The Things We Do

 Admittedly, I have a pretty high tolerance for spice and hot food items. One of my worst experiences was a food challenge at Vito's in the North End. A friend and myself took up their wager of consuming an entire serving of their Atomic Chicken Wings. It was a grueling and suffering ordeal (more so for me) but, we wiped the plate clean.  Now, I love Pringles. I always have and their new Scorchin' line is no exception. But the "scorchin'" adjective is an exaggeration. I have tried both the B-B-Q and Cheddar variety and neither is much stronger than your typical hot chips. The one snack that does clear my nostrils is Andy Capp's Hot Fries. The good news is, don't let the name intimidate you. If you have any tolerance at all for spice you should manage Pringles's latest just fine. If, however, you are feeling truly adventurous, seek out their prawn flavored chips, not widely sold in America but popular in the UK and Ireland (where I first tried them). By...

 In 1990 the 20th anniversary was celebrated, in part, with a curious TV special featuring a host of familiar faces from sources ranging from E.T to the Muppets to Danny DeVito. Along for the ride was Bette Midler as Mother Earth and Robin Williams as a loud-mouth profiteering shill.  Of course, the early 90s was the era of public service announcements via cross-corporate mash-ups, anyone remember Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue the special featuring Winnie-the-Pooh, the Ninja Turtles, ALF and a host of others that was as misguided an anti-drug campaign as the greater picture of the War on Drugs proved to be? Thirty years later, with copyright holders far less bending, it is unlikely to see such grand collaborations  (the "We are the World" of popular characters if you will) again and the mash-ups from by-gone days unlikely to get a revival. The original Muppet Babies has been withheld from DVD and Blu ray, after all, for its frequent satirical references to the archiv...

 If ever a character uttered a phrase that a creative entrepreneur could imagine as an ice cream flavor, it was UPA's Mr. Magoo. Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that a little hidden ice cream shop in Rockland should be named after the bumbling near-sighted tycoon.   In many ways, Magoo's Ice Cream offers what you'd expect, hard and soft serve, frappes, slush and a wide array of specialty sundaes, all four scoops in size. Their creativity shines forth with the razzles, using ice cream in an array of colorful ways.  What impressed Maria and I was the sheer variety of flavors; 25 hard serves and a whopping 34 soft serve, beating out even Baskin-Robbins's famed 31 flavors in this department.  For me, it was Peanut Butter Cup, though there were a number of choices that would have satisfied my addiction to peanut butter. One curiosity: Few would doubt the companies have a much tighter grasp on their trademarks and copyrighted characters here in the United States i...

  Today was my turn, my turn to protect myself and play a part in eradicating the pandemic. I got my first shot of Moderna's vaccine at Gillette Stadium, my second planned for the morning of May 10th. To better days ahead.

  Is this the next phase of the Cola Wars? Between 2018 and 2019 Coca-Cola experimented with an assortment of fruit flavors for Diet Coke including Ginger Lime, Feisty Cherry, Twisted Mango and Strawberry Guava. For both (Diet and non-diet variants alike) cherry was a staple. But now, Pepsi stepped up the competition with mango Pepsi. The mango flavor is stronger than one would expect but it works. Hey, even the Michael Scott air-freshener agrees.

 The gateway to spring is here with the flowers at the height of their beauty.

  With travel, especially international travel, a non option for the near future I was delighted to find at a 7-Eleven in Medford imported snacks from abroad. Calbee, a Japanese snack company with a presence in North American since 1970, brings many of the flavors of Japan to the States, including one of my favorite delicacies from the land of the rising sun, takoyaki balls (octopus balls).     Meanwhile, I was then introduced to South Korea's Orion snacks with  cheese and cream flavored O'Karta potato fries.    Finally, for old time's sake, I had to revisit a childhood classic with Betty Crocker's Dunkaroos. All three snack lived up to their promise, though the takoyaki snacks are ch  flavor blast that a little goes a long way. Dunkaroos are now smaller than I remember, just enough to relive my after-school kick-starts,though I do miss the Dundee-hat sporting 'roo.            

 I'm a frequent Polar Seltzer drinker and try to try each flavor, including the limited editions that came out last winter. Fortunately, my local Big Y stocks a good selection. In celebration of its 100th flavor, Polar issued a limited batch honorary flavor mixing, in the company's own words, "The taste of sunny citrus & strawberry in orbit around sparkling STARfruit." The bottle features the iconic polar bear predominantly against a northern sky; Polaris, the North Star, guiding its path.  "To mark our 100th recipe," the bottle reads, "we crafted this starry small-batch to celebrate all of the other dreamers out there. Keep shooting for the stars. Best enjoyed in the dark. Cheers!" It's a successful blend, though it has not dethroned my favorite Polar Seltzer flavor, Georgia Peach.  

 We spent Easter evening dipping eggs in color dyes in a PAAS kit we bought last Easter. Our mod was more upbeat this year and so selected two colors from the little dye pills (I had forgotten how dangerously similar to Smarties they look in a child's eye), let them fizz in cups and dunked two hard-boiled eggs. Behold: Decorating eggs was an annual tradition in my youth but I remember using filmy egg wrap-around far more often than dyes. Bunnies, chicks, and other Easter icons decorated the little strips. Others were licensed by Disney and featured Mickey and the gang (these were from the SunHill brand). One thing always bummed me out about them as a child. Within a few days we had to dispose of them. It's had to judge over thirty years later but, somehow, I think dumping a multi-colored egg is less crushing than seeing a wrapper featuring the Easter Bunny going into the trash.

 Joining the hyacinths are daffodils, grape hyacinths and tulips!                                                              Grape Hyacinths                                                               Tulips                               ...

 Last spring, with the pandemic devastating lie as we know it, we found solace in seeing life emerge in our garden. In a year full of sorrow, depression, anger and loss, the cycle of nature brought solace. Each year, as winter fades away, the blooming buds mark the coming of spring and hint at the colorful landscape it is to paint.  For awhile, the flowers helped us through the uncharted waters (for my generation) of a global pandemic, promising once again that, one day, sorrow will end and joy will reign once more.  A year later and the pandemic is still holding the world at bay, but it would be unwise not to observe how far we have come since. Vaccines are being rolled out, the world is slowly opening up and we are coming together, hopefully, as a stronger and wiser species. Undoubtedly, there is still a long way to go and it would be a betrayal to the lives that were lost, the sacrifices we all made and the dedication of our medical workers and scientists if we let dow...