Soda pop

Turns out I *had* heard of peanuts-and-Coke. My sisters and brothers remember doing it at lunch time at a Christian school we went to. I had totally forgotten about it! I bet I never tried it back then. I was in the 7th grade and probably much too "cool" to do something so childish... I just thought it was one of those weird food combinations that kids come up and claim to like... like mayonnaise-and-peanut-butter sandwiches or chocolate milk on their cereal... or something like that. Anyway, it's not bad... but I'll probably still mostly just drink my Coke with only ice in it and eat my peanuts on the side!

It's kinda interesting the flavor combinations that Coke and Pepsi have come out with lately, though... I worked at a deli/soda fountain, oh, 20 years or so ago. Remember the "New Coke" vs. "Classic Coke"? It was during all that hoopla. And the "Pepsi Challenge"... oh, yeah, and de-caf "Pepsi Free"... We had fun trying different flavor combinations then, too. We would add cherry syrup... or vanilla... or even chocolate syrup. I don't remember if we tried lemon or lime. We thought we were being so "old-fashioned" going back to some of the 1950's soda fountain flavors!

My DH misses "Apple Slice". When Pepsi came out with Slice (their version of Sprite) it was available in lemon-lime, orange, and apple flavors. Maybe others. I don't remember. DH really liked the apple flavor and was disappointed when they stopped making it. I just had a brainstorm, though! I could buy frozen apple juice concentrate and mix it up with seltzer water! I bet it would taste the same! Okay... gotta try that!

I did make boiled peanuts a week or so ago. Hmm... that already sounds good again. I bought enough raw peanuts for more than one batch. B'lieve I'll go boil some more!

Telemarketers!

A telemarketer called the other night and asked to speak to "the female of the household"! I was the one who answered the phone. I wish I would have thought quickly enough to say, "What? Do I sound like a male?" But I didn't. I just hung up on him instead.

The idiot!

Musings...

Seems like I've been reading a lot of "twaddle" lately. I want to find something thought-provoking to read. Not real heavy. Just something that makes me think, KWIM?

For example, I read a book awhile back (don't even remember the name of it...) about a man who unexpectedly came into a lot of money. He was able to go everywhere and do everything he had ever dreamed of. Then one day it occurred to him that no matter how rich he got there would always be certain things he would have to spend time doing... mundane things that there's no getting around... walking down the hall, dressing, bathing, going to the bathroom, waiting at stop lights... even eating and sleeping. Sure, nobody minds doing those things, but then I don't really mind doing the every day household maintenance type things either. I just get tired of doing them over and over, and there are usually other things I'd rather be doing.

Well, I don't know what conclusion can be drawn from all that... just some musings about a concept that made me think.

Creative beverages

I'm trying an experiment. I have been trying to wean my family off pop. It's not easy! Yesterday I had a coupon for one of the local grocery stores, six 12-packs of store-brand pop for $10... a pretty good price. I noticed that one of their "flavors" was "sparkling water" and they also had lemon lime flavored sparkling water. Zero calories but no artificial sweetener. Now, I like sparkling water but my family doesn't, but I had an idea. I went ahead and got 6 cartons of sparkling water, and then I went over to the coffee department and bought some flavored syrup. I got vanilla syrup and raspberry syrup. When I got home I put ice in a glass, poured 2 tablespoons of syrup over the ice, filled the glass with sparkling water, and then stirred it with a straw. It was less than half the calories of regular pop. A can of pop has about 170 calories. The syrup was 40 calories per tablespoon. The kids loved the vanilla flavor... tasted just like cream soda. They weren't so crazy about the raspberry flavor. DH said it was "okay" but he's not convinced it's as good as "regular" pop. Maybe I'll put 3 tablespoons in his next time and then gradually cut back on it? Think he'd go for it? Probably not! Oh, well... if I can convince the kids this is just as good at least I know they aren't ingesting as much sugar... and not the nasty chemicals that artificial sweeteners are made of either!

I thought I could also try mixing concentrated fruit juice with the seltzer water. That should be good. And I even thought of trying to make my own flavored syrup with Kool-Aid powder and corn syrup. Don't know if the two would blend very well or not. When I was a kid you could even buy Coke syrup at the drug store... and root beer extract at the grocery store. Haven't seen either of those for years. But then I haven't asked about them either. I don't know if they would still be available or not. The only advantage I see there, though, would be that you could gradually cut back on the amount you use to cut back on the sugar without having a flat pop. However, the flavor may be too weak to be enjoyable in that case. I think that's why DH wasn't too impressed with the raspberry soda.

Eagle Watch

The lake was beautiful today... but, oh-so-cold! We got to go on an "eagle watch cruise" with the homeschool group to see the bald eagles that feed on spawning fish in the lake this time of year. Fortunately, the boat was enclosed and heated, so we didn't freeze to death! They also served hot chocolate. It was very nice. The kids liked going out on the deck, but they didn't stay out very long at a time because it was really cold. Mist was rising off the water because the water was actually warmer than the air. And the rising mist had frosted the trees. Part of the time it was snowing, and part of the time the sun was shining brightly. We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery!