World's Hottest Candy?

There are no words to describe the pain and suffering these little candies unleashed in me. I'm glad the camera worked the first time - because there's no way I'm doing all that again.

The candies are the brainchild of The Pepper Boy, a company that specializes in unique superhot treats. Why anyone would really want to eat candies made with the hottest peppers in the world is actually beyond me.

They came in 3 flavors corresponding to 3 levels to heat. Strawberry anise was tamest, wintergreen tangerine was bearable, and mango was hellfire.

I'll leave it to you to check out the video and the company's website. I need to recover.

Donuts and Coffee - Boiled Together?

Sometimes the weirdest ideas fire us up. Often these ideas pop up in times of hunger or boredom. I think my weird ideas pop up because I'm really interested in how weird my food can get.

Case in point: I've boiled bananas in Sprite. It's a weird combo because consuming the two together will supposedly cause all kinds of stomach discomfort. The internet is full of guys and girls taking the "Sprite and Banana Challenge" and puking horribly afterward. If you're interested, you can see that video here:

But back to the case at hand. Donuts and coffee go together naturally. Like fingers on the same hand, you know? So I figured that boiling donuts in coffee would create a frothy, creamy drink that would be damn sweet. It would also pack that familiar morning caffeine punch.

Well, things don't always run as smoothly as you'd expect. It was an interesting experiment in food science. Anyone who considers themselves a food warrior would do well to check it out.

If you have any suggestions for future weird food mixes, let me know! I'm game for pretty much anything. Sometimes I'm game for everything.

Big Candy - Here to Stay?

Over the past few years, there has definitely been a trend of giant candy bars. They seem to roll out at Christmas and a couple other major holidays. Consumers tend to be suckers then.

Reese's makes giant peanut butter cups. York has giant peppermint patties. Snickers makes an epic 1 lb chocolate bar. Heck, Hershey's rolls out their classic candy bar in both 1 and 5 lb sizes.

And, if you're lucky, you'll find a 1 lb peanut butter and chocolate rabbit at Easter. The companies have figured out they can get away with selling them at $10 a pop, which is a bit overpriced if you compare it to buying the same volume of candy in smaller increments.

I get it - it's a novelty. Who wouldn't be impressed or disturbed at the sight of a half-pound peanut butter cup? But that's where the ploy runs its course... oversizing these candies tends to ruin the consistency of the candy and the ratio of the parts that make up the candy itself. Giant Snickers have too much nougat and the epic PB cups have too much damn peanut butter.

Don't get me wrong... I'm as happy to buy them and eat them as the next consumer. I guess it's a little food for thought as we head into the holidays. Merry Christmas and Season's Eatings!

20 Burger Beatdown - Remembering a Big Accidental Day

Some things happen with no planning whatsoever. That's the case when it came to my 20 hamburger challenge, which is currently one of my most popular YouTube videos.

I was bored one night... it was summer of 2014, and I needed something to do. A schoolteacher in the summer is a bit like a car without a driver, so for some reason I thought it would be cool to film a food challenge at 11PM.

The rest, as they say, is history. I had no plans to make a speed challenge out of it and mostly ate the burgers in a manner that mocked the way competitive eaters look when they try to eat quickly. I wonder if anyone got the joke.

I didn't even bother with a joke when I did the McDonald's family pack solo. Right in the video, I tell you that I'm going to eat this thing leisurely. Not sure if that was the best approach. The last few bites were a bit agonizing. You gotta see for yourself though :)

At least I actually planned on eating the family pack. The burgers were just plain crazy.

Cheetos and Takis Challenge? You Game?

I don't understand the craze behind the Cheetos and Takis Challenge. It was invented a couple summers back, when school districts in LA tried to ban the salted snacks. Seemed like a great way to capitalize on a current event. Make a forbidden food item into YouTube eating challenge.

But then something weird happened... the trend caught on like fire. So much so that variants of the challenge have come online. The original challenge was for a 2-person duo to eat a large bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos with a large bag of Takis Fuego. It was only about 1.5 lbs of food. The challenge came from the nature of the crunch that made eating large amounts of salted snacks difficult. The salt also makes it uncomfortable, as the dust coating the chips would line your teeth and irritate your lips and tongue. It's pain at its junk food finest.

So yeah, my mouth hurt a lot after taking on the Cheetos and Takis Challenge. It's probably not something anyone should ever attempt. I'm so dumb I tried it twice... at least the third time was a lot less painful.

Less painful maybe, but stupider considering I did it in a banana suit. Is there any smart way to pull off the banana costume?

So, have you taken on the Cheetos and Takis Challenge? Did you survive and how did you feel about your life decisions after?