Tarall'Oro Spaghetti with Tomato

 Tarall'Oro Spaghetti with Tomato has an odd texture but for the most part tastes the same as spaghetti. That doesn't mean that your dining experience will not improve with this. Mouth feel is very important when it comes to food. 

Solid product, tastes good, would buy again. 
 

Pop Tarts Frosted S'Mores

 

Pop Tarts Frosted S'Mores are another in the disappointments that are Pop Tarts. Pop Tarts linger in my thoughts as I drink my coffee and think of how I must be so lonely a person to be eating these. 

Should real food even be that shape? I mean, if they were some army ration it would make a lot more sense. 

Then they go and make a s'more flavor and you ask, can they be as good as the real thing? No, they can't. They can't bring me to the warmth of a campfire with friends laying and telling jokes.   

Pop Tarts are some food that belongs in a bunker, and they will disappoint. Have a real meal. 

Signature Select Ginger Beer

 

Signature Select Ginger Beer is one of the stronger of its kind that will burn your mouth if you drink it. This is sure has can be a sipping Ginger Beer that will make one strong cocktail. It will wake you up for sure. 

With New Year's right around the bend you may want to have some of this around to deal with your over eating and give you a kick to have you make it to midnight. 

This is some strong stuff at a good price. I say this is a buy. 

454 Horse Power Kicking Horse Coffee

 I bet you could use some coffee about now. Me too, me three even. So 454 Horse Power Kicking Horse Coffee will do the job. It tastes good enough for me to drink black and has the caffeine I need to make it through the night. I work at night so coffee is an old friend of mine. 

I have to say this is some solid stuff. Not what I normally buy, but solid. 

Lofthouse Hot Cocoa Cookies

 Lofthouse Hot Cocoa Cookies are flavorless disks topped with cheap icing. I have never been more happy to give away cookies in my life than when I handed the second pack of these to a drunk friend just before leaving for work.  

I guess if you had them with hot chocolate they would be better but then you would need to make sure you had good hot chocolate.

Limited Edition A ‘Christmas Miracle’ Golden Angel Cat Artisan Tree Topper

 With it's sparkly pipe cleaner hallow and little kitty face the Limited Edition A ‘Christmas Miracle’ Golden Angel Cat Artisan Tree Topper isn't something I honestly wanted. In fact of all the things from the iheartcats or the iheartdogs charity for that matter, I didn't see one chanukah ornament. 

We Jews love animals as much as anyone else. 

So why did I get this little fellow if I don't have a tree to put it on? Because buying this puts food in the bellies of poor homeless cats, that's why, and if I could I would save them all. 

At some point I got an email saying I paid for eighteen hundred and sixty meals for shelter cats through my donations at iheartcats. So, no, this thing doesn't tickle me, but I get a kick out of owning it.

Mountain Dew Gingerbread Snap'd Soda

 Mountain Dew Gingerbread Snap'd Soda ain't all that Snap'd. I mean, this tastes like ginger, kind of, with just a little bit of cinnamon. The truth is that this sugar water isn't going to snap you to attention. It's also not going to cover up the stronger, and by stronger I mean cheaper, vodkas that most of you are going to drink this season. 

I wouldn't cal it bad, I wouldn't call it good, but I would trade it for a good old Canada Dry.

Hostess Mint Chocolate Twinkies

 I got the last box of Hostess Mint Chocolate Twinkies at the Smart and Final last year. I know I passed these up a few times, because I never did understand Twinkies. 

I can tell you that where as I don't think they rot they do get old and lose their flavor. 

With a good cup of coffee these are okay. I wouldn't call them great but rather just okay. The chocolate flavor is dominant and the moist nature of the Twinkies come clear, but the mint is mostly a smell.  

Honestly, these are fine but i wouldn't get them again because I'm a disgusting blob of a man and Twinkies aren't good for me. The only problem is that the better something tastes the worse it tends to be for me. Almost every sweet thing is not worth the life of a fat man.

Zooey the Hipster Cat Ornament

Zooey is a Hipster Cat Ornament from iheartcats and adopting him or anything from that website means feeding cats which is why I got him. I have to admit that this thing is kind of cool. I mean, being a big fat dude who loves books having a cat with a book is my kind of thing. 

