Holiday Snacks and Thanksgiving Horror

Gobble, Gobble, everyone. I return from a small hiatus to bring you festive Thanksgiving tidings. Frankly yours truly has been all over the place as of late with some major success involving my pending return to classes alongside days of just being a slug. Of course I couldn't let the creamy center of the holiday season pass without spreading a little cheer on here. After all, there's plenty of little oddities to be thankful for whether it be the newest fattening chemical concoction on the shelves or the surprise beginning of what is sure to become a new tradition in this household.

We'll begin our tour of holiday goodies with the latest in cheery drinks as this year finds multiple soda/cola brands adding a festive spin to their offerings. Likely the biggest release of them must be Cinnamon Coke. Upon first news of this release I automatically recoiled in horror with memories of the horrific swill that was Pepsi Fire. If you suffer from the same worries let me put you at ease with the good news that Cinnamon Coke is actually pretty tasty, not an absolute knockout, but good enough to spice up your celebrations.

The key difference between this Coke versus the previous Pepsi attempt is the approach each company took towards the flavor. Where Pepsi Fire sought to emulate hot cinnamon candy, Coke decided to go with the classic winter warmer method as if a cinnamon stick had been placed in your glass. This means the flavor is much more balanced and tolerable though there's still a bit of artificial taste to it that may bother some folks. I'd wager it's worth a try for most anyone however as even with my slight reservations I've really enjoyed my time sipping this stuff down, and my nephew is over the moon for it. The packaging isn't all that seasonal, save for the brands self-imposed connection to Christmas, but if you're one of the coke at Christmas families then the little cinnamon sticks on the side will spice up your display ever so slightly. It seems like the sort of item that only few will really love but nobody will outright hate which is practically a holiday miracle in itself and deserving of a hopeful re-release in years to come. Plus I'd imagine it must be wonderful when paired with rum.

Mtn. Dew decided to reissue their previous Christmas brew by bringing Merry Mash-Up back to shelves. If I didn't know any better I'd swear this stuff was laced with some kind of elf produced amnesia dust. Not only could I barely recall the drink upon seeing it in stores but even now, after gleefully consuming a fair share, I can't really remember enough to describe the experience. It's some sort of Christmas punch attempt and it is tasty yet for whatever reason it slips the mind in a way uncharacteristic of most Dews. Thankfully the color and packaging a bold enough to help to maintain the illusion that this is some magical holiday cocktail. So yea... it's bright, cheery, and will make you feel revved up like Rudolph on Christmas Eve. Just don't expect it to stay with you the same way as something like Pitch Black.

Not one to be left out in the cold, Sprite has introduced Winter Spiced Cranberry as their new seasonal treat which actually puts them in competition with more of the ginger-ale brands that their lemon/lime peers. Gonna admit right off the bat I needed to experiment with this one to make it truly worthwhile. Which isn't to say this is a bad soda... just underwhelming. The packaging is a far cry better than Cinnamon Coke thanks to snowflakes and berries along with a nice green and red color combo that makes this look perfect for any holiday gathering. The problem comes when you open the can. The smell isn't that far off from regular Sprite with just a hint of additional elements. The flavor however comes across as very weak, almost like fountain pop with too much seltzer. It's not gross but the promise of spiced cranberry doesn't come to fruition with it being more of a light dankness added to traditional sprite. Granted this may make for a more appealing soda for those who like extra subtle flavors but I can't imagine this one finding a major foothold.

Something occurred a few nights after my first can of this new Sprite. All by its lonesome this wasn't what I craved from a holiday drink but then the notion took hold that this new formulation was intended to be used in a classic party dish. Quickly enough I busted out a tub of rainbow sherbet, tossed a few scoops into a big glass, and let pour with the soda. Success! A cheap and easy take on classic punch. Sure a proper version would involve frozen condensed juice mix and all that jazz but all that aside it's clear that Winter Spice Cranberry Sprite is at its best when used for sugary mixed-drinks. If you aim to have some foamy punch this year than I'd definitely commandeered this new Sprite for your mix, just not so much as a solo drink.

