Review: Hershey's Kisses Pumpkin Spice Flavor

Hershey's Kisses Pumpkin Spice Flavored Candies are available around Halloween and feature pumpkin-spice flavored white chocolate.

A 10-ounce bag goes for about $2.99 at Target, but I got these after Halloween for half off. I almost missed them too.

Around the World: Pepsi Japan - Fat Blocking Pepsi

Suntory, the Japanese distributor for Pepsi, is set to introduce new "Pepsi Special," which contains indigestible dextrin to reduce the absorption of fat after eating, on November 13, 2012.

The new drink has received the "tokuho" designation (that's the human figure on the bottle that appears to be rejoicing) from the Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency.

The designation is short for "tokutei hokenyou shokuhin" or "food for specified health use" and is earned by foods in Japan where the companies have demonstrated that the food can deliver special health benefits.

Frozen Friday: Jose Ole - Steak and Cheese Chimichanga

Jose Ole's Steak and Cheese Chimichanga is a lightly-fried burrito filled with steak and cheese.

A 5-ounce frozen burrito sells for about $1.

News: Wienerschnitzel - New Chili Cheese Tamales

For a limited time, Wienerschnitzel is offering new Chili Cheese Tamales on their menu at all locations.

The dish features a tamale filled with shredded beef topped with Wienerschnitzel's trademark chili and shredded cheese.

The move is a bit of a curious one for an American chain with a German name (interestingly, an entree they have never offered) not known for serving Mexican food.

Review: Krispy Kreme - Pumpkin Spice Donut

Krispy Kreme's Pumpkin Spice Donut is a seasonal donut that joins the glut of pumpkin items around this time of year.

It was $1.09 for a single Pumpkin Spice Donut.

News: Taco Bell - New Dessert Menu

While the Taco Bell isn't bereft of desserts (see the Caramel Apple Empanada and Cinnamon Twists), they've decided to expand and are now offering an official Dessert Menu with three items: the aforementioned Caramel Apple Empanada, new Cookie Sandwiches, and new Churros.

The Caramel Apple Empanada is a crispy pastry pocket with a warm filling of apple pieces and a creamy caramel sauce.

Review: Burger King - Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries

Burger King's new, limited-time Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries follows up their now departed regular Sweet Potato Fries with a different shape and a sweet seasoning of what seems to be cinnamon and sugar.

A small order cost me $2.19. Oddly a medium order was only 10 cents more and a larger order was 10 cents more than that.

Around the World: Domino's Taiwan Offers Okonomiyaki Pizza

Out in Taiwan, Domino's offers an okonomiyaki pizza. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake dish with various ingredients mixed with a batter and grilled.

Domino's take on fusing it with pizza includes stir-fried noodles on which the toppings are placed before being finished with Japanese mayonnaise (sweeter than typical mayo), powdered seaweed, and a healthy dose of bonito flakes (bonito are a type of fish).

News: The Coffee Bean - $1 Holiday Drinks on November 8th.

The Coffee Bean is once again doing one of their open house events where you can buy a cup of their at-the-time featured drinks for $1.

This time, they're celebrating the holiday season with $1 holiday drinks from 2pm to 6pm tomorrow, Thursday, November 8, 2012.

For $1, you can choose from a 12-ounce cup of either Winter Dream Tea Latte, Gingerbread Cookie Ice Blended, Gingerbread Cookie Latte, or Red Velvet Hot Cocoa.

News: Taco Bell - New XXL Steak Nachos

Starting tomorrow, Taco Bell serves up new, limited-time XXL Steak Nachos.

The XXL portion of nachos comes with three times the steak of a Steak Taco (i.e. 4.5 oz of steak instead of 1.5 oz), nacho cheese sauce and melted cheese blend, guacamole, pico de gallo, and reduced fat sour cream on a bed of tortilla chips.

By weight, XXL Steak Nachos are almost twice the size of an order of Nachos BellGrande (503g to 305g). That's over a pound of food.

