Cold Turkey

In my office, I have a crate in which I put recycling. Everything from frozen food meal trays to paper to plastic gets tossed into the crate. When it gets full, I bring the crate home and empty it into my recycling bin. Nice and efficient.

Toward the end of March, after picking up breakfast at Dunkin', I removed the tea bags and prepared to toss the styrofoam cup into the crate. There was a slight problem.

The crate was full and most of it was Dunkin' styrofoam cups. I smushed these down to make room for another and, that night, took the crate home for recycling.

Dunkin' is quick and easy, but not the healthiest of breakfasts. I looked at this and was kind of floored by what this represented. There were 2.5 weeks of Dunkin' cups in here. Those you can't see are under the paper and plastic miscellany added to the crate. I can't keep eating donuts for breakfast. That's not, at all, healthy. And, in reality, stuffing the money for this habit onto my Dunkin' card is not good for the budget, either. I would have to start making plans to get up in time to make myself breakfast AND have the food on hand to make that breakfast.

I didn't realize how difficult this would be for me. Then, the Dunkin' I frequent made it easy. The owner of that store sold the franchise to another couple. All the people I knew in the store were let go. I walked in and the coloring contest, the balloons, the merchandise had been replaced. The people behind the counter were efficient, but they were not nearly as friendly. It was "get us in and out as quickly as possible" mode.

This made cutting back, way back, on Dunkin' for breakfast, much easier. There are two Dunkin' on the way to the office. I thought I would see how friendly they were. Not any better. They are bigger stores than the one by me, but the whole tone of these places, the whole atmosphere, is one of "get people out as quickly as possible". I added more money to my Dunkin' card back at the beginning of June. Normally, I would add something every month, but I have not had to add anything in July. I don't see I will use up what's on my card before next month. I have no desire to.

Part of me is sad. One of the reasons I had this habit was that I was recognized at the local Dunkin'. They took the time to get to know me, know what I liked. Yes, they did things as fast as possible, but a testament to a place is the line out the front door. Since the change in ownership, I haven't been to this place when there has been a line, even at the most popular times.

I needed to cut back on my habit. It was a crutch. I didn't have to get up with any speed because I could swing by Dunkin' to get breakfast. But, this was not a healthy obsession to have. While I could afford it, my budget is better off not spending $15-$30 per month on donuts. I miss the camaraderie with the people who used to work there. A friendly, "Hello" on a morning when I stumble in at 5:45 because I have to be somewhere by 7:00, always started my day off right. It's certainly not what I experience now when I choose to go there.

What's the aphorism? "The only constant is change."

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb

Chocolate Goodness

I've been talking with guild members about our October trip to Walt Disney World. We can make food reservations beginning on April 14th so I'm trying to decide where, exactly, I want to eat and to get people who have expressed an interest, committed to coming to the vacation. All this Disney talk put me in the frame of mind for waffles.

This has been a staple of the family since 1990.

I wasn't sure when the last time was that I'd used this. It was quite dusty on the box top, so it has to have been over a year ago.

The interior was a bit dirty so I scrubbed it before plugging it in. The interior is ostensibly non-stick but I need to remember that, after so many years, the non-stick needs help. I forgot with the first waffle.

This wasn't as bad of a mess as it looks. I unplugged the waffle iron and used a fork to peel everything out of the iron.

This tasted good so I put the debris in a freezer bag and I'll use it on ice cream.

The other issue I had was not knowing how much to actually put in the waffle maker.

One-third cup was too much. One-fourth cup was too little. After dirtying two measuring cups, I settled on a bit shy of a third of a cup. What's always the issue is getting the batter into the ears so you get a full ear.

The ears can, with the right amount of batter, fill in, but it's much cooler to have them be the circle.

There was enough batter to make several waffles. I have no idea how long I have had this recipe.

I also don't remember where I got it. Given the paper, probably from a magazine. Shockingly, I have no pancake/waffle syrup in my house. I'm not sure how that slipped from the grocery list. However, this particular waffle does not benefit from maple syrup. These are best served with whipped cream.

I have enough for two meals, assuming I eat two waffles per meal. So, one lunch this week will be waffles at the office. I hope they are all jealous.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast tea

Deb

Oh Heck No

I was nearly out of cereal so a saunter down that aisle of the grocery was in order. I tend to buy what's on sale although not all the time. Cheerios seems to be perennially on the sale list in a variety of sizes but, as much as I like Cheerios, I'm not interested in eating only little oat circles. I'll look for one box of something interesting and buy a couple of boxes of sale stuff.

It's fall. When did that happen? Man, I could have thought we'd just gotten through July and here it is, the first week of October. Trying to make the memories and time last seems to speed it up. But fall brings apples and, horrifically, pumpkin. In addition to the large squashes placed strategically by the entry to the grocery, pumpkin-flavored this and that is in almost every aisle, even in cereal. Have you see these?

Now, you know I will eat things just so you don't have to, but, folks, I'm drawing the line, right here, right now. Nope. No way. I like both Special K and Mini-Wheats, but there is just no way I'm buying either of those in a pumpkin flavor to try them. You do know neither of these is flavored with real pumpkin, right? These are chemically created pumpkin flavors. There's no health benefit from real pumpkin here. It's another way to part you from your hard earned greenbacks. Be strong. Don't succumb. 

That being said, I might, if it goes on sale, try the apple cinnamon Special K. I'm old enough to remember when Post put out cereals in square boxes. Designed, they said, to fit better into a cupboard, they had freeze dried fruit in them. I remember apples and strawberries for sure. I can't find when they came out or what were some of the names of the cereal but I remember them in our pantry. It was situated under the stairs to the second floor and the shelves were not very wide. The square boxes were a boon to us and we could have a variety of cereals and not have them take up as much space. Alas, consumers thought the change to the shape equalled a change in the amount contained in a box and these disappeared after 3-4 years. Freeze dried fruit bits have never really gone away so I expect the apple cinnamon's fruit will be the same kind of thing. 

I read an article last month which said manufacturers introduce dozens of new cereals every year. You might think your grocery has all of them, but quite a few are for specific regions of the country and you won't see them. Cereal is a very cutthroat business and manufacturers don't make a lot of money on a box. This is why many cereal producers snapped up beverages, pastas sauces and crackers. With food trends heading toward non-GMO's and protein, you can expect to see more, not less, specialty cereals vying for space on the shelves. 

If only they'd bring back Kaboom. 

Beverage:  Water

Deb

So You Don't Have To

In the great quest to eat things with odd flavors and report back to you, I have consumed two items within the last couple of months. First off, there is a new Pop Tart flavor. Now, I don't go out of my way to eat Pop Tarts. I was actually looking at cereal or breakfast bars to keep in my desk drawer at work. The breakfast toaster pastries are in the same location. Colorful graphics on the box drew my eye, as it's supposed to do.

I like watermelon. I regularly buy it at the store, but, seriously, in a toaster pastry, warmed? Reddish-pink with green swirls of icing. This should be "interesting".

Visually, it looks like these were sat upon before going into the bag. I think we can figure out how Pop Tarts are made. They lay down the bottom crust. The next machine lays down the filling and another machine applies the top crust. They are squished together, probably just like your mom does to the edges of a fruit pie. Perhaps there is some cooking here to make the toaster part of this food simply a warm-up. After the sandwiching of the tart, another machine applies a layer of frosting and, if necessary, yet another machine gets to apply a squiggly something or other. The whole thing is dried and then shoved into bags, sealed and shoved into boxes. Human hands do not meet this pastry until you open the bag and move the tart to the toaster or, in the case of some of them, eat them without toasting. (I'm looking at you, plain blueberry or strawberry flavored.) I'd be interested to know exactly how many Pop Tarts can come off a conveyor per hour.

