Nestle's Dibs Ice Cream Balls Are a Dynamite Frozen Treat

The Nestle company scores high with their Dibs frozen dairy dessert. In case you haven't seen them, Dibs are bite-sized pieces of vanilla ice cream that are accented with a thin layer of chocolate.

While I've seen photos of plain vanilla Dibs and strawberry-flavored Dibs, the variety that I recently rediscovered features pieces of vanilla ice cream enhanced with a Nestle Crunch chocolate coating.

There are several different sizes of Dibs containers sold at retailers throughout the U.S. The red, cup-like container that I purchased at CVS Pharmacy a week ago, weighs-in at 3.99 ounces and holds roughly 26 pieces.

Not only are Dibs delicious treats that are very hard to stop eating once you've started, but everything about them spells-out "fun." The vanilla ice cream in the treats has a nice, mellow flavor, and the Nestle Crunch coating complements it well.

Texture

If you're looking for an ice cream treat that has a great mouth-feel, Dibs certainly fit the bill. The combination of soft and flavorful vanilla ice cream contrasts quite well with the crunchy chocolate coating.

With each piece being bite-sized, it's fun to pop a bunch of Dibs in your mouth, one after the other. If you eat too many too fast, though, you could experience a numbing Brain Freeze. 

Nutritional Facts

Dibs contain 320 calories, with 21 grams total fat per container. Each package contains 21 grams total fat and 0 grams total fat. These bite-sized frozen treats also contain less than 5 mg of cholesterol, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 22 grams total sugars and 2 grams of protein.

Whether you enjoy just a couple of them, or an entire container, Dibs Nestle Crunch-flavored bite-size ice cream treats are always a pleasure to consume.

Price

Like other products, the retail price of Dibs ice cream treats can vary from store from store. The lowest price I've seen in Summer 2022 is $2.99 on sale at Walgreens, and at CVS the most recent price is $3.79. 

 

 Connecticut News

Probably about 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to take part in an essay-writing course at the Hartford Public Library. The course ran for six to eight weeks, I think, and it was taught by Lary Bloom, former Editor at Connecticut Magazine.

The essay I wrote about alcoholism was based on personal experience, and was written from the perspective of a route-driver in the late-1990s, who serviced supermarkets. The t

TEN MINUTES

Thomas J. McCabe Thomas J. McCabe is a painter and writer in HartfordTHE HARTFORD COURANT

'Be back in 10 minutes."

The handwritten sign was taped to the inside of the door. Like a human, I went ahead and pushed on the handle anyhow. Nary a budge.

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Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies are a Great Alternative to Hostess Raspberry Zingers

 

Updated in August 2022

What happened Hostess? The two Zingers I ate this week tasted completely different from the ones I've been eating intermittently for a couple of decades.

 Appearances can be deceiving. While they may look essentially the same, today's Raspberry Zingers don't possess the same tart, raspberry flavor.

Gone is the abundance of creme filling that made these coconut-dusted snack cakes the dynamic treats they used to be. Now, just a small amount of creme filling inhabits the centers of these treats.

Yes, the Hostess Zingers were a less-than-healthy addition to any diet, but they sure did taste good.

If you have the munchies while you're in a drug store or convenience store, I recommend purchasing the Mrs. Freshley's brand version of raspberry zingers.

The Mrs. Freshley's cakes are called Raspberry "Dreamies," and they're quite outstanding. In addition to the raspberry flavor Dreamies,  Mrs. Freshley's makes regular-srtle Dreamies.

Appearance

Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies are similar in size and shape to Hostess Twinkies, but their color is light red. The snack cakes are distinguished by a thin coating of fine coconut flakes.

Size

Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies are usually sold in twin-packs that hold two cakes. For bigger appetites,the Dreamies are available in six, 16 and 18-count packages.

Texture / Consistency

Soft yet sturdy is a good way to describe the texture of Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies. The addition of the tiny coconut flakes on the exterior of the cakes makes them even more fun to eat.

Nutritional Facts

Each Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamie cake contains 200 calories, with 60 calories from fat. There are also 5 mg of cholesterol, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 21 grams of sugars and 2 grams of protein in each of these cakes.

Flavor

When it comes to flavor, Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies score high. The cakes have a pleasing raspberry flavor, and they're not overwhelmingly sweet.

The creme filling in these cakes complements the raspberry taste very well, and the coconut garnish is a winning touch.

