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Chocolate Overload Cake from Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box is known for its sandwiches and commercials. But you may be surprised to know that their Chocolate Overload Cake is nice and moist. The cake is easily eaten with a fork and has the perfect amount of icing on it. I usually don’t like icing on my cake, but this chocolate buttercream icing tastes very good. It has 302 calories. That isn’t a huge amount of calories for a cake. But you need to remember that this cake is very small, and it doesn’t fill you up. This is a snack cake for someone who wants a rush of chocolatey flavor. I don’t know how they keep these things so moist, but I am pretty sure they refrigerate these Chocolate Overload cakes because they are slightly cool when I order them. What amazes me is how moist and yummy they are. I haven’t had a stale one yet. They must have a good system for keeping them fresh. A funny thing is that I looked up this item on the Jack in the Box website and then Jack said something like, “This is a great breakfast item too!” And I thought to myself, “No it’s not. Don’t tell people to eat cake for breakfast. You’re a bad influence on people, Jack.”

People shouldn’t eat cake for breakfast. This is a nighttime treat for when you’ve been good all day and you deserve something special. Now some people may be thinking, “What about coffee cake? I eat that for breakfast all the time! Take that!” And my response to that is, “Coffee Cake is still cake and they shouldn’t even serve it for breakfast.” Eating cake for breakfast is about as smart as chewing tobacco for lunch.

My main problem with the Chocolate Overload cake is that it tastes so good that I eat it in less than 2 minutes. And I have to pace myself to stretch the experience to the 2 minute mark. It being slightly cool from the fridge makes it all the more delectable.

Even though it is called Chocolate Overload, it isn’t overwhelmingly sweet. This is strange to me because I expected the cake to be disgustingly sweet because of its name. But in fact it is sweet, but very manageable for the palate. I don’t even need to drink it with milk. I usually wash it down with iced tea and have no problem.

There are supposed to be Bittersweet Chocolate Chips in the cake, but you probably won’t notice them. They are very subtle and taste more like accents to the cake itself, instead of separate hard chip-like entities. This is a good think because hard chocolate chips would have been an odd texture for the cake. But since the chips are more like soft little bittersweet lumps, they taste excellent within the whole experience.

I am proud to say that I have eaten one of these cakes every Monday for the past few weeks. And I don’t think I am going to stop anytime soon.

-Tyler

85 Degrees at Diamond Jamboree

Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center
2700 Alton Pkwy
Ste 123
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 553-8585

Diamond Jamboree is a large strip-mall shopping center in Irvine. It is a home to several Asian restaurants and an Asian Market. But the real gem of Diamond Jamboree would have to be 85 Degrees. It is a coffee shop and bakery that creates items at reasonable prices with extremely high quality. I’ve tried several of the bakery bread snacks and prepared desserts. Their menu is extensive but there are a few items that I’ve tried that are really worth talking about. Before I go into too much detail into that, it must be said that 85 Degrees is a fun place to go with your friends because it is usually buzzing with activity. There is something really enjoyable about going to a bustling place with tons of people all ordering delicious things and enjoying themselves. Oftentimes the lines are long, but they move quickly. And waiting in line and talking with your friends is good times. Also the people watching is great too.

My favorite unsweetened beverage at 85 Degrees would have to be their medium unsweetened hot black tea. This may sound like a boring drink but it is great. The quality and temperature of the tea is perfect and you don’t have to worry about a teabag. The tea is ready to go, already brewed and seeped. It makes an excellent pairing to any pastry item you may purchase because it has a clean relaxed flavor. But it doesn’t taste watery at all, and it is nice and strong. But the strength of the tea isn’t overwhelming. It takes the middle road. I love sipping the tea for extended periods of time and talking with my good friend. I can’t tell you how many enjoyable conversations I’ve had at 85 Degrees. It really takes the cake.

Speaking of cake, they serve high quality desserts at 85 Degrees. My favorite of which, is the Tiramisu. The price I pay for a Tiramisu slice yesterday is $2.80 and it is well worth it. The slice is triangular and small. But it is perfect with my black tea. The flavor is light and although it isn’t the best tiramisu I’ve had in my entire life, it is still very good. And the price is undeniable. They have other great desserts too. One that I had before was the Creme Brulee, they do a great job on the flavor of the custard. Although they don’t make the top of the dessert crispy, which is a bummer. The caramel is liquid form but it tastes great. The custard is the real prize of that dessert. It is creamy and slightly buttery.

