Magnum Ice Cream Bars

Well well well, I guess it's time that I posted something up on here. I decided to bust my FGFB cherry by talking to you my friends, about a subject near and dear to my struggling, oversized heart, ice cream. Much like the brand of condoms I wear, Magnum, this brand of ice cream bars had me when i first saw their beautifully designed box.

The package design immediately made me think of the ever so incredible world of Dove chocolate.

much UNLIKE the body part that goes into the brand of condoms that this ice cream is named after, I was slightly disappointed with the size of the ice cream bar in my hand, but still, the anticipation of a smooth dark chocolate outer shell and rich vanilla bean filling made me quickly dismiss the lackluster size of the bar.

reservoir tip

Biting into the Magnum Dark's brittle outer shell and taking a mouthful of the virgin white vanilla bean ice cream was anything but stellar. As basic as a dark chocolate ice cream bar is, Magums packaging decieved me into thinking this was the Cadillac of ice cream bars, but in all actuality, it's more like my 1991 Cutlas Ciera that gets me where I need to go, but thats about it. Flavor wise the dark chocolate wasn't bad, but in no way harkened back to the Dove Dark chocolate that I fondly remember. The Vanilla Bean middle only served up a splash of vanilla flavor, not good, not bad. Overall, a very mediocre experience. I won't get these ever again, but i give the design boys credit, They got me.

New Ruffles flavors in a three way dance. Who wins???

So Ruffles have decided to step it up and release some crazy new flavors. If there's one thing fat guys enjoy, it's new flavors of anything. Even if they end up being disgusting, we get excited when we see them in the store. So when I happened upon MOLTEN HOT WING RUFFLES, I was pretty pumped. But the next day someone told me that LOADED CHILI & CHEESE Ruffles existed, so I went on a search for them. A week after that, I hear through the grapevine that LEGENDARY PHILLY CHEESESTEAK RUFFLES are now on the shelves. So I ventured out for those too. What does that leave us with? Three new flavors. Let's pit them against each other in a battle to the death. A chip cage match, if you will. Three will enter. One will leave. Let us begin.

First off we have MOLTEN HOT WINGS: 

Simply put, these chips are fantastic. Tangy and spicy, but not TOO spicy. If you eat a ton of them you will feel the burn for sure, but otherwise even the biggest of wimps will be able to enjoy these.

There is definitely another flavor that sets them aside. It's hard to explain but they really do taste like you're eating some kind of buffalo chicken. I don't really want to say that it's a chicken flavor, because that sounds kind of gross. Let's just say that their flavor is interesting and is hard to resist.

Bottom line? These chips are great. The first night we opened a bag at a gathering the entire bag got polished off in no time. Molten Hot Wings Ruffles put on a powerful performance that the next two contestants will have a hard time following up.

NEXT UP...LOADED CHILI & CHEESE:

These chips boast that they have the flavor of Chili & Cheese...and I guess they do, but the downside to that is that it's generic chili taste...

Think of every time you've ever had some cheap taco mix or anything of the sort where it comes with that packet of chili powder. That's all these chips taste like. There might be a hint of cheese in there but that blunt chili taste is so overwhelming that I found myself quite done with this bag of chips after about a handful.

Bottom Line: If generic chili flavor is your favorite thing in the world then scoop these bad boys up before they are gone, because I imagine we won't be seeing them for long, because ladies and gents...they are not good.

Our third and final entry into this grudge match... LEGENDARY PHILLY CHEESESTEAK! 

These chips had me so excited that when I finally had them in my hands I wanted to cheer and run to the check out lane holding them up above my head. Look at that bag! Check out that Cheesesteak on there! It looks like the best sandwich I've ever seen. Which means these chips should be the best chips ever, right?

Well...they are weird. They are cheesy and you can taste onion...but they are a little strange. I liked them and I feel like the aftertaste at times gave me a flavor that could definitely be described as a cheesesteak but then other times I just kind of stood there with a puzzled look on my face trying to figure out what I was tasting.

Bottom Line: A weird flavor. Sometimes it delivered, other times it was just strange. Not bad and definitely worth a try. They are hard to say no to, because come on, we all want to try chips that are flavored like a damn Steak and Cheese.

