X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

11/15/2007: Turkey TV Dinners! Pomegranate 7 UP!

I’m just starting to build out this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade review, which will obviously need to be published sometime before Thanksgiving, otherwise the whole system falls apart. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the previous parade reviews, which include stuff that’s certainly a lot more interesting than what I’m working with this year. Don’t worry, I’ll just have to try harder.

X-E’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Reviews!
1984! - 1985 & 1986! - 1989! - 1993!
Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I’m pretty excited about it. My entire family is eating dinner at my mother’s place, which in no way, shape or form has a seating capacity that matches the number of people going there. It’s gonna be one of those fun, old fashioned holidays with people stealing seats and sitting on top of each other. I think, once in a while, families need to do that.

Of course, I’m blessed to have a really, really big family who all live within negotiable driving distance. Every year, I get a bunch of e-mails from people who, through work or choice, don’t live anywhere near their families, and who oftentimes find themselves spending the holidays alone. This reminds half of me to be thankful for what I have, but there’s also the other half of me, and that half thinks that a holiday season spent alone might pave way for some really odd-but-neat traditions. Like, let’s say you don’t have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with. You’re not going to make a whole turkey for yourself. What’s the next best thing?

Come on, admit it. It’d be pretty rad to spend Thanksgiving alone on a couch, flipping through old sitcom marathons, carefully placing the portable heater so that your feet are the first parts of your body hit by the buzzing, artificially warmed air.

And instead of cooking a whole turkey for yourself, you’d whip up the classic turkey TV dinner. I’m kind of obsessed with TV dinners. I don’t eat them often because there are few foods worse for a person, but man, the history behind them is so rich. Long before companies started selling them in grocery store freezer aisles, families would purchase these great, clever little foil pans with which to get the most out of leftovers. It was great. People would drop chopped leftover ham into covered foil trays, stick a homemade Post-It with “HAM” text on top, throw it in the freezer and forget about it for eight months. I don’t know why that sounds cool, but it does. And I don’t even eat ham. Can’t even stand the word “ham,” to be honest.

Soon after the leftovers-in-a-foil-tray phenomenon, Swanson spearheaded the precooked TV dinner movement, starting with a platter that looked very similar to the one above. Yes, frozen turkey was the first TV dinner, and the kind sold today is not totally unlike the original version from 1953. The main difference is that the original came in a foil pan, which was more conducive for oven-cooking in a world that hadn’t yet met a microwave. I wish today’s TV dinners came in a foil pan, and would happily risk having my microwave explode for this end.

After around five minutes of nuking, you’re left with a couple of slices of gray turkey, some stuffing, mashed potatoes and cheek’s worth of corn. Though the picture above may be a little more reminiscent of the climactic “slimy electrocution scene” from the end of Gremlins 2 than dinner, I didn’t think it was so bad. I guess the trick is in adding enough salt and pepper to where everything on the platter just tastes like salt and pepper.

I haven’t had a proper TV dinner like this in years, and though it was nice to take the edible trip down memory lane, I think it’d be even more fun to do it on Thanksgiving proper. I have a tendency to fall ill around every holiday, and it’s only a matter of time before I catch a flu the night before Turkey Day and have to spend it home on the couch. When that day happens, I will totally revel in the opportunity to make a turkey TV dinner my official holiday meal. I’ll play sad music in the background to complete the mood. Something with a lot of drawn out sax solos.

In other, mildly related news, I think I’ve found the only soda that might topple Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash as the perfect liquid compliment to any holiday dinner. I can’t take the credit for finding it, actually. Someone tipped me off a few threads back, and I had to enlist the help of my sister who lives all the way down in South Jersey to locate it. (For whatever reason, the stores in my city suck when it comes to stocking special holiday edition foodstuffs. I don’t want to mistake apathy for atheism, but these store managers have no God.)

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY, it’s Pomegranate 7 Up! Pomegranates might seem like a weird fruit to choose for a holiday edition soda, but I’ve seen ten trillion turkey recipes that call for pomegranate seeds as platter garnish. Pomegranate seeds aren’t the new black, but they seem to be the new parsley. It’s borderline, but not unreasonable for a holiday edition soda. Plus, the label has a bunch of snowflake graphics on it.

I have a bias for any type of red fruit, so I like this. I like it a lot. It has a strangely sophisticated taste, or at least, that’s how I justified using a clean wine glass instead of just washing a normal glass to drink it from. It definitely has a pomegranate taste to it, albeit it a little less tart. Oddly, the label claims that they use “100% natural flavors,” but the list of ingredients only validates that by including “natural flavors” as an ingredient. So I’m not sure how much real pomegranates play into the flavor. If they don’t at all, please don’t tell me. Ignorance is bliss. I prefer to — nay, need to believe that my special 7 Up is truly imbued with smooshed pomegranate seeds.

Guess I should get to work on that parade article. Or maybe I’ll do that tomorrow and make a Pomegranate 7 Up martini tonight. Somebody flip a coin.

PS: I posted another new entry today. Don’t forget the other new entry. It needs as much love as this one.

I love holiday-time, limited-edition sodas. The only thing I like better is the fact that x-e prompts me to hit the grocery store in search for said bubbly goodness.

I’m going to assume this won’t be available in 20 oz bottles? Because gas stations are my only chance for finding such for the next 3 weeks. Grrr.

Fourth!
Wow another 2 liter of holiday deliciousness for me to try! I got the last Cranberry Splash at Target, hopefully I can score this one too.

Does anyone remember what time frame XE was using the “so utterly continental” line at the top of the page? I am trying to find an old travel article. It may not have been an Atlantic City one. All I remember for sure is the tag line at the top of the page. Knowing what year or maybe even months this could have been would really speed up my search.

Incase anyone’s interested…KB Toys is having a pretty sweet Black Friday sale. Buy ANY one video game, get one FREE!!!! I’m gonna get Galaxy so I have it for when i get a wii again i a couple weeks. Then im gonna get a DS game as the freebie.

Wow, the packaging on this one is way more Christmassy. I like 7 Up better than Sierra Mist anyhow, so I’ve got to find this. I love that you had to reach all the way to South Jersey to get it.
I can’t believe T-day is next week either. Suddenly all the work I need to get done before my vacation seems daunting. I’m pretty sure this’ll be the first time ever that I haven’t done the whole big family dinner, but we’re going to have a little get-together this weekend instead. Kinda weird to think that come the big day, I might be in a country where it’s not even celebrated. Whoa, I just realized that. Crazy!
Sorry SUL, can’t recall that one specifically. Remember anything else about the article you’re looking for?

I just bought a two-liter of 7-Up Pomegranate the other day to have at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner this Sunday.

I have to admit I’ve never tried pomengranates but I would totally try this. If it’s half as good as the Sierra Mist I’m game.