Review: McDonald's - Crispy Chicken CBO Sandwich

McDonald's Crispy Chicken CBO (Cheddar Bacon Onion) sandwich is their latest limited-time burger and features a crispy fried chicken filet, hickory-smoked bacon, caramelized grilled onions, two slices of white cheddar and a creamy mustard sauce. It's all served on a toasted bakery-style bun that offers some whole grains.

I picked up one of these at my local McDonald's for $4.49.

News: Starbucks - 2012 Holiday Drink Menu

No big surprises this year for Starbucks' 2012 Holiday Drink Menu. It's exactly the same as last year's. Once again, there's the flavors of egg nog, peppermint, gingerbread, and caramel brulee.

Here's what's being featured:

- Peppermint Mocha - espresso, steamed milk, mocha sauce, and peppermint-flavored syrup, topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls. Also available with white chocolate.

Review: Burger King - Wisconsin White Cheddar Whopper

Burger King's Wisconsin White Cheddar Whopper is like a Whopper with cheese, but with Wisconsin White Cheddar instead of American cheese, with bacon, and with red onions instead of white.

The price on the burger is $4.49.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - Winter 2012 Holiday Menu

For the holiday season this year, Dunkin' Donuts once again trots out Peppermint Mocha and Gingerbread syrups for their coffee drinks, but also introduces new White Chocolate and new Red Velvet Drizzle Donuts for their limited-time 2012 holiday menu.

Here's a look at this year's complete holiday line up:

News: Baskin-Robbins - November 2012 Flavor of the Month

For the month of November, Baskin-Robbins is featuring Nutty Cream Cheese Brownie as their Flavor of the Month. The flavor was the winner of the second annual "Create Baskin's Next Favorite Flavor Contest" last year and consists of chocolate fudge ice cream swirled with a cream cheese ribbon and with walnuts and fudge brownie pieces mixed it.

News: Jack in the Box Testing Late Night Menu

According to one of my readers, Luis, Jack in the Box is testing a late night menu out in San Jose, CA.

In a curious move by a chain known for serving their entire menu all the time, the menu is only available after 9pm.

The centerpiece of the menu is Jack's Munchie Meal where $6 nets you an order of Halfsies (half curly fries and half regular fries), two Tacos, a 20-ounce drink, and a choice from four entrees.

The available entree choices are:

Review: Starbucks - Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream is a new seasonal flavor they started offering this month. It features pumpkin spice ice cream swirled with coffee ice cream (or vice versa, it's a pretty even mix).

A pint retails for $3.99 (around $3 on sale).

News: Kashi - New Soft-Baked Chocolate Almond Butter Cookie

Kashi expands their line of soft-baked cookies with new Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies.

The cookies take a base of cocoa and almond butter and throw in dark chocolate chips, almonds, and Kashi's signature blend of 7 whole grains.

Like all Kashi products, the new Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies are free of preservatives, artificial flavors, colors and high fructose corn syrup.

Review: Nabisco - Chewy Chips Ahoy! Gooey Caramel Cookies

Nabisco Chewy Chips Ahoy! Gooey Caramel Cookies feature the familiar soft-baked chocolate cookie with a gooey caramel center.

A 10-ounce package tends to cost around $3 (around $2 if on sale).

News: Starbucks - New Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream

Starbucks now offers new Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream in select grocery stores nationwide.

The seasonal flavor features pumpkin spice ice cream swirled with coffee ice cream.

The suggested retail price is $3.99 for a pint and the ice cream is available through February.

Neat! Thomas English Muffins Come in Pumpkin and Cranberry

Thomas English Muffins are probably my favorite English muffins (especially with bacon and eggs), but I typically think of them as very traditional and unchanging.

I was surprised, then, to find out that they offered seasonal pumpkin spice and cranberry flavors for the holiday season.

Around the World: KFC Japan - New Ginger Fried Chicken

Tinkering with the Colonel's chicken seems to be the norm at KFC Japan. Most recently, they've introduced new Ginger Salt Fried Chicken (previously they offered chicken with a rice breading).

