Sunday, December 25, 2016

Another Christmas

The last time my weekly Sunday blog post fell on Christmas was in 2011. It's a nice way to wrap up the yuletide season, playing Christmas music while reflecting on what has happened. (I guess if we really celebrated Yule, or Giuli as it was known in the 700s, it would still be the beginning.)

This year, I put up a lot of lights, although some of them I didn't get up until pretty late in the season. And most of them are inside the house. I don't really feel safe putting lights up on our exceedingly high roof. but many lights are in our windows. I always like turning out the regular lights and seeing how bright the other lights are. Our living room is especially bright. (But these are still dark enough that you can't entirely tell how unstraightened the house is.)

The family room with our pink tree

The exercise room

The other exercise room/office

The stairwell and living room, with my little live tree

The living room

The dining room

The garage, the only outside lights. Oh, we also had a thing on the fence, but I forgot to take a picture.

My bedroom
I didn't have to work on December 23, so that was a nice break. That meant that on December 22, I could be out late, and I went to my weekly tutoring. Only one kid was there, but I helped him with point-slope formula. It was sad without Camille there, the one in charge of the tutoring, since she's still in the hospital. (If you are a drunk driver reading this, I hate you.) Then I went to Walmart downtown, since I was there, and since I have begun my search for the next item I'm reviewing for The Impulsive Buy, and since I had a few Christmas items to buy. It seemed that all the lines were going slow, but I can't imagine any of them were as slow as the one I was in. I was literally in line for thirty minutes. I think the cashier was new. As I was handing her my reusable bag, I had two in my hand, but I only needed to give her one, so I was trying to make sure she only got one. But she was trying to make a joke and said, "Thank you for giving me your bags!" as though I had gifted her the bags. But I didn't get it. It was really awkward, partly because I'm really awkward, but partly because it was a weird situation. (What kind of joke is that?) I was glad to get out of there. I spent more time in line than I did shopping.

I did lots of cooking on Friday. I tried to make a carrot and quinoa rรถsti--it didn't stick together like it should have, but it was very tasty. Probably from all the butter.
I had to boil the carrots, and I saved the water to use for vegetable stock. I was surprised to find it was green! In September we had pink juice from green grapes--why do green things yield pink, and orange things yield green?

When I was in high school, I began a tradition of watching all of my holiday shows every year, with a designated show per day. This year, I decided not to do that anymore (I was getting tired of some of them), and of all the shows I own, I only watched one, Arthur Christmas, which I bought only recently and which I hadn't seen since it was in theaters five years ago. I think it's a brilliant premise, but the execution of it has some flaws. Since I only watch terrible 1960s sitcoms, I was able to catch the Christmas episodes of My Mother the Car (yes, really) and The Monkees.

Then we had a bit of an unusual Christmas day. I don't remember such a snowy Christmas! It's nice that after a few years of dry Christmases, these last three have been white. Wait--what am I talking about!? I'm liking snow less and less! Christmas has a way of romanticizing bad things.

I went to my home ward for Christmas, and then my YSA ward was cancelled for snow, but I wouldn't have gone anyway, just for time's sake. Then we had to wait around for my sister and niece to come over to open presents. I got a little herb garden, which should be nice if I can actually grow anything (I was lacking chives for the carrot dish), since it seems wasteful buying herbs and letting them rot in the fridge. (Oh yeah, that was another thing I did on Christmas Eve, cleaned out the fridge. Moldy Brussels sprouts made it smell bad.) I also got an Amazon Echo, a fun device I can talk to. I still have to figure out how to get it to do everything I want, but it's been amusing.

I also gave a sequin blanket, a Nauvoo Temple "Lego" set, a KitchenAid spiralizer, and a few books.

It's been a merry Christmas. But an unusual one.

***
This will be the last installment for pumpkinundation roundup. I mean, I can still eat pumpkin things this week, but I don't want to spend New Year's Day writing about it. I don't know whether or not this will return next year, as The Impulsive Buy is sort of filling that niche. We'll see.

