I’m about six hours away from vacation, and I’ve just about finished all the work I needed to do before I leave. Needless to say, I’m in a giddy mood. As a result, I decided to dedicate this blog entry to a few odd new products and some of the weirdest cookbooks I’ve received of late.

We’ll start out with Kraft’s new brainchild, Macaroni & Cheese crackers. The box you see here came shipped in a much larger box that, when opened, made crunching noises. I swear it’s true.

We tried the crackers and found them to be rather good, actually. They are a bit like noodle-shaped Cheez-Its with a powdery cheese coating on the outside. Within a half hour, they had been polished off by two of my co-workers. On the other hand, it was about 4 p.m. in the afternoon, which is generally munchie-time in the Features Department.

Next up: Those crazy kids over at McCormick are at it again. This time, they’ve developed new black pepper blends that are infused with the flavors of Worchestershire or Smokehouse, depending on which you choose.

McCormick recommends the Smokehouse flavoring for burgers and the Worchestershire blend for steak. They even include a marinade recipe on the back of the Worchestershire blend: 3 Tbsp. each of oil, water and red wine vinegar, mixed with 2 tsp. each of the pepper and minced onions and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Sounds pretty good!

Not to be left out, the folks at KFC have developed a new flavor called Smoky Chipotle Crispy Fried Chicken. It is only the third flavor to be introduced at KFC since the restaurant was founded 65 years ago, a spokeswoman said.

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As a little kid in Leadville, Colorado, we had the perfect spot for a lemonade stand.
Right at the end of our street, on a visible corner, there was a huge, gray, perfectly rectangular rock. I always thought it looked kind of like an elephant at rest. The back of that elephant rock was the best place to set up plastic cups and a pitcher of Kool-Aid lemonade.
That was so long ago that I don’t even remember if we actually sold any lemonade. I’m pretty sure, however, that I never did anything as admirable with my earnings as Alexandra “Alex” Scott did with hers.
I learned about the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation this week after receiving a box of candy from Mike and Ike. The company that makes Mike and Ike, JustBorn, have introduced a new flavor called “Lemonade Blends.” A portion of the proceeds will go to ALSF.
According to the ALSF Web site, Alex’s parents founded the non-profit organization after their daughter died of neuroblastoma at the age of 8. But by then, she had already helped raise almost $1 million to help fight juvenile cancer.

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