Fortunately, I’m a South Jersey resident and have been selling this at the grocery store where I work since the week after Halloween. I wish it came in 20oz myself; it does look good (like Matt, I have a major red fruit bias). I thought Matt would get to this one sometime; I thought of him when I first saw it.

Though I won’t be alone on Thanksgiving (I’m going to spend the day with my biological father, his girlfriend and adopted daughter, and a couple of their mutual friends), being single and significant-other-less, I have spent major holidays alone. Trust me, Matt, be VERY thankful for your huge family. Easter wasn’t so bad (I had brunch with my sister and her boyfriend, then made a mini-ham-slice dinner for myself), but last Christmas afternoon was the pits. The morning started well, when everyone was around…but once everyone went to some obscure relative’s house, or
passed out, I was on my own and miserable.

I’m enough of a big pig that I would, in fact, make a whole turkey for myself.

I’ve been reading this site for ages but haven’t commented lately…but just wanted to say that I’m really enjoying all the Christmas posts (which I am reading while the electric heater is warming my feet - why is it so enjoyable?). Totally makes up for the lack of Halloween posts…and this year feels more Christmassy than Halloweeny, anyway!

Two posts in one day? AND it was colder today than it has been since February (save for one outlying cold day). What next? A white Christmas in Houston?

No luck on my hunt for Gingerbread Pop-Tarts, and as much as I hate to say it, I actually don’t like pomegranates. A mix of the bad taste and that I first heard about them from Martha Stewart.

I just realized Matt missed his chance to write about Christmas-colored Play-Doh with the new entry.

OK, I need your help XE. Where can I get Christmas Crunch? Lucked out and got Halloween Crunch at Wal-Mart, but so far no luck. I NEED two months worth of Christmas Crunch. I’m in KCMO BTW.

I’ve been drinking (tequila chased with grape juice if you’re interested), but I just want to say I love you Matt. My enjoyment of holidays is predicated on your postings. Hence my Halloween was very un-festive, but this Christmas season is already one of the greatest in recent memory. Because of you I have a twelve pack of Sierra Mist Cranberry Zero (best calorie free soda ever). It’s a wonderful thing that you’ve come back with a vengence. Your Halloween depression was so palpable that I was worried you’d never return. Cheers.

Super Mario Galaxy is AT LEAST one of my top five games ever. It’s an instant classic.

Sorry So Utterly Lost, all I could come up with was X-Entertainment Goes Upstate, which I don’t think is what you’re looking for (but still awesome anyway). I also happened to discover that Matt still owes a full length article on RHPS, which might actually be too much awesome to even be contained, if it were ever actually attempted

Could not agree more Kid Nicky; that, along with the nervous energy of doing my first show at my new school and it going off really well:), has kept me up too late tonight….

Plus my my cat is acting like he’s fighting off an army, running around the house like a crazy person….

We are spoiled. I’m not sure if we have a KB around here. If we do, I’m pretty sure I’ll try shoot for LeafGreen and Emerald.

And the posts just keep a’comin! Looks like I’ll be making another trip to the store tomorrow. I’m about halfway through my 12 pack of Cranberry Sierra Mist. Now I’ve got a new flavor to try out. Can anyone sort of describe the taste of pomegranate? I don’t think I’ve ever had it. What am I in for?

As far as frozen dinners, I love the kind that were reviewed here. Some companies are obviously better than others. Marie Calander does a good job, as does Hungry Man, if you just want to go for sheer volume at a cheap price. After enough Hungry Man’s with brownie included, I’ve figured out how to microwave it without totally burning the crap out of the brownie. My biggest pet peeve is the displacemnt of corn in these things. You ever notice the corn goes everywhere? It’s all in the mashed potatoes, mixed into the brownie. You end up spending 5 minutes picking stray kernels out of everything. Or I do, anyway. I’m a food seperatist. Yeah, I’m one of those people. Can’t have stuff touching, especially when you have stray puddles of gravy or juice creeping up on your biscuit or something. Nope. That can’t happen in my world.

mandy_are we waiting for Christmas for more middle names?_Reeves, Are you freakin’ serious? Any games? I don’t even have an X-Box 360 yet and won’t till after the new year, but it might be worth it to cash in on this. Thanks for the heads up!

I too have a humongus family and we go to my cousin’s house every year for Thanksgiving–some 2nd cousin and I’m not entirely sure how we’re even related. I think I’ve got a million of those. All I know is 45 trillion people show up. Man, I just realized that since I’ll have to go out of town for a few days to do the holiday thing I won’t have daily access to a computer and won’t be able to keep up on what’s happening around here till after I get back into town. That sucks.

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but I’m digging the festive holiday tablecloth that we’ve seen a lot of lately, Matt. Will your Christmas tree work it’s way into a post at some point too? This being my first X-E Christmas, I don’t know the protocol on that.

Sweet! Two articles in one day and a feature about the impending Thanksgiving parade review! And as of the strike of midnight (about 50 minutes ago) I am now 27.

Oh well, at least now I have another item to add to my list of holiday goodies to pick up at Target tomorrow. Part of me claims to hate pomegranate, but another, larger part of me can’t actually remember what pomegranate tastes like. So I’m gonna give this a try in it.

I refuse to eat or drink anything that has (or claims to have) pomegranate in it…some weird phobia about condemning myself to hell for eating it.

In it? I think I meant to type “anyway” and was distracted. I dunno how the hell I managed something that far off.

Just so this post is more than just a correction, I’d also like to point out that the Amazon ad on the sidebar is trying to sell me something called “Music for TV Dinners”. I find this very amusing for some reason, probably because I’m slightly tipsy. Which also makes the typo make more sense…

This post reminded me of the movie “Never Been Thawed.” Anyone seen it? I can totally see Matt geeking over collectible frozen dinners. No offense Matt, it’s why we love you.

That’s a good one but this was a while before. He was staying in a motel with some buddies. I’ll keep digging around. I am finding a lot of stuff that I missed for one reason or another. Lots if bookmarks for the off season.

“THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: By God, this is one of my all time faves.”

I wonder bow many mystery boxes Matt has skipped all the way home from the PO Box with, only to find a loaf of toast inside because of that line.

This is the first time new soda has ever gotten me excited. 7up is really the only soda I have love for, and I’m always mixing it with some kind of juice! I must seek this out . . .

That is older. Maybe someday all the trip reports can be archived under there own heading. There’s so many of them spread out over so many years.

That is why I was hoping someone would remember about what time frame the sight had the “so utterly continental” tag line. that would give me an idea of where to look.

Super Mario Galaxy, even though I’ve only played it for around an hour, is freakin’ fantastic. Definitely worth buying the system just for that game. Awesome.