This week has two weeks worth of pumpkin, gingerbread, peppermint, eggnog, etc. things, since I didn't want to detract from last week's content.

 I tried this Torani peppermint syrup in hot chocolate, but I think peppermint's so easy to do that this syrup isn't worth it. 3/5. (I much prefer Stephen's Candy Cane Hot Cocoa, which I forgot to take a picture of. My dad said it was "sugar cane" flavored! 5/5.)

 I had this Yogurtland white chocolate peppermint yogurt, which is branded with Trolls, which are hideous to me (and I collected Trolls as a kid!). It tasted like yogurt. It didn't seem very minty or white chocolatey to me. 3/5.

 A few days after Christmas in 2005, I said they should make candy cane Tootsie Roll Pops. My mom said they did. So in 2006, I had them, and I've loved them since then. These Candy Cane Tootsie Pop Drops are the same thing, only smaller and without a stick. The peppermint is good, but I like the bigger Tootsie Roll in the regular Pops better. 4/5.

 For a pumpkin item, I had this Winder Farms Pumpkin Spice Egg Nog. It's some of the best eggnog I've ever had. I don't know if that's because of the brand or because of pumpkin spice. 5/5.

 At tutoring, the couple in charge brought these gingerbread bars. They were good, with the familiar molasses gingerbread taste. 4/5.

 I had a Roxberry Peppermint Kiss smoothie. It wasn't terribly minty, but it was good. 4/5.

 These Iced Gingerbread Clif Bars mostly taste like Clif Bars in general, but there is definitely some molasses in there. 3.5/5.

 This Eclipse Candy Cane Peppermint gum tastes like toothpaste. There's nothing wrong with that in gum, but it's supposed to taste like candy mint, not dental mint. The Trident kind is better. 3.5/5.

 I tried this So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk. I've liked it less as I've had more. It's intriguing, but the texture's a little weird. Definitely chocolate mint though. 3.5/5.

 I bought this Franz Gingerbread Streusel bread. It tastes very much like gingerbread, with molasses and spices. But it's less sweet than I would like. 4/5.

 Chocolate Candy Cane & Pretzel Goldfish are one of the more random items I've had. The chocolate bits are standard chocolate graham fare, with a bit of a minty flavor. I'm not sure why they included the pretzels. It's not a bad combo, but I don't think it makes the chocolate any better. So weird. 3.5/5.

 I loved the pumpkin cheesecake version of this gum, so I thought I'd try the Project 7 Gingerbread Snap Gourmet. They nailed the pumpkin cheesecake flavor, but not gingerbread, which seemed more cheesecakey to me. Still good in its own way, though. 3.5/5.

 I first had this Holiday Sprinkles Cookie Crisp last year. It's supposed to be like sugar cookies. It's good but not great. 3.5/5.

 My mom got these Peppermint Fat Boy Ice Cream Sandwiches. The peppermint isn't overwhelming, so these are pretty similar to plain ice cream sandwiches. That's not a bad thing. 5/5.

 I found this gingerbread cookie recipe via Pinterest, but I don't know if I could find it again. They were amazing. They're a little crispy, but still chewy. 5/5.

 You guys convinced me that pumpkin pie is a Christmas dessert, so I made one. Back in October, I pureed a fresh pumpkin, then froze it. It was weird to thaw it in December, because it smelled like Halloween. I accidentally used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk, but it turned out great. 5/5.

 It was even better than Chuck-A-Rama pumpkin pie (on the right), though it's hard to do pumpkin pie wrong. 4.5/5. They also had a white cake with some small peppermint pieces on top (on the left), which was OK. 4/5.

 I remember having these Hershey's Chocolate Mint Candy Canes at my Melville grandparents' when I was a kid. Chocolate and mint are a great combination, but chocolate never does well in hard candy. 3/5.

 I love making wassail on Christmas Eve with apple and orange juice, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, nutmeg, and other things floating in it. 5/5.

