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Mid-Winter Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #14
9 years ago
Greetings journal-readers.
As the title indicates, today marks the middle of winter which seems as good a reason as any to celebrate with a journal - that and the fact that's I've not yet posted anything this week in accordance with my New Year's resolution! (Please see below, however)
Actually, thanks to El-Nino, it's not been much of a winter here in SE Ontario. There's no snow, little ice, and day-time temperatures have barely dipped below below -10c though there have been warnings that the latter-half of the season will be a bit worse. Actually, that sounds like I'm complaining when really I'm just kinda wondering how we'll tell when spring weather does arrive?
As for myself, I'm doing well and continuing to make slow, but steady progress with my health issues. I am, admittedly 1 week behind on my New Year resolution, but feel quite confident that I can catch up as I have a number of very exciting picture/story ideas in the works and the only thing really keeping me from working on them is a desire to improve my artistic talents a bit before tackling them. To this end, I will be trying to post a few Doodle Sheets soon in the hopes of securing criticism that I can then incorporate into my drawing style!
Unfortunately, as there are some family-related things coming up this weekend, I'm not yet sure when I'll actually be able to get around to making those doodle sheets, but they don't generally take too much time so I'm cautiously optimistic of getting a few posted by the middle of next week...
Well, that's it for today, I think. Thanks again for reading my journal! *huggles tight*
Kaffre talks Candy #14
Name: Fudge
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 25.5 gram bar
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Fudge consists of a small half-cylinder of fudge covered in a layer of milk chocolate.
Opinion: A product I've never heard of, but was being sold at the counter as an 'impulse' item and is apparently marketed toward small children. Despite its small size, this bar does manage to provide a fairly unique taste experience with the fudge and chocolate blending to provide a warm, but sweet flavour. Interestingly, the fudge itself was too light in colouration to have been chocolate, but I was unable to discern its flavour. Overall, a yummy snack I'll probably buy gain from time to time, but one it's too small and too hard to find here for me to even consider it as a regular purchase.
Name: Liquorice Toffee
Manufacturer: Walker's Nonsuch
Size: 100 gram tray
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Liquorice Toffee consists of 10 pieces of hard black liquorice-flavoured pieces of toffee moulded together in two rows of five. The upper row had the word 'enjoy' to the surface and the whole thing is set in a flimsy plastic tray with instructions to "whack, unwrap, and enjoy".
Opinion: While I do believe I've seen this product before, this is my first time actually trying it. My attempt to eat it got off to an ignominious start when, unable to determine which side was the 'bottom' and ungifted in terms of upper-body strength, I destroyed the tray with three or four solid 'whacks' with the result that some of the toffee was all but pulverized with the opposite end was a huge solid mass. None of this can reasonably be considered the manufacturer's fault, however. The toffee itself was stiff, but very chewy with a rather mellow licorice flavour that was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, while I like both toffee and licorice, this serving is just a bit too much for me to enjoy in a single sitting and while it would probably keep OK for a few days, it's just not really practical for me unless I've someone to share with.
Name: McVitie's Hobnobs
Manufacturer: United Biscuit
Size: 300 grams in 20 cookies.
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Hobnobs consist of flat oatmeal-type cookies.
Opinion: A product I'd heard of, but didn't know any details about when I saw a pack for 50% off and grabbed it up. Unfortunately, it's too long since I've had oatmeal cookies for me to really compare these cookies to other brands, but evaluated on their own merits, the cookies offer a nice texture giving a hearty crunch, but also being nice and chewy. They were a tad dry, but were surprisingly sweet and had a subtle cinnamon flavour to them. Overall, these cookies were pretty tasty, but feel I'd probably have to sample some other types of oatmeal cookies (not my favourite) before I could say whether I'd buy these again and even so, it would be only as an occasional snack.
Name: Oreo, Candy Cane Creme
Manufacturer: Christie Brown & Co.
Size: 303 gram bag in 21 cookies
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Oreo Candy Cane Creme cookies consist of round sandwich cookies with pink peppermint-flavoured frosting between two chocolate-flavoured cookie pieces.
Opinion: A special holiday edition I found in clearance, but decided to review anyway since they could appear again in future (as they did in 2013). While I enjoyed Oreos a lot as a child, I haven't eaten any in a long time so it's a bit difficult to evaluate this variant. First, the cookies appear to have been assembled more haphazardly and with a more generous centre.than I recall. Also, while these cookies do deliver a nice minty flavour, the overall effect is quite disimilar to the Mint Oreos that I remember though I can't say exactly what the difference is - perhaps these are a tad sweeter? In any case, while these aren't available year round, but I found them quite good and will probably grab a bag next time I see them or perhaps a snap up the regular mint variety next time...
Name: Vimto Fizzy
Manufacturer: Nichols PLC
Size: 330mL can
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Vimto consists of a red-coloured carbonated beverage flavoured with a blend of fruit juices, malted barley, and herbs.
Opinion: A product I'd only vaguely heard of decided to grab on a whim. The can was very heavily carbonated and not overly sweet with a nice, but rather nondescript fruit flavour (the can cites blackcurrant, grape, and raspberry among other flavourings). Actually, apart from the carbonation, this item doesn't really taste much different than a run of the mill fruit cocktail. Therefore, despite actually finding this product to be quite tasty, I don't actually think I'll be buying it again though I might, perhaps, consider one of its many variants.
