Nestle Yellow Peach KitKat

Here's the other part of the Peach KitKat review: Yellow Peach. I'll come right out and say it - this is the weaker of the two. They were similar, but there were some nuances that made all the difference.

Based on the picture on the bag, I'm assuming that Yellow Peach was supposed to taste more like the peaches readily available in the United States. This gave me a better idea to what I should compare it.


It smelled similar to the White Peach, but the peach scent might have been stronger in the Yellow Peach. My first bite was good, at least initially. The white chocolate was smooth, sweet, and creamy, but didn't really taste like peach.

The peach flavor kicked in as a weird, sour aftertaste. It wasn't good, and ruined the bar for me. White Peach actually tasted like peach, and the flavor was better. I don't mind eating the Yellow Peach, but they were definitely not impressive.

C+

KitKat Website (Japanese)

Nestle White Peach KitKat

I decided to split my review of the Nestle Peach KitKats into two parts because I wrote a review of White Peach last night, and meant to bring Yellow Peach with me to work today and review it, but grabbed another White Peach by accident.

These were purchased at the same store as the Purin KitKats from yesterday's review. That Japanese store (Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, IL) never seems to have KitKats in stock when I go there, so I was thrilled to see these.

For some reason, white peach came in a pink wrapper, but in Japanese, the word 桃 (meaning peach - the fruit) can also mean pink. I think Japanese peaches tend to be pinker in color than the ones found in the United States.


The bar smelled just like peach juice I have had in the past, and I was pleased that it didn't smell fake. The taste was also peachy - sweet, juicy, and refreshing. As with most white chocolate KitKats, it was a little over sweet, but in the small size, it didn't bother me too much.

I was pleasantly surprised, since my previous experience with fruity KitKats has been pretty negative. The peach flavor tasted genuine and pleasant. Both my husband and I (and Kelly at Sweet Pursuit) liked this one better than the Yellow Peach, which I will post about soon.

B+

KitKat Website (Japanese)

Nestle Custard Purin KitKat

My husband loves purin. It's probably the number one Japanese treat he wishes was he could find more easily in the US. So, whenever we go to a Japanese market, he always wants some. This time, we found it in KitKat form!

White chocolate KitKats have a reputation for being too sweet, so I tend to prefer them in the miniature size. Luckily, that's how these Custard Purin KitKats came. In the past, I tried a Caramel Purin KitKat that I didn't care for, so I tried not to let that influence my opinion on this one.


The bars smelled a bit gross, like a fake caramel. However, they tasted better than they smelled. The chocolate was buttery and smooth, and very creamy. The flavor had a hint of caramel, as well as a nice custard taste.

Of course, my husband and I agreed that it wasn't as good as real purin, and it was a little too sweet. However, the custard flavor was really tasty, so I wasn't too upset about the sweetness. It was much better than the last purin KitKat I tried.

B+

KitKat Website (Japanese)

Entenmann's Blueberry Little Bites

My sister had these, so I decided to try a pack. Little Bites has this industrial strength, thick, white packaging normally reserved for classified documents and condoms. I'm not sure why they do this. It can't be to keep the muffins from crushing, because they're already flattened when they come out. So what is it? Sun protection?

The muffins are small, and there are only four of them. It looks like there are real blueberries in them, which is a plus. They look like little purple toadstools to me. Eating them is an interesting experience. These muffins are so oily that you can swallow them whole. I tried to eat them bite by bite, but no dice. They still slid down my throat like luge athletes.

I'm not a fan of these. Their motto, "I just want a little bite!" reminds me of those little assholes in elementary school who would always try and mooch off your lunch. That pisses me off. I was that mooch. To me, the plea of these muffins mocks me.

And homey don't like being mocked.

2/10- CRAP

Bebe's Barbecue

Update: no longer open.

With the recent trip to Q Barbecue, and their disappointing sides still haunting me, I had to get myself pronto to the less than month-old barbecue joint, Bebe's Barbecue, to see if I could find better.

