Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Bun Cookies

Welp, I had high hopes for the month of October on The Holidaze.  I planned on bringing you a different Funko Pop design each day, I planned on keeping up with my own Holidaze Instagram Challenge, and I planned on updating the site with new articles as much as possible.  For the most part, I've failed you.  For whatever reason, and it never seems to fail, I am always at my busiest when October rolls around.  For as much as I'd love to brush work off and focus on cartoons and Halloween candy, my real-life simply won't allow it.  Finding the balance between the two, much like last year, has been difficult this October.  I wish I could simply take a month off and dedicate my entire life to Halloween for 31 days, but my bosses don't seem to be down with that idea.  I don't know when they're going to wake up and realize that Frankenberry is far more important than their company, but until then, I'm stuck doing my job.  How about I just hit the lottery and we take this site to a whole new level.  Or hey, does Donald Trump read The Holidaze?  I could use a couple mill, broski!

Since I don't think that's going to happen, I'll do what I gotta do and attempt to salvage what is left of the season.  Believe it or not, we are only TEN DAYS away from Halloween and I think I may be more unprepared for October 31st than I've ever been before.  It's a shame, really, but it is what it is.  For now, I'm going to do my best to keep the Holidaze spirit alive with the help of a seasonal standout.. Pepperidge Farm!

Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

One of my favorite products from Pepperidge Farm are their Caramel Apple cookies.  When it comes to cookies, Pepperidge Farm knows how to do it right.  Have you ever had their Oatmeal Raisin?  Have you ever popped their chewey Chocolate Chip cookies into the microwave for that fresh out of the oven taste?  They do a phenomenal job of capturing flavor, texture, and appeal all in one bag.  Sure, they may be a little pricey, but you get what you pay for.  I must have spent at least $40 on Pepperidge Farm Caramel Apple cookies over the course of two years.  Yeah, they're that good and that's why I finally decided to give their Pumpkin Cheesecake cookies a chance!

Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Milano

Unbelievably, today is October first and officially kicks off the Month of Macabre!  This is, without a doubt, my favorite month of the year.  October invites us to embrace fun, horror, and nostalgia in a very selfish way.  Unlike December and the Christmas season, October doesn't live by the credo "it's better to give than receive."  Unless, of course, we're talking about Lizzie Borden.  In that case, we'd all much rather be on her end of 40 whacks.  What I mean is this month doesn't celebrate anything serious.  It's all about fun, indulging in seasonal products which are all no good for us, dressing up in playful costumes, finding a sexier side of horror, and scaring the shit out of ourselves through movies and Haunted Houses.  If this was how we wished Jesus a Happy Birthday, we'd all have spots reserved in Hell.  Thankfully, for 31 days, we get to make ourselves happy by being a kid again and sharing the memories and nostalgia with those who welcome the 'daze!  Leave your stress at the door, put on a mask, and get ready for the best month of the year!

On The Holidaze, we'll be having a blast this October.  First of all, I'll be announcing the winner of the NECA 8-Bit Jason Voorhees figure in a mere matter of hours! The Holidaze Halloween Instagram Challenge kicks off today and, later tonight, I'll be picking up where HI-C Horror Boxes left off with my own Holidaze Funko Horror Designs!  October is sure to be fun and interactive.  But, to kick things off, let's go the traditional Holidaze route and talk about some cookies!

French Toast & Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish

Quick post today and it probably took me longer to design the banner above than it will for you to read this.  But even though I'm clearly in a Halloween mood, I can't let Summer go completely.  With a few "official" weeks left, we're still going to see and do a few things that are clearly related to the Summer 'Daze.  I'd hate to overlook anything in an attempt to speed the spooky months up, so you're going to see a random assortment of posts until I can fully commit to the horrific daze of September and October.

Because I have my eyes set on orange and black, I probably would have missed this new Goldfish variety from Pepperidge Farm.  It was Eileen who spotted these "Grahams French Toast" Goldfish and, at first, I thought she was kidding.  My favorite breakfast in the world is French Toast.  That's all I need.  Smother it in butter and syrup and I'm all set.  I've been like that since I was a kid.  My used to make it for me so often that I would wind up asking to have it for dinner.  In the morning, It's still the only thing I ever order at a New Jersey Diner, Ihop or Perkins.  So, when she told me there was a bag of French Toast flavored Goldfish?  I was pumped!

