier than Crazy Buffalo is the number of new Takis products so far this year. (Spotted by Robbie at Kroger Marketplace.)
If you spotted something new, send your photos to [email protected].
No one likes to admit when they are wrong. But I’m here to tell you, I was wrong. How, you ask? It involves the phrase “à la mode.” We all know it means “with ice cream on top,” right?
That’s what I always thought, and that’s somewhat accurate. But here’s where I was wrong—way wrong. I must confess that I somehow thought it was derived from Greek or Latin, which makes no sense at all because I’m pretty sure ice cream wasn’t a thing back when that Plato guy was around. It’s actually a French phrase that means “fashionable” or “in style,” but sometime around the late 1800s or early 1900s in America, it came to mean the then-trendy practice of putting ice cream on pie. I was also wrong in thinking the little mark above the a in à la mode is called a tilde. It’s a grave accent, which seems like how you would describe what Beetlejuice speaks with.
Now that everyone except for punctation nerds and etymology buffs has moved on, let’s get to the review of the new Brookie À La Mode ice cream from Blue Bell, which the Texas-based creamery says is brown sugar ice cream with chunks of brownie and soft chocolate chip cookie pieces. I’m not even going to get into the fact that Brookie À La Mode is a silly name, because it is ice cream, so I’m not sure how you can put ice cream on top of it. And simply putting brownies and cookies together in the same general vicinity does not constitute a brookie. But you came here to find out if you should run out to buy this, right? Well, maybe not run, but you should saunter, or sashay if you prefer, over to your local store. It’s not worth breaking a sweat or anything like that, but it’s still plenty good.
The showstopper here is the brownie chunks. They are little pieces of rich, heavenly, chocolatey goodness that magically stay moist and chewy without getting soggy in the ice cream. I would eat a pint of just the brownie chunks. The other two components are good, but nothing special really. The brown sugar ice cream has just a faint hint of something to differentiate it from vanilla, but it gives off more of a cookie batter vibe. It’s perfectly fine, but don’t expect a lot of brown sugar flavor. The cookie pieces are about as expected, and although they have a similar texture to the brownie chunks, when you get one of the chocolate chips, there is a nice crunch and extra pop of flavor.
Aside from a name that doesn’t make much sense and that it made me feel a little bit foolish for being off base on the whole à la mode thing, this is a nice addition to the Blue Bell lineup.
Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 240 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.
Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of them, share your thoughts in the comments. Spotted something new? Send your photos to [email protected].
Even Snyder’s of Hanover is getting into protein and fiber. (Spotted by Phil at Weis and Tommy at Shaw’s.)
If you spotted something new, send your photos to [email protected].
The promotion for McDonald’s KPop Demon Hunters asks you to pick a meal to pick a side. Those two sides are The HUNTRIX Meal versus The Saja Boys Breakfast Meal. If you have no idea what the previous sentence means, I suggest going to the Wikipedia page for KPop Demon Hunters to get yourself caught up, which is what I had to do because I know the music, but I do not know the movie.
But is it a hard choice? If you compare the two, it seems easy to pick a side. The Saja Boys Meal comes with just a Sausage McMuffin with Egg covered in Spicy Saja Sauce, hash browns, and a small soft drink. The HUNTRIX Meal, meanwhile, is a spread of 10-piece Chicken McNuggets with two special sauces — Hunter Sauce and Demon Sauce — Ramyeon McShaker Fries, and a medium drink. Both meals come with photo cards of the characters, but the HUNTRIX Meal offers so many more flavors. It’s not even a contest.
That said, while the HUNTRIX Meal offers more flavors, the two McNugget sauces taste suspiciously similar to previous ones. Let’s start with the Hunter Sauce, which McDonald’s describes as a sweet and slightly spicy sauce that blends chili, garlic, and pepper. I swear it tastes like one of the limited-time dipping sauces McDonald’s offered within the past three years, though I can’t pinpoint which one. It’s a pleasant, sweet, and peppery sauce with a mild kick. Tasty, but the Demon Sauce was more intriguing.
Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, and my iPhone’s nearly four-year-old camera isn’t messing with the colors — the Demon Sauce really is purple. If you’re wondering how it got its pretty purple pigment, the ingredients list butterfly pea flower extract, fruit juice, and vegetable juice. The color brings back memories of those Heinz EZ Squirt ketchups from the ’90s, available in green, blue, pink, and purple.
It tastes almost exactly like my favorite McNuggets sauce, Hot Mustard — which still exists, though not everywhere, I think. So it’s no surprise I prefer it over the Hunter Sauce. The only differences between the Demon Sauce and standard Hot Mustard are the color and the heat, with the Demon Sauce building spiciness the more you eat.
Finally, the Ramyeon McShaker Fries feature a savory blend of soy, garlic, sesame, and spices. The flavor reminds me of the seasoning packet from a bag of instant noodles, so McDonald’s did a solid job of replicating ramyeon flavors. There’s a strong soy sauce note throughout, though I was a little surprised there wasn’t any heat — ramyeon is typically known for being spicy. The seasoned fries were enjoyable, but not enough to make me miss them when they’re gone or to buy them à la carte while they’re still around.
The standout of the HUNTRIX Meal was the Demon Sauce, for its striking purple color and its Hot Mustard flavor. But despite that being the only true standout, I still think the HUNTRIX Meal is far more interesting than the Saja Boys one. So I guess I picked a side — I’m Team HUNTRIX.
Purchased Price: $12.19*
Size: Medium
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Hunter Sauce), 9 out of 10 (Demon Sauce), 6 out of 10 (Ramyeon McShaker Fries)
Nutrition Facts: (w/medium Diet Coke) 930 calories, 54 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 1915 milligrams of sodium, 88 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 28 grams of protein.
*Because I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.