Named for the owner's grandmother, Bebe's is a casual Southern barbecue joint residing in an unlikely site -- the heart of South Philly's Italian Market. What Bebe's has going for it is the owner and chef is a real Southerner -- North Carolina-born and Mississippi-raised Mark Coates -- so I thought for sure I'd fare better than my last Southern side adventure.

Not only did I fare better, but I struck gold!
Ah, this is how you present a barbecue house! Bebe's is very simple inside, with only stools and a long counter lined with small paper trays of complimentary roasted peanuts, mustard tins filled with wet-naps, paper napkin dispensers, and bottles of hot sauce running along one wall , and, across the way (real estate is narrow in Philly), a register and Mark himself scooping up barbecue and sides from a line of warming pans.
All the sides at Bebe's are vegetarian, which is certainly not the norm -- collards and beans, baked or otherwise, at most places usually have pork -- but making sides vegetarian is easy to do without compromising the dish, and is very much appreciated by this girl. We ordered one of every side available that day (fresh corn wasn't available) and chose to walk around the corner to dine at Bardascino Park, which conveniently has picnic tables.
You know I ate the mac and cheese first! It looks right -- not made with a cheese sauce, but real Southern mac and cheese with bits of cheese visible. And it tastes right -- cheesy, but not greasy. This is the real deal Southern mac and cheese, not the ubiquitous, fancy "restaurant" stuff. Bebe's mac and cheese is done right without being overly greasy, as grease is the downfall of most Southern-style mac and cheeses. It's the closest I've ever come to eating mac and cheese like my Mom makes, so Bebe's hit the ball out of the park with this one, and won my affections!
The coleslaw is a finely shredded, Dixie-cut cabbage and carrots with mustard seeds, and dressed with a sweet and slightly spicy vinegar dressing. I have maybe a slight preference for coleslaw with creamy dressings, but loved this vinegar heavy coleslaw. Honestly, I love all styles of coleslaw.
The collards are scooped out of a hot bath of pot liquor before landing on your plate. The large leaves are slow cooked in the traditional way, so are soft, but nothing near as mushy and over boiled as I've experienced at some places.
The cornbread is just as it should be -- not sweet! I actually like both non-sweet Southern cornbread and sweet Yankee cornbread (yeah, that's what it's called), so can go either way, but if you're serving Southern cuisine you can't serve sweet cornbread without being called out as a fraud. My partner thought the cornbread was dry, but I had to remind him that this is not the sweet, cakey kind, and, in fact, Bebe's cornbread is not dry (I've had dry cornbread before, and it's nearly impossible to swallow, and this was certainly not the case with Bebe's cornbread).
One of Bebe's sides is sweet potato puree, and I have to admit that I've never had sweet potato puree. Bebe's sweet potato puree is a little too sweet and a little too heavily spiced with cinnamon and other spices, but certainly plate-licking enjoyable. I thought the puree was a little thin and difficult to eat out of the foil cups Mark made to keep the puree from running all over the plate, and would be much better presented as sweet potato souffle -- essentially a less runny sweet potato puree that's been baked and stiffened with egg. If sweet potato souffle -- a favorite family dish right up there with mac and cheese -- took the place of the puree, I'd slap a dress on Mark and make him my surrogate mom!
Bebe's offers little pies for dessert, and on our visit sweet potato pie with a struesel top was the pie of the day. Other than maybe needing a couple more minutes in the oven to brown the crust a little more, this firm and creamy sweet potato pie was right on. I felt like I was sitting at my family's Thanksgiving table! And you gotta have iced sweet tea! Bebe's sweet tea is excellent...sweet enough to be called sweet tea, but not so sweet it makes you cringe. And certainly not made with some fancy fruit tea blend, which has it's place, but not here. Just straight-up, righteous sweet tea!

Bebe's also serves biscuits on Sunday. I returned on the Sunday immediately after my first visit in an attempt to sample a biscuit (and get some mac and cheese and coleslaw), but, sadly, they were closed for Mother's Day. I'm gonna get a biscuit, and, when I do, I'll report back. Update: got 'em!

