The Annex in Webster Groves Rules

Today my kids and I were finally able to see my folks again. I have cleared all my protocols, my folks had COVID as well, they got it before I did, and since they are older they did the full ten days and cleared their protocols yesterday. My dad and I hadn't been out for coffee in two weeks, my kids are off school for the day and both my parents have not seen them for two weeks, so we decided we were all comfortable to see each other again.

It was great. I really missed both of them, and when we got over there it was like nothing had changed. My mom took the kids to play in the basement of their home and my dad and I were left to chat about sports and other stuff we like to talk about.

After being there for about an hour, my dad and I decided we wanted to go pick up some coffee, do our usual thing. We were both pleasantly surprised when my mom and kids said they wanted to come with us. It was great. So all five of us piled in my car and drove to a newish coffee shop in Webster Groves here in Missouri called The Annex. My dad and I have gotten coffee here before, but my kids and my mom have not checked it out yet. And instead of just grabbing coffee and leaving, we decided to do a little shopping. That is what makes this newer coffee shop so damn cool. There is a typical coffee shop area, but they also have a sandwich shop inside that has fresh local ingredients. They also have shelves, a la a grocery store, that has some really cool products to buy. They also have neat little candies and homemade pastries and other sweets. There is also a cold juice bar that has some of the best juice I've ever had. This place may look small from the outside, but when you get into the building, it seems vast. It was also very easy to spread out, and we all had some form of a N95 or KN94 mask on. Needless to say, we felt pretty safe. Doing this shopping felt really good too. My kids were literally kids in a candy store when they went to the candy section of the "grocery area". They had all kinds of neat, organic and original candy. They had stuff ranging from Rose suckers to honey foam. They also had homemade jellies and gummies. My kids were both enamored with the old school rainbow sucker. That is what they got. And when I grabbed it to buy it for them, the ingredients made me feel like a not so bad dad for buying them one each. They then went to the juice bar spot and found a little section with multiple milk selections. It was crazy to see all the different kinds of milk they had, all of which are organic and locally made. My daughter got chocolate milk, which was incredible and my son got Orange Cream milk which tasted like a creamsicle. It was amazing. I decided I wanted to grab some black licorice from England and a cold brew. The licorice was nice, but that cold brew was outstanding. It was woody yet smooth. The addition of cream only made it taste better and go down smoother. I did not even need to add any sweetener because it tasted so good without it. I'd have to say, second only to Sump, this is the best cold brew I have had. I drank it pretty fast, and to me that is a sign of a great coffee. My dad got himself an Americano and my mom got a homemade croissant and a chai latte. My dad is a coffee aficionado and he had glowing words for the Americano. He seemed pretty stoked to drink it. My mom, who never finishes a drink, had most of that chai latte down when we left their house, and we took all this back to their house after ordering. To me that means she really enjoyed her drink. When we left her house she hadn't tried the croissant yet, but she told me she was saving it because she knew it was going to be great. It looked excellent. It looked buttery and flaky and absolutely delicious.

My dad and I are always on the hunt for new and interesting coffee shops. And luckily we just happened upon The Annex about a month or two ago, and now my kids and my mom have also given it the thumbs up. I cannot recommend this place enough. It is a hidden gem, but will not be for long, so get in there while you can before it has a line out of the door. It is totally worth the price for the excellent coffee, the kick ass store, the cool lunch counter and the juice bar. The Annex rules.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Booches Burgers are the Best

Today my family is in Columbia visiting my extended family. We come up every year, except last year for obvious reasons, for Thanksgiving dinner. I get to see two of my brothers, my nieces, my sister in law and my mom and dad, they travel up for lunch. But after eating three straight turkey meals we are all ready to have something different for lunch. Today we chose burgers. Let me tell the tale.

We decided to go to a local joint called Booches. People may have heard of this place. It has won awards and it was mentioned by Sports Illustrated as the best college town restaurant recently. The place is a dive, but damn is the food, mainly the burgers, really tasty. They do have fries or salads or anything like that. But they do have chili, chips, hot dogs and burgers. I got the burgers today, as I always do. But today they hit different. They were extra juicy. They were nice and greasy. The onions and pickles were crunchy. The bun was fantastic. I have to assume it was because my brother was manning the flat top today. He knows his way around a kitchen. And the burgers were something special. I mentioned all the fixings and the juiciness, but the taste was incredible. It was nice and meaty. It was cooked to a great medium temperature. The cheese was gooey and melted. The fixings adding the perfect taste that you want from fixings. It was the perfect burger. I really like Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor. Bailey’s Range in STL is great. I love Steak N Shake as far as chain restaurants go. But Booches has the best burgers I’ve ever had. I realized that this afternoon. The burgers were that incredible.

I highly recommend people take a trip to have a Booches burger. Get it with everything on it to get the full grasp of how good it really tastes. They really are worth it. Booches is great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Even Kids Love the Spork

Every Friday I let my kids buy their lunch at school. It is a special treat for them. They bring their lunch every other day, but I like to let them have a little fun closing out the week.

They love it.

They always get in my car and excitedly tell me what they had that day when I pick them up. It is usually pizza, pretty standard, but they like to tell me about the sides they get as well. And when they do not have pizza, they are almost more excited to tell me what they had on those days. It varies between chicken nuggets and some kind of pasta. But they love it no matter what it is, probably because it isn't some lame sandwich that their dad made for them. My son is a little less stoked about it lately because he is a fourth grader now, and acts like a teenager. He is too cool for school. He likes to act like he is above being excited. It is adorable. But my daughter, who is in kindergarten now, LOVES to fill me in on all the details, no matter how big or small. She will go to great lengths to tell me each and every thing about lunch on the days she buys.

Recently she has really gotten into a certain utensil that the lunch people have given her. She has been extra interested in the spork. She is quite obsessed with them in fact. The first day they gave her one you would have thought it was the greatest invention in the history of inventing. She got in the car with extra giddy up in her step. She started to talk before I even buckled her into her seat. She was so amped that I had to tell her to take a breath and slowly explain to me what she was talking about. When she calmed down that was when she went into the greatest of details about the spork. She told me that it is this great thing to eat food because it is a spoon, but on top of the spoon they had prongs like a fork. She also told me about the handle and why that makes it even better. She let me know that she could easily go from spooning fruit to eating corn one niblet at a time. She also liked how it made it easier for her to eat pudding. I don't know how it made it easier, but she sure as hell thought it did. She also liked the fact that she could mix foods together using the spork. She was completely and utterly blown away by this utensil. When I told her that, not only did I know what a spork was, but that I have used them many times, her head exploded. She was talking super fast and asking millions of questions again. She was almost angry at me for not telling her about the spork sooner. She was flabbergasted and amazed. I loved it.

