Starbucks' Chicken Tarragon Salad Sandwich

With Starbucks making the news recently (when are they not newsworthy?) with their new logo and legal issues with Kraft, this native Seattleite is inspired to discuss one of my favorites on their menu. I fondly remember visiting the location near Pike Place Market when I was a child. This was before there were blenders, cookies, breakfast wraps, and all of those things. I remember when Starbucks was solely for coffee, and it was less of a coffee shop and more of a store to buy your coffee beans and coffee related machines to take home and brew your own joe. When business and growth took off in the 1990s, I was a little annoyed and somewhat worried that they were selling out. I just wanted coffee, man! But like the rest of the world, I was sucked into their new business strategy and now fully enjoy their more diverse menu.

My favorite addition to Starbucks' food menu is their Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwich. Tarragon is not a flavor I normally find myself enjoying, however it perfectly compliments the chicken and goes well with the cranberries sprinkled throughout the sandwich. Whenever I am slightly hungry and buy one of these with the intention of just eating half and saving the other half for later, I am never able to stop eating it, and I end up demolishing the entire thing in one sitting. It is filling enough without leaving its eater feeling grossly full, and it is decently healthy, too. But you don't have to take my word for it, click here to read about it on Starbucks' website.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

Ice Cream? I suppose a person might actually scream for this kind of ice cream. Rapper Gucci Mane recently celebrated his release from a mental hospital by having an ice cream cone tattooed on his face. This stinging sweet treat might be evidence enough to warrant a return to the mental hospital, but that is just one opinion. It could have some deep meaning for the rapper, with its 3 scoops of ice cream stacked up like a pyramid on top of a cone with crosses etched in it; it must be of the waffle cone variety. Near the top of the cone is the text "Brrr," which could also contain a deeper, personal meaning for Mane. Whatever the reasoning behind the tattoo (perhaps there is no meaning, but I like to imagine the fantastic symbolism and perhaps a great childhood love of ice cream as being the impetus behind this deed) I hope Gucci Mane is happy with it and for the rest of his life it will remind him of all of the sweet things that life has to offer.

And since I don't really know much about Mr. Mane, I will include the link to his official website here so that if you are curious, you can go check him out.

Take Two Onions And Call Me In The Morning

An email forward has been making the rounds about the purported benefits of onions with regards to preventing illnesses. It listed several "true stories" where cut raw onions placed around a room absorbed all illness- causing viruses and bacteria and helped prevent the people inhabiting the area from coming down with whatever illness was going around at the time. It sounds awesome, but if such a prevalent, inexpensive item such as an onion could prevent the spread of the plague, everyone would know about it and everyone would use it. A quick visit to Snopes proves this to be false, much to the pleasure of pharmaceutical companies everywhere I am sure.

But could you imagine if this were true? People would be wearing raw onion slices on strings around their necks, and the world would stink!

Onions do have health benefits, though. Click here to read about it.

I'll Give You a Hint...

It's so hot here this time of year that hydration is not just a recommendation, it is integral for survival. Thirst becomes unbearable, and the thought of drinking more water sometimes makes my fellow desert dwellers want to gag. We are often looking for alternative methods to hydrate, and since soda and beer quench the immediate thirst but ultimately contribute to dehydration, our search often leads us to flavored waters and juices. While some of those flavored waters and juices can help hydrate, they often contain too much sugar and other additives that are not always great for you. Recently, someone told me about Hint, a lightly flavored water- beverage (is that a term? maybe it should be) that hydrates without being bland and without sugar or artificial sweeteners. I tried the cucumber flavored one and was absolutely amazed! The flavor is not overwhelming, it is light yet satisfying enough for someone who just cannot drink anymore water. Oh, and there are zero calories!

If you want to read the details of the product and company, click here. I usually find them in Sprouts or Whole Foods, but there are other places which carry them as well.