Sour Slam Wrestling Gum

Back when there was a WCW, there was a WCW themed bubble gum by Amurol called Sour Slam. It came in collectible packs with the tag line "The Squared Circle of Sour!"
It got more sour as it was chewed, wouldn't you?There's a wholesaler serving the inter-mountain west region which still lists Sour Slam Bubble Gum on their candy products list.
Now whatcha gonna do, brother?
See more of my Halloween 2006 photos

Gross and Nostalgic: Ghostbuster's Slimer Bubble Gum

The number of Ghostbusters on State Street this year begs the question, "Were you even born when the movie came out?" And more importantly, "What ever happened to Slimer Bubble Gum?"
Slimer gum was made by the Amurol company around 1988. The Wrigley subsidiary loves to put things in a tube, and uses focus groups made up of kids. Does this explain Butt-Ugly Martians or Checkbook Bubblegum?
Some of their more popular products are Squeeze Pops, Bubble Tape, and Big League Chew.
The closest I got to tubed Slimer was a Yahoo auction for Ghostbusters Slimer Bubble Gum Toothpaste, auction still open.
You could have gotten the whole bathroom set on E-Bay for $10.50 yesterday.
There was so much to say about Slimer Bubble Gum at X-Entertainment in 2003, X-E writer Matt continued his report on the foul stuff here. Check out Matt and Mike's Halloween Countdown 2006.

Sweet Gourd, Dude

Sweet Torta From Gourds

1/2 lb yellow squash
1/2 c milk
8 oz cheddar cheese
2 oz butter
1/4 c sugar
1/8 t ground ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
6 eggs
1/2 c milk
6 threads saffron
1 double 9" pastry shell
2 T sugar
1 T rosewater

Grind your gourds, then boil in milk, and strain when half-cooked. Add cheese, butter, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, six eggs, a little milk, and saffron. Blend. Spoon into pastry shell, and cook over a slow fire. (Invent Fire.) Sprinkle with sugar and rosewater. From Cariadoc's Miscellany, a collection of artcles and recipes, Torta from Gourds.
For more Freakfest 2006 shots, see my flickr photos.

Favorite Holiday Candy

Everyone has probably guessed that Halloween is consistently regarded as the biggest candy holiday. The National Confectioners Association adds that Easter, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day are close behind. The NCA also says 89 percent of adults see candy as playing a role in their winter holidays. It's estimated that Halloween candy sales increase between 1-3 percent every year.
•More than nine billion pieces of candy corn are made each year
•The U.S. spent $2.1 billion on candy during Halloween last year
•90 percent of parents admit to swiping candy from their kid’s bag
•50 percent of kids prefer chocolate for Halloween
•24 percent like non chocolate
•10 percent like gum
•The grosser the gum or candy, the better a kid will like it
•Keep your granola bars and fruit roll-ups to yourself
"You look like a rotten fruit roll-up." --Madea

The Flavor Of Halloween

Poll: What's Your Favorite Holiday Flavor?

What's Your Favorite Holiday Flavor?
	Pumpkin
	Cinnamon Spice
	Peppermint Stick
	Duff
	The Flavor of Love
Free polls from Pollhost.com

It's Begun: Halloween 2006

Freakfest, Horse Plop, Don't Spray Me In The--Arrrggghhh, It Burns!, whatever you want to call Halloween on State Street, it officially began last night. If there's any doubt, take a look at Moses hanging out with one of the Ambiguously Gay Duo at State St. Brats.

Candy Pole Update

Are the experts wrong about
Halloween being
the most popular candy season?
Zagnut Winners:
Leave a comment or send an email

Poll: When Do You Eat The Most Candy?

When Do You Eat The Most Candy?
	Halloween
	Christmas
	Easter
	Mondays
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Score: Zagnuts

What better way to fight a gloomy Monday morning in October than a trip to True Value Hardware. I always said hardware stores and gas stations have the best candy.
And look at what I found. Lookit!
The cashier says they have boxes of the tasty toasted stuff. That I'll never be Zagnut challenged again. Excuse me, I'm getting all verklempt.

Dorn True Value Hardware

1348 N. Midvale Blvd.
Madison, WI 53711
(608) 274-2511
map

Better Than Quidditch?

Find everything you wanted or didn't want to know about the game at Quidditch.com

Sugar Buzz: Cherry Phosphates

Yesterday I had another hankering, this time for a cherry phosphate. You don't see them around much anymore. But you can always count on Ella's to serve you something you can't find anywhere else.
At least not on the eastside.
At some point I'll have to track down the Baraboo soda jerk who claims to make the best phosphates in the country. Another time, another place.
Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this.
Did you know they added a flying Harry Potter to the space junk at Ella's?

Ella's Deli
2902 East Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53704
(608) 241-5291

info@ellas-deli.com

Product Review: Beer and Ice Cream

If you're from WI, you've probably eaten dairy products with many things. So why not with a bottle of Leine's Honey Weiss?
The Products: Kemp's Cookies 'N Scream, Scream Stix, and Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss.
Our Findings: Half the reviewers preferred a chilly bottle of Leine's with the creamy vanilla and chocolate center of a Scream Stix ice cream bar.
The other half snubbed the Stix for the smooth vanilla ice cream and soft chocolate sandwich of Cookies 'N Scream.

