Wegmans Peanut Butter Pretzels Review

While shopping at the Columbia, Maryland Wegmans store, I stumbled upon their peanut butter pretzels. These aren't pretzels with peanut butter inside. They're pretzels covered by peanut butter, like chocolate covered pretzels. I thought they might be interesting to try so, I bought a little more than a quarter of a pound of them.

I found them good though not great. The peanut butter coating does taste like peanut butter. Price wise, they are expensive. They sell for $8.49 a pound in one of the bulk foods sections at the store. I don't know how long they'll stay fresh though considering how long they're likely to stay in the dispenser at the store, I would think they have a decent shelf life. One thing I did discover to my annoyance is like chocolate covered pretzels, you had better be sure you don't store them in a hot area. They peanut butter coating will melt and, you'll end up with a big glob of peanut butter pretzels which you'll have to pry apart like I did. Also, Wegmans does offer coupons with the coupon booklets they send out where you can get a $1 off any $5 bulk item purchase. They would save you a little money with them.

If you like peanut butter and pretzels, you might want to give these a try. Happy munching all!

Latest Rick Riordan House of Hades Info

I'm setting a record for myself blog wise today. 5 posts in 1 day! WO!!!!!!!

If you didn't buy the e-book version of Son of Sobek and thereby get to read the first chapter of House of Hades, you're in luck. On Facebook, Rick Riordan announced that the 1st chapter of House of Hades is now available free on his blog. http://rickriordan.blogspot.com. I tried out the link and, it works.You'll find it dated August 8th.

The blog entry also gives dates and places for the book tour that will follow House of Hades. To the delight of those who live in and around Washington D.C., Riordan will be coming to D.C. on October 11th, 2013. Riordan references the

Politics and Prose Bookstore/Coffeehouse
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington D.C.
                          20008

Phone numbers: 1-800-722-0790/202-364-1919
Website: http://www.politics-prose.com

I checked their calendar of events and this is what I found out about Riordan's visit. He'll be appearing 7 p.m. at:

Wilson High School Auditorium
3950 Chesapeake St NW
Washington D.C.
                      20016

This will be a ticketed event. They didn't give any further information on the tickets though they did say further information will follow. If you want to see the calendar page yourself, you can find it at: http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/rick-riordan-house-of-hades.

The House of Hades will still be released on October 8th. 57 days and a wake up (a term from my Air Force days) as of this post. At least it's getting here thankfully.

Lastly, I saw something on the bookstore's website where they mentioned about being able to arrange having a visiting author sign a book for you if you purchase it through them. I'm going to check into this more and see if it'll apply to Riordan. If so, I may finally get my first book signed by him. I wimped out on ordering the special signed edition of Mark of Athena. I'll post what I find out. Stay tuned.

Update 8/14/13:

Tickets went on sale for the event the day I posted this. 1 ticket will cost you $5. If you want more than 1 ticket, you'll have to buy a book or books depending on how many you want. Seating is first come, first served. All books will be signed by Riordan prior to the event. NONE will be signed afterwards. As I understand it, if you want a signed book, you must buy the book through the bookstore i.e. you can't bring one to be signed. You can take pictures during the event BUT, there won't be any posed pictures with Riordan. Riordan will speak at the event then open it up for questions and answers. The event is expected to last between 45 minutes and an hour. (Source: event webpage mentioned earlier in this blog entry).

Also, I checked the Wilson High School website (http://www.wilsonhs.org) and, the auditorium can hold 750 people. I couldn't find out how much parking the school has.

Update 9/8/13:

Per a couple anonymous commenters, I checked the Politics and Prose webpage and, it states that the Rick Riordan event is sold out. However, if you want an autographed book by him, you can still order one through their website. Be sure to specifically ask that you want it autographed. Remember, you must buy the book through them to get it autographed by Riordan at this event.