The verdict?
Molten Hot Wings came out swinging. Loaded Chili & Cheese never stood a chance and were beaten into submission without much effort. Legendary Philly Cheesesteak put up a fight but in the end our champion stands tall...

MOLTEN HOT WINGS! 

-Rich

3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp bars.

I have been seeing these for a bit in the stores but since the usual 3 Musketeers candy bar does nothing for me, I wasn't excited to try them. But once you start writing for a fat guy food blog, there is an automatic excuse to try any and all things new. So...I did.
And?
Well they aren't that good at all.
They give you two slim bars. Both of which feel so light that a stiff wind could carry them away.

What do they taste like?
Well they taste like someone cut slivers of that Astronaut Ice Cream that you can get in museum gift shops, the freeze dried stuff. Then they take those slivers and put a thin layer of the nougat from a regular 3 Musketeers bar on top, then cover it all in a very light chocolate. So it pretty much disintegrates in your mouth after the initial bites. Crunch, crunch, liquid.

I just didn't find anything satisfying about this. I'm glad I tried it because I strive to try all new and strange snacks, But don't expect to see me around town munching on one of these any time soon.
FGFB Rating: D

KC's Rib Shack: Ever had a burger with Peanut butter as a topping?

A week or so ago the FATGUYFOODBLOG crew hit up KC'S Rib Shack in Manchester, NH.

Why did we go there? Well we found ourselves watching a Phantom Gourmet marathon and during the segment on KC'S, they showed not only its various bbq delicacies but also a few of their more ridiculous menu items- like the burger that has peanut butter on it. Oh, and Maple Bacon ice cream.

Fast forward two hours and we're sitting at a table in the place waiting for our food.

I got the GRACELAND. This is a half pound burger with mayo, onions, bacon and peanut butter. But there was something missing. CHEESE. So I had them throw a slice of cheddar on it and here's what this monstrosity looked like...

It was delicious. Not in that "I'm eating something weird that shouldn't be good but isn't THAT bad so I will say it's really good" way either. It was legitimately good. The actual burger itself was delicious. You knew you were getting a serious burger and not some frozen patty that came off of a truck. It was some delicious lean ground beef, smothered in cheddar cheese and onions with crisp bacon that wasn't so thick that it was hard to eat and not so thin that you feel screwed over after eating it. Top it all off with peanut butter and mayo and somehow it all congealed together into a mouth watering beast of a burger. If I had one complaint it would be that I wish they had grilled the onions. They were slightly distracting from the burger as a whole.
Here's a shot of it all put together...

Then for desert we tried their Maple Bacon Walnut Ice Cream! I am always up for trying off the wall recipes with bacon in them. A couple years ago for Christmas I made Chocolate Chip Cookies with bacon in them and they were delicious. This was no different. They gave you two small scoops in a little tiny bowl...

This was pretty strange. Not bad though. It's not something you'd want to eat a ton of, and you wouldn't want to eat it everyday, but it was a very unique treat. Like most crazy bacon recipes it relied on the Sweet and Salty combination and it worked quite well. I was worried I'd have to deal with maybe some bacon fat blobs in it but that wasn't the case at all. It was sweet, creamy Maple Walnut ice cream with chunks of smoky bacon.  Here's a closer look...

Pretty delicious. I'd absolutely recommend trying it out if you get a chance!

You can find KC's on the net, where they have a website full of weird pictures and flashing stuff.
http://ribshack.net/index.html

MINI CANDY PARTY

This post will be the complete opposite of Rich's previous post. The beauty of fatguyfoodblog is that although we're pigs who jam candy into our faces like it's air to a dying man, we still have differing opinions. 

I have always been of the opinion that too much peanut butter in a chocolate/peanut butter mixture is bad- that the beauty of Reese's candy is the perfect marriage between the two flavors. Chocolate is the glue that sticks flavors together- the one constant in a chaotic world of sugar variety.  I feel like too much peanut butter sends this perfect harmony into chaotic discord, and you're left eating just a giant pile of peanut butter. I like a perfect ratio.  

That being said, I thought these were fantastic:

They literally are this small:

For someone who respects the perfect relationship between chocolate and peanut butter like me, these ruled. I think I still prefer the mini ones I get in candy canes for Christmas, but these are a fun snack. The bag will be gone INSTANTLY though. 

And sticking with the theme of mini candy, I re-visited this somewhat new product:

Not a big fan of these. 

The idea is neat, but they decided to add a weird cookie-esque crisp that vaguely resembles a fortune cookie. So, it goes: chocolate, fortune cookie, tiny amount of butterfinger, and peanut butter.

They're a decent snack, but for Butterfinger, which is one of my all time favorites, they don't live up to the name. The last creation Butterfinger had was Butterfinger BBs, which, for someone who likes mini versions of awesome, ruled.

Man, I now miss the hell out of these. 

So, yea. Butterfinger snackers- worth a taste for something different, but I won't be buying them again. They really seem like just a random peanut butter snack instead of being a variant of Butterfinger goodness. 

Reese's Minis: A

Butterfinger Snackerz: C- (bonus points for the use of the Z though)

-Dirty Mike

The Reeses...chocolate bar?

While walking through the candy aisle at Walmart, the actual candy section, not the display near the registers, I noticed this. A Reeses product I had never seen before. It has no exciting or catchy name...it's just...

A chocolate bar filled with Reeses signature Peanut Butter. So you're expecting a peanut butter cup, spread out into a chocolate bar format, right? I know I was, and that's pretty much all it is. Now, I'm sure by not you're noticing the negative tone of this post. Here's why...

Looks fancy enough, Reeses logo on each little square. Problem is, when you try to break a square away, it cracks in the wrong spot most times and gets a little messy. That's not really too big of a drawback. The actual problem with this candy bar lies within our next picture...

The reason I wasn't a huge fan of this, even though I love almost everything with a Reese's logo on it, is the peanut butter to chocolate ratio, for one. There's too much chocolate and not enough peanut butter. In an age where we are spoiled with the heavenly treat that is the BIG CUP, when faced with something like this, I scoff at it. The chocolate is nothing special at all, definitely not the same that they use in their cups. It was less flavorful and even a little bland. The peanut butter was a bit more dry than usual and despite what my picture shows here, there wasn't enough in it. There were some bites where I wasn't sure I could taste ANY. 

In closing, I would eat this candy bar over something like a plain Hershey Bar. But as far as Reeses Products go, it's at the bottom of the list. The Big Cup is king, and the rest fall in under him.

All hail king Big Cup. 

I give this a D on the candy bar scale. For Disappointing. 

SNICKERS: PEANUT BUTTER (squared)

Most people up until a few weeks ago used to look at me like I was crazy when I told them about Peanut Butter Snickers. They would act like it was some wild fantasy I had made up. Even when I described to them the red wrapper and how delicious it was. The details weren't enough. They wanted to see a pic of it online. Well...there's legitimately only ONE picture of it on the damn Internet. Here it is.

It's small and it's crappy but there you go. That's solid proof.

Well none of that means anything anymore because Snickers has brought back the Peanut butter version, but this time it's in little squares. So for all of you out there, I decided it needed to be reviewed on FGFB!

Not sure why they decided to go with the yellow packaging on this one. Maybe I'm just fond of the old red look. Probably just because I'm the only one who remembers it. Like one of those sci-fi movies where someones life gets erased and they are the only one who knows the truth. 

You get two of these little squares in every pack. Don't be fooled by the shape, thinking you're getting a full candy bar. They had to get fancy and whip this one up in little fancy squares. So how was it?

It's a squishy mix of Chocolate, caramel, nougat, and peanut butter. How could that be bad? It's a little different than the original from back in 1998. In that one it was basically chocolate, nougat and a thick layer of peanut butter with some nuts. This one seems to be a bit lighter , probably due to the nougat being a different recipe. That and the addition of the caramel. 

Did I like it? Yes I did. I've now probably eaten four or five of them. Did I love it? Ehhhhhh. I'm on the fence. It's missing something. I think the flavors somewhat blend together a bit too much. Perhaps MORE PEANUT BUTTER would tip the scales and make it a truly fantastic candy bar. But don't get me wrong, it's quite delicious and I recommend it. 

On the candy bar scale, I'd give it a B. 

(apparently we adopted an A-F scale?)