Sugar Buzz: The Rolling Pin

The Rolling Pin is a Russian bakery in Fitchburg with hearty soups and an incredible bakery display. It's run by former art teacher and pastry chef Tanya Laiter.
Have you seen a black and white cookie this big?

Danie hadn't. I can't even begin to describe the enormity of their strawberry cream puffs and the detail on some of their cookies.
No cats were fed in the taking of this picture.

The Rolling Pin Bake Shop
2935 South Fish Hatchery Road
Fitchburg, WI 53711
(608) 270-9611

Dogs Eating...Ice Cream

Meet Saki and Sushi.
These two ice cream loving shitzus live in the lap of luxury on Madison's westside.
Saki (black) is the dad and Sushi is his daughter.
They apparently have their own sliver plated ice cream bowls.
Photo from Terry and Sara

Fact vs. Myth: Will Candy Kill My Dog?

Did You Know?
Sugar Free products can be harmful to dogs? This includes sugar free candy, gum, breath mints, and toothpaste that use the sweetener xylitol.
An NBC affliate in Lubbock, TX ran a story on xylitol last week.
And then there was theobromine, a stimulant found in chocolate. It's okay for humans, but can hurt the central nervous and cardiovascular systems of dogs.
Therobromine poisoning is also known as chocolate poisoning.
Things To Consider
•Licking chocolate off a wrapper won't kill your dog
•But, once a dog tastes chocolate, he'll want more
•Dogs can eat mulch made from cacao beans like an addict uses methadone
•Dogs, cats, and other animals cannot metabolize or excrete theobromine
•Reactions can depend on size of dog, amount, and kind of chocolate
•Bakers chocolate, dark chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate are much worse than milk chocolate
•Chocolate can be harmful no matter what it's in, baked goods included
What to Do
Go to/call your emergency pet clinic.
The ASPCA says Guard Against Goulish Goodies.
Photo by Tammi
Sources: Petplace.com, KCBD.com, MSNBC, faqs.org, wikipedia, and the California Academy of Sciences

Dogs Eating Candy: For Heaven's Sake

Now I don't want people thinking we're condoning dogs eating candy. Or ice cream. Or baked goods, or anything with chocolate in it.
Ignore the dog to your left.
A dog cannot digest theobromine, a chemical found in chocolate. Experts say if you have a twenty pound dog, that ten ounces of chocolate will have a toxic effect.
Do the math, then I want a report tomorrow.
The Math
•A bar of Hershey's Milk Chocolate is 43 g
•There are 28.349 grams to an ounce
•One regular sized Hershey's bar = 1.5167803 ounces according to the Mass Conversion Calculator at Interactive Learning Paradigms Incorportated
•Six-and-a-half candy bars are nothing to a dog with a taste for chocolate
•That horse you call a dog would eat candy until he exploded
•What was I saying?
•Have I mentioned that the black cat I used on Friday the 13th came from Hershey's Halloween Clip Art? It's a very nice place for bold, spooky, free clip art. And child friendly.
Source: The California Academy of Sciences, Dog Owner's Digest

Dogs Eating Candy

Meet Sam.
Sam is a cuddly Brittany Spaniel who's living the high life on Madison's eastside.

"Once he got up on the counter, somehow opened up a tupperware container, and ate all of the Christmas cookies from my Aunt Dorothy," says owner, Nanci.
Do you have a dog that's eaten an entire gingerbread Christmas Village?
Send us a photo and story.
Photo sent in by Nanci from The Sam Collection

Consumer Reports For Kids: Halloween Candy

The Great Halloween Candy Taste Test
Consumer Reports 4 kids cut halloween candy into mystery pieces in a blind taste test. What did the little devils like the most? How well did they do at picking out ingredients?
It's fun to take the test yourself. (I got one wrong because I couldn't see the candy wrapper with these glasses.)
CRFK, btw, was first called called Penny Power, then Zillions. NOTE: I had to come back and unlink The Candy Taste Test, Consumer Reports For Kids, and Zillion links in November because they've since been taken down.
The test consisted of kids tasting and identifying popular candy. There was a sample test matching candy by ingredients.
Email Teaching Guide inquires to the Consumer Reports Education Center.

Consumer Reports Education Center
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703

Fall-ing for dessert: Pumpkin Panna Cotta

Inside Bay Area: All You Can Eat
There's something much sweeter than the A's in Oakland this October. An Inside Bay Area blogger finds a bit of heaven in a plate of Pumpkin Panna Cotta, and Executive Chef Lewis Rossman shares his recipe.
Bonus: The Cetrella Bistro and Cafe has a nice bio on the 31-year-old wisk wizard on their Meet The Chef page.
Meanwhile, you can drool over this Fruit Panna Cotta.
Photo from Stockz free stock photos

Utter Bibble: Candy corn sugar buzz

Utter Bibble: Candy corn sugar buzz
Blogger Search turned up this sugar buzzed Madisonian with an eye on Halloween candy and a love for Black Adder.
Bonus: A sound file from Blackadder II in the sidebar.
Find wallpaper, quizes, interviews, and an Episode Guide on the BBC's Blackadder Homepage.

