My Top 10 Favorite Candies of All Time

Skittles Girl Costume - Favorite CandiesI’m not a huge candy fan; ice cream is my sweet food or dessert of choice. When I get the craving for a sugary snack, here’s a list of ten items that I would want:

1. Twizzlers (the regular, good-old fashioned strawberry twists)

2. Candy Corn

3. Milky Way Midnights (dark chocolate Milky Ways)

4. Orange Slices (the orange-flavored “jelly” candies with a sugar coating)

5. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

6. Hershey’s White Chocolate Cookies N’ Creme Bars

Twizzlers7. Cow Girl Chocolate Habanero Caramels

8. Rollos

9. Reese’s Fast Break bars

10. Cadbury Creme Eggs

What are your favorites of all time?

Got a sweet tooth? What kind of candies can you not live without? Let me know what they are in the comments below!

Review – Culpeppers Wings – St. Louis Wings, Part Two

culpeppers-wingsFor years Culpeppers has garnered a rep as one of, if not THE best, wings joints in the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area. As most of you in the Gateway City know, you can grab the goods at, as of this writing, nine different locations in the Missouri side of the mighty Mississippi river.

For this review, I visited the Arnold location. The inside was brightly lit, relatively spacious, and felt visually comfortable. Although Culpeppers specializes in typical American/pub cuisine, you won’t find sports memorabilia adorning the walls, TV screens hanging everywhere, and female wait staff in skintight outfits. Its decor was unlike your corner “sports bar”: the walls were covered with hoidy toidy Italian and French liquor ads from the 1920s and 1930s. There was a fireplace. And everything was geared toward welcoming the entire family. All of which makes Culpeppers a unique entity to be renown for serving great chicken wings.

My family and I sat down at a table was immediately taken care of by our waitress (I should have written her name down so that I could have given her the credit she deserves) and was never for want at any point during our experience. We ordered up some potato skins for starters. When they arrived, I noticed they were the skinniest skins I had ever seen – they were the size of one individual section of an orange…

Using the Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce Scale to Grade Football Players

Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce Scale

I came across this link and found it rather interesting. A Kansas writer grades spring football players on how “hot” or “mild” their playing is, all based on the current line of Buffalo Wild Wings sauces, with Blazin’ being the hottest, then Wild, Mango Habanero, and so on. While the article is ultimately about Kansas college football – something in which I have very little interest – the implementation of the sauce scale is novel and may goofily carry over to uses in other areas of life. If you’re a BWW fanatic like me, you’ll know exactly where each sauce would fit in just by the mention of its name.

Link: Introducing the Buffalo Wild Wings Scale

Review – Intensity Academy Hot Cubed Hot Sauce

intensity-academy-hot-cubedOne of the perks of reviewing hot sauces is the pleasant surprises that just seem to pop out of no where. I get my fair share of packages in the mail that arrive with great fanfare – they’re accompanied by promotional letters and info sheets, plus there’s a bombardment of e-mails from the manufacturers which repeatedly query me like an impatient child: “Did you get my sauce yet? Didja? Didja?” This particular one was quiet and unassuming, so to speak. The Intensity Academy aren’t exactly shy, but this small box containing a bottle of Hot Cubed (aka Hot3) Hot Sauce, their carrot-based, habanero-heated condiment came “out of the blue” and shocked me with its pure, rich flavor and fresh heat…

Review – Imo’s Pizza Hot Wings – St. Louis Wings, Part One

imos-wings-3Great Wings of St. Louis, Part One – Imo’s Hot Wings

I’m beginning a series that features most the best chicken wings for sale in the greater St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. To kick off the reviews, I’ll focus on one of my personal favorites, Imo’s Pizza’s Hot Wings.

Now some of you may know Imo’s as the preeminent dealer of what is known as St. Louis-style pizza. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, this version of pizza is characterized by a wafer-thin crust that’s similar to a cracker (albeit with a little chewiness), and is topped with a sweet tomato sauce and super-rich Provel processed cheese. I’ve never seen a pizza so polarizing – it even trumps the Chicago vs New York style wars, in my estimation. Either you hate it with all your soul or you crave it night and day – there is no middle. I’m firmly entrenched in the camp that loves St. Louis-style pie.

