EOG - Issue 4 - Keebler's "Harvest Bakery" Crackers

Product: Hot Pockets Pizza Minis
Manufacturer: Chef America, Englewood, CO

The folks who make Hot Pockets, those insta-sandwiches for those of us that are too busy (or too lazy to mess with cold cuts and cooking), now want to present an alternative to the time-honored
Jeno's Pizza Roll. (Yes, I know, Pillsbury transferred the pizza roll product to the Totino's brand when they bought out Jeno's, Inc, but screw them! I will always think of this product as Jeno's Pizza Rolls, not Totino's Pizza Rolls...)

The result, the Hot Pockets Pizza Minis. The Pizza Minis come in three flavors; Double Cheese, Pepperoni, and Sausage and Pepperoni. Take into effect the flavor, ingredients, and crust texture, and these items are basically the star of the new film, "Honey, I Shrunk The Hot Pockets".

Although these products taste pretty good, they are basically just Hot Pockets that got left in the dryer for two long. Not much new or innovative here. Two chips up.

Product: Sierra Mist Lemon/Lime Soda
Manufacturer: Epic Enterprises, Ayer, MA

For those people who have problems telling 7up and Sprite apart from each other, here's another cold can full of confusion.

Sierra Mist is a new soft drink tossed into the Lemon/Lime (or Lymon, depending on which drink it is) soda ring. The taste is pretty similar to the other ones out there, to be honest, this drink occupies the narrow middle ground between 7up and Sprite. (Both drinks that I love, by the way...) Like the other two, it has a decent (thought not in-your-face like Mountain Dew) taste and is a great choice for those of us that are very thirsty, as it is a good slamming soda.

No caffeine, though...bummer. And this product is definitely not blazing any new flavor trails. But this is a solid product, and I wish the drink's producer luck in this venture. Three chips up

Product: Doritos Extreme Tortilla Chips
Manufacturer: Frito-Lay, Plano, TX

I was mad at Pepperidge Farm for this, and the same goes for the chip-brewmeisters over at Frito-Lay. Can't we all just get along without the use of that damn word "extreme"? (Points to F-L, though...at least they insisted in spelling the word right...)

F-L has made a thicker, crunchier tortilla chip, and has apparently concocted bolder flavors to go along with these new Uber-chips. The Bold BBQ flavor is just the Fritos' Honey BBQ flavor, slightly doctored to kick up the temperature. Not bad, but "been there, crunched that". The Zesty Sour Cream & Cheddar flavor is also bold, but still seems to be a re-working of the same flavorings that have been on other recent F-L products, like the Flavor-Rush Ruffles and things of the like.

Don't get me wrong, these chips are not that bad by any stretch of the imagination, but enough of this extreme crap. Osama Bin Laden is extreme...Doritos are just freaking snack chips.

Memo to the powers that be in the food industry...the whole "extreme" thing is completely overused, hackneyed, and overblown. STOP IT!

Two chips up.