I wish there was something in my life that could surprise me the way the spork surprised my daughter. Now that I am older and more cynical, that happens less and less. But my daughter is only six. I love it when she discovers something new. I love it even more when she really likes the new thing she has found out about. I was so happy to hear her excitement when she first used the spork. I love it, in fact. It is pretty cool that kids can still find something as simple as the spork to be one of the greatest things ever invented. It is also nice that it isn't an internet thing or a video or some kind of thing that is on a screen. I love my kids, and I love how excited they are by the littlest things in life. It is truly a sight to behold.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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An Ode to the Greatness of Peanut Butter

I was listening to "Doughboys" today and they were talking about marshmallow fluff. I used to love that stuff, but now it sounds and looks vile. The hosts and the guests seem to agree with me too. They talked about how horribly sweet it still is. They mentioned a fluffernutter sandwich, which I used to love, but other than that, they said it was gross.

I am not here to talk about marshmallow fluff. One of the guests mentioned that they had their own personal food pantheon. He talked about the three foods he had on his list. They were the chicken egg, rice and peanut butter. This got me thinking about what my food pantheon would be. I went through a ton of stuff that I really like, but nothing was making my own personal pantheon. I love steak, but that can be gross if not cooked properly. I love licorice, especially the Australian kind, but eating too much hurts my jaw. Coffee has become a big part of my life, but I have had some terrible cups of coffee. Hot dogs are great, but you have to add so much stuff to them to take them to the next level. And they are grossly made. I also love lunch meat, especially salami, but lunch meat has the same problem as the hot dog. It needs accompaniment to really go above and beyond. I was struggling with my pantheon. But then it became pretty clear to me. And I do not need to have more than one food in my pantheon. Everyone has their own personal pantheon, and they can make it as vast as they want. But I only have one food in my pantheon. I only need one food. And I actually agree with one of the items the guest provided. To me, the only food that even belongs in my pantheon is peanut butter.

This may seem harsh to my daughter, she is violently allergic to peanuts, but I am not. I adore peanuts and peanut butter. Peanut butter has literally everything you could want in one food, as long as you are not allergic to it. Peanuts are filled with nutritional value. So peanut butter, in small portions, is actually a good thing. It has carbohydrates, salt, sugar, potassium, and a bunch of other stuff that just makes you feel better, and full, after you have eaten some of it. I love, especially when I am going really low carb, to have a scoop or two of peanut butter straight from the jar for dessert. It gives me the sugar I miss, it has minimal carbs and it is tasty as hell. It also helps me to feel full, even if I may not be full yet. It tricks me. I like that. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, especially after a good work out. The mix of peanut butter and jelly on white or wheat bread, I prefer wheat, is a perfect bite. It has all the good flavors. And it is filling. Adding peanut butter to candy makes it instantly better. Reese's Peanut butter cups are dope. Snickers is one of the best candy bars ever. Reese's Fast Break is the best candy bar. I like to take a little scoop of peanut butter and add it to a Hershey's chocolate bar. It just makes candy so much better. I also love it smeared on a graham cracker or a bagel. It adds a ton of flavor. Adding peanut butter to toast is amazing. You can even add peanut butter to a sauce, it is done a lot in Chinese food, and it works. It also works so well in Thai food. There is no instance that I can think of where peanut butter is not perfect. I bet it would taste good on stuff like mashed potatoes or brussel sprouts. Peanut butter is it. It is the GOAT food. It is my one and only member of my personal food pantheon.

Peanut butter rules.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Hi-Chew is the New Great Halloween Candy

I know some college basketball teams are playing exhibition games right now, and I said I was going to do a preview, but that will have to wait until Monday. I want to wait until Michigan officially starts, and while they have an exhibition tonight, they officially tip off on Wednesday. So my men's NCAA basketball preview is coming, you'll just have to wait until Monday. Today I want to talk about a particular Halloween candy.

My kids went trick or treating on Sunday. We did it safely, and everyone seemed to have a very good time. The people we allowed in our house have been in our bubble, are vaccinated and are family. And pretty much every house we went to had the candy in a bowl outside on a table and most even had sanitizer. It felt safe. And after my kids were done, my son especially, they like to sort out all of the candy they received. I like doing this too. I did it as a kid. So I helped out my son and my daughter did not really care about doing it. She was happy with candy. So my son and I retired to the kitchen table and went through his stuff. He got a ton of candy. He even got full size candy bars, a first for him, and it blew his mind. He was literally acting like a kid in a candy store. So we put full size bars in one spot, peanut butter candy in another, fun size candy bars in a pile and gummy and chewy candy in another pile. It was great. And, like almost any parent, I decided that I wanted to taste test some of the candy he received. I had a few Snickers. He gave me a piece of one of his full size Kit Kats. I love Haribo Gummy Bears, and my son gave me a pack of those. It was great. But there is one candy he gave me that I do not really recall ever getting as a kid.

The candy he gave me was a piece of his Hi-Chew, and I was blown away. This was one of the best pieces of candy that I have ever eaten. It is like a softer, less sweet Starburst. When I got off candy to lose weight, Starbursts were one of the first to go. They’re pure sugar. But I did, and still do from time to time, miss that chewy aspect of Starbursts. Hi-Chew’s bring that tenfold. They’re very chewy. They last long. The flavor sticks around. It’s wonderful. What puts the Hi-Chew over the top though is the taste. While sweet, they’re not overly sweet. Starbursts, Skittles, Gummy Lifesavers, they’re far too sweet. I eat a few of those and I feel like I’m in sugar shock. Hi-Chew doesn’t do that to me. They’re a bit sweet, but they also taste like the actual flavor listed on the wrapper. Lime tastes like lime. Mango has that mango flavor. Pineapple is real close to an actual pineapple. But the strawberry ones, those are the best. They taste like actual strawberries, but it’s candy.

I’m really impressed with Hi- Chew’s. They are a great alternative to actual Starbursts. They’re better than Mamba’s. They’re much better than Skittles. I like them even more than Haribo Gummies, which I didn’t think was possible. I’m stoked that Hi-Chew is making a comeback, and the flavor is on point. My hat goes off to them. I can’t wait to eat some more when my son and I get some candy later tonight. Hi-Chew’s rule.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Aldi's Maple Leaf Cookies are the Winner of Fall Sweet Treats

With it being officially fall, and due to my dislike of the pumpkin spice latte, I do try to find fall like snacks to have around the house. I’m not big on ginger, so that’s not an option. I despise candy corn so there’s no way I’d buy any of that. I try to keep the candy to a minimum prior to Halloween because I’d just end up eating it all. As for drinks, hot chocolate is about as sweet as I’ll go, and some might say that is a winter drink. Hell, I’d agree. But I did find, well was told about, a very tasty fall treat.

