Review: Banana Bread Bear Paws & Sleeping in a KFC, New Starbucks Latte, 2018 World Cup Logo, Sports Thoughts
Junk Food Nation, LOTS of stories I want to get to today, so let’s do it:
1. There was a story last week about a woman in China who was so distraught after being broken with by her boyfriend that she stopped at a KFC on her way home…and stayed for a week, soothing her broken heart with Extra Crispy buckets, apparently. The story says she “decided she needed some fried comfort food to get over her ex…” She even called in sick to work! THAT’S COMMITMENT.
My question is, what happened when the KFC closed at night? Did the workers let her sleep in there? Did she leave and then come BACK the next morning when they opened, ready for another five piece Original Recipe? *research research research*…..OH it was a 24-Hour KFC. Holy S, those exist???
She finally left after a week, noting “I was getting sick of the taste of chicken so there was no point in staying there anymore.” YEAH WAY TO SHOW RESTRAINT.
2. Starbucks has a BRAND NEW HOLIDAY LATTE – Chestnut Praline! It’s supposed to be “inspired by the time-honored holiday tradition of warm roasted chestnuts… with freshly steamed milk and flavors of caramelized chestnuts and spices.” Yes, but will it have 350-400 calories per serving? Oh it will? Ok, good.
Forget Pumpkin Spice! Chestnut Praline Is Starbucks' first new holiday latte in 5 years: http://t.co/PfUgo2M15R pic.twitter.com/8SzLK07X2E
— BostInno (@BostInno) October 22, 2014
3. NEW WORLD CUP 2018 LOGO REVEALED! I know it’s getting both positive and negative reactions on Twitter, but I think it looks sort of BAD ASS.
REVEALED! The Official Emblem for the #2018WorldCup Russia! pic.twitter.com/46v2kgFtvq
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 28, 2014
4. Quick final sports thoughts: Wow, who’s going to be worse this year, the Sixers or the Lakers? I feel really bad for Julius Randle. I can’t believe there is going to be a World Series Game 7 tonight. Must watch TV, and I’m putting my money on KC. BTW, when did Mike Moustakas become David Ortiz? That dude batted .212 in the regular season. WTF. My Wizard open up tonight at Miami. I will be watching that matchup closely, especially the Paul Pierce / Luol Deng spot. CMON WIZ NUTS.
Any thoughts on ANY of the above stories? Let me hear in the comments below!
Today’s junk food: Banana Bread Bear Paws!
Banana Bread Bear Paws: The Money Shot
I instagrammed a pic of these Banana Bread Bear Paws a while back, and people seemed to be interested, so I swung back to my local Safeway and nabbed these. Riddle me this: DO BEARS LOVE BANANAS?
Banana Bread Bear Paws: WHAT THE
Banana Bread Bear Paws is just one example of the products Dare Foods is putting out, clearly establishing themselves as a nut-free cookie line that is friendly for kids to eat.
Banana Bread Bear Paws: 100 cal per cookie?????
Banana Bread Bear Paws: contains dehydrated bananas
Banana Bread Bear Paws contain dehydrated bananas, which I like….and HOLY COW each cookie is 100 calories???? OOOooooof. Uh, I’m gonna chalk this up to being the “good kind” of calories.
Banana Bread Bear Paws: Morning snack?
There’s lots of cool Dare Foods varieties out there – check these out.
Banana Bread Bear Paws: The individual Money Shot
Banana Bread Bear Paws come individually packed, and when you open them up…
Banana Bread Bear Paws: combs
…they look like this! Anyone else think these Banana Bread Bear Paws look like the brass knuckles icon on a video game? River City Ransom, anyone?
Banana Bread Bear Paws: Like little banana bread loaves
When I opened up the package of Banana Bread Bear Paws, it smelled EXACTLY like the banana bread I’ve grown up loving. I love bananas, I love banana bread, and I really enjoyed the aroma – lots of banana, slight cinnamon, and they had that nice baked-good-smell. I was excited for these.
Banana Bread Bear Paws: Nice airy texture
I took a bite of one of these Banana Bread Bear Paws, and….NOT BAD. Actually, pretty good. REALLY GOOD. I’ve only had two other “banana bread”-like cookies on this blog before, here and here, and this is better than both of those. Hands down.
The reason – the Quaker and Pepperidge Farm varieties were good, but there was still a hint of preservative I could feel when eating those. These have some but the general feel of the cookies was very, well, bread-like – they were dry but not too dry; the cookies were still soft/moist enough to have an easy bite and chew. There was no feeling ever that the cookie was loaded with oil. The flavor of the cookie was just spot-on banana bread flavor – dough, banana, molasses. VERY straightforward.
