Surprise, Surprise: If these were just sitting somewhere in a dish, at first glance you might not even realize that they’re pumpkin seeds on the inside. In fact, while I was eating them it still took a while for the pumpkin seed flavor to kick in – the consistency almost resembles that of a chocolate-covered rice krispie, and it’s not until almost an aftertaste when the actual pumpkin seed itself makes its appearance on your tastebuds.

Ranking: If I had to put numbers on them, this would probably be at the bottom of the list of the four things that I ordered from Nuts Online – not because I didn’t enjoy them, but more so because I just ended up liking all of the other items a whole lot more…

Pretty Colors!: So I’ll just come out and admit that despite not really being much of a tea drinker at all, I’ve been looking for this stuff for a long time and mainly it’s been due to … the box. The artwork on the box is just so fun and colorful – in fact, all of them are from Bigelow’s seasonal line – however try as I might, I just could not for the life of me ever find this stuff actually on the shelf at any of my local grocery or big box stores!

I finally gave up on buying local and ended up ordering the box you see above off of amazon.com, and paid twice the cost in shipping as the actual tea did, but whatever…

Scott’s Tea Experience: Although I liked the smell, honestly I didn’t really care for the taste … and again, don’t put any real weight into that decision because I’ll openly profess that I’ve yet to find a cup of tea that I actually liked – all of the stuff just tastes like vaguely flavored water to me. The fragrance, however, was a very pleasant autumnly smell, kind of making me think of the leaves that the little chipmunks on the box are playing around. Especially if I was sick, I could certainly see myself hunched over a cup of this in bed, taking in the scents wafting off of the hot tea’s surface and savoring its comforting warmth … just as long as nobody expects me to actually drink it!

This is a Horrible Review…: Which is why I’m going to ask you, people who actually drink tea, to fill in the non-artwork-related critiques of this tea in the comments below so that others can get an idea not just of how beautiful the box is, but how this stuff actually tastes, too!

I’ll tell you what, I’ll even do you one better than that – if you want to write up your comments, but have just as hard of a time finding this stuff in the store as I did, send me your address using my handy-dandy contact form, and I’ll mail you a couple of the tea bags out of my box to try for yourself! They’re all individually wrapped and the artwork on the wrapper is kinda boring compared to the box anyways, so I’m certainly not going to need them…

This offer is only good for the first 19 people or however many tea bags I’ve got left between now and when you comment, but if you’d be interested to try a sip and share a few thoughts via a comment afterwards, please drop me a line and let me know! I’d hate to find that this is actually perfectly delicious tea and I just can’t even give it the time of day here because teas in general taste like soapy dishwater to me…

Christmastime is Here!: And frankly, it just didn’t seem right to have all of these Christmas cookies around the house and not have some sort of pumpkin variety to include in packages to friends and family in the mix as well!

The Goal: Now having based my expectations solely off of the picture and not actually reading the recipe ahead of time, I actually was assuming these to be just like those classic peanut butter blossoms, except with pumpkin, however when I pulled the dough out of the refrigerator and found it to be nowhere near the consistency that one could shape into actual balls, that’s when I finally realized that these were going to be a tiny bit different! Reading is Fundamental, kids…

The Result: The cookies are much more cake-like than the firmer, traditional variety – almost kind of resembling the texture of one of my Mom’s cookies, though not nearly as dense. The Pumpkin Spice Kisses do a good job of bringing the pumpkin flavor to the forefront, though – nearly overpowering whatever flavors are to be found in the cookies themselves! These definitely have a bit more weight to them than those peanut butter blossoms, and I don’t think I could snack on nearly as many throughout an afternoon before grinding to a halt!

Then again, maybe that’s really in my best interests anyways…

Awww, Nuts: I honestly wasn’t quite sure what to expect with these things, as I’ve been kinda hit and miss in the past with pumpkin seeds and honestly am not really the biggest fan of just the raw seeds in general, but these sounded a little different so I thought that I’d give ‘em a go anyways…

Mmmmm!: Apparently a hint of spice is exactly what my pumpkin seed-eating experience has been looking for because I actually really, really enjoyed these! The salty spice adds a nice kick, albeit not so much as to warrant keeping a glass of water nearby … at least not unless you happen to go through these things a handful at a time, which admittedly wouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world to do.

One Yummy Pound: If there’s one area (other than flavor) that Nuts Online really doesn’t skimp on, it’s definitely the size because I’ll admit I was a bit taken aback to see just how big all of the different bags were in the box that I received! Maybe it’s just because it seems like when you buy candy by the pound at a candy store, a pound ends up being next to nothing, but I was really impressed with these pumpkin seeds in particular because simply put, I’m still going to be eating them for a long time!

Preface Preface: Sometimes it gets a little tough this time of year to continue the pace as Christmas stuff has all but overpowered any remaining pumpkin in the stores, so I try to turn to the Internet to fill out the remainder of the year … that is, as much as I can without shipping & handling killing my budget, anyways!  Luckily, though, every once in a while I’ll find a storefront where I can order several things at a time to help share the load – these next several posts will be spanning a new company that I just discovered called Nuts Online that, not to spoil or anything, seems to really know their pumpkin…

Candy Preface: The malted milk balls were actually what originally drew me to Nuts Online, as I’d seen them in years passed but always thought to order them at the wrong time (I live in Florida, which is fairly hot most of the year and thus makes it difficult to ship chocolate to me!).  Finally!

Worth the Wait?: Yes, indeedy!  I always remember having Whoppers (the candy, not the hamburger) around the house because my Dad really liked them, so not only did these over-sized, orange treats kind of rekindle that memory, but they also had a nice and rich pumpkin flavor and scent to them. That’s one bit of praise that you’ll probably be hearing over and over about this Nuts Online order – unlike far too many others, I really knew that I was in for a good, solid pumpkin experience from the minute I opened the bag before even reaching inside!

Walmart Bakery Again … Seriously?: Yep.

Should I Have Been That Surprised When It Didn’t Even Taste Remotely Like Pumpkin?: Nope.

Anything to Say for Yourself, Young Man???: For what it’s worth, the cream filling actually tasted a little better than others I’ve tried in the past, but … I know … this site isn’t called Love Me Some Cream Filling or anything…

Disney Locale: found at, well, the funnel cake booth near the American Pavilion around World Showcase at Epcot

Funnel Cake Fan?: Well, normally I am not, mainly because these things are an absolute mess to eat and there aren’t many places outdoors to really sit down. Still, it was pumpkin!

Right Dessert, Right Time: Although it didn’t have that overwhelming pumpkin flavor that I like to see from my pumpkin prizes, it smelled great and was still yummy enough that my wife and I had little trouble finishing the whole thing. We had actually just finished watching the Candlelight Processional and it had rained like crazy for most of it, so granted our enjoyment also contained a healthy mixture of being happy and being out of the rain … and my wife did like it (who doesn’t like “pumpkiny pumpkin stuff”), so weigh that as you must … but it was still a decent effort and I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to grab another one should I find myself hungry and/or waterlogged at Epcot on a cool winter’s night…

Learn to Follow Directions: I’m actually surprised that this one turned out as well as it did because I kind of forgot to melt the butter first and then tried to make up for it by scooping out the unmixable remains and just heating those, to no avail … so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I first opened the oven door after making these things…

Actually Lives Up to Its Name!: It’s sad when I’ve become cynical to the point where I’m impressed when a pumpkin product actually tastes like pumpkin around here, but true to its name, these little treats most definitely did taste just like pumpkin pie – consistency, flavor, the whole nine yards! I also rather enjoyed the “gingerbread crust,” as it added a unique sweetness that you don’t normally see combined with pumpkin, but it actually quite nice this time of year with the rest of the holiday spirit.

Shopper’s Tip: Even if you’re not really in the mood for pumpkin now, pick up a box and throw it in the pantry while you continue onward with your regularly scheduled cookie crusade! Come April when you’ve finally run out of Christmas cookies, you won’t be able to find a trace of these things at Walmart anymore and you’ll be glad that you stowed away a little pumpkin fun to help those April showers pass…

Soy???: Although I’ll freely admit that I don’t exactly know what the difference between a soy candle and a regular candle even is, I picked this one up at Target because even off the shelf without being lit I found that it had a much deeper pumpkin smell than most other candles outside of that ridiculously overpriced place in the mall that I’ve smelled. Lit, its scent is quite rich, but not necessarily room-clearing … very pleasant, much akin to baking a particularly high quality pumpkin pie!

My Wife, Still Awesome: Life has been a little crazy and hectic for me lately and I’ve been sitting on a bunch of stuff to bake since mid-October, so the other night my wife decided to be extra cool and bake these cookies up as a surprise to me for dessert! Extra bonus points because she doesn’t actually care much for pumpkin herself…

The Taste: Moist, chewy, delicious, and the cream cheese frosting was a nice touch … but the pumpkin spice wasn’t nearly what I was hoping for and certainly would never hold a candle to these little beauties! Not terrible, mind you, and good in a jiff when you’ve only got 30 minutes and don’t feel like breaking out the can opener, but certainly not a shining beacon of pumpkin-inity, either.

The Quantity: P.S. What size cookies do they actually expect you to be baking when they put “Makes 3 dozen cookies” on the side of the bag??? Ok, so I guess from the picture it does actually cite 2 inches, but that’s like barely any cookie at all! Other than Oreos, what 2-inch cookies have you ever actually enjoyed eating?