Of course, I can't tell you about the barbecue, but if the sides are any indication of the quality and authenticity of the food Bebe's is serving, that barbecue is sure to be good. It looks good!

Bebe's Barbecue
1017 South 9th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-519-8791
Mon, closed
Tues-Sat, 11am-6pm
Sun, 9am-2pm

The website printed on Bebe's business card (BebesBarbecue.com) doesn't seem to be up at the time of the writing of this post (update: site's up!), so here's a scan of their rotating menu. Click to enlarge.

Banana Pudding

Like I was seriously not going to follow up that last post with a recipe for banana pudding?

Banana pudding is a very simple, homey, and classic Southern dessert. There are really only two ways to make it -- the right way and the wrong way. There's no futzing with the ingredients or the preparation. Futz, and you have something different.

• The right way: make a simple, homemade pudding on the stove top.
• The wrong way: make instant pudding.
  

• The right way: keep your pudding vanilla flavored. No squished bananas, no spices, no nothin'.
• The wrong way: make banana flavored, or any other flavored pudding.
  

• The right way: use ripe, but not overly ripe, sliced bananas
• The wrong way: use green or overly ripe bananas that you've squished, chopped, or cooked.
  

• The right way: use Nilla Wafers.
  
• The wrong way: use homemade or any store bought cookie other than a Nilla Wafer.
  

• The right way: alternately layer the three main components - cookies, bananas, pudding in that order. Repeat if necessary.
• The wrong way: not getting at least one layer of bananas and cookies underneath the pudding.
  

Let me take you step by step:
Make pudding from scratch (recipe is at end).Cover the bottom -- and sides if you like -- of a serving dish with vanilla wafers. If you want to get fancy with individual servings in martini glasses or canning jars, that's fine. Use ripe bananas -- not too green and not too brown.
Layer sliced bananas on top of vanilla wafers.
I got excited and forgot to photograph the pudding layer that comes next, but you can see it underneath the second layer of vanilla wafers. So, that's pudding layer, then repeat, starting with vanilla wafers again.
Second banana layer!
Second pudding layer!
More often than not, there is a decorative top layer, be it more vanilla wafers, meringue, or homemade whipped cream. All three of these toppings are totally legit. I've always gone with more wafers. Banana Pudding
makes about 6 servings

As this dessert sits, the wafers soften and the bananas start to turn brown. In my opinion, the optimum time to eat banana pudding is about 30 minutes to 3 hours after being made, because the wafers and bananas have softened a bit from the warm pudding. I usually can't help myself and eat some the second it's made while the wafers are still a little crunchy. If you want soft and crunchy wafers, decorate the top with wafers right before serving. At around 12-18 hours the bananas start to get brown and ugly, i.e. do not make this dessert a day ahead! It won't hang around a day any way.

1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 package Nilla Wafers (may not use all)
3-5 bananas, sliced (may not use all)

• Combine flour and sugar in a sauce pan. Gradually stir in milk. Then add egg yolks and salt.
• Cook over medium heat until thickened (about 8-10 minutes, but thickening will take place almost suddenly and you will know when this occurs), stirring constantly (very important). Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter (butter can be skipped if you want to make the dish ever so slightly healthier), stirring to incorporate.
• Layer vanilla wafers, then bananas, and then one-half of the pudding in a deep dish. Repeat layers. Finally, top with a decorative layer of vanilla wafers.
  
• Serve warm or chilled.

Nik Naks Nice 'n' Spicy

I was disappointed with these.

I expected them to be like Cheetos- they were shaped like them, so I figured they'd be cheesy and very hot, like a higher-end, gourmet version of Hot Cheetos.

Instead, these tasted strongly of two things- vinegar and ginger. It wasn't necessarily a bad taste, just not what I expected, and not spicy, as advertised. Strong, yes. Tangy, yes. But spicy just didn't cut the bill for this.

The texture was phenomenal- like refined Cheetos, with none of those icky little corn bits that break your teeth. These were smooth and crispy, and though they were way past the sell date, very crisp.

3/10- EH.