Wednesday, December 14, 2016




With the Holidays around the corner, folks are looking for stocking stuffers, impressive small gifts, and making gift baskets. One of the common things you will find when it comes to that, is chocolates. There are a dazzling array of chocolatiers and small batch candy makers vying for your attention. One that I found in my local Wegmans was this brand, Chuao, and they have a lot of interesting flavors that you're not going to find everywhere.

This particular bar, is a milk chocolate bar that has cinnamon toast crunch style cereal in it. Much like the candy bars with the rice krispy bits in it, there is a delightful crunch with these, only it has a bit of sweetened cinnamon. I would think that it might be a slightly more bitter chocolate, but this bar is a good mix of milk and slightly more bitter dark chocolate. It is smooth at the beginning with a slightly stronger finish. With most chocolates, the cinnamon would be used so much more as a spice to add bite, but it's so different with the cereal pieces.

This is a nice little bar for someone who wants to be somewhat adventurous with their tastes but not step out there too far.

Rating: 3/5

Sunday, December 11, 2016



 Shopping in Safeway I saw a tidy little display of this Granola product in the front of the store in the area where I rarely shop unless I'm trying to find something they don't have on the shelf. I was drawn in by some Planter's nut mix but I was drawn to this nice and neat little pouch. There were three flavors I saw, Cookies and Dreams, Peanut Butter Graham Slam, and my choice, Jammin' Strawberry Shortbread.

So I decided on the Strawberry Shortbread flavor because it was different, yet not too out there where I thought I might not like the flavors. Also, I wasn't in the mood for the chocolate cream cookies and reading the package, it seemed as if these fit the bill and idea behind the brand. Looking at the idea of it being a softer granola that my daughter who is currently in braces might want to try also was a strong reason for me to try these. I gave her some but she didn't actually want to taste it, it was fine I almost devoured the entire thing by myself anyway.



Woats Granola is indeed, soft baked which I like. I'm a fan of soft baked cookies for instance and the problem I have with a lot of granola is that it is time consuming to

chew and it's hard and tiring. I was hopeful that this wouldn't be too chewy where it becomes work. It wasn't. This is some of the easiest granola to snack on, which could be to your detriment when looking at serving sizes, and possibly your bank account. There aren't too many of any one portion from what i tried, good balance of berries, granola, and yes shortbread pieces. The one thing I think it could use however, is a sprinkle of salt for contrast. The berries do provide bursts of flavor at times, but maybe there could be a few smaller pieces sprinkle in as well.

I feel like this is a specific product that not everyone will like because it is intentionally made soft. However for me that is the great appeal. It retains it's fresh taste and has a great consistency while not giving your jaw a work out. This is a product that I will be buying in the future I just enjoy it so much.


Rating: 5/5