Tag: Food Review

My Top Five Favorite Flavors of Ice Cream

By: Madison Grace Hanson

  1. My number one favorite flavor of ice cream is cotton candy. I love the pink and blue swirls that the ice cream consists of. The sweet cotton candy flavor always hits the spot when I am in need of a sweet treat. Baskin Robbins has the best cotton candy ice cream. Everytime I go there, I make sure to get the ice cream in a waffle cone— it makes it better. I know this tends to be an unpopular opinion for most people, but I truly believe that cotton candy is one of the most delicious ice cream flavors to ever exist. 
  2. Next, I find mint chocolate chip to be one of the best ice cream flavors. The light green color adds a nice touch while eating the ice cream. I like that the chocolate chips within are thin and flakey. This makes the ice cream texture more enjoyable when eating. Baskin Robbins also has the best mint chocolate chip ice cream in Sumter. I prefer to eat this flavor in a cup rather than a waffle cone. 
  3. Continuing, I really like birthday cake flavored ice cream. The best kind of birthday cake ice cream is the kind with rainbow sprinkles within. The rainbow colors are fun and make it visually appealing. I am not sure which store has the best birthday cake ice cream, but I do know that Sweet Frog has a good version of it. Although Sweet Frog is frozen yogurt, I still consider it ice cream. You can add in the sprinkles when you get the ice cream from Sweet Frog which I like because then I can add as much as I want. Overall, birthday cake ice cream has a simple flavor that you can not go wrong with. 
  4. Furthermore, the superman ice cream flavor is very delicious even though it is simply just vanilla. I learned that it was just vanilla ice cream last year and my perspective on it has greatly changed. It does not taste the same now. It is still good, but I do not enjoy it as much anymore. The blue, yellow, and red colors are a fun addition which add to the theme of the ice cream— superman. No place in Sumter offers this flavor, but there is a store in Garden City that serves it, and it is tasty. All in all, this is a mediocre ice cream flavor. 
  5. Finally, chocolate chip cookie dough is a great flavor that you can’t go wrong with if you get it. Having the chocolate chips and cookie dough bits throughout the vanilla ice cream adds a great touch to the texture. Baskin Robbins serves a yummy chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and I like to get it in a waffle cone. This is a classic flavor that most everyone enjoys. Although this is not my first pick, I do get it sometimes. 

Rating Crumbl Cookies

By: Morgan Aycock

  1. Original Pink Sugar

Even though I have never tried this cookie, it is an all-time fan favorite. The almond sugar cookie is different from all other cookies and pink is my favorite color, so I may be biased. They also just recently added it back to the menu, so people will be buying this like crazy. 

  1. Mallow Creme ft. Lucky Charms

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, this is a first time cookie for Crumbl. The marshmallow frosting and Lucky Charm marshmallows align perfectly together. Many people that have tried it have liked it. 

  1. Cookies and Creme Brownie

As always, every week there is a brownie instead of a cookie. I do think the chocolate could be a little over powering, but overall I think it would be good. I think the buttercream would be good and have a good mix in with the cookies and chocolate. 

  1. Milk Glaze ft. Fruity Pebbles

I think the milk flavor would be a little questionable, but a good idea to do with the Fruity Pebbles on top. I think it could be a little plain and I don’t think they should’ve done this because they already did the Lucky Charms cookie. I don’t like that it’s a plain cookie with a milky glaze, and I think it would be a better idea to do frosting and Fruity Pebbles on top of that. 

  1. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk

Even though they do this cookie every week, I still think it’s a good cookie, but they should definitely take it off the list. They should not add the sea salt and I don’t think it’s worth the 800 calories to buy when you can buy a lot of other cookies for the same price and amount of calories. 

  1. Wildberry Sugar

I do not think that this cookie would get a lot of sales. The strawberries and blueberries don’t belong in a cookie in my opinion. They have never had a cookie like this, which I think is good for them to try something new. However, I would not buy it and I don’t think others would either. 

  1. Chocolate Mint Cake ft. Andes 

I don’t think the cake is a good idea at all, and they should stick to selling only cookies. Many people don’t like mint flavored things, but I see what they were trying to do because of the green for St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t think adding the mints on top does this any better, and the mint frosting would not be good. 

Dunkin Donuts Review

Bnkin

Dunkin Donuts, which is one of largest coffee and donut chain brands in the United States, has the best and biggest variety of menu options. Not only do they provide many different breakfast options but they provide a large variety of drink options. However the star of their menu is their wide variety of coffee options. Here are the top 

Dunkin Donuts Iced Americano comes in last place. This drink allows you to taste Dunkins’ espresso brand without all of the add-ins like sugar, creamer, and flavoring. This drink, although preferred by some people, has a burnt taste and is incredibly bitter. It is also very bland and only gives that coffee taste which is very boring when there are so many flavors to choose from. Considering the lack of appeal to this drink that is why it is ranked last.