But how do these taste? I can say, unequivocally, blah. There was a watermelon sense about them, but that was completely lost in the bland flavor of the pastry itself. I was disappointed. I expected these to be weird in a "Whoa. Watermelon" sort of way and they were weird simply because they weren't watermelon. If you have young kids, these might be amusing, but don't expect any watermelon enthusiast to enjoy them.

Next on the "Oh look at that" is a new flavor from Oreos.

Honestly, I'm not going out of my way to look for things. If those things happen to cross paths with me when I'm looking for something else, well then, it's my duty to try them. Otherwise, I'm not in the cookie aisle. For the record, none of the breakfast bars I saw was remotely appealing. I have to pass through the cookie section of the store to get to oyster crackers so that's how I happened to spy these. Perhaps this isn't a "new" flavor, in that it was released this month, but it's new to me.

Peel back the top of the package and there are dark and white layers. There was a slight aroma of s'mores, but if you were blindfolded and had this under your nose when the top was opened, you'd have a moment of, "I know that smell, but I can't place it". It was the same with opening the Pop Tarts. Seriously, if you are going to incorporate some flavor we are not expecting, make it obvious when I open the package. This limp attempt at a scent doesn't entice me to want to try the cookies.

In true Oreos fashion, I had to pull them apart.

They are constructed as all Oreos are, excepting there are two layers of filling. You can, if you like, peel the filling layers apart, but it doesn't always separate easily. The fillings remove easily from the cookie so if you like to completely separate your Oreos, you can do that.

Taste. Bland with a side of bland. Oreos chocolate cookies have a good chocolate flavor. When they step out of that box and make vanilla cookies it's akin to vanilla-flavored cardboard. The cookies were mealy and crumbly and just didn't hold up to being dunked in milk, something Oreos takes great pride in trumpeting. The chocolate filling was grainy and the marshmallow filling was barely marshmallow flavored. You'd do better to toast a marshmallow and stick it on the filling. I think the cookies were supposed to be graham cracker flavor but that was nowhere in evidence. I wasn't disappointed, per se. I bought these expecting them to live down to low expectations and they certainly did. If you have access to a microwave, you can make close to campfire s'mores. Stay with that and save your dollars.

So, there you have another installment of "So You Don't Have To". I haven't bought anything strange lately. I'm changing my diet around so the Oreos and the Pop Tarts were kind of a last hurrah for awhile. But, you never know. I'm out of the bags of sugar snap pea pods I've been taking to work for lunch and eating while playing WOW. Plus, I'm out of dish soap. I have to go get more which means walking into the store. You never know what will hop off the shelf and into the cart totally unaided. I swear. I had nothing to do with the 2 boxes of Triscuits in the cart.

Beverage:  LaCroix Berry flavored seltzer

Deb

Speaking of 16

The actual date was January 10th. It was a Sunday. The night before, we'd had our office holiday party. With the move and Gene expecting his first child in December, we decided it just wasn't prudent to have a holiday party that month. Gene's daughter was born a month early but we were so busy in December, that, as we sat around the table in the restaurant, we were very, very glad we hadn't tried to shoehorn an evening meal in on a Saturday night in December.

I happened to mention I was coming up on my work anniversary and was thinking of bringing food in. It kind of went over people's heads in the noise of the restaurant so I decided to just do it, rather than solicit what they might like. I went to Panera and got a dozen bagels.

*GASP! I know what you're thinking. This is not Dunkin Donuts. I thought about it, but, in the past, when I've brought in donuts for meetings, not all of them have been eaten. I got cream cheese; regular and honey walnut. It turned out that Matt wasn't in the office at all on Monday, having had to go service a machine in the hinterlands. Mike was thrilled with bagels, "except we don't have a toaster. I always toast my bagel." Three bagels didn't get eaten on Monday. The next day, Matt was in the office and didn't have time to grab breakfast before coming in. "Deb brought bagels yesterday," Tara said. "There are still some left in the fridge." So Matt ate the last three. "Thanks Deb! You saved me!"