I do the grocery shopping as I’ve mentioned before, and I do the majority if it at Aldi. Aldi is a lower priced store than say a Schnucks or Kroeger or whatever your local big chain grocery store may be called. They also have great produce, solid protein and, what I will be talking about today, great cookies. Aldi does a thing where they put out random items, usually seasonal, and all us shoppers buy them quick. I was at Aldi two weeks ago and my wife texted about some cookies a co worker mentioned to her. She didn’t know the name, but she said they were shaped like a leaf and she was pretty sure they had maple in the title. I found them pretty easily. They are Benton’s Brand Maple Leaf Cookies. The maple cookies are simple enough. They do look like a leaf, a maple leaf, and they have a maple cream in the middle. It’s like a leaf shaped Oreo, only bigger and not chocolate. It’s a sandwich cookie. I bought them for my wife not expecting to eat any. She came home, tried them and told me I had to try one immediately. I did, and oh boy are these cookies fantastic. Now you have to have a very sweet tooth like me to enjoy these. They are extremely sweet. But they are so tasty too. The leaf cookie is crunchy and adds a perfect texture. They aren’t crunchy like a hard cookie, say a ginger snap or a Vanilla Wafer. They’re more so like a short bread. I love a good short bread cookie. So to have the “bread” of this sandwich cookie taste like short bread, that’s a big time win. But the maple cream, that is what takes this cookie over the top. It looks like the Oreo filling, but there’s more and it’s sweeter. It has maple syrup in the cream. There’s also granulated sugar. And whatever else they need to add to make this cream so goddamn good. I love it so very much. I will take the cookies apart, get the cream all on one side and make multiple double stuff cookies to eat. I’ll also eat the cream and cookie separately. That cream is so tasty. It is also what gives this cookie the “fall” flavor for me. Fall flavors are sweet and make you feel good inside.

This cookie delivers tenfold on that. It’s so sweet. I love eating them. And I’m pretty sure they’re my new favorite cookie. Probably my new favorite fall treat. I know of some other stores that sell something similar, which I think is great. I’d rather have a box of these cookies than one sip of a pumpkin spice latte. These cookies are the best. Go find them anywhere you can. They’re so good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Reese's Fast Break is the Greatest Candy Bar Ever Made

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On Tuesday's my son goes to a different school. He is in our school district's gifted program and the kids in it go to a whole different building. He loves it, but his day is much longer. He doesn't get out of class until 4:30. My daughter is still in kindergarten so she is not eligible to be tested yet for the gifted program. So I pick her up at 3:55 every day.

That means on Tuesday she and I have a half an hour to kill before we get my son. This means we usually go on mini adventures. These adventures always end with us getting treats. She gets one, she picks out one for her brother and I get myself something. We never go nuts because we eat dinner around 6 or 6:30 and we do not want to spoil our appetite. Lately I have been getting myself a small candy bar. It is a nice little sugar rush, and not getting the king size stuff makes me feel like it is worth the carbs. And the past two weeks I have gotten myself the Reese's Fast Break candy bar.

I am here today to say that this is the greatest piece of candy that has ever existed. I know that there are people out there that have a peanut allergy, my daughter is allergic to them. So I am sorry if this is mean. I'm sorry that you cannot taste the greatness that is a Fast Break bar. But this candy bar is the perfect candy bar. For years and years I have said that Snickers is my favorite candy bar. Snickers are great. They are even better frozen. I devour the mini ones during Halloween. The Fast Break has surpassed it. I cannot believe I just wrote it, but it is true. What Snickers does so great is mixing in the salt and the sweet, but the Fast Break does it better. The fast break has that great chocolate wrapped around it. Whatever Reese's wraps their peanut butter cups in, that chocolate is what surrounds the Fast Break. It is the perfect level of chocolate. Then they have Reese's peanut butter in the middle. It is a log of peanut butter sandwiched in there. Reese's makes the best tasting peanut butter. I love that they sell it in jars in the grocery store now. I buy it when I want a little treat and feel like spending a little extra.I will eat spoonfuls of it plain. It is that good. Then what puts this candy bar above the rest, what I love most about any candy bar that adds this ingredient, the nougat. The nougat is the perfect amount of chewy. It takes this candy bar from good to the GOAT. It is such a little addition but it makes a world of difference. The nougat makes this more candy bar-like. It gives it the chewiness. It makes it complete. It adds so much with so little. It is great. So with the sweet chocolate and nougat you get the perfect amount of sweet. It is exactly what I expect when I eat candy. Then you add on that Reese's peanut butter and it gives you a bit of salt and the protein that peanut butter provides. Snickers does this with the peanuts, but the Fast Break does it better with the peanut butter. The peanuts at times can be too crunchy and take away from the sweetness. With smooth peanut butter you do not have to worry about that. It is so perfect. Every bite is an excellent bite.

There is not a wasted moment when eating a Fast Break candy bar. It is candy bar perfection. It is a candy bar done exactly as they should be. There is not a bad thing to be said about the Fast Break bar. It is the GOAT.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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In the Double Cheeseburger wars, Burger King Cannot be Beat

Days when I do a longer run, usually six plus miles, I like to treat myself to some carbs. Better yet, I like to treat myself to disgusting fast food. I feel like I have earned it, especially if it is a trail run where I burned over 1,000 calories. I find it is a treat, I can eat the calories and there is nothing I enjoy more than a double cheeseburger from a fast food place. I have tried them all, at least locally, and I come to you today with who I believe has the best double cheeseburger in all of the fast food game.

Popeye's handily won the spicy chicken sandwich match. McDonald's has the best Diet Coke. Lion's Choice, a Saint Louis mainstay, has the best roast beef and the best fries. Wendy's has the best salad. But Burger King is the unequivocal champ of the double cheeseburger. Hell, they probably run the burger game as far as fast food restaurants go. I don't know if it is the flame grilled taste they get, the size of the burger, the toppings, the smaller bun, or just a mashup of all these things, but Burger King has their burger game on lock. I enjoy their double cheeseburgers more than any other fast food joint. I will find trails nearby a Burger King just so I can go and treat myself. Hell, most of the time I get two of them because they are so goddamn delicious. McDonald's is fine, but the burger patty is far too small, and they put too much ketchup and pickles on their burgers. I feel like a triple cheeseburger from there has less meat than what Burger King gives me. I like McDonald's, but it is a far away second place. Wendy's, which is my daughter's favorite fast food place, is nowhere near as good as Burger King. They suffer from the same plight as McDonald's, except their burgers are a little meatier. I am also not a big fan of the whole square burger schtick they have going on there. Also, Wendy's chicken sandwiches are so much better. I have not been to a Hardee's/Carl's Jr for about ten years, but what I remember most is they put way too much unnecessary extra ingredients on their burgers. I still have not been to Shake Shack, but to me that is more of a restaurant proper than a fast food place. We just got a Freddy's Steakburger in town, but I grew up eating Steak N Shake and their steak burgers, while very good, are far too tiny. As for some other places, we either do not have them in Saint Louis or they are known for other stuff. Taco Bell doesn't have burgers. Lee's and Popeye's are all about the chicken. Pizza places usually do not have a burger, or if they do it is not great, with Cecil Whittaker's being the lone exception.