Understandably you're going to want something to eat with all these fluids and I'm happy to say there's a bit more variety than the usual winter flavors (gingerbread, peppermint, etc) this year. Case in point is the strange sounding Roasted Turkey Pringles. Presumably the same flavor found in the Friendsgiving Fest kit, that was available online for all of an hour, this variety is made to taste like a properly herb and spice coated roast turkey though the end result is a bit different than expected. Instead of tasting like the juicy turkey meat with hints of spices woven into it, the flavor is more like the roasted skin with all the herby goodness front and center and just a touch of meatiness backing it all up. While I enjoyed that taste there is one issue we must address which is the smell. These straight-up stink and I'm not even sure what it is that makes the can smell so bad but the problem dissipates along with the quantity of chips meaning your last dive into the can will be relatively lovely whereas the first serving has an almost b.o. quality without the sulfur aspect.

The candy aisle also has different flavors on offer this season thanks to the likes of new Sweet Cinnamon Kit-Kats. After the disappointment of the brands take on Pumpkin Spice, which tasted more than a bit like scented candles, I was naturally weary of how these might fare. All suspicions proved to be pointless cause man oh man are these ever delicious. Individually wrapped in festive packaging that will undoubtedly look lovely as a stocking stuffer these offer just enough lite cinnamon twinge to the normal Kit-Kat formula to be different without dipping into weird novelty territory. In fact the final result has a bit of a hot cocoa vibe allowing for perfect winter comfort food. So far this is my top pick of seasonal goodies for the year so I highly advise grabbing a bag or two should you find yourself at Target where these are currently exclusive.

One new food item in my life that technically has nothing to do with the holidays popped into my life in rather unexpected fashion. My father received some “thank you for your service” package having to do with high-school volunteers around Veteran's Day. Thing was done up like a care package with all kinds of weird stuff, including a decent hand lotion that I managed to obscond with. What's important for our discussion however was the package of Cheddar Cheese Bacon Combos. Somehow these originally came out early this year as a Walgreens exclusive and flew completely under my radar. Since dad isn't huge on stunt food he permitted me to indulge in these with the results being, well... not that great. Keep in mind I am not a fan of Pretzel Combos, it's cracker or tortilla for this guy, so that drags these down a few points already. That being said the bacon and cheese combo wasn't strong enough to be all that thrilling though it was still balanced enough to be decently tasty. They're not bad, not good, not all that interesting or unique, but I did eat the whole bag over a few nights so it's not like this is a total failure, just basic unremarkable snacking material.

Frequent visitors to this site know how important horror movies are at the CosmicSparky compound which counts all the more when celebrating Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving on the other hand has a downright anemic selection of terror tales to choose from. This past Saturday revolved around a binge of Turkey Day horror ranging from those that only pay slight homage to the holiday, The Boneyard, The Boogeyman, alongside more aptly themed but absolutely awful entries like Thankskilling. There was one film among the lot that was so trashy, so violent, and so utterly bonkers as to quickly worm its way into my heart ensuring a place alongside other low-class holiday treats like Silent Night, Deadly Night. The little cinematic miracle in question is Blood Rage.

thanks to I-Mockery for this wondrous gif. 

Filmed in 1983 and finally released in 1987, Blood Rage goes under a couple other titles like the dramatic Nightmare at Shadow Woods or the more generic Slasher. The story concerns twin brothers, one of which is murderous and was able to pin an early crime on his in-shock brother. A decade later on Thanksgiving night the innocent one escapes from mental facility prompting the other to go on a killing spree in order to take care of folks he doesn't care for such as his mothers new fiance. That's about as deep as things go with the rest of the film providing entertainment with gory kills, strange behavior, nudity, ludicrous dialogue, and a pumpkin pie based temper tantrum. For lovers of trashy cinema and lover of so bad it's good cinema this is a rare treat and I'm a little embarrassed it took so long for me to finally watch it. If you're planning to watch a Turkey this Thursday this is available to stream on prime. My point is Blood Rage is the dumb Thanksgiving slasherflick I always wanted which makes me a very thankful pilgrim this year.

And with that it's back to holiday preparation. This house is actually going to have guests on Thursday meaning there's plenty of cleaning to be done and dishes to be planned. Should time allow I might even get started on the Christmas lights. For now I wish you all a fine and dandy Thanksgiving. With luck you'll hear from me again before December since I've still got a truckload of sentai episodes to review.