Limited Edition Foods

The golden elixir that is Jameson’s Rarest Vintage Reserve is so exclusive that the entire country of Canada will only receive sixty bottles.  Bottles will retail at about $300 in Canada, and more in the United States and other countries.

It is a unique blend of the best of Jameson’s batches from the past two decades, a once in a life time opportunity to taste gold in a bottle for Jameson’s fans.

Jameson’s is one of the world’s most popular whisky makers, and each day over 1.5 million glasses of Jameson’s tasty beverages are consumed in countries around the world.  That’s over 20 glasses per second, depending on which portion of the globe is in the evening hours at any given moment.

The exquisite beverage, and its more popular siblings, were toasted this weekend at a Hollywood party featuring the stars of NBC’s How I Met Your Mother.  The party was an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration that also celebrated the end of the writers’ strike, which allows How I Met Your Mother to return to the air with new episodes this week.

Since I fell in love with Jameson’s over a decade ago at the Jameson’s Irish Whisky festival in Ireland, and I recently fell in love with How I Met Your Mother, that would have been a “Legen-DARY” party to attend … but at least I get to blog about it on the morning after.  Get a taste of the evening with the photo above, which features sitcom staple Bob Saget with Mother cast members Jason Segal, Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hanigan, and show producer Carter Bays making a toast.  In the photo below Segal laughs at a typically funny comment from cast member Neil Patrick Harris.  Controversial guest star Britney Spears, who will be appearing in future episodes of the show, did not attend the party.

While we could not be in L.A. last night for the fun, let’s all raise an amber-liquid filled glass to Ted’s quest to find true love, Lily and Marshall’s quest to stay funky while also trying to be fiscally stable, and Robin and Barney’s ability to “stay hot.”  Well, that last quote was from  the BBC’s Coupling, but you know what I mean.

Snickers has joined the energy foods craze with its Limited Edition Charged bar, which is infused with caffeine and taurine. 

Cybele at Candy Blog gives it high marks for caffeine efficiency and cost, but notes the high caffeine content leaves a potent and nasty after taste that may be disconcerting to folks who would like more of a candy experience.

Sera at Candy Addict reported similar problems with a bitter aftertaste, and was dismayed that the amount of caramel in the Charged was lower than that of a regular Snickers bar.

Mars focused its marketing of the Charged bars on the college market, giving away over half a million bars at college basketball games this season.  The company is fond of coffee flavored bars this year, as it is also marketing a limited edition Java Twix.  Unlike the Charged bars, the Java Twix has gotten mostly good reviews from the candy press.

Luxury ice cream brand Haagen-Dasz is introducing a new limited edition flavor in the United Kingdom this March:  Raspberries & Meringue.  The fruit-flavored treat is designed to sell during the warmer months of Spring, and features creamy vanilla ice cream swirled with raspberry sorbet and bits of meringue cookies.

The decadent flavor tested extremely well with test audiences according to United Kingdom grocery news site TalkingRetail.com.  The company expects strong sales for the flavor, which will be available for six months starting in March in order to capitalize on the summer ice cream season.  The flavor will only be available in the United Kingdom.

The Raspberries & Meringue flavor will be available in addition to the traditional summertime Haagen-Dazs flavors that are sold in the United Kingdom, which include Strawberries & Cream.  The company also sells small containers of its ice cream in variety packs in the summertime as well.

One of the strange things about limited edition foods is that some of them are not so limited.  Thanks to the wonders of food technology and the long term shelf-life provided by food preservatives, some limited edition foods can be on the market months or even years after they are released.

This seems to be the case with Junior Mints Inside Outs.  Jummy from Life Tips Daily recently wrote me about these mint candies, which she found on the shelf in a store Waterton, New York a couple of weeks ago.  I had not heard of these candies and assumed they were a new limited edition food, but a quick internet search revealed that Cybele of CandyBlog fame wrote about them over two years ago!  So even though the package says limited edition, these candies have been with us for quite some time.

Perhaps they are still on the shelves because they were not that popular.  Cybele reports the Inside Outs were high in transfats and low in taste, which is not a good combination, and Victoria from Candy Addict blogged that they made her feel sick which is not a great endorsement.

