The Fluffness of the Fluff

After Jack's funeral the other week, we went to the traditional repast/luncheon.  It was a potluck style affair where (I believe) food was brought by various funeral attendees and church members.  I really like the idea of a potluck, but unless there is some sort of organization and assignment of types of dishes it always ends up being very light on actually entree type foods and very heavy on pasta salads and desserts.  I understand, they are easy to make and delicious...but a well balanced meal this does not create.  It also leads to some mystery dishes...what is up with that dish of strange looking peas?  Oh, it is some kind of tuna surprise, who would have guessed peas would taste like tuna - thanks to Kelly for trying this so that I didn't have to.  But then again I brought nothing (I didn't know about it) and I was eating free food, so it hard to complain too much.

mmmm fluff
(Photo courtesy of mjecker)

This disproportionality of desserts leads to the dilemma of choosing which fluff to take...because you know there are going to be several.  I wouldn't say that I am an expert on fluff...but I am definitely a connoisseur and this luncheon offered a wide variety.  I decided not to choose one, I would martyr myself by taking a serving of each fluff and declaring a winner of the informal Jack's Fluff Challenge - so that all other diners would be able to make an informed fluff decision.  This is the sacrifice that I make for you, readers and diners.  I counted seven varieties and the ingredients and textures varied widely.

The first contender was the fruit salad fluff - this is the fluff that has a lot of apples, grapes, strawberries, nuts, etc... This is probably the most healthy of all the fluffs due to the high fruit content, but that same content also throws off the texture.  It is way too chunky to be a proper fluff...it was dismissed (although tasty).

Second came a couple of red fluffs...I was hoping the darker one was raspberry but both were strawberry.  Both were OK, but nothing special.  One was not mixed well enough, the ingredients weren't well distributed throughout.  The second's texture was good but the flavor was blah...I am not sure what happened here, but it just didn't have much taste...even slickery jello blobs could not make up for a lack of flavor.

Next came a yellow fluff with caramel sauce.  I wasn't sure exactly what this was, but it ended up having chunks of mini-Snickers and other candy bars in it.  A very good fluff overall...but the fluff didn't really have much taste besides the candy bars (I think a banana cream pudding mix, could have really pumped this one up to another level).

Finally, came the green fluffs.  Pistachio is the Cadillac of fluffs...but every once in a while someone sneaks a lime flavored fluff in there and it is just confusing and not right.  The lime fluff was out - it might have been good in it's own right but when disguising yourself as pistachio my expectations made you taste horrible.  The finally two fluffs...both Pistachio, both with pineapple, one had nuts and mini marshmallows, the other didn't...but the main difference was the consistency.  One was super light and fluffy...the other was more thick and runny, almost looking like straight pistachio pudding instead of fluff.

I figured the light and fluffy one would win hands down because the other just looked like a mess.  It was good, but the runny pistachio fluffy was excellent.  Maybe it wasn't cut with as much marshmallow fluff or cool whip...maybe it was mixed too much and all the whipped in air escaped concentrating the flavor.  I don't know why, but the flavor of the was just so much deeper and with the perfect balance of pineapple.  If it was a little lighter with this taste it would be darn near perfect.

Pistachio Fluff - the most delectable of fluffs.
(Photo courtesy of Secrets of a Southern Kitchen - recipe also available)

Green Pistachio Fluff Wins!

The Totals are In

Last week Cadbury Egg season officially ended for me.  It was a sad day even though it was officially 3 months longer than a normal Cadbury Egg season which runs New Years Day through Easter.  I was also kind of glad because they started losing their specialness.  Usually when you eat one, it is like god has created heaven in your mouth...so rich, so creamy, chocolately sweet gooiness.  The last few didn't do this for me...they were just there.  Good yes, but not amazing.  My taste buds were worn out and overloaded.  Man was not meant to eat Cadbury Eggs for six months.

This season's grand totals:

Full Size Regular Eggs: 46

Full Size Caramel Eggs: 8

Full Size Orange Eggs: 8

Mini-Size Regular Eggs: 10

Mini-Size Caramel Eggs: 10

Approximate total of diabetes inducing calories: 6500

That's a lot of calories...but not as bad as I would have guessed.  Now I just hope that my taste buds are ready for next years season...I think I will cut number of eggs in half so that they retain their specialness...unless of course the bring some of the more exotic flavors to my area.  Now to finish the last box of Girl Scout Samoas (Carmel deLites).

Brothers' Trip 2010

This weekend was my The Semi-Annual Brothers' Hockey Trip 2010. This is when my brothers and I take a trip to Minneapolis or Chicago to take in an NHL hockey game and experience some general debauchery. This year was the Minnesota Wild vs the Dallas Stars. Here is a quick overview and some useless stats of this year.