The Dunkin Donut drink in fourth place is the Blueberry Iced Coffee. Unlike a lot of coffee shops or chains that provide other flavoring syrups like vanilla, caramel, and mocha. Dunkin has a blueberry flavor which is usually asked for in Dunkin’s standard ice coffee or cold brew. Although blueberry flavored drinks usually have an appealing taste to them, Dunkin’s blueberry coffee is not very great. It does not have the right flavoring to go with the name, and blueberry flavoring should simply not be in coffee. 

Dunkin Donuts Caramel Swirl Iced Coffee comes in third. The drink has a good amount of creamers and other add-ins, so that the sweetness does not overpower and the coffee is still present. However the caramel flavoring gives more of a chocolate flavor. Also most of the time this is ordered it is not mixed well, a lot of the syrup is sitting on the bottom. 

The Caramel Craze Iced Signature Latte from Dunkin comes in second. This drink gives the perfect amount of caramel and cinnamon flavors and a well blended latte base. It also comes with whipped cream with caramel and cinnamon toppings that brings the whole drink together. These toppings are also removable upon request. However this drink does have a very sweet taste to it, and may be overpowering for many coffee drinkers. Although the coffee flavor is still present among sipping.

The best Dunkin Donuts drink is the Ice Vanilla Latte with cold foam. This drink gives options to sweeten it up with the additions of cream and sugar and make it less sweet by leaving it plain with no cold foam. Even with these additions, this drink is a simple go to basic. Everyone, coffee drinkers or not, will find this latte tasty.

Top Mexican Restaurants 

By: Logan Mims

On this week’s blog, I will be ranking Mexican restaurants in Sumter, South Carolina from my favorite to my least favorite. The restaurants I will be ranking are Yucatan, Mariachis, and El Paso. 

Coming in at number 3 is Yucatan. Overall, I personally think Yucatan is the worst by far mainly because of how bad it makes you smell after eating there. The food also is not as good as the others because it’s just not as fresh. I do think that Yucatan had the best salsa out of the 3 restaurants but the queso is the worst. It just doesn’t have as much flavor. Lastly, the food at Yucatan is nowhere near as good as the food at Mariachis and El Paso. Overall I would rate this restaurant a 4/10. 

Coming in at number 2 of my ranking of Mexican restaurants in Sumter is El Paso. A major negative to El Paso is the price. El Paso is extremely expensive for no reason, but El Paso does have really good food and really good cheese dip. El Paso also does not make you smell really bad after eating there. Everytime I go to El Paso I get the ACP and it is rice and grilled chicken with cheese dip on top and it is so good but it’s just so expensive. Overall I would rate this restaurant a 7/10. 

And lastly, number one out of the top 3 Mexican restaurants in Sumter is Mariachis. Not only is Mariachis my favorite Mexican restaurant, I would have to say it is my favorite restaurant overall. I absolutely love Mariachis and since it’s my favorite I will be sharing my top 3 favorite dishes. My number 1 favorite dish is their soft tacos with everything on them,  they are just so good. My number 2 favorite dish is their grilled chicken quesadilla dipped in sour cream, it’s simple but delicious. Mg number 3 favorite item off their menu us their enchiladas with a side of rice. Mariachis also has the best cheese dip out of the 3 restaurants as well. Overall I rate this restaurant a 10/10!!!

Ranking Celsius Flavors- Livefit Edition

By: Anna Kate Coker

CELSIUS ESSENTIALS, Sparkling Sunset ...

3. Fruit Burst

This flavor was extremely underwhelming in comparison to the cosmic vibe, claiming the flavor to also be fruit punch. It tasted like a sugar free version which is terrible because it’s not even sugar free. It tastes like a watered down version of Hawaiian Punch. The only thing it has going for it is that it is bigger so it has a larger caffeine amount. Even with that main factor it doesn’t matter because you would not finish it regardless so the caffeine amount will not affect you. The packaging is ugly so it does not even make up for the lame taste. The pattern is not cute and it just makes me miss the original packaging.

2.Orangesicle

This flavor is alright. It tastes more flavorful than the original orange but a little too sweet. It is a weird flavor to make when they already have Fantasy Vibe and Orange, so are they just running out of ideas? This one is more tolerable so it does come in clutch that the packaging is bigger. Ultimately, I would rather just buy the normal orange flavor with the normal can because that is already enough for me. They could have made the cans more appealing with fruits and designs instead of just the color stripe because it no longer stands out. 