What makes Burger King the best? First, they have their method, their system, and man does it work. I mentioned the flame grilled taste at the top. I know the burger is not cooked on an open flame, but it sure as hell tastes like it was. It has that unique smoky flavor. The condiments are lightly applied. There isn't an abundance of ketchup and mustard, it is just right. There are only two pickles on the sandwich and they are crinkle cut, which is my favorite. The lettuce is not falling out of the burger. The bun is perfectly small so it does not take away from the meat. And the cheese is gooey perfection. It is the best fast food burger, hands down. I feel like they even do veggie burgers right. Everyone I know that doesn't eat meat seems to like their Impossible Whopper the best. Burger King knows what it is doing and they do it better than anyone else out there.

If you are on the fence about this, if you have put any thought into who has the best fast food burger like I have, go to Burger King and tell me I am wrong. I think you will find it hard to do.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Rice is My New Go To Side Dish

Yesterday on a run I was listening to "Doughboys". Every Tuesday they put out their Patreon episodes, and since I have access to them, it is a nice treat. They did one of their feed bags, in which they answer questions submitted by fans and listeners. I typically enjoy these episodes because they are free and loose and fun. It is a delightful hour plus. There are times where a question sits with me and I think about it, and that happened this week.

The question was from a fan overseas and they said that, instead of getting fries, they usually get rice as a side dish with their meal. They mentioned getting rice with chicken nuggets or a hamburger. This divulged into a question between the hosts and engineer on whether they prefer rice or a potato as a side dish. As I was running it seemed like a simple answer. I immediately thought that I would want a potato side dish. But the more they talked, the more I kind of flipped sides, then flipped back, then flipped again. I actually think this is a very good question, and I want to take a deepish dive into why I would now choose rice over a potato. And for those questioning my pick of rice over a potato, since steak is my favorite food, they said that this question only involves fast food places, no sit down/fancy spots, and fries are not included in the potato category. Those are totally out of the question.

So as I have sat with this for a couple days, the easiest answer for rice is how much easier it is to eat. Potato side dishes can be messy. They can be sloppy. They can also be super heavy and throw off the rest of the meal. Rice is much easier to eat, especially with a spoon. It is better for you. Both rice and potatoes are full of carbs, but rice is known as a "slow carb". I eat those regularly now. It is not sloppy unless you make it sloppy. My kids can make a mess of rice, but they are nine and five. An adult should have no problem eating rice clean. And rice is not nearly as heavy as a potato. It can be filling if you eat way too much, but you have to eat a ton of rice for it to fill you up. I also started to imagine both side options with some fast food spots that I really enjoy. The listener mentioned rice with chicken nuggets, and that sounds like a delight. Take some of that sweet and sour sauce and mix it in the rice with the nuggets and you could have a very low rent version of orange chicken. If I get nuggets and a baked potato, or a twice baked potato, or even a scalloped potato, that is too much. It is too heavy. I thought about burgers, mainly the double cheeseburger from Burger King, which is my favorite, and rice sounds so much better. The double cheeseburger is filling enough, so throwing a potato on top of that is far too much food. But if I were to get a side of sticky rice, that seems much more palatable. It seems much better for my insides as well. With the bun, and then add a potato on top of that, that is way too many carbs. The side of rice would be less, and better carbs. I love Popeye's spicy chicken sandwich, and a side of rice would be the perfect cooling down compliment to the heat. A potato wouldn't do much, but the rice would be excellent for quelling the spice. And as far as any chicken dish goes from fast food spots, rice is a much, much better side dish than any potato dish, save for french fries. Even when I thought about sandwich spots, like a Jersey Mike's or Jimmy John's, rice would be way better. I know chips are the sandwich side dish go to, but I think rice would be better, You could have less, it would be much better for you and no one ever needs that high, high amount of carbs. I always thought I was a potato guy. As mentioned before I love a good twice baked potato or a scalloped potato or some kind of potato hot dish. But those always made me feel too full before getting the main dish. I would over eat the potato dish. Rice seems like the better option. It is easier and better for me. I think I am now a rice fan and I like it.

Long story short, rice is a superior side dish to the potato for fast food restaurants. I would love it if America gave us this option. So the next time you just blindly pick a potato as a side dish, think about how much better of a choice rice would be. You won't regret it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Living Room Café has a Coffee Cake That Cannot Be Beat

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Since I became a runner and lost a good amount of weight, sweets went by the wayside. This was the toughest part for me when I started this lifestyle change about seven years ago. I love sweets. They are my favorite part of any meal. There is always room for dessert.

Recently I have found ways around it now. There are plenty of ways to make low carb or keto treats. Atkins has their own line of dessert or snack foods. There is a group of sweet treats that are called Keto Bombs that I buy plenty of when I go to the store. I put fake sugar in my coffee, which I am trying to rid myself of at the moment. None of this stuff is good for me either. I know this. All the fake sugar is bad, and the real sugar is one of the many reasons why I got so heavy in my 20's.

When I do splurge nowadays I make it count. If I am going to eat a dessert or have a full sugar treat I want to make it count. I love doughnuts. So if I am going to have a doughnut, I want it to be as bad for me as possible. It gives me that satiated feeling that I miss. If I am going to have ice cream, I go for a Blizzard from DQ or a waffle cone from a local spot called Serendipity. If my wife makes a cake or a pie, you better believe I will have a few pieces because she is a damn fine chef. When I indulge, my favorite time to have sweets is the morning. I love a nice sweet breakfast. I should eat something savory, and with Atkins I have eggs and sausage. But if I want to go for it, if I am not counting carbs, I will go for something sweet nine times out of ten.

This morning I decided to treat myself for breakfast. Once a week my father and I go and get coffee from a local shop. This started prior to the pandemic, has continued with us picking up and drinking it at one of our houses, and it will continue for as long as my dad wants to do it. Today was our day to go out. I also brought my daughter along with us and my mom even decided she wanted in. It was great. We went to one of my favorite spots called The Living Room Café. Their regular drip coffee is outstanding, and they do some wild stuff that works. Today I had a Sproda. That is cold brew coffee with root beer in it. It's outstanding. They also have cold brew with orange juice and with tonic water. Both are great. Their lattes and cappuccinos and tea, it is all exceptional. They also have steamed milk and horchata and tons of other great, non coffee or tea drinks. Coffee is not the concern for me. But I have only ever had their food twice before. I had a breakfast sandwich once, which was really good, and their house made granola with their yogurt was fine. Today I decided that I was going to try their coffee cake. It looked really good on the online menu. It said it goes great with coffee.

