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Q: Why do programmers confuse Halloween and Christmas?
A: Because OCT 31 is the same as DEC 25.
With that out of the way...
When Halloween approaches the Halloween themed cereals reappear. I never had them as a kid and curiosity arose, and alas memory and perhaps judgment did not - as is the nature of the impulse buy. It's been a long time since I saw any of the commercials for any of the Halloween themed cereals. Once I had them - and I went and got a box of each - I realized I needn't have bothered. They are, of course, the same except for the coloring and flavoring used on the cereal part. That's the non-marshmallow (if you can call those marshmallows) bits. And since it's a cereal part and marshmallows, well, it's just a Lucky Charms with added color and flavor, and probably just different dies in an extruder for the shapes. I suspect had I looked at the boxes more closely in the store or had I seen the TV ads again, I might have realized that before making the purchase.
My impressions now? There's good reason Boo-Berry was a rarity in some years. It's not at all blueberry to me, but the amount of color is intense. Franken Berry (the strawberry) probably uses just as much coloration, but seems not to be quite so nasty about it and at least makes a good attempt at being strawberry flavored. Count Chocola is chocolate, or at least what passes for it in dry cereal form. Not great by any means, but at least identifiable. All three, like Lucky Charms, have the modern lousy addition to make sure they "stay crispy in milk!" And that is, there is enough wax to that even if the cereal is left in milk for a good while, the wax shell will provide a crunch. The result is rather abrasive and doesn't taste good. There is sweetness, which trips the "more!" switch, so it's easy to want to have more even if the actual flavor isn't very good. I don't need to do try these again. Once those were gone, it was back to nice, plain, sensible Cheerios.
On and off for some time I've heard ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
timmowarner complain about the inferiority of Canadian Corn Pops as compared with United States Corn Pops. I didn't quite get what exactly he was going on about. Corn Pops were Corn Pops, right? Wrong.
When jmaynard was in Canada a few weeks ago he asked me if there was anything I wanted him to bring back. Naturally I suggested he bring some proper Smarties (which are like M&Ms but better, and not the pastel colored chalk discs that are called Smarties in the U.S.A.). I also asked for a small box of Corn Pops so I could finally see what the difference was.
Even upon just seeing the box, it was clear that this was (these were?) another cereal entirely.
( Pictures )
The taste is quite different. Obviously, the Canadian version doesn't have the sugar glaze that U.S. Corn Pops have. However, they don't taste like Kix either. I don't think it's just that the Canadian Corn Pops have some oat content. It could be any of a few things, or a combination of them.
The Canadian Corn Pops are not made with corn syrup, but with proper sugar, there is some baking soda, and there is "fancy molasses" in place of just "molasses." Also, the Canadian version doesn't have as many vitamin and mineral additives as the U.S. version. Instead it seems to just have iron, zinc, and the B vitamins.
It's a bit jarring to have a glass of vanilla soy milk, which isn't quite white, and a cup of some chocolaty cereal. The milk looks rather like it might have been leeching the chocolate, or at least the coloring, from the cereal even though the two have never met.
I've taken to eating a cup (not a bowl, just a cup) of cereal most mornings as a way to get the day started and get vitamin supplements. Since I'm the only one eating the cereal, I can buy whatever cereal I desire. Not long ago I figured I might as well try some of the things I generally did not get as a kid and see how they were. So, seeing it on sale, I bought one of the smaller boxes of Trix.
I know kiddie-targeted cereals are sweet and colorful, but this was jarring. I'd been used to things like Chex and Cheerios which aren't the most exciting of things, I admit. I'd tried Captain Crunch or something like it and there was a bit more coloring and non-cereal flavor. Then there's Trix. In glorious Technicolor, breathtaking CinemaScope, and Stereophonic Sound! Well, colorful anyway. Bright "is it safe to eat this, really?" colors. And sweet. It's not so much cereal as candy: Candy for breakfast. Of course kids like it, but they probably shouldn't have it. I doubt I should have it.
I finished that box this past weekend and won't be getting Trix again. I expect I might work my way through the cereal aisle, or parts of it depending on what's on sale. But for now I'm happy to be back to the simple plain Cheerios.