Anyway, I am going to have to try that Pomegranate 7-Up. Regular 7-Up might be my favorite soda, and I just tried pomegranate juice for the first time a couple of months ago. I thought it was pretty good. So now I am pretty confident that this product was made specifically for me.

That pomegranate 7UP looks really good actually. I’ve got a mental taste of it going down after a nice big slice of turkey and stuffing.

Also 2 entries in one day. Wow. Trying to make up for halloween maybe? I for one certainly am not complaining.

Y’know, one could argue that pomegranates are VERY festive for Thanksgiving (which is associated with harvest time) since it was pomegranate seeds that tied Persephone to Hades and promted the start of the changing of the seasons on a regular basis. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how the myth goes.

Also, it seems very weird to be talking about Thanksgiving since I had it back in October (Canada, REPRESENT).

It would be waaay to hard to try to focus on another holiday in November when Christmas is coming up so fast! This year we had a very small Thanksgiving with just my mother, father, myself, and two homestays (students from abroad who live with us while they study English). Me and my mom made a huge turkey dinner and cleaned the whole kitchen and everything, but it really didn’t seem worth it. Right, back to thinking about Christmas. Jingle bells, jingle bells, two posts on X-E, what great fortune we must have, for such great times as these!

Uh oh…I’m starting to make X-Entertainment carols. Beware world, be very very ware.

Okay, so I made a Wal-Mart run in the middle of the night, cause I just had to get my hands on some of those Gingerbread Pop-Tarts and Pomegranate 7-UP. The bastards didn’t have it.

I did find something else, however… Winter Chex Mix (Cocoa Flavor)! It has cocoa-covered Chex, Mini-Marshmallows, and Pretzels shaped like Christmas Trees, Stockings, sleighs, snowflakes, & snowmen. Talk about one big bag of Christmas spirit!

Basically, they’re chemically identical to “artificial” flavors, except they’re made from the actual food item they’re named for. For example, if you extracted vanillin (the main chemical responsible for how vanilla tastes) from vanilla beans, you can call the product “natural vanilla flavoring”. The exact same compound is present in certain types of wood, or even as a by-product of coal mining, but if you get your vanillin that way you have to call it “artificial flavoring”.

So to sum up, the making of your beverage did indeed include real pomegranates at some point, but only as a source of flavor compounds.

M&M: Winter Chex Mix is good if you eat it like cereal. I know it has pretzels in it, but it’s still good!

So last night was middle-of-the-week-date-night for the fiance and I. Since I get home so late from my night job and he has to go to bed early for work, we set aside one night a week for a mini date. After we got back from Subway and the car wash, he suggests we ready Advent Calendars… could this guy be any more perfect for me?!?! So we finished 2004 and went to bed. This morning as we’re watching the cats wrestle on the floor, he says, “My cat is turning into a regular Mare Winningham!” AHAHAHAHA! Perfect!

On topic: I’m willing to give the Pomegranate 7-Up a try. I like pomegranates (whereas I don’t like cranberries) so maybe I’ll like this particular flavor. Any Oklahoma X-Eers find it yet?

When saying it includes natural flavors, that may not mean natural pomegranate flavors. There could possibly be only a trace of real pomegranate in there, with a cheaper “nautral” flavoring added to round it out.

Now, Welch’s Natural Grape Juice? That’s all natural and great for you…drink up!

Mandy_it’s literally taken me about 5 minutes to come up with just this_Reeves

This isn’t confirmed, as their weekly ad doesn’t mention it and they’re not open yet for me to call and ask, but there’s a rumor that, starting today and lasting throughout the weekend, Toys R Us is holding a Buy 2, Get 1 Free sale.

I hope this is true, because I bought Super Mario Galaxy there on day of launch and received a $25 gift card. I’m going today to pick up Wii Play and another ‘chuk anyway, and if the sale is going down, I’m also picking up Metroid and either Wario Ware, Carnival Games, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (mainly for the online multiplayer), or Raving Rabbids. $95 for 3 games (one including a wiimote) and 1 nunchuk doesn’t seem like that bad of a deal.

I might just have to agree with you. I’m in the bedroom now. I have close to 40 stars, which is more than enough to open Bowser’s Dark Matter Galaxy, but I’m still trying to play the Galaxies all the way through before I advance any further.

Last night I went to the Wal Mart by my house (the one at I-40 and Sooner) and they finally had Christmas Crunch in stock, but I didn’t see Pom 7-up (or Gingerbread poptarts). I’m also on the lookout, so if I locate it, I’ll let you know. Let me know if you come across it somewhere.

If I would’ve known about the Winter Chex Mix I would’ve been all over it, it sounds delicious. I love Chex Mix. It’s not a Christmasy product or flavor, but Cheerios has a snack mix now, it’s exactly like Chex Mix except with Cheerios in place of Chex. Even though the concept isn’t too exciting or fresh, it still offers up enough of a different flavor and that crunch of Cheerios to warrant giving it a shot.

Keep your eyes peeled, I can’t remember who it was, but somebody here wrote/email Pepsi and they wrote them back and sent a coupon (or something similar) and somewhere the coupon mentioned Holiday Spice. So, it’s not confirmed, but that’s a strong enough of a hint for me to get excited.

I loved Holida Spice. I love chai tea and Holiday Spice tastes like Pepsi mixed with chai tea, at least as far as my tastebuds are concerned. I’m on the lookout for it.

I’m not so sure about Pepsi Holiday Spice coming back. X-E is the top hit on Google for “pepsi holiday spice 2007,” and it probably shouldn’t be if the rumor is true.

Well, it’s also the top hit for Giant Ape Juice, and you can’t find that in stores.

For me, Thanksgiving and drawn out sax solos only bring one thing to mind. Coltrane’s My Favorite Things, though that’s not exactly sad sounding.

I will pretty much kill myself if I can’t find this 7-Up. I’m so apeshit for the Cranberry Splash that I MUST try this.

So it seems like we’re all going to try to find this 7up Pomegranate, we need some kind of official act of officialness once we all officially get it. You know what I mean.

Instead of spending my paycheck on booze and pissing allover the bar’s parking lot this weekend, I’ll be staying in for the most part. I have a very wide selection of grocery stores where I live, surely I’ll find it somewhere and I’ll let you guys know.

Just talked with Mom and she is getting a Honey Baked Ham for Thanksgiving this year. Somehow I am not right with that. When I whined about it she said, “I’m not going to be tied to the oven for a whole day just because Norman Rockwell decided that Turkey was an “American tradition”.”
Fuck you Alton Brown.

That’s blasphemy! Any way of getting out of it? What if you told your mom you were Jewish? So crazy, it just might work!