I love coffee cake in general. I was on board. I went and picked up all our stuff and my coffee cake was in its own bag, wrapped to keep it warm. When I got to my folks house I unwrapped it and grabbed a plate and fork. First off, the piece was humongous. My dad said it looked like they gave me a quarter of the sheet pan. I also did not think I was going to finish it because it was so big. Then I had a bite. Then another and another. I gave my daughter a bite. I had my folks try a piece. But I made sure that I ate 90 percent of this all by myself. It was so dense, but felt light. The crumb topping was out of this world. The swirl of cinnamon sugar was such an added bonus. This was like a mix of a coffee cake and cinnamon roll in the best possible way. I kept eating it, without realizing how much of it was disappearing. It was so good. It was so easy for me to keep going back for another bite. This might have been the best piece of coffee cake I have ever eaten. It was the perfect amount of sweet. It was overly sweet, but it wasn't too savory. The piece was enormous, but I could have eaten two or more if I tried. I kept commenting on how tasty it was. I told my folks that if I am going to eat real sweets, this is what I want. This helped with every craving that I still have to this day when I stopped eating sweets daily. It was, quite simply, the perfect piece of coffee cake.

If you are ever in Saint Louis and want to go to a different, yet very good and very cool coffee shop, go to Living Room Café. Not only is the coffee amazing, but the coffee cake is one of the best in the country. Well done.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Publix Does Not Live Up to Basic Decency

Time for a hot take!

Last Friday I wrote a piece about how much I enjoyed my Publix sandwich. I stand by my like for the sandwich, but what my father told me has shaken me to my core.

I did not realize that an heiress involved with the company is a proud supporter of the riotous insurrectionists that stormed the Capitol on January 6th. I feel disgusted and ashamed that I said nice things about that company. My dad told me that they have distanced themselves from the heiress, but still, it was said and the name Publix is involved.

This is on me too. I should have done more research. I should have double checked things that I skirted by. I need to do more digging before I put pen to paper. So while I enjoyed my sandwich, I want to retract all the nice things I said about Publix. I just cannot openly support a company that stands with liars, rioters, cheaters, murderers, racists, terrorists and people that aim only to hurt people that do not agree with them. I am outraged and grossed out. I will never, ever, ever go to a Publix again. I have not shopped at Home Depot or purchased any Under Armor gear since 2016, and now I will never patronize a Publix ever again.

I am upset that I said nice things about a company involved with such a heinous person. Please accept my apologies, and know that I will keep my promise to never go to that store again. Thank you.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Publix Sandwiches More Than Live Up to the Hype

Finishing up my three days this week talking about my trip, I want to talk about the sandwiches we all got at Publix.

I’ve heard of Publix. Many people who live in the south have talked about Publix. When we saw the store my wife exclaimed, “they have the best sandwiches!”, and we wanted to put that to the test. After my son and I went on a hike, we met up and went to get sandwiches at Publix. I went in and ordered for all of us and we brought them back to the condo to enjoy.

My kids sandwiches weren’t too wild. One had ham and cheese and the other had turkey, lettuce and cheese. My wife went pretty bland too. She had turkey, lettuce, Mayo and provolone cheese. I went off the menu and got the Cuban sandwich. That had a few different meats, spicy Gouda cheese and I added lettuce and tomato. I had my sandwich on wheat bread and the rest of my family had theirs on five grain Italian bread. When we got back I grabbed my sandwich, some water and proceeded to chow down.

My sandwich was great. It was spicy, the meat, which is Boar’s Head, was so good and the veggies were so fresh and tasty. I asked the workers if I should get any condiments on it and they said they wouldn’t, that the sandwich is good on its own. Whether they were lying or just didn’t want to do extra work, they were right. The sandwich was so good. I scarfed that bad boy down. I inhaled it. I was amazed at how fast I finished it. But it was that good.

I’ve had my fare share of sandwiches, I used to work in a few, but this sandwich was better. I would go as far to say that the only place I’ve had a better sandwich is Zingermann’s in Ann Arbor. That’s a much better sandwich shop than Publix, but Publix is a strong second. It’s better than Bread Co or Subway or Quizno’s. I like it more than the sandwiches they make at my local grocery store. Publix is good.

As for my family, my wife, obviously loved her sandwich. She was telling us how it reminded her of going there when she was a kid. So she not only got the delightful taste, she got to relive memories. That’s a statement. I could see how happy she was while eating it. It’s the same when I have a pasty or calico beans. Those memories add so much to the eating experience. My kids were stoked. They’ve never had Boar’s Head. It’s too expensive. But when on vacation, we kind of indulge. My son was in hog heaven. She just kept saying, “man is this good” over and over. He was very impressed. My daughter is a bit more picky, but she ate every single bite. She deconstructed it, going bread, cheese and meat, but she ate it all. That’s rare. That means it was very well made and very good. She doesn’t finish many meals, but she finished this one.

Food is a big deal while on vacation, so it’s nice to have a place that can give you somewhat of a healthy option but also taste very good. Publix has 3 new fans and just reaffirmed my wife’s love of the place. Those were some tasty sandwiches. Good work.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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An Ode to The Greatness of Relish

For years and years I was the type of person that put either ketchup or barbeque sauce on my hot dogs. That was what I liked. And the sweeter the ketchup or BBQ sauce, the better. I'd slather my dog in either sauce, put it on a bun and scarf it down. That was the best of the best for me. That was how I liked my dogs at home, when they were grilled, or when I was at a ball game.

As I got older I started to switch it up a teeny bit. I let go of the BBQ sauce, especially if the hot dog was grilled. And while still adding ketchup, I would put a little yellow mustard on it. I liked the vinegar taste the mustard added. Then I started to add topping. Shredded cheese was a big deal. Caramelized onions became one of my favorites. I loved a good chili cheese dog. I liked pickle spears. When we would go to Illinois, I fell in love with Portillo's hot dogs.

About four years ago I stopped eating ketchup. I realized how truly awful it is for you, and it was easy for me to give up, so I let it go. I do not eat ketchup anymore. Not on hot dogs or fries or burgers. I order those items and ask for no ketchup. And all the other stuff I was putting on hot dogs became too much. It was ungapatchka as Nick Wiger would say. We have this great hot dog place in Saint Louis. Steve's Dogs, and they specialize in hot dogs overstuffed with toppings. While I enjoy a Steve's Hot Dog from time to time, it can be a bit much. So lately I have only been putting mustard on my dogs. I don't eat buns anymore either, unless it is a "cheat day" on my diet, so just a Nathan's hot dog with some brown or generic classic yellow mustard is all I need.

