Junkie Friday #5

I had a go at another of their safer new flavours, the Crispy Bacon as I previously reviewed the Pizza flavour. The other weird combinations I did not bother trying were Sunday Roast and Meat Pie & Sauce. They sound really weird and manly [thanks to the footy]. To be honest, it might be my last review on chips for some time being. Having said that, I saw Vegemite Smith Chips in Coles today! [according to Jin, it totally screams my name!]

Back to the Crispy Bacon, I was extremely excited when I saw Coles having these limited flavours on the shelves. However, it certainly lacked flavour despite all the flavour enhancers. It being in crinkle cut doesn't really help too. Anyway, crispy bacon isn't a new flavour to start with and I'm definitely not sure why it was labelled as a 'limited edition'. They have been in the markets off and on, and have been constantly repackaged.

To accompany a pack of chips is definitely a good can of beer. I have never tried Murphy's Irish Stout as Guinness somewhat takes all the limelight among my peers. I do love the creamy texture of this stout and found myself totally amused by the little nitrogen widget in the can [yes, I am aware that these cool widgets originated from Guiness]. Being an avid youtuber, I also managed to search for some Murphy adverts from those days.

I thought THAT was pretty cool, and THIS pretty awesome too.

If I have not said this before, Junkie Friday is getting trickier and almost impossible with my new personal commitment. There will minor tweaks but the blog will remain commited to posting Junkie Friday [if not mine].

I *heart* pink.

It's the start of a Looonggg weekend! #4

Things have been hectic lately and planning for dinners has been rather difficult; what more to plan for Junkie Friday? Normal weekday dinners have been instant ramen or rice crackers, as if it has been a huge junkie week.

Pizza always does it for me. =) And this time, it is Dr. Oetker's Pizza Quattro Formaggi! [Honestly, it has always been Dr. Oetker's] A perfect cheat dinner; it is a combination of 4 cheese pizza, a blend of mozzarella, edam, emmentel and blue cheese. With all the cheeses, it made the pizza really creamy.

I am honestly no big fan of blue cheeses but I do not mind this one. The flavour wasn't as intense as certain blue cheeses I have tasted previously. Having said that, my girlfriend once told me the good blue cheeses are the ones with a strong intense taste or flavour to it.

A frozen pizza which doesn't taste frozen, it was a dinner totally worth the money- AUD $3!

It has begun! Junkie Friday #2

Yay! And the night is still young. *dances*

If you could not tell the new flavour of Smiths' from the picture, it is their limited edition of Pizza (or pizza flavoured) chips. It tasted just like any other pizza flavoured snacks and it definitely reminded me of Arnott's Pizza Shapes. It appeared as if it was marketed in accordance to the footy finals happening this weekend too (it is written at the back of the packet after all) and yes, we are least excited for the footy finals. I have to say I am not as adventurous as I thought I would be because I could not bring myself to buy their other limited edition flavours such as Meat Pie & Sauce as well as Sunday Roast (o_O) Pizza and Crispy Bacon are just much safer flavours and I quite enjoyed eating the whole pack of chips with the stout *note: I am still drinking the same bottle while writing this.

I have to justify myself here, I am not a drinker of stout but for personal reasons, I am drinking it now warm (literally means at room temperature). I thought it was an easy stout to drink and took it as a light beer. I always remembered bitterness as a strong character of stout (thanks to Guinness!) but 4 Pines definitely has balanced its bitterness along with its other flavours. Having said that, Guiness has now changed their recipe and has a much preferred smooth finish too (ooo...and also less alcohol percentage).

And did I say the night is still young? Bring on more junk. =D

Courtesy of animecrazy.net

No, I'm not thinking of mapo toufu, although I do love that dish a lot. It is just going to be a weekend I commit myself to 'Chūka Ichiban!', also known as Cooking Master Boy. I've watched the anime series a gazillion times now really, after all it's more than 10 years old.

It's the end of the week! Junkie Friday #1

If it is not obvious enough, I reward myself constantly on a Friday. Jin and I came up with this term, 'Junkie Friday' and I have been doing it for weeks now. I just never made it official till now. Amusingly, my body appearred to understand such reward [okay it is really my mind and in psychological terms this is a form of operant conditioning] and the tummy goes crazy on a Friday evening.

So, my initial plan yesterday was to watch 'Like stars on Earth' and order the largest size available at Dominos with a friend of mine. Last minute changes, I ended up watching the movie on my own with two pieces of tempura battered fish and a side of McCain's seasoned curly fries [hate the photo, I blame the lighting].

