The Hallotober Tag 2020
Monday, 12 October 2020 • entertainment, featured, Food & Drink, Fun Stuff, Halloween, horror, Movies, Tags
Hello friends! It's time for another Tag, this time it's the Hallotober tag. I was tagged by my wonderful wife RootingBranches so don't forget to go show her some love and check out her answers for this tag. The rules are as follows:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their post
2. Put the rules at the beginning or after the introduction
3. Answer the 13 questions
4. Tag 13 people to do the tag
5. Delete question 13, add a new number one question to your own
6. You are free to use the tag image somewhere in the post.
1) You're attending a fancy smancy Halloween party. Money is no issue, what costume do you choose?
I'd be one of the Ghostbusters complete with a proton pack replica. That's always been my dream costume.
2) What’s your favorite thing about October?
I love the fact that once October starts, the prepping for Halloween starts. You see themed candies on sale in the store, you see horror movies becoming more popular, and it's now okay to start decorating. I like the fact that it starts to get colder and you can go on nice long walks with a cup of coffee.
3) Are you a big celebrator of Halloween?
Not as much as some, but a lot more than most. Thanks to my wife, the level of decorating done in the house has skyrocketed, but we also get more Halloween themed treats and start to primarily watch horror movies. The closer it gets to Halloween, the more themed TV shows like the Brooklyn Nine Nine heist episodes,
4) What’s your favorite horror movie?
This one is very hard. My answer is very fluid as it always changes. I can tell you some of my favorites though! Thirteen Ghosts is a classic that is going back on my yearly rewatch list this year. The new Halloween and Halloween H2O are must watches for me.
5) Would you rather a cozy night in watching horrors or a big night out in a costume?
Younger me would have said a big night out, but now that I'm an old old man (37) I like a night in. I wouldn't be opposed to going out, but not spending the whole night out. At most, go out and have a few drinks then go home and watch movies and eat candy.
6) Which has been your most favorite costume to date?
I was never much for costumes because as I kid I was fixated on masks and my parents would buy me one, but that would be my whole costume budget so I'd just be in a t-shirt, jeans, and a mask. It wasn't until my adult years that I realized masks aren't all they're cracked up to be so I think my favorite costume was when I did an 11th Doctor (from Doctor Who) cosplay for an anime convention and used that again for Halloween.
7) Bobbing for apples or pin the hat on the witch?
Seeing as I have never heard of "pin the hat on the witch" I'd have to say bobbing for apples. I can guess that it's a "pin the tail on the donkey." Either way, bobbing for apples seems like more of an event. Though seeing as my wife is allergic to apples, it doesn't seem fair to play that without her.
8) How do you celebrate Halloween?
Movies, Food, Snacks. If someone I know is having a low-key party I may stop by, but usually I like to stay home and watch anything that gets me in the Halloween spirit.
9) What’s your least favorite horror?
Anything Rob Zombie. I like his music but his movies are a bit much. It goes extreme for the sake of being extreme and that doesn't make it good or clever. The Nun also sucked. I love the Conjuringverse but The Nun sucked.
10) Do you have a favorite trick or treating memory?
Here's the thing. I have a terrible memory. Truly awful. I don't remember a lot of my childhood. But I DO have a favorite trick or treating memory. I was but a wee lad and my dad was chaperoning my friends and I for the night. We walked up to a house that had all the telltale signs of being open for business. The lights were on and there were decorations so it means open for business. So we walked up to the house and knocked... and nothing happened. We knocked again but that's when I noticed the scarecrow that was placed in a chair by the door. I noticed that between the glove and the shirt sleeve there was skin and hair. So I was about to point it out when the guy leaned forward and said "do you want some candy?" He scared the crap out of the group I was with but I was fine!
11) What’s your favorite thing about Halloween?
I love the mood. I love the ambiance of the season. I love watching scary movies back to back to back with junk food that I'd never allow myself so much of any other time of the year.
12) Scary costume or Silly costume?
It really depends. I think this is more of a mood decision. I've never really done a scary costume, opting more for a nerdy cosplay, but if I had a good idea, I'd totally go scary.
13) What’s your favorite Halloween candy?
Easy. The Reese's Pumpkin. There's more peanut butter in the pumpkin than a standard peanut butter cup. I also like the Resse's Ghosts since it's white chocolate which is a nice change.
Quick note about the questions. It seems most people have been deleting question 13 then adding their new question for 13, but the rules say "delete question 13 and add a new number one question." So, in true D&D fashion, I'm going with the rules as written and adding my question at the top.