16 years. That's a long time.

Beverage:  Raspberry Seltzer

Deb

California Food - Part the First

Particularly when I'm traveling, I like to document my food. You can have very good food and very bad food while on a vacation. The November trip to California and BlizzCon/Disneyland was a case in point.

My gastronomical journey began on November 3rd at O'Hare. I had to get up early to get to the airport in plenty of time to check in so breakfast wasn't going to be an option. Plus, I didn't like the idea of leaving dirty dishes in the sink for 6 days.

Breakfast was two muffins, a banana and hot tea from Great American Bagel, which was right across from my gate.

My first airplane flight was in April of 1982. Back then, you still got free food with your seat purchase. As you know, that's no longer the case. I didn't eat the blueberry muffin before boarding so free tea and the muffin were food about 2/3rds of the way through the flight west.

Upon arriving in California, there was little time to eat. I grabbed my luggage and found the Super Shuttle to my hotel. The trip to the hotel took an hour. Once checked in, I surveyed my surroundings. Liz wasn't to get in until 6:45. We had talked of meeting up with Sparrow and her hubby for a later dinner. It was now 2 and I hadn't eaten anything since about 10:45.

As the shuttle drove down Katela, I noticed a little-seen restaurant in Chicagoland, IHOP. They have, for the most part, shuttered IHOPs in my area. It's sad but I know the one in Wheaton just could not keep servers. It's one of my favorite places to go and I miss it. So seeing one 4 blocks from the hotel was wonderful. I needed food. IHOP it was.

Pumpkin french toast with caramel sauce, sliced bananas and whipped cream. I was in heaven. There were other fall flavors which I thought about coming back to try, but the sheer number of places to eat in the area made a repeat visit impossible. I didn't realize how hungry I was. This is a half order. I had them bring out the rest of the order, it was so good.

Liz's plane was delayed so adding that extra plate of french toast wound up being a godsend. The next day, Thursday, November 4th, we wandered up to Disneyland. Our first stop there was a Starbucks; one of the largest I'd ever seen; for a quick breakfast. We had reservations for lunch, at 1, and the parks didn't open until 10, so there was some time to kill.

I had standard fare of 2 blueberry scones (Delivered in separate bags. Talk about waste.) and hot tea. Liz and I walked around California Adventure the rest of the morning and headed over to Disneyland in the afternoon. We had reservations at Cafe Orleans. There are food carts everywhere including many which sold these.

Leave it to Disney to turn spun sugar into something reasonably attractive.

We went to Cafe Orleans for three things. #1 was the parmesan fries, in the basket at back.

#2 is that Monte Cristo sandwich in the foreground. Liz and I split one sandwich. It was huge! It's served with the most amazing berry sauce. I don't remember the sauce the fries came with but I wound up just eating the fries "naked", they were so good.

The main reason to stop was beignets.

Incredible powdered sugar dusted puffs of air-inflated buttered dough. That's custard sauce at top and the mixed berry jam at the bottom. Oh my heaven. So...so wonderful. Even having a 6 block walk back to the hotel didn't leave us unfull.

Too bad Cafe Orleans is inside the park. I'd consider eating there just because. I had not had a Monte Cristo in a very long time. In case you are unfamiliar with this sandwich, it is cheese, usually swiss, with ham or turkey, sometimes both, dipped in egg batter and fried. Some places will grill the sandwich but the best ones are encased in a thick tempura-type batter. A guild member told me to go get one while I was out there, to which Liz replied, "I made reservations. She WILL have one." The whole meal was stellar.

Ashley arrived in the late afternoon and we went to get our convention badges. That evening, we met up with a guild member and her husband. I was still feeling full from lunch. We debated where to go for dinner and wound up back at Downtown Disney, the location of the Starbucks, for dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Now, I can take or leave Rainforest. There's one north of me, but we just couldn't think of a place in the area to go to with a wide menu and which wouldn't be crawling with BlizzCon people. We wanted to talk. We'd never met Amy and her husband so this was to be a special event. Fortunately, they have a decent a la carte menu.

