Junk Food Nation, it’s Monday, and I have a few things to get to:

1. This Wednesday and Friday, you’ll have the pleasure of two guest blog posts from my friends Jen and Rob. You might remember Jen from such reviews as Candy Corn Oreos and Mountain Dew Cheetos; also from her appearance in that YouTube video that has been running on loop on the side of my blog since 2013. HEY, 2013 SUMMER FANCY FOOD SHOW. AGAIN. Yeah, I’ll make a new video at some point. This’ll be the first time you’re hearing from Rob. They are guest blogging for me because…

2. I’M OFF TO VEGAS. Remember when I was lamenting that I didn’t have anyone to go to Vegas with during March Madness? It was a good thing I aired that grievance, because it turns out that a good friend of mine goes there every year for the first round of March Madness. That was enough for me, so I’ll be GONZO for the rest of the week in Sin City. If anyone needs me to lay a futures bet, tweet me @junkfoodguy* (*I will not be laying any futures bets for you).  And hey, if you happen to be in Vegas this weekend, let me know! I’ll likely be parked at the Bellagio Sportsbook, cursing out UCLA.  CMON UCLA WIN A GAME FOR ONCE.

Anyways, if you wanna see what’s happening with me in Vegas, as usual I’ll be posting pics over on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook. Join me. Watch me lose all my money at the craps table. CRAPS YOU HORRIBLE MISTRESS.

3. On that note, also don’t forget to join my first annual Junk Food Nation March Madness Pool. Tournament ID is: 47687, and you can get there by clicking here. Still haven’t figured out what the winner gets yet, but I’ll make it worth it. Hey, for a free pool, YOU’LL TAKE WHAT I GIVE YOU AND LIKE IT. Hopefully 😛

Slight spoiler alert: I do NOT have Kentucky winning it all. So take that, Calipari.

4. One quick story note that I’d love your opinion on: apparently, in St. Louis, there is going to be an ALL-RANCH DRESSING themed restaurant. That’s right, everyone – those WERE your arteries that you heard clogging just now! A restaurant, based on a condiment, featuring soups with ranch croutons, chicken lasagna with a parmesan ranch sauce, flatbreads with ranch-seasoned crust, and of course, Ranched Mac & Cheese. YUM YUM GIMME SOME.

What do you think about this, JFNation? I actually DO love the flavor of ranch dressing, but I’m not sure I want it in everything. Then again, while I poke fun, it does appear that this is more like a normal menu with ranch highlights. I mean, there aren’t deep fried ranch dressing balls, right? (Wait, ARE THERE deep fried ranch dressing balls on the menu? Because that would make my dreams/nightmares come true.)

If YOU were to make a restaurant, what would YOURS be? Is ranch your go-to? Ketchup? What about an all-Sriracha themed joint?  MMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Mine would be: ALL QUESO. ALL THE TIME. ALL OVER EVERYTHING. Yeah, maybe it’s cheating a bit to consider queso a condiment but whatever. Tots covered in queso. Chicken fingers that you dip in queso. SLIDERS JUST DROWNING IN QUESO. It’d be a hit, I tell ya.

Let me know what you think in the comments below, JFNation!

Today’s junk food: New Pepperidge Farm Mint Chocolate Brownie Soft Dessert Cookies!!

New Pepperidge Farm Mint Chocolate Brownie Soft Dessert Cookies were spotted randomly at my local Wegmans. If you wonder whether I, as the JFG, pace the aisles of a grocery store at less than 1 MPH scanning the shelves for new products, the answer is yes. And sometimes all it takes is a color for me to lock in like a missile guidance tracking system. In this case I was walking, and my thoughts were, “Pepperidge Farm…Pepperidge Farm…Pepper*Green GREEN GREEN.” That’s how it happens.

I’ve blogged about a BUNCH of Pepperidge Farm Dessert Shop cookies on this blog – some big hits, some big misses. Throw this Mint Chocolate Chip brownie cookie on the pile. I couldn’t pass it up.

New Pepperidge Farm Mint Chocolate Brownie Soft Dessert Cookies are 130 per cookie and contains peppermint oil. Moving on.

When I opened these New Pepperidge Farm Mint Chocolate Brownie Soft Dessert Cookies, and sniffed, they DEFINITELY smelled like brownies – that strong kind of dark chocolate smell was there in spades.  Each cookie was large, like the Dessert Shop cookies tend to be – maybe 3.5 inches in diameter. Super soft, too – even in trying to pick one up, it bend and almost broke on me. VERY soft. The mint chips (I think?) were large and in decent number – each cookie I ate had maybe nine large chips per cookie. Decent coverage.

Unlike some of the other Dessert Shop cookies, these New Pepperidge Farm Mint Chocolate Brownie Soft Dessert Cookies definitely lived up to the expectation, IMO.  The cookie itself was super soft but dense and chewy, JUST LIKE a brownie. The cookie itself, tasted like a brownie – it could’ve been a LITTLE sweeter, but that’s because my favorite brownies contain fudge or something else that helps punch up the sweetness. The cookie has a decent cocoa flavor, and was not minty.

The big white chips were clearly the star of the show, as they had a wonderful sweet mint flavor that completed the mint-brownie taste I imagined in my head. When eating the chips by themselves, they didn’t taste like super minty peppermint, like a York patty – they were definitely more sugary sweet. IT was sort of like each chip was a mini mint Hershey’s kiss – very sweet, pretty minty, but not overwhelmingly so. Because I’ve eaten a lot of these, they mainly tasted like white creamy confection chips that were flavored with peppermint oil (which is exactly what they are).

Eaten with the soft cookie, these were REALLY good. The flavor, IMO, was on point – maybe not as good as an ACTUAL mint chocolate brownie, but as a cookie representing a brownie, they were spot on.

Really good work, Pepperidge Farm. Buy these, people.

PURCHASED AT: Wegmans, Germantown, MD

COST: $2.99

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