Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme

[photo courtesy http://www.productwiki.com/hershey-s-cookies-n-creme/]

November 6, 2010
Right now I am seriously addicted to these!
I bought two bags on clearance after Halloween, which does not help my problem. :)

I wasn't a fan a few years ago.
Until Zach--it's HIS fault ;)--bought me some Cookies 'n' Creme Kisses for my Easter basket, which was themed blue, my favorite of the colors offered (pink, yellow, green, orange, and blue) that also had the best candies (Hello, blue Russell Stover's white chocolate bunny!). Walmart started separating their Easter goodies into colors, and these were the Kisses in the blue wrappers that year.

See, I had avoided them previously because they reminded me of Oreos, which I DO like.
But I only like the cookie part.

I usually end up scraping the cream off. I either begin by scraping the cream off before I get tired of the work and just eat it, too...or I begin eating the cookies whole, get tired of the cream, and scrape it off.
I know this will set off some kind of controversy. People are very passionate about their Oreo cream.

I know, I know, white "chocolate" is nothing like the Oreo cream. Well...sometimes white chocolate has that shortening taste, but that depends on the white chocolate you buy.

I used to get the Kroger white chocolate chips, which had that oily taste of shortening. (I don't think they make them anymore, and I know why, but it still saddens me because white chips are hard to find, and I still liked those poor quality Kroger white chocolate chips in the red bag.)
I LOVE white chocolate.

Anyway, long story short, when I no longer had any caramel Cadbury eggs left and had eaten my bunny ears first that Easter, I turned to the Cookies 'n' Creme Kisses and got hooked.

I love that I can just have the cookie part of the Oreos.
(This is why I also love the 100-calorie pack of Oreos because it's just the cookie part. :)

[Side note: sometimes I want to spell "cookie" "cooky" to be kooky.]

But these are not so great for a headache.* Or a tummy ache. My husband scolded me and then offered me a sandwich. He's nice. I like him.


*Strangely, dark chocolate sometimes helps my headaches. Obviously this is not dark chocolate, and I had a sinus headache, rather than a regular one, but I needed something to rationalize my poor behavior.

Chocolate Love: Just 2 of My Favorites

[photo courtesy http://jenniesaysrelax.com/?tag=mass-media]

June 16, 2010

I finally broke into my second and last candy bar from my birthday basket Zach gave me. :)
(I devoured the white chocolate one ages ago. Well, "devour" is not the appropriate word. I had enough restraint to eat tiny pieces here and there over a number of days--my plan with this one, too.)

This is so so so good.
One of my favorites. It's up there with the Milky Way (regular and Midnight), the Crunchie, and any white chocolate bar (including cookies and cream, although I could do without the cookies).
That reminds me that I STILL haven't tried Milky Way Simply Caramel. Unbelievable.

Anyway, Monica and I picked up our first Chocolove bars during my senior year at Whole Foods (formerly Wild Oats, which was a much better name if you ask me). I later bought the Ginger Crystallized in Dark Chocolate and kept it in my desk in Dr. Fowler's office for ages; for some reason, I was too scared to eat it. I fretted I wouldn't like it, and, as I felt the same way about the Green Tea Kit-Kat's Zach brought back from Japan on his China trip and was proven correct i.e. Green Tea Kit-Kat's = ICK, I think my caution was justified. Although I believe it has since expired, I still have that ginger chocolate bar. Nuts I am.

On that first trip, I think Monica got the Raspberries in Dark Chocolate and shared with Rose and Emily who LOVE raspberries and chocolate. My best friends in high school largely disliked chocolate, so I was blessed to find like-minded individuals at UCA. Score! :)

There are many reasons this is one of my favorites:
1) I LOVE dark chocolate.
2) I LOVE the orange peel. I once made rustic biscotti with orange zest and cornmeal, and those twice-baked biscuits were so so so good. I love the texture the peel adds to the chocolate. I tend to let it melt in my mouth until the peel is exposed, and then I savor the subtle orange flavor the zest provides.
3) I LOVE that this chocolate bar includes poetry! Hello, Food Heaven for English Majors! Zach and I would sell these puppies at our Literary Bakery. Monica and I collected our wrappers when we lived together and posted them on the refrigerator.

[http://eatnvegan.com/?cat=6]

The poem in my birthday orange bar is by none other than Billy Shakes! I present you with SONNET 20:"A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,
Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting glance as is false women's fashion;An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created,
Till Nature as she wrought thee fell a-doting,
And by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she pricked thee out for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure."

Granted, this appears to be from the "Fair Youth" group, but I'll take it! Now if only we can make it to Conway for the Shakespeare Theatre!

[http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/2009/11/friday_weird_science_oxytocin_1.php]

Dublin Mudslide is my FAV-O-RITE.
I mean, how can you not love "Irish Cream Liqueur Ice Cream with Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Coffee Fudge Swirl?"
And it is the perfect (and, might I add, long-awaited) reward for reaching a very difficult goal--learning to swim! Now, I can't exactly swim very far, but I did swim some on my own, and Zach agreed with me I had earned the treat I was saving. *lol* :)

[photo courtesy http://www.kosmonutzrattery.com/kosmonutz/AnyaAngelusLitterpage.html]

P.S. I just had to put this picture, although it is low quality. Some rat breeders decided to be clever and name their litter after Ben and Jerry's flavors. But how could no one want Dublin Mudslide?!