Please Note: I want to say thank you to all the people who entered the contest! There were so many entries it is going to take a while for me to go through them but I will pick and announce a winner later on today. In the meantime, here are more PC product reviews!
Loads of Jalapeno Popper Potato Chips
PC Loads of Jalapeno Popper Potato Chips claim to be scorching hot so I have to admit, I was terrified to try these. Over the years I have tried to build up a tolerance to heat but I am no where near being a spicy connoisseur!
But I did it! They looked so flavourful and truly lived up to the term “loaded” which I really appreciate that I could not resist. They are deceiving at first. The first chip seemed tolerable to me so I ate more. The more I ate, the more the heat increased exponentially.
I did not give up though! I made Janet & Greta Podleski‘s Skinny Dip Tzatziki from their new The Looneyspoons Collection (recipe to come soon). This helped immensely! Reg was skeptical it would be a good match but he ended up liking it too. Still, I could only eat so many but that is fine. Chips are hard for me to not devour so I got to enjoy them without pigging out.
If you love heat and chips with lots of flavour, these are the holiday treat for you! At only $1.67 for a 235 gram bag, I give this product four and a half out of five wooden spoons.
Milk Chocolate Covered Butter Toffee with Roasted Almonds
PC Milk Chocolate Covered Butter Toffee with Roasted Almonds come in an attractive metal tin and you can take the PC wrapping off it and give it as a gift without having to wrap it. The tin does still say “President’s Choice” on the bottom though so do not try and claim you made these yourself!
Now my tin was delivered to me so it was very dishevelled and falling apart when I opened it. This photo was taken after I cleaned it up but as you can see, many of the almonds had fallen off. I really thought there would be more treats in this box but you only get 15 pieces for $7.99.
If you put them on a pretty plate, they do end up being quite attractive. They taste like very thick squares of Skor chocolate bar that have been covered in almonds. You like Skor, you will get the toffee stuck in your teeth and these are super, super sweet.
I did not find these to be particularly interesting or original though. To me, these are an OK gift to give but nothing special, especially for the price. I give this product three and a half out of five wooden spoons. Nothing seriously wrong with it but not impressive either.
President’s Choice Memories of Morocco
When I saw the bottle of President’s Choice Memories of Morocco in with all the PC chocolates and sweets while my health was dwindling, I grabbed it! Oh to make a chicken dinner with very little effort… the idea sounded fantastic to me as my head throbbed and my fever rose.
I was hesitant though. “Sweet and spicy tagine sauce” was not necessarily something we would both like. Especially the “sweet” part in a savoury dish.
As we sat down to eat, Reg and I both did so hesitantly. I did not want to have to make another meal and Reg was wary of its unusual scent. He took a bite and said, “Huh!”
It was good! Not necessarily something we would eat on a regular basis but it was a fascinating dinner. I just cooked up some chicken, sauteed some red peppers, put it together with the sauce and served over scented rice.
“You know, I was prepared to not like this at all,” Reg said.
“That’s OK, I thought I was going to hate it,” I replied.
Very surprising! Deep flavour, sweet yet but the heat gave it balance. I love it when food surprises and fascinates me. Still, this will not be for everyone, even at just $2.49. For us, I give it three and a half out of five wooden spoons.
Dine-In Tonight Creamy Mascarpone, Ricotta, Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna
It is quite clear from reading the reviews for PC Dine-In Tonight Creamy Mascarpone, Ricotta, Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna that Reg and I are in the minority on this lasagna. We did not like it!
First, for a smaller lasagna it seemed to take forever to cook. I know most frozen lasagnas take a long time but this one took around an hour and a half. The good news is, unlike more frozen lasagnas I have had, it was actually hot all the way through by the time it went through the oven and had time to sit and set. So, it was worth it.
I can forgive a long cooking time but what I can not forgive is lack of seasoning. When I went through the list of ingredients, it does appear that salt is added to each layer but I think they forgot one crucial step: seasoning the noodles as they cooked in boiling water. I could be wrong about where they missed the seasoning but it was quite clear when I heated it up the next day and chopped it up and added salt, pepper and Parmesan that it tasted soooooo much better! And I am not a freak about salt, I use very little of it, especially after cooking but this was so flat I just had to.
It was so unpleasant for Reg he did not want to have leftovers. I assured him that I would add seasoning to it to make it taste better. Thankfully after taking a bite he said, “Definitely way better now.”
Also, there was no interesting texture to this lasagna. Everything was so creamy and broken down, the texture itself was also boring. You can add all sorts of expensive ingredients like mascarpone cheese and fire-roasted tomatoes but if the seasoning is off and the dish lacks textural interest, I am not paying $14.99 for it. No way!
I know some people will love this dish so if you think this sounds like heaven, buy it. Me? I can only give it two out of five wooden spoons.
I was shocked when I opened the PC Red Velvet Cake Baking Mix and saw there was only one package inside! Perhaps it is because I have such high expectations of President’s Choice but when I looked at the photo, saw that it was a not a cake mix but labelled a “baking mix” I assumed there would also be an icing mix in the box. The whole premise to the holiday report and the products is that it will save me time.
Having two fully baked cakes and no cream cheese to make the “chef’s tip” icing on the back of the box does not save me time. You know what does?
No No Cream Cheese Flavour Frosting that I used for some Halloween treats. I knew I liked the icing and to be honest, had I not remembered I had a can of this I probably would have given up on the cake altogether.
It is the holiday season, I am sick, the only way I am going to bake right now will be thanks to products (which sucks, I love baking from scratch) but a foodie monkey wrench like this one had me considering throwing it in the compost bin.
So how did it taste? Boring. Uninteresting. I have never had red velvet cake before and I am pretty sure it is traditionally more interesting that this cake is. I found it dry, uninspired and absolutely forgettable.
I will say I am absolutely impressed that they achieved bright red colour without using artificial colours. They get kudos for that big time. One of the reasons I like to bake from scratch is to avoid artificial colours and flavours.
Still, Reg who loves cake had one slice and said, that’s it. No more and I did not even finish my little slice. I will admit I have never had a cake mix that I like so the tradition continues. I am super picky but, well, Reg isn’t, LOL. The fact he agreed with me and would rather not have more made me feel a little justified in not liking this product at all.
I know there are people out there who will disagree with me on this one, that will find it just fine. For me, all those empty calories had better be worth it. These are not and the cake is going in the compost bin, which breaks my heart. What a waste of time, food and energy for $2.99.
I give this product one out of five wooden spoons.
I honestly never understood the whole “Red Velvet” craze to begin with, natural colouring or otherwise. A bright red cake does not appeal to me. BUT, your photos do look so good, the contrast with the icing is pretty.
My hubby once bought the PC baking mix for shortbread cookies, thinking there were actual cookies in the box. Imagine his shock when he pulled out a package of mix and had to get to work mixing/baking it. Boy did we have a good laugh over that one. They were meh, homemade obviously so much better.
Red Velvet Cake’s main claim to fame is that it is red. Period. That’s it. Apart from being red, it’s not a particularly tasty cake or anything. But it was considered “tres elegant” at Eaton’s cafeterias which used to be the only place you could get it.