Speaking of bucking holiday traditions, We just ordered our Turducken to be delivered, frozen, for Christmas dinner. The only thing better than a turkey is a turkey stuffed with a duck. The only thing better than a turkey stuffed with a duck is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. I am just glad others feel the way I do.

Bill, while I am truly horrified at the prospect of ham replacing turkey, I have to give your mother bonus points for that response. I’d like to imagine that she said it while ironing, with a cigarette hanging from her mouth.

Let us know when you find it, So Utterly Lost

The taste of pomegranate is awesome. Sweet, but not sickly. Actually eating one is a different story, as it’s a total pain with all the pits (pips?).
I’m getting my Wii back today, along with a bunch of games, yay! Sounds like I need to trade in Tiger Woods and get Mario Galaxy.

Goody: Not unless I am going to cook it. I already escaped having to host Thanksgiving this year so I’m not going to press it.

Matt: Probably. She believes everything she sees on TV. That’s probably why there is an Oprah shine in the basement.
Alton Brown hosts the show Good Eats less than five miles away from where my folks live. I think I am going to drive by his house and throw a frozen turkey through his window.

Hey Bill, I don’t know if this will do any good but my brother worked one of those ham stores last year, and he told me that it was really disgusting in the back of the house and warned me never to go there. I believe “Ham everywhere” were his exact words.
Maybe you could convince Mom to do Alton’s fried turkey recipe?

“Ham everywhere” is going to stick with me for along time. That is so funny.

okay- forewarning- I haven’t had my coffee yet. who knows where this post will go.

Anyway. I saw this last night and didn’t get the chnace to read it.
I was hoping X-E would be MY LITTLE THING, but Rudy saw me reading it and now… I may have made a monster.
On the other side- I LOVE TV Dinners.
My parents used to work late alot when I was in High school so we would totally stock up on the Kid Cuisine and Hungry man meals and eat them when they didn’t cook.
I love being able to get a whole meal, to yourself, with all the fixin’s and a limited amount of food. It’s like… stupid-easy.
And the pom soda? Erm, I dunno.
I’m a sucker for tradition, and MY TRADITION dictates Martinelli’s sparkling Apple Cider is at my table.
So, no touchies fer me, thx.

Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice tastes much better than Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple.

If you’re alone by yourself but don’t want to cook a whole turkey, why not cook a cornish game hen. Granted, it tastes more like a chicken than a turkey, but my mom made each of us one for Easter this year for the first time, and they’re good.

I’ll definately keep an eye out for this and the Cranberry Sierra Mist. Promegranite is one of those ingrediants that you’ve heard of and see on a Food Network show, but never seem to actually try (mostly because they’re expensive, or lack of availability.)

We’re having about 20 people come over for Thanksgiving at our house. My mom makes the main stuff (turkey, potatoes, dressing) while relatives bring the other items.

Can’t wait to read the new Macy’s Parade article. I got to be honest though, I’ve been watching it more out of loyalty than actually enjoying it for a few years. It’s become more of a Broadway show than anything. I’m seriously thinking of watching the CBS one instead this year. At least they show things I want to see (balloons and floats).

My mom has been on a frozen dinner kick lately, mainly for us to eat for lunch. They’re ok if you’re REALLY starving, but I’d rather just have a sandwich.

Sad.. another drink that I probably won’t get to try because I live in the frozen north… Sadder.. Greg: no gingerbread pop-tarts at sobeys and no mention of it at all on the canadian kelloggs website.

How are there so many people posting in the wee hours of the morning?? Don’t any of you people have jobs?

Pomegranate 7-up sounds good, because I like ripe pomegranates, but they’re so much work to peel, and there’s only a tiny bit of deliciousness on each seed, and pure pomegranate juice is expensive, not to mention very sour, so you have to cut it with sugar and water, anyway.

Bill: being part of a family that owns a chain of BBQ joints, we always have 2 turkeys and 2 hams, and no one complains because they’ve been cooking them at the store for days.

Hey that’s an idea: try to convince her to check out local BBQ and other such places; I know ours sells hundreds of turkeys and hams for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

As for pitiful microwave dinners, you can’t beat Hormel’s ComplEATs for the be-all end-all champeen lonely guy meal. The turkey and stuffing set-up makes you know in your heart of hearts that the chick in “Christmas Rapping” got off easy with her cornish game turkey. It’s enjoyable until you realize some poor slob will be consuming it alone in a ratty apartment because he had a falling out with his loved ones over the fact he liked the second Aunt Viv more than the original. And now, he has Cranberry 7up to go with it.

MATT: Two articles yesterday??? Pace yourself, my friend. Pace yourself. It’s a long holiday season, let’s not risk any burnout. On another note: SNOW IN TORONTO THIS MORNING!! I think I may have heard hoofs on my roof!!

I have to say I prefer sparkling cider to sparkling grape juice - but that’s just me… Of course, what I really like, is Asti Spumante.

Goody:
It’s not just about taste man, it’s TRADITION. We’ve tried other things, and we just return to Martinelli’s.
That cider is like… it’s the TASE OF THE HOLIDAYS.
Also… I live the next valley over from Martinelli’s so it’d be a stab in the heart to our local agriculture.
Like our commericals say-
“Be Californian. Buy California Grown.”

Hey, kittymao, we actually have growers in California as well. And, in CA, they just came out with much prettier bottles of Welch’s Sparkling…although not sure if they are available on shelf yet.

For some unknown reason I have an unusual desire to go buy a variety of Welch’s products!

(j/k Goody)

You know it might be possible that despite my mother’s immense cooking prowess that she has no idea how to cook a turkey. I’ve never seen her do it. Since my family is so huge when we have our get togethers someone else always takes care of the turkey cooking duties. I’ve never once seen my mother cook a turkey. Seems un-American in a way, doesn’t it? Maybe she’s been talking to Bill’s mom.

squee4242, Don’t let Matt hear that. Word on the street is, he’s got some kind of ham hangup.

kingklash, My Aunt Viv was my favorite aunt. She was a total nutjob though. She was a paranoid, OCD ridden agoraphobic. I miss her tons, but man was she nuts.

Quick survey: What is your Mom’s (Dad’s, aunt’s, cousin’s,etc.) signature dish on Thanksgiving, the one you just can’t get enough of, the one it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without?

For me, it’s my Mom’s mashed turnips (I know, many of you are thinking, “EEW!” but it’s really good - my grandfather got the recipe from Horn & Hardart’s Automat in New York when he used to work in their truck garage in the 40’s. My Dad also used to work at the Automat when he was in high school.) Everyone in my family, except my older brother, loves the turnips, and my Mom always has to make a double batch for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there are never any leftovers.

You guys can probably disregard what I said about the B2G1F sale TRU was having. I called my local TRU and the guy said the only sale going on right now is 50% off select Wii, Ps2, PSP, DS, and GBA games. He did say that the games listed in the ad will be the first ones offered at half off, and if and when either/both of those sell out, they will transfer the offer to other games in stock.

