Review: Entenmann's - Pumpkin Donuts

Entenmann's Pumpkin Donuts are new and made with real pumpkin. I'd never seen pumpkin donuts at any of my local supermarkets, so I picked a box of these up.

It's not cheap at $4.99 for a box of 8 donuts, but a sale knocked the price down to $2.50.

News: Jelly Belly - New Tabasco Flavored Jelly Beans

For those who like a lot of heat with their sweet, Jelly Belly has just the thing for you: new Tabasco flavored Jelly Beans.

Jelly Belly describes the flavor like this: "the pungent taste of red peppers, Avery Island salt and distilled vinegar, coupled with a subtle sweetness – but not too sweet – undertone from the jelly bean itself."

It sounds like "ow! my tongue is burning!" to me though.

Frozen Friday: Healthy Choice - Beef and Broccoli

Healthy Choice's Beef and Broccoli is billed as "a fresh take on an old favorite" and features chunks of beef with diced onions and red peppers over whole grain brown rice with a teriyaki sauce and broccoli on the side.

These normally sell for $3.99 at my local supermarket ($2.50 or so on sale).

News: Krispy Kreme - Pumpkin Spice Donut Returns Plus New Pumpkin Treats

Krispy Kreme returns the Pumpkin Spice Cake Donut this fall along with a slew of other pumpkin treats.

The Pumpkin Spice Cake Donut is an old-fashioned cake donut made with pumpkin flavor and spices, and glazed in Krispy Kreme fashion. It is available through November 22, 2012 at Krispy Kreme donut shops.

Also at participating Krispy Kreme locations, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is available hot or iced and topped with whipped cream.

News: Starbucks - Free Verismo Lattes on October 15

Starbucks is giving away free lattes made from their new Verismo one-touch, coffee pod machine at select stores this upcoming Monday, October 15, 2012, from 4pm to 6pm.

The promotion is meant to promote the new Verismo machine (they're going with "Verismo System" as the name, but that sounds more like a speaker system to me). The machines are meant to provide at-home convenience for Starbucks customers who want the same drinks from Starbucks in their own home.

Review: Domino's - Bacon and Jalapeno Stuffed Cheesy Bread

Domino's Bacon and Jalapeno Stuffed Cheesy Breadsticks feature baked breadsticks stuffed with cheese, bacon, and jalapeno peppers, covered in a melted blend of mozzarella and cheddar and finished with a dusting of garlic, parsley and Romano cheese.

It's $5.99 for an order.

News: Subway - New Chopped Salads

Subway now has a new Chopped Salad option where any 6" sub or double meat sub of your choice can be had as a salad (sans the bread of course).

News: Wendy's Unveils New Logo

A lot of changes going on at Wendy's lately. There's the recent revamps of their fries, burgers, and bacon, but there's more... Coming in March 2013, you also be seeing a new Wendy's logo.

Where the old logo was classic and played to the chain's roots, Wendy's new logo is meant to reflect "innovation and fresh thinking" as the chain moves forward into the future.

The new logo is the most drastically different of the five previous logos the chain has worn. Gone is the "Old Fashioned Hamburgers" tagline and red and yellow box. While Wendy's trademark face remains, it's a slightly more mature (and better drawn) face.

Around the World: Pizza Hut Canada - New Hot Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza

First it was the U.K. and now Canada: Pizza Hut introduces the new Hot Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza in Canada for a limited time starting October 15, 2012.

The pizza's main feature is that Angus beef hot dogs are rolled up into the pizza crust.

It will be offered at the same price as a regular Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pizza and will be available in medium or large sizes. Each pizza will come with a Heinz Ketchup Dip and Squeeze and Heinz Honey Mustard Dip.

Review: Yoshinoya - Beef Yaki Udon Bowl

Yoshinoya's Yaki Udon is a new noodle dish for the Japanese beef bowl chain. I recently tried the Beef Yaki Udon Bowl which consisted of sliced beef stir-fried in a wok with a mix of fresh vegetables (zucchini, bok choy, cabbage, snow peas, onion and garlic), udon noodles, and Yoshinoya's special sauce.

It cost me $6.69 for an order.