This is my first time actually buying a pack of frozen chips from the supermarket and baking them at home [literally means ''let's chuck it in the oven'']. I will fail as a Masterchef contestant in the frozen and canned food challenge of Season 3. Anyway, they did satisfy my need for junk while reminding me of the curly fries I used to buy from McDonalds. What was extremely deceiving was the serving size suggestions; 5 servings in a pack of 500g. Its either my problem or theirs but the figures suggest an extremely small portion size. Along with the broken bits at the far end of the picture, my portion was already half the pack!

The broken bits were the yummy bits. By the time I got to the stringy curly bits, it was cold and slightly soggy [well of course, I was playing with our version of 'toon spencer' and trying to feed him but he obviously wasn't very pleased with the soggy curls].

On a note, Like stars on earth was a beautiful movie on a misunderstood boy who had to go through a rigid school system despite being a dyslexic. Inspirational for someone like me.

The sparkling pop

Image from Wiki- Sorry!

I felt obliged to balance out my posts a teeny weeny bit- especially in our category of wines.

Soooooo...here it is.

I had a go at Passion Pop Mixed Berry on my Junkie Friday night. Apparently, it's an iconic Australian wine but gosh, I had a sip of it and all I could say is "It tastes like cough mixture"

What did my mate say? "It's yummy (he introduced me to this)."

And the next question was "What cough mixture have you been drinking?"

Little babies

I have previously reviewed their chocolate pretzels which I totally adore. It is finally Malted milk balls' turn to take the limelight. Very much like Maltesers, sweet with all its crunch. Charged guilty, I went through the whole pack in the one night. Having said that, I prefer the chocolate pretzels much more and therefore would pay for the chocolate pretzels during my next visit to the shop.

It reminded me of an interesting experience (or a combination of two!) which I had with Maltesers, I love eating Maltesers here but not in Malaysia. I have no idea why when everything was consistent from packing to producing factories. It is still a mystery~

Chocolates on Parade
Shop 10 Norwood Mall
166a The Parade
Norwood SA 5067.

A new love!

And so close to home too...
Slightly salted pretzels coated with milk chocolate
Addictive from the very first bite
It took so much self control to not finish the pack
*pats on back*

Chocolates on Parade
Shop 10 Norwood Mall
166a The Parade
Norwood SA 5067

Chunky kit kats

The photos were taken on two different occasions AND it took me a while (its embarassing but I realised they were different till the third and last piece) before I discovered the different textures on the chunky chocolate bar. Hence, the photo did not do any justice to Kit Kat Chunky Chocolate when they have breakable chunks of chocolate fudge, chocolate crisp and chocolate sauce! I love the chocolate sauce bit best!

This photo is a clear effort of amendments but it did not appear as presentable as the previous. From left to right chunks: cookies crunch, vanilla fudge and cookies cream. I love the cookies crunch the most.

After all the ''I love"s, these products aren't the best for weekly indulgences or even monthly due to the high contents of fat and the obvious overload of sugar. It is clearly written 3 servings per pack- but who is going to stop just after one chunk! I wouldn't and obviously didn't *naughty in Jin's words*. They did, however, give me the best satisfaction after the three humongous chunks.

My thing to do

during the long weekends... other people like spending them more productively, but I just love bumming around =) My absolute favourite past time.

We were totally slack since thurs when the bosses were away. At the same time, I was way excited over this chocolate mud cake (with maltesers!) to celebrate a colleague's birthday. Birthdays are the perfect excuse to enjoy a piece of cake- and a very sinful one too! It was not too rich with a decent ganache, and maltesers (again!) A chef friend of mine has also told me they have the best curry chicken puff which is totally up to Malaysians standard.

Duffy's Bakery
Shop 5 Norwood Mall
166 The Parade, Norwood SA

With my ''bumming'' personality, I also need the perfectly quick lunch to satisfy my bolognese craving. It is absolutely the easiest sauce to make with must-have items in most pantries; diced tomatoes, four beans mix, fettucine (or any other pasta), mixed herbs. Slice another half onion, two celery sticks, with sliced chicken breast / ham... ta-da, two decent portions of fettucine bolognese and extra sauce for an emergency lunch. note: salt and pepper to taste

 

And... snacks to go with bumming around in front of the computer screen and loads of series. I finally had a chance to taste Red Rock's new flavour Grilled Chorizo and Caramelised Onion. Finally it was on sales and on the shelves of Coles.  (personally, Hurray!) I love chorizos despite them having the highest content of fat in sausages. Having said that, I thought it lacked the chorizo flavour despite having that slight spicy flavour. note: image from the distributors Brisbane

One more day to bum around, Hurray!