Update 10/20/13:

The event I blogged about above is over and as far as I know (I didn't go), it went fine. House of Hades was released right on time and, I believe has gone to Number 1 in its category on the New York Times best seller list. I bought the book myself a week after it came out and read it. It's another fine book in the series and won't disappoint any of Riordan's fans. At the end of the book, Riordan disclosed what the title will be for the final book of the series. It'll be called Blood of Olympus. It should be a huge climax as things continue to build up. The Roman demigods are circling around Camp Halfblood and, all the giants are free again in the world. I plan to write a blog review about the book so, I won't disclose any more about it in this entry.

Sam's Club Toscano Salame Review

Two or three weeks ago, I visited the Sam's Club in Laurel. While there, I noticed they some traditional looking salami that I'd never tried before. I decided to buy some and see how it was.

The label on it calls it Slow-cured Salame. However, when it's rung up, it's called Toscano salame. It's supposed to be like the old fashioned salami you would find in Europe though the product is made in the United States of America. The salami comes unsliced in 18 ounce packages and sells for $7.98 (which breaks out to $7.09 a pound approximately) at the Catonsville and Laurel, Maryland stores. I don't know if it would be the same price at other Sam's Clubs. The salami has one big plus in my book in that it doesn't have any monosodium glutamate (MSG). A 1 ounce serving has 90 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat and 430 milligrams of sodium (probably from the sea salt used) as well as 7 grams of protein. As it is a sausage like product, it is made of pork. There are the preservatives sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. The product has a long shelf life as it says on the package that it should be sold by March 6th, 2014. Refrigeration wise, once the salami has been opened, it must be refrigerated. Also, there is a collagen casing on the outside of the salami that must be peeled off of each slice. The salami is made by Daniele Incorporated in Pascoag, Rhode Island.

Taste wise, I thought this salami to be particularly good. It does remind me of the luncheon meats you would find over in Europe. Also, I don't think it's terribly expensive considering the quality you're getting.

Overall, this is one Sam's Club product I'd definitely give a thumbs up to. It is a very good salami in my opinion though I'm no expert on salami. Bon Appetit!

Casio G-Shock Solar Powered Watch Review

Back in April, I was having a run of bad luck with watch batteries dying on me. To make matters worse, as my readers would know, I was leaving on 2 back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean. Knowing what the time is can be particularly important on a cruise. You've got to be back to the ship by a certain time otherwise the ship might leave without you and, you'll have the hassle of trying to catch up with the ship and your stuff.

Initially, I planned on buying another one of Royal Caribbean's cheap electric pocket watches. They cost around $25 I think and make a nice souvenir of the ship as they have the ship's name on them as well as metallic drawing of a ship on the outside cover of the watch. However, I couldn't find one of those though later to my annoyance, the staff found some and put them out. Grrrrrr!!!!!!!

So, I checked out the fancy watch shop each ship has. In my Platinum discount booklet, I had a coupon for 10% off which I figured would help some though the watches in the watch shop tended to be pricey - $400 and up!!!!!! I know about Citizens automatic watches which sounded nice as you never have to replace batteries with them. With the battery problem I'd had, I decided to look for 1 of those. I found those all right but wasn't wowed by them though their prices got my attention. The saleslady mentioned some solar powered watches. I didn't know they made such things. I looked them over really well and settled on a Casio GW-7900B model.

The watch has a number of features. It gives a tide time table which to be honest I didn't need and don't know anyone who would need it. It has a night light function, stopwatch function, alarm function, a second time function, a moon phase display (I don't need to worry about the moon either) as well as a way to be updated from various Atomic clocks around the world. The biggest plus about the watch is that you won't have to mess with batteries though in time, you will have to replace the solar cell on it. Another plus in my opinion is the watch is cheaper than automatic watches. The watch retails for $150 though I was able to get 10% off on the ship. I bought the one with a black wristband and, I've been using it continuously since. Lastly, the watch is water resistant to 20 BAR (whatever that is). So, you don't have to worry about water hurting the thing though I don't think you can take it scuba diving.

