GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

Did you know there are more than 100 flavors of Kit Kat? Me neither. Some of the more curious flavors include soy sauce, grilled potato, and sports drink. Yuck! You can check them out here.

HEY, KOOL-AID!

When did the Kool-Aid guy get pants?? Did I miss something?

COKE/SODA/POP

I can't remember a day when I wasn't teased about how I referred to soft drinks. When I moved to St. Louis, I called it COKE and was quickly told it was SODA. When I moved to Louisiana in junior high, everyone laughed when I said SODA. I rarely used POP...only after spending a summer in Nebraska. And, boy, did that produce laughs! So based on this fascinating map, it looks like I need to go back to saying SODA!!

I DON'T THINK SO!

I will NOT be having chocolate covered bacon at the San Diego fair this afternoon!!!!!

Really. You can't make me!! I will NOT be having chocolate-covered bacon at the fair!!!!!

Okay. Okay! I'll try the chocolate-covered bacon but I'm not gonna like it!!!

See. I was right. I didn't like it. If you could just lick the chocolate, it would be okay. But once you mix in the bacon flavor...blech! Double-blech!

A NEW TRADITION?

It seems like I may be starting a birthday tradition. (Does 2 years make a tradition?) You may recall that last year, I started off the day with a delicious beverage, an Iced Godiva Belgium Coffee. Today I'm enjoying a bottle of Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Lite (they have "lite" now!) This is the closest thing to coffee I actually enjoy.

LOST AND FOUND

This describes my week.

On Monday, we had whole wheat pita chips with a partial bag left over. When I attempted to find them the next night, I couldn't find the bag. I looked again the next day, but just couldn't figure out where they were. Today I found them...

in the CHEESE DRAWER in the REFRIGERATOR!
What the heck!

The sad thing is that I've taken cheese out of the drawer every day this week and never noticed the bag of Pita chips. And from the photo you can see...they weren't buried! Mr. PoMonkey never noticed it either.

We've had a crazy week!

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

Lately I've been limiting my caloric intake, but I still need a little something sweet at some point in the day. Individual sugar-free pudding packs have always worked. But I always found that the sugar-free version was never as tasty as the real thing.

So since so many brands have come out with a sugar-free version, I decided to do an official taste test for the best one. I am pleased to announce that I have discovered the BEST, can't-tell-the difference-from-the-real-thing pudding! YUM!

The brands are:

• JELL-O (found in the dairy cooler)
• Hunt's Snack Pack (found on the snack aisle)
• Kraft Handi-Snacks (found on the snack aisle)

AND THE WINNER IS:
HUNT'S
It's thicker and creamier and doesn't have that sugar-free aftertaste. Plus I like that you don't HAVE to refrigerate it which means you can take it with you! I also like the vanilla version (which I usually don't).

PB&J CUPCAKE?

I'm not sure if this would be good or not. It looks good.

My S-i-L sent me this to add to my cupcake information. It's a peanut butter and jelly cupcake from one of her local cupcake stores in Knoxville, TN. It's the "Orlando" cupcake. All of their cupcakes are named for U.S. cities. The Chicago one looks good too...all chocolate! They also have D.C., Minneapolis, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and more.

Could you get away with having this as a meal?!?!

DID I READ THAT RIGHT?

Frosting Shots!?!?
Really?

I was doing a drive-by read of a cupcake blog and saw this. I did a double-take. And then a triple-take! I like the cake, as well as the frosting, so this isn't for me. Is it for you?

The frosting shot has been created in response to consumer demand to cup the crap, ditch the cakey part of the cupcake and just cut to the chase.

For a small fee, customers get a dollop of their favorite frosting in a paper or plastic cup, about the size of a frozen yogurt sample.

It is the perfect size for frosting addicts.

I SCREAM

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. He recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90% of the nation's population. In the proclamation, President Reagan called for all people of the United States to observe these events with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."

So I hope you celebrate appropriately!

CUPCAKES

This weekend I was discussing with several friends how I've recently started browsing lots of cupcake websites. (If you read ODINT, then you already know this.) I don't know why I'm doing this...other than maybe since I'm limiting my sugar intake, I just like dreaming about sugary sweets! Anyway, several people asked what there was really to look at - "a cupcake is just a little cake with some frosting". I tried to explain that it's so much more than that! But my descriptions failed miserably. So I decided to post some pictures here so you can see for yourself! Enjoy...and I hope you aren't hungry!

Of course I have to start with some monkeys!


And these are in honor of my officemate, Anya, who is BACK in the office, part-time! Sorry, Anya, ninjas still beat pirates. Any day!


And everyone knows how much I love the beach!


This one just looks scrumptious!


And these cats are pretty creative.


You can't have cats without some doggies...even if they are poodles!


Anyone want an ice cream float?


You have to look really hard to see that these are cupcakes and not flowers!


And last, but not least...who can't wait for the Olympics?!?!??!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS

TODAY'S LUNCH MENU:
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Red Beans and Rice
French Bread
Home-made King Cake

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

I'M STILL FULL!

Turkey
Ham
Gravy
Cornbread Dressing (NOT stuffing)
Green Beans
Black-Eyed Peas
Sweet Potato Casserole
Cheese Pudding
Rolls
Cranberry Salad
Grape Salad
Ambrosia
Caramel Pecan Pie
Fruit Pie

Μπορείτε να δοκιμάσετε πάλι

Minda Lou Hoo and Charles were here last month visiting us for 9 days from their far away homeland of Singapore. What fun we had!

The first day they were here we walked to Greektown for the annual "Taste of Greece" festival. Since Mr. Ginger and I had recently attended the "Festa Italiana", we were anxious to compare and contrast. We played Greek/Not Greek which seemed to be more difficult than Italian/Not Italian. I mainly contributed to the game by pointing to anyone blonde and saying "Not Greek!" I'm so brilliant!

Then we wondered if we would see any famous Greeks like we had seen Tommy Lasorda in Little Italy. That led to a discussion of "Who are some famous Greeks?" We came up with: Telly Savalas
Rita Wilson
Jennifer Anniston (new discovery - godchild of Telly)
Jimmy the Greek

In my opinion, naming famous Italians was much easier. Maybe you would have known some others to add.

But we enjoyed some delicious Greek food...gyros, tzatziki, saganaki, spanakotiropita, and baklava. So much so, that we returned to Greektown the following week for more of it! Mr. Ginger and I work in Greektown so we get Greek food pretty often...an added bonus! We'll take you too if you come to visit!

BANANAS

My office mate asked me a question today after she entered the office and once again I was eating something banana flavored:
"Did you like bananas before your love of monkeys began or do you eat bananas as a result of your love of monkeys?"

Hmmmm...

I never realized I ate that many bananas or banana-flavored treats. But as I thought about it, at least every other day, I have a banana, a banana muffin or a banana granola bar. I've never really thought about it.

The answer? I liked bananas WAY before my infatuation with monkeys began! How do you feel about bananas?

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