Of course YMMV depending on your local TRU. For Oklahomans, the store I called was the Crossroads (I-240/I-35 junction) location.

Right now, the games mentioned for Wii are Spiderman 3 and Shrek, so even though they’re probably crappy games (not sure, haven’t played either one), at $15 each they’ll do just fine as stocking stuffers.

Yams. Candied yams.
I cannot have a Thanksgiving without Candied yams. Mm.
I need to learn how to make them- my BF’s mum doesn’t make yams and it KILLS me.

Thanksgiving really snuck up on me this year. It feels like it should be at least three weeks away right now.

nork: Hey, that’s the Wal-Mart we go to! haha Small world, eh? Well, since you’ve got that one covered, I’ll check out the I-240 and both Norman Wal-Marts and I’ll get that Homeland and the Williams store on Sunnylane. haha One way or another, we’ll find some!

And now I must ask again… Matt, do you know which Advent Calendar is new for this year? I want to start looking for mine, but the one on Amazon is the same as last year.

For the Oklahomans (Happy Centennial Day!!!) looking for the recently reviewed food items - Target on I-40 in MWC had the Gingerbread Pop-Tarts as of Tuesday and Wal-Mart on 19th in Moore had Pomegranate 7-Up as of last Friday. Hopefully that will help in your hunting!

I still haven’t gotten the 7up pomopoki yet but that’s because I haven’t done anything yet. Why did you guys let me sleep so late?

Old Jim: my aunt used to make Crock Pot Corn every year and then my mom stole the recipe and now she and I make it all the time. It’s amazing. Corn and cream cheese is a match made in heaven.

Saint: You rock! I’m going shopping tonight! Oh, and Happy Centennial Day to you! Did you get the day off work?

Bill, Sorry about not having turkey. I am a sucker for traditions, so I think if my mom told me that, I would go out and buy a turkey and cook it myself. That could be just because I love turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. I could eat that everyday.

Last year my YiaYia (Grandmother in Greek) tried suggesting that we go out to dinner for Thanksgiving and a few people were thinking about it. Yea.. I put a stop to that and needless to say no one will every suggest that again (I hope). The sad thing is that there is only going to be 6, maybe 9 of us this year. Unlike previous years when their would be about 20 or more of us. So I tend to hold onto any tradition I can get now.

Good survey Old Jim!! My mom, for years, has made cranberry compote. Although, I do remember 1 year she didn’t make it, so we had the can ocean spray cranberry sauce. We had pretty much the whole can left at the end of the meal. The family wasn’t happy, so she has never not made it again. My YiaYia always makes a Jello with fruit in it. I actually have never had a holiday meal without it. One of the first things out of our mouths when talking about the holidays is “YiaYia has to make Jello”. I think it would just feel weird if there wasn’t one.

Special K: Where can I find that recipe? I need one for a vegetable at Thanksgiving dinner and no one could think of something that wasn’t the same old thing. This sounds different and kinda good. Thanks!!

2 32oz pkgs frozen corn
2 pkgs cream cheese
2 stick butter
1/2 cup water
1 can mild or hot green chiles (OPTIONAL)**

In large crock-pot put in the two sticks of margarine and Â½ cup of water. Add frozen corn. Add cream cheese. Add pimentos or chilies (or both).

Cook on high for 2 hours. Stir. Cook on low another 1 to 2 hours. Stir again right before serving.

Old Jim: I have two favorites I can’t go without on Thanksgiving. One is squash casserole the way my grandma made it (basically boiled squash with crackers and lots of cheese on top). The other is snap green beans.

Now, I don’t have a particular lust for green beans any other time of year, but on Thanksgiving they’re absolutely necessary. Why? Because when I was a kid I’d always want to help my grandma make dinner. She really didn’t like anyone else in the kitchen with her and I was too young to do much anyway, so she’d sit me down at the kitchen table to snap the beans. It just isn’t Thanksgiving to me without that fresh, grassy green bean smell.

Now that my grandma has been gone a few years my mom always protests the green beans, saying they’re too much work, but I always win out and we have them anyway. I always snap them myself so I don’t really understand her complaint. Besides the only other vegetable we eat is the squash, which we bake into cheesy oblivion, so we need the beans to even pretend to be trying to be healthy.

My Thanksgiving is probably going to blow.
My aunt is hosting this year and while I’m always glad to see her and my grandfather, my uncle has this horrible wife that the whole family hates and she’ll probably be there. Which means I definitely won’t be going.

Ah man, I go to my gf’s house until 3am and then sleep til 1pm and miss a new blog!

I must find these new sodas! I just got hooked on Vitamin Water and I’m adjusting to the taste of pomegranite.

Speaking of Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, the SM people started running the “Holiday Hawk” ad again, which seemed to ger funnier this year. To tie in with Cranberry Splash, they added a segment at the end introducing the Holiday Hawk to the Seasonal Squirrel, the mastcot of Cranberry Splash. “That’s just messed up.” says the Holiday Hawk.

IU’m so looking forward to Thanksgiving next week, and found out that I’m only working 2-8pm on Black Friday! Of course, I’m only at CVS now and I told my manager that I love her for giving me hours for the best Black Friday I’ve ever worked.

To show how happy I am, look back in blogs last year detailing how I had to work at both KB Toys AND CVS for a total of I think 12 hours between both stores.

Thanks for the tip, I live behind that Target. Actually, I live directly behind the new PetSmart, but same neighborhood.

I just got back from Wal-Mart and I am SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!. I got some of the Promegranite 7UP, Cranberry Sierra Mist (20 oz bottle only, though), and something called Pumpkin Spice Milk that sounds good.

But what made me REALLY happy was that I got some EGGNOG ICE CREAM! It’s from Edy’s, of course (who did that delicious pumpkin one Matt talked about during Halloween.) I can’t wait to try it.

Special K
No day off for me. The only benefit I got from today is that traffic was light coming to work today. My employer sucks, but that’s why as of the Monday after Thanksgiving I will be going to work for one of the oil/energy companies downtown.

fistpittingnork
I live in South OKC/Moore but my kids are in MWC so I’m in that shopping center all the time. That is the BEST new shopping area!

We had cranberry 7-up here last year. I really hope they bring it back, it was amazing.

Nork: That is so crazy! We live off of 44th and Sunnylane! We’re practically in your backyard! haha Dr. Pepper turkey??

Saint: I work for the City of Norman and we didn’t get the day off either. Bummer. I envy you… I’ve been wanting to quit that job for two years.