1.Mango Tango

This drink scores number one out of this pack but would not place high at all in comparison to the other celsius flavors. The only reason I genuinely like it is because it reminds me of two other drinks — Monster Mango Loco and Arizona Mucho Mango. I do enjoy a good mango flavor and they did somewhat get it right. I would not put it over the other flavored mango drinks I listed but it also would not be the worst alternative choice if all else failed. The con is that it is easy to get sick of and I feel like the amount that it comes with really is the main factor of this outcome. Overall it is a decent drink but still never a podium one when it comes to the whole variety.

What is the Best Fruit?

By: Stirling Tindal

          One of the best tasting and most nutritious sources of food is fruit. Today I will be comparing fruit and determining which is the best. 

          Some of the best fruits are strawberries, oranges, pomegranates, grapes, apples, and bananas. Each of these fruits have an extremely juicy and satisfying taste. I will be judging these off of their ease of eating, taste, and how filling they are. 

          Bananas are a great fruit in sports because of their potassium. They are very easy to eat with only having to take off the peel. It has more of a bland taste but still a good flavor. Bananas will fill you up pretty well and are great for more situations than just being hungry.

          I never had a pomegranate until recently but was very surprised as to how it tasted. It is one of the sweetest fruits I’ve had. The only problem with it is that you have to eat around little seeds. Plus there is not much fruit around the seed so it doesn’t really fill you up at all. Pomegranates are still a great fruit but the seeds are the main thing holding it back.

          Grapes are a great snack and can be frozen for a different taste. I prefer grapes thawed and I also only like purple grapes. I’m not a fan of the sour taste or the green and the crunchy feeling of the frozen ones. They are very easy to eat and have a great taste however they are not something you’ll want to eat to fill you up.

          Apples are a classic fruit. When you think of the word fruit you think of apples. There are many different kinds of apples. A good apple is one of the best things ever but it’s very rare to find it. They are super easy to eat and can fill you up pretty well, but their taste can be very bland or perfect. Most of the time it is bland and that’s what holds down apples from being the best.

           Oranges are one of the best tasting fruits. All oranges taste good unlike apples. Oranges also will fill you up if it’s the right size. It would be the perfect fruit if it weren’t for its breakable shield that it has for a skin. It shouldn’t take me more than five minutes to open a fruit and stab the inside of my fingernail with its skin. Oranges are so close to being the best if it had no peel.

          Strawberries are magnificent. There is no other way to describe them. Strawberries’ taste is so sweet and the texture is perfect. They are one of the easiest to eat and have a little stem to hold them. On top of that, it is probably the most filling of fruit I know. Strawberries are nearly perfect and are by far my favorite fruit. If I see a platter full of every fruit, I will be eating all of the strawberries first.

What is the Best Breakfast Food

By: Stirling Tindal

     Breakfast is very important because it is at the start of your day and what you will be basing your day off of. If you have a bad breakfast that usually leads to a bad day so you need to know what you should be eating.

      I’m only going to be comparing breakfasts that are quick and easy to make and what you would usually eat before school. The main options in the morning are cereal, eggs, grits, oatmeal, breakfast bowls, and muffins. All of these are great but there is one that takes the cake for best breakfast food.

       The cereal is really good the first time you have it but if you have it for more than five days in a row it usually becomes pretty bland. The type of cereal is a big factor. My very hot take is that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is not very good. I may think that because I’ve had it so many times but I believe there are so many better options. Cereals like Captain Crunch or Fruity Pebbles I personally think is the best, however; they always end up with the same blended and sugary tastes. 

        Grits and oatmeal are in a similar category. I’m only going to talk about the easy to make ones that take about two minutes to microwave. Depending on the flavor they can be an amazing breakfast and with their super simple instructions they could be a perfect breakfast. The one factor holding them back is their small serving sizes. To fill you up most of the time it takes two packets. 

       The best breakfast food is a tie between muffins and breakfast bowls. Both of these options are delicious, can fill you up, and are simple to prepare. A good muffin is the perfect start to your day and preferably a blueberry muffin. If you’d rather have something meaty then you can have the breakfast bowl. The best bowls are the Jimmy John’s breakfast bowls. They only take about three minutes to make and have a good amount of protein, around 20 in each bowl. In my opinion, muffins and breakfast bowls will always be on top in the breakfast world

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Top 5: Vegatables

By: Addie Griffin

Vegetables; not everyone’s usual favorite dish, but can be a staple if you let it. There is such a wide variety of vegetables to eat, but today I will be ranking my top five favorites! 

5.  Starting off the top five list is asparagus. It is fancy but still really good. It’s got a nice flavor that goes with everything, and it feels kind of special when you have it on your plate. It is even better whenever it has a little lemon on it.

