Monday, February 08, 2010

A Product Review of Sorts

During Snowpocalypse, I baked a loaf of Tastefully Simple beer bread. We don't usually have this type of instant box-o-stuff hanging around, but a friend of my brother was selling these products and I, being a nice person, bought a few. Honestly, it took a long time for me to find anything on the site that sounded remotely interesting, especially for the ridiculous prices. Chocolate Mousse Mix for $7.49? Sesame Teriyake Stir-Fry Sauce for $8.99? Un-freaking-believable. One can buy similar stuff at the supermarket for half those prices.

Anyhoo - I thought I'd try the bread, which seemed relatively inexpensive by comparison ($5.99).

It was easy enough - mix one 12 oz carbonated beverage of choice (mine was beer) with contents of package, place in greased pan, and bake 50-55 minutes at 375°. The mix smelled a little stale, and granted I bought it a few months ago, but there was no expiration date on the box.

As you can see, the bread *looked* terrific, and it had a nice texture - close crumb and a crisp crust. However, the taste was not only slightly stale, but also a bit on the bitter side. I used the mildest beer we had - Corona - so I'm pretty sure that wasn't the cause.

At any rate, it sufficed as a carbohydrate for our dinner, and was ok toasted the next day. But I won't be buying it again, nor am I likely to waste good $ on Tastefully Simple products in the future (so don't invite me to your parties). The next $6 loaf of bread I'll buy will be coming from Atwaters.

1 comment:

Nakiya @ Taste of Baltimore said...

Minx!!!! I also have a Tastefully Simple review coming up. I made the bread on Wednesday - I made it into corn bread actually. I'll link to your post when I've written in. Small world! Or maybe Tastefully Simple is just everywhere these days......don't know why though....