Junior Mints are owned by the same company that makes Tootsie Rolls, so it’s not surprising that they can last a long time on the shelf.  If you are a Junior Mints fan and want to try something different, perhaps the Peppermint Crunch versions that come out around the holidays would be a better choice.  Although Cybele did not really like those either, so perhaps sticking to the traditional Junior Mints is the safest bet.

Today we have a guest post from Karen Lynch, a great writer and a two time breast cancer survivor.  Karen writes for DiscussingBreastCancer.com where she frequently blogs about the limited edition products that are introduced to promote breast cancer awareness.  Today she contemplates why other worthy causes are not honored with limited editions, and wishes that major corporations would share their wealth and creativity with a rainbow of causes.

I’ve been suffering from withdrawal. Pink product withdrawal. There’s nothing philanthropic on the shelves at my local grocery store anymore. There’s no mention of a portion of any proceeds going to anyone. Whatever happened to all those charitable intentions?

When October comes around, good comes with a vengeance. Everyone gets in on the pink ribbon bandwagon. In fact, I’m hard pressed to find a company doesn’t put a pink ribbon on their products during the tenth month of the year.

But once the calendar page turns and the holidays descend upon us … pink is replaced with silver and blue or red and green. Come January, the shelves have lost all color.

It’s sad, really. As a two-time breast cancer survivor, I love seeing all those ribbons and learning about all those proceeds being shared with various breast cancer related charities.

But there are other causes … there are other ribbons … and other reasons to give.

November was lung and pancreatic cancer awareness month – where were all the clear and purple ribbons?

January is National Cervical Cancer Screening Month – that’s a teal and silver ribbon. Did you see any of those?

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month … I saw no dark blue ribbons.

Melanoma Monday is in May (black ribbon).

September is ovarian cancer (teal), prostate cancer (light blue), leukemia (orange) and lymphoma (lime) and childhood cancer (gold) awareness month.

No ribbons. None.

There are other causes, too. Domestic violence (where are all the purple products?). Child abuse (blue). AIDS (red). There’s a cause for every color under the rainbow.

But we only get pink ribbons in October.

The main reason I like the pink ribbons I see in October is obvious – I’m a breast cancer survivor and the more money raised for the cause, the more research dollars there will be, the more likely it will be that there will one day be a cure. That matters to me, greatly.

But the other reason I like to see the pink products? They prove to me that most major corporations share their wealth at least a little bit. Sure, I wish they kicked up their charitable contributions all year round, not just in October. Heck, maybe some do and they don’t publicize that fact.

But it makes me feel a whole lot better when I see proof of their philanthropic acts on the shelves of my grocery store.   Besides … women are diagnosed with breast cancer all 12 months of the year. It would help them to know they have year ‘round support."

White Castle Slyders are the stuff of pop culture legend, inspiring movies and countless comedy routines. 

But even though every generation of White Castle fans tends to think of the chain as "their" special place for friendship and craving satisfaction, whole generations could argue over who is the biggest White Castle fan.

That’s because White Castle and its famous tiny burgers is over eighty years old.  The first White Castle opened in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas.  White Castle was selling burgers, chain style, before anybody else.  And that’s not the only thing White Castle did first, according to their web site:

"First fast-food hamburger chain ever. First industrial-strength spatula. First mass-produced paper hat. First to sell a million hamburgers. First to sell a billion hamburgers. First frozen fast food for sale."

So the next time you eat White Castle, or just catch part of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle on cable, think about the fact that you are enjoying a part of American food history.

One of our favorite breweries is Dog Fish Head Craft Brewery, and we are especially fond of their seasonal and limited edition beers.  The brewery recently released their schedule for their 2008 beers, which can be found after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Packages of all green M&Ms hit the shelves recently as part of a promotional effort geared towards Valentines’s Day on February 14.

The green M&Ms have enjoyed pop culture mystique for at least three decades, as there have long been rumors that the green candies serve as an aphrodisiac. Rumors of rock stars requesting bowls of all green M&Ms in their dressing rooms and astronauts wanting to take them into space have added to the mystique, and M&Ms is certainly promoting that pop culture legend with its “Green is Love” campaign for the limited edition green M&Ms packages.