The Stars have a special place in our hearts after having the Iowa Stars AHL team in Des Moines for three years. We got to see a lot of old I-Stars players and got to see Mike Modano's (probably) last NHL game. A fun trip had by all (I think).  Participants - Me, Kelly, Holly, Ryan, Hedda, Sean.

Useless Stats:

• Mistaken Hotels - 2
• Bands - 3
• Good Bands - 1.5
• High-Fives given to random strangers - hundreds
• Strangers happy to give high-fives - 3
• Restaurants that were featured on Food Network - 1
• Restaurants that were disappointing - 2
• Steaks that were not as ordered - 2
• Times the GPS unit had to "Recalculate" - approx 30
• Zombieland watched - 1.5
• Cadbury Eggs purchased - 48
• Free games at pinball - 3
• Hockey Goals - 7
• Beers drank - many
• Mike Modano crying - 2
• Mini-Corn Dogs eaten -12
• Crackheads given hugs - 0
• Vomit - almost 1
• Bowling Balls the lane next to us had - 14
• Total Hours Slept Fri & Sat Nights - 4ish
• Crazy Ladies trying to dig cigarette butts out of the buttcan - 1

The trip started with the drive up to Minneapolis and then meeting to eat at the Green Mill restaurant.  I'd never heard of it but Kelly & Holly had eaten there before and thought it was really good...plus it was close to the hotel.  It was mediocre...it had potential but it didn't execute well.  Out of ribeye steaks on a Friday night at 7pm.  The New York strip offered in it's place overcooked.  Disappointing nachos.  Slow service.  It all added up to be a disappointing meal.

We decided to go bowling after and that turned out to be a pretty decent time.  Memory Lanes had a stage set up on the middle lanes for live music.  The first band was female drummer and male guitarist/singer.  All I could think of was how awesome the White Stripes were at this combo.  This band was not the White Stripes.  They were punk/thrash stuff, which although I loved when I was young...I don't have much of a stomach for anymore.  I can't call them bad because I had cassettes and cassettes of this stuff when I was in junior and senior high.  It is just not very appealing to me anymore.  Maybe I am not as angry, maybe my tastes have just matured.  I did enjoy their cover of Iron Maiden's Hallowed Be Thy Name...but that was probably more due to the fact that I like the song than their performance.  The next two bands were decent, some rock with a little bit of horns.  Nothing amazing, but good background for bowling.  I bowled both horrible and decent.  Afterwards, we played a little pinball in the games rooms while Hedda decided to start giving everyone around her high-fives...much to their annoyance.

Saturday started with watching Zombieland...which is a great way to begin any day in my book.  Then we headed to the stupid mall (mall's tagline should be - just like your mall but stupider and full of idiots).  We had meant to play a round of mini-golf but it was packed and had a long line by the time we got there.  We then headed to Psycho Suzi's for dinner.  We had been interested in Psycho Suzi's since it was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network.  It was decent but I had hoped for a little more.  I enjoyed the red rockets (mini-corn dogs) but was highly disappointed in the onion rings.  I loved the names for all the foods - red rockets, brown sugar babies, chicken gremlins, etc... but the food ended up a little drab and very greasy.  Usually, I am a big fan of grease, but this was a little too much for me.  But then I have to remember that I saw the place featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives so really how much could I actually expect?

Pre-Game Warm Up...Our Seats were better than this looks. 
Stupid phone camera.

Saturday Night we went to the hockey game.  Good game...Dallas was down early but battled back to tie it a couple times, sending the game into overtime and finally a shootout.  Dallas won.  It was the final game of the regular season and probably the final game in the career of Mike Modano.  Modano started his NHL career as a Minnesota North Star and played in Minneapolis for 5 years until the team was moved to Dallas.  It was good to see that the Minnesota fans still like and respect Modano.  He received a video tribute, and several standing ovations by which you could tell he was very touched emotionally.  It was a great night and a good finish to his career.  Good luck Mike!

Sunday was just the drive home...which was harder than it should have been since everyone was tired due to lack of sleep and the wind started blowing against up the entire trip...but we all made it home to take naps.  I did give in and buy a box of 48 Cadbury Eggs for my enjoyment. Maybe pictures of me and the bros later...I didn't have a camera, so I don't have copies at the moment.

Season of Goo

I have now added a Cadbury Creme Egg Counter to the right hand sidebar.  This will help you keep track of my horrible addiction this time of year (you may remember this post from last year).  I might also call it a Fat Guy counter...because each egg eaten is sure to delay any fitness plans or ideas I may have.

I have been doing pretty well this year though in limiting myself to one egg a day (OK, sometimes 1 full size and 1 mini).  No mass quantities at one time though...no sugar coma.  I can't believe how grown up I am!  In addition to the Regular and Caramel eggs, I also stumbled across Orange Creme eggs (hoo-ray!)  Still no sign of mint, chocolate, or dream eggs.