4. At number 4 are green beans. Green beans are simple but so good. They’re crunchy and taste great with just a little salt or butter. They’re perfect for eating as a snack or adding to a meal. Green beans are just plain reliable and tasty!

3. Now starting the top 3 list is Corn. Corn is sweet and juicy. Eating corn on the cob is messy but totally worth it. My favorite way to have it is with my mashed potatoes. It’s weird I know, but it just shows how good it tastes with many different things! 

2. At number two, we have broccoli!  It’s crunchy and tastes good with almost anything, especially with cheese on top. You can dip it in ranch, mix it in with your pasta, or just snack on it raw. Broccoli is one of those veggies that’s very diverse which deserves the number 2 spot! 

  1. At our number one spot  we have brussels sprouts. This definitely will come to a shock to most because they are usually thought of as the worst vegetable, but they’re awesome if you give them a chance. When you roast them, they get all crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They’re like little bites of magic once you get used to them, especially if you cook them with bacon.

This week’s lineup of Crumbl Cookies are (October 28- November 2)

By: Morgan Aycock

  • Semi sweet chocolate chunk
  • Pumpkin cake
  • Dirt cake
  • Blue monster ft Chips Ahoy
  • Peanut butter ft Reese’s Pieces
  • Halloween cake batter blondie

My ratings are:

  1. Halloween cake batter blondie 

Crumbl Cookies’ description: A smooth cake batter cookie packed with white drops and a splash of spooky sprinkles 

Cake batter is one of my favorites, so I think this would be very good. It is also perfect for Halloween and I like how it has sprinkles inside of it. I would love to try this cookie. 

  1. Peanut butter ft Reese’s Pieces

Crumbl Cookies’ description: A thick peanut butter cookie packed with irresistible REESE’S PIECES candies. 

I think this cookie would be really good and I like Reese’s. I think adding candy to the cookies is a good idea because of Halloween. 

  1. Dirt cake

Crumbl Cookies’ description: A chocolate cookie coated in cookies & cream crumbs, swirled with fudge frosting, sprinkled with crunchy chocolate streusel, and finished with a gummy worm!

I like that they have fudge frosting and it resembles a dirt cake perfectly. 

  1. Blue monster ft Chips Ahoy

Crumbl Cookies’ description: A cookie popping with brown sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and CHIPS AHOY!® Cookie Pieces, then topped with creamy blue vanilla frosting and a mini CHIPS AHOY!® Cookie.

I think this would be good but I don’t really like Chips Ahoy. I think it’s a good idea to add this in the menu. 

  1. Pumpkin cake 

Crumbl Cookies’ description: Two fluffy tiers of spiced pumpkin cake layered with smooth vanilla bean cream cheese frosting and topped with crumbled pumpkin cake pieces. 

I think the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting would be really good, but people that have tried it say that the pumpkin is spicy. 

  1. Semi sweet chocolate chunk

Nothing much to say about this one, it is good but I don’t like how they do this every week.

Dunkin Donuts Review

By: Olivia Cogswell

Dunkin Donuts is a  well known food chain. People enjoy the fact that they serve breakfast all day and have a wide variety of drinks and food, specifically caffeine. They are also known for the wide variety of donuts, munchkins, and other bakery items. However many people do prefer to buy Starbucks over Dunkin, even though Dunkin is cheaper, faster and better in general. 

Dunkin’ Donuts has a wide variety of coffee. You can get it hot or iced and it comes in three different sizes. They have lattes, cold brew, Americanos, Macchiatos, Cappuccinos, and Espresso; that you can fully customize to make your own. You have the ability to add sugar, syrup, espresso shots, cold foam, and so many more options to get the desired drink that you want. They are fast and affordable coffees that are anywhere from three to eight dollars. Starbucks, however, gives you the same options to customize your coffee, but the price can be double that of a Dunkin coffee. People also tend to wait in line awhile to order and even longer to get their coffee.

Dunkin also serves breakfast all day long. They provide a variety of different breakfast items to choose from such as: sandwiches, wraps, hash browns, bacon, bagel minis, and  a variety of bagels, muffins and donuts. On sandwiches you can get sausage, bacon, or turkey bacon, cheese, and egg. You can also customize the sandwich to not include those toppings, as well as the choice of bread including, English muffins, bagel, croissant, or sour dough bread. The sandwiches are made hot and ready and only cost around three dollars. You can also choose from a variety of donuts and a variety of numbers that you want. Dunkin also provides a wide variety of munchkins which are donut holes. This allows you to try more of the flavors they provide. Also in the bakery section, Dunkin has bagels and muffins, while providing many different flavors and toppings.

With that being said, Dunkin’ Donuts provides the most variety of breakfast and coffees at the lowest prices. With fast serving and hot and ready food, people should go to try.