JFG Nation, how’s it going? We just finished a crazy World Series, football is in full swing having reached the basic halfway point, and basketball/hockey is back. Still, I’m guessing many of you aren’t watching sports 24/7 like I do, and are watching other TV shows. Right now is about six-seven episodes into the new Fall shows, and is around the time when I would STOP watching a series I was giving a chance.

So I’m wondering – what show have you given a chance this Fall and are now OUT on. I watched five episodes of Quantico on CBS before I threw the remote down in disgust. OUT on Quantico. The Player? I could barely stomach the second episode before I turned that one off and deleted it from the DVR. I’m six episodes in on Blindspot on NBC, and I’m in a holding pattern. It’s….fine…and I’m sort of shocked because usually NBC dramas are too tame to be any good. But I dunno….it’s hard to gain new ground in my DVR when there’s so much decent TV out there.

So what about YOU JFG Nation? What is the worst new show you’ve been watching which is going to get the DVR axe? Let me know in the comments below.

Today’s junk food: Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy!

We discussed Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! on the Nosh Show…well, *I* didn’t, the guys and Maria did…but I would have been a full fledged NOSH on this one. I LOVE HOT COCOA (who doesn’t?) and I think it’s really interesting that a hot chocolate seems to be the flavor of the moment – Hot Cocoa M&M’s reviews have been popping up, and now this.

Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! are a chewy Chips Ahoy cookie with a soft cocoa center, and marshmallow and fudge chips. Plus, they recommend you microwave them for….seven seconds??? Uh, ok. Reminds me of the Pop-Tarts instructions to microwave THOSE for three seconds. Three seconds? I’m not sure the microwave even rumbles into to full nuke mode in three seconds, Kellogg’s.

Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! is really pushing this microwave business. “Heat for a Treat”….ok ok I will, Nabisco.

As an aside, while I say I love hot cocoa, I have to be honest – it’s been years since I’ve sipped it. I like Mexican hot chocolate which has some cinnamon in it…but just straight up hot chocolate with marshmallows in it? Been a long long time. I used to always slurp off all of the little tiny marshmallows that came in the Nestle pack before they even melted, crunching the chalky bits. OR, on the occasion when I’d have a bag of mini marshmallows, I’d cover the entire top of the mug/cup until it was a wall of marshmallow.

Clearly, for me, hot cocoa is all about the marshmallows.

Pretty standard calorie counts and close-my-eyes ingredients in these Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! cookies. I do think it’s interesting that hot cocoa appeared in Chips Ahoy! form before it appeared in Oreo form…but in a lot of ways it makes sense, texturally. When I think hot cocoa, I think warm…and no one is going to tell you to nuke Oreos.

I opened up these Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! and sniffed…and they basically just smelled like sweet chewy chocolate Chips Ahoy! cookies. Nothing uniquely “hot cocoa”-y yet. Still, they LOOKED good…

…maybe not as PRETTY as on the front of the Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! package, but still – you can see the marshmallow chips. You can…sort of see the fudge chips. Maybe the insides look better?

OH THERE WE GO. The inside of these Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! was full of that hot cocoa-y goodness.

I bit into one of these, and….pretty good! The key, for me, of a good hot cocoa flavor is the mix of smooth milky creamy chocolate and marshmallow. And these were pretty spot on.

The texture of the soft cookie was standard Chips Ahoy! – soft, chewy, and the chips provided a nice stiffer chew here and there. The cocoa innards were definitely different than the sweet dough outsides. The innards were softer with almost a fudge consistency that was noticeably creamier than the semi-sweet chocolate flavor of the dough. I thought the inside of the cookie did capture the essence of hot chocolate.

Add on top of that the marshmallow chips, and these did, in the 85% range, taste like hot chocolate. The marshmallow chips were sort of chalky, but I mean that in a good way – chalky in the way that Lucky Charms marshmallows or those dehydrated marshmallows on inside Swiss Miss packets of hot chocolate were. As a result, when I chewed them, it reminded me of the marshmallows I grew up having in my hot cocoa.

I decided to nuke these Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy! as recommended for seven seconds. Taking one out, I broke it in half…the insides didn’t melt or stream out, but the cookie was definitely SUPER soft and crumbly. I popped the half into my mouth and ZOMG. It was awesome. Mondelez was right – heating these cookies up definitely made them taste even more delicious and helped punch up the hot cocoa flavor. The primary difference? The inside creamy fudge/chocolate flavor pushed more to the surface, such that the marshmallow/inside mix was even more in the forefront.

And because the heat made everything softer, I barely had to chew anything – everything fell apart in my mouth in the most pleasing way. Maybe I didn’t “drink” these cookies down, but I basically slurped them as if they were half cookie half liquid.

I had the Junk Food Gal try them, who normally doesn’t enjoy Chips Ahoy cookies, and she commented, “I’m almost mad at how good those are.” BOOM. Thumbs up, Chips Ahoy.

PURCHASED AT: Sent to me, but available…well, yesterday! In stores! That sell cookies!

COST: I’m guessing anywhere from $2.50-$3.50 in stores.

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy