Review: Hostess - Ding Dongs

"Ding dong ding go the bells..." Okay, not really. Ding Dongs are the classic hockey puck shaped cake from Hostess that has adorned many a kids lunchbox. A box of 12 foil-wrapped chocolate cakes are regularly priced at about $4.49 but it's not unusual to see them on sale around $3.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Holiday Homestyle Cookie Collection

Since it's officially the holiday shopping season now, I thought it'd be appropriate to review the Holiday Homestyle Cookie Collection from Pepperidge Farm which is only available this time of the year for about $8 or $9 regular price but about $5 or $6 on sale.

Feature: 2010 Holiday Gift Card Bonuses

Since the holiday shopping season has now officially begun, here's a list of popular restaurants (in alphabetical) dangling incentives (along with their limitations) for customers to buy their gift cards to giveaway (or stock up) this Christmas:

Applebee's - At any participating Applebee's, buy $50 in gift cards and get a $10 bonus gift card. Valid through 2/28/11.

Arby's (participation varies) - get a free combo with purchase of $20 gift card.

Benihana - Free $10 Promotional Card with the purchase of $50 in gift cards. Offer valid 11/15/10 through 12/31/10. Promotional Card valid 1/2/11 through 3/31/11.

Ben & Jerry's - Visit any participating Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop and get a free scoop when you spend $10 or more on Ben & Jerry's gift cards.

Review: Burger King - Rodeo Cheeseburger

Burger King's Rodeo Cheeseburger used to be available nationally, but is now only available in some regions as part of the BK Value menu. Similar but smaller than Carl's Jr's Western Cheeseburger, the Rodeo Cheeseburger takes your basic junior-sized cheeseburger and uses barbecue sauce (used to be Bull's-Eye but is now Sweet Baby Ray's) and onion rings instead of the normal pickles, ketchup, and mustard.

In my area, it costs $1.49.

Review: McDonald's - Holiday Pie

McDonald's Holiday Pie is a limited-time holiday item that is carried by some McDonald's restaurants around this time of year at the franchisee's election. McDonald's Holiday Pie comes in the same form at their other baked pies but is filled with custard surrounded by what appears to be a confetti-cake-like sugar cookie crust.

Like their normal pies, a Holiday Pie will only cost you 50 cents (2 for $1; individual pies prices vary from restaurant to restaurant).

Review: Pizza Hut - Cheesy Bites Pizza

Pizza Hut's Cheesy Bites Pizza recently made its limited-time return to the Pizza Hut menu and having never tried it before, I decided to remedy that oversight and purchased one large with pepperonis for $11.99 this time around.

The Cheesy Bite Pizza is an odd-looking pizza that takes the standard Pizza Hut Hand-Tossed Pizza and through some nifty folding and cutting, transforms the crust into 28 bite-sized, mozzarella-cheese-filled bread rolls and is served with two plastic cups of marinara sauce i.e. (pizza sauce) for dipping.

News: Quiznos - Black Friday $2.99 Combo

Apparently, retailers aren't the only ones trying to vie for your attention on this Black Friday. Quiznos is offering a $2.99 combo with any half/small sub, chips, and regular fountain drink.

The deal is only good Black Friday weekend only i.e. from Friday, 11/26/10 to Sunday, 11/28/10 and you'll need this coupon.

The deal excludes Toasty Torpedos and Toasty Bullets. And, if you live in Hawaii or Alaska, it's going to run you a dollar more.

News: Papa John's - New Double Bacon Six Cheese Pizza

Papa John's latest limited-time new pizza is the Double Bacon Six Cheese Pizza, topped with a six-cheese blend of Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, Provolone and Fontina plus both hickory-smoked bacon and Canadian bacon.

It arrives just in time for Thanksgiving Eve where many a household declines to cook since there is often plenty of cooking to be done the next day.

The Double Bacon Six Cheese Pizza is available at Papa John's through December 26, 2010 (i.e. the day after Christmas) and the price on a large is $11.

Now that I think about it, pizza bacon usually tastes better than the typical fast food bacon. I wonder why that it? Is it the bacon (I mean baking. As you can see I have bacon on the brain) process?

News: Subway - New Chipotle & Cheese Melts

Subway's latest promotion involves melted cheese, made-up words, and a couple of new subs: the Chipotle Steak & Cheese and the Chipotle Chicken & Cheese. For breakfast, there's the new Sunrise Breakfast Melt and Breakfast B.M.T.

In conjunction with the promotion, they are throwing around made-up words that play on the theme like "meltastic" and "meltalicious."

Review: Five Guys - Little Bacon Cheeseburger

Five Guys is a popular burger chain with East Coast origins that not-too-long ago finally landed in California. I finally tried one of their Little Bacon Cheeseburgers recently for $4.69.

News: Pizza Hut - Cheesy Bites Pizza Returns

It's back! The pizza with the crust of cheese-filled bite-sized rolls, the Cheesy Bites Pizza, is back for a limited time at Pizza Hut. It's like an appetizer and pizza all-in-one, though they really go crazy with it in some Asian countries.

The limited promotional pricing is $11.99 for a large, one-topping Cheesy Bite Pizza (shouldn't it be $12 to fit in with their current pricing?). You can check out a video of how one is made (by a ninja!) after the jump.

Review: Starbucks - Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha

Starbucks' Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha is more dessert than drink and is made of espresso and steamed milk flavored with white chocolate and peppermint flavored syrups and then topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings.

The cost of admission is $3.75 for a Tall, $4.45 for a Grande, and $4.75 for a Venti.