Around the World: McDonald's - New Grilled Halloum on Ciabatta in Kuwait

In a bit of localized flavor, McDonald's is offering a new, limited-time Grilled Halloum on Ciabatta breakfast sandwich in Kuwait.

If you're like me and saw the picture, you'd think it was just an egg white sandwich right? But it's actually a thick slice of cheese.

Around the World: KFC Offers to Deliver Soggy Hash Browns? ...in Singapore

KFC Singapore recently introduced the KFC Cheese Hash Brown as their latest new menu item. It's a fried up hash brown patty drizzled with cheese sauce, mayonnaise, and topped with spring onions. Might be good right?

So here's the weird part: they're only offering Cheese Hash Browns via delivery only, which, theoretically, gives plenty of time for the cheese sauce and mayo to turn the hash brown into mushy potatoes. Yay for soggy hash browns?

Review: Panera Bread - Roasted Turkey & Cranberry Panini

Panera Bread's Roasted Turkey & Cranberry Panini sandwich is new this fall and features all-natural, roasted turkey slices layered in a fresh-baked ciabatta bread with a garlic and herb cheese spread, cranberry chutney, and fresh spinach.

It's fairly pricey at $8.79 a sandwich, though it does come with a choice of chips, apple, or baguette on the side.

News: Krispy Kreme - Halloween Donuts are Back

Krispy Kreme returns their spate of Halloween Donuts this month. The Krispy Skremes donut line up includes Pumpkin, Spider Web, and Halloween Sprinkle.

The Pumpkin donut is a jack-o-lantern-shaped donut with a face of black icing atop orange icing.

The Spider Web donut features a chocolate-iced donut with Kreme filling decorated with a web of white icing.

Review: Subway - Tuscan Chicken Melt

Subway's new, limited-time Tuscan Chicken Melt is a "$6 Footlong Special" they're offering this month in addition to their Featured $5 Footlong. It features strips of chicken breast tossed in a zesty herb seasoning, served with your choice of melted cheese, veggies, and bread and finished with a balsamic vinaigrette.

I went with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, spinach, onions, tomatoes, and the Italian herbs & cheese bread. It cost me $6 for a footlong.

Around the World: Domino's Australia Offers Pancakes

Domino's Australia now offers new Mini Dutch Pancakes for a limited time on their menu.

Specifically, they're offering poffertjes, which are small, fluffy and puffy pancakes (they look like fat, little flying saucers). Poffertjes are typically made in a specialized pan and served with butter and powdered sugar.

News: Pei Wei - New Sriracha Chicken and BOGO Offer

Pei Wei Asian Diner incorporates the fiery-red Thai chili sauce, Sriracha, into their latest limited-time dish, Sriracha Chicken.

The ingredient was selected by fan voting and features the spicy kick of Sriracha joined with "cooling ingredients" such as tomatoes, long beans, and  pineapple.

Review: Panera Bread - Pumpkin Spice Latte

Like Starbucks, Panera Bread also offers a Pumpkin Spice Latte around this time of year. Panera's version consists of espresso, steamed milk, and pumpkin spice syrup topped with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

The nutritional information online lists the drink at 11-ounces, but the one I bought looked to be about 16-ounce and there weren't any other sizes offered. The price was $4.29.

Around the World: Kit Kat Variations

Here in the U.S., we pretty much only get the plain regular Kit Kat bar with some very slight variations (dark chocolate, white chocolate), but the world is vast, so I thought it'd be interesting to look at what Nestle has done with Kit Kats worldwide (in the U.S., Hershey's produces Kit Kats, but for the rest of the world, it's made by Nestle, which might explain our lack of variety here).

In several countries, there's Kit Kat Ice Cream with bite-sized balls of Kit Kat embedded in it, but that's not all...

News: Pillsbury - New Funfetti Brownie Pops Kit

Good news Halloween baker types! The Pillsbury doughboy introduces a new Halloween-themed Funfetti Brownies Pops Kit this month. Just in case you are tired of cake pops, now you can make brownie pops...

Each kit carries a suggested retail price of $3.49 and includes brownie mix, cocoa confectionary wafers, candy bits, and pop sticks. Each box contains enough to make 12 pops.