My Own Private Ho Ho

Why is it every time I like something, they quit making it? Example: Pillsbury garlic breadsticks. They go great with spaghetti and are so doggone good! And now they're being "discontinued." But I love, thee, oh garlicky one! Just another food product that will soon be extinct. Sigh.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how many things I used to really look forward to eating, that are now no longer available. Things, that conjure up childhood memories, that when I mention them to anyone under 25, I get met with a blank stare. But then I remind myself that most Gen Y'ers normally have a glazed look to them anyway, and dismiss it as more pop culture ignorance. Here's a brief list of my top faves:

• Chef Boyardee Roller Coasters (Delicious pasta with meatballs)
• Crazy Cow Cereal (Strawberry was my favorite, but it also came in chocolate)
• Grape Tang (Grape-flavored version of the drink astronauts took into space!)
• Marshal Mallow Cocoa Mix (Cocoa mix with little star-shaped marshmallows right in the mix!)
• Butoni Instant Pizza (Like a Pop-Tart, but filled with delicious pizza goodness)
• Doritos Original Taco Flavor Chips (Undoubtedly better than the "Nacho" flavored ones)
• Figurines ("Diet" snack resembled a thinner Little Debbie Nutty Bar. Vanilla was my favorite)
• Franco-American Macaroni and Cheese (Self explanatory)
• Vanilla-Flavored Cookie Crisp Cereal (Better than the chocolate chip-flavor...but I like that one too)
• Willy Wonka Skrunch Bar (Kinda like a Clark Bar, but skrunchier)
• Jolly Rancher Stix (Came in Fire, Pink Lemonade and Peach flavors and was bigger than a JR)
• Mug-o-Lunch Mixes (Kinda like Cup-O-Noodles. Just add hot water!)

And even though some of my favorites have survived the 70's and/or 80's, some of them just don't have the same flavor that I remember. For instance, my all-time favorite cereal was always Frankenberry (I still like it, but now I think it's more for the nostalgia, than the flavor), but now it seems to lack that certain oaty, strawberry flavor that I remember loving. Now it has that annoying flavor, like those french fries from Burger King that have that stay-crisp coating. You know what I mean? It's like the cereal now has a chemical shellac taste to it. Same thing goes for Trix, which I still like occasionally, but which I used to LOVE. "Back in the day" the cereal makers kept it simple, and the cereal pieces were shaped like little spheres (think Kix cereal in rainbow colors) and had a great corn and fruit taste. Today, they pieces are shaped like various fruits, and again have that weirdo shellac on them AND are so overly fruit-flavored that I find myself wanting more milk than cereal. Plus, there's a weirdo aftertaste that wreaks of "stay-crunchy" shellac. Bleah.

On the other hand, there are those foods that know a good thing when they see it, and manage to keep the original recipe & flavor of their product. Thank goodness for:

• Munchos Potato Crisps (Light and airy & loaded with salt and oil. I miss the bright orange bag)
• TAB Soda (The quintessential 70's diet soda. I'm a saccharin fiend, so I still love it)
• Quisp Cereal (A lot like Capt N' Crunch)
• Pringles Potato Chips (They may have lost their pull-tab top, but they still taste good to me!)
• Razzles (A chewable candy, that turns into gum! Is it a candy or is it a gum?)
• Shrimp Flavored Chips (They may sound gross, but boy are they shrimpalicious!)
• Jiffy Pop (You gotta love this one. JP wreaks of nostalgia. No one can resist its' foil dome!)
• Moon Pies (Little Debbie comes closest to the flavor I remember, more so than the orig. MP)
• Reese's Big Peanutbutter Cup (It's new & "limited edition," but already a favorite of mine)

I have to admit, I get nostalgic for some of the old packaging as well. I recently watched You can't Buy Me Love and sighed during a party scene when I saw the old Doritos bag. You know, the one with the little window in the front and the giant wedge of cheese on it? If only the manufacturers would periodically bring back a "Nostalgia" line of their products, with the original recipes and packaging, I bet you anything they'd sell like crazy. I know I'd be hoarding some serious Crazy Cow, Chef Boyardee Roller Coasters and Taco-Flavored Doritos!

And you know what else I miss? The shape of fishsticks. They used to resemble rectangles with rounded corners. Now fishsticks are more cylindrical and the taste just isn't the same. I swear the shape has something to do with it. It may sound weird, but I used to love when we would have fishsticks for lunch. Especially if there was a side of macaroni and cheese! This must be what lunch is like in Heaven.