Pounding Santa Claus - Reese's Newest Peanut Butter Cup

Greetings! It's been awhile since I blogged here, but I'm hoping to fix that in the New Year. 2017 will mark a return to writing for me. Since I put in a special effort on my Christmas video on my YouTube channel, it seemed appropriate to get an early start on things.

So, anyone who does any grocery shopping around Christmas time will notice that all sorts of crazy products show up on the shelves to entice people to buy them. Sellers have that motivation - to create new things to justify getting ahold of our money. There's no time like a holiday for all sorts of interesting things to hit the shelves.

Reese's is no stranger to giant peanut butter cups. They've made them for years. What's new is making these giant 1 lb peanut butter cups in the shape of particular things, and not just the usual flying saucers. I enjoyed the peanut butter-filled rabbit they whipped up at Easter. I wondered if the company might try trotting out similar giant peanut-butter filled chocolate objects at other times of year.

Enter the giant 1 lb Santa. As a product, it is a no-brainer. Chocolate Santas have been a thing for years. Ever since I was a little kid, I've seen big chocolate Santas hit the store shelves every year. I've eaten a few, for purposes of full disclosure. I consider it a rite of passage for anyone who grew up in this country. Not a wholesome rite of passage, maybe, but a rite nonetheless.

It looks pretty. Shiny. And very dense. It feels like a brick in the palm of your hand. And sadly, the peanut butter to chocolate ratio on these giant peanut butter cups never matches the brilliance of the original normally-sized products. There's way too much peanut butter, and because there's so much of it, it feels exceptionally dry and powdery inside. The chocolate on the outer edges is ridiculously thick too. In some ways, it's not a pleasant eating experience. Chocolate will dry your mouth out quickly. Don't be like me - keep a drink handy. Your mouth and throat will thank you.

Is it worth $10? The food adventurer in me thinks so, but it's definitely not something you eat everyday (or see everyday) so I'd say it was worth a one-time go. We will have to see if Reese's brings it back next year. Can't say yet if I'd buy it again, but my dentist would be thrilled if I skipped out.

Any thoughts? Make sure to drop your comments in the discussion section! Everyone have a great rest of the week and I'll talk to you soon.

Secret Santa For Competitive Eaters, 2014 Style

Secret Santa is a game where a mysterious benefactor gives you a gift to commemorate Christmas. I suppose you can play the game anytime, since Santa is losing his sectarian spirit. Sorta. But when competitive eaters play it, you know there's gonna be a twist.

The competitive eating community on YouTube has played a mass Secret Santa game for two years running. The brainchild of Tracy Goode, a frequent competitor on the Major League Eating circuit, the game allows a wide array of eaters to gift each other with ridiculous (secret) parcels of food that must be revealed and consumed on camera. The mystery element makes this project a winner. 

Of course, not all participants have a mean streak in them. Some players choose to send nice things, such as boxes of chocolate and jars of Nutella. A few eaters will receive truly nasty nuggets of noxious nefariousness, but that's all in good fun. And the winner is you, the viewer, who gets to see the stunned reaction of the person trying to eat the weird food at hand. 

Molly Schuyler, All Pro Eating's #1 ranked eater, played the game this year. Though she holds world records in speed eating normal foods, the weird side of the aisle is not something she typically relishes. She does relish the fact that Secret Santa exposes eaters to things they wouldn't normally try. At least, that's the gist of what I got from an off-hand comment. And I totally agree. 

For me, this year's Secret Santa game offered a moment of sweet revenge. I sent "Cardboard" Shell two bottles of tamarind syrup. Seems like a good offering after the 24 century eggs she sent me last year. And again, the winner is you - the viewer. Disgusting eating makes for wonderful viewing. Just ask the boys over at Wreckless Eating, who've practically made a living off puking on camera. 

If you want to see what this year's smackdown was all about, feel free to check out the YouTube playlist here: Competitive Eater Secret Santa 2014 Collab Playlist!  (for those who don't know, a collab is short for collaboration. In Youtube lingo, it means that several people with YouTube accounts all worked together on a similar project to help gather traction for all their channels) 

And if you're a written list kinda guy or girl, the full list of names and respective videos is found here, posted in the order I received the links.

Naader "Freak8r" Reda: 

Wayne Algenio:

Deadly Sins:

Chuck From the Bronx: 

Matt Cohen: 

Cardboard Shell: 

Frohungry:

Badlands Booker: 

Yo You Hungry: 

Juan Rodriguez: 

Andrew The Bear:

Jon Bello: 

Stephanie Torres: 

Miki Sudo: 

Molly Schuyler:  

Whew, that was a lot of typing. Remind me never to do anything like that again. Another winner in this project was the US Postal Service, who had the professional pleasure of delivering all of our wonderful crates of cuisine. 

I know one thing for sure - I'm playing the game again next year. You'd better come and watch :)