A bowl of creamy tomato soup, topped with gruyere, and served with spiced cornbread. With hot tea, it was all I needed.

Friday started BlizzCon. In order to be alert and on the ready, we went to Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast. Oh come now. If given a choice, wouldn't you trade a free hotel breakfast for this?

That's their special peanut butter and jelly pizza. (I have the recipe.) The Mickey Mouse mini-waffle at the upper left was not very good; hard and flavorless. Liz said, in all the years she's been coming to this buffet, this was the first thing that was a disappointment. Fruit was in abundance. I'll always go for the fresh fruit.

Fluffy, fluffy scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. Tea and orange juice in abundance.  When we walked in and had our photos taken with Goofy, we were asked if we were celebrating anything. We said, "First visit" and then pointed at Ashley. "Her birthday is Saturday," we said. Liz and Ashley looked at me. "Well, your birthday is close." "Not really. It's Thanksgiving Day. That's not close." The employee shrugged. "Two birthdays! That works!"

Mid-way through breakfast, this arrived, along with wait staff to sing to us.

They set fire to my dessert and sang about it.

I got a "First Visit" and "Birthday" button. I put my World of Warcraft name on the button. On Sunday, when we came back to the parks, I did not wear my birthday button. It was the day after Ashley's birthday and I wanted her to have all the good wishes. Maybe some day I'll go back.

Beverage:  Hot cocoa

Deb

California Food - Part the Second

Here we are, standing in front of the entry to BlizzCon. All the saving. All the sacrificing. All the trips to and from have lead to this. Liz has to work in her capacity as a journalist so she leaves Ashley and I to walk through the doors into the convention center. "Trust me on this," says Liz, as we part. "Eat at the food trucks outside and not at any of the convention spots inside. Convention food is nasty."

With this echoing in our ears, we sit through the opening ceremonies. Ashley is meeting a friend for lunch so I wander off to look around. It's now close to 12:30 and there is a panel discussion coming up I want to hear. Food is everywhere at this convention, everywhere. But remembering Liz's comment, I go outside. Holy food trucks, Batman.

Looking toward the convention center, this is part of the trucks on the left. And here is the same spot on the right.

There were at least a dozen behind me. It is a great way to provide food for the 25,000 convention attendees. Add staff and BlizzCon employees and a small city of close to 30,000 develops. There's just no way to have enough hamburgers and hot dogs inside. If you have any sort of dietary restriction, you could find a food truck catering to that. On Friday, after walking up and down and looking at the dizzying array of choices, I settled for a turkey wrap.

Turkey, bacon, cheese, lettuce and a mild sauce in this flavored tortilla. The size is deceptive in the photo. It was cut in half and was bigger than my hand. It was $12.00 with soda. That's the thing about the food trucks. They were not "cheap" by any means. But the sheer size made the amount of food comparable to, say, my usual lunch fare of a Subway foot-long with chips and drink; $10.00. I don't recall what I had for dinner on Friday night. I don't have a photo record of it.

Onward to Saturday. Liz left early so Ashley and I ate the free buffet at the hotel. It was standard stuff; muffins, waffles, cereal, pastries, yogurt, bacon and beverages. She'd not been able to connect with her friend for lunch on Friday so they arranged to meet on Saturday. We did a couple of things in one of the areas of the center and I wanted to see a program starting at 1 p.m. Ignoring Liz's comment about convention center food, I stopped at a stall selling orange chicken.

You know, this was pretty good. The candy bar was 2.5 times what I'd pay in the store, but the orange chicken was only $6.99. I got a bottle of water and picked at it for the next hour during the program. There was almost too much food in the container.

Ashley and I attended a session at 2 and then we split up again. Three thirty California time is 5:30 my time and my Hawkeyes were playing Indiana. I had asked my Facebook friends and family to post updates on the score, since I knew I would be otherwise occupied. I dashed back to the hotel room, popped on the TV and was able to post an article to my guild's web site while watching the last 5 minutes of the game, which Iowa won.