During our stay with my folks, my dad and mom suggested I try relish with my hot dog. I have never liked relish. Well, to be honest, it always looked gross to me so I never gave it a chance. I would see my dad eat it at a ball game, my mom would eat it when we grilled at home when I was a child, but I never gave it a fair shot. So when they suggested I try it, I was pretty hesitant. My mom said it was just finely chopped pickles in liquid. I am not a humongous pickle guy, but then my dad reminded me how much I like Portillo's, and they have pickle spears on their famous hot dogs. So my wife, who also never tried relish, and I decided to give it a go, and man was it great. I was stunned at how much I liked the taste. I had my Nathan's, I had the classic yellow mustard and then I added a little relish at first. The extra vinegar, the crunch and the acid made it a perfect mix of flavors. I loved it. Then I decided I wanted to try it on a bun, just to get the full feel. That was even better. Getting that white hot dog bun, the generic brand, adding a good amount of relish to the bottom of it, then putting the hot dog on top of the relish and adding a squeeze of yellow mustard, it was the best hot dog I have ever had. It was the perfect bite of hot dog. This was what I was missing all those years. I finally understood, after 38 years, the appeal of relish on a hot dog. I do have to add the caveat, I used dill relish. I tried sweet relish, but I do not like sweet pickles, so that was a no go for me. But I am a dill pickle fan, so the dill pickle relish is perfect for me. I have been eating it with my hot dogs ever since. In fact for lunch today I had some hot dogs and I added dill relish and yellow mustard and it was great. I highly recommend, if you have just blown off relish for all these years, to give it a shot. It is really, really tasty. My five year old loved it so much that she piled it on her hot dog the other night, and actually took the hot dog out and ate a relish sandwich. That may sound gross, but she devoured it, and me, my wife, my daughter and my mom and dad all enjoyed dill relish on our hot dogs the past couple of days.

I am looking forward to the next time I grill hot dogs just so I can put some relish on it. It is a dynamite condiment.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Can a Non Phish Fan Still Enjoy Phish Food?

Wrong kind of Phish

Like most people I enjoy some good ice cream. I like going to shops to get scoops, but that’s a moot option in the time of COVID. I can, and sometimes still, order from the shops I like, but it’s not the same as physically going inside. It doesn’t travel as well, it becomes soupy, it’s just a mess. But, I do go grocery shopping for my family. I am the shopper. I like going to the store, finding deals and getting our food.

I’m on a diet, a low carb one, I do have “cheat” days, and my favorite dessert to have on those days is ice cream. I will legitimately eat a full pint of ice cream on Sunday, which is my “cheat” day. And while there’s plenty of pint options, Ben and Jerry’s is the best. Full stop. I’ll debate anyone who disagrees. What they’ve achieved over the years is amazing. They make some crazy flavor mixes, but they all work. I don’t like cherries, but I love some Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. I’m not a fan of frozen chocolate bananas, but Chunky Monkey is so good. Cinnamon Buns is like eating breakfast ice cream in the best possible way. Netflix and Chilled is an amazing salty and sweet flavor. My son and I argue over finishing the Salted Caramel Core. My wife will steal the Chubby Hubby. It is all so good.

For years I never tried Phish Food. I was opposed to this flavor for a dumb reason too. I used to love jam music. I was a big Widespread Panic fan. I saw String Cheese Incident live more times than I’d like to admit. Yonder Mountain String Band was a big deal to me. I listened to almost every jam band. The one I didn’t, the one I openly refused to listen to, that was Phish. They were too “mainstream” for me. They were the “popular” jam band, and I was a snob about it, so I never listened to them. And it’s not like I listen to them now. I’m over jam music, and I never gave Phish a shot. I don’t intend to either. It’s over for me. But, that was why I would not eat Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food. It was strictly due to my dislike for a band I never gave a real chance. It’s silly looking back at it now.

Recently I was inspired due to the podcast “Doughboys”, and what they’re doing for Munch Madness, that all changed a week ago. “Doughboys” is doing a dessert tournament for March, and of course they’ve had Ben and Jerry’s multiple times. And each time they’ve had it, they’ve mentioned Phish Food. So I went and got the family some pints of Ben and Jerry’s, and this time I got Phish Food. Then Sunday rolled around and I was ready to give it a shot. I didn’t know what to expect, but boy was it fantastic. For those that may not know, Phish Food is a chocolate based ice cream with caramel, fudge fish and marshmallow. Oh my goodness does this work. It is near perfect. The way the chocolate and caramel and marshmallow mesh, it’s divine. I found myself going back to the Phish Food more than the other pints I bought. I just kept digging in until the pint was empty. When I finished it, and I finished it all myself, I said to my wife that it was one of the best tasting ice creams I’d ever had. I’m upset at myself that I waited until my late 30’s to try it. And for such a dumb reason. I was wrong, but better late than never I suppose.

Phish, the band, may not be for me. But Phish Food, the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, that is top notch. I truly love this ice cream, and I will be eating it many, many more times. Man is it tasty.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Eats McDonald's New Chicken Sandwich

It is time to spice you up

I assumed the spicy chicken sandwich wars were over. I personally declared Morning Glory Diner here in Saint Louis the overall winner. In the whole fast food game Popeye’s was the clear winner. To me it’s better than Chik Fil A or Burger King or Wendy’s, among many others. Popeye’s is still the winner, and by a lot. But my father informed me that McDonald’s had a new spicy chicken sandwich, and he heard it was as good as Popeye’s. I, naturally, had to test this.

Today I took the shot. My wife and I picked up our daughter from school and decided to pick up lunch from McDonalds. I got the spicy chicken sandwich meal, and saved the sandwich for last. This isn’t about the sides or drinks, but the fries were great, as always, and McDonalds has the best fountain Diet Coke. They won that years ago. Those were expectedly wonderful. Now was the time for the sandwich.

Upon opening it, it looks like all the other fast food spicy chicken sandwiches. The bun is glistening with what I assume is butter. There is a big hunk of beaded chicken, two pickles and a spicy sauce, most likely a sriracha mayonnaise. On the surface they are doing what the other spots do. The sandwich itself was solid. The bun was very tasty. It was covered in that butter like substance, and that’s always good. The pickles add a nice crunch and cooling element. And the sriracha mayo was fine. The chicken itself was fine. It was probably the weakest part of the sandwich, but it was still solid. It was a little dry, but the mayo helped. I am not a big pickle guy, but they work on these sandwiches. As I said, it’s a nice cool down. It gives you a break from the heat. It’s needed. The mayo was fine too, but there was far too much of it. I think they slop it on because that’s where the heat comes from. I’m not a big mayo guy in the first place, and when it’s covering every portion of my sandwich, it’s a bit of a turn off. It’s why I’m not a huge fan of Wendy’s chicken sandwiches. They smother their sandwiches with mayo. There was so much that my wife and I both scrapped some of it off. That helped to finish the sandwich.