Sugar Buzz: Chocolate Ice Cream Soda

Yesterday I had a hankering for a good old fashioned chocolate soda. Thank heavens there's a place across the street from the Middleton Senior Center that will combine seltzer with chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. You can see how simple it is to make with this Chocolate Soda Recipe from cdkitchen.
The Hubbard Avenue Diner is a nice place for a snack and a visit. Not only is it across the street from the Senior Center, but it shares a parking lot with the Middleton Library. It's a popular lunch spot every day of the week, so it's best to wait until lunch is over if you want to get your favorite table.
There is outdoor seating where I've waited until the cows came home to get service, and the cows never came home.
On this particular day, I was a touch disappointed with their chocolate soda because it had one large scoop of ice cream instead of the promised two. It also had a slightly funny taste. This may have been due to eating it with my cup of chicken vegetable soup, which was delicious. Since this has never been my experience with a chocolate soda there before, I'll be going back to see if they get it right next time.
Meanwhile, keep in mind that the diner is best known for their lovely pies. You can see what they're dishing up if you click Menus on the Hubbard Avenue Diner website.

Babcock Hall Ice Cream

If You Go: Use the handy store hours listed at the bottom of the post instead of driving by randomly. And yes, those are barn animals you hear.

ICE CREAM MENU

Union Utopia

Vanilla with caramel, peanut butter, & fudge swirl
French Vanilla
Vanilla custard
Mudslide~NEW~
Chocolate with coffee, Irish Cream, & caramel swirl
Double Scotch
Butterscotch with butterscotch swirl
Back For S'More~NEW~
Chocolate with chocolate flakes, graham crackers, & marshmallow swirl
Berry Alvarez
Berry with strawberries and raspberries, & blueberry swirl
Wisconsin Cranberry Cheesecake
Cheesecake, with cranberry sauce swirl
Caramel Apple
Vanilla with apple pieces, & caramel swirl
SUPER PREMIUM
Caramel Creek
Vanilla with caramel swirl
Chocolate Turtle
Chocolate with caramel swirl
Badger Blast
Chocolate with chocolate flakes & fudge swirl
Cherries Jubilee
Cherry with port wine cherries
Always On The Menu

ICE CREAM: Blue Moon, Butter Pecan, Vanilla, Stawberry, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Fudge Marble, Mint Chocolate Flake, Coffee Truffle, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Orange Custard Chocolate Chip
SHERBET: Orange, Lemon, Lime, and Raspberry
FROZEN YOGURT: Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry, and Chocolate Chip
ICE CREAM COOKIE SANDWICHES, ICE CREAM PIES
Babcock Hall Dairy Store Menus and More

Babcock Hall Dairy Store
UW Campus
1605 Linden Dr.
Madison, WI 53706-1565
608-262-3045
foodsci@wisc.edu
9:30-5:30pm, Monday-Friday
10:00-1:30pm, Saturday

Free Food Revolution Is Super Sweet

Just up the street from this particular cow, I came across some kids feeding homeless people. I knew something was up because a guy in street-dirty clothes came skipping down the 100 block of State Street telling people they were giving away free pizza.
They looked like your basic UW students, white guy with dreds, cute girl. I think their names were Rob and Anna, and they were dishing up hot meals for hungry people. They work for The Free Food Revolution. The Free Food mission statement is simple:

"We feed the hungry and the homeless in Madison, WI
every Sunday at 3:00 at Mifflin and State Street.
Accepting food donations."

If you get a chance, bring food, see our best hope for a bright future at work. There's usually parking across from the library on Fairchild. The Free Food Revolution Website is up, but under construction.

A Sunday Visit To Twee & Luliloo

A trip downtown Sunday afternoon landed me at Twee & Luliloo, next to the Orpheum Theatre. They're still the best source of salt water taffy outside of the Dells, and have candy events the way wine shops have tastings.

On this visit I bought my first bag of strawberry Kookaburra, got my first taste of salty Dutch licorice, then ate sugar coated cinnamon balls until the flavor of the salty Dutch was just a bad memory.

New favorite candy: Sanded Cinnamon Balls. The sugar dusted hard candy had crackling cinnamon goodness enough to counter the nasty nibs of salty black licorice.
I don't think red Kookaburra can compare in taste to the black, but it grows on you, and has the same just-right chew factor.
Added bonus, the line of Parade cows across the street.

Chocoholics Night Event Information

Chocoholics Night at Twee & Luliloo
608-251-4075
218 State Street
Saturday, Oct. 7, 8-10 pm
Sunday, Oct. 8, 7-9 pm
A Buffet of 50 Chocolates. Milk, Dark, & White
Featuring Raspberry truffles, cocoa bars, chocolate caramels

twee & luliloo