New feature: RWB Roundup

Memorial Day weekend is my second-favorite weekend of the year, and May is my favorite month that is not in the fall.

I went trail running six days this week, and it is such a wonderful time of year for it.

Wild Rose Trail. People have made shortcuts near here, but they are missing the best part of the whole trail!

sego lily

tufted evening primrose, which I think smells like Froot Loops

radio towers above Bonneville Shoreline Trail

Arrowleaf balsamroot

Trail above Wild Rose

Sticky geranium

Death camas

I was surprised this week to find many new signs on the various stretches of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail

Mulesears between Woodbriar and Wild Rose

For my Saturday run, I ran up the new Mahogany Ridge Trail to Rudy's Flat, then down North Canyon. The last time I went all the way up Mahogany Ridge (as opposed to downhill) was on Christmas Eve, and it was much prettier yesterday than in December. I went 9.4 miles, and I'm so hard on myself that I only did nine. And I was happy to use a new Camelbak bladder that didn't leak all over me. (My sister gave it to me when she was getting rid of things three years ago.)

I was dismayed by all the dyer's woad on Mahogany Ridge.

It was so lovely to see all the newly green trees on the mountainside. But the picture doesn't really show it because of the bright sunshine.

Smallflower woodland stars aren't that showy, but it's just charming to see little white stars among the greenery

Mushrooms!

I had some cat encounters this week. Our neighbors' very friendly cat came up to our side door this week and probably would have come in if we had opened the door.

My Friday run barely counted, because I was late because I wanted to get all the patriotic decor up, and I only went 2.2 miles. On the way back, I saw a black cat, and I wanted to pet it. I assume it's the same black cat I've seen in that area before. It let me pet it and even rubbed against my legs until it became more interested in another cat. I adore Reggie, but I do wish he were less afraid of strangers.

And speaking of Reggie, he loves to play with my scriptures when I read them. Here he is using the triple combination as a pillow.

Yesterday, after my long run, I wanted to go to some more independent bookstores for the book crawl. I drove up to Brigham City to visit 3 Goats Gruff, which is a sister store to Book Garden in Bountiful. 

I bought a copy of Carol Lynn Pearson's Goodbye, I Love You, which I have read all about, but I haven't read it itself.

It just so happened that there was a Memorial Day festival going on in Brigham City, right by the bookstore, so I checked out the vendors and walked on Main Street. It wasn't that special, but I was glad that my journey happened to coincide with the festival.

Then I went to Ogden to stop at Chapter and Charm Bookshop, which was a small bookstore devoted to romance novels. I'm surprised there's enough market for so many shops like that! I wasn't interested in anything they had, but I got my map stamped, and I wandered Washington Avenue and stopped at a cupcake shop, Farr Ice Cream, and Walmart. Maybe it's wasteful to do the bookstore crawl, but it's fun to see new places.

***

Memorial Day weekend is when I officially kick off the Fourth of July season, and since this year is a special one, I thought I would document the special patriotic/summer treats that are coming out. I don't think I'll document the more mundane items, like ordinary ice cream cones, but if it's special, it goes here.

These are the flavors I officially list as Fourth of July foods: hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, ice cream, rocket pops, popping candy, lemonade, apple pie, s'mores, and flag cake. And I'm also considering strawberry shortcake, pancakes, baked beans, fried chicken, potato chips, potato salad, and cotton candy.

But here, I'm also going to include other flavors that are specifically made for the Fourth of July. I might not consider them holiday foods, but evidently some people do. 

And I think I've settled on the name red, white, blue roundup, or RWB roundup. So, here's the first installment!

(Note: there are a lot of products that are rocket-pop flavored, which consists of cherry, white lemon or lime, and blue raspberry. I will proceed with my reviews assuming you know that. I think I have only ever encountered two red, white, and blue pops that did not have those flavors [Dairy Queen and Trader Joe's]. Rocket pops are known by a variety of proprietary names, like Bomb Pop, Firecracker, and Blast-Off Pops.)

During the Valentine's season this year, I really enjoyed having coffee creamer in coffee substitutes, Pero and Postum, so I was glad to have cooler days this week to have Chobani S'mores Coffee Creamer in both Pero and Postum. It did have a s'mores-adjacent flavor that cut through the drinks' bitterness. 7/10.

Ice Breakers Ice Cubes Snow Cone Gum has been around a while, and I like it. But they made this flavor into mints in 2021, and I miss them. 7/10.

I did a formal review of Firecracker Pop Oreo, and I'm so happy they exist. They do taste like rocket pops, though they are very sweet. 8/10.

Joyride Sour Ice Pop Strips have less sugar and more fiber than most gummies. The flavor isn't that distinctive, but I like it, especially for the sugar and fiber numbers. The strips stick together, though. (This is just cherry and berry, no lemon.) 7/10.