Not too sweet, these really did taste like banana bread that had been shaped into a cookie. My only critique would’ve been to add a bit more cinnamon…the aroma was there, but the taste of cinnamon wasn’t.
Overall, though, I REALLY liked these. More than I thought I would. Plus, peanut-free? No brainer for kids.
PURCHASED AT: Safeway, Waterfront Metro, DC.
COST: $2.99
Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.
Sincerely,
Junk Food Guy
Discuss - 20 Comments
I like how Shields ($13.5M) and Peavy ($14.5M) are responsible for 4 of the losses in the World Series. Game 7 should be a great game!
@MP: Despite feeling like the beginning of the game dragged it actually finished shorter than other WS games! That’s what happens when Bumgarner is mowing people down.
My prediction: The Sixers will be worse than the Lakers and they will try to trade for Julius Randal. Then, when he has recovered, they will trade him away for a second round pick.
@Steve B: +1
1) I can think of worse places to spend a week than a Chinese KFC. Actually, on second thought ………
2) Not a coffee drinker, so on one hand I don’t care about the new Starbucks flavor. However, kudos for some original thought. Bring that flavor out in a steamed milk kind of drink, or as a hot chocolate, and I might try it.
3) It’s a logo. Looks fine to me, just not liking it being in Russia.
4) Without Nash and now Randle, the Lakers will likely be worse than the Sixers. Basketball ranks behind soccer, football, hockey, racing, baseball and tennis on my list, but as a sports freak I still follow. Magic will get to 35 wins this year, and in the East that might nab a playoff spot.
As for the World Series, have watched it very sporadically because I don’t care for the teams in it, but let’s go Royals! Afterwards, please disappear for 30 more years, thanks.
And I might have to track me down these Bear Paws, look damn good.
@Sascha: It’s a dead heat between Sixers and Lakers. Last night both lost, so they are off to a good start!
These things acually look pretty tasty, banana bread is always a flavor worth a try in my book. And nut free is huge in my house with a 3 year old with bad nut allergies. Nice find JFG.
On a separate note from an earlier post, nice call on “How to get away with murder” show – not splitting the atom but entertaining. Like a mix of 2 parts cold case and 1 part saved by the bell college years.
Go Nets! In Plumlee we trust.
@MarcP: Yeah, these were surprisingly tasty.
There have been moments on HTGAWM that have had me eye rolling the past couple weeks, but its too late – now I want to see resolutioN! Damn you, ABC
Plumlee needs to step up more than last night.
I found a box of chocolate chip Dare Bear Paws once on clearance at Target. They were so delicious that I went back to buy the rest of the boxes. Unfortunately, they were all gone! I haven’t seen them anywhere else and I don’t have a Safeway near me. I suppose I could buy them online, but I usually just find something else to try on the shelf. Still, this review has me wanting some again. They’re really tasty for cheap children’s cookies!
@Heather: I might have to be on the lookout for more DARE products…
I live in the test market and had the Chestnut Praline last year…good, but it seems they got rid of eggnog! That I’ll miss.
@Jessica: Oh nice. We’ll I’m looking forward to this! The eggnog I liked, but just ok.
KFC’s in South Korea are open 24/7 so my assumption is that China must also have KFC’s that are open 24/7.
I love me some KFC chicken but eating and sleeping there is definitely not something I can do……
@DK: Yeah, seems uncomfy – those curved benches aren’t cushion-y 😛
I lovevstarbucks so I’ll definitely be getting one of those …. If i can Remeber all those terms they have how is a grande a medium
@Jes: Grande = medium, yes.
JFG,
why u don’t review GoPicnic Breakfast kits? Use the coupon (it legit trust me) u have until Friday to redeem it. Only in Target. I ended up paying either 2 cents or free if the cashier presses the magic button.
http://www.gopicnic.com/images/2.98-off-GoPicnic-breakfast-at-target.2014-09-04.pdf
Hint: The turkey sausage is very weird.
@Alek: If I make it to a Target, I’ll def look for these!
Dare is actually a Canadian brand, and Canada has a near-epidemic problem with peanut allergies, so it’s pretty common for brands to be totally peanut-free up there.
Dare also makes banana sandwich cookies that are *godly*.
@Radium: NEED. BANANA. SANDWICH. COOKIES.