Junk Food Nation, the refs are back, the refs are back!!!   Err………..now what? And I say “now what” with all seriousness, because I keep asking myself, “So will the games be better now?”

In a lot of ways, I think YES.  The real refs (presumably) will be better at judging pass interference and illegal contact.  Will there be a blown call?  Sure…but at least (I hope) I won’t feel like the zebras are guessing out there like the replacements.

The real refs will stop all the BS shoving after the play is done…only because I think the players will refrain from doing it now.  Before, with the replacements, it was like taking advantage of the substitute teacher when the real one was sick.  Now, with the real refs in place, the players who have been belly aching about game play the whole time will try to act the part and at least “act” like they respect the real refs’ presence.

And most of all, the real refs will at least know the RULES about running off time, where to line up, how many timeouts a team has, etc.  And that will speed up games generally so I’m not up to midnight watching these matches.

Will the real refs make mistakes still? Yes.  But I truly believe the game flow will be cleaner.  The ultimate problem with the replacements wasn’t that they were ALL bad, but that SOME were bad – and there was uncertainty amongst players how to play the game. Not good. I believe that with the real refs back, while you might still throw a beer can at the TV disagreeing with their judgment calls, you won’t be pulling your hair out because they don’t know the rules their judgment calls are based on.

So welcome back, refs!

Today’s junk food: New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread!

New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread: The Money Shot

Is New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread junk food? Well, it is when you do as I do and can just sit around eating slice after slice of bread until you realize half the loaf is gone and you’ve consumed over 700 calories.  Two slices of Swirl bread has almost as many calories as a McDonald’s Hamburger.  Yup.

My friend Nick first clued me into this new bread, and when I saw it at my local Safeway, I pounced.

Who DOESN’T like strawberry banana

By the way, you don’t know what it’s like to have your brain always tuned into spotting new products.  When I saw this New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread, I literally has a euphoric release in my head and told myself with a sly smile, “Well, now I HAVE to buy this.”  It’s sort of a curse…I can’t walk by a new product and NOT buy it now.  My wallet hurts sometimes.

That said, Strawberry Banana bread? How does that NOT sound amazing??  I’d reviewed Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread and Cranberry Swirl Bread before…sort of hit or miss.  How would this stack up?

Full of great calories!

New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread is a weird concept to me, because no one out there BAKES strawberry banana bread.  At least I’ve never heard of it.  You?

Purple Sweet potatoes for color?

New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread has some wacky ingredients.  cranberries in addition to strawberries, elderberry juice, and purple sweet potatoes.  Also, this nonfat milk “adds a trivial amount of cholesterol”???  Thanks for deciding FOR me, Pepperidge Farm!

Smelled delicious 🙂

New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread did smell good out of the bag, I must be honest, small hint of banana, but just a nice fresh scent of a sweet bread.  Nicely sliced, and spongy feel.  Just a normal, processed bread – not overly crumbly, not flaky, just squishy.  Artificial? Perhaps…but I appreciated its consistency in this case.

Swirls of strawberry…I think.

I took a bite of this New Limited Edition Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Banana Swirl Bread, and was pleased!  Knocked off my feet? No.  But pleased.

The bread was, as I mentioned before, soft.  The first taste I got was definitely a sweet bread, but not overly sweet – this wasn’t a pastry.  No, it was soft chewy bread with a hint of banana sweetness.  Regular banana bread is pretty sweet and this had that same banana feel without as much sugar.  There were spots of banana..sauce?…throughout the bread that helped boost that flavor.

The swirl of strawberry didn’t scream out STRAWBERRY to me, instead it tasted like a general berry swirl. It was sweet and tangy, and had a hint of cinnamon that helped pull together the berry and banana bread flavors.  The crust of this bread did provide a TINY bit of baked-in taste which helped amplify the banana bread feel.

Overall, didn’t knock my socks off, but I liked it.  And I think the flavor profile, while mild, did a decent job of representing the flavors.  If there had been more distinct strawberry flavor, then this would’ve been a full thumbs up.  Right now…half crooked thumbs up.

PURCHASED AT: Safeway Grocery

COST: $4.39, but with coupons, I knocked it down to $2.09 🙂 OH YEAAAH

Thoughts? Please comment below (I always reply) or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy