The Day the Twinkie Died

I heard the rumors, read the news, and didn't want to believe they were true. Then I saw this:

What kind of world will it be without Twinkies and Wonder Bread? My child has yet to experience the satisfaction of shoving an entire Ho Ho into his mouth or the joy of licking the cream filling out of a Hostess Cup Cake. And despite my family's sordid history with frozen Ding Dongs, my child will never experience the excitement of unwrapping that chocolate wonder and savoring the goodness within.

"I love Twinkies,

and the reason I am saying that is

because we are all supposed to think of reasons to live."

~ Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

What happens if there is a zombie invasion and we don't have the everlasting, indestructible Twinkies to inspire us?

But it's not just Twinkies that will be disappearing. Ding Dongs, Ho Ho's, Fruit Pies, CupCakes, Donettes, Suzy Q's, Sno Balls, Zingers and many others will become a thing of the past. Hostess owns Wonder Bread, Dolly Madison, Butternut Bread, Drake's Cakes, Holsom Bread, Mrs. Cubbison's, Nature's Pride, Millbrook, and many others.

Yes, America, there is something worse than a zombie invasion.

Some may say, good riddance. Some may see this as a day of freedom to those who were addicted to the sugar-laden treats. Some may see this as one step toward eradicating obesity. I say, they'll simply find some other food to comfort their loss. Unfortunately, that food won't be made by Hostess.

So farewell old friend. Although I have only occasionally called upon you since childhood, I do still have fond memories of the times we shared, the memories made, and the calories consumed. You were worth the extra cardio. And you always brought a smile to my face.

To quote the great Tallahassee from Zombieland, "There's a box of Twinkies in that grocery store. Not just any box of Twinkies, the last box of Twinkies that anyone will enjoy in the whole universe. Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. Some day very soon, Life's little Twinkie gauge is gonna go... empty."

Holy Guacamole!

Today is one of my family's favorite holidays...

National Guacamole Day!

As I've mentioned before, my kid loves guacamole. This is no ordinary appetizer love or party snack love. No. His is a dig-in-a-spoon-and-eat-an-entire-bowl love.

Look at that pile of guac! And he's already eaten half of it!

We have frequented Mexican food restaurants almost weekly since long before Little Dude was born. We usually went with Big Dude's family and ordered tableside guacamole (best when fresh!). After Little Dude was born, instead of staying home, we continued our family tradition.

One night (after Little Dude was able to start eating solid food), I mashed up little pieces of avocado and let him try it. To my surprise, he loved it! The next week we did the same. That evolved into Little Dude eating full-fledged guacamole, complete with onions, cilantro and tomatoes!

I think it helped that he was fascinated by the server making the guac right at our table.

At least we know he's getting his fruits and veggies, and all the great benefits avocados offer!

Every once in a while, someone comments on the fact that our kid is eating an entire bowl of guacamole for his meal. It's surprising to most people. But to us, that's just a normal Friday night!

Pass the chips!

Plum Crazy (or The Hedonistic Rituals of Youth)

Slurp. Slurp. Mmm.

These are the sounds I hear as I type.

My child is enjoying one of his favorite treats... A plum!

When he gets a hold of one of these delicious spheres of goodness, he actually settles down (an unusual moment for him) and stops to savor every bite. I joke that he's a "plum vampire" because he likes to sink his teeth into the flesh and suck out the juice before taking a bite.

I'm happy to provide him with any of his favorite fruits and veggies. And, as most moms do, I'm always trying to expand his palate. The plum find was merely by accident. I bought some for myself and didn't think he would be interested. But when I offered him a bite of mine, I was shocked when he took me up on my offer and finished the entire fruit.

Not every fruit/veggie introduction is always as successful. Sometimes I have to find a compromise (he won't eat strawberries, but he'll drink them in a smoothy). And other times I have to pick my battles and focus on the wins (he doesn't like green beans, but he'll eat guacamole by the bowlful).

Guacamole has been a favorite since he started eating solid food!

And while I'm trying to teach my kid about food, he's teaching me about eating.

1. Savor it slowly. Just like Little Dude and the plum, I need to slow down and learn to enjoy each bite. It would help me to think about what I'm actually eating and give my tummy time to tell me when I'm full.