That respite, where I was able to put up my feet, left me energized for one final pass around the convention. I headed back and decided to try my luck with another food truck. I met Ashley; not planned, we just happened to see each other; and decided we'd eat off this truck. The fare looked good. They had bratwurst. Ohboy ohboy ohboy!

How can you go wrong with a solid hunk of sausage. Ashley got a bacon wrapped hot dog.

We got our sausages and sat down.

I don't like sauerkraut which bratwurst is usually served with. But cover it with a good German mustard and I'm deliriously happy. This was awful. I don't know if it was because I'm used to Wisconsin brats, i.e. Milwaukee made, or what it was, but it was just not good. I could only eat half of it. I hated to throw away what amounted to $6.00 for the half I didn't eat, but I just couldn't finish it. That, really, was the only bad meal I had.

On Sunday, we had reservations at Ariel's Grotto for breakfast.

The meal started with hot cocoa and a fruit and pastry basket. We sort of snarfed them up before I could get a photo of the basket.

Suffice it to say this was a hit.

The menu is fixed. You're handed a card and you order off that. It's not buffet. I had waffles this go 'round of breakfast.

That's a muesli mix at the upper right corner with bacon under my waffles. One thing Liz pointed out which I had not realized, every restaurant we went to did not have water out on the table. That's something we take for granted in the Midwest. You sit down and you're brought a glass of water. With Southern California in a terrible drought, that kind of thing wastes a lot of water because you can't just pour it back into the pitcher for the next guests. So water is provided on demand. We were out on the terrace of the restaurant, overlooking a lagoon. We quipped that the waiter would just take a bucket and drop it over the side to haul up water for us.

This was a lovely breakfast. Various Disney princesses wandered through the meal, including Rapunzel, who is Ashley's favorite. While the food was good and the atmosphere nice, I far preferred Goofy's Kitchen and the buffet. I'm glad we had a chance to do both.

The evening meal was a small affair over by the haunted mansion.

Cafeteria style, you grabbed a tray and walked around selecting items from a variety of stations. I got the kids-size pasta because it came with fruit and veggies, and a chocolate cake. Both were adequate. Later, I got a bag of popcorn and ate that while watching the pyrotechnic show and the fireworks. This was okay and a decent value for the cost, but I was tired at this point so the cake seemed dry and somewhat flavorless even though it was chocolate.

The next day was get away day. I grabbed breakfast at the airport; a large blueberry muffin and tea. My flight was delayed getting out of LAX and I couldn't bring myself to pay the price asked for what seemed like substandard fare aboard the aircraft. When I finally got home, I had soup and a ham and cheese sandwich.

Vacation food can be iffy. All-in-all, I had one lousy meal. That's not too bad of a track record for all the times I ate something. Uninspired meals were breakfast at the hotel, at Starbucks, and the final meal at Disney. Adequate meals were Sunday breakfast and breakfast at both airports. The meals that surprised me were the convention chicken, the sandwich on Friday and Thursday's soup at Rainforest. The other meals, Cafe Orleans, Goofy's Kitchen and good ol' IHOP, were amazing. I think I should try to make that peanut butter and jelly pizza. I'll let you know how that goes.

Beverage:  La Croix sparkling water

Deb

Mom's Cake

I play Dungeons and Dragons with a couple of groups. One group meets online. The other actually plays the way the game started, with pencils and paper and dice and maps. For the latter group, we get together roughly every 2-3 weeks. Part of that involves food. We've had theme food night and last week, it was breakfast.

Originally, I was going to make a chocolate walnut bread, but chose to sink my time into sewing shirt number 2. But I still had to bring something. I wasn't interested in dashing to the store for anything. I wanted to bake. What could I make that was quick but symbolic of breakfast? I know. Mom's coffee cake.

It's ridiculously simple and I've probably blogged about this before. Mix dry ingredients together with vegetable oil.

