News: Krispy Kreme - Seasonal Holiday Menu 2010

Krispy Kreme has some pretty festive donuts this holiday season: they've got a Snowman Donut, a Chocolate Iced Donut with holiday sprinkles, and a Chocolate Peppermint Bark Donut. In addition, they have an obligatory peppermint-flavored drink in the new Peppermint Krispy Kreme Chiller.

The Snowman Donut comes with white icing and red icing scarf.

There's also a Wreath Donut with red-iced holly berries and a bow.

The new Chocolate Peppermint Bark Donut is a chocolate cake donut made with Hershey’s Cocoa, hand dipped in chocolate, and topped with crunchy peppermint bark.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

Chick-fil-A's holiday themed shake, the Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake, takes the chain's Icedream soft serve and blends it with peppermint syrup and red & white dark chocolate pieces before topping it with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

It carries a suggested retail of $2.55 for a small, but it costs $3.09 here in Southern California.

News: Carl's Jr. - Chicken Tenders Now Available in Boxes

Carl's Jr.'s Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders are now available in boxes of 10, 15, or 20 pieces as promoted by the Green Hornet-themed commercial below. Cue the explosions!

There's also a movie-themed Kickin' Asian Sweet & Spicy Dipping Sauce because you know, Kato is Asian and he kicks... I guess it's not as obvious as a Stinging Green Hornet sauce; though it wouldn't be confused with a sauce from Panda Express.

Cheap Gift Idea: McDonald's Sanrio Watches

"Q, want to go to McDonald's?" The Sister asked as I arrived home from work.

"Why?" I asked, somewhat suspicious.

"I want to get a Sanrio watch."

"Huh?"

Around the World: Quick - Fast Food Foie Gras Burger for $6.50!

The French are fancy! Apparently, even their fast food is fancy. French fast food burger chain Quick is, later this month, offering a very limited-time premium burger called the Supreme Foie Gras, the first fast food burger to be served with foie gras anywhere.

The Supreme Foie Gras burger features diced foie gras sourced from France, a 150g (a bit more than a quarter pound) grilled beef patty, caramelized onions, and arugula and will be served in a fancy-looking black paper clamshell.

News: Panera Bread - Holiday Seasonal Items 2010

Panera Bread has a pretty extensive line up of seasonal holiday items this year ranging from baked goods to chili:

New All Natural Steak Chili with Cornbread: "A hearty blend of slow-cooked tender brisket slices and ground beef with onions, green bell peppers, and kidney beans flavored with garlic, ancho chili powder, and red jalapenos in a rich tomato-based broth, topped with freshly baked sweet cornbread."

Review: Sonic - Ched 'R' Peppers

Sonic's Ched 'R' Peppers are Sonic's version of the jalapeno popper breaded and filled with melted Cheddar cheese. An order of four Ched 'R' Peppers sells for $2.99 and is served with a side of ranch dressing.

News: Pizza Hut - Big Mondays - Two Medium Pizzas for $6 Each

Looks like Pizza Hut is well on their way to having a different day for every day of the week. Starting today, Pizza hut introduces Big Monday, a Monday only deal where you can buy two Medium Pizzas with up to 3 Toppings for $6 each (i.e. $12 total).

If the deal looks familiar to you, Pizza Hut ran the same promotion for a period of 10 days earlier this month. Big Monday joins Tuscani Tuesday and Wing Wednesday as Pizza Hut's promo specific days.

The promo pricing represents a savings of $4 off normal Pizza Hut prices.

Review: Wendy's - Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt

Wendy's recently replaced their French Fries with a newer, fancier version dubbed the "Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt." New features of the fries include a skin-on cut which is more aesthetics than anything, a new blend of frying oil, and most significantly, the addition of sea salt.

Pricing remains the same and I bought an order of value-sized Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt (a rather unwieldy name but I guess it plays up the sea salt aspect) for 99 cents.

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.