Good snacks?

The only reason I bought this brand: It was on S.A.L.E! Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to test out this flavour of cranberry and pomegranate.

It is obviously baked, and the amusing part of the packaging they promote these bars as a high source of antioxidants. Among the listed ingredients, a whole 36% goes to ''fruit''. Despite the promoted flavours, cranberry puree was only 0.2% and so is pomegranate. The rest of ''fruit'' goes to Apple puree (disappointed to the max)!

One word summed this product for me: Sweet.
Will I buy it again? Most likely no (pss...unless its on sale again, and it has to be HUGE discount e.g. 66%).
Would they help me in my 'healthy-eating' plan? No.Instead of having these as a travelling/commuting snack, they now serve as desserts.

100% Cookies and Cream

This, my friends, is the real deal. Available from the Margaret River Chocolate Company, Western Australia, the gourmet cookies and cream chocolate is absolutely to die for. Okay, maybe not literally, but if you are a fan of cookies and cream, you definitely must try this.

Unlike other brands, this piece of chocolate is exactly what I imagined it to be. With each bite, you can taste the crunchy Oreo-like bits mixed with rich white chocolate.

It may be a long drive to either the Margaret River or Swan Valley branches to get your hands on these delectable chocolates, and it may burn a hole in your wallet, but it will be worth it. Did I mention they allow free chocolate tasting as well?

Visit the Margaret River Chocolate Company (Swan Valley branch)
5123 West Swan Road
West Swan WA 6055
www.chocolatefactory.com.au

Sweet little ones- no!

But just as lovely!

Received this for Christmas from Jin. What else would I expect from a chocolate lover =D Confession though, when she told me I'll be receiving pressies from Margaret River, it wasn't the chocolates that came across my mind! Yes I know for a fact too that its way past Christmas now and its almost Easter (well, 2 months away). I took my time to enjoy these little bits and gave myself heaps of excuses.

So yes, these beautiful dark babies are Tanzanian 75% Cocoa Solids. 

I wish the photo did more justice to the babies. Apparently, they are available in the factory for free! Well, not to take home of course, but to have a munchful as they welcome you at the doors. Definitely hit me as a good dark chocolate as they melted in my mouth bit by bit one lovely night. Amazingly good as portion control, when I thought otherwise.

Will soon heat some milk and make myself a hot chocolate but it would definitely have to wait for now. Been wishing I have those perfectly sparkling glasses in my kitchen. I might also use these babies for a recipe I've been wanting to experiment- the chocolate lace crisps.

note (and hints*): I need our true Perth member to do a better review of their other varieties, unless she's presenting me with more =D

Margaret River Chocolate Factory
Cnr Harman's Mill Road and Harman's South Road
Metricup WA 6280
http://www.chocolatefactory.com.au/

the weekly indulgence

Searched through my photo collections and found this shot- however, I am currently drinking it while typing this post. I possibly have drank this countless times (a weekly calorie intake and I do not remember when it started), I can't be bothered to snap every single bottle I drink.

'Discovered' Pirramimma's wines late last year, it must have been just my bad. I have always been a fan of D'arenberg and stayed loyal. However, Pirramimma was rated a 5-star winery by James Halliday in the Australian Wine Companion 2011. Alike many other McLaren Vale wines, we could taste the chocolate in it. I do love the fruitiness in this bottle. So I have just read, this collection is bottled late Oct 2010 and is ready to enjoy or kept to develop for another few years.

I have officially added Pirramimma on my list of McLaren Vale's wineries, but my personal favourite of theirs is the Petit Verdot. Enough said, that quote has just told you how much I enjoy their wines.

Cookies & Cream? No, it's Cookies & Cadbury...

The Limited Edition Cadbury Cookies

When Mich told me about the new limited edition Cadbury chocolate was on the shelves of the confectionery aisles, I was ecstatic. With my sweet tooth, I totally adore cookies and cream, chocolate, or, even better, a combination of both. Sure enough, within a week of its debut, I guiltily purchased the purple block of Cadbury Cookies.

The 'cookie' pieces in the bar and evidence of my guilty pleasure

Honestly, I was expecting bits of Oreo cookies covered in Cadbury's finest milk chocolate. Well, I was wrong, wasn't I? Its cookies looked like white Rice Puffs and dark Coco Puffs, but only crunchier with slight saltiness to complement the chocolate. And my verdict? Apart from leaving finger prints on the melting pieces, I think it was a good treat. However, if you are expecting it to taste like cookies, you will be in for disappointment.

You have been forewarned.