I know it may sound like I’m dogging on it, but I did enjoy the sandwich. I ate the whole thing pretty quickly after removing some mayo. It’s tasty. But, it’s not as good as Popeyes or Burger King. It’s not close to Morning Glory Diner. But I do like it more than Chik Fil A and Wendy’s. I think a fourth out of sixth place finish is solid for McDonalds. They do so much other stuff so well, like the aforementioned fries and Diet Coke. They also have the best fast food double cheeseburgers and their quarter pounder is a classic. The chicken game is done better at other places, namely Popeyes, who specialize in chicken. It’s a solid sandwich, just not as good as others I’ve had.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Aldi Coconut Blend is Some Great Coffee

I have mentioned on this site how I am fairly new to the coffee scene.

I didn't start drinking coffee until my son was born, and he will be nine next month. When I started to drink coffee it was all about getting as much sweetness as possible, to mask the coffee flavor. I wanted the caffeine, but I didn't want the taste. So I would have every Frappuccino and sweet drink you could imagine. Hell, I even enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte in my coffee infancy. Soon I started to get away from the super sweet coffee, and opted for blonde roast, and then I would add cream and Splenda. I have never been a real sugar guy for my coffee. It takes far too much to reach the taste I want. But, Splenda does do the trick with a very little bit. And lately I have even had some coffee that doesn't require any flavor add ons. Sure, an occasional oat milk honey latte or a mocha or even some kind of Xmas themed drink is fine.

For me there are some places here in Saint Louis where the black coffee actually tastes like the description. There are a few spots, namely Sump, Stone Spiral and Shaw's, that need nothing extra. The coffee on its own is fantastic. Especially Sump. I had a black coffee there that had fruit notes of peaches and pears in it, and I could legitimately taste it in the cup. It is, in fact, one of the best cups of coffee I have ever had.

So in my, now almost nine years of coffee drinking, I have found ways to try and make the drinks from shops I like, or I just find ground coffee with flavors in it that do not require much, if any additions. I still take my coffee with cream no matter what. But there are some ground coffee flavors that need no sweetener, be it fake or real. I have recently discovered a new flavor that does just that. I get most of my ground coffee at Aldi. Say whatever you want about me coffee snobs. I love the price point of Aldi, it works just fine in my Keurig, again, say what you want nerds, and it tastes damn good. I do buy the occasional on brand stuff at Schnucks, but the off brand stuff they have at Aldi is just as good, and the toasted coconut flavor is one of the best ground coffees I have ever had. I am not a fan of straight up coconut. The texture turns me off. It is all grimy and gritty and just not for me. I am not a fan of Mounds bars, I do not like when they add shredded coconut to a fruit medley mix, and I would rather throw out ice cream than eat it if it has coconut in it. But, I do like the flavor of coconut. Yeah, I'm weird. When you separate the texture, and just add the flavor, chef's kiss. My favorite Bai drink is the coconut one. I love these low carb granola bars I found that are coconut flavored. I don't like milk, but I do enjoy coconut milk in coffee and in cereal. I also like coconut water. But this toasted coconut flavored coffee is to die for.

First off, it smells like coconut when it brews. I feel like I am at the beach or the pool when I make my cup every morning, and I love it. But the taste, my goodness is that where this stuff shines. It does have that toasted flavored, but not over roasted. You know how Starbucks roast coffee tastes kind of burnt? This coffee straddles that line to perfection. It truly is toasted, not burnt. Then, with a touch of cream, it goes down so smooth. It gives me both the coffee taste I have grown to like, but with a hint of coconut. You know how LaCroix is like sparkling water, with an essence of flavor, but Spindrift actually has that flavor? This coffee is like the Spindrift of coffee. It is so much better. I really dig the flavor, and the fact that I do not need to add much, if any sweetener. When I do, it takes the flavor up a notch, and that is great. But the coffee is just as good, maybe better, with a splash of cream.

I cannot recommend this coffee enough, and this is coming from a coconut skeptic. Check it out, I bet you will enjoy it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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SeedSing Classic: The Advent Calendar of Good, and Bad, Holiday Eats: Day 19 - Fruit Cake

ed note: This article originally premiered on December 19th, 2017

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a treat associated with the holiday season. Many will be awesome, some will be terrible. Enjoy.

Opened doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen,                           Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen

Day 19: Fruit Cake

The holiday season is filled with emotions that swing from one range to another. We are filled with joy and happiness one moment, then we are filled with dread and anxiety a minute later. The excitement of finding a perfect gift, followed by the dread of seeing the price. The warm fewling of being with long not seen family, followed by the realization of why you only see these family members once a year. The holidays are filled with feelings that are in direct conflict of each other.

Fruit cake is the perfect holiday dish to reflect this emotional dichotomy. Fruit cake is either an awesome dish, or it is dreadful. Go to your local grocery store and buy a cheap fruitcake mixed with bad walnuts and over sweetened dried fruit, it is a holiday chore to get through. Find a special homemade connection with real brandied fruit, and you can sometimes taste holiday bliss. The lesson here is skip the chain store fruit cake, and find a nice artisanal made one that has spent years wrapped in brandy soaked cheesecloth. That is the only reason to eat fruitcake.

We go from the greatest highs to the lowest lows during the holiday season. We experience the joy of charity, and the dread of sticker shock, sometimes within the same act. Fruit cake is the perfect holiday treat to represent this swing. Sometimes it is great, sometimes it is terrible. Yet fruit cake will always be part of the mystery of what our holiday season is all about.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Fruit cake can be enjoyed with any holiday feast. Devo knows no matter what you believe, none of it is true, a Merry Something to You.

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Eggnog is the Worst

Yesterday I came at you all with a hot holiday take about a good treat, something I like that maybe others do not. Today I am going to do a similar thing, but this is my hot take of the worst holiday treat.

I could take the easy way out and say Xmas dinner is the worst. It is just a rehash of Thanksgiving, with very few exceptions, and maybe people, my family included, replaces turkey with ham. You have two of the same meals in a one month span of time. But that is boring. I could also call out hot cocoa or any type of chocolate. These are all well and good, and the Reese's peanut butter trees are the best version of that, but that is also a little lazy to me. None of those work. The clichés are way too cliché. For me, here it comes, the worst holiday treat to have at this time is eggnog, be it alcoholic or non.