The chicken is flecked with black sesame seeds and comes with a ginger seasoning packet to sprinkle on before eating for more ginger flavor.

KFC Japan is not cheap though. A single piece comes in at 260 yen (or about $3.23 US).

Frozen Friday: Breyers - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Chocolate "Ice Cream"

Breyers' Reese's Peanut Cup Chocolate frozen dairy dessert is part of their Breyers Blast line, which features mix-ins to go with the frozen dairy dessert. The flavor features chocolate frozen dairy dessert interspersed with a Reese's peanut butter swirl and pieces of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

A 1.5-quart tub tends to sell for around $4, but I received this one courtesy of Unilever.

News: White Castle Offers Free Sweet Potato Waffle Fries for Voting

White Castle recently introduced new Sweet Potato Waffle Fries to their menu and are offering them for free on Election Day, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to voters.

Specifically, White Castle is offering a free small order of Sweet Potato Waffle Fries with any purchase to any guest with either an "I Voted" sticker or who brings in a coupon for a "free small Crinkle Cut or Sweet Potato Waffle Fry" on Election Day. The coupon is available via the White Castle Facebook page if you vote for your favorite style of fries.

News: Sonic - New Premium Chicken Sandwiches

Sonic introduces two new Premium Chicken Sandwiches this month: the limited-time Asiago Caesar Chicken Sandwich and the re-tinkered Classic Chicken Sandwich.

The Asiago Caesar Chicken Sandwich is only available for a limited time and features your choice of a crispy or grilled chicken breast filet, tomatoes, a romaine lettuce blend, Sonic's signature Caesar sauce (a garlic aioli variant), and a slice of Asiago cheese served on a toasted, whole grain ciabatta bun.

Review: McDonald's - Holiday Mint McFlurry

McDonald's new Holiday Mint McFlurry is here for a limited time for the holidays with the taste of mint syrup, vanilla soft serve, and peppermint candy pieces.

A 12-ounce cup costs $2.49 at my local McDonald's.

News: Subway - November 2012 Featured $5 Footlong

Subway's Featured $5 Footlong for the month of November is the Spicy Italian. The sandwich features a base of spicy pepperoni and salami to go with your choice of veggies, cheese, and bread.

Also new, Subway's fresh-baked cookies are now available in 12-pack and 3-pack sizes (they've always offered them at a discount for 3 cookies in my area though...).

News: Dairy Queen - November 2012 Blizzard of the Month

Dairy Queen's November Blizzard of the Month is embraces the cool mint flavor that's popular around the holiday season and mixes it with chocolate: Choco Mint Brownie.

The Choco Mint Brownie Blizzard blends mint syrup, pieces of brownie, and choco chunks into vanilla soft serve. It's also available as a Blizzard cake for your more festive occasions.

Review: Corner Bakery Cafe - Bacon Tomato Mac & Three Cheese

Corner Bakery Cafe's Bacon Tomato Mac & Three Cheese features pipette pasta (pipe-shaped pasta i.e. macaroni), applewood-smoked bacon, and diced tomatoes tossed with a blend of three cheeses, and topped with toasted bread crumbs.

$6.59 nets you a good-sized bowl and a piece of toasted garlic bread.

News: Jamba Juice - $1 Oatmeal Wednesdays Returns to CA and DC

Jamba Juice has brought back their $1 Oatmeal Wednesdays promotion at participating locations in California and Washington D.C.

During the promotion, any variety of Jamba's steel cut oatmeal is available for $1 (regularly $2.99 at my local Jamba Juice) on Wednesdays. The promotion runs through December 26, 2012.

 It looks like Jamba is hoping to draw in customers during the cold, winter months with some hot oatmeal. Fall and winter are generally a down time for the chain's mainstay smoothie business.

News: Papa John's - New Chicken Poppers

Papa John's now offers new Chicken Poppers. They feature chicken breast poppers that are lightly breaded and baked in the oven.