Set aside a cup of this crumbly mixture and add egg and buttermilk to the rest.

Pour into a 9x13 greased and floured pan and sprinkle the saved crumb over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and inhale the fragrance of cinnamon and nutmeg and brown sugar.

Cut in pieces and serve warm, with ice cream or cooled for breakfast or as a snack. This cake freezes very well. I've made it, cut it into pieces and stuck the pieces in the freezer. Even defrosting them at 3-4 months out, they were still moist.

This was a staple of family meals when I was growing up. I don't know if mom remembers where she found the recipe but she's been making this for at least 55 years, maybe longer. It's pretty much foolproof and would be a great cake to get kids cooking. I took what was left to the office and then finished off what was left after everyone at work had a piece.

Here's the recipe:

Salad Oil Coffee Cake

3 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2)  Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan.
3)  Mix flour, sugars and spices together.
4)  Add oil to dry ingredients, stirring until blended and mixture is lumpy.
5)  Reserve 1 cup of the flour/sugar mixture. Set aside.
6)  Add egg, buttermilk, soda and salt to the remaining mixture. Beat until well blended and creamy.
7)  Sprinkle reserved mixture over the top of the batter.
8)  Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
9)  Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before cutting and serving. May be frozen for later servings.

Enjoy.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

So You Don't Have To

Look! Something new!

Carole found this at her grocery. I had to go to the grocery on the last day of my vacation and I didn't see this. Admittedly, I was doing a quick run for snacks for a Dungeons and Dragons game so I didn't have time to really search the shelves, but, from experience, interesting versions of cereals don't often make it to Mariano's. Perhaps they are trying to save us from ourselves?

It's cute looking.

It's the color of rainbow sherbet; orange, lime and raspberry. I asked Carole how it tasted before I opted to try it. "Meh. It's like Pebbles, just different colors," she said. It's been awhile since I had Pebbles so I couldn't quite remember that flavor so let's try a bowl and see.

It's okay, as sugary breakfast cereals go. I would be more charitable than Carole and say there is a hint of sherbety flavor. There's definitely not the creamy taste of sherbet or the taste of the individual flavors, but what I remember as the taste of Fruity Pebbles is not completely there. It was pretty good. I'd like to find a box of this and Fruity Pebbles and have a taste test. That might require wandering into Jewel grocery stores, which I really, really don't like. Times like this I miss Dominick's so much.

Beverage:  water

Deb

So You Don't Have To

I love cereal for breakfast. It's quick and easy to get a decent meal and get on with the day. But sometimes, I want something else that's quick and easy to make and that's where Toaster Strudels come in.

These have been around for a very long time. It's got to be pushing 25 years because we started buying them when Carole was a kid. There used to be over a dozen flavors but they have scaled that number back to around 6. Every so often, they try a new flavor. Some of them are good and some are of the "what were they thinking" nature. I stumbled upon this new to me flavor recently and thought I'd give it a try.

Snickerdoodle, a flavor that reeks of childhood and cookies and warm aromas in the house. But how does it taste?

I had high hopes for this. It wasn't pumpkin, although I wouldn't be surprised to see a pumpkin flavored strudel in the fall. I hope not. Pumpkin has been done to death. Enough already! These were good. They had a hint of the cookie. The cream was reminiscent of the sugar cookie while the center jelly had the cinnamon-flavor. They were satisfying for a quick breakfast on those mornings when I didn't want cereal. I would accompany them with a glass of orange juice and felt it was a good start to the day. They aren't my favorite. I prefer their berry flavors, but I'd buy these again for a change of pace. Plus, they give "Boxtops for Education" and I save those for my niece's kids' school. That's a win although I don't buy things just because they have box tops.

Bottom line is, if you want something that's quick to make while you are scrounging up your lunch for a work day, these are good. Don't expect them to taste like a warm snickerdoodle fresh from the oven, but the flavor of the cookie is there.

