TheSnackHound

Have you entered the BluFrog contest, yet? If not, you need to get off your duster and get cracking. Entries will only be accepted through July 17th, which is this Friday. Not next Friday. The gavel will drop at 11:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. For everyone in the fair town of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, it means 10:50 P.M. If you are sitting in traffic in Encino, it means that you will have to get going on this before 8:59 P.M.  You may just want to make sure you get off of work early that day, or just bite the bullet and enter now while you are thinking about it.

The prizes that BluFrog, the latest “healthy” energy drink, has in store include a trip to the X Games in Vail, Colorado. There are other prizes, such as a Richard Petty racing experience, if snow and you do not mix. If you just don’t “do” the outdoors as all and want to sit on your keister, there is an Ultimate Gaming Experience.

Go to the BluFrog page and follow the instructions. You may tweet, blog, or comment to win. Anyone can enter, but only those who are 18 or over, and are also legal residents of the United States may win.  More details on the prizes and rules can be found on the page.   You can view it here with a superduper magnifying glass, changing the resolution on your screen to see The Snack Hound blog as ants and fleas would see it, or just simply go to the page.

Why am I making such a big deal out of it?  I don’t want you to blame me when you read my blog and wish I would have reminded you.  It is “all you” now.  I did my part, so it is up to you to write it on the calendar or type it in to that little calendar alarm thingie on your phone.

The kind folks at BluFrog are running a variety of contests to promote their new and natural azure amphibian themed beverage. You could win a Richard Petty racing experience, a New Year’s Eve trip to New York city, tickets to the Winter X Games and more. Purchasing products do not increase your chances of winning.  There is no “golden ticket,” where you have to guzzle down about thirty drinks a day to have a chance at.

Entering is quite simple.   You get an entry from going to their blog and leaving a comment with which prize you would like to win.  Additional entries can be had by blogging about the contest on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter.  If tweeting, you need to include #bluworld and http://bit.ly/UiiJy in your tweet. This way, you share the link with friends, and BluFrog folks will know that you have completed your mission. For those who are hesitant to enter contests, as they do not want their personal information shared,  this method of entry collects no phone numbers or email addresses.

Of course, there are additional rules aside from completing the entry method.  This contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on July 17, 2009.  Entries submitted after that time, will not be considered.  There will be no leniency for people who walked away form their computer to brush their teeth.  You had all month to do that.

To win a prize, you must be a legal resident of the United States, and you must be 18 years old or older.   If there is any sort of scuffle about identity, in the case of blogged entries, favor will err on the side of the person the blog is registered to.  In other words, if you are 12 years old and start typing away on your mom or dad’s blog, the joke will be on you.  Your parents will be sending you a postcard from the X Games and you will be sitting at home.  At least that’s the one I would like to win as I hear Aspen is beautiful.  There will be plenty of years after you are 18 to win plenty of other contests, so don’t rush to grow up!

By popular complaint demand and reader request, I am republishing my article from November 2008 on Sick Glasses. Remember…YOU asked for it!

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I learned something new today. Did you know that there as such a thing as sick glasses? When your parents used to harp on you to wash your dishes before sitting down for dinner, perhaps they were not concerned about crosscontaminating the food with your 5th grade science project or the nose you just wiped. Perhaps they were more concerned that you did not infect the glasses in any way, or somehow spoil them.

Of course, I am being facetious. Unless your parents’ Obsessive Compulsive Disorder involves making sure no one touches a glass with dirty hands. Actually, I am not trying to make fun of folks with OCD, of which I know several, but that would be the only logical explanation being that a crystal highball or a sippy cup just doesn’t seem to be able to contract disease. They can carry them from wiping your snotty nose touching hands on them, but for them to get sick themselves? Just a carrier only. There are illnesses that can jump species but I have never seen one jump to an inanimate object. Disney Studios, of course, would disagree. Just ask 3/4 of the cast of Beauty and the Beast.

On a serious note, Sick Glass Syndrome is very real.

Q: What is a sick glass?

A: I am glad you asked! A sick glass is typically crystal, but it can also be a cheap juice glass too. Dishwasher detergents and mineral deposits leave a cloudy film. Mineral deposits come form hard water. These detergents and deposits eventually scratch the glass.

There is hope for sick glasses that don’t involve any antibiotics. You can test an area with vinegar, and if you see a little ray of hope shining through, proceed to douse the rest of the glass in vinegar. Many glasses can sparkle like the day they were purchased, cleaned, and placed on the shelf. Be sure to rinse the vinegar off when complete, or your whole cupboard or kitchen is going to smell like salad dressing. On the other hand, if you were HOPING that your kitchen was going to smell like vinegar, you may want to check out the salad dressing recipe from the archives HERE.