They come with 15 poppers to an order for $5.99 and replace Papa John's Chicken Strips (which were offered at the same price for 7 strips) on the menu. Each order comes with your choice of two sauces (choose from BBQ, Ranch, Pizza, Blue Cheese, Honey Mustard, Buffalo, and Special Garlic).

Review: Jack in the Box - Chili Cheese Curly Fries

Jack in the Box's Chili Cheese Curly Fries feature seasoned curly fries topped with beef chili and shredded cheddar cheese.

An order goes for $2.49 at my local Jack in the Box.

News: McDonald's - New French Vanilla Latte

McDonald's introduces a new French Vanilla Latte this holiday season to their McCafe menu, except it might not be "new" at all, but might be more like new to appearing on the menu.

According to an employee at my local McDonald's, they use the same vanilla syrup that they use for the rest of their McCafe beverages (it is also possible my local McDonald's jumped the gun and started offering it before actually getting the new syrup, if there is one). So basically if said employee was correct, it's just a Vanilla Latte, which technically wasn't on the menu before (they've always offered a latte with a choice of syrup if you so chose).

Update 12/1/12 - McDonald's confirmed that the syrup is a newly-developed syrup with a "sweet, creamy vanilla flavor."

Update 10/31/12 - I stopped by another McDonald's in my area. The menu board now only offers "French Vanilla" and "Sugar-Free French Vanilla" syrups with no mention of plain "Vanilla" syrup.

Around the World: Domino's UK Now Delivers Movies

Domino's UK has partnered with Lionsgate UK and now "delivers" movies with their pizza in a service they're calling "Pizza Box Office." The movies are actually delivered via online streaming to a PC/Mac, mobile, or tablet.

Basically, you order from a selection of pizza and movie deals and receive a code to stream the film. The rental period is good for 48 hours after the code is redeemed.

Review: Burger King - Gingerbread Cookie Shake

Burger King's holiday-themed Gingerbread Cookie Shake features vanilla soft serve blended with gingerbread flavored syrup and finished with whipped topping and crumbled gingersnap cookies.

A 12-ounce small-size cup cost me $2.49.

News: Del Taco - New Caramel Apple Crunch Bites

Del Taco introduces their own rendition of the deep-fried apple pie (turnover) with new Caramel Apple Crunch Bites. The bite-sized desserts feature battered and fried apple pie filling served with a side of caramel sauce for dipping.

They also brought back Mac 'N Cheese Crunch Bites which are bite-sized snacks of battered and fried macaroni and cheese.

Price and participation may vary.

Nutritional info not available.

News: Krispy Kreme - Free Donuts for When You Visit in Costume on Halloween

Krispy Kreme is getting into the spirit of Halloween by offering a treat of your choice of a Halloween or Pumpkin Spice donut for free when you drop by in costume on this Wednesday, October 31, 2012.

The offer is good at participating Krispy Kreme locations in the U.S. and Canada on Halloween only and is limited to one donut per person.

Review: Nabisco - Peanut Butter Creme Oreos

Peanut Butter Creme Oreo cookies combine the time-tested combination of chocolate and peanut butter with America's bestselling cookie.

A 15.25-ounce packages generally sells for about $3.79 at my local supermarket. On sale, it tends to range form $2.50 to $3.00.

Around the World: McDonald's UK and Germany - Tastes of the World

Perhaps to spite us here in the U.S., McDonald's restaurants in the U.K. have been offering a "Great Tastes of the World" promotion where each week a different burger is available inspired by the cuisine of a specific country. The promotion runs for four weeks and the four countries represented are Spain, Australia, Mexico, and India.

For week 1 (which started last week), McDonald's offered the Spanish Grande with Chorizo. The burger features a paprika topped bun, beef patty, chorizo, roasted red and yellow peppers, cheddar cheese, Batavia lettuce and a bravas-style sauce.

Review: Fresh and Easy - Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Fresh and Easy's Pumpkin Spice Muffins were the last of the pumpkin-based baked goods that my local Fresh and Easy started selling this year.

A 14-ounce box of four sells for $3.99.

