Friday, April 29, 2011

Carmit Flower Shaped Marshmallows

Carmit who recently gave us Sour Marshmallows
are getting into the
Yom Ha'atzmaut /Spring
spirit and have made a
New Flower Shaped Marshmallows

 sure to make
 the holiday Magal / BBQ

 just a little more festive

These New Flower Shaped Marshmallows are
colorful, fun and exciting
but at the end of the day they taste exactly
the same as the regular
 Carmit Marshmallows.
 But hay I'm all for fun and exciting

So enjoy whatever marshmallows
you choose for your Holiday Mangal/BBQ.


Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Lindt Lindor's (Stracciatella) White-Chocolate Truffles

Lindt Lindor has a new, limited edition, White-Chocolate Truffle.


These White-Chocolate Truffle Balls have milk-chocolate cocoa shavings mixed into the white-chocolate shell and are filled with a soft white-chocolate filling.

Lindt is known for their excellent quality chocolates. As I mentioned in my review of Dark Chocolate Egozi Bar my favorite chocolate is bittersweet-chocolate. I actually think that Lindt's 60% bittersweet-chocolates are one of the best chocolates I've tasted, so I was anxious to try these new truffles to see if they live up to the quality I'm used to from Lindt.

I took these White-Chocolate Truffles to a dinner party recently and they got some slightly mixed reviews. Most for my friends actually agreed with me that they were a wonderfully rich, high quality, white-chocolate treat. They remarked that the truffles were so delicious & soft and they enjoyed that the white-chocolate filling just "melts in your mouth"! One friend said it was the best white-chocolate bonbon she had ever tasted and it had become her new favorite. Others at the dinner party thought the truffles were way too sweet but agreed they are made from a nice quality chocolate.

These truffles did spark the age old debate of whether white-chocolate is truly chocolate?  I found this answer on Lindt Lindor's website J

"A much debated question but the answer is yes. Real white-chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder and flavourings, and with the cocoa butter being an ingredient in the recipe, it is considered “chocolate”. All Lindt white-chocolate products are made with a high percentage of cocoa butter."

Lindt Lindor's White-Chocolate Truffles are individually wrapped in a pretty light-blue & white foil and plastic wrapper that I think would look beautiful on any Yom Ha'atzmaut dessert table.

Bottom Line: I thought Lindt Lindor's new White-Chocolate Truffle lives up to the Lindt name. It's a rich, sweet and enjoyable white-chocolate bonbon. I hope Lindt will decide to make them a permanent product and not just a limited edition.  

200 gram box – 28.00 NIS
Kosher - Dairy Rabbinate
אבקת חלב נוכרי 
Triangle K Dairy

 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.
   

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tnuva's Chocolate-Banana Diet Pudding

As I've mentioned in my review of Danone's Cranberry Granola Yogurt and again in my review of Tnuva's Cottage Cheese Snack, Israel is blessed to be the "Land of Milk and Honey" so it's not surprising that one of the most competitive "shelves" in the Israeli supermarket is the milk product refrigerators.

Yes, I have another new pudding to tell you about! This time it’s a diet pudding. Since
Strauss's Milky & Dani puddings as well as the Tara's Moo pudding were not diet puddings, I figured why not review Tnuva's New 0% Fat Chocolate-Banana Diet Pudding.

I clearly tasted both the chocolate and the banana flavors in this pudding. At first, neither one of the flavors were overpowering but as I was eating it the banana seemed to become the stronger flavor. I think I would have liked the chocolate flavor to be richer than it was.

What really bothered me most about Tnuva's Chocolate-Banana Diet Pudding was the strong taste of the artificial sweetener. I know most of the diet puddings I've tasted, here in Israel, have an artificial aftertaste but this time it seemed to be much more intense than other diet puddings and I really did not like it.



תנובה מעדן שוקולד- בננה
It could be if this pudding is used in baking or mixed with other ingredients to make a more elaborate dessert the added components would balance out the artificial taste and it would be enjoyable. Then again, often if the original item is not tasty, anything you make with it doesn't really come out that good. I've heard many good chefs say if you want a successful dish start with good quality ingredients. For example; don’t use "cheap wine" and expect a "rich" flavor in your final product, so maybe using this pudding in a dessert is not the best idea.
  


Bottom Line: At first Tnuva's Diet Chocolate-Banana Pudding was refreshing but as I ate it the artificial sweetener taste became too strong and I did not enjoy it. I think it will prevent me from wanting to buy this pudding again.

150 gram container - 3.99 NIS


Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Happy Passover חג כשר ושמח

Elite's Kosher For Pesach Wafers

After really enjoying Elite's Pesek Zman Kosher for Pesach Wafers I had high hopes for Elite's Kosher for Pesach Chocolate Cream filled Wafers, but they were a big disappointment to me.I'm not sure why I'm surprised considering their Chametz "Mini Cubed Wafers" failed to impress me. Why should this Elite wafer be any different?

Even thought they are made of potato starch, and not matzo meal, the wafer part actually passed my "potato starch taste test". It's a light, fresh and crispy wafer. Even a little better than the Chametz wafer.

