Cheers! October 19th is #ChampagneDay!

As you know there are great sparkling wines from around the world, but Champagne only comes from Champagne, France. The 9th annual Champagne Day celebration is on October 19, 2018. On this day, join the Comité Champagne and all lovers of this one-of-a-kind sparkling wine to celebrate.

Invite friends over to party with you or find a local public event. Visit Champagne Day 2018 to discover more information, plan your own event or locate an event near you. Don't forget to share your photos and videos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and include the #ChampagneDay hashtag. Get ready to toast the Fall! Bubbles up.

October is National Popcorn Poppin' Month!

October is National Popcorn Poppin' Month! Do you like popcorn? It's a favorite food over here at Castle Modern, can practically be considered a household staple. I especially love "real theater style" popcorn that you pop in a bit of oil, though I will eat microwaveable popcorn if nothing else is on offer. Popcorn always makes me think of movies and fairgrounds --- and you know how I feel about fairs, carnivals, vaudeville and the circus! Perfect Fall weather activities.

I've decided I do like the idea of these various National Days and Months (themes) as they bring attention to all the great (food & farming) industries in our country. At first, I was like how do you keep up with it all, but now I'm like it's a fun way to get a theme for the day whether this inspires your lunch ideas or simply makes you pause and consider your food. 

I've got a case of popcorn kernels and some sunflower oil ready to do some popping at a moments notice all month long. How do you like your popcorn done up? Sometimes I like savory, sometimes I like sweet. Depends on how the wind is blowing. Get your popcorn on! Things are popping.

My Fun Shopping Deals Saturday Edition! #Coupons #MoneyMaker #NationalCoffeeDay

Was out a bit this weekend running errands & doing it up for National Coffee Day. I'd noticed that the Kroger Free Friday Download (FFD) item was a free YQ by Yoplait Yogurt with ultra-filtered milk (the new dairy buzz trend).

Picked up a Mango one yesterday, currently on sale for $1.34 at Kroger (MSRP $1.49), but of course it was free with my FFD ecoupon. Then I submitted the receipt to Savingstar to redeem a previously activated offer for $0.30 back on the purchase of one YQ by Yoplait Yogurt that was set to expire today.

My cashback rebate (or post-purchase coupon) has already posted to my Savingstar account, which means I not only got a free cup of yogurt, but also got paid 30-cents to eat it.

It's always fun when deals coincide like this and you can be paid to shop!

Fun Deals From Last Week's Shopping @Kroger

During last week's grocery sales (most of which ended Tuesday), I was able to score a moneymaker on quick pasta and also some cheap candy!

First, Kroger had Barilla Ready Made Pasta Pouch (microwavable, ready in 60 seconds) on sale for $1.79. There was a $1.00 digital manufacturer's coupon available to load, so after coupon, one pouch cost a mere $0.79 (plus tax). But there was also, a Savingstar coupon/rebate for $1.00, which gives your money back (eventually, when you cashout) plus overage. Nice! Personally, I seldom eat pasta as I greatly prefer rice, but a moneymaker is difficult to resist. (Besides, I have family members who love pasta.)

Also, on sale at Kroger last week were M&M's and Snickers Bars (singles) for $0.50/ea. There was a Save $0.50/2 Snickers Bar Singles digital manufacturer's coupon and an M&M's digital manufacturer's BOGO coupon (Buy One M&M's Singles, Get One Malteser's Candy Singles Free). Thus, I was able to get a pack of M&M's Peanut, a pack of Malteser's Candy and two Snickers Bars for $1.00 (plus tax) total. You don't often find $0.25 candy bars any longer. So this was a sweet (pun intended) score!

These were my best deals last week. Still plotting this week's deals and will probably go out on the weekend due to the various deals available for National Coffee Day on Saturday. What have you found lately? Any good deals?

Happy hunting! -- Ed.

Saturday is #NationalCoffeeDay: Get Free Coffee & A Doughnut at Krispy Kreme!

National Coffee Day is on Saturday, 29/September. Several eateries are doing promotions (some entirely free, others requiring a purchase). One of the nicer ones is at Krispy Kreme. You can get both a free (drip) coffee (any size) and a single doughnut for free at participating locations. This offer is intended for members of the Rewards program (it's free to join). Limit one free brewed coffee and doughnut per Rewards member.

This is one of my favorite National Days, because I LOVE coffee!


Random Story: The first time I ever got "drunk" in college was from imbibing too much coffee. Some friends and I threw a "coffee tasting party" where we bought all these different types of coffee and served demitasse samples in the little cups made for this purpose. Because each sample was small, we didn't account for how much caffeine that we were actually ingesting. By the end of the party, which went on for hours and hours, we were practically bouncing off the walls because we were all so hyper. People kept dropping by to visit us and asking if we were "on drugs or something" because they'd never witnessed us being so goofy. We kept insisting that the only thing we'd had was coffee, but no-one believed us. It was pretty funny. (Because I have a very high alcohol tolerance, I didn't get drunk off of alcohol. I'd be scared to think of the amount that I would need to ingest for this to occur. In college, I used to outdrink my football player buddies, who were bigger/burlier, without ill affect. This upset these guys to no end.)

I'm Batman. And It's My Day! #BatmanDay @DCComics

Celebrate Batman Day Today!