I'm really happy these Trader Joe's Red, White, and Blue Cookie Bites exist. The colors are made from natural sources. They are flavored cherry, lemon, and raspberry, though I find the flavors hard to detect individually. But I like them, especially for their texture and appearance. 7/10.

Russell Stover American Style Chocolate is a very strange item. I think it's just Dubai chocolate with peanuts instead of pistachios. They even use kataifi pastry. What, exactly, makes this "American style"? But they are enjoyable, though salty. 7/10.

Sockerbit America's Favorite Gummy Mix is another perplexing item. It's Swedish candy, and none of the candies strike me as really American, and how can they be "America's favorite" if I never heard of them? What most surprised me is that the gummies are all different textures. The flowers are marshmallowy; the ones that look like Bandaids are sour; the strawberry is soft, like a gummy cinnamon heart; the worm-like one is like a Trolli gummy. They're fine, but gummies aren't my favorite kind of candy. 6/10.

Special K Summer Blueberry isn't very imaginative, but I do like Special K. It's just what you'd expect. 7/10.

The Trader Joe's Cheeseburger Burrito comes back every summer, and I liked it less than I remember. As you can see, it's very greasy, and nothing about it is very fresh. 5/10.

I have long thought they should make red, white, and blue ice cream sandwiches, so I was happy to try Kroger Red, White & Blue Sandwiches. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. They use frozen dairy dessert, rather than actual ice cream. As I started the cherry flavor, I enjoyed it. But the lemon flavor tasted like dish soap or furniture spray, and the raspberry flavor wasn't much better. 4/10.

Lemonade has a long relationship with the Fourth of July going back at least to the mid-nineteenth century, and I was happy to see Wonder Summer Lemonade Mini Donuts. You all know those mini powdered donuts, and these are the same with a nice lemon flavor. 7/10.

Gatorade All-American Mashups doesn't indicate the flavor on the bottle, but apparently it's mango passionfruit. I don't know how that's "all-American." I enjoy the flavor, but I mostly detect passionfruit, and it strikes me as very sweet. 7/10.

I have long stayed away from sparkling water, because is it too close to soda, which I pride myself on not drinking? But after having some in New Mexico last fall, I decided it's not soda. I've seen Bubly Melted Ice Pop Sparkling Water before, but I haven't had it. And it really does have the flavors of an ice pop! But, of course, don't expect it to be as sweet as soda. 7/10.

I got these US of Yay Gummies at Winco, but I think the company makes these candies and sells them to various retailers. They have USA, sunglasses, stars, and ice cream cones. They're pretty generic. 5/10.

I have a formal review of Root Beer Float Cinnamon Toast Crunch coming up. It really tastes like root beer, and the root beer flavor doesn't clash with the CTC! 8/10.

Fireworks Berry Creme Pretzel Crisps is another item that is weird on paper. It has popping candy. But I really enjoy them! Candy-coated pretzels are great. The popping candy isn't very poppy, but I appreciate the effort. 8/10.

Great Value Apple Pie Crème Cookies are pretty much what you expect from an off-brand sandwich cookie. They're pretty sweet. They taste like fall to me, and that's part of why I resisted counting apple pie as a Fourth of July flavor until 2021. 7/10.

Nice! Gummy Ice Pop Crystal Candies are the Walgreens brand, and they are a strange little candy. They do have a distinctive ice pop flavor, but it's a little weird. The texture is both gummy and crunchy. 5/10.

Drizzilicious Birthday Cake Bites exist in a nonpatriotic version, but I appreciate the effort to commemorate America250. I'm surprised mini rice cakes are a thing, but they're surprisingly good. 7/10.

I don't know whether Drizzilicious S'mores Bites are seasonal or not, but I count it as a seasonal flavor. They do have a nice graham flavor. 7/10.

I am perplexed by Favorite Day Peelable Sweet Corn Gummy Candy. First of all, I have never found peelable candy to be all that peelable, so I don't get why it's apeeling. This candy does taste like corn. Is that something you want? It seems a little buttery to me. It's just a little off-putting. 4/10.

Garrett Birthday Cake Popcorn is nothing special, but I like it. 7/10.

Star-Spangled Flag Jonny Pops aren't as pretty in real life as they are on the box. I praise their ingenuity, but the little layers make it hard to detect individual flavors. The worst problem, though, is that these are not soft popsicles. It almost has the texture of an icicle, rather than the soft, breakable texture of Bomb Pops.

Most of this year's red, white, and blue products are marketed either for America or FIFA, so it's surprising to find one for WWE. Red, White, and Blueberry Drumsticks have cherry frozen dairy dessert, blueberry filling, and a white coating with crisp rice. I was underwhelmed at first, but the blueberry filling really added to the flavor, and I liked the end with the chocolate in the cone. 7/10.