What always seems to be the issue I have with Elite's wafers is the cheap, chalky filling that leaves a waxy aftertaste. Why don’t they use a better quality cream filling and have a winner of a wafer for Pesach or all year round?

As with Elite's Mini Cubed Wafer, I was impressed with the packaging of these Passover Chocolate Cream filled Wafers, they come in a 400 gram box, and each 100 grams is wrapped individually in a very convenient foil color wrapping. It's easy to open a few and still keep the rest fresh for some other time. Elite really seem to be taking packaging seriously, which I think it very important for an overall successful product, but I just wish the wafers themselves were worth buying and eating.

The package says they have less than 20ppm gluten; I'm not sure what that means for those who are not allowed to have gluten but I figured I will pass on the information.

These wafers have no food coloring, no preservatives and no trans fat

Bottom Line: Don’t judge a product solely by its packaging, these Elite Kosher for Pesach Wafers are not a winner for me. If I want a wafer this holiday I'd go for the Pesek Zman and leave these wafers on the store shelf.

400 gram box – 14.99 NIS

 Kosher Dairy - Cholov Yisrael - Rabbinate Nazareth-Illit
Kosher For Passover
Shehakol

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.


Klik Chocolate Covered Cereal Kosher For Pesach

Klik who recently gave us Orange & Bubblegum Chocolate Covered Cereal for Purim now have 3 Kosher for Pesach snacks on the shelf; Milk-Chocolate covered Cariot Cereal, White & Milk-Chocolate covered Cornflakes and White Chocolate half circles covered in Milk-Chocolate.

My guess is that Kilk has teamed up with Telma (or maybe they are "sister companies" I don’t know) but both of the cereal covered Klik snacks seem to be Telma cereals.

I must not be the only one who thinks Telma's Kosher for Pesach Cariot Cereal is a fun snack "the powers that be" at Kilk had the same idea but they took it to the next level and added a thick layer of milk-chocolate.

The cereal in this Kilk chocolate covered Cariot snack is just as wonderful as Cariot Kosher for Pesach cereal but, the added milk-chocolate makes it a very chocolaty and rich treat. If I have just a few its perfect, more than that might be too rich for me.

Kilk Chocolate covered Cariot absolutely passes the "Potato starch test" and I would enjoy this snack any day of the year.


I wasn’t as impressed with the Kilk Chocolate covered Cornflakes, they seemed stale to me. The chocolate was perfectly tasty but I did not enjoy the cereal part of the snack. I personally would give this one a miss.




White Chocolate covered in Milk-Chocolate are simply a creamy rich chocolate treat. As I was tasting them I thought these chocolates might also work really well in baking. They can be a wonderful & rich addition to your favorite home-made Pesach cake or cookie.


Bottom Line: I really enjoyed the Cariot Kilks and the White Chocolate covered in Milk-Chocolate Kliks. Since they are both a little on the rich side, a few will go a long way for me. I personally will skip the Cornflake Kilks.        

Kilk Cariot & Cornflakes – 75 gram bag - 6.05 NIS
Kilk White Chocolate covered in Milk- Chocolate 70 Gram - 6.05 NIS
(2 for 5.00 NIS at Mega Bool)
  
Kosher Dairy Cholov Yisrael
Kosher for Passover Rabbinate Safed- Kitniyot

  
Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Elite's "Pesek Zman" Wafers Kosher For Pesach

Elite's popular milk-chocolate covered wafer "Pesek Zman" is available for Pesach in 3 flavors; the "Classic" Hazelnut Pesek Zman, Coconut Cream Flavored Pesek Zman and "Big Bite" Pesek Zman

The "Classic" Pesek Zman is being sold both as an individual wafer and as a bar of 7 wafer fingers whereas the "Coconut Cream" Pesek Zman is only available as a bar of 7 wafer fingers and, it seems, the The 'Big Bite" is only sold as an individual wafer.


I tasted the "classic" and the "Big Bite" Pesek Zman wafers.

Both Pesach Pesek Zman wafers were wonderfully delicious; they have a rich chocolate coating with a perfect crispy wafer in the middle.

The "Big Bite" Pesek Zman has an added rich layer of cream on top of the wafer, just like the Chametz "Big Bite". Actually all of the wafers were very close to their Chametz counterpart.

The Pesek Zman wafers both passed the "potato starch test" with flying colors.

If Elite is able to make such a successful Pesek Zman wafer I don’t understand why they fail so miserably with their mini cubed wafers and their Kosher for Passover wafer. Yes I get that the rich chocolate coating is what makes Pesek Zman so successful but the filling of the Pesek Zman wafer itself is absolutely fine as well. Why can't they use the Pesek Zman filling for all their wafers?


Bottom Line: Either of these Kosher for Pesach Pesek Zman wafers would be a wonderful chocolaty snack to enjoy this holiday.