I've been very pleased with the thing barring having to place it on my room's window ledge at night so, it can pick up the atomic clock signal so, it can stay accurate. The watch has a indicator that tells you if it has picked up the signal or not. The small booklet that comes with the watch tells where the various places are that the watch can get its time recalibrated from.

I don't have any idea how long the watch's solar cell will work though I suspect by the time it starts to wear out, I'll be ready for a new watch. One thing you do have to make sure is the watch gets enough sunlight to stay charged. The watch has an indicator that tells you if it has a low - medium or high charge. Supposedly, the watch will run for 9 months without any sunlight off 1 full charge. I make it a point that it is exposed to as much sunlight during the day as I can. If the watch runs down, supposedly it'll stop operating certain functions until it gets more fully charged (so said the booklet that came with it).

I would definitely recommend this watch if you don't watch to mess with replacing watch batteries or just want a cool watch. I've been very pleased with mine.

Review of Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report

I've been looking for publications that I'd like to read on my new Barnes & Noble Nook E-reader. One publication that looked worth checking out was Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report. The July 2013 issue was available and, it promised to tell about the Italian lake district and about Wales. Both sounded interesting so, I bought an issue of the publication even though its single issue price is $8.99 which I think is expensive.

The publication is aptly named as its about hideaways i.e. hotels where you can get away from it all. It gives a good review of each of the profiled hotels as well as very good pictures that will give a good idea of what the rooms are like at each hotel. In the July issue, Harper reviewed 12 hotels and 1 restaurant that offered rooms as well. Harper also reviewed 7 restaurants. As Harper has 35 years experience in the travel business and runs his own travel agency (there was a promo at the back of the publication for a New Zealand tour his company is offering as well as information on where to reach his agency), he has great knowledge on what makes a really nice hotel and was doesn't.

I found his reviews very well written and, the pictures nicely complimented them. However, there were drawbacks in my opinion to this publication. First, it is expensive. $8.99 for a single issue or $7.99 an issue for a subscription. Second, the hotels are very pricey. The cheapest room I saw in 1 of the hotels he reviewed was $340 a night and, they easily went over $500 or $600 a NIGHT! While all the hotels sounded luxurious and nice, that's way out of my price range. Third, the publication doesn't talk much about the sights around the hotels. It was very light in this way though that can be a good thing if you primarily want to know about upscale hotels in the regions he visits. However, my thing isn't hotels. I want to know about the sights worth seeing or to avoid. Harper did list some items shopping wise that were particularly noteworthy like a place where some Italian monks make some particularly good lemoncello but, this list was a 1 off in the publication.

Overall, I can't recommend this publication unless you're an upscale traveler looking for particularly upscale hotels to stay at. Some of the restaurants sounded good and might be reasonably priced but, that isn't enough to get me to want to subscribe to his expensive report. For me personally, I'd have to give this publication a thumbs down even though it is well written and has fine photos to support the reviews. Happy travels all!

Wegmans Salad Venetian Calamari Review

As any readers I have know, I like calamari i.e. squid. I have since I first tried it in Italy during an Air Force temporary duty assignment there.

Recently, I was going through my Wegmans coupon booklet and, they had a $1 off the purchase of $5 or more of fresh seafood. I decided to use the coupon as I like seafood. I looked through their Columbia, Maryland store and found their salad Venetian Calamari Salad. The salad is pricey, $9.99 a pound but, I decided to try it.

I found it was a good salad. It's packed with calamari as well as white beans, peppers and onions. The calamari itself was fine. It wasn't chewy like it can be at times. One serious drawback to the salad is its very short shelf life. The container said to use it up by the very next day after I bought it. I didn't do that. I finished it 5 days after I bought it. As far as I can tell, I didn't suffer any ill effects from keeping it that long but, I don't like the short shelf life. A plus to the salad is that it doesn't have any preservatives (probably why the short shelf life) or chemicals. It does carry a warning to those who are allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, sesame seeds, soy and shellfish as it is prepared in an area that is shared with such products.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the salad though it isn't something I'll eat often due to the price. If you like calamari and, there's a Wegmans close to you, you might want to give it a try. Bon Appetit!