But that’s a topic for another day. What I’ll put my attention on this time is the highly underrated Imo’s Hot Wings…

Review – Benito’s Meme’s Mango Habanero, Joe’s #1 Jalapa, and Old Bricktucky Hot Sauces

Review - Benito's Meme's Mango Habanero, Joe's #1 Jalapa, and Old Bricktucky Hot SauceIn this review I’ll try out three more of Benito’s colorful, organic hot sauces – the green Joe’s #1 Jalapa, the yellow Meem’s Mango Habanero, and the orange Old Bricktucky Cayenne. Because of the high marks I had previously given to the Naranja Organic Hot Sauce, I had lofty expectations for these other offerings.

Ingredients:
Old Bricktucky Cayenne – Organic Tomatoes, Organic Garlic, Organic Onions, Organic Lime Juice, Organic Distilled White Vinegar, Organic Cayenne Peppers, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Paprika

Joe’s #1 Jalapa – Jalapeno Peppers, *Habanero Seeds, Cubanelle Peppers, *Garlic, *Carrots, Cilantro, Lime Juice, Distilled White Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Spring Water. *Organic

Meem’s Mango Habanero – Organic Habanero Peppers, Mangos, Organic Garlic, Organic Yellow Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Organic Lime Juice, Distilled White Vinegar, Onions, Extra Virgin Olive Oil…

Review – Quierras Mas Mexican Relish

Quierras-Mas-Mexican-Relish1!Quierras Mas! Mexican Relish is a blend of chunky vegetables that promise to spice up most ethnic dishes in a way few other toppings or condiments have done before. Does it meet the approval of my taste buds? Is it worthy of a regular pace in my pantry or fridge? Read on to find out…

Ingredients:
Water, Vinegar, Onions, Salt, Carrots, Jalapenos, Sesame Oil and Spices

Aroma:
1 out of 5. A very, VERY strong vinegar smell came out of the jar as soon as I opened it, with hints of chile pepper and salt. Just imagine a jar of sliced, pickled jalapenos multiplied by 5, and you’ll understand what I mean. Quierras Mas was too overpowering for me, and for anyone in the…

The Bacon Explosion Recipe

bacon-explosion-preperation-step-4A Bacon Explosion is a carnivore’s dream, and definitely something that all foodie thrill seekers and grilling enthusiasts must try at least once in their lives. Full credit for this juicy monster of meaty love has to be given to Jason Day and Aaron Chronister of BBQ Addicts, who first posted the dish on their blog a few months ago.

The Bacon Explosion consists of bacon, sausage, barbeque sauce and barbeque seasoning or rub. The bacon is first assembled in a weave to hold the layers of pork sausage, BBQ sauce and crumbled bacon. Once rolled up, the Bacon Explosion is cooked, basted, cut and served.

If you wish to create a Bacon Explosion yourself, here’s what you will need…

Restaurant Review – D’Bo’s Wings n’ Things

D'Bo's Wings n' Things

D’Bo’s Buffalo Wings n’ Things
4407 Elvis Presley Blvd, Memphis, TN, 38106

Started in 1990 by entrepreneur David Boyd and his wife, D’Bo’s Wings n’ Things has expanded to four locations in the Memphis, TN metro area and has garnered a reputation as one of the best chicken wing joints of the South. Naturally, while staying in the area I had to try D’Bo’s food for myself.

My wife and I entered the small but bustling restaurant. Virtually all of the tables were occupied by customers waiting for their “to go” orders. We walked up to the counter to place our own order; and, of course, wings were going to be our item of choice. Their wings come in six flavors: Mild, Hot, Suicidal, Honey Hot, Honey Gold or BBQ, and can be purchased in various pairings from 10 pieces to 1000+ pieces…

Review – Cow Girl Spicy Chocolates

Cow Girl Chocolates TrufflesCow Girl Chocolates produces some of the best gourmet sweets on the planet. What separates this Idaho-based company from other chocolatiers is the presence of chile peppers in most of their offerings. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again: the combination of spice and sweet is the most underused food pairing in all the culinary world. They just go too well together. There’s more than just hot cinnamon candies or a mouth-warming mole sauce; there’s an entire universe of hot desserts and snacks just waiting to be blown into the mainstream. Cow Girl Chocolates have tapped into this concept and have hit an out-of-the-park, grand slam home run with it.