The Musings of Brian Groce

I must admit that the competitive eating circuit intrigues me a bit (and sort of disgusts me at the same time).

With that said, I am happy to see Major League Eater Joey Chestnut beat reigning champion Takeru Kobayashi AND set a new hot dog record (66 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes) in the 2007 Nathan’s 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. (Apparently Kobayashi had a “reversal of fortune” but was credited with 63 hot dogs.)

How gluttony became a sport AND entertainment is beyond me, but I must say that I’d prefer to watch that over any reality program.

[Photo courtesy of and copyright held by Chris Chin -- Thank you, thank you, thank you!]

Don’t you love the “new” shape of Trix?

If either of these were your first thought, you’re showing your age a bit…

1. What new shape? Are they a different size or something?
2. The old (round) shape is now the “new” shape?

As a kid in the 80’s and early 90’s I loved Trix and ate them all of the time, but when they went to their “new” shapes back in 1992 (fruit shapes like berries and bananas) I stopped eating them because they just didn’t taste the same (even though they claimed they did).

So, while at the grocery store a few weeks ago I spotted a box of Trix that stated “New Shape! Same Great Taste!”. Noticing that the “new” shape was the old round shape, I had to pick up a box to see if the “new” shape also had the same “new” taste of fifteen years prior. To my delight, the old Trix are indeed back and I downed a box myself in a week.

My guess is that some Gen-Xer got into General Mills and convinced them that the way it used to be was indeed better and thus the old shape was back in. And if that is the case, I’d like to know who it was and to thank them personally.

As far as the taste goes, is is possible that they are indeed using the exact same recipe but that the shape and texture determines how we perceive the taste? I know that there are certain textures of foods that I can’t stand (like tapioca), so maybe that is the case. Oh, and color wise, I think that they are still a bit brighter than the previous round shape, but I don’t have a picture of the old ones to prove that.

Bottom line, don’t mess with a good thing and don’t mess with my Trix again! Sometimes you just need to relive those kinds of childhood memories.

Who hasn’t been disappointed with food that looks great in an advertisement, yet doesn’t quite live up to expectations? Well, this pictorial page confirms what we already knew about the look of the food.

Now if only there were a way to do the same thing with the taste of the food…as my least “favorite” restaurant says, “Everyone Deserves a Good Meal.” Now if only they (and many others) could only deliver on that promise the world would be a better place.

Luckily Yats! never disappoints and I’m salivating at the thought as I type this. It may not be “pretty”, but boy do they have some fine Cajun/Creole food at an excellent price.

Oh, and did I mention that I’m not typically a “picky eater”? I’ll try most anything (reasonable) at least once, with the exception of the non-starchy vegetables, and I actively seek out non-chain eateries. I think I’ll have to blog my list of local eats some day. Until then, parents, don’t let your children eat crappy food. And please don’t subject your friends and family to it either. That just wouldn’t be nice.

Apparently my oldest son really likes Marshmallow Peeps heads…

…either that, or they looked at him funny.

I was recently over at a friends house and we decided that we wanted to make some nachos, but all of the ingredients were not on hand. So we hopped in his car and he headed to a certain foreign based discount supermarket chain. While not my first choice (or any choice at all) for purchasing meat, I did find the signage interesting.

Above the ground beef it said:

80% Fresh Ground Beef

At this point I’m pleading with him to at least get the 97% Fresh Ground Beef, as it would be easier to stomach 3% of whatever the non-fresh ground beef consisted of. I’m standing there thinking, out loud of course, what in the world could that 3 or 20 % consist of. In a “regular” grocery store that would often refer to the amount of fat in the beef (97% lean for example), but was that the case here. Of course, I wasn’t going to take the time to actually read the label and my mind began on a journey of its own.

Was the other part rancid ground beef? I’d heard of such practices before with meat and dairy. Maybe it was ground turkey or pork? Maybe it was soy? Or maybe it was something else entirely? I don’t know, but I wondered and I was praying for it to be fat. Juicy, greasy, slimy cow fat.

So we got back and made the nachos and they tasted okay and I don’t believe that any of us got sick from it. But maybe we were the lucky ones and someone else walked away with our portion of “other”. Again, I don’t know and didn’t care to read the label.

Other than that, I will say to stay away from the generic Swiss Cake Rolls/Ho Hos and to spend an extra quarter or two for the real thing. You’ll thank me for it later, trust me.