Some people advocate warming up a solution of vinegar and water to the same temperature that you would suds them up normally.  You can, but I have found that room temperature works equally well.   This may seem like a lot of work, but it certainly can move the glasses you would normally pitch back into the rotation.  Also, if you have luck for this, look for pretty glasses marked very inexpensively at yard sales.  For five cents or a quarter a glass, you have not much to lose when you gamble on them.

Have you had success reviving glasses back from zombie land?  What has been your most amazing find?

Now that is a new category at InColdStorage on Etsy that contains stuff specifically themed around this very blog.  In fact, they are items that have been handpicked by me.  There isn’t much there right now.  In fact, there were only two items, and one of them sold today!  That’s a pretty good success rate.

So, I guess what I am trying to hint at is that from time to time, you should check out the “For the SnackHound in You” category.   Actually, what you REALLY should do is look at the other categories too and just buy everything.  Okay, maybe not the first time you go, but you should definitely buy everything on subsequent visits, okay?

At left is a spiffy, nift, and swanky bunch of swizzle sticks that contain just the right level of fun (obnoxiousness) that you are used to seeing around this place.  You see, you can blow the WHISTLE attached to them to signal that you need a refill. Maybe that is practical at a crowded bar or juicery (is that what they call them), but at your home home, you might just get slapped!

On Christmas Eve, I was at a relative’s house. I imbibed on IBC Rootbeer while my other relatives had punch, wine, or beer. My uncle brought over a blueberry beer. He explained that it was a different tasting beer for people who didn’t typically like beer. With it’s red foam and deep hue, it was a bit unusual looking. My aunt thought it was delicious and rather reminded her of a wine cooler. She mingled around for a little while and wondered why she was feeling so tired.

My cousin, who used to be really into microbrews and even brewing his own (with mixed results) took a gander at the bottle. “Did you know that this had 8 percent alchohol in it? That’s not beer. It’s like malt liquor?” My aunt said, “Well 8% is low isn’t it? Afterall, fruit juice with only 8% juice is pretty junky for you.”

“No,” my cousin reiterated with an incredulous look on his face, “that means that it is more like a stiff drink. Just think if about 10 percent of this bottle was straight alcohol.”

“Oh, then I guess that is a lot.” Then my aunt who is normally a lightweight when it comes to booze, had another.

I was glad that she lived very close to my parents. I wouldn’t have wanted her to drive home like that.

The review of the Wild Blue Blueberry Beer was favorable, and above average for those that are beer drinkers and were present, though the approval rating was significantly higher for those that preferred wine to beer any day.  With many breweries coming out with blueberry beer, I consider that a little bit of a trend.  What’s next?  Raspberry?  Strawberry Beer with a whipped cream topping?

I think that Reed’s Ginger Brew is the best Ginger Ale that ever was. I first tried it when I spotted it at Trader Joe’s about eight years ago. Being an afficianado of the ale, I was curious to try it. After that, anything other brand tasted like bubbly high fructose corn syrup, which it probably was. It has a lot of bite, and there is actually REAL GINGER ROOT in the ingredients. Everyone thinks I am kicking back with a beer, but when they see the label, they know its not true.

My grandfather used to say ginger ale and a good pretzel is the cure all for everything. I sort of half believed him as a kid, but I think it was because he was referring to the real stuff and not the paltry, water excuse for ginger ale that they peddle nowadays.  If he was talking about the real stuff, I certainly would agree.  When you drink it, all hint of emerging sore throat and stomach upset seem to be gone.  Ginger has a way of doing that anyways, otherwise I just like it so much that it has a placebo effect on me.

Anyways, after five years of having no establishment near me that sold it, people thought I was slightly insane.  A store near me started carrying it and I scooped it up like a mother scooping a lost child out of a ditch, happy to be reunited.   I raced up to the cash register with a “so proud of myself” sort of smile that the cashier must have thought I just won the lottery or a nice young man in a fine white suit was looking for me in aisle twelve, ready with the straight jacket.  Either way, I won’t be embarrassed because I won’t go to the same cash register next time and my glee will be a bit more subdued after the initial reunion.

That’s my story.  Do you have any food or beverage that you are a little irrational about?  I think i am addicted.

What exactly is Faygo Rock and Rye? I know it is a soft drink, but what gives it the flavor? The typical ingredients list is similar to any other soda, and the true flavor combination that causes the distinct taste is a true mystery, perhaps only known by one person at the bottling company.

Until the 1950s, Faygo pop was only available in Michigan because it would spoil. That is when they discovered there was something in the water causing that, and from there on out used a water filtration system. Through strategic marketing during Tigers games in the 1960s, and with the longer shelf life, the brand expanded to be a regional one.

I remember the commercials from the 80s

Remember when you were a kid?
Well part of you still is
That’s why we make Faygo…
Faygo Remembers…

Now, Faygo Red Pop, Cola and others have popped up around the country. Still, I have not been able to find Rock and Rye Faygo anywhere but in Michigan. There was actually an alcoholic drink called Rock and Rye. That R and R was liquer made from rye whisky with citrus flavors added, plus a piece of rock candy. I have never tried this so do not know if it was what the flavor of the Faygo version was based on, but it sure is not like any other flavor of soda that other companies carry, as far as I have tried.

Is there any other regional beverage or food you have been craving but cannot get anywhere else?

Besides Kool-Aid Ecto Cooler, I was sort of ingrained with the idea that you just don’t drink anything that is green.  You can eat it, but you just don’t drink it.

Back in the day, which was only a few years ago, I frequented a grocery store that had a juice bar. A number of people would show up their everyday, hold their nose, and get a shot of wheatgrass juice.   Wheat grass fed cows live a lot longer than cows fed commercial feed or regular old run of the mill grass and hay.  Wheatgrass has Vitamin C and Iron in it, but what else it does for humans is debated from curing cancer to just being another vegetable to add for variety.  What’s not debatable is that it is an acquired taste.  A small amount of people love it, the rest of the world thinks its quite simply ghastly.  I am in the ghastly camp.

I was surprised to see Odwalla juice at Costco.  Buying a big 64 oz jug was only twice as much as the tiny little individual bottles, so it was definitely a good buy.  I don’t know what possessed me, but I bypassed the Mango Smoothie and other pleasingly colored juices and went for Superfood which is the dark color of a Haas avacodo.  More properly, it is like when you make guacamole and it sits in the fridge for a few days and the top layer turns really dark.  Maybe its closer to grass after the gray slush melts off of it.  A two year old using every single crayon at once is also a good analogy of the color.  In otherwords, it can’t possibly taste good.  My decision to buy it was the dollar value and based on the nutritional value.  Oh, and the fact that apple puree was listed higher than wheatgrass.  That should be a taste buffer.

I let it sit on the bottom shelf of the fridge for a week, hesitant to try it.  Yesterday I finally did, and I am happy to report that it does not taste like seamonster bath water.  It is actually good and slightly sweet tasting, but slightly thick so someone won’t steal it and chug it down right from the container. It was met with hesitance when I got a few other people to try it.  They were psyched up to think it was disgusting, so tasting it was an anti-climax.  I recommend Superfood.  Even if it won’t turn you into a superhero, it won’t give you that bizarre reflex you get in your digestive system the first time you drink straight wheatgrass.

I used to love getting the tableside “Caesar Salad” making service.   At some upscale restaurants, usually Bananas Foster is another dish that is made tableside.    You might not expect someone to come to your table and make drinks, however.

When we were kids, there were occasions that much of the whole family would go out to a restaurant.  It may be after a funeral, on the way home from the fair, or whatever the case may be.   Somehow, the parents allowed myself and a few of my cousins to sit at a table together against their better judgement.   We were not bad children (so we say).  We didn’t run around.  We were the kids who were more likely to be “a little too quiet.”   Inevitably, though, there would be culinary creations emanating from our table.  Yes, even at a Big Boy’s restaurant there was enough to work with.  All of those tantalizing caddies of additives and jellies awaited us.

My brother always ordered a glass of water with lemon, and then would confiscate the lemons from everyone else, not proud to ask at the “grown up” tables as well.  He would take the sugar packets lined in their little caddy, too.   With sugar granuals liberally littering the table, he squeezed and mixed his own lemonade.   Usually, it took half a glass of tasting to get the ratio of sugar, water, and squeezed lemon wedges just right.  He would then declare his creation a masterpiece and pedal his wares to the several tables our extended family took up.

Oddly enough, he got few special orders.

Here is how hand squeezed lemonade is supposed to go:

1 cup sugar (white.  No fancy schmancy stuff or your lemonade is going to be awfully crunchy)
6 lemons
6 cups of water
6 cups cold water

Squeeze the lemons, pour the juice in a pitcher, add the sugar, and stir in 6 cups of cold water.   If you really rather prefer your water temperature not be dictated to you, and you like warmed over lemonage, go for an alternative temperature.   If you think that is not enough sugar, just go to town, but it will surely be to your taste and not mine.

Actually, since the ratio is 6 to 1 seems to be the golden mean of lemonade,  maybe my brother was actually not so far off. If he combined all the lemon slices and it added up to one whole lemon, I could imagine he could dump enough of those sugar packets to make approximately 1/6 of a cup of sugar.

On the way home, we crashed in the car due to not only the ratio but the sheer volume of sugar that was consumed through a straw througout the evening, even though our breath and hands and sleeves smelled as refreshing as lemon scented Pledge. Our parents didn’t need car air fresheners. When you are doing this level of experimenting, you drink your mistakes.