Cereal - It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

Heck - cereal can be lunch, dinner - even dessert! (Credit must be given to Jerry for always eating cereal on Seinfeld.) I've always been a fan of Mini Wheats - I can eat those babies right out of the box. Love them! So imagine my joy to see these:

Now I have to tell you, I was prepared not to like these. I thought they would be too chocolately. But I was wrong - they are perfect! I adore them!! The perfect touch of chocolate added to the traditional Mini-Wheat. My only complaint is that they are Little Bites which are half the size of Mini-Wheats. I think Mini-Wheats are the perfect size. However, these could be good in trail mix where regular Mini-Wheats are too big. If I'm honest, I bet it's because this size fits better into kid mouths. I mean, how many 44 year-old women are sitting around eating these? Well done, Kellogg's - these rock!!

I also paid a visit to Trader Joe's - a cool, funky place I love to shop. They are big on organic. This is a Trader Joe's brand cereal:

These are "Whole Grain Chocolatey-Filled Cereal Bites" (Chocolatey? Sounds like mockolate to me). They actually taste like they look - too wheaty. Like chocolate in a cracker, a not good cracker. I didn't like these at all. It might be organic, but it ain't good.

Now this looked like it had a LOT of promise:

I mean what could be better than peanut butter puffs, right? WRONG!!!! These are just so very bad. They very remotely taste like peanut butter but they mostly taste like plastic? rice? Puffin? Something creepy I can't really identify. GLAACK!!

I say if you are going to eat cereal that has chocolate or peanut butter as a primary ingredient, it should ROCK!!!! Otherwise it should have lots of fiber and be healthy as hell.

Everything we eat should either be really delicious OR really good for us. Otherwise, why bother? Too often we don't really think about it, we just grab something. It's kind of like life - we should either spend time doing something we really enjoy or that makes us better. But too often we just waste time - doing whatever is easy or whatever our friends are doing.

A great life requires eternal vigilance - you have to ask yourself - do I really like this? If it's not that great - stop eating it!! Ask yourself am I having fun? Am I learning something? If not, why am I staying here? Be conscious - choose better.

And pass on the Puffins.

Tootsie Rolls Saved Me $900!

I'm a pretty good flosser. Not a great flosser, but a pretty good flosser. At least every other day. Well lately, I've been fighting with one of my teeth. The floss gets stuck or breaks. To be honest, it pisses me off. It seems like I'm worse off than before I flossed! Instead of whatever else was there, now I have that AND dental floss jammed between my teeth! GRRR!

I guess it really doesn't take much to piss me off sometimes. (Note to self - reread "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.")

Anyway, this had been annoying me for a couple of weeks. Then one day I was chomping on a beloved Tootsie Roll when I swear I felt that tooth (actually a crown) move. With a chomp. Like it was loose! I might live in the South, but I have all my teeth. Even my wisdom teeth. And I plan on keeping them.

I called the dentist.

Saw him today - told him my story (even said a Tootsie Roll was involved). He checked it out. Sure enough, the crown was loose. He popped it out, cleaned everything, and re-cemented it right back in. He told me if I had waited several more weeks, he probably would have had to replace the crown costing me $900! Holy Healthcare, Batman!

If it wasn't for the Tootsie Roll I wouldn't have realized the crown was loose. I would have just kept being pissed off about the dental floss. Probably would have eventually flossed it right out of its socket in a fit of rage when the floss broke for the 8th time. I might have swallowed it and choked to death. Hell, Tootsie Rolls didn't just save me $900, Tootsie Rolls saved my life.

More proof there really is a higher power and that it is Chocolate. (Or at least chocolate flavored.)

Thing One and Thing Two

Just got back from Norfolk, VA and made sure to check out some things for you guys! (My excuse to do random things like raid the Lindt store and visit a pound cake factory. Tracy - thanks for enduring the Lindt expedition.) Let's talk cake first.

Rowena's (http://www.rowenas.com/home.php?cat=9) is based in Norfolk and makes some awesome looking cakes. I bought their double delicious chocolate tea cake:

Can you tell how moist and awesome that is? There are chocolate chips in it and it is SOOO good!

I had to chop it up and freeze most if it so I didn't eat the whole damn thing!

Rowena's is one of those cool stories - places I like to discover when I travel. This is from their website:

Rowena opened her gourmet manufacturing facility in May of 1983 and in 25 years, her facility has grown to 18 employees, a retail store, staff offices, call center, tearoom, two spacious kitchens and two warehouses. Rowena’s has been featured in national publications such as Lady’s Home Journal, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Taste of Home and Southern Living, and has appeared on Food Finds on the Food Network, QVC, The 700 Club and The Today Show.

Pretty impressive, huh? And her amazing cakes deserve it!! I want to try her chocolate cappuccino pound cake and the chocolate turtle cake too. Sigh. So much chocolate, so little time.

Driving back I stopped at a Stuckey's to see if they had anything new we needed to know about. The first scary thing was:

Yes - Halloween candy! Can you believe it? Already? I bought two. I wasn't that scared.

Now check this out:

I hate the name Whatchamacallit and I hate even more the new and stupid name Thingamajig. Come on! These are not great candy bar names. They sound like some crap out of Dr. Seuss. BUT here's the amazing thing - the Thingamajig - ROCKS!!!!!