                                          

Price

The average retail price charged for one twin-pack of Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies is approximately $1.99.

The average cost of an 18-pack of these cakes on various web sites is $20-$22.

Overall Rating

While some people might point fingers at snack cakes because of their high sugar and fat contents, there are those of us who still appreciate a tasty raspberry-flavored cake. That's what Mrs. Freshley's Raspberry Dreamies are; tasty, creme-filled, raspberry-flavored snack cakes.

A great companion to a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of milk, these reasonably priced snack cakes are highly recommended.

 

For Great Pizza Pies in West Hartford, Look no Further Than Park Lane Pizza

Updated August 2022

 

                                                                                          

Aahh....A lovely pizza pie from Park Lane Pizza in West Hartford. 

For some people, the crust of a pizza is the most important part of the pie. Other people judge pizzas by the flavor of the sauce, while still others consider the cheese to be a pie's most crucial ingredient.

Through the decades, I've eaten a few completely excellent pizzas, many, many average pies, as well as some downright pathetic and/or perilous pizzas. For more than 40 years, I've been enjoying the great food from Park Lane, and I think their Italian-style food is just as good as the food at higher-priced, upscale eateries.

While I do appreciate the various components of pizza pies, it's the sauce that's most important to my tastebuds. The pleasing Greek-style pizza sauce at Park Lane has been making my tastebuds happy for a long time. Having tried lots of local pizza pies, I still haven't found another sauce as good as Park Lane's

The pizza in the accompanying photo is one that I picked-up at Park Lane recently.  As you can see, this pizzeria still does a "square-cut" on its larger pies.

From its familiar location at the corner of Park Road and South Quaker Lane in West Hartford, the kitchen at Park Lane Pizza regularly produces some of the finest pies you'll find in the local area.

Since the 1970s, I've tried a lot of different foods from Park Lane Pizza, and have rarely been disappointed. The interior and exterior of the pizza restaurant look essentially the same as they did in the 1970s, and each upholstered booth has its own little working jukebox.

It's almost worth visiting Park Lane just to check out the mini jukeboxes at each booth. Because I've only been picking-up to-go orders there since the health pandemic began, I haven't looked closely at the jukeboxes in quite a while. The last I knew, they operated on Quarters, but the price-per-play might have gone up.

Also since the 1970s, I've been fond of little MG automobiles, and one of Park Lane Pizza's owners also owns a forest-green MG convertible, which he's parked in front of the restaurant almost every day, for years.

Seeing that MG up-close on a fairly regular basis, was definitely a factor in my purchasing a Mazda Miata.

Driving a Miata with the top down is the closest I've found to riding a motorcycle. You're only a few inches off the ground. On a regular basis, I still stop to look up-close at the MG when I enter Park Lane Pizza. 

Park Lane serves small, medium and large-sized pizzas, and 15 types of awesome grinders, or subs. These include ham, eggplant, turkey, sausage, tuna fish, pastami and meatball. 

If you're a salad fan, Park Lane has a tossed house salad, Greek salad and Chef salad, as well as chicken and tuna salad plates. There are cheese calzones on the menu, and appetizers such as mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers and Buffalo wings.

The various dinners served at Park Lane Pizza are all expertly prepared and delicious. In addition to staples such as pasta with meatballs, Park Lane serves manicotti, lasgna, chicken Parmigiana,  meatballs & peppers and sausage & peppers. Dinner portions are large, and prices are competitive.

 

Thank you, Prospect Foreign Car Service in West Hartford.

One of the first things I did after purchasing my 2004 Mazda Miata several years ago was to contact AAA about obtaining member coverage. The membership benefit that I was most interested in obtaining is the car battery service that they offer.

The Miata currently has a dead battery, and that's been the case every winter since I've owned it. It has never seen snow, and I'm paying for a garage and AAA service. If AAA was really a proactive, customer-oriented company, maybe they could figure out a way to stock batteries for early-2000s Miatas. There are still plenty of them out there. '

A few years ago, AAA came out to jump-start the Miata for Spring, and the driver/technician reminded me that the battery was pretty much in need of replacement. Shortly thereafter, I had a new battery put in by the local Mazda dealer.

 It so happened that the Miata was due for the required, recurring emissions testing. Off I went to Prospect Foreign Auto Repair to see if they could do the testing. When I talked to the friendly and knowlegeable owner, Franco, he informed me that I would have to put approximately 100 miles on the car before it would be ready to go through emissione testing.

Thank God, the Miata passed emissions. After having a new battery installed, the car's computer ? had to be reset by driving it for roughly 100 miles. If the computer does not reset, the vehicle probably won't pass emissions.

 Now, in 2022, the battery that was replaced a few years ago also had to be replaced. Right away, I called Prospect Foreign Auto, and they were very helpful. Even though it can be hard to find a battery for that year Miata, they said they could get it "no problem." I was given a good estimate for the total cost of the job, and was asked when it would be convenient for me to have the work done.

There are Basements and Garages Filled With Toilet Paper Across the U.S.A.

Updated in September 2022

With its reputation of being the land of abundance, and having what's been assumed to be a vast supply chain, the United States should not be experiencing shortages of toilet paper and paper towels.

Even if paper good manufacturers may be operating with smaller workforces due to the horrible COVID 19 virus, it seems likely that the U.S. government would have the resources to produce and/or obtain massive amounts of tissue paper.

When I was shopping at Big Y supermarket in West Hartford recently, a middle-aged man sailed past me with a shopping cart filled entirely with rolls of toilet paper. The limited selection of paper that was  in-stock consisted of only multi-packs of 12 rolls or more.

With the hoarder's mentality that's been displayed throughout America during this health crisis, I can't help but think that there are basements, garages, closets and attics everywhere filled with packages of toilet paper.

In a 2020 article from the North Carolina State University College of Natural Resources News, there is data from Georgia-Pacific that reveals that the typical American household utilizes more than 400 rolls of toilet paper every year.

At the time, Georgia-Pacific estimated that with many more people working at home,the use of toilet paper would increase by approximately 40 percent.

There are plenty of references to people hoarding large amounts of toilet paper, all over the Internet. On Twitter, there are tons of tweets devoted to toilet paper-hoarding, and some are pretty amusing.

One woman who works in a grocery store tweeted about a woman customer who yelled at her because the store was sold out of toilet paper. The customer, she says, accused her of hoarding all of the paper for herself, in the store's back room.

A man on Twitter called his huge stockpile of toilet paper a form of insurance, and another referred to a neighbor who has 500 rolls of toilet paper in his garage.

According to the BBC News, a 2020 armed robbery in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong involved the theft of 600 rolls of toilet paper. In that robbery, three men armed with knives threatened a delivery person, then they took the 600 toilet paper rolls, with an estimated value of more than $130 U.S. dollars.

On the amazon.com website, I recently discovered a 1,000-piece toilet paper-hoarding, jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle measures 27"x 19," and the puzzle image is of at least a dozen rolls of TP assembled close-together. With a listed price of $19.99 on Amazon, this fun puzzle would be a great gift for any hoarder in your life.

Supermarkets and pharmacies everywhere are now offering consumers another paper option. The introduction of bamboo toilet paper to American retailers is helping to offset the huge demand on traditional toilet paper supplies.

B.B. King & U2 - When Love Comes To Town - CLIP

In April 1989, when it was announced that Irish rock band U2 was recording a new song with legendary blues artist B.B. King, many people, myself included, were surprised.

 Although both U2 and B.B. King were already highly accomplished in the rock and blues fields, respectively, the pairing of the two acts at first seemed somewhat incongruous to lots of music fans.

Powerful, moving, melodic and joyous are just some of the words I can use to describe "When Love Comes to Town." With a pounding backbeat, driving bass line and top-rate vocals, this song is definitely my favorite U2 song.

Through the years, B.B. King has collaborated many of the rock music world's most well-known artists. In 1971, the B.B. King in London album was released. On that album, he worked with Ringo Starr, Steve Marriott, Alexis Korner and lots of other prominent musicians.

In 2005, the B.B. King & Friends: 80 album was released. The album features collaborations with a large number of popular musicians from a host of genres. 

Take a listen to the phenomenal rendition of "Rock This House" that B.B. King recorded with Elton John and his band in Las Vegas. B.B.'s energetic vocals and precision guitar-playing are well-matched by Elton John's high-energy, rocked-out piano-playing. 

When B.B. King and Joe Cocker teamed-up on a song named "Dangerous Mood," the result is a rowdy and energetic, yet sophisticatedly-written blues song. Mr. King and Eric Clapton perform a blazing rendition of "The Thrill is Gone" on the "80" album, and the version of "There Must be a Better World Somewhere" that B.B. and Gloria Estefan perform is soulful, sultry and outstanding.