So my co-worker that got sh*t-faced with me last year on McCormick Vodka and Sierra Mist Cranberry says she bought a bottle last night and loved it. We hated it last year. Is there a new recipe this year or was it just the McCormick that made it taste like rotten reindeer ass? I guess I’ll have to give it another chance.

It is, I love living right behind it, I spend too much money there, but it still rocks. I know several people who work in IT at several different energy companies in and around OKC, mind me asking which one you’ll be going to?

Also, they’ve got that shopping center going up along I-35 in your area (man, that sounded telemarketer-ish) that looks like it might offer the same things the MWC shopping center has. Hopefully they’ll throw in a Marshalls, they have some of the best foriegn chocolates, candies, and treats towards the back of the store. Is anybody else familiar with this section?

I’m going to double check that Wal Mart tonight (hopefully) and I’ll let you know, they could’ve just been sold out when I was there yesterday. Hell, you’ve seen how busy that stupid Wal Mart STAYS, and I went a couple of hours before restocking anyway.

44th and Sunnylane? Really? I used to have a house at 15th and Sunnylane. I also have a friend in a neighborhood at 44th and Sunnyland. He drives a blue Nissan Xterra and rides mountain and road bikes. So if you ever see a guy on a yellow road bike, having tattoos all up his right arm…. yeah, run him over.

Nork: Is that the shopping center with the new hugeasstastic movie theatre? I pass by that every day on my way to/from work and I shop there occasionally. Mostly because I’m addicted to Gordman’s. There is a Marshall’s around here somewhere… I know I’ve seen one anyway, just can’t remember where.

Does your friend have a bumper sticker that says, “I’d rather be riding my bike”? because I think I’ve seen his vehicle. This just gets creepier every day!

DAMMIT! I swore I wouldn’t forget to put my name on there! Above post was me…

I really hope this year our family will keep to tradition (besides the ham) but Mom went a little new-age. She’s like the mother in So I Married An Axe Murderer. “It’s a Juice Tiger!”

One thing is for sure, every year we watch Empire Strikes Back. It was my first movie and we went to see in on Thanksgiving Day when my Dad was in the Navy. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.

I just found out what kind of cat I adopted, and it makes so much sense why he behaves like he does! Does anyone else here have a bengal?

It seems weird to me when people forget to put their name in. I mean it’s even ABOVE the text box. It’s the first thing I do, like putting my name on a paper.

fistpittingnork
Marshall’s is in the new shopping center off of I-240 between Western and Penn next to Old Navy.
Oh, I’m going to work for Devon. I’ve heard nothing but good and I’m pretty excited, so keep any horror stories to yourself

Special K
That new theatre looks AMAZING! And while I’m not a huge fan of the cafeteria/buffett places, the new Furr’s next door is pretty good.

And of interest to any WWE fan, Jim Ross is going to build one of his BBQ restaurants right there too!

Kneg: I was a little overzealous about getting my answer typed before my boss came out of his office. haha Sorry!

Noo, it just gets me envious.
I WISH i could talk to stranger about mutual locations in the hopes that one day I’ll run into ‘em.
Not here, tho.
Anyone know where Gilroy is?
*listens to crickets*

Saint: My future father-in-law works at Devon! He’s one of the higher-up engineers, I think, and he loves it. My fiance is in the process of getting a job there also!

And I heard that movie theatre is going to have gourmet food where you can sit at a table and eat during the movie! We tried to meet my parents at the Furr’s for lunch one Sunday and it was too packed.

That wasn’t directly aimed at you, Broomstick. You just inspired the general observation.

I can’t post at work, because the site is blocked. LAME. Of course, I rarely ever go to work…

kittymao
I used to work for a printing company that printed the bags for Christopher Ranch Garlic in Gilroy and the overwrap for the multipacks of Martinelli’s Apple Juice and Sparling Cider. I know it’s not much of a connection, but it’s what I got

OH MY GOD. This is more for Waiterbot than anyone else.
I ACTUALLY SHOWED THAT MCDONALD’S COMMERICAL TO ONE OF MY CLASSES TODAY. I plan to show it to all of them but I only had time to show it to one. They actually liked it.

lol you guys there’s a Marshalls store right here in this shopping center in MWC. It’s in between Kohls and Wal Mart.

So I’ve finally named my puppy after having her for over a month. She’s a french bulldog so I named her after the most awesome “french” chick ever, Simone, from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.

I got so excitied about the commercial I forgot to pass along a thanks from Mrs. Manimal to our host thanking him for letting us now pomegrante 7UP exists.
Also, kinglash, the only T-giving thing I did was JONES soda and 2 clips from the 1984 Macy’s Day parade.

Old Jim, The only thing my mom makes every year that I really like (she makes like 3 things, but I only really like one of them), is this stir fry rice kind of deal. It’s kind of a half asian, half cajun dirty rice kind of thing. I’m a rice fiend, so I gobble it up. My grandmother though, back when she was around, made this stuffing that would make you not only smack your own mother but any mother that stood in your general vacinity. This stuff would change your life. And she made it in this HUGE industrial sized pan. You could feed the troops with this thing.

Bill, Man, what a groovy tradition. I wish I could talk my family into doing something like that. Our traditions pretty much consist of all the guys watching NASCAR (I’m sure this won’t be much of a surprise, but I’m not exactly a NASCAR fan), the women asking when I’m ever going to settle down and get married, and my grandfather wanting to know when I’m going to “cut that long, hippie hair.” Yes, I had long hair for like 10 years, but it’s been fairly short for the last 3 years now. But in my grandfather’s eyes, if it’s not general issue military crew-cut, it’s long hippie hair.

Literally just tried the Pomegranate 7Up.
Good. I like that it isn’t too similar to the Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist.
I might just be misremembering how pomegranate tastes, but the aftertaste seems to taste exactly like fresh pomegranate.

I have to go to a poetry reading for class tonight…I say have to because there is no part of me that wants to go. Ugh.

My family is big on Norwegian/Minnesota traditions like lefse, pickled herring, and green jello/carrot bits molded salads. It really is good stuff, even though it ay not sound that way.

Well, went plum crazy on Xmas. Started the decoration, pulled out the “Waiterbot and Waiterbetty” diorama with Kuse (no Knacks yet

) and spread garland and crap everywhere. Will do the tree after Tgiving. Got the wife involved, went off to Big Lots, bought like 9 rolls of wrapping paper and made my own wreath for the front door. Man, I could not be any more Christmassy if I tried.

Oh yeah â€“ and also snagged both Holiday Sodas â€“ Pom 7 Up and Cranberry Splash. Wife’s preggers, so no caffeine = good.

I just ordered my new comp. I was going to get an iMac, but I found a MacBook for cheap and actually in stock at my local CompUSA. It’s basically the same as my iBook, but with a cd-rom drive that actually works.