Avoiding the Inner Fat Guy

I've been trying to workout lately.  I don't think that I am horribly out of shape, but I do have the beginnings of a pot belly and gone are my size 26 jeans...damn you size 32!   So I figure I need to probably change my lifestyle to be healthy and avoid the inner fat guy lurking within.  I haven't gotten into 100% routine but have been at least getting in a workout semi-regularly.  Those who know me personally and know that I am totally lazy, should know that this is a pretty big step for me. 

I've been doing the FMS 45 Minute Fat Burning Workout, which I like because it is short, seems to be a decent overall body workout and doesn't have a whole lot of pep talk in it.  That's really all I want, someone to show me how to do the workout and maybe count the reps.  Billy Blanks, why can't you just shut up?  I am not ready for Tae Bo quite yet...but am getting there, but dread listening to Billy tell me to reach for my higher power.  If anyone has suggestions for other workouts let me know, admittedly I am a amateur at this. 

Unfortunately, my motivation for getting up early and working out is making myself a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit; thereby undoing probably 98% of my workout...but I am feeling slightly fitter and have been on time to work more times in the past two weeks than I have in the previous 6 months.  So I consider it to be going well.  I just hope that once I am more fit that I can avoid the John Basedow "standing like I have scoliosis to make my abs pop" pose and the ever constant threat of my button-down shirt coming open.  The threats are real.

John Basedow - love your workout, hate your poses.

Having said all that, March is a totally horrible time to try a fitness plan.  First of all, there are the Girl Scout cookies.  Congrats Girl Scouts on getting my orders right this year, unlike last year's debacle.  Then there is the Cadbury Creme Eggs...one of the greatest food stuffs ever invented.  Money spent on Cadbury Eggs this year (so far): $20; portion of the eggs eaten (so far): $3.  Then there is chocolate Easter bunnies, and many flavored jelly beans to consider.  Finally, March is my birthday month and that means cheesecake...more specifically Jello No Bake Cheesecake topped with cherries.  It really is the Cadillac of cheesecakes at a Kia price.  Delicious.  This year, I am trying to control my impulses and only eat these things in moderation and as rewards for doing something good in my life...this is a far cry from eating only Girl Scout cookies for two days or having an entire meal of Cadbury Eggs.  If nothing else, I am sure my pancreas is thankful.  Sensible eating?  Moderation! I feel so grown up!

Top 5 Things I did on my birthday weekend:
5) Ate at PF Changs with my family
4) Went to see local band Cold Filtered
3) Ate Cheesecake
2) Went to the pre-season roller derby bout
1) Went to see Alice in Wonderland 3D XD

All in all, I would call that a pretty good birthday...only thing missing was getting lucky, and I didn't really even try at that one.

Doing the Gooing

Cadbury Creme Eggs

Cadbury Creme Eggs are pretty much the tastiest food substance on the planet. I think they are the whole reason for Easter (but I may have my theology a little confused). I've heard many people complain that these delicious chocolate eggs filled with creamy goodness are too rich and hurt their teeth. All I have to say is that you are a bunch of wusses and that the pain is a small price to pay for the scrumptiousness of these candies.

OK, I can see how these Ova of Love could be too much for people who don't have a large sweet tooth, so I have a few suggestions:

1. Have you tried Cadbury's Caramel Egg? It too is amazing, but filled with caramel instead of sticky sweet creme. The caramel is only about half as sweet tasting as the cream, so the richness is not as over-powering. It is like eating a round Caramello candy bar.



2. Check out the Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs...AKA Bite Sized (caramel also available). These are just like the regular eggs but about 1/10th the size. Perfect for popping in your mouth for a quick treat...and not nearly as messy to eat. These are actually my favorite way to eat the eggs.


3. The standard Cadbury Egg is smaller than it was just a few years ago...so easier to handle by wusses. Before 2006 a Cadbury egg in the US was 39 grams, they are now only 34 grams. So they are basically diet eggs now! Ha ha, maybe not. Lucky Canadians and Britons still have a 40 gram egg.



4. Suck it up! These are awesome and only available between New Years Day and Easter. Enjoy them while you can.

Although I am a big fan of the regular and caramel varieties, I am only lukewarm on the other varieties that I have tasted - Chocolate and Mint. Both were OK, but just OK, not great. I have not had the fortune to find the odder flavors like Orange, Berry, or Dream Eggs. Hopefully someday (even if I have to go to England!).

I highly enjoyed the page below on Cadbury's website. Its more suggestive than some porn covers and that made me love Cadbury eggs all the more. Plus "Where will you be doing the gooing?" is just awesome by itself.