Giant White Beans Product Review

Recently, I visited the Trader Joe's at 6610 Marie Curie Drive in Elkridge, Maryland (phone number 410-953-8139). Trader Joe's offers some very nice products. This trip, I decided to try their giant white beans. The beans are sort of like large lima beans. They're cooked in a light tomato sauce according to a traditional Greek recipe (so says Trader Joe's) and come from Bulgaria of all places. The beans come in a 12 ounce jar and sell for $1.99. The beans do have to be refrigerated after they've been opened.

I found the beans tasty. They can make a nice small side dish to some kind of Greek food if you're feeling in a Greek mood. The sauce wasn't heavy and the beans are nicely complimented by onions, carrots, chopped tomatoes and parsley.

Overall, I thought they were a fine dish that I'd gladly try again. If you like beans, you might like to try this Greek dish by Trader Joe's. Bon Appetit!

Picture of Norwegian Cruise Line's Dawn Ship

Here's a picture I took of Norwegian Cruise Line's "Dawn" ship. The ship was at anchor in the Dockyard at Bermuda. Due to an agreement Royal Caribbean has with the Bermudan government (I don't the particulars), they have priority at the pier. So, the Dawn had to anchor in the harbor. Passengers on the ship had to be tendered out to the ship. I think you can just see one of the tenders in the left of the picture. However, the Bermudan government is expanding the pier and, I suspect Norwegian Cruise Lines ships will be able to tie up at the extended pier some time in the future.

Bermuda Dockyard Ferry

 

 

This is a picture of one of the ferries leaving the Dockyard in Bermuda. The Bermudan government runs ferries every 20 minutes I believe from the Dockyard to Hamilton, the capital. Also, they did 5 runs to St. George's. I took one of those when I did the tour of St. George's, St. Catherine's Fort, the Chapel Royal and St. David's Lighthouse. The ferry was nice enough and pretty fast. I think it took something like 40 minutes to get to St. George's (not totally sure on that). Tickets for the ferries can be bought at the Dockyard. I don't know what they cost. My round trip ferry ticket was included with my excursion. This picture was taken from the Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas as I was watching the ferry leave.

Snap Punch Mango Punch

A couple days ago, I stopped at the same 7-11 store and found out Snapple had another flavor in its Snap Punch line. It's called Mango Punch. In a lot of ways, it's very similar to its watermelon punch. Presumably, it has some mango juice in it to give it its flavor but, Snapple doesn't state that. It states on the bottle that it is flavored with other natural flavors and on the list of ingredients, all it says is natural flavors. The calorie count is the same, 140 calories per 12 ounce serving. Price is the same too - $1.19 for a 1 liter bottle. It does live up to its mango name in that it tastes like mangos. It doesn't offer any nutritional value but will supply you with 12% of your daily requirement for carbohydrates.

Overall, like Snap Punch's Watermelon Punch, it's a decent drink and, I think an affordable one. I don't know if it would be any better than a soda though you do get more of it than you would get in a bottle of soda. If you like mangos, this would be a drink worth trying though don't go out of your way for it. Happy drinking all!

St. David's Lighthouse

The first sight I got to see on my tour of St. George's, Bermuda back in May was St. David's Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built between 1876 and 1879. It stands 55 feet tall and is made of Bermuda limestone. The lighthouse's beacon can be seen for 20 nautical miles. It's still in use today and serves as an important nautical beacon in Bermuda. (Source: plaque on the lighthouse) You can go inside the lighthouse and climb up to the top where the beacon is. I think there was something like 55 steps. It was also a bit narrow as I remember. At the top, there are some nice views of the area.

Windows 8 SUCKS!!!!!!!!