I'm so not kidding you. I'm not a big Whatcha fan. I've reviewed it before - the peanut flavored crisps are lame, the caramel is only okay, overall, it's lame. I'd rather have a Rice Crispy Treat.

But the Thinga - whoa!! It says Limited Edition - and I haven't seen it in many stores - so keep your eyes peeled and grab one if you see it. It's got cocoa crisps and peanut butter (pictured on the left) - and the combo rocks!! It's heavy on the peanut butter - I loved it! I threw away the rest of the Whatcha and scarfed down all of the Thinga. I wish I'd bought more!

The picture doesn't do it justice - it doesn't look all that peanut buttery, but it is! Get one, get one, get one!

I have so much fun trying these crazy new things and then telling you all about them! So much fun for so little cash! What's your fun thing? Just remember - your life is as fun as you decide to make it!!

Murder, Mayhem, Mad Men (and Frosting!)

I'm traveling this week - down in Georgia doing some speaking - yay!! Since I'm in a hotel room for a few days, I'm trying to get caught up on my reading. Last time I was in my beloved Barnes & Noble I picked up the August 10 & 17 issue of Newsweek solely because the issue was about true crime.

I love true crime. I love good mysteries. I'm all about murder, mayhem, and the crazy things humans do. What can I say? We all have our vices. I consider the detectives on Law and Order close personal friends. And don't get me started on CSI. If Dominick Dunne were younger and ditched those glasses, I might want to go out with him.

Well, that's why I happened to have this issue of Newsweek.

And what I found of interest to us was at the bottom of one of the pages. There were three boxes - love it, hate it, and debate it. In the love it box was the blood orange. I have yet to try a blood orange, but I would like to. I think I would like it. In the debate it box, was bacon everything - bacon chocolate (as we've discussed), bacon mayonnaise, bacon cake and bacon lollipops. GLACCK! This would go in the hate it box if I were working at Newsweek. I do not want bacon cake, I don't want bacon lollipops, and isn't mayonnaise horrifying enough without adding bacon? I'm sorry - GROSS! Forget the health ramifications, I just don't want meat in my candy! It totally creeps me out.

But here's the most disturbing thing - they put in the hate it box - frosting shots! These are like Jello Shooters but with frosting and no alcohol! I say - hell yes!!! YUM!!! I would love that! Where have I been? Where do they serve these? I think this is great!! I wish I had a frosting shot right now!

Snoozeweek can't even decide about bacon mayonnaise, but they dis frosting shots. Losers.

Noteworthy thoughts:

I was in Dillards on Friday and their seasonal Godiva chocolate was half price! Go check!! Any chocolate at half price is good chocolate in my book!

Sunday night on AMC - the new season of Mad Men starts!! I love Mad Men - if you haven't seen it - check it out. If you're a fan - don't forget to watch!! There's so much bad TV, this is great TV. So get out the frosting, do some shots, and have a great Sunday night!

Bob, Bob, He's Our Man!!

Well, my good buddy David (a market research guru and all around genius) offered to help me recraft my match.com profile to keep out the lesser men (i.e. cat freaks). We took out the reference to Peeps. I'll keep you posted.

I went to a great event last week - it was a chocolate tasting at Chocolaterie Stam (I've reviewed them before). I love this place and was thrilled to go back!! The owner, Bob Droog is a dream - I love this man! Neither a cocky devil nor a pompous jerk, he's just a great guy who loves chocolate.




I love the shop itself - so European with crystal chandeliers, rich gold and purple colors, and glorious chocolate displays:






The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is Cinderella's coach. Who the hell needs a prince if they have a sweet chocolate ride like this?? I'm just saying....


Now the fee to go to this awesome event was a measly $12 - $2 of which went back to the group:

http://www.meetup.com/Chapel-Hill-Dining-Out-Group/calendar/10884089/


If any of you live in the Raleigh area - you might want to check this group out. And if you haven't been to Chocolaterie Stam - you've got to add it to your list!!


The entry fee got you endless (yes ENDLESS) coffee or chocolate drinks of your choice, samples of white, dark and milk chocolate, brownies (and they were some damn fine brownies), cookies, gelato, and anything else you wanted to try! Can you believe that? And Bob gave us a great talk and answered whatever questions we wanted to ask (well, about chocolate anyway). He's just the best.

I wanted to actually BUY some chocolates - Bob deserved something - he was giving us everything!! Here are the beauties I got:

Amazing buttery caramel (the square), the white chocolate with the lovely leaf motif is filled with hazelnut ganache and three whole hazelnuts, the leaf is a mocha flavor with espresso bean chips (yum!). They are all VERY sweet and creamy - just like you would expect the best Belgium chocolates to be. No weird spices or crazy experiments here. And you know what? I like it!!!

The lessons?

There's nothing wrong with tradition - in fact, there's something really comforting about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for pushing the envelope. But sometimes you just want regular old chocolate - no bacon, chili pepper, lavender, or spices you can't pronounce.

Share your passion with people and they will never forget you. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Nice guys don't always finish last! (Well, unless they have the cat thing going......)