Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Food and Life

Brach’s Jelly Beans: What’s Up?

March 29, 2011 · Narrative

Jellybean InequalityWhen I texted Sarah that picture yesterday, she said something about me having too much free time on my hands. I swear I don’t. It was, at the time, a mindless activity while I was downloading some photos.

Every time I grab a bag of jelly beans (Brach’s tiny jelly bird eggs only), I look in the little cellophane window to see what colors I see the most of. I know it sounds silly, because I rationalized that the bags probably settle a lot during shipping and I was sure the colors were evenly distributed.

I was wrong.

I heart jelly beansOver the weekend, Nick grabbed my current open bag of jelly beans and went rooting around for a red one, which happens to be my go-to color. Even though the bag was nearly full, there were no more red. He started to get on my case about eating them all, but I told him that there were only a few in the bag to begin with.  While I may have looked like the cat who swallowed the canary, that’s when I got to wondering… exactly how many WERE there? I took two bags apart and divided them up based on their colors. The first bag:

Green – 6
Orange – 14
Black – 40
Yellow – 37
White – 40
Red – 9
Pink – 36
Purple – 71

Seventy-one purple! Compared to only 9 red. Crazy. And the second bag?

Green – 21
Orange – 10
Black – 68
Yellow – 19
White – 47
Red – 6
Pink – 71
Purple – 8

My dad likes the black ones, so he’s going to be pretty happy about those stats, but really? Again, with the red. What gives? And then to go from 71 purple to 8? And 36 pink to 71? My mom thought that maybe the red color was more expensive to run, but what about the all the other inconsistencies?

Brach’s is the only brand of jelly beans that we eat, but I wish they would get with the program and even up the colors a bit. Or sell more than just the black ones by themselves. But then again, for me, maybe it’s good that they don’t. I’m likely to rot my teeth out otherwise.

Some things in life just aren’t fair. And Brach’s bags of jelly beans is apparently right up there. Brach’s, what gives?

Project 365
March 29, 2011, Photo #87

Shamrock ShakeEvery time he sees the picture of the Shamrock Shake, Nick asks for one, and I always say no. Tonight, on my way home from the gym, I stopped and got one for the kids to share. Neither of them had ever had one, nor any milkshake for that matter. They were excited beyond belief but lost interest about 25% of the way through. Love that.

*This post featuring massive quantities of jelly beans and a milk shake was not sponsored by our local dentist.

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Posted In: Narrative · Tagged: Brach's, Easter candy, jelly beans, McDonald's, Shamrock Shake

Comments

  1. Kyle Webs says

    March 29, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    Hey, I’ve never commented your blog before, but they decide which flavors are people’s favorites and then put more of those in each bag on purpose. That’s why whenever you buy a bag of something with different flavors, you’ll most likely get more of one color than another. (:

    Reply
    • Cate says

      March 30, 2011 at 7:27 am

      Hey Kyle. I totally get putting in more of what people want, sure. What I *don’t* get is the inconsistency. If purple is a hot flavor (71 in one bag), then why only 8 in the next, you know?

      Reply
  2. Sarah Caron says

    March 29, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    The heart of jelly beans is somewhere between fascinating and OMG-too-much-time-on-your-hands. But Brachs should listen up and even out the bags. It’s just too off.

    Reply
    • Cate says

      March 30, 2011 at 7:28 am

      The heart kind of just fell together, I swear. Now that Joanna has mentioned M&Ms…

      Reply
  3. Joanne says

    March 30, 2011 at 6:16 am

    Whoa that is crazy! I remember doing something similar with M+M’s when I was younger. You should write them a letter about the disparities…say it’s ruining your child’s Easter spirit.

    Reply
    • Cate says

      March 30, 2011 at 7:28 am

      Haha, they’re messing with MY Easter spirit!

      Reply
  4. Maris (In Good Taste) says

    March 30, 2011 at 8:26 am

    I like the all black bags which are hard to find but when I do I buy ’em out!

    Reply
  5. debbie says

    March 30, 2011 at 8:53 am

    I had to crack up when I saw the Shamrock shake. My husband has been picking one up every night now for the past few weeks on his way home from work…They are just too addicting!!!! They are definitely delicious!

    Reply
  6. Meg says

    March 30, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    I know it’ll probably sound crazy, but I sort of love the unpredictable nature of a Brach’s bag of candy — or any candy, really. Like you, the reds are my favorites — though I’d totally settle for a pink, too. It’s a lovely surprise when the bag is full of colors I love!

    But only six reds in a big bag like that? Pssh. That would be An Issue.

    Reply
  7. claire says

    March 30, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    Black and purple…ick! i like the orange and pink. that is a crazy out of whack distribution. they should really do better.

    Reply
  8. Motowngirl2 says

    April 3, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    I actually complained to Just Born one time about how few reds there were in my Mike & Ike’s! They explained that the put all of the jelly beans into a big mixer, then fill the bags from the mixer. So it is pretty random. I think everyone likes cherry (red) so they should ALL put more red in to begin with, but I could be wrong. :-) I like the black ones. Even as a kid I didn’t like pink, purple or white jelly beans. Waste of good sugar, I say! Ha!

    Reply

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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