A real winner of the cold sweet drinks at 85 Degrees is their Cold Iced Green Milk Tea. It is slightly sweet and it has a subtle flavor with little aftertaste. I love this drink, but when I order it, I need to get it in a large size because I tend to drink it very fast. The Green Milk Tea tastes different from a regular green tea. It is almost a mix between the flavor of milk, with medium strength green tea, with a hint of green tea ice cream flavor. Those tastes combined make a beverage that doesn’t last very long, regardless of size. So I only order that drink when I know I’m not going to stay and hang out very long.

A huge aspect of 85 Degrees is their Bakery Goods. These bread based items are extremely high quality and they make them all the time, and they get snatched up very quickly, so they are generally fresh. Many people have different tastes, and some of the bakery goods that have been recommended to me were way too flavorful for my specific palate. But some stick out as being tasty in particular. The first one that comes to mind in their Green Onion Bread. That is a snackable bread that has a slight onion flavor to it. It gives you onion breath tho, so watch out! Don’t forget their Milk Custard Ball, that thing is so good. The custard inside it is an ivory color and it tastes like nothing I’ve had before. The dough is amazingly soft and pliable. I’ve eaten their blueberry danish and that was out of sight! It had very fresh tasting real blueberries in it and they were in a circle. The danish itself was square shaped. That one tasted great when I brought it home and let it hang out in the fridge for a while and then ate it chilled. I once tried their “Ceasar” something bread but that had too much flavor in it and I couldn’t handle it. There was cabbage and onions and cheese on the thing. And I had to throw it out because I didn’t want to hurl. My friend that I was nuts for not liking it but I didn’t want to risk the upset stomach. You got to know your limits when eating food at an Asian Bakery, some of the snacks are hard-core.  Like their Hot Dog bakery items…NO THANKS. I’m 30 years old, I don’t need to risk my life with hot dogs mixed with breaded whatever they got going on.So basically, you need to know your own limits and flavor preferences, as well as your digestive constitution before walking into the longer bakery line.

Speaking of lines, the lines at 85 Degrees are massive. So if you are afraid of people, then this place may not be for you. But if you don’t mind a little social interaction it is very fun. One thing to note is that there is a primary line where you get Bakery Items and then can order drinks. This line is in the front of the store and it is usually very long. But there is a secondary drink and desert line. Here you can order any beverage, but you can only order items from their desert case. So you won’t be able to get any bread-goods from this line. The good news is that the secondary line is at the alternate entrance to 85 Degrees at the side. This line is much much shorter.

One thing to realize is that the parking for Diamond Jamboree is usually very full. So be prepared to drive around for a space for a few minutes. This isn’t a wham-bam grab your snacks and go kind of place. This is more of an experience. Also the drivers in this lot aren’t Nascar quality so you need to stay on guard and be very careful.

85 Degrees in Diamond Jamboree in Irvine is a place that I like to go to every couple weeks or so. If I don’t go there in a couple weeks I start to miss the place. The menu is so huge that I doubt I’ll ever have enough time to try everything. People that visit 85 Degrees are of all ages, but their biggest demographic is young people. It is a hip place to go to and maybe I’ll see you there soon!

-Tyler

buy Red Son from Amazon.com

Red Son is a graphic novel masterpiece by Mark Millar. The premise is that Superman’s spaceship when he was a baby landed in the Ukraine instead of in the United States of America. The end result is that Superman was raised with Communist ideology in his veins. I read this graphic novel a couple years after a friend mentioned it to me in one of my International Relations classes. The important thing to know about Red Son, is that it isn’t just a “Parallel Universe” adventure, that we have come to know in modern media. Red Son is a fully conceived moral dilemma that focuses on very strong themes including: Freedom vs. Protection and Order, Control vs. Free Will, and the human will to resist oppression. A great thing about Red Son, is that you don’t have to be a total Superman expert to thoroughly enjoy the Graphic Novel. The story, art, themes, dialogue, characters and action provide such an entertaining and thought provoking experience that Red Son keeps popping in my mind even though I read it two years ago.

In Red Son, Superman works for Joseph Stalin and is his right hand man. Over time Superman decides that he wants to help people so much that if he was in charge he could solve the world’s problems. Over the years Superman becomes more loved by his people and becomes more powerful and eventually becomes the Supreme Communist Leader for the Warsaw Pact nations.

Meanwhile in the United States of America there are constant problem and civil war. At one point in the book there is even starvation in the USA. Lex Luthor is a good guy and he is constantly trying to figure out a way to beat Superman.

There are many appearances of other DC Superheroes in Red Son. There is a Russian terrorist who fights against Superman in order to save his people from oppression named…Batmankoff. This character is so cool and when you see him you will fall in love with the book. There are other super impressive characters like an entire Military Unit of American soldiers that are powered by the Green Lantern Technology. Bizzaro is in the book and he fights for the USA. The list goes on. But the great thing about the characters in the book is that they aren’t cameos. They are all characters with motivations and goals and are depicted with amazing skill by the artists.

My overall favorite part of Red Son would have to be the excellent execution of the themes and moral questions. There is a recurring symbol of the chessboard throughout the book. The chessboard symbolizes control and competition, as well as anticipating the moves of one’s opponent.

There is a climactic realization for Superman where he knows that the USA will never consensually surrender and join the Warsaw Pact. And at that moment he gleans that it doesn’t matter how powerful he is. One cannot use force to actually shape the mind of another man. People change themselves.

Superman in Red Son is an enthralling character to watch because he is both idealistic and powerful and he takes himself very seriously. On one hand the reader sympathizes for Superman and wants him to be successful bringing order and peace to the world, yet on the other hand the reader is rooting for Lex Luthor to defeat Superman and encourage freedom of choice. There is a lot of decision making in the graphic novel and so I was glued to every page. I read the entire graphic novel in one sitting, like I usually do with books of this type because they are so fun to read. I can’t put them down.

Another cool thing about Red Son is that it spans across a long timeline. So you get to see Lex Luthor develop as a character and become more powerful. There are several US Presidents mentioned in Red Son and it helps root the story in its reality.

Red Son has the basic conflict of Superman vs. his adversaries. But deep inside the graphic novel is a much more intriguing conflict of Superman vs. his own ideologies. He is a man torn by what he thinks is right, what he’s been taught, and what the world is truly asking him to do. Do we really want a society free of problems? Or is there more to existence than having one’s needs met? These issues and many more are delved into through action, dialogue and subtlety.

The current Amazon prices for Red Son ranges from $13 plus tax and shipping for the softcover to just under $20 plus tax and shipping. You can check for the most current prices for Red Son on Amazon.com by clicking HERE. This is the kind of graphic novel that you will probably re-read in your lifetime and will share with your friends. I think it is well worth it.

-Tyler

Bolthouse Farms - Green Goodness

Finding a good juice to drink isn’t easy. There are so many choices out there that claim to healthy but not all of them taste very good. But yesterday I had the pleasure of drinking the very flavorful “Green Goodness” Fruit Smoothie from Green Goodness. It tastes great and I drank it back to back with “Green Machine” by Naked Juice in order to compare the flavor and nutrients used. What I found was that both drinks tasted great and had good nutritional value. But “Green Goodness” by Bolthouse Farms uses Juice FROM CONCENTRATE. I found this out by checking the ingredients label. This is probably why “Green Goodness” doesn’t taste quite as good as “Green Machine” by Naked Juice. From what I can tell from the label, “Green Machine” doesn’t use juice from concentrate. This is a bummer for Bolthouse Farms because it seems that “Green Goodness” juice has a lot more vitamins than “Green Machine.” For example, “Green Goodness” has 150% daily Manganese levels, and 120% daily Zinc levels. That is a lot more vitamins than what’s in the Naked Juice “Green Machine.” In that one the highest levels you see for daily vitamins is Vitamin C which has a daily value of 40%.

So there is a tradeoff, Naked Juice’s Green Machine tastes better and uses non-CONCENTRATE juices. But the Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness has slightly better vitamin content. Everything became clear to me when I read that the juice was from concentrate. I was like, “Oh, that’s why it tastes like that.” It just doesn’t have the same kind of punch as the “Green Machine” by Naked Juice.

Yet Green Goodness is a delicious juice. I would drink it almost everyday it is so good. I just think it would taste even better if they didn’t use juice from Concentrate. That isn’t good for making top-notch flavor.

Jerusalem Artichokes

One thing to note is that when I bought my two juices from Bristol Farms in Corona del Mar, the Bolthouse Farms “Green Goodness” was 50 cents cheaper than the “Green Machine” by Naked Juice. So maybe by using juice from concentrate, they are able to cut down on the overall price of their product. I guess you got to do whatever you have to do, in order to stay competitive. But you would think that if Bolthouse Farms was able to spend the extra money to have Jerusalem Artichokes in their smoothie, then they could drop the extra bucks to use juice that wasn’t from concentrate. Speaking of Jerusalem Artichokes, those things look nothing like a traditional artichoke. They look more like long ginger roots, with sunflowers. I really want to try one on its own someday and see what they taste like.

Overall I really like the Green Goodness from Bolthouse Farms and it is a good change-up from the Green Machine by Naked Juice. If I ever get tired of the flavor of one of them I can always switch to the other.

-Tyler