2. Listen to your tummy. Little Dude doesn't determine if he's eaten enough by the amount of space left on his plate. His stomach tells him to stop eating and he does.

3. Don't be afraid to try new things. Ok, so Little Dude isn't always willing to try everything I offer, but it's sometimes surprising what he will try and how often. There are some foods he'll try and spit out, but the next time I offer it, he'll try it again.

I definitely need to start eating like a 4-year-old. It would do my body some good!

April Fool's and Pancakes

Today I'm a little disappointed in myself. I haven't pranked anyone!

I did have a few ideas for April Fool's... The first was Facebooking that I'm pregnant. But I realized that this could potentially create an absurd amount of responses from people who didn't realize what day it is. And do I really want to explain 200 times that it's April Fool's Day? The other idea was to park in my coworkers' neighboring parking spot. By parking one spot over, I would have thrown off everyone! But I wasn't quite in the April Fool's mood today.

Yesterday I worked from home while tending to my little boy who was sick with a stomach bug. Poor little guy! Luckily, he was feeling better by lunch. And after his nap, he definitely had his energy back.

So this morning we packed up to go back to preschool. He wasn't sure he really wanted to go until I reminded him that it's pancake day. Every Friday is pancake day, and he loves pancakes. He also loves waffles and oatmeal. He's really a breakfast guy.

We were running late this morning and the whole way to school he kept fretting, "There aren't going to be any pancakes left! All the other kids are going to eat the pancakes!" I kept assuring him that there would still be some pancakes for him, but it didn't ease his fears. He was really very worried about experiencing  pancake shortage at school.

I drove to school as fast as I could, and while I signed him in, he was already headed down the hall to his class. He peeked in the window and with a great big smile said, "The pancakes are still there!" He was so happy to see that the food cart was still sitting untouched in the classroom. All the kids were busy playing a Handy Manny board game, so the teacher hadn't served breakfast yet.

My little guy quickly went to work helping his teacher put chairs around the table where the kids eat. Then he sat down and she gave him the first plate of pancakes. In fact, I'm pretty sure he finished his pancake before the other kids had even finished their game and come to the table!

It's not like we don't feed the kid before school. He had oatmeal every morning as soon as he wakes up. In fact today, he talked Daddy into making waffles. But no matter how much he eats, he still likes having what we call "2nd Breakfast."

What can I say except... he's a growing boy!

Waffles Around the World

"I've waffled before. I'll waffle again." ~ Howard Dean

Every weekend, my sweet hubby rolls out of bed to make waffles. And while I would like to think that the love of my life is cooking up those delicious, golden wafers for me, I realize he's mostly cooking them up for our son.

Our little boy LOVES waffles! He can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and yes, we actually let him do this once when he was sick). He eats them plain or with syrup. Sometimes he even mixes it up eating 1 quarter of the waffle without syrup and the rest with syrup!

I'm pretty much a waffle purist. I usually eat them plain. I love it when they're crispy, yet fluffy inside. Sometimes I'll add apple butter for extra flavor.

And my husband... well, he's not really a breakfast eater. But if he's actually going to eat breakfast, it's going to be a waffle on those Saturday mornings.

Really... who can resist a waffle?

That's probably why today is International Waffle Day!

The holiday was started in Sweden. (They are clearly not neutral over their love of fried sugar dough!) And since I have a bit of Swedish ancestry, I think I'll go ahead and claim this holiday as part of my heritage.

While I was researching waffle facts for www.TidbitFun.com I discovered that people put almost anything on waffles! There's the "normal" powdered sugar, fruit, whipped topping, or syrup. Some people prefer, honey, peanut butter or chocolate syrup (over their chocolate waffles). And then (and I have heard of this before) there are several restaurants that serve chicken and waffles!

And there are many ways to make waffles. But the two main batter versions are either with yeast or without. Hmm... I may have to do some extra taste-testing to find out which one is the best!

Imagine a world where everyone had a waffle to enjoy! I'm sure peace could be established... at least long enough to chow down a delicious, golden, honeycombed treat!