The packages feature a go-go boot clad Ms. Green, the flirty female version of the M&Ms characters that the brand added to its advertising campaigns a few years ago. They also feature a faux warning to purchasers: “Consumption of The Green Ones® may result in elevated romance levels. If you experience this effect, contact your significant other immediately.”

Keema’s Kandies has a chocolate covered peanut brittle out, and they covered in red, white, and pink sprinkles for Valentine’s Day. The peanut brittle is handmade and hand packaged in Holland, Michigan.

January 26, 2008 is National Peanut Brittle Day in the United States. True peanut brittle fanatics will tell you that there is a vast difference between fresh peanut brittle that is made at home, and those that are sold in stores. They also like to discuss the differences between the types of peanuts you can use, or the types of syrup to make the toffee. Personally, I just like the stuff and am not particularly picky about where it comes from.

But if you prefer to make your own peanut brittle, there are hundred different recipes out there … my recommendation, based on a catastrophic attempt many years ago, is to go with the traditional versions. Peanut brittle in the microwave is not for beginners.

Marie Callender’s has a limited edition pie available in its restaurants in January called the Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Pie. As you can see from the photo above, the pie is a decadent combination of cheese cake and apple pie seasoned with cinnamon.

The restaurants regularly have an extensive pie menu, featuring traditional fruit pies, cream pies, and cheese cakes. The Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Pie is one of the seasonal offerings that are added throughout the year.

On Wednesday, January 23, 2008, the United States will celebrate National Pie Day. Well, maybe not everyone in the United States will celebrate, but the folks at The American Pie Counsel certainly will be happy about it. These are the tips from The American Pie Counsel for celebrating this day of “warm comfort foods.”

1) Share pie. Whether you make or buy pie, share it. By its very nature, pie is meant to be eaten with others.

2) Pay it forward. Hand out pie slices to strangers and encourage them to do the same for others. It could spread the peace on earth and goodwill to mankind that we all hope for.

3) Be a good Samaritan. Buy an extra pie at your local grocery store and give it to the person behind you in line. You may just change their life!

4) Reach out to new neighbors you haven’t met and bring them some pecan pie – it says your thoughtful. Stay awhile to get to know each other over pie and fill them in on the neighborhood.

5) Indulge your co-workers. Bring some pie to work – you’ll create a lot of good rapport and maybe even get a raise.

6) Surprise your significant other at work and bring him or her a pie to share with their coworkers.

7) Say thank you. Know a special someone who deserves some thanks? Maybe it’s a friend who did you a favor, your child’s teacher or your postal worker. What better way to say thanks than with a warm hug wrapped in a delicious crust?

9) Delight your family. Share the love and share your favorite memories together over a warm, fresh pie. Have older family members talk about the history behind the family favorites. Start a new tradition and publish pie memories and recipes, then send them to family members.

10) Spend time with your kids and make a pie together. Let them pick their favorite pie and show them how it’s done. They’ll be proud of their creation and have fond memories of you as the best parent ever for years to come!

11) Get caught up with friends and invite them over for some afternoon pumpkin pie. You can dish on all their latest news.

12) Throw a pie potluck get-together. Have everyone bring their favorite pie and exchange recipes. We’ve heard of events where more than 100 folks come with 100 pies. Have a contest to see who can come up with the most pie songs. The winning prize? A pie!

13) Hold a charity pie-throwing or pie-eating contest or a pie auction. You can donate the proceeds to your local community food bank.

14) Hold a pie-making contest. Invite the best pie makers in town to compete for prizes in various categories. Ask cooking teachers, pastry chefs and pie lovers to be judges. Be sure the kids are involved – you can include pie poetry and pie art contests for them.

15) Eat pie. Whether you make it yourself, buy it at a supermarket or bakery or order it at a restaurant, perform a random act of pieness on yourself and enjoy some pie on National Pie Day – it’s great with lunch, dinner or as a late-night snack.