Around the World: McDonald's Taiwan - Sesame Pork Chop Burger

McDonald's Taiwan has embarked on a world tour (not literally) similar to the ones their European counterparts seem to do every now and again.

First stop? Japan with the "Sesame Pork Chop Burger." It looks to be a breaded and deep fried pork cutlet ("tonkatsu") topped with shredded cabbage and what I think is Japanese mayo. The bun is dotted with the occasional black sesame seed along with the typical white ones.

Around the World: Mister Donut - French Wooler Donut

In what might be the cutest donut ever, Mister Donut (formerly of the U.S., but now with over 1,000 locations in Japan) currently offers for a limited time, the French Wooler Donut. That's the lamb's name by the way: French Wooler. It's one of the chain's mascot's "sweet friends" (get it? Because they're all donut animals!).

As for the limited-time donut, it's a French cruller donut that is commonly found at Mister Donut, but the hole is filled with strawberry whipped cream, atop which sits a white chocolate made to look like the French Wooler's head. The price tag per donut is 189 yen or about $2.37 U.S.

Frozen Friday: Healthy Choice - Modern Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken

Healthy Choice's Modern Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken differs from their Traditional Classic version in that there's no dessert, and more broccoli instead. It features chunks of battered chicken breast in a sweet and sour sauce over whole grain rice with a side of broccoli.

A 12-ounce box is normally around $3.99 or on sale for around $2 to $2.50.

News: Sonic - 50 Cent Corn Dogs This Halloween!

This upcoming Wednesday, October 31st i.e. Halloween, Sonic will be offering 50 cent Corn Dogs all day at participating locations. 

Each corn dog is covered in sweet corn batter and fried to a crispy golden brown. They normally go for $1.19 at my nearest Sonic restaurant.

No costume is required for this promotion.

News: Burger King - New Wisconsin White Cheddar Whopper

Burger King is just cranking out the new limited-time menus these days. Here's the latest: Burger King is celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Whopper with two limited-time Whopper variants: the new Wisconsin White Cheddar Whopper and the returning Angry Whopper.

Additionally, Burger King is offering Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries for a limited-time.

Collectively, the menu items are being called the "Whopper 55th Anniversary menu."

Review: Jack in the Box - Sourdough Cheesesteak Melt

Jack in the Box's limited-time Sourdough Cheesesteak Melt features sliced steak, grilled onions, fire-roasted red and green peppers, melted cheese, and mayo-onion sauce on sourdough bread.

My local Jack in the Box offers them for $4.49, which is 20 cents more than the popular Sourdough Jack.

News: Popeyes - Crawfish is Back for a Limited Time

Crawfish returns to the Popeyes menu for a limited time in an offer they're calling the "4th Annual Crawfish Festival." Through November 25, Popeyes is offering a Crawfish Tackle Box featuring battered and fried crawfish with Cajun Fries, a biscuit, and creamy horseradish sauce on the side for $4.99.

News: Jack in the Box - Holiday Shakes Return

Holiday Shakes in Egg Nog and Pumpkin Pie flavors are back at Jack in the Box this fall/winter.

Made with ice cream (and not soft serve), the shakes are available in regular (16 oz) and large (24 oz) sizes and are garnished with whipped topping and a maraschino cherry. My local Jack in the Box offers them for $2.69 and $3.29 respectively.

They are not available in Bakersfield in California nor in the cities Portland, Bend, Eugene, and Medford in Oregon.

Review: Popeyes - Chicken Nuggets

Popeyes' Chicken Nuggets features bite-sized pieces of chicken breast that are battered and breaded before a dip in the deep fryer.

My local Popeyes has them at 6 pieces for $1.99, but as you can see I received about 8 or so pieces.

Neat! Coke Zero - 007 Skyfall Obstacle Course in a Train Station...

First there was the Coke "Hug Me" machine and now this: unsuspecting train passengers stopping to buy a can of Coke Zero at a vending machine were prompted onscreen with an offer for a chance to win exclusive tickets for the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. All they had to do was get to Platform 6... in 70 seconds.