Review: Fatburger - Homemade Onion Rings

California-based fast casual burger chain Fatburger makes one of the best renditions of the mighty onion ring that I have ever had the pleasure of plopping in my mouth. They call them Homemade Onion Rings and they cost a respectable $3.49 for a fresh made order served with a side of Ranch.

News: Taco Bell - New Volcano $5 Buck Box

After a brief hiatus, the $5 Buck Box is back at Taco Bell returning with the new Volcano Touchdown $5 Buck Box, a football-themed cardboard box filled with a Volcano Taco, Volcano Double Beef Burrito, a Crunchy Taco, and an order of Cinnamon Twists. A medium fountain drink is also included in the $5 price.

Not to be left out, Taco Bell's newest menu item, the Beefy Crunch Burrito also gets it own TouchDown $5 Buck Box, the Beefy Crunch Box, which contains the eponymous menu item, a Crunchwrap Supreme, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists and a medium fountain drink for $5.

For additional fun, each Touchdown $5 Buck Box can be converted into a finger flick football field (you can fold one of the wrappers into a triangle for the ball). Picture after the jump.

News: Taco Bell - New Beefy Crunch Burrito

Like most new Taco Bell items, the Beefy Crunch Burrito features a combination of typical Taco Bell ingredients with a slight twist. This time around the twist is Flamin' Hot Fritos corn chips. The regular players are a flour tortilla, seasoned beef, seasoned rice, reduced-fat sour cream, and nacho cheese sauce.

The price is an easy 99 cents.

Review: Burger King - Cookie Dough Pie

Burger King's Cookie Dough Pie is a limited-time item of sliced cream pie goodness with pieces of cookie dough thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure if it's available at all locations but I picked up my slice for $1.49 at my local BK.

News: Dairy Queen Offering Free Blizzards to Reindeer?

In a rather odd promotion, Dairy Queen are luring fans to bring "a real, living, breathing reindeer" to any participating Dairy Queen location nationwide to receive a free Reindeer Bites Blizzard from 1pm to 3pm on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24th.

Considering that reindeer aren't really commonly kept as pets and are only semi-domesticated in one state (Alaska) and this clearly becomes a promotion that few can participate in. In addition, you can't really bring pets into a restaurant unless they're service animals and I don't believe reindeer qualify.

I'd think this was a hoax or a call for DQ fans to dress up as reindeer but there's a press release and its subheading is "Free Reindeer Bites Blizzard® Treat for Those Who Bring an Actual Reindeer to Their Local DQ® Store" So, yes, it's a very strange but rather interesting promotion. Maybe you can trick them with a moose or deer?

Hardee's - New Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Wrappers

The BBQ version

Following similar options from McDonald's and Wendy's, Hardee's has arrived with new Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Wrappers.

Each Wrapper features a small (6-inch) flour tortilla with a Hand-Bread Chicken Tender, your choice of sauce (Buttermilk Ranch, Honey Mustard, or Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ), shredded lettuce, and shredded cheese.

They're available individually for $1.49, in a small combo for $3.49, or in a 2-wrap combo for $4.99 (prices may vary).

Perhaps we'll see them here on the West Coast at sister chain Carl's Jr. in the near term?

Review: Pick Up Stix - Orange Peel Chicken Dragon Deal

Pick Up Stix is a "woked"-to-order Chinese fast casual joint that has over 70 locations in California. It's like slightly fancier, slightly more expensive Panda Express with slightly healthier options but mostly made fresh when you order.

They have a "Dragon Deals Value Menu" which feature several dishes and bowls for $4.99 from which I tried the Orange Peel Chicken Special which features an individual order of Orange Peel Chicken, steamed rice, salad, and an obligatory fortune cookie. You can shell out an extra $1.50 for white meat chicken.

Review: Oreo - Mint Fudge Cremes

Oreo seems to be expanding its brand line a lot lately (I guess a little bit late in the day considering that Oreos have been around since 1912). The latest addition is the Oreo Mint Fudge Creme
which is basically a thin Oreo cookie with a mint flavored Oreo "creme" and a candy fudge coating. A 8.5-ounce box of 21 cookies costs about $3.79.

News: Coca-Cola Christmas Orb Bottles Available at Walmart Only

If you're looking for those nifty Christmas ornament-shaped Coke bottles that come around this time of year, they're only available at Walmart this year.

The bottles, officially known as Orb Bottles, feature a spherical plastic bottle with a wrapped Santa Claus design on one half (I was going to type "side" but spheres only have one side) and the Coca Cola logo on the other. They cost $1 per 13.5-ounce bottle.

I assume they'll be shipping until Christmas, after which you'll be chasing after a dwindling supply.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Chocolate Cookie Collection

Pepperidge Farm's Chocolate Cookie Collection features seven varieties of Pepperidge Farm cookies dipped in or sandwiching dark chocolate. They're mostly meant for sharing or when you have guests over but that hasn't stopped me from eating them out of a cookie jar. They're normally around $8 for a box but I scored this particular box on sale for $5.

Frozen Friday: Marie Callender's - Penne Chicken Piccata

Marie Callender's Penne Chicken Piccata uses a nifty double container to steam the pasta and chicken while the sauce cooks separately which I assume keeps the pasta from getting too soggy. It features a frozen meal of penne pasta, a white wine lemon butter sauce, strips of white meat chicken, spinach, Parmesan cheese, and capers. These retail for about $3.40.

They're also called "Pasta Al Dente" meals though apparently not on the package that I got.

News: Limited-Time Rold Gold and Cheetos for Holidays

Frito Lay is offering limited-time varieties of Rold Gold and Cheetos Puffs this holiday season.

Rold Gold is sporting three limited-time fudge-dipped pretzels this month. Featuring a blend of sweet and salty, you can choose from Classic Dipped Tiny Twists, White Dipped Honey Wheat Braided Twists and Dark Dipped Bavarian Twists. They're only available in select markets.