I’m in a damn good mood. I got myself an early Christmas present (Singstar 80s, because I LOVE 80s music), we’ve put our tree up (no ornaments or lights yet - those go up Thanksgiving night), I got a good share of my Christmas shopping for my mom done today, and my friend is coming over tomorrow to watch my awesome tapes of Christmas specials (she’s in college and goes back to New Jersey pretty early in December, so we have to celebrate early).

I looked for the 7UP and gingerbread Pop Tarts at Target and the local grocery store today, but no luck so far (parentheses).

WTF. I just checked the flavors on the holiday packs. No, they weren’t there last week when I went to get them. They’d better be in tomorrow.

Sugar Plum–this was released individually last year, and was delightful. I drank a whole pack.

Jelly Doughnut–Someone *takes off glasses and pinches corners of eyes* someone please tell me what this has to do with Chanukah? I’m serious, I want to know. If it is genuinely related, great, fill me in. As is, it seems like something that could be rather insulting. I don’t honestly know.

Well, I’ll be damned (I google’d to verify it, Doho. Not because I don’t trust you, but because it’s-the-internet-text-only-can’t-rule-out-sarcasm).

It just kinda struck me on the level of “Here’s the pack, PIZZA is a Chanukah tradition!” Just seemed off-the-wall. But hey, you learn something everyday. Should I be embarrassed at myself, since I have (fairly recent) Jewish ancestry?

That said, is gefilte fish eaten on Chanukah? That would have been a better flavor. Give Smoked Salmon Pate a run for its money

OK, traditions are extremely important, but Honey Baked Ham is extremely tasty. Tough call. I guess tradition wins out, but damn, HBH is SO good, and I haven’t had it in like two years. I need a fix badly.

Anyway I am so disappointed right now regarding the Pom. 7-Up. I looked for it earlier tonight and could not find any. I WILL try this damn soda in the next week or so. I WILL find it.

It is funny that donuts came up in the few posts prior to this one. One of the reasons I came here to post this message was because, for whatever reason, a craving for a Simpsons’ pink-frosted donut hit me about ten minutes ago.

Tomorrow night the lady and I our having our 6th Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Extravaganza. Since we are not married yet we head our separate ways on the major holidays and head to our respective parent’s homes. I knew she felt bad about this, so to try to be the good boyfriend six years ago I surprised her when she came to my apartment and had cooked a “slightly altered” Thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday beforehand. Basically I just exchanged the turkey for a smaller chicken and hand-picked our favorite side dishes. So yeah, she liked it so much that year that she has basically demanded it every year since.

So, even though I am hungry now I just have 20 hours to go until I get to really gorge myself. The meal really could have used some Pomegranate 7-Up. Dammit.

I try to avoid being sarcastic unless it’s in very apparent context. My brother pretty much ruined sarcasm for the entire western hemisphere with his overuse and lack of context (it’s easier to pick up sarcasm in text than from his voice).

Knegative, Hey no need to be embarassed. I had very recent Cherokee ancestory on my dad’s side and unfortunately didn’t take advantage of it while they were still around. I should have talked to them more and gotten more stories. But, after the German and Scottish blood got in there, I turned out pretty much a white guy. I’ve got the typical “Indian” facial features (heavy brow, high cheek bones and whatnot), but I still turned out a blue eyed, blonde haired white guy with much more interesting grandparents.

Surely I am not the only one that prefers Ham over turkey? I like sliced turkey for sandwiches, but for a Thanksgiving meal I prefer Ham.

My “Specialty” is devilled eggs. It’s too the point where I get yelled at if I don’t make them. Last year we went to my Godbrother’s wife’s family’s Thanksgiving bash (it’s a BIG to-do, complete with invitations you have to RSVP for…blah) and I made over 70 devilled eggs. Not looking forward to that again this year…

Every holiday meal I attend is at least 90 minutes from the house, so I’ve yet to find something I can bring that isn’t pretty icky by the time we get around to actually eating it. I feel like such a freeloader. Oooh…I just had a thought…maybe I should bring a novelty holiday soda each year. I guess I need to be on the prowl for Pomegranate 7-Up before Thursday. I told myself I wasn’t allowed to buy it since I’ve had all of 8 oz. of my Sierra Mist Cranberry since I opened it on Tuesday. I’m not much of a soda drinker, but I was dying to try it.

There was something…. that was like, pomegranate flavored that I used to eat a lot, but I can’t remember what. Friday night, so I’m tired and still slightly drunk and dazed. Like I’m sitting at the bar tonight and there’s this group of guys sitting behind and across from our table, so I slid my chair back and was like, “Hey I’m sorry, but I saw all these cute guys sitting here, and I couldn’t resist coming over,” and started chatting them up. But none of them tried to put the moves on me, despite my Elvira-esque shirt. Such a shame, really.

My fatass housecat is still all up in herself from catching a mouse earlier today and bringing it downstairs to present to me while I was on the phone.

As for other Christmassy news, McDonald’s has Christmas-themed Shrek toys in their Happy Meals.

Bill Even though I sympathize with you about your mom not cooking a turkey this year (great comeback your mom made btw that sounds like something I would totally say) how dare you spit on the name of Alton Brown. That is just not cool at all. He is my hero as far as cooking goes. Maybe you should bring one of these turkey swanson tv dinners with you in a silent protest. I can see you in the other side of the living room watching your movie with everyone else but eating your tv dinner on a tv tray with a fork and knife you brought yourself. Maybe you would bring in my fantasy a toaster oven to cook your meal and set it up in the living room where you sit by yourself. Everytime someone offers something to you act like you didn’t hear them, and then you say something like no because you would rather go to heaven when you die then eat ham for Thanksgiving. Eh? Eh?

I got vanilla spice egg nog and the peppermint peeps, but no pomegranate 7up (which when I do get it I think I am going to just give it to my best friend and ask how he likes it) cranberry sierra mist (that I had last year and enjoyed) gingerbread pop tarts, and lots of other crap with christmas on it. We’ll see if I find any of it on Monday when we do our groceries run (my best friend’s days off are Mon and Tues)

I am not going to Thanksgiving with my family last year was miserable and so I am not going. My best friend and I are just going to go to old country buffet as close to Thanksgiving as we possibly can and just maybe do something more special then that. Maybe go to an Indian casino? They are popular up here on the Oregon Washington border.

I spiked my Cranberry Splash with pineapple rum…it isn’t half bad. Not sure how wise it is to start drinking after midnight (or posting while same) but Friday only comes once a week, so what the hell.
kittymao, of course I know Gilroy! I’ve been dying to go there for years. The garlic festival would be cool to check out, but what I really want to see are the circus trees.
So the Cloverfield trailer was totally scary! I didn’t watch the previous one so I can’t compare it, but the movie looked awesome. Like War of the Worlds, but actually taking advantage of the potential scariness. Beowulf was really fucking good, too.