I don't think they still sell these, but I'm glad I have one. 

 

Brach's Mini Brite Candy Canes

 Brach's Mini Brite Candy Canes are great for adding color to your gingerbread house. they are otherwise chewy. The colors do appear to be different flavors so they add some variety to the mix, but they don't taste like candy canes so the shape is what makes them Christmas. 

To be fully honest, I only got these because I knew they would make the trip from Los Angeles to Mexico where they will be given to an orphanage. I'm sure the orphans will love these candy canes. Me, I can take them or leave them and I should leave them because I'm fat.

Modern Gourmet Ho What Fun Feel the Joy Lemon Drop

Modern Gourmet Ho What Fun Feel the Joy Lemon Drop is one of those drinks you can't really make when you're too drunk. The cap won't come off. 

If you never had a lemon drop before and want to know what they're like then these are okay. Otherwise they just look cool but once you make them they are just underwhelming.  

Christmas along with three drinks doesn't sound like a good time to me, but if it does to you these are a buy. 
 

Fentimans Curiosity Cola

Fentimans Curiosity Cola lives up to its name with a flavor of ginger. It is not a smooth as other colas and some people drink it with lime or so their advertising tells me. 

This is an odd enough flavor to make it interesting.  Admittedly this flavor will not be for everyone but if you come across it and you want something to go with your Whiskey this is a good thing to try.
 

Jingles of the Warm Hearts Full Bellies Collection

 Over at iheartcats or iheartdogs you can adopt Jingles here who is a member of the Warm Hearts Full Bellies collection. He sports a little red hat with a red and white scarf that has, if you didn't guess, a bell. His little tag reads: 

    "When I was born, my momma gave me a jingle bell. I still have         it. She said that every time I heard a bell ring a cat was rescued. I     rang this bell so much. But I never thought it would happen for         me. Well, it finally did. You made it happen. So every time you         hear my bell, smile and know that another lonely cat has found its     furever home"

I know that should be 'forever' but cats are notoriously bad spellers. 

In any case, if you want to adopt a little bundle of joy that won't poop all over your carpet then this is the bundle. Every one of them that is sold means that more shelter cats get fed. 

As for me, well, as a Jew there being even one child going hungry is intolerable to me and that goes for humans and fur babies alike. 

Let's Get Merry Holiday Cocktail Mixers Jingle My Balls Cotton Candy

 Let's Get Merry Holiday Cocktail Mixers Jingle My Balls Cotton Candy is a flavor of of cocktail mixer that comes in a three pack for lonely people who will be getting drunk on their own. Why would you have a holiday pack with only one of each flavor? Who drinks alone on holidays but gets a mixer for themself?

In any case, it tastes okay but not great. I'd skip this one.

Chobani Oat Milk, Oat Nog Flavored

 Chobani Oat Milk, Oat Nog Flavored isn't all that flavored. It is creamy like real milk and is good at cooling my coffee. I had it without adding sugar, but I would have never thought it was Nog flavored. 

Then again, most Nog needs more flavor so it could be that's how it should taste. 

Swiss Miss Caramel Hot Cocoa Mix

 Swiss Miss Caramel Hot Cocoa Mix is like a warm holiday hug. Ah, this was smooth and relaxing. I felt like I could have just sad down with a good book and gone to sleep. 

Then again, with only eight Oz's of the stuff in my glass I guess the feeling didn't last long, but it was so good while it lasted.

Jangle the Happy Heart Cat

Jangle here is part of the Happy Hearts Full Bellies collection and he is something you buy from iheartcats.com to help feed shelter cats during the Holiday Season. These things are fun to put on your Christmas tree. I don't have a Christmas tree but I still feel these things are good to have around. They bring a smile to my face. 

 
 

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites Egg Nog

 

Pop a few Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites Egg Nog in your mouth, and the flavor of nutmeg will bring you back to the memories of Christmas and the good creamy egg nog from time past. 

I have to say as jelly beans go these are the good ones. Right on the money, Jelly Belly, now stop making me fat.

Peppermint Christmas Candy Canes by Wondershop at Target

 You can see that my cat loves Peppermint Christmas Candy Canes by Wondershop at Target. They taste like I would expect peppermint candy to taste like being stronger than normal mint. So these things are an essential part of the holiday season.

These things are part of the spirit so I say get them. Me, I don't need a box of candy canes so I'm shipping them off to an orphanage in Mexico. 

Swiss Miss Peppermint Flavor Hot Cocoa Mix

 Swiss Miss Peppermint Flavor Hot Cocoa Mix has the right amount of peppermint to make it a relaxing drink on a cold day, and cold is often in short supply in southern California. You really need to saver these sorts of things before climate change makes them a thing of the past.  

This is the kind of cocoa that invites you to take a moment out of your life to stop and relax. I have to say it's a good thing. 

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites Hot Chocolate Jelly Beans

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites Hot Chocolate Jelly Beans are right on the money for hot chocolate. I still don't get the appeal here. I mean, you can have these or just have hot chocolate which would warm you up if global warming didn't do that for you. 

All and all, I would say these do what they should which is taste like hot chocolate. I think these are fine. They're not wonderful, just fine.
 

Southern Comfort Traditional Egg Nog

 Southern Comfort Traditional Egg Nog has no Southern Comfort in it at all. So those of you who can't drink can still drink this stuff. This is a thick product that will slow your digestion and keep the booze out of your blood. 

Not bad, not great, it just kind of is.

Let's Get Elfed Up Apple Martini Mixer

The 'Let's Get Elfed Up Apple Martini Mixer by the Modern Gourmet comes in the 'Let's Get Merry' set and will not get you all that elfed up.  The set implies that you're getting three drinks to have alone and where as they are hard to open they are harder to drink. 

This doesn't taste good and will only serve to make the very worst vodka easier to get down. What a fail. 
 

Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Flavor

 Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Flavor is rather smooth and rich if you use the right amount of water. It's a soothing hot chocolate perfect for the cold days ahead. 

That is to say, if global warming doesn't kill us all first. 

Brach's Red Hots Cinnamon Flavored Candy Canes

 Brach's Red Hots Cinnamon Flavored Candy Canes taste just like Red Hots and get stuck in your teeth. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Red Hots, but I figure if you like your candy hot these will do the job. 

It is a stronger flavor than real cinnamon, but then what is real now days?

Modern Gourmet Let's Get Marry Ho Ho Ho Strawberry Daiquiri

 This Strawberry Daiquiri by the Modern Gourmet is not that great. I think they would be better out of a blender. They don't get cold fast and will need to sit with the ice for a bit before you drink them. Past that they are smooth and appealing.

 The overall idea of loneliness associated with this drink bothers me. I mean, you get three drink mixes in this tube and so you need to buy more than one to share the fun. Holidays are for friends, not that I have many, and so this solitary drinking mix is kind of an odd bird. 

 Drink responsibly, kids, and try not to drink alone. 

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites Candy Cane Jelly Beans

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites Candy Cane Jelly Beans are peppermint flavored. The difference between mint and peppermint is that peppermint is the stronger of the two.

Are all candy canes peppermint? No, but a good many of them are and so you have to admit that this is okay. I don't know if I want peppermint jelly beans, but then being large enough to be mistaken for a wall every now and then I guess I shouldn't have jelly beans at all.
 

Peppermint of the Warm Hearts Full Bellies Collection

 Peppermint of the Warm Hearts Full Bellies Collection came home to stay with me last year at Christmas, but I'm sure you can still get your own at iheartcats or iheartdogs. Sporting a little Santa hat and a candy cane inspired bow with a present already in hand this little thing is ready to spread some holiday cheer. The tag that comes with him reads:

"I never thought I'd have a family to love me. You've made me the happiest cat ever! I just want to purr and rub against your leg. I will never forget this Christmas for its' the first time I've ever spent it in a furever home and not in a cage. And in case you didn't notice, I'm already dressed for the party, Can we get candy canes? Oh, the memories we'll make together."

I guess a "furever" home is a home forever for a cat. Well, my fur babies are happy and safe.

Anyway, buying this cat means putting food in the bellies of shelter animals and where as I can't save them all, I can sure as hell try.