Beverage:  English teatime Tea

Deb

There Was a Wedding - Part 3 - Getting Ready

Probably the worst time of any wedding is the day of. Everything has come down to this. All the planning, all the stress, all the wishing and hoping and expenditures of money have come down to this day, this time. We all know that preparations for any event take so much longer than the actual event itself and a wedding is a prime example of it.

We started our day with breakfast. Larry made pancakes.

He's a very good cook and likes to do it. we thought this pancake was in keeping with the "Star Wars" theme of the wedding.

Yes, it's the Death Star, in pancake form.

Once we'd had a hearty breakfast, we packed up my rental car with all the things needed for the wedding. We would not be coming back to the house.

The first stop was to have our nails done.

Now, I'm not one for painted nails. I keep my them short first of all. Most importantly, several years ago, I decided to have my nails done for an event. It was awful. I don't know if the technician wasn't well trained or what but I came out with a horrible manicure. She pushed back my cuticles and told me I needed to do this and have a manicure every other week or my hands, "Look like trash." Yes, this is exactly what I want to hear. Spend money I don't have have every other week. And when she trimmed my cuticles, she tore them so badly, I had nicks and dings on almost every nail. I looked liked I'd tried to retrieve something from a blender, while it was running. My nails were trimmed in a lop-sided fashion and she actually cut a corner on one nail and I bled all over her work space. She glared at me and then went to get paper towels, leaving me to bleed everywhere. Needless to say, I haven't had my nails done since then.

But, this was one of Carole's gifts to us for buying dresses we'll probably never wear again. Carole and the groom's mom, Donna, got pedicures. Everyone else just had their nails done. I was extremely skittish so I sat in a corner and read my book.

When my mom came to the front and showed me her nails, I thought, "Maybe things have changed. Maybe this is something I should do." There was plenty of time, even deciding late, for me to have my nails done and for us to make our next appointment, which was for our hair. So, I did it.

I matched the nail color to my dress. It was a very pleasurable experience. Perhaps techniques have changed. There was no pain in trimming my cuticles and the stylist did a very nice job of trimming and shaping the style of the nails. The polish lasted for 2 whole weeks.

They told us the manicure would last for 2 weeks and darned if it didn't get to 2 weeks and, boom, start peeling. A manicure is not something I'd do but it was fun for this event.

The next step was to get the hair done. Carole had contacted a gal who came with glowing recommendations. The only fly in the ointment, so to speak, was that she was expecting and due to give birth in late February. When the days passed and Carole didn't hear from her, it became obvious that she just wasn't either interested or capable of doing hair for a wedding. That forced Carole to call around to see what salon could handle 3 women for a style. She found Salon Emage in the historic part of Warrenton.

You can see the building is old. It's been redone to be a salon and a spa with rooms in the back for massages, but the character of the interior is old brick and tin roof and wood floors. In addition to doing our hair, they provided a light brunch.

It was crackers, cheese, ham, turkey, carrots and brownies washed down with sweet tea. They were so friendly and made us feel right at home. Carole was taken first because her 'do' was a bit more complicated since she had a veil to incorporate.

Originally, I wasn't supposed to get my hair done. I have a great cut that usually does exactly what it's supposed to. Of course, on my daughter's wedding day, it did not and I couldn't get it to cooperate. The salon was so nice to fit me in for just a shampoo and blow dry. The stylist was very impressed with the color of my gray, how my hair felt and, most importantly, the cut. "You have a fantastic cut," she said on more than one occasion. I chuckled. I spend $12 at Great Clips. This just goes to show you that you don't have to spend $240 for a great hair cut. The gals at Great Clips give me a wonderful cut every time.

Here is my cut at the reception. The card is a joke from friends; a take off on Cards Against Humanity. I really felt elegant.

Here is the back of Carole's hair once it was done.

The veil is anchored to the underside of her curls. That thing wasn't going anywhere regardless of wind. This was also Carole's treat to us and it was well worth the money she spent.

Now we are all prettified. It's time to head to the country club.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb