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This is my granola bar. It's a Quaker "True Delights" Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut granola bar. And let me just say that it is delicious -- all two bites of it!

I don't want a granola bar the size of my leg, but seriously, look at this tiny thing. I had to place it next to my stapler for context. When you buy a box of these (they were on sale for $2.49 this week), you get five bars. And then you open them and they are miniscule. Hey, I think Barbie might be hungry, guys. If I give her one of these, she MIGHT have enough to share with Ken.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I still think we are getting less food for our money in some cases at the grocery store. Has anyone else continued to notice this? If so, got any specific product examples?

www.amazon.com

I have run across the perfect gift idea for your favorite foodie. And if that happens to be you, well, now you'll have an excuse to spend a little money on yourself!

The ever-vivacious Rachael Ray has come out with a new product called "Make Your Own Takeout." But I can't call this a cookbook in the standard sense because the recipes actually come in a little box and are printed on removable cards that are categorized by the cuisine. There are categories for Thai, Chinese, Indian, pizza, burgers and sandwiches and Tex-Mex. At a time when lots of us are trying to spend less money on entertainment, this strikes me as a genius idea!

The question is, do the recipes look good and do they cook good? Well, here's a sampling of what the M.Y.O.T.O. deck has to offer (she really likes those acronyms for some reason).

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Today is Dairy Day on the old Fridge Magnet blog. I've got two udderly exciting food developments to pass along.

First, the Got Milk? campaign is coming to Roanoke next week, and they'll be hosting a fun day on the Roanoke City Market on Tuesday, June 30 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. That day, you'll be able to pose for your own milk moustache photo, watch behind-the-scenes footage from celebrity milk moustache ads, gather wellness information about milk, enter a contest to win a year's supply of milk and enjoy free smoothies. The Got Milk? folks will also be sampling milk from local dairies.

Next up, what's better than milk? Ice cream! And here's a little ice cream trivia for you guys: Did you know that Rocky Road ice cream was first introduced in 1929 during the Great Depression? Yep, Bill Dreyer and Joseph Edy of Dreyer's/Edy's Grand Ice Cream invented the beloved flavor to cheer people up during the depression. According to the Edy's company, ice cream was typically only made in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry back then. But Dreyer decided to add walnuts (they later switched to almonds) and used his wife's sewing scissors to snip marshmallows into bite-size pieces for the ice cream.

Eighty years later, the same ice cream company has introduced a temporary new flavor designed to brighten the mood during this latest recession. It's called Red, White and No More Blues, and it consists of vanilla ice cream with swirls of real strawberry and blueberry throughout. Sounds incredibly delicious to me, but then I've always preferred fruity ice cream flavors to chocolatey ones.

Red, White and No More Blues will be available  in 1.5 quart cartons in your grocer's freezer for $5.99. Hurry up and buy a carton before summer ends and ... well, I guess we are allowed to get the blues again.

Laura Tucker, a regular contributor from Salem, sent along these pictures from the Virginia State Championship Chili Cook-off, which took place in downtown Roanoke on Saturday. Most of these pictures are of a chili-eating contest. It looks like some folks really got into their chili -- LITERALLY.

Check out the slide show. Or if you want to see the pictures individually on Flickr, go here.

These flippin' bears really think they are something special because they were released by the Just Born company especially for Valentine's Day. Just Born is the crazy company that makes marshmallow Peeps.

These bears are all high-falutin because they are "chocolate mousse" flavored instead of plain marshmallow like the originals, those little yellow chicks. See how the bear on the far right can't even bother to have his picture taken? He's all rolling his eyes to the side like he has better places to be.

When I took the bears out of their package, I thought the chocolate odor was a bit contrived. Really a bit fake. I didn't bite anyone's head off about it, though. Truthfully, I don't care for Peeps.

I hope you guys and gals all get much better Valentine's Day gifts than these bears. But it was all I had to offer, so HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY with love from me and the Fridge Magnet blog.