Nature's Nectar Sparkling Spice Pumpkin Cider

There is so much pumpkin-themed food still for sale at ALDI - we went to two separate ALDI's yesterday morning and I came home with one more pumpkin item (cookie mix). Are you guys tired of all this pumpkin yet? Honestly, I think I'm getting tired of it - the fun of it is starting to wear off.  When you can buy a pumpkin version of everything, nothing is special.

Don't worry, I'm not letting my encroaching pumpkin ennui affect my review of Sparkling Spice Pumpkin Cider!  Of all the pumpkin things I bought for Pumpkin Blitz, GC was convinced that this cider was going to be the only decent item. Boy was he wrong! Of all the items I've already reviewed, this one is the least likely to be purchased again.

Do You Know The Muffin (Gentle)Man (Caller)? -- Cranberry Orange Premium Muffin Mix

I guess like all of us I tend to buy things that I know I like and I like orange-anything muffins. So I was pretty excited to see these cranberry-orange muffins at ALDI one day. Into my basket and now on to my blog. Ladies and Gentlemen, today I bring you --- Baker's Corner Cranberry Orange Premium Muffin & Quick Bread Mix!

 Cran-tastic!

Okay first things first, ALDI. Enough with the crazy long titles. Enough. I'm already tired of typing it. From now on in this review it will be referred to as BCCOPM&QBM. No, no, that's too long too. It's just going to be The Muffins.
 

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Spice Bark

It's pumpkin week at ALDI and that means all manner of items that should not be mixed with nutmeg and cinnamon are mixed with nutmeg and cinnamon. But white chocolate seems like an easy winner in the nutmeg and cinnamon sweepstakes. And so I give you Specially Selected Pumpkin Spice Bark.

Straight off the Pumpkin Tree

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Ravioli

I just ate this Specially Selected Pumpkin Ravioli for dinner and it was great!  Of course, I knew it was going to be great. I have also had ALDI's portobello mushroom ravioli which will be reviewed in the future (spoiler: also great).

You have to be pretty careful when making these raviolis as they're very delicate. I've never been considered delicate, so naturally at least one ravioli will break in the pot and a couple of more in the strainer. I will say that when the first one broke in the pot, my entire stove-area immediately smelled like pumpkin pie. So fragrant!

I ate them with a light mushroom sauce and it was perfect. So perfectly fall. I think I said before that ALDI's sweet spot was snack food, but maybe it's ravioli. I hope everyone starts buying their ravioli from ALDI! A bag of 15 ravioli is $2.50 which is three servings so that is definitely a steal.

I love it when ALDI does well. It makes me think that at some point, I might have enough awesome items that I can go to ALDI more frequently than the regular grocery. I give these Pumpkin Ravioli an A+. Bonus points for smelling so good (and I haven't been smelling too well lately).

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Spice Milk

I was jazzed when I saw Friendly Farms Pumpkin Spice Milk in the ALDI weekly special. Pumpkin and dairy are foolproof, right? I walked straight to the refrigerator section to pick this up and right as I reached for it, I hesitated. This could go horribly wrong. Things have gone horribly wrong in the past - sunflower bread comes to mind. Maybe this is ALDI reaching too far, they do that sometimes.

But you know what? This specialty milk is only $1.99 and I knew I would lay in bed at night thinking about it if I didn't buy it when I had the chance. Two dollars is a small sacrifice for peace of mind.

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows

Pumpkin madness continues with Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows from Baker's Corner.

Did anyone leave ALDI during pumpkin week without these adorable marshmallows in their cart? I hope not. Just look at how perfectly autumn these are. Just look:

Pumpkin Blitz: Beaumont Pumpkin Spice Coffee

I have a weird trigger about pumpkin-flavored things. When I see them, I must have them. So a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that ALDI was just starting their pumpkin-themed week, I dropped everything and ran to the store. They had so many pumpkin-flavored things! Here is a list of all the pumpkin-themed things that I can remember off the top of my head:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese, Pumpkin Bagels, Pumpkin Pancake Mix, Pumpkin Spice Milk, Sparkling Pumpkin Cider, Pumpkin Cookie Mix, Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Marshmallows, Pumpkin Chocolate Bars, Pumpkin Bread Mix, and Pumpkin Spice Coffee!

GC has reviewed coffee on this blog before (here and here) but this is my first time. I'm mildly particular about coffee - I don't need super fancy coffee but since I tend to drink it black, I do have a bar (it's just low). That said, this coffee is fine. Even though it's called Pumpkin Spice, I was really expecting it to be more Pumpkin Pie flavored. There was a reason why it is Spice and not Pie flavored; it was not sweet at all.


I mixed it with French Vanilla flavored coffee to sweeten it up, regular coffee to cut some of the spice, and alone. Each way tasted like scarves, boots and zero percent humidity. Perfect.

I give this coffee an A+. I will definitely be looking for this again. Extra point for being part of Pumpkin Blitz 2012.

Guest Post: Bake House Pie Crusts

Hi everyone! Today we have a guest post from my Mom. I feel like she chose to make this as a not-so-subtle way to encourage us to come home more. A steamy, delicious bribe. Anyway, thanks Mom!

It is with great humility that I write my first ALDI review.  It will be hard to fill the shoes of the original blogger, who just happens to be my daughter and has smaller feet than I do.  It is only within the last year that I have included ALDI as one of my top places to shop.  Who doesn't enjoy the satisfaction of saving money whenever possible?  And ALDI is a good place to start.

I've just cleaned the dishes away from our Sunday lunch and wanted to write this review while the smell of turkey pot pie still lingers.  Knowing that I had leftover turkey to use up at home, I thought I'd give the Bake House Pie Crust a try.

Simply Nature Sweet Potato Corn Tortilla Chips

Simply Nature Sweet Potato Corn Tortilla Chips are really great chips.

They are not really great at being tortilla chips, however. Putting salsa or any type of dip on these chips is a mistake as it takes away from how delicious they are. They are sweet and salty and buttery. I hope these chips hang around so I can buy more.

Buy these! I loved them - because of these chips, I'm going to buy any Simply Nature brand foods I find at ALDI.  They get an A+. Extra point for being semi-fall themed. Happy fall!

Tin Foil Hat -- Aluminum Foil

Staples, it's hard to screw up paper towels, napkins, sandwich bags, etc. I tend to buy all mine at ALDI and I've had pretty good luck. Today I give you....Boulder Aluminum Foil.

Tea Party endorsed Anti-Government Mind Reading Fabric.

So tin foil... Man, I'm running out of things to say about the really boring products I've been reviewing. This foil is like other foils - bright on one side, dull on the other, crumples well, has a sweet serving suggestion on the box and it's about the same thickness as name brand aluminum foil. Or fole, as we say down here in the South. 

Deutsche Kuche Sunflower Seed Bread

This stuff is terrible. DO NOT BUY SUNFLOWER SEED BREAD.