Aww, they went and computerized Mcgruff the crime dog. Bunch of fucking bullshit.

Wow Pomegranate 7 Up, I actually passed it by in the market yesterday thinking that it was cherry flavor or something. My wife would definately be into it.

Mcgruff the crime dog, as well as this whole DARE program stuff, was well after my time. My sister-in-law, who used to teach fifth-graders before she had her kids, one time had an experience where she was at a restaurant drinking a glass of wine with her meal, and she got paranoid because one of her students was there with her family, and might see her teacher drinking (gasp!) alcohol. I really think DARE hurt in many cases more than it helped. Case in point, the high school in my town was on the news last night because they breathylized (sp?) the entire student body who attended the Fall dance because three students were caught with vodka in water bottles the week before.

Oh Goob, Alton and I are still cool. It’s hard to stay mad at a guy that always reminds me of a young Thomas Dolby.

I was in Dare. I took it that KIDS were supposed to abstain from drugs and alcohol until they were responsible to do so. That’s what I took from it. So seeing adults booze it up didn’t upset me.
Anway. I did it. I made Eggnog Pie. I’ve never done it before, had this idea brewing in my head. I made it. It’s still so perfect, sitting in the fridge… maybe I should take a picture.

Special K - Thanks!!! Hopefully I will be able to make it for Thanksgiving, but if not maybe I’ll try for Christmas.

It’s hard to stay mad at a guy that always reminds me of a young Thomas Dolby.

I picked up my comp and headed to World Market and Target. No go on the holiday packs. This year’s, anyway. Mine had a display full of the pie pack from last year. That kinda sucks, because those are delightful. I want my disgusting flavors

I wasn’t sad for too long, though. I got 08 Bumblebee, Silent Hill (the movie), and Wobbuffet and Manaphy plushies!!!!!!!

so as far as the KB toys deal with the buy one get one, I think KB has decided to whittle down their game stock to just stuff like strawberry shortcake and Hannah montanna. Unless its just the one near me like that. I gotta check the mall one.

On a totally HILARIOUS (at least to me) note, This KB I went to today…had some Rocky movie action figures…and no lie, they had a FRANK STALLONE figure among them!!!!!!!!! It was labeled as Frank Stallone, street corner singer. Only 7 dollars too. I was gonna get some, but since they had no more Adrians, I kinda passed for now. I’ve been waiting to share my find with others, but only X-E’rs would understand my glee at this discovery. Alas, there is no Paulie or Mickey with this set.

I mean friggin Roberto Duran is included and i didnt even know he was in the movies. It was like a street thug looking ROcky with the derby and hat and gloves, a beat up looking Rocky, and like a Champion one with a belt. They also had Apollo and as I said, Adrain and friggin Frank Stallone! Why the hell would you include that dork and not Paulie and Mickey!!!!!

I did it! I finally picked up Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist! They actually have it in 20-oz. bottles so I didn’t have to get an entire 2-liter. I am about to crack the seal… tasting… I *like* it!

The Aunt Viv comment was referring to Fresh Prince and the eternal discussion over the switch between actresses. (AKA The Darrin Syndrome, or Changing Dicks in Midstream)

Somewhere I have a couple of holiday recipes written down that may help anyone looking for a new thing to bring to family get-togethers. Time to excavate around the ol’ desk and find wherever I’ve written down the formulas for Red Hot Salad (a Waldorf Salad-style treat using Red Hots) and Granny Grelan’s Hot Chocolate Mix. As soon as I find them, I’ll slap ‘em up here.

Ah, the Changing Darrin Syndrome is one of the top reasons for shows Jumping the Shark, as stated by jumptheshark.com (my name links to the site).

It wasn’t just a problem of changing the actor who played Darrin, they completly changed the character along with it from a fun loving hater of women’s rights to a sterile asshole hater of women’s rights.

OK, I checked a second store looking for the Pomegranate 7-Up. No luck, again. I guess I’ll check Wal-Mart sometime next week. I am beginning to think that the entire thing is an elaborate hoax and the 7-Up does not actually exist. Then I remember that I’m not that important and no one would really both doing that to me.

Anyway, has anyone picked up Contra 4 for the DS? I am giving some serious thought to picking it up as I loved the original NES classic and thought Contra 3 was pretty good when I bought it on the VC a few weeks ago. Really I just want to unlock the original Contra that is a bonus on the cartridge. Any impressions from an owner?

Just picked up a limited edition egg nog pie from Tastykake. I’m kind of scared to try it.

Billy Alright I forgive you

My mom said that you can sleep over tonight ok? Ask your mom if you can sleep over and if you can sleep over bring your controller over and bring over super mario bros 3 so I can help you beat it. I think we are having hamburgers for dinner and I got our favorite flavor of koolaid at the store today so hurry up!

Old Jim I’m 25 and I went through the DARE program (I got the black shirt with the red writing I think I went through one of the first courses and I am so jealous of the kids that got the shirts with the rainbow words later) and I went through the GREAT program and I still have both shirts. GREAT was about gangs. I still have the bumper sticker too. In the GREAT program we learned all about gangs and two guys came in to talk about how you should never do anything bad to send you to prison (they were prisoners themselves on a program to go from school to school) I don’t remember what the other guy did but the white guy that did most of the talking he sold drugs. He said that he can’t wait to get out of prison so he’s being good and the program was helping him because he could actually not be in prison as much. The other guy talked about going in the shoe. He said he didn’t know if it was day or night and how many days have passed. He said he almost went crazy in there. The only thing that kept him sane is a little crack I think where they pushed the meals in, and he could see a tree and birds.

Anyhoo, the middle school that I went to was on the news on a regular basis for about a month. They have a no tolerance policy for alcohol and this kid got suspended for bringing LISTERINE to school! Apparently this kid was a little obsessed about his teeth being clean so he had a bottle of listerine in his backpack. Anyway the parents fought back because that is bullshit. I don’t remember what came of it. The school stood by their policy.

Well, my Christmas Kitchen run is almost complete. Just snagged two boxes of Christmas Crunch, woo hoo! But now I’m watching the Day After, the scariest movie of the 80s.

Hi there Matt,
I wonder if you could let us know which Advent Calendars you’ll be using this year so we can make sure we’re getting the right one(s). I saw a few variations on the Playmobil website (including a “Unicorn calendar?”), and two varieties of Lego (”boy” version and “girl” version?). Many thanks =)

Anyhoo…is The Day after on tv right now? Im trying to find it online to watch.

I do not trust TV dinners that come out of the microwave looking like a poster for one of those Hostel movies.

man i love that 7-up. we had it a few nights back with some blueberry vodka, it was tasty.