My Questions
1) In the spirit of Freddy vs Jason, what is your dream horror villain match up?
2) You're attending a fancy smancy Halloween party. Money is no issue, what costume do you choose?
3) What’s your favorite thing about October?
4) Are you a big celebrator of Halloween?
5) What’s your favorite horror movie?
6) Would you rather a cozy night in watching horrors or a big night out in a costume?
7) Which has been your most favorite costume to date?
8) Bobbing for apples or pin the hat on the witch?
9) How do you celebrate Halloween?
10) What’s your least favorite horror?
11) Do you have a favorite trick or treating memory?
12) What’s your favorite thing about Halloween?
13) Scary costume or Silly costume?
When it comes to tagging people, I must admit that I don't know a lot of bloggers yet as I need to be more active in the community. That, and my wife and I know a lot of the same people so she steals all of my friends. So, instead, I tag you, my dear reader! If you are a blogger and have yet to be tagged, consider yourself tagged by me.
Egg Nog Taste Test
Wednesday, 25 December 2019 • Drinks, Food & Drink
You may not have Clover in your area. Or if you do, it may be a different dairy with the same name. But what this is, is your base level egg nog. Think of your local brand of milk. No matter what store you go into, you can find some of that brand. You can find it in a big chain store to a small mom and pop store. That's what Clover is.
This is also a good egg nog. It's not the best I've had, but it's also not bad at all. If you take price into account, this could even be the best one as it's reasonably priced AND tasty. Some of the fancier ones that I've liked have higher prices so I may not always want to indulge.
Clover egg nog is rich, creamy, and tasty. It has the classic egg nog taste you've come to know an love. It's it just as good as what our parents or grandparents drank when they were young? No, probably not. But it's a great reasonably priced treat for the season. So whatever your local brand is called, their nog is probably just as good, if not exactly like Clover's.
This gets 8 nights of Christmas out of 12.
Strauss Egg Nog
You may not have Strauss brand near you, but you're bound to have something like it. You may have to travel to your local specialty store as maybe Safeways and Nob Hills/Raleys may not carry it, but there has to be something near you. This is a dairy that produces a "higher end" milk. It comes in a glass bottle, sometimes has a cream top that you need to shake like a paint mixer in an earthquake, but when it's all done, it's damn good. As far as their egg nog? The taste and texture and there for sure. Higher end dairies know exactly what they're doing. But the real issue is the uptick in price vs quality. Personally, the difference in quality isn't worth double the price of a standard nog. So even though this one tastes great, the high price causes the rating to fall.
Strauss Egg Nog gets 7 nights of Christmas out of 12
That's right, Blue Diamond, the nut company, put out an dairy free egg nog. It's called "almond nog" since it has to have egg in it to be "egg nog." This one does a better job than most of the other non-dairy egg nogs I've had. The texture is very close to traditional nog which helps the experience greatly. The taste is good as the spices cover up the almond taste. The one thing its lacking is the creaminess that traditional nog would have. But as far as a substitute for my vegan or dietary restricted readers, this is a good option.
This gets 8 out of 12 nights of Christmas.
This one used to be my favorite non-dairy option until I tried the Blue Diamond one. Which makes the Blue Diamond version not only better, but easier to find. This one lacks in texture. It falls between Silk and traditional egg nog. The taste is just okay. I don't hate it. If offered, I will drink it. But I would never choose to drink it. Not bad but not good places this right in the middle.
Califia Farms Holiday Nog gets 6 out of 12 nights of Christmas.
This egg nog substitute is made out of flax milk and spiced with nutmeg and ginger. It's not a thick as traditional egg nog or even other substitutes like the Blue Diamond brand or the Califia, so that was an issue. Initially it drinks weird, both in flavor and texture. But it finishes relatively well. The spices add a nice finishing note but over all it's just okay.
Good Karma Dairy Free Holiday Nog gets 5 out of 12 nights of Christmas.
This dairy alternative drink is made from the ever controversial soy milk. Though unless you have sever kidney problems I don't think soy milk's level of phytoestrogen will be harmful to you. But again, I'm not a doctor, so don't listen to me on that regard. What you should listen to me on is how this tastes. It tastes... okay. This is the most mediocre of the non-dairy nog alternatives I've tried thus far. This has the same textural issues that the Good Karma nog but doesn't have the benefit of flavor. It's not bad, per say. Just not very good. I can see this being a great idea when the notion of dairy-free was still new. But now that we have so much more to choose from, I'd go with either Blue Diamond or Califia.
Silk Nog gets 3 out of 12 nights of Christmas.