This drink is vile. It feels like drinking liquified eggs, with some seasonings in it. I am always afraid that it is going to curdle or give me salmonella or go bad. I am not a milk fan to begin with, and eggnog is just a thicker, sweeter milk. I don't drink any alcohol either. I have tried different alcohol, and none of it is for me. The closest I have ever gotten to liking any type of alcohol is Bailey's mixed in coffee. But that was probably just a one time thing. I have tried it again, recently, and it was too strong. I am such a lightweight because I never drink. My wife had some alcoholic eggnog the other night, I gave it a taste, and I told her, "this is awful, it tastes like paint thinner smells". That was about as honest an answer as I could give her. I don't know if it was too much alcohol in it, if it was the gross consistency of the eggnog, or if it were both. I'd have to say it was a little bit of both. It was too strong and too gooey. And for me, this goes for all things eggnog. I have bought my kids eggnog ice cream, tried it, and wanted to throw up. I have had regular eggnog, like a milk carton from the store, and thrown it away the moment I walked in my door. My mother in law has made eggnog cookies before, and she is a tremendously talented baker, and I couldn't even finish a small cookie. I have seen eggnog flavored milk. Why is this a thing? Who wants that? I mean, strawberry milk is gross enough, who wants to have an eggnog flavored milk? That is so gross. I just, I mean, I like eggs, but not in liquid form. It is too dangerous. There are too many things that could go wrong. I would rather try a sushi that could kill me if not prepared correctly. The idea of trying blowfish is more appealing to me than drinking eggnog. I would rather eat a pizza covered in sardines than have an eight ounce cup of eggnog. Give me a jar of olives, which I also despise, and I would choke that down before I would have some eggnog. It just doesn't do it for me. It is too gross. They try to cover up the taste by adding unnecessary spices. Who needs nutmeg and cinnamon in a milk based drink? I won't even put that stuff in my coffee. That is too much for me, and I put Splenda in my coffee.

My wife, my mom and dad, even RD, and I am sure my other brothers and their wives probably like the holiday concoction, I do not, not at all. Eggnog is vile and thick and just downright awful. There, I said it, and I feel better. Now I am going to go and have a good holiday drink, a peppermint hot chocolate.

Ed note: Ty is wrong

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Those Peanut Butter Cookies with the Chocolate Kisses are the Best

Today I am coming at everyone with a steamy hot Xmas take.

First up, I love all the snacks and treats and the food that comes with the holiday. It is acceptable to gorge, you can eat as much as you want, and most people will not say a thing. Now that I have lost some weight, and I very much enjoy running, I cannot stuff my face as much as I used to. This is a good thing, but sometimes I do miss going nuts on holiday treats.

Now for the take.

The one treat I can still eat to my heart's content, that I will still stuff my face, and eat until I am sick, is the peanut butter cookies that have a Hershey's kiss in the middle. I believe they may be called thumbprint cookies. I am not one hundred percent sure if that is the name, or if it has multiple names. Whatever it may be called though, these cookies are, hands down, the best treat to have over the holiday. You all can have your eggnog or hot cocoa or fruitcake or other cookies or whatever. The thumbprint cookie destroys all other holiday snacks. They are easy to make, even easier to eat and taste better than all the other treats. I love peppermint bark, especially the Ghirardelli brand. Thumbprint cookies are better. I enjoy hot cocoa from time to time. Thumbprint cookies are better. I don't drink eggnog, but I know my wife and dad, and I believe RD himself, enjoys it. Give me a thumbprint cookie any day. Within my family and friends it is well known that I love sugar cookies, especially when you snickerdoodle them. But this time of year I prefer the thumbprint cookie. It is just so good. I also don't get to eat as much peanut butter as before, my daughter is very, very allergic to peanuts. So when I do have them, if my wife and I make them after the kids go to bed, I like them even more now. I guess I have an even deeper appreciation of this cookie, this treat. I am also not a big peanut butter cookie fan, again, I prefer sugar cookies. But this thumbprint cookie just works on so many levels.

The fact is that chocolate and peanut butter pair so well. We all love peanut butter cups, my favorite M&M's are the peanut butter ones, when I make oatmeal I like to add a little splash of chocolate to accent the peanut butter. The pairing just works. The thumbprint cookie takes it to a whole other level though. Maybe it is because the cookie is so small, and the kiss is almost as big, or that the two work so well with the chocolate kiss melting into the soft cookie or, I don't truly know, I just know that I absolutely love and adore this cookie. When I see a tray of them at my folks house, or when we could go to Xmas parties, please do not go this year, be safe, and I would see a tray of these cookies, I am always tempted to take the whole thing for myself. It just works on every level. The size of the cookie is perfect. The addition of the kiss is the cherry on top. And you can pop these things like they are going out of style. I really, truly love this cookie. I believe my wife and I are going to make some this weekend.

I am seeing my family this holiday, we have all been extremely safe and cautious and none of us have symptoms of COVID, and I am hoping someone makes them for us all to eat, even though I will eat most of them. The thumbprint cookie is, bar none, the best holiday treat. Please tell me I am wrong, and I will retort with a photo of myself enjoying the hell out of one of these cookies. It gets no better. I dare you to try and find a better holiday treat. It is impossible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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SeedSing Classic: The Advent Calendar of Good, and Bad, Holiday Eats: Day 2 - McDonald's Holiday Pie

ed note: This article was originally published on December 2nd, 2017

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a treat associated with the holiday season. Many will be awesome, some will be terrible. Enjoy.

Opened doors: One

Day 2: McDonald's Holiday Pies

Every season brings out a few unique treats from our local eateries. Special salads come out in the summer months, a new beer style seems to arrive each month, and September brings the legion of items flavored with pumpkin spice. The Christmas season brings on the biggest onslaught of seasonal treats. Peppermint, nutmeg, and clove usually take a starring role in December goodies. Except for a mom and pop shop called McDonald's, they like to take our holiday eats to a whole new level.

Once the Thanksgiving holiday is in the rear view mirror, McDonald's starts to offer the Holiday Pie as an alternative to the year round apple option. The Holiday Pie is said to be custard in a sugar coated crust, and it is as awesome as it sounds. The crust is not only coated in sugar, it has festive red and green sprinkles to add holiday joy. The custard, extra devine when piping hot, is way better than anything one expects to get at McDonald's. Considering that the Holiday Pie follows the Pumpkin Crème pie of the fall, McDonald's is bringing a pastry A game to the last quarter of the year.

McDonald's is the number one restaurant around the world because one can get cheap, and predictable food at anytime. Variety is not good for their business. The Holiday Pie is part of the predictable pattern, and it is a great one. It can be argued that the Holiday Pie is the greatest thing McDonald's offers during the year. it can be argued, but it is wrong. The Holiday Pie still sits behind the greatness of the Shamrock Shake. There is nothing unpredictable about that.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. One should enjoy their Holiday Pie with a classic Christmas television program. We recommend the great GI Joe cartoon episode 'Cobra Claws are Coming to Town".

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