I'm posting this after this piece of crap operating system caused me to lose my first writing of my entry on my September Majesty of the Seas cruises. That wasn't the first time the piece of crap has wiped out something I was working on. The operating system can be positively infuriating. It highlights shit when I don't want it to. It makes it necessary for me to back up everything I'm working on because it might wipe it out otherwise. It won't copy stuff when I do want to copy stuff. It kicks me out of whatever I'm working like it just did and then, it makes it very hard to me to get back to whatever I'm working on. I had to tap the friggin screen 3 times before the cursor finally showed back up. If I want to search for something on the Internet, I have to quickly type in something otherwise it won't let me type in whatever. The only nice thing I can say about it is I do like being able to scroll up and down in Facebook. Otherwise, the operating system is a piece of total crap. When I get my new long term laptop, I'm going to make sure it DOESN'T have Windows 8. I'd advise others to do the same. Otherwise, you're going to suffer a shit load of aggravation!

September 2013 Majesty of the Seas Cruises

I don't know if I posted anything on my September Majesty of the Seas cruises. On September 20th, I'll get to sail on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas ship. It'll be the first time I'll get to sail on their Sovereign class. The Sovereign class was at one time, the largest cruise ships in the world. Incredibly, they're now the smallest class in the Royal Caribbean fleet. Royal Caribbean transferred out Majesty's sister ship Monarch of the Seas and, I suspect Royal Caribbean will do the same in time to Majesty. It should be fun exploring the ship like it was on Splendour of the Seas last November.

There are other firsts for me with the 2 cruises. These will be the 2 shortest cruises I'll have ever done. The first is 3 nights; the second is 4 nights. I'll get to visit the Bahamas for the first time. I'll make port in Nassau, Bahamas and Royal Caribbean's private island Coco Cay, Bahamas both cruises. Also, I'll visit Key West, Florida for the first time. I'll sail out of Miami, Florida's cruise ship terminal for the first time. It looks like it has a nice cruise ship terminal. It'll be my first cruises as an Crown & Anchor Emerald member. I made that level thanks to my April/May cruises on Grandeur of the Seas.

Another plus is the ship has a Coca Cola Freestyle machine. I've already paid for my unlimited soda packages and, it looks like you pay a little premium for them on the Majesty. But, you get over 100 more choices with the machines. According to information I saw posted on the unofficial Royal Caribbean blog, only folks who buy the unlimited soda packages can use the machines. The soda cups has chips in them that tell a reader on the machine the cup owner has a valid unlimited soda package.

So stay tuned for more cruise updates. I'll make sure I take lots of pictures to post on here. I plan to post some more of things I got to see in Bermuda. I took some decent pictures of the Chapel Royal in St. George and St. Catherine's Fort (you pass it when you sail into Bermuda).

Saranac Root Beer Review

One of the root beers I decided to taste test was Saranac's root beer. It claims to be a premium soft drink as well as hand crafted soft drinks. They state on their packaging that 30 years ago, they sought to bring back the tradition and quality of the original root beer they crafted back in 1888.

I found Saranac's root beer does have a very good taste to it. Also, as near as I can determine, it doesn't have any caffeine. I don't think root beer should have in caffeine in it. It doesn't make the root beer any better in my opinion. Price wise, a 6 twelve fluid ounce pack will cost you $4.99 at the Columbia, Maryland Wegman's. That is cheaper than other premium root beers such as Appalachian Brewing Company's (ABC) root beer which costs $5.99 for the same size 6 pack or the environmentally conscious Maine root beer which costs $6.49 for a 4 pack.

Where Saranac loses points with me is with their use of high fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is typical of cheap brand root beers. Premium root beers use cane sugar. Also, I very much doubt that back in 1888, they were using corn syrup in their root beer. So while Saranac claims to be a premium root beer, in my opinion, it isn't. I do think it's better than Coca Cola's Barq's root beer or Wegman's name brand root beer but, it isn't on par with ABC or Maine. I would rate it as a medium grade root beer. Happy drinking all!