As the title indicates, today marks the middle of winter which seems as good a reason as any to celebrate with a journal - that and the fact that's I've not yet posted anything this week in accordance with my New Year's resolution! (Please see below, however)
Actually, thanks to El-Nino, it's not been much of a winter here in SE Ontario. There's no snow, little ice, and day-time temperatures have barely dipped below below -10c though there have been warnings that the latter-half of the season will be a bit worse. Actually, that sounds like I'm complaining when really I'm just kinda wondering how we'll tell when spring weather does arrive?
As for myself, I'm doing well and continuing to make slow, but steady progress with my health issues. I am, admittedly 1 week behind on my New Year resolution, but feel quite confident that I can catch up as I have a number of very exciting picture/story ideas in the works and the only thing really keeping me from working on them is a desire to improve my artistic talents a bit before tackling them. To this end, I will be trying to post a few Doodle Sheets soon in the hopes of securing criticism that I can then incorporate into my drawing style!
Unfortunately, as there are some family-related things coming up this weekend, I'm not yet sure when I'll actually be able to get around to making those doodle sheets, but they don't generally take too much time so I'm cautiously optimistic of getting a few posted by the middle of next week...
Well, that's it for today, I think. Thanks again for reading my journal! *huggles tight*
Kaffre talks Candy #14
Name: Fudge
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 25.5 gram bar
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Fudge consists of a small half-cylinder of fudge covered in a layer of milk chocolate.
Opinion: A product I've never heard of, but was being sold at the counter as an 'impulse' item and is apparently marketed toward small children. Despite its small size, this bar does manage to provide a fairly unique taste experience with the fudge and chocolate blending to provide a warm, but sweet flavour. Interestingly, the fudge itself was too light in colouration to have been chocolate, but I was unable to discern its flavour. Overall, a yummy snack I'll probably buy gain from time to time, but one it's too small and too hard to find here for me to even consider it as a regular purchase.
Name: Liquorice Toffee
Manufacturer: Walker's Nonsuch
Size: 100 gram tray
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Liquorice Toffee consists of 10 pieces of hard black liquorice-flavoured pieces of toffee moulded together in two rows of five. The upper row had the word 'enjoy' to the surface and the whole thing is set in a flimsy plastic tray with instructions to "whack, unwrap, and enjoy".
Opinion: While I do believe I've seen this product before, this is my first time actually trying it. My attempt to eat it got off to an ignominious start when, unable to determine which side was the 'bottom' and ungifted in terms of upper-body strength, I destroyed the tray with three or four solid 'whacks' with the result that some of the toffee was all but pulverized with the opposite end was a huge solid mass. None of this can reasonably be considered the manufacturer's fault, however. The toffee itself was stiff, but very chewy with a rather mellow licorice flavour that was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, while I like both toffee and licorice, this serving is just a bit too much for me to enjoy in a single sitting and while it would probably keep OK for a few days, it's just not really practical for me unless I've someone to share with.
Name: McVitie's Hobnobs
Manufacturer: United Biscuit
Size: 300 grams in 20 cookies.
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Hobnobs consist of flat oatmeal-type cookies.
Opinion: A product I'd heard of, but didn't know any details about when I saw a pack for 50% off and grabbed it up. Unfortunately, it's too long since I've had oatmeal cookies for me to really compare these cookies to other brands, but evaluated on their own merits, the cookies offer a nice texture giving a hearty crunch, but also being nice and chewy. They were a tad dry, but were surprisingly sweet and had a subtle cinnamon flavour to them. Overall, these cookies were pretty tasty, but feel I'd probably have to sample some other types of oatmeal cookies (not my favourite) before I could say whether I'd buy these again and even so, it would be only as an occasional snack.
Name: Oreo, Candy Cane Creme
Manufacturer: Christie Brown & Co.
Size: 303 gram bag in 21 cookies
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Oreo Candy Cane Creme cookies consist of round sandwich cookies with pink peppermint-flavoured frosting between two chocolate-flavoured cookie pieces.
Opinion: A special holiday edition I found in clearance, but decided to review anyway since they could appear again in future (as they did in 2013). While I enjoyed Oreos a lot as a child, I haven't eaten any in a long time so it's a bit difficult to evaluate this variant. First, the cookies appear to have been assembled more haphazardly and with a more generous centre.than I recall. Also, while these cookies do deliver a nice minty flavour, the overall effect is quite disimilar to the Mint Oreos that I remember though I can't say exactly what the difference is - perhaps these are a tad sweeter? In any case, while these aren't available year round, but I found them quite good and will probably grab a bag next time I see them or perhaps a snap up the regular mint variety next time...
Name: Vimto Fizzy
Manufacturer: Nichols PLC
Size: 330mL can
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Vimto consists of a red-coloured carbonated beverage flavoured with a blend of fruit juices, malted barley, and herbs.
Opinion: A product I'd only vaguely heard of decided to grab on a whim. The can was very heavily carbonated and not overly sweet with a nice, but rather nondescript fruit flavour (the can cites blackcurrant, grape, and raspberry among other flavourings). Actually, apart from the carbonation, this item doesn't really taste much different than a run of the mill fruit cocktail. Therefore, despite actually finding this product to be quite tasty, I don't actually think I'll be buying it again though I might, perhaps, consider one of its many variants.
Anyhoo, I consider us pretty much equal in skill when it comes to art, but if you want critique I can try to come up with something constructive if/when you post some doodles up.
I appreciate the compliment of my artistic ability, but feel they may have degraded somewhat from lack of use. I think I have a pretty good handle on the most egregious problems, but a fresh set of eyes is always appreciated!