Filler Up

Although it's better to give than to receive, the Easter basket I remember most was one my Godmother gave me almost 20 years ago. It was made of solid James J. mint chocolate and filled with chocolate and Easter candy. I love it when things that are made of chocolate are filled with more chocolate.
If you're thinking that I'm the one you want to make your Easter basket, on most days perhaps, but today I was taken by the notion of cinnamon popcorn and Hot Tamales in Easter grass; here's what I came up with (notice the Hubba Bubba Glop, the Hot Tamales are underneath).

But I love shopping for sweets, sweets and electronics. I'd already filled an Easter basket with scrumptious Tarjé treats (their baskets are also amusing, I got this one for my cousin) that were a lot more traditional than what I have in store for my nephews.

✔Cocktail Weanies and Meatball bubble gum
✔Gummy Maggots
✔A Box of Boogers
✔Rock, Paper, Scissors Candy
✔Pooping Bunnies
✔ Chocka Ca-Ca
✔Zit Poppers
✔Bacon Flavored Toothpicks
As for me, I'm eating cinnamon popcorn and Hot Tamales right now, and although my basket will be filled with popcorn, theirs will contain Ratz-Riffic.

Which leads me to the Q:
What Would I Like In My Easter Basket?
And the A:
Rural Route 1 Popcorn (and Hot Tamales)

Here is *Cindy from the RR1 retail store in Montfort filling up one of the buckets I'm gorging myself on now.

That refill bucket (refills are .70 and .50 cents off) once held the ambrosial Cherry Cheesecake popcorn. Not to fear, I got an even larger bucket this time.
Cherry Cheesecake popcorn is cheesecake flavored white fudge popcorn with cherry Jelly Belly beans—see previous post. It is truly one of the best flavors I have ever had and I could NOT stop eating it to the point I had to leave it with my cousin (also on a diet) when I became the bloated tick that I now am.

I have loved candy in my popcorn for many years. My favorites are the standard Milk Duds and buttered corn, and Jujy Fruits with salty white. From this day on I vow to put jelly beans in my popcorn too.
Rural Route 1 rivals two of my favorite popcorn outlets (neither of which exist today, so the winner is...) and makes my all time favorite popping corn.
If you live in the Madison area, just hop on hwy 18 headed for Verona and keep going west until you hit Montfort, home of many windmills.

The first thing you'll notice in the RR1 retail store is, of course, the popcorn. Then you'll notice all the samples of popcorn, which are generous and inviting.
I accepted the invitation. When I left I was already planning what I'll get next time, a variety of cheese popcorns starting with White Cheddar (it's got a bit of peppercorn in it and is quite delicious).
RR1 has been in business since 1983, they love to give out samples, and their most popular flavors are the cheeses of which I speak—there are always five or six. They had Cheddar, White Cheddar, Cheesy Sour Cream, Cheesy Ranch, Cheesy Jalapeno, and Crazy Corn when I was there.

When I first arrived, a few people were chittering away in the parking lot about Cheesy Jalapeno popcorn. Yes, this is what we talk about in parking lots in Wisconsin. The dog is from out of town.

There are seasonal corns too. Black Walnut comes in just before Thanksgiving, peppermint comes in around Christmas (still available), they have a barbeque cheese throughout the summer, and a Packer season corn I'd like to see during the summer months (watermelon and pineapple—yum).

CC Winkle (pictured above with K'Nuckle) is another one of my favorites (caramel corn, cashews, and fudge). Eat some of this and send your diet running for the caves of Afghanistan.

✐: Jodi asked whether or not the fudge flavors such as CC Winkle, Ivory Almond K'Nuckle, and RC Snakle are made with pieces of fudge. They are not.
The fudge corns are "smothered" in fudge for a creamy fudge coating. When you bite into them, they're thick and smooth.
The CC Winkle for example, starts out as caramel corn which is dipped in fudge. The Cherry Cheesecake is cherry coated popcorn blended with white cheesecake fudge. The popcorn doesn't contain chunks of fudge, but is rather coated with it.
There are cashews in the Winkle, almonds in the K'Nukle, and cranberry bits in the Snakle, which is flavored with raspberry.
I'll try to be more descriptive with my next haul from Rural Route 1 which will hopefully include:
Cheddar, White Cheddar, and BBQ Cheese, RC Snakle, and Natural Corn. If the store's a poppin', I'll come a knockin'.

*I originally thought her last name was Olson, sorry Cindy

Is It Monday Yet?

This is my cousin Nanci a few Easters back. That mess behind her is what I call a working space.
But the question is not what is Nanci drinking (Bloody Marys) or how can I work in such squalor, but who's playing Fun Monday this week, Monday, March 30?

The topic is Easter Baskets: Share a story, is it better to give or to receive, what would you like in yours?

Cheesecake flavored white fudge and Jelly Belly bean RR1 Cherry Cheescake Popcorn

Here's the list so far (of participants, not things you'd like in your Easter basket):
Hootin' Annie
Tracey
Watching Them Blossom
Faye
Sayre
Patience
hulagirlatheart
jill
Mommy Wizdom
Rayne
Chrissy
Mama Drama Margaret
Gattina
ChrisB
The Church Lady
Grace
Janis
Melli
JeannaMiG

Raf and Gabe, still without candy

If you'd like to play this Monday, March 30, or if I brain burped your name or url, please put it in the comment section. Will add names that come in until noon on Monday.
☞Patience is hosting next Monday, April, 6
☞ Lil Mouse Jill would like to host April 13, the day after Easter

Thanks to Tammi for the Raf and Gabe photo

Hump Day Kringle Talk

If you ask someone from Wisconsin where to get good kringle, they'll tell you,"Racine."
My mother will tell you that Lane's Bakery from the old neighborhood has the best Racine kringle (you actually say Racinekringle as if it's one word).
I'll bet you canoli to kringle there's some kind of *cheese-on-pie law requiring every bakery in Wisconsin to carry it.
What's a Racine kringle? Well look at the photo, this particular specimen of flat, flaky pastry is raspberry filled, but don't you wish you had one right now?
There's also almond (very common), pecan (also very popular), cream cheese, cherry cheese, apple, blueberry, maple walnut (yum to that), turtle, strawberry, apricot, banana creme, cinnamon, pumpkin, and on it goes.

It's not the traditional Danish pretzel shape, looking more like the crunchy Italian bread grandpa Farino used to get from Chicago (we lovingly called it toilet seat bread).
Try a piece.

And lookey here, the O&H Danish Bakery (in Racine) is having a Win a Kringle contest.
Racine (rah seen´ or ray´ seen if you're making fun of someone from Shee´ boygan) is located somewhere between That 70s Show and Chicago. It's always been my understanding that the place is full of Italians, everyone I've ever met from Racine has been Sicilian, and the city is most famous for its Danish pastry.
The reason I picked up this here kringle was because it's from Olesen's Family Bakery in, wait for it, Racine, Wisconsin. (When we're not calling ourselves "Dempsey" we go by grandpa's less Irish name, Olson.)
I found this thick and generously filled Racinekringle at the Sentry's in Sun Prairie while buying gas that's .07 cheaper. Yes, I know, I'm using gas to drive somewhere to save on gas.
Did you know they have a walk-in cheese cooler there, at the Sentry's not the gas station but wouldn't that be cool, and every time you walk by it automatically opens, hissing, "Buy ssssome cheessse, thissss issss Wissssconssssin, it would be wrong not to."
Buy sssome kringle, do it now, before you're over the hump, it would be wrong not to.

Where to buy
❧Bendtsen's Bakery
❧Larsen's Bakery
❧ O&H Danish Bakery (hinky link, but keep trying)
❧ Olesen's Family Bakery (in stores)
❧Racine Danish Kringles

In the Madison area: Clasen's, Lanes, just about any bakery or grocery store in the state of Wisconsin.

*An urban legend/state law requiring that every piece of pie be served with a slice of cheese

Paradrawers Lost

Margaret over at Mama Drama found a pair of tidy whities in the parking garage at work.
That in itself is noteworthy because no matter how you spell it, a guy is going to drop his drawers any damn where he pleases. I'm surprised there aren't crews in orange jumpsuits scraping them off the highway like road kill.

While Margaret offers a perfectly rational explanation, I see the garage undies featured in the opening credits of a David E. Kelley dramady called Legal Briefs. Whaddya know, there actually is a show called Legal Briefs.

Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream Parlor Mix Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

If you were hoping for edible underwear (look no further than Amazon), this is as close as it gets.
The ice cream flavors are Chocolate Devotion (very good, tastes like a chocolate soda), Mint Mint Chocolate Chip (excellent and refreshing), Apple Pie A La Cold Stone (a most excellent bean tasting strongly of cinnamon), and the lackluster Our Strawberry Blonde (blah, and what does that have to do with either ice cream or candy).
Great in an Easter basket, but keep away from little kids because they come in an ice cream cone shaped container with a semi-pointy bottom.

Speaking of which, the question Margaret asks is: What explanation would you give if someone knew you shed your undies in the parking lot?

Wonka Hoppin' Nerds (note to Nestlé, your Wonka Web site sucks, and not in a good, everlasting gobstopper kind of way)

If Vanity Fair starts shooting underwear models draped in candy, you'll know where they got the idea.
Before I answer the question, I found these Nerds while hip hopping down the bunny trail at Tarjé where they've become a major candy contender. You can pour out a handful and convince yourself that the colors make them taste even better, but can you really make Nerds taste better (aside from Nerds Rope), even nestled in a pair of bloomers? No, no you can't, but I encourage you to try.

As for my tale, I'd lie poorly, making everyone think I was covering up something far jucier. I'd act nervously and keep changing my story, dropping subtle hints to the observant and suspicious that I'd had sex with the cute UPS guy half my age while they were forwarding emails of corgis in hats.
I'm hosting next Monday, March 30, when the topic will be Easter Baskets: Share a story, is it better to give or to receive, what would you like in yours?
Sign up now, throughout the week, or wait until this Saturday when I'll start compiling a list.
Who would like to host next week?
Feel free to enter my m&m's Giveaway Contest, rules in the post below.

Words, Words, Words

Another day, another giant box of m&m's, another chance to win sugar.


No one is asking you to write Hamlet or to give your monkey a typewriter. But if you have a monkey, please, please give it a typewriter and send the script to ABC.

The Rules:

Leave a comment on the Dish

Note your word verification

If it's a good one, use it in a sentence in the comment section

You can enter as often as you like, the more entries, the better your chance of winning.


The Catch: The first and last word of the sentence must begin with the letter "m."

Instant Winner Word Verifications:

mandm

bunny

easter

candy

chocolate

sugar

jones

A screen shot must be attached in an email for instant winners—as if you're going to get any of those words.
The contest begins....now.
The contest ends...sometime before Easter.

For a shame on you moment, type "easter.com" in the address bar and see where it takes you (maybe this only works on a Mac, don't know for shizzle)

If There's A Night Before There's Got To Be A Morning After

Corned Beef & Cabbage Crepes, can I have that with a Leinies (outlook "good")

Thought you saw the last of St. Patrick's Day until next year did you.
Out of respect for those of you reading this through a pair of sunglasses wishing the computer would quit making that infernal "on" noise, I'll type softly and promise to stop talking about thick, fatty, corned beef & cabbage crepes fried in butter.
I'll even throw in some of my favorite hangover recipes. They all contain sugar.

This guy makes me want to shave off every last hair of the dog that bit me

This is not the dog that bit me. Ten-month-old Emerson here is a lover, not a biter. This is his first St. Paddy's Day ever, and he must have the luck of the Irish, because he was rescued from a Jacksonville, FL, shelter (where they were going to put him down because he was exposed to Parvovirus)

Sweet Pup's White Bread Hangover Rescue

2 thick slices of homestyle white bread
toast, butter, and drizzle w/honey
tear into chunks, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar
soak in milk that's just to the point of scalding
eat too quickly, burn tongue, and forget about hangover

FUN FACT: According to AskMen.com, The British Medical Journal says brandy causes the worst hangover.

*And in some cases, lockjaw. The above photo is not meant to imply that this woman has a thermos of brandy old fashioneds stashed in her bag

The So Simple A Child Could & Very Well May Have To Make It Banana Shake

Add to blender:
a banana
milk
a little honey
some ice cream
Blend, drink too quickly, grab forehead, scream in pain, watch children laugh at you and say "Jeeta funny," while they shoot you with Ninja Turtle pizza launchers

"Here we go again, what if this ended up (ha) on someone's blog."

The Lucky Charms Why Why Oh Why Sweet Love Hangover

In mixing bowl so large nothing can spill out:

Half box previously opened Lucky Charms
Entire box movie size Jujy Fruits
Regular sized Milk Duds
Day old, lightly buttered, re-salted popcorn (RR1 if available)
From containers placed around couch:
Cold water chilled in easy grip handle juice bottle
Half gallon bottle frosty cold skim milk
One ham slice
Cheese Nips
Well chilled, low cal apple juice

And remember, drinking can stunt your growth and effect your golf swing.

*No, brandy does not cause lockjaw
Hangover recipe ideas from: notyourmomma, Stacie Naczelnik, and JeannaMiG

A Special St. Patrick's Day View From The Dempsey Sugar Train

Purveyors of candy, Melissa and Diamond.

...shall we continue?

I'll take that as a yes with one abstention.

"Top of the morning."
"You holding?"

"Yeah, I'm holding, holding on for dear life."

Dance of the Sugar Jones.

More, more, more, how do you like it, how do you like it?
Covered with sugar.

And this, the Blockbuster buzzkill mom would like you to believe, is what you'll see after one too many Pixie Stix.

Charmed, I'm sure. That little girl has a big bag and high hopes.

Can I interest you in a balloon for a wee bit of sugar?

God bless the child that's got a zip lock bag of candy.
The green t-shirt says "not lucky, just cute" (it should say "don't mind me, just crashing").

Word got round that the humans were looking for something else to throw when they ran out of treats. Any volunteers?

But it turned out the kids would rather we toss candy.

The accusatory "Where's my candy?" look from the blond boy, I've seen that look from blond boys before (note the green Bucky tee). Is that little girl crying?

Could you say "no" to these faces? You could if you had a camera in one hand and had to take candy from little cousin Gabe with the other. Did you know that Iggy Pop often visits Madison just before St. Paddy's?

I like a mom with her own collection of candy.

Little cousin Gabe is so Catholic (Irish, Italian, and Mexican) he's praying on his party beads for one of those green buckets.

A Sweet St. Patrick's Day from the Dish and the Dempseys