7 Wafer Fingers Bar- 110 grams – 7.59 NIS
Individual "Big Bite" Pesek Zman– 49 grams - 4.59 NIS
Individual "Classic" Pesek Zman – 45 grams – 4.59 NIS   

Kosher Dairy – Cholov Yisrael- Rabbinate Nazareth-Illit
Kosher For Passover
Shehakol

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own. 


Osem's Popco Butter & Honey Popcorn Kosher for Pesach

Basically its caramel popcorn J. I can absolutely taste the butter as well. Sadly it even left a "movie theater" buttery aftertaste that I didn’t love.

The Popco butter & honey popcorn is very sweet, but what can I expect from a honey-coated popcorn if not sweet?

Next time I would likely mix it together with non-caramel popcorn and just have a bit of the sweetness mixed in with the salty popcorn. I think I will really enjoy it like that.

The Popco popcorn has a crunchy honey-coating yet the kernels themselves are still soft, fresh and easy to eat.

Bottom Line: I don’t know what the "non Pesach" Popco popcorn tastes like but I did enjoy the Pesach version.

80 gram bag – 4.79 NIS

Kosher Parve  for Passover – KitniyotMehadrin Charlap
חרל"פ                                                                
המועצה הדתית חולון

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.


  

Last Minute Kosher for Passover Treat Reviews

There are a few Kosher for Pesach treats I wanted to post a review on before the holiday begins.

 Since I had so many real or "anytime foods"
(to quote Sesame Street)
to review before Pesach these sweet treats ended up getting pushed to the last minute, sorry, but I wanted to get these posted too.

So the next few posts might be shorter than usual reviews. I hope it will be enough information to help you decide what snack to buy at the convenience store, you might stop at, as you travel during this week-long holiday.

I will review:



 
This week's Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival is now up on

Friday, April 15, 2011

Tara's "Moo" Pudding Kosher for Pesach

By now most of you have likely tasted Tara's "Moo" pudding and have formed an opinion as to which pudding you prefer Tara's Moo or Straus's Milky.

The reason I'm even posting about Tara's Moo puddings today is because they are now Kosher for Pesach with a Badatz Cholov Yisrael hechsher, whereas,  Straus's Milky is kitniyot.

טרה מוו כשר לפסח


So if you have not yet tried Tara's Moo pudding, I would say Pesach might be the perfect time to try it out.



They have 3 flavors available for Pesach; chocolate, chocolate-hazelnut and chocolate with chocolate heart shaped bits on top (to add in after opening). They all, of course, have whipped-cream in the container with the pudding.

    

All Moo products are made with Tara's 100% milk and have no preservatives.

Kosher for Passover


Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this post. All opinions are my own.


Thursday, April 14, 2011

Osem's Instant Mashed Potatoes & Onions Kosher for Pesach

אסם פירה עם בצל - כשר לפסח
In my mind Pesach and Potatoes "go together like a horse and carriage" so finding potato products on the shelf for Pesach should not be that big of a deal. What made me want to try these Osem "Mashed Potatoes with Onions" is the fact that there is no cooking involved in preparing them. Yes you do need some boiled water (and some not boiled water).

Since almost no Holiday/Chol HaMoed in Israel would be complete without a "Mangal" (BBQ) /picnic or few… and I was looking for a good side-dish to take along to the park. I thought I can easily boil some water in a pot on the Mangal (BBQ), or maybe even bring a hot thermos of boiling water along, and we can enjoy mashed potatoes with all the meat, chicken or fish we are grilling.  I just had to try the instant mashed-potatoes to see if they are tasty.

Both Osem and Knorr have a Kosher for Pesach instant mashed-potatoes with onions available this year. I tasted the Osem version.

It was very easy to prepare. There were no lumps left in the bowl, after I finished mixing in the boiled water, a half cup at a time, and then I let it rest for a few moments.

For what it is "instant mashed-potatoes" it was OK, at best. The consistency of the mashed-potatoes was very smooth and creamy but, it definitely tasted like it was made from a powder and not fresh potatoes. The onions definitely added a lot of flavor, I personally think I would prefer the one without the onions but for those who enjoy onion flavor they will surly get their fair share of onions.

As with the Kosher for Pesach Osem Bisli and the Kosher for Pesach Osem Crouton Soup-Rings, I wanted to point out to those of you in the USA that a friend told me she saw these same Osem Mashed-Potatoes with Onions advertised for sale in the USA. So they might be on the shelf in the Kosher for Pesach section in your local supermarket.

Bottom Line: It would not be my first choice of mashed-potatoes but if I need a convenient carbohydrate side-dish, which I can easily and quickly prepare in the park, I would possibly consider serving it. If I was at home I would rather make mashed potatoes from fresh potatoes and possibly serve them up like this; topped with a deliciously juicy burger.

Box of two 135 gram bags – 12.99

Kosher Parve - Kosher for Passover- Badatz




I also noticed that Osem has 2 mashed potato "Mana Chama" options that are kosher for Pesach. If you must work on Chol HaMoed they might be a convenient option to take along to the office. All you have to add is some boiled water and you have a hot portion of mashed potatoes. I did not taste them so I can't give you my opinion on that.






Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.