 I got these Sweet's Eggnog Taffys in my stocking. I know it's Sweet's because I've had them before. They do taste reminiscent of eggnog. 4/5.

 I told my mom this candy cane tasted like coffee, but she told me there weren't any coffee ones (there were three flavors in the box). She thought Brach's Caramel Macchiato Candy Canes were cherry flavored. (She was obviously thinking "maraschino.") These are even made with coffee. I don't drink coffee, so I don't think I can fairly judge them, but 3/5. I ate it all before I found the box and learned it really was coffee.

Then I made cranberry orange crisp for Christmas. Cranberry-orange is an underused Christmas combo, I think. I liked it, but I've made better fruit crisps. 4/5.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Get a designated driver, or kindly die.

I know 'tis the season of peace on earth, good will toward men and all that, but I'm finding myself full of frustration, anger, and hatred. One of my friends was critically injured by a drunk driver this weekend. This is a girl from the east coast who has had a hard time adjusting to the social scene, weather, and general atmosphere of Utah--and then she gets hit by a drunk driver. It's maddening.

It sounds like after a period of recovery, eventually she will be OK. There could be worse outcomes. But there could be better outcomes when it comes to drunk drivers.

The best option is for DUIs not to happen at all, that those who drink will get a taxi or have a designated driver. Or that they don't drink at all. This one happens all the time, fortunately.

The second best option is that the drunk driver drives into a ditch or something, or that they get arrested, and it shames them so that they turn their lives around and don't do it again. Like Michael Phelps.

The third best option is that the drunk driver crashes and dies. If they think it's OK to drink and drive, and if someone has to die, it had better be the one doing the reckless behavior. Far too often, though, the drunk driver is just fine, while the innocent bystander is the one who is injured (like my friend) or killed. On the rare occasions when I see that the drunk driver is seriously injured or killed, I am relieved and think "Good riddance." My sister has said you can't be happy about it, because it's someone's brother or daughter or something. It's tragic either way, but I think I would rather have a dead relative than a murderous one.

I get very impatient with people who do bad things. I don't know about you, but I have gotten through life just fine without ever drinking and driving, robbing people, using or selling drugs, or murdering. When people do these things, I hope something happens to them that makes their lives miserable. Then it occurred to me that people are probably doing these things because they already have miserable lives.

I have tried to be a bit more compassionate to those who make mistakes. But please let me indulge in some malicious wishes for things that happen to drunk drivers:

  • If we lived in a wizarding world, and if someone drove with an open container, I would hope the alcohol would become sentient and grow into a monster. The liquidy monster would develop limbs that would safely drive the car off the road, then take the driver out of the car and eat them alive.
  • This is an idea I got from a dream once. Put handcuffs on the person, then attach a chain to the handcuffs, and then attach the other end of the chain to a train. Then have the train take off.
  • Have their eyes gouged out so they can never drive again, and their fingers or hands chopped off so they can never hold a drink again.
  • Years ago, my brother proposed this idea. If someone drives home drunk, they must not exceed 25 mph, and they must put a green light on their car to indicate to other drivers that they are driving slow and drunk. And if they exceed 25 mph, or if they fail to put the green light on, they will be executed. I like this idea, especially the execution part.
  • Tell them it would be better if they'd never been born.
  • This is the most realistic and charitable: Make more severe legal penalties for drinking and driving. Too many people get a DUI and then are back on the road again soon. They should be charged almost with first-degree felonies and have bail denied. For real. And then they must get help for their alcoholism, with more penalties for not doing so.
A few years ago, there was a news story of a woman who was driving drunk, and the police tried to pull her over, but instead she sped off. So they spiked all her tires, and she was still driving off! So then they blocked her car in with multiple police vehicles, and she was still trying to get away! So one officer shot her, and she lost her eye. Some people, including the drunk woman, later thought it was an incidence of police brutality. But when the police literally did every nonviolent thing they could to prevent her from going off and killing some innocent bystander, what did they expect them to do? If she was being so reckless, she deserves to have one eye. She deserves to have no eyes!

I understand that the vast majority of alcohol use does not end up in drunk driving. But by its very definition, all drunk driving begins with alcohol. I want to foster a culture where alcohol is not viewed favorably, just as cigarettes are increasingly less acceptable. I'm not saying we should bring back Prohibition or tell people not to drink or even not sell alcohol (though personally, if I owned a store, I would not sell alcohol, because I wouldn't want DUI deaths on my conscience). I just want to make it so that people choose for themselves that they don't want or need to drink.

Much of what I have said in this post has been emotionally charged (obviously) and hyperbolic. But I just hope that in my little corner of the internet, I can make people realize how uncool and unacceptable it truly is to drink and drive. I want people to have guilt trips to make better decisions and vow never to do it.

But if you have a tendency to drink and drive, and you think it is OK, and you have no intention to change, then it would be better if you were dead.

And I say that with zero hyperbole.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

The Five Senses of Christmas

Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday, but I've found that there are two parts to every holiday: the day itself, and the season leading up to the day.

In my mind, Thanksgiving steals the show for the day itself. A relaxing autumn day full of lots of food and gathering? Sign me up!

But as far as the season goes, Christmas blows every other holiday out of the water. You may get a few Irish concerts in March and corn mazes in October, but no other holiday has as many things going on as Christmas. Christmas has all the decorations. Christmas has multiple radio stations playing nothing but Christmas songs for a month (or more) straight. The next closest thing to that is you might hear "Thriller" or "The Monster Mash" the week leading to Halloween if you're lucky, but certainly not all day, let alone all month. I don't find myself with the same zeal for Christmas treats as I do for the other holidays, simply because they're so abundant that they're not as special. If I see a special Fourth of July candy, I will buy it, but I have too many choices at Christmas. (That said, peppermint and eggnog are probably my very favorite seasonal flavors. See the pumpkinundation roundup at the end of the post.)

And because Christmas is the best, fullest holiday season, it's a very sensory experience. (The next most sensory holiday I can think of is the Fourth of July, with its Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! and the scent of gunpowder.) I was able to experience Christmas through all five senses this week.

Touch. I guess this one's less memorable, but it has been cold, and I've touched plenty of cold things this week. Also, I love wearing wool sweaters.

Sight. We have many boxes of Christmas items, though we don't usually put up all of them. We should get rid of some. But we have lots of lights, and I love putting them up in windows and on trees. We have several trees, including one in my room, and it's so pleasant putting lights on them. I've been using the one in my room as a bedside lamp to write in my journal. I still have to put out our pink tree and some other lights and things.

Smell. This one has me the happiest! This week, I bought a real wreath. It's the first real wreath we've had since 2002. (Unless you count that fake one I made with some junky old branches on my mission, and it didn't even smell.) We hung it on the wall over our piano. It fills me with such joy to sit at the piano and plunk out Christmas tunes with the piney scent taking me back to Christmases of the past, visiting my grandparents with their real Christmas tree.
And then, I got even crazier. Even though we already have several artificial trees set up, I bought a real one! It's only like three feet tall, but it still smells like Christmas. We haven't had one in our house since 1993. (In 2013, my wannabe hipster roommate had a real tree set up in our apartment. He loved Christmas. But then he became too cool for us and quit talking to us. So my memories of him are tainted, even though he was great at Christmastime.) But I still have to decorate and set up this real tree.

Hearing. I collect music for every holiday, but I have way more for Christmas than for all the others combined. My master Christmas playlist is at more than 1,000 songs. (I've been pleasantly surprised with the Provo United Way Christmas CDs, the proceeds of which all go to charity. No, really, there's something for everyone on them.) But I was able to go to two live Christmas concerts this week.

On Friday, I went to see the Lower Lights. It was our third year going to their Christmas concert. They are a folk/bluegrass/other ensemble consisting of many local musicians who have individual music careers. Their shows are so fun. When the banjos, mandolins, and drums get going, there is a tremendous energy in the hall, and they have such an enjoyable stage presence. I highly recommend them. In 2014, our first year, their concert was in the Masonic temple, which was interesting but inconvenient. Kingsbury Hall is a much better venue. I got great seats, but I bought them back in August.

The second concert was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...and it wasn't as good.
Now, don't get me wrong, it was good quality and they put in a lot of work. The decorations were beautiful and the lifesize camel puppets were impressive. But choral music isn't the most exciting genre. Even worse, the guest artist, Rolando Villazon, is an opera singer. I think the only people who like opera are music snobs who have been told they should like it. No one else does. They're just afraid to say so because they don't want to seem unsophisticated. It's very much an Emperor's New Clothes situation. At least he was better than Deborah Voigt from 2013. Last year's was better, because the main artist (Laura Osnes) was a Broadway star, and the operatic guests sang Baroque songs. Operatic doesn't work well in the Great American Songbook, which these MoTab guests tend to do. Also, they always tell stories at these concerts, and they usually do true stories. This year was The Little Match Girl. I'm fine with fictional stories, I guess, but of all the fictional ones they could do, that's what they chose? Really?? A story where a girl has visions before freezing to death!?

Taste. Please see pumpkinundation roundup below.

In a little over a month, it will be the Valentine season. That's the emptiest of all holiday seasons. So I'm enjoying Christmas while I can.

***
As long as this roundup includes at least one pumpkin item, it's still pumpkinundation roundup.

 Kneaders gave me a cylops Kneaders gingerbread man. It was soft and spicy. I liked it. 5/5.

 This Karl Fazer Peppermint Crisp Milk Chocolate bar is a Finnish chocolate. Everyone raves about European chocolate, and while it is good, I'm an American, and I like American chocolate. European is good too, but I don't think it's better, just different. I got this at Pop'n'Sweets in City Creek; it was the only Christmassy item they had (and I don't think it was even meant for Christmas). There's a little bit of a crunch, but I don't find it terribly minty. 4/5.

 The See's Cinnamon Lollypops are made just for Christmas. They're a good offering, but not as good as the mint ones. 4/5.

 This is a Parsons Bakery gingerbread man. It's crisper and gingerier than the Kneaders one. Also cuter. 5/5.

 Baskin-Robbins eggnog ice cream is the yellowest eggnog item I've had. Also probably the tastiest. 5/5.

 This is a Chick-fil-A peppermint chocolate chip milkshake. They asked if I wanted whipped cream and a cherry on top, and I said yes, but they still didn't give it to me! I was ripped off! It's hard to do mint wrong, but this one was probably the best I've had. 5/5.

 Holiday Mint M&Ms have been part of my Christmas since elementary school, though they used to be called just "Mint M&Ms" and they were the size of regular M&Ms. I miss that size. Back then, these were the only seasonal M&M flavor. 5/5.


 Using Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook, I made gingerbread pancakes. They're pancakes with molasses and spices. Since they were made from scratch, the texture was amazing, and the flavor was subtle yet present. Definitely making these again. 5/5.

 My one pumpkin item: Atlantis Burger Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Shake. I've had these at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, going back as early as 2011. (Not every year and not for every holiday in the year.) I always feel guilty eating these before Christmas, though, because the flavor is all eggnog. I don't taste any pumpkin at all. But it's good as eggnog. 5/5.

 Then I had a Roxberry NogNog Smoothie. I had seen a picture earlier in the day that made me paranoid, since I had already had the previous shake, but I was fine. It tasted like eggnog, but in a smoothie. 5/5.

 Cranberry is a lesser-used Christmas flavor, so these Thomas Cranberry English Muffins are a refreshing change. I don't love cranberries or English Muffins, but together they're great for some reason. These are better than the pumpkin ones. They're soft, and there's just enough tartness with the sweet. 4/5.

