Review: New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread & The USWNT & The Warriors
Hello, JFNation. It’s hump day! It’s been a busy week, and it’s only going to get busier, so let’s get to it:
Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been watching the US Women’s National Team pretty closely during their three group stage World Cup matches, and I have to say – they seem tentative still. I don’t know if they’re playing conservatively on purpose, mimicking a European men’s team (pass pass pass among the defense), but this team doesn’t look like the same team from 2011. While Wambach has the tools to physically dominate her opponents, the truth is she looks slower. I dunno, am I off base here? I’m a huge fan, but she seems to defer touching the ball a lot more than I’d ever seen before. Luckily, the back line of Klingenberg-Johnston-Sauerbrunn-Krieger has been solid all day long. But the knockout stages make me nervous…we need some offensive aggressiveness and soon…
On the other end of the dial, the Warriors took home the title last night, bringing my pretty open-ended preseason prediction full circle: “It’s a cop-out, but I’m just going to guess WEST CHAMPION over Cleveland.” And with that, the NBA season is over! Frankly, I’m exhausted. I feel like, including college basketball, I watched more hoop this season that in past seasons combined. It was a great season, good finish. But is anyone else burned out like me? For every girl/guy that dreams of working in sports, do you ever wonder if you’d get burned out processing this stuff day in day out? Let me know in the comments below.
Today’s junk food: New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread!!
New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread: The Money Shot
New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread was found at the same time I tracked down the Cheesecake spread from Monday, This immediately reminded me of the Cookies & Creme Cookie Butter from Trader Joe’s. THAT spread, if you’ll remember, was DELIGHTFUL. But it was also super thick and heavy…I’m hoping this Jif version improves on the former.
New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread contains “cocoa cookie”….couldn’t get the deal done with Oreo, huh, Jif?
When I opened this New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread up, the look was wonderful – half Nutella-looking hazelnut spread, half white cookies ‘n cream-looking cookie butter. Visually, I actually liked that this leaned more white than just a flat out dark black color…keeps the contrast nicely with the hazelnut spread.
Aroma wise? Smelled like Nutella primarily still, but I definitely picked up that cookies ‘n cream scent – that lingering sweetness was unmistakable.
I spooned some of this New Jif Cookies ‘n Cream Hazelnut Spread, and it was thicker than I expected – still not as thick as the Trader Joe’s version, but, in my mind, slightly thicker than the Cheesecake spread from Monday. Maybe it was the added texture that tricked my mind into thinking there was more cohesion among the spread or something.
I tasted the sections separately, but honestly, the flavor of both was infused throughout – meaning, when I tried the cookies ‘n cream section, I could taste the hazelnut in the background, and vice versa. Nevertheless, the flavor of this spread was SPOT ON, and I think I enjoyed it even more than the Cheesecake spread.
The cookies ‘n cream were the star of this spread, as the tiny textured bits of cookie and the white cream reflected cookies ‘n cream flavor perfectly. Like a good cookies ‘n cream ice cream in spread form, this spread highlighted the milky creaminess that cookies ‘n cream ice cream has. Good dark cocoa cookie flavor to help balance the sweetness of the spread, and juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust enough texture so that it wasn’t just smooth confection (the cookie bits here weren’t as pronounced as in the Trader Joe’s version…but that 1% grittiness made all the difference.)
The hazelnut Nutella-like flavor was secondary to the cookies ‘n cream flavor, but it was definitely present – the hazelnut spread really hit home in the aftertaste. In a lot of ways, the hazelnut spread helped transform the flavor of the cookies in the cookies ‘n cream. The dark cocoa bits felt like THEY were the ones flavored with hazelnut, making this sort of a “hazelnut cookies” ‘n cream. Which, as you might guess, was TASTY.
All in all, I REALLY liked this one. Love the spread innovation, Jif. Keep it up.
PURCHASED AT: Safeway, Chevy Chase, DC
COST: $3.99
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
Discuss - 9 Comments
How in the world does the great GOOBER GRAPE product not have a patent on that beautiful swirl. Lived off that stuff in college.
@Marc P: That swirl is epic. This swirl was very pretty too. Shame I had to destroy it with my spoon 😉
Yes! This spread looks great. I liked the Trader Joe’s version, but I agree it was a little on the thick side. I wanted something creamier. I’ll have to give this a try.
As for working in sports, I imagine you’d have a love/hate relationship with processing all that stuff. I write posts on soap operas for several entertainment sites and I love doing it, BUT…it can get overwhelming to write 4000-4500 words on soaps almost every single day. Honestly, I dream about love triangles and doppelgangers. Haha. At the same time, I’m totally sucked in and would miss covering them if I didn’t. I guess there are pros and cons with anything!
@Heather: OOOO. What sites do you write for?
@junkfoodguy I write about soaps on Celeb Dirty Laundry and Soap Opera Spy. I ghost write for some business, travel, cooking and children’s blogs as well. I try to write wherever people will take it! 😉
Not sure what the heck ‘USWNT ‘ is–I don’t know and I don’t want to know. But it sounds like soccer. Am I right? I don’t grasp what-the-eff sports channels are showing on prime time weekend TV lately but we must be in one of those strange ‘gaps’ in American yearly programming when the TV schedule has no worthwhile American sports to display.
All I see is a bunch of gaily-clad weirdos traipsing around endlessly back’n’forth lately –on a green background the size of Grenada– which leads me to believe it is probably–once again SOCCER TIME on US TV. Soccer, the most effeminate sport possible, a sport so flouncing and mincing and I simply refuse to watch it or converse about it face-to-face with any adult male for fear I might HURL right on their shoes. The only thing possibly more pointless is female soccer. Sweet, creeping, Jesus.
I’ll tell you why soccer is ludicrous and why it should be anathema to any American. Soccer comes from two places: the UK where men are on the average, the size of our women (5’6″ or 5’7″) and so its the perfect sport for that insular little highly-mannered island nation where no one is ever supposed to fight. Second, it comes from Europe where every country is neighbors with 3-or-4 other countries who they can’t afford to go to war with. If they do, civilization collapses. This is the history of Europe in a nutshell. So these frustrated nations too, need a ‘steam valve’ to let out their aggression. They need a sport where…arm-muscles are restricted! Du’oh! Brilliant! Okay, yeah if your goal is male emasculation. The offshoot of all this is the rise of the sport of soccer. Silliest sport ever.
Let me spell it out for you. Human legs are really woman’s implements. No true man should ever boast about his legs. Legs are a woman’s part of the body. A man –whether athlete or soldier–lives by the force of his arms. Legs are used for either running (away) or kicking–both girly options in any conflict. If all you got are strong legs (which is what women usually have) then sooner or later someone with strong arms is gonna come along, slap you so hard you see stars, and have their way with you. Arms are defense and arms are offense. Legs are for crossing one-over-the-other and praying you don’t get violated by someone with arms.
Maybe the designers of soccer never got the memo or maybe they ignored it.
Tell the truth: the only interesting part of a Euro soccer game is where some hot-headed Spaniard or Italian goes so berserk at a referee that –for a moment–he seems ready to suddenly *remember* he has use of his arms and fists and he suddenly seems ready to clock the jaw of the lame-o card-waving ref. Well yeah that’s sure great entertainment for you pacifist Euros (yawn). That’s great but Americans can’t wait around 90 minutes to maybe see some rage like that.
Isn’t there arena football or something on for real men to watch this month? Is there ANYTHING besides soccer?
Please don’t reproduce.
might have to buy this.. your review had me drooling.. haha
@Kaitlyn: DO IT, lol