Thursday, January 25, 2007

where godiva and skippy collide

me, outside eszter's office at casbs
(this is literally the view from the back door of Eszter's office at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, except normally that view doesn't include me sitting in the tree.)

So, one of my pet phrases is "This is where the chocolate hits the peanut butter." I use it when I'm explaining something that requires me to first explain two seemingly unrelated things. I insert it as a preface immediately before explaining how the two things fit together, as apparently I believe this is a good moment to introduce an obscure distracting metaphor.

Anyway, it's a reference to these commercials from when I was a child where a man would be walking around with a chocolate bar and a woman would be doing the same with an open jar of peanut butter and through some collisional hijink the chocolate bar would end up inside the peanut butter, and the two would discover that in fact the combination tasted great and the voice-over for Reese's Peanut Butter cups would begin. (Being a child, the brazen sexual innuendo of this ad campaign was completely lost on me.)

I like Reese's Peanut Butter cups. They are traditionally my second favorite candy, in fact, with the first being chocolate-covered malted milk balls. So this past weekend Eszter and I were in Trader Joe's and what do I see: chocolate-covered peanut butter malted milk balls. I had never even imagined my two favorite candies could be combined before. And so I proclaimed, "This is where the chocolate hits the peanut butter!" I scarfed down something like a dozen between the checkout counter and Eszter's car alone.

The weekend was, I might add, the first time I'd ever been inside a Trader Joe's. I had heard it was a place full of strangely addictive curiosities. Even so, I had no idea.

14 comments:

Lucy said...

One of my favourite things about the US is the chocolate/peanut butter combination. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have caught on at home much, which is a pity, since it would be even better with nicer chocolate. The chocolate malt balls at home are nicer, too, but I may have to go to Trader Joe's now, anyway.

Ang said...

On a class trip in high school, my friends and I took Hershey Bars and jars of peanut butter with us. We basically spent the whole trip eating peanut-butter-dipped candy bars. Good times.

Anonymous said...

It took me about a decade to get used to the idea of peanut butter. To this day, I don't think I've ever had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I do appreciate peanut butter and chocolate combos though. And while I don't like malt balls, this one was actually not horrendous.

As for Trader Joe's, see? Dinner in unknown restaurants is an overrated idea depending on the available alternatives.:-)

jeremy said...

TL: Who wears shoes when they climb trees? That's dangerous, plus the argyle stripes give you traction.

Lucy: Don't think I didn't catch the dig at US chocolate. It would only be better if you had faith in the quality of kiwi peanut butter.

Anonymous said...

To be honest, based on the title I thought this post was going to be something disturbing about a naked woman and a kangaroo who helps people, and wasn't sure I wanted to read it. Hermeneutic failures such as this show I have not fully assimilated into American culture.

Anonymous said...

Trader Joe's is a beautiful, beautiful place that I miss dearly. I can't believe that anyone who lives near one would forego the opportunity to visit regularly.

They also have mini peanut butter cups that are great to sprinkle on ice cream (or put in cookies, or eat right out of the tub). I'll have to look for the chocolate-covered peanut butter malted milk balls next time I'm in the big city.

Anonymous said...

palo alto is your first visit to TJ's?! cambridge and boston outposts await your business...

Anonymous said...

You spent how many summers in Ann Arbor without going to Trader Joe's???
Andy

Anonymous said...

where are your shoes??

Yup, that was my reaction. I was especially concerned as he was leaping off the tree. I thought: yikes, if he lands on some sharp stone or rock, this ain't gonna be pretty.

Kieran, while I didn't have your reaction (yikes), the title didn't make much sense to me at all despite having been present at the peanut butter choco combo buying and eating experience.

Someone clue me in, are malt balls not the same as malted milk balls? Why is the latter preferred?

jeremy said...

Godiva -> brand of chocolate
Skippy -> brand of peanut butter

I presume malted milk balls and malt balls are the same thing. I grew up referring to them as the former.

I was in Ann Arbor four different summers. I don't even know where the Trader Joe's there is; the last summer I was there was 2001.

Anonymous said...

Whoppers -> brand of (chocolate covered) malted milk balls.

The wife and I fondly remember the younger boy's heartfelt, slightly mouthful-of-food-slurred. "I love Whoppers" delivered as a line of chocolatey drool rolled down toward his chin...

Back in junior high, a friend and I would banter variations on "Hey, you got shit on my sandwich" - "Hey you got sandwich on my shit" over lunch... Good times.

Anonymous said...

... who's Eszter? thought I (finally).
Googled her CV. WOWWWWhee! Sociology redeemed....

Anonymous said...

Havya tried the new Reese's with actual peanuts added? God. Are. They. Good!

Bob Moore said...

Oh dude,
TJ's peanut butter malt balls were my all-time favorites in the past. Nice BIG malt balls, with thick chocolate and *peanut butter* for Christ's sake! Forget those pathetic Whoppers. But then to my dismay, the TJ's near me stopped carrying them! This went on for a few YEARS. I don't know what the deal was. Did they have lead in them? Crack? The date rape drug? Then just yesterday, I went to TJ's to buy some Italian roast coffee and low and behold, they were back! Finally. I've eaten like ten of those chocolate beauties since last night. All is good in the world again.
Bob