These are sooo good! Granted, I'm biased, but these are incredible.  They remind me of a few different things but, most notably, I'd compare them to French Toast Crunch.  Discontinued here in the United States, French Toast Crunch was a cereal shaped to look like tiny slices of bread and tasted just like French Toast.  I used to love it!  For a while, it was the only cereal I ate.  There have been similar flavors, like Waffle Crisp and Eggo Maple Syrup, but nothing came close to French Toast Crunch.  That's until these Goldfish came along.  It may not be cereal, but it's close enough to satisfy me at the end of Summer.  For a more precise description, it's like French Toast Crunch meets a Cinnamon Teddy Graham and covers him in all that maple flavored sugar to create the only type of fish this picky eater will ever enjoy.

Once I saw the French Toast variety, I had to take a close look at the shelves to see if there was anything else I may have missed.  Now, this one doesn't say "New" in the upper left corner, but it's new to me and that'll work.  I told Eileen to get this one because, when I think of cupcakes, I think of her.  Not only does she like them, but she bakes the best I've ever had.  They taste delicious and she decorates them perfectly so, of course, it only made sense that we bought these too.  One for her, one for me.  But really, both for me.

I really like the way these Goldfish look.  I love the sprinkles added to make more of a "cupcake" impression.  I took these photos outside yesterday to really make those tiny sprinkles pop.  If you look closely, you'll see the rain drops on my classy paper plate.  But the money is in the flavor and that's where it kinda falls flat.  It's a cross between cake batter and animal crackers, but doesn't hit the landing quite right.  They're good, don't get me wrong, but I don't think the flavor is right.  I'll have to leave that up to my girlfriend.

Now, here's a word of advice from Pepperidge Farm:

Haha, that's so Finny! ;)

Pepperidge Farm Caramel Apple Cookies

 

Halloween is only 21 days away!  You know what that means?  That means The Holidaze is about to pick up the pace!  Barring any unforeseen work explosions, I'm looking to update The Holidaze as frequently as possible.  I'd like to have at least one up each day, but multiple entries would be even better.  Even if that means posting short blogs that are easily read in 5 minutes.  In all actuality, that's probably what most of you are looking for anyway.  I doubt anybody is reading paragraphs and paragraphs worth of information about old cupcake boxes and ring pops.  But, for those of you who are, that's what they're there for.  For the rest of you, enjoy the pictures!

Today's post is about cookies and they were brought to my attention by my cousin, Meghan.  She's also responsible for finding the Caramel Apple Milky Ways.  I appreciate her support and love the fact that she's scouring through the aisles as much as I do now.  There's no doubt she's in a Holidaze and, hopefully, this site does the same for you.

 Originally, she told me about Caramel Apple Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake cookies released by Pepperidge Farm.  For as much as I dislike pumpkin, I would have picked that up as well just to review for all of you.  Unfortunately, they were completely sold out of pumpkin.  But the funny thing is, I received a second hand review from the cashier at Wal-Mart.  After quickly glancing at the bag, she thought I had the Pumpkin Cheesecake cookies.  She went on and on about how great they were and how they tasted exactly like Pumpkin Pie.  She said she had become addicted to them and loves them so much.  She talked about how she couldn't get enough of them.  I guess we now know why they're sold out!

Then, as she looked again, she saw that I had the Caramel Apple Pie cookies and the conversation ended.  What was that all about?  Are my Caramel Apple Pie cookies no good?  She just did a full 180.  One second, you'd think she's the spokeswoman for Pepperidge Farm.  The next, she's bagging my items with that "I-hate-bagging-YOUR-items" attitude.  I didn't know what to expect now.  All I knew is that we had just purchased limited edition cookies that could go either way.  

Well, I can't speak for the Wal-Mart cashier, but I can tell you, first hand, that these cookies are awesome.  I call everything I like "awesome," but I haven't branched out in my vocabulary since high school so those types of adjectives are to be expected.  

I'm going to sound really fat right now, but these cookies are chewy and have the perfect amount of caramel and apple pieces.  It's funny, I can't find the apple pieces, but I can taste them.  I guess they blend in with the rest of the cookie.  These taste just like Fall.  It's like they melted down a Yankee Candle and turned it into a cookie.  To best describe this, imagine eating an oatmeal cookie that tastes like caramel apples.  That work?  Nope, I didn't think so either.  So, I'll end here and let Pepperidge Farm explain what you're in store for with these cookies.  From my end, all I can say is, no matter what that cashier said (or didn't say,) I love these Caramel Apple Cookies. 

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.