Costco Rogaine Alternative

For the last 6 months, I've been trying Costco's Minoxidil Foam to see if I could find any difference in performance between it and the Rogaine brand. From what I could determine, there wasn't any difference. They're both 5% Minoxidil foam. There is a good difference in price. A 4 month supply of Rogaine foam will cost you $49.99 at Costco. A SIX month supply of Costco's Kirkland brand Minoxidil foam will cost you $48.99. That means you get 2 months of Minoxidil foam for free if you buy Costco's product. To me, the better deal is the Costco product. If any readers I have out there disagree, let me hear from you and why you think Rogaine would be worth the extra cost.

Snap Punch Watermelon Punch

I stopped by the 7-11 store on 12009 Laurel Bowie Road in Laurel, Maryland to deliver some mail today. While there, I decided to get some more Fuze Berry Punch (see my review on that). Sadly, they didn't have any. I did see they had some Snap Punch Watermelon Punch from Snapple. I like watermelon so, I decided to try it.

Snap Punch's Watermelon Punch does taste like watermelon. Reading the ingredients, I don't know if it has any watermelon juice in it. All it says is it has natural flavors but, it doesn't specify what they are. On the front of the bottle, they state under Watermelon Punch that it's flavored with other natural flavors. So, who knows what they are though the drink does have a watermelon flavor to it.

Price wise, a 1 liter bottle of the punch cost me $1.19 at the 7-11 store. Calorie wise, a 1 liter bottle has 420 calories (140 calories per serving and each bottle has 3 servings). (Source: the bottle of the punch I bought). Availability, I don't know how many stores carry this punch. Normally, I don't drink Snapple products. I don't have anything against them. I just prefer Coke products in part because of the MyCoke rewards program. I like earning points with that program. The product is apparently kosher as it has Kosher Pareve on it. The punch doesn't contain any vitamins or minerals and each serving has 36 grams of sugar or 12% of your daily requirement for carbohydrates. Each serving has 90 milligrams of sodium.

Overall, I thought Snap Punch's Watermelon Punch was decent. It isn't anything to rave about but, it isn't bad either. I think $1.19 for a 1 liter bottle of the punch is a good price. If you like watermelon, you might like this watermelon punch. Happy drinking all!

Jake & Amos Pickled Red Beet Eggs

Recently, I visited the JR's Candy and Bulk Foods section at the Laurel, Maryland Pennsylvania Dutch Market on Maryland 198. While there, I saw they had Jake & Amos pickled eggs. They offer Red Beet Pickled Eggs and Jalapeno Pickled Eggs. I thought I'd try the Red Beet ones.

I found the eggs had a slightly different flavor which is hard to describe though it isn't bad. It was just different. Thanks to the beet juice used in the pickling, the eggs have a reddish lavender color to them. This reminds me of the Dr. Seuss story of Green Eggs and Ham.

Nutrition wise, according to the label on the jar, 2 eggs have 110 calories. Like all eggs, they are high in cholesterol. 2 eggs will give you 60% of your daily requirement for cholesterol. Also, 2 eggs have 1.5 grams of saturated fat for those who watch how much saturated fat they eat.

Price wise, a 32 fluid ounce jar will cost you $6.99 which seems like a fair enough price. They really pack the jar so, you get a lot of pickled eggs for your money.

Overall, I thought the eggs were ok. They weren't anything I'd rush right out and buy. If you're a pickled egg fan, you might like them. The Jake & Amos brand is a very good brand. I've been extremely pleased with their Spiced Dilly Beans and Pickled Asparagus. Bon Appetit!

A reminder, the Pennsylvania Dutch Market is only open Thursday thru Saturday each week. Also, you may experience some difficulty parking your car as the market is very popular in Laurel. There are parking spaces in front, in back and in the good size Home Depot store parking lot next to the market.