Month: September 2023

Kinder Chocolate, ranked

When I was younger, Kinder was one of my favorite chocolate companies. It wasn’t too widespread in the United States yet, so I was very appreciative of relatives who’d give us it as presents to take back home. Whenever I saw the orange and white packaging with an image of a child and his mother smiling back up at me, I smiled back, knowing that I would be in for a treat. 

Originally created in 1968 Italy by Michele Ferrero (the same Ferrero behind Ferrero Rocher and Nutella), Kinder has become one of the most widely sold and beloved chocolate brands in the world.  It is sold in over 125 countries and over the years, have come up with many different products for children and adults alike to enjoy worldwide. 

Now without further ado, let’s get to the ratings. 

Kinder Chocolate Bar – 7/10

The sweet creamy confection that launched the company in 1968, Kinder Chocolate is the original chocolate bar. With its milk chocolate exterior and milky interior, it holds a special place in my heart for being one of the first chocolate bars I remember receiving as a gift. It seems to have been created with children in mind, coming in small, individually wrapped portions and being easily breakable to ensure maximum sharing potential. 

While I will always associate it with fond memories of visiting family and friends, it’s also more basic compared to Kinder’s later creations. Nowadays, I’d opt for something else, but it will always remain a classic. 

As of September 2023, Kinder Chocolate is now being sold in the United States, so I will definitely be sure to keep an eye out for it next time I visit a grocery store.  

Kinder Joy – 9/10

Kinder Joy is one of my all-time favorites! Packaged in an egg-shaped container, one half contains a mystery toy that one must assemble using the provided instructions while the other includes two layers of cocoa and milk cream along with two round chocolate-covered wafer bites that are also filled with cocoa cream. You don’t have to worry about utensils, as each egg comes with a small plastic spoon nestled between the two halves. 

When I was younger, I used to take a wafer bite and just let it melt in my mouth. I would scoop up minuscule amounts of the cocoa cream in an attempt to make the candy last for as long as possible because I knew it would be a while before I could have it again. I did this for a while before I came to the realization that I couldn’t even taste the chocolate in such tiny portions. 

The toys were always a delight as well. I enjoyed being able to build them myself and my favorites were any variation of a race car. My sisters and I would act out scenes from movies with the little plastic characters, or have competitions with the kids who lived in my grandmother’s neighborhood to see whose top could spin the longest without being knocked over by another. We’d hold races, seeing how far the cars could go on the makeshift track.The possibilities were endless. 

Kinder Joy is not nearly as rare as I remember it being. In fact, it’s becoming more and more popular in the United States- I could walk over to my local Jewel Osco and get one from the checkout aisle if I really wanted. Seven-year-old me would’ve been beside herself. 

Kinder Surprise – 5/10

This one is the product that is banned in the United States and several other countries due to safety concerns. Like the Kinder Surprise, it’s egg-shaped and contains a toy, but the similarities end there. Its “shell” is composed of two thin layers- one chocolate and the other white chocolate. Inside this shell, it has a “yolk” or yellow capsule that has a small toy inside. It’s easy to see why this might be considered a hazard- young children and small objects do not mix well. 

To be quite honest, I never liked this one as much. It lacks the pizzazz that some of the other Kinder products have. My sisters and our other young family friends are obsessed with it, but I don’t understand why anyone would want to have Kinder Surprise when Kinder Joy tastes better, has a toy as well, and is just better in every respect. In my opinion, the only reason that it’s even appealing to them is that it’s banned in the United States and therefore more rare in their eyes. 

I will say however, the yellow capsules are useful for storing small objects. I would use them as a way to organize beads, Lego pieces, and occasionally Rainbow Loom bands, so it gets five points for that. 

Kinder Bueno – 10/10

This one is my current favorite! It has four wafer “capsules” with chocolate hazelnut cream inside, and of course, the exterior is also covered in chocolate. I had one earlier today, it was very good. 

Other honorable mentions – 

Kinder Happy Hippo – 8/10

These are super fun! It’s very similar to the Kinder Bueno, except it doesn’t have as much chocolate and is shaped like a hippopotamus. 

Kinder Chocofresh – 6/10

I vaguely remember having this one years ago, but I don’t think it was anything mind blowing. Then again, I should probably have one again before saying anything about it. 

Kinder Country – 6/10

Theoretically, I should’ve enjoyed this one. It’s a chocolate bar filled with cereal pieces inside, so I thought it was going to be like a Crunch bar. It was not like a Crunch bar. 

The texture of the cereal pieces was reminiscent of styrofoam packing peanuts and it tasted strange, which detracted from the overall chocolate flavor. Unfortunately, I do not recommend it. 

Kinder Cards – 8/10

Kinder Cards are thin wafers filled with cocoa cream and shaped like, well, cards. Nothing memorable, but it does have that classic Kinder taste. 

 

 

So, which chocolate is your favorite from the list above? Is there something that I forgot? Anything you’d like to try? Let me know!

The first time I cried because of a book was in kindergarten. 

I already knew that reading was a way to share information; the red sign with the letters S-T-O-P meant that I should probably wait and look for cars before crossing the street to the park. I already knew that reading could be enjoyable; every spare moment was spent with my nose in a book, meeting new people and traveling to faraway places from the comfort of my living room. What I hadn’t known before, was that reading could make me feel sad as well. 

One sunny winter afternoon, our teacher called us up one by one to her trapezoid table to read aloud for her. In the back of my mind, I knew that this was going to be some kind of test, but I never once thought that anything out of the ordinary would happen. In fact, I remember skipping all the way there in classic kindergartener fashion. I was pretty good at reading, so this was going to be a piece of cake!

When I sat down, she took out a book from her file folder, put it on the table, and opened it to the first page. I began to read confidently: 

“Today was a bad day. My pet iguana Izzy died.”

I trailed off, looking at my teacher in horror. What kind of a book talked about death and sad things? But she nodded and gestured at me to continue, so I went on.

“…I drew a big heart because I loved him. I wrote that I missed him. I wrote that I would remember him…”

This was getting worse and worse by the second. I didn’t even make it through the third page before I burst into tears. My teacher set down her pen and tried to comfort me, saying “it’s just a story honey” but I was inconsolable. To me, it wasn’t “just a story.” She didn’t understand! Izzy and the boy were the best of friends and now Izzy was gone forever, never to play with his friend again! How did she not see the tragedy of the situation? How did she not feel the boy’s pain?

Up to that point, reading had been solely for entertainment. I never realized that words – mere scribbles on a page – could make me feel sadness, anger, and even despair. Words could make me cry about a boy and his iguana, despite never experiencing death or even having owned a pet. For the first time, I realized that books not only communicated information and the details of a story, but they could also be a means through which to share emotions with others.

After that experience, I avoided books grounded in reality for a while, preferring to stick to my familiar fairy tales all set in worlds where nothing bad ever happened. Rapunzel was trapped in her tower, but she got out eventually, didn’t she? Sure, the goat’s brothers may have been eaten by the wolf, but they were miraculously rescued from its stomach in the end by their clever mother (this of course wasn’t the true ending, but that’s another story).  With these kinds of tales, I could always count on there being a happily ever after. 

This worked for a while, but my relationship with reading was never quite the same. My definition of reading had been expanded, and I was curious to know what else was possible. Paragraph by paragraph, I began to explore other genres. Bad things did happen occasionally, and that was okay because I now knew that happened sometimes. If the boy was able to get through Izzy’s death, then other characters in other books could also get through their own misfortunes, and ultimately, so could I.

test

Welcome to your brand new blog at Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Sites.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.