And then I think of this Hershey's Candy Cane Bar when people ask me what my favorite candy bar is. It's a minty white chocolate with sprinkles in it. It's very good, way better than the candy corn one. 4.5/5.

Also, see my review of Andes Mint Cookie Crunch Thins.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

The snow lay on the ground

I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for Christmas, nobody would like December. Christmas has a way of romanticizing everything it touches. Shoveling snow is not a chore when I have Christmas music playing from my phone. Snow is gorgeous at Christmastime. I look forward to wearing warm sweaters at Christmas.

But come January, I'm like, "UGH. I have to shovel the driveway again? Will the snow EVER melt? This coat is so restricting."

And sadly, the snow we have had this week with the end of November and the beginning of December has been reminiscent of January. I hate January. But one of the things that's depressing about January is that Christmas is over, so it's ridiculous for me to feel sad about Christmas being over when it's Christmastime right now!

I had my first review posted on The Impulsive Buy. Then I spent Tuesday evening running around to seven different stores to find the next item I'm reviewing. I found it on Wednesday. That review should be up soon, I think.

Lots of people engaged in service on December 1, and as the day was coming up, I thought, "I'm usually pretty busy. Will I have time to do something?" Then I thought, "DUH. I'll be busy doing what I do every Thursday, which is service--helping tutor high school kids." Sometimes I don't feel very useful, but this week I felt needed, and it was good to get a refresher on polynomial division.

Sometimes I get inexplicably sad. On Friday, I was sitting at Kneaders, all by myself, stuffing my face with cake, the frosting smearing on my face, and I suddenly got depressed. Is this what twenty-eight years of living has amounted to?

On Saturday, after attending the Festival of Trees, I ran to the Bountiful Temple again, and ran 10.5 miles, a new record. Around the temple, the houses have pictures and scriptures of the Christmas story, and the copyeditor in me couldn't help critique the signs: "You're missing a space. You used hyphens in the ranges, not en dashes, though I don't care about that. It's 'brought forth,' not 'brought fourth.'" They're not major problems, but it looks like they spent a lot of time and money on the signs, so they should have been more careful.

My hands were pretty cold. I wore gloves with grips so I could carry a water bottle, but they weren't warm. I have found gloves to be the single most important piece of cold-weather running apparel. When I see someone running with pants, jacket, and hat but with bare hands, I think, "You're doing it wrong!" My knees are also sore--trails are easier on the joints, but they're all covered in snow. I need to stay in shape for that moment the glacier lilies pop their upside-down heads out, signalling the return of trail season.

Then I came home and made fennel soup. I had never had fennel before. It kind of blew my mind.
I used the bulbs in the soup, but I tried a few of the stalks. They have the texture of celery, but they taste like licorice! The soup was good, but it didn't taste like licorice. (The soup had onions in it, and as I'm currently fasting, I'm craving cooked onions. I hated onions until I came to appreciate cooked ones. How can people like raw ones?!)

A week after Thanksgiving, we finally got our tree up. I like putting the lights on. My dad hates it and he does a horrible job, so everyone wins when I do it.

Sorry this was a little scattered. I guess I don't really have a terribly interesting life. 

***
I had kind of decided I would only do another pumpkinundation roundup if I had more pumpkin items, which barely happened this week. Peppermint, gingerbread, and eggnog are the dominant flavors now.

 I love these Ice Breakers Candy Cane Mints. They have a great refreshing, minty flavor, and they're festive. 5/5.

 I actually got these Candy Cane Tic Tacs last year but didn't finish them before Christmas ended, so I still had them. (They come in bigger containers now.) I appreciate the effort, but there's an unusual minty flavor in them that is not reminiscent of candy canes. It's more like Fresh Mint Tic Tacs. The Icebreakers actually freshen breath, but these don't. 3/5.

 Again, I got these Candy Cane Pop Rocks last year but didn't finish them. Peppermint/candy cane is one of those flavors that is easy to do, but these taste nothing like it. They have the colors, but not the flavor. But I guess Pop Rocks are about the texture, not the flavor. 3/5.