I love bats. (You should too.) Being a techie gadget geek, I can well relate to Batman, though I had a closer personal affinity toward Catwoman as a little girl (I've been described as feline; however, this was in reference to a lioness, not a house cat). Anyway, I grew up watching Batman --- the Adam West version --- reruns on the telly. So I'm quite happy that today is Batman Day.

I'll probably watch (most of) Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy on Blu-ray at some point or perhaps, go full retro and catch some live TV reruns to really bring my childhood memories back --- by the way, I LOVE that there are so many OTA retro TV Channels broadcasting. Seems like a new one pops up daily.

What are your plans? Depending on your location, there may be events or giveaways at comic book and/or video game stores in your area. To check all the celebratory activities visit DC Comics Batman Day Hub which links to an events search.

See you later. Same Bat-Time! Same Bat-Channel!

Sunday Get A #Coupon For #Free Guac @eatwholly! Wholly Guacamole! #NationalGuacamoleDay

Yummy! Here's a cool promotion: In honor of National Guacamole Day on Sunday, Wholly Guacamole® is giving folks a chance to score some free guac! Visit www.eatwholly.com anytime September 16, enter your details, and get a coupon for a free guac of your choice, courtesy of the makers of the Wholly Guacamole® brand. *Maximum Value $5.99.

Offer source: Wholly Guacamole's National Guacamole Day Press Release.

#New #Lipton #IcedTea Tropical Flavor #ProductReview: #Juice #Stevia #NationalIcedTeaDay

Back on National Iced Tea Day, Lipton ran a promotion giving away coupons for a Free 20oz Lipton Iced Tea (single serve). I visited the giveaway site, filled out the form and several weeks later received said coupon in the mail. My sister redeemed the coupon on my behalf as she was heading to the store. (It's nice to have siblings who actually LIKE going out shopping in Brick & Mortar retail stores --- since I don't --- and who live relatively close by.) I'd asked her to grab whatever looked interesting and she delivered a New Lipton Iced Tea Tropical Flavor with Other Natural Flavors with a Splash of Juice.

Product: Lipton Iced Tea Tropical Flavor, with Other Natural Flavors, with a Splash of Juice, 20oz bottle.

You'd think with this mouthful of a label name that it would taste amazing, but you'd be wrong. It was merely OK. Like most things sweetened with stevia it had a noticeable aftertaste.

"I can eat stevia plant leaves just fine. In fact, my first taste of stevia was actually fresh picked out of a friend's garden. But sadly, no-one has figured out how to process stevia commercially without the resulting product having a bitter aftertaste. And yes, I've tried the products that say "no stevia aftertaste." It's still there, perhaps fainter than in other products, but noticeable to my taste-buds."

Anywho, back to the product trial: For all the flavors and splash of juice, it was a rather weak tea. I could taste the flavor of the tea itself distinctively, as if it was fresh brewed, so that's a point in its favor. As Lipton is well regarded tea brand, I'd expect no less. I wouldn't seek to purchase this again --- not my cup bottle of tea! I'm a Southerner and a Sweet Tea enthusiast (this means real sugar, hon). I don't expect this particular product to go over well in the deep South, but we cotton to Lipton well enough, as a brand.

New #BeyondMeat #BeyondBurger #Review #Meatless #NationalBurgerDay #Vegetarian

A Review from last year (that I've been meaning to publish)

The Product: New Beyond Burger by Beyond Meat, a Plant-Sourced Burger, 2ct pkg (found in the meat aisle or refrigerated section)


The Details: Whole Foods did a one day promotion on the new Beyond Burger by Beyond Meat, which is normally $6.99 for a two patty pack (at my local store) but could be had at 2/$9.00 in honor of National Burger Day 2017. I was willing to risk trying it at $4.50/pkg (or $2.25/burger) since I had a Whole Foods Gift Card to pay for it. Because I eat other Beyond Meat products, I assumed it would be decent, although I was a bit cautious due to all the "can't tell the difference between it and real meat" hype being employed in advertising it.

I gave the second pack to my sister (the one who's vegetarian like I am) so that she could test it out also. We've both been veg for a long time: I've been veg for so long --- nearly 30 years --- that I no longer recall what meat tastes like, and she went veg roughly 6 years after I did. As she's also older than I am, she ate meat for more of her life than I did, but she's still been veg for more than 20 years at this point.

The Results: We were both underwhelmed. After all the online hype pushing this burger to the masses we expected to be wowed! (We each prepared the burgers separately at our own homes and met up several days later to discuss what we thought of the experience.) Each of us thought the plain burger was good, but not amazing. We both agreed it worked very well with "all the fixings." It sautéed well, grilled great and held up on a bun well. It was comparatively thick and juicy ---most commercially prepared veggie burgers are thin patties.

If having a "meaty" option plant-based burger encourages others to go veg or at least make more conscientious dietary choices then I'm all for it. It provides an option. I liked it well enough that I would add it to the rotation of veggies burgers and other prepared veggie entrees that I consume, but it wasn't so unbelievable that it would be the only veggie burger I'd eat on a consistent basis.

It's a nice innovative addition to the marketplace, but don't expect it to topple Morningstar Farms from the top (it's more expensive, takes a bit more preparation and ends up tasting only slightly better).

Try it, if you will. If you're a meat eater then it may be a tasty way to get more veg protein in your diet. Vegetarians can probably take it or leave it. It's a convenient meal option, but I could just as easily make stir fry. However, I like to mix things up, so I will buy it from time to time.