And the Random Continues

Football is over. Yah-huh, it is so over. Don't try to tell me there's a game on now. That's totally irrelevant.

Julian Edelman has definitely won me over. He's the only one who actually played today (besides Kevin Faulk, who won me over long ago). He ran hard, fought hard, even hurt. I'm thinking our whole "no third option" thing is no more. Except that Wes might not start next season...but we'll worry about that when we get there.

So, my Christmas stuff is finally put away. The tree was down last week, but yesterday the kids took down all their homemade decorations that they surprise us with every Christmas morning, and I took down and packed away the rest. Today we all pitched in to take down the outside lights, in 19-degree weather. Luckily, it was sunny and windless, so it was actually pretty nice out there. It feels good, having everything back to normal.

I drink a lot of tea, but it's your basic orange pekoe and pekoe black combo, like Lipton and Tetley do. Back in college, there was a specialty shop in town, and I exercised my first-ever credit card there quite a bit, trying a whole bunch of flavored loose-leaf teas. But when I still had some of them in my cupboard about six residences and 10 years later, I stopped trying to pretend I was cool like that. So...basic tea, cream and sugar, very boring.

Then I was in the Cornerstone Coffeehouse a week ago, waiting for my mocha, and I saw a package of tea. "Holiday Dream," it said. "China black tea with citrus peels, cloves, rose petals, almond bits, and genuine Bourbon vanilla pieces." That sounded kinda good. I picked it up, smelled it, and, after my eyes were done rolling in the back of my head from the pleasure of it, I bought the package.

And man, this stuff is as good as it sounds. I've been drinking it every night and sleeping quite poorly as a result. LOL I've barely put a dent in the package, but I want to run out and get some more, because it's "Holiday Dream," so they can't sell it all year. The only reason I haven't yet is because it's probably already gone.\

I was thinking this morning that I've seen Jason Manns more times than any other live performer (three times in one year!). But then I remembered I saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert 7 times, so he's got a ways to go. Jason, if you Google yourself and read this, please take it into account for your tour schedule. The Salute to Supernatural in New Jersey would be a good start. Or middle. :)

Okay, that's enough rambling. I'm gonna go see if I can clear a few boards at Jewel Quest.

Observations on Food

*I had a coupon today for Hostess. I realized that I'd never given my kids Twinkies. Obviously, there's a reason for that, but I figured one taste wouldn't kill them, and pop culture is full of Twinkie jokes, so they need to understand their origins. I also realized I hadn't had Twinkies in a really long time, either.

OMG they suck. I haven't eaten anything so horrible that was supposed to be good in, like, ever. I actually threw it away.

**I wanted to get some nuts today, too, and the store had Planter's cashew halves and pieces on sale. I'd recently decided I like the halves and pieces better than whole cashews, because they're crunchier and have more of a roasted flavor. Bonus: they're cheaper. So the ones I bought today have "Pure Sea Salt" on them. I didn't know what that would mean. The stuff I've eaten with sea salt before didn't have a regular-salt equivalent.

OMG, these are good! I have no idea if there's a health benefit to sea salt (i.e. lower sodium level?) but yuu-uum.

***Have you noticed the new trend in fundraising? Instead of spending way too much money on junky trinkets or teeny containers of nuts/candy/cheese or whatever, you go out for dinner. Ten or twenty percent of your bill is donated to the school, library, charity, organization, etc., sponsored that night. It's nice because no one is keeping a tally of who participated or not, you don't have to try to sell junk to friends/family, and you're getting something you like.

Only problem is, we can't afford to eat out often enough to support Number One's academic team, her school's PTO, Number Two's school's PTO, the soccer club, the local library, and Operation Wildcat (the organization collecting for needy local families).

****My cats are weird. They get the exact same amount of the exact same food in their bowls. About halfway through the meal, they switch. BG goes to the bathroom, so Maya starts eating out of her bowl, and Frisbee goes to check if the dog left anything in hers. BG comes back, but Maya's in her bowl, so she goes to Frisbee's, who, disappointed by the licked-clean dog dish, comes over to Maya's.

It wouldn't be an issue except Maya keeps gaining weight (she's way beyond chunky now) and BG had glucosamine on her food now, and if she doesn't eat it, she's not getting the benefit. And if Frisbee manages to score dog food, she goes all demon-cat on us when we shoo her away.

Your turn. What food-oriented observations have YOU made recently?