 Here's the thing about sugar cookies. For most holidays, it is only the shape and color that makes them seasonal, and I prefer unique flavors. For Christmas, though, they are iconic to the holiday, as long as they are appropriately festive. Therefore, I tend to avoid Kneaders sugar cookies at most holidays--except for the Fourth of July and Pioneer Day, when they're the only seasonal desserts they have, and Christmas, when they are iconic. Kneaders does many things very well, but their sugar cookies are sub-par. These Santa ones have more toppings than usual, with sprinkle beard, chocolate chip eyes, and cinnamon candy nose. Most of them have a marshmallow for the little puff at the end of the hat, but I got cheated out of a marshmallow. 4/5.

 I only had enough calories for a mini Dairy Queen Candy Cane Oreo Blizzard. It was like two Blizzards in one--the bites with candy cane tasted like candy cane, and the bites with Oreo tasted like Oreo. I didn't think I could really taste both at the same time. Still good though. 5/5.

 I got to have three flavors of ice cream and custard at Farr's Fresh Cafe: Farr's sugar cookie, peppermint, and eggnog ice cream. I thought the sugar cookie and eggnog tasted pretty similar. The peppermint was a little minty, but not terribly so. 5/5.

 I first had Sugar Cookie Pop-Tarts in 2013, and I've had them every year since then. They have fun pictures on the front, and the filling is like sugar cookie dough. These are my very favorite Pop-Tart. 5/5.

 I forgot to take a picture when my Arctic Circle candy cane shake was mostly full. It's covered with red and green mint candies. I think they keep their pieces too big, so they stick to my teeth and I spend half my time crunching the mints. Still refreshing and tasty. 4.5/5.

 These Gingerbread Larabars are definitely better than the pumpkin pie ones, but I didn't find them that different from Larabars in general. 3.5/5.

 I know some people use chocolate milk as a post-workout recovery drink, but I consider it off limits. I do miss it sometimes, so I was delighted they had this TruMoo Chocolate Peppermint Milk. It's mostly chocolate milk, but it has a hint of a minty flavor. 5/5.

 I was eating this Kneaders peppermint chocolate cake when I suddenly became depressed. Would people judge me for sitting by myself, eating giant bites of this unhealthy thing, with the minty whipped topping getting on my face? I would have preferred it the way they used to have it, as a slice of cake rather than an individual cake, but this change wasn't as different as it was for the pumpkin cake.  It's just chocolate cake with a light minty topping and filling. 4/5.

 I like these Trident Layers Candy Cane gum. Very minty. 4/5.

 Twinkie-wise, I didn't miss Hostess when they went out of business in 2012. But since they've been back, they've done lots of holiday themes, so I'm glad they went under if this is the way they came back! The last Twinkies I had were their patriotic ones, which were boring. These White Peppermint Twinkies have a coating on them. They have a light minty flavor, which I liked. They also had little sugar crystals, which made it a little crunchy. I didn't like that. 4/5.

 My favorite place to eat Clif Bars is up on a mountain, but at this time of year I have to settle for grabbing one before a long street run. These Hot Chocolate Clif Bars taste like a standard chocolate flavor; I don't know what makes it "hot." I like the year-round chocolate brownie ones better. 3.5/5.

Then here's the one pumpkin item for the week: Torani Pumpkin Pie Flavored Syrup. I put it in hot chocolate, but I didn't know how much to add, so I didn't taste it at first. I kept adding more as I drank more. The bottom of the mug had a bit of a baked good flavor to it, but I wouldn't call it pumpkin pie. But to be fair, I'd have to try this again with more of the syrup in it. 3/5.

And then, since I ran ten miles yesterday, I could freely eat a FatBoy Eggnog Ice Cream Sandwich. They have kind of a graham sandwich, and the ice cream really tastes like eggnog. It's hard to do eggnog ice cream wrong. 5/5.