A Nerds Gummy Cluster taste test - 6 unique flavors - Rainbow, Grape Strawberry Blitz, Very Berry, Berry Punch Rush, Spooky, and Frosty

A few years ago, the family decided to do a giant Fruity Candy taste test to determine our very favorite fruit candy treat. We tasted 17 unique items with 53 different flavors to come up with our favorite. The winner of that taste test, with 44% of the overall votes, went to Nerds Gummy Clusters! Who doesn't love those tiny tangy and tart candies. 

Well did you know that there are more than just 1 flavor of Nerds Gummy Clusters? After collecting a few versions over a couple months, I finally had enough to have a taste test with 6 different kinds of Nerds Gummy Clusters! 

In our test today we'll try Very Berry, Rainbow, Berry Punch Rush, Frosty (Christmas), Grape Strawberry Blitz, and Spooky (Halloween). 

Barebells Protein Bar taste test - 2023/05/22

It's a new year and it's time to get healthy! When you can't get in a healthy meal, why not substitute a meal replacement protein bar! These bars from Barebells have 200 calories and 20 grams of protein each! Barebells makes quite a few different flavors, so we figured we'd buy a whole bunch of them and see which would be our new favorites. 

Today we will be trying six different flavors of Barebells Protein Bars. 

Barebells Chocolate Dough, Barebells Cookies & Cream, Barebells Salty Peanut, Barebells Caramel Cashew, Barebells Creamy Crisp, Barebells White Chocolate Almond

Queen Anne Cordial Cherry taste test - all 6 flavors!

It wouldn't be a family get together if we didn't have some big taste test together, now would it? 

A few weeks before Christmas, Patrick let me know that he'd found something that showed potential as a group taste test. Cordial Cherries! There's so many different flavors now! I'm in! Whenever there's a box of mixed chocolates, I'm always looking for the one that looks like a chocolate covered cherry. 

There's 6 exciting flavors to try! Classic Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with Coconut flavor, Cherry Cola, French Vanilla, and Blueberry. Blueberry?!? What are you doing here Blueberry, this is a Cherry taste test! Hmm, you complete the set huh? That's all the Cordial products that Queen Anne makes. I suppose we'll allow it. 

A Washington Family Christmas Visit - 2024/12/23-29

Well everyone made it to Washington safe and sound! We're all together at my brother and his wife's house in Washington to celebrate Christmas and hang out together. 

Getting to Washington for Christmas! - 2024/12/22

We've had a lot of fun in Michigan celebrating Ethan and his graduation from college, but this season it's supposed to be Christmas with my family, so we've got to get going! 

Peppermint Candy Cane Peeps and Brachs Candy Cane Taste Test Comparison

Time for more holiday treats! This time it's from the makers of all those Easter marshmallows, Peeps! For Christmas, they have come out with Candy Cane Peeps 

Alli and Ian bought these for me and said that we should do a taste test. I agree! 

We have tasted a whole bunch of different Peeps flavors, and even had a 9 flavor Peep face-off! There was even one time when we tried Peppermint Bark Peeps, which sounds similar, but they were actually dipped in Chocolate! 

But these Peeps we're trying today are Candy Cane Peeps. I love the packaging with its red and white stripes. We all think it's pretty hilarious that they can't seem to put the eyes in the proper place on the Peeps. These ones all seem to be looking to one side (or have an "eye" on the top of their heads). 

Joe - They're all leaning to one side, like a dog going "huh?"

For our comparison today you've got to go with the delicious Brach's candy cane. I know there's lots of different candy cane makers out there, including Spangler, but we think Brach's makes the best hard candy.  

Holiday Challenge - Making Peppermint Butter Mints

Happy Holidays! Every year since 2014 I've challenged myself to do something creative and make something I've never done before for the holiday season. 

It started when my friend Ariel shared Disneyland's recipe for Gingerbread Cookies, and I thought to myself "I've never made homemade gingerbread. I should try it!" Since then, I've been making different treats every holiday season that I've never attempted before! Things like Homemade Candy Canes (2015), Fudge (2016), Peppermint Marshmallows (2017), Figgy Pudding (2018), Eggnog (2019), A Holiday Yule Log (2020), English Toffee (2021), and Pepperidge Farm Cookies (2022). In 2023, I branched out and instead of making something to eat, I made something to wear. With some help from my mother, I learned how to sew a Santa Hat (2023), so I made a few for me and even more for the rest of the family.

This year, we're back to the tasty treats. While I was pondering what I would attempt this year, my Facebook feed must have known what I was thinking about, and showed me recipes for butter mints. Hmm. I know some butter mints are peppermint flavored, and my Dad loves (and seeks out) the soft peppermint candies.