Little did I know when I innocently bought a box of microwave Kettle Corn, it would result in a: Hidden Splenda Expose, A Destroyed Microwave, A $43 Auction, and A Cross-Country Trip for my little popcorn meteor... Lying Sacks of "SU" (A PopCornspiracy)Our microwave broke the other day. Technically it still worked, but I couldn't get it to turn off. That's not good because most foods don't need to be cooked forever. By the way, the name Nutrasweet is hilarious to me. NUTRA-sweet. Like it is somehow a combo of "Nutritious" and "Sweet." It might be sweet, but there ain't nothin' NUTRA in there. And the company that makes Splenda likes to tout that their product is "made from real sugar." Guess what: dog crap is made from real food, too. I still don't suggest you sprinkle it on your cornflakes, but I digress... ![]() Instead of the "SU" they should just change it to "F. U." I think that's what the illustration is really trying to say to me, anyway. (Incidentally, every brand of microwave kettle corn I checked used sucralose, whether it was low-fat or not. Not one acknowledged it.) For more adventures in questionable food don't miss the "Steve, Don't Eat It!" section. Revenge Is A Dish Best Served PoppedThe other night my wife decided to make some microwave Kettle Corn. She set the timer for 2:45 (more than a minute LESS than the recommended time) and hit start. We were talking a few feet away, and two and a half minutes later I turned to see BROWN SMOKE BILLOWING OUT OF THE MICROWAVE. This was not like your ordinary slightly overcooked popcorn. This was a bag about to burst into flames. I shut off the microwave and opened it. Thick, gross, choking smoke poured out and quickly filled the kitchen. My wife carefully got it outside while I tried to get the blaring smoke detector to stop before the kids woke up. For some reason, the bag had exploded-- spraying disgusting brown LIQUID all over the interior of the oven. It smelled horrible, the microwave is ruined, and the kitchen still smells two days later. Opening the bag did not reveal burnt popcorn, but a bizarre rectangular carbon brick of I'm not sure what. I would like to stress, the bag didn't pop full and then burn, it popped a tiny bit and then went straight to the burning. I don't know what happened, but I do know this. A while back I wrote a popular post about the secret Splenda hiding in microwave Kettle Corn. I believe this evil box lay in wait plotting its revenge against me, and finally took action. If you have Orville Redenbacher Microwave Kettle Corn in your house, BE CAREFUL. It is a naughty, spiteful treat. Popcorn Disaster UpdateI spoke to the Orville Reddenbacher people about the Kettle Korn disaster. They were very nice and are "considering" replacing my microwave. They are sending me a pre-paid mailer so I can send them the box, the popcorn meteor and pictures of the microwave and then they'll decide if they want to replace it or not. But I'm not so sure I want to send them the actual meteor. Should I? The comment board is NOW CLOSED. (And on a food company sidenote, I have notified the Terra Chip people of our dramatic findings. Still waiting to hear back.) history for saleA few people have emailed asking me what's up with the popcorn meteor. I decided I'm going to send it back to the company as they requested, and we'll see what happens. I'll be doing that this week. But before I pack it all up, I thought I'd auction off a piece of it. The smoky little guy even comes with his own display case. The bidding starts at a whopping 49 cents. The winning bidder also gets a free mousepad and bumper sticker. You can view the auction and track how rich I'm about to get right here. popcorn's big tripA few of you have been asking what's up with the remains of the popcorn meteorite. The chunk that was auctioned on Ebay is safely on its way to the winner. As for the rest, I'm sending it all back to the Orville Redenbacher people today, as they requested. (They even sent me a pre-paid mailer.) After much debate on the comment board, the charred bag of kernels, the box, pictures of the splattered microwave are ready to go to the post office. It should be interesting to see what happens. It's funny that my little meteorite will now be taking its first big trip all the way to Omaha, Nebraska! I think I'm gonna miss that little guy. Luckily my microwave still bears his personal stink for me to remember him by. Tanna Blattler Appreciation Day!From infected corn to burnt... I hereby declare today international "Tanna Blattler Appreciation Day!" Tanna was the lovely lady who won the eBay auction for the popcorn meteor. In addition to receiving the mousepad and bumper sticker, Tanna had also asked if my son would write a joke for the winning bidder -- which he did. (He actually came up with two - both popcorn themed.) If you're out of the loop, I have posted a few of my son's "jokes" before, like here, here, and here. They seem to have developed a bit of a following. I had created a special secret password protected webpage just for Tanna to enjoy her personal jokes, and then received the sweetest email:
Here are the two jokes specifically "written" for Tanna, which she would now like to share with the world: (HIGHLIGHT TO REVEAL ANSWER) Q: "Why did the popcorn get worn out?" A: "Because nobody ate it!!!" And here's a free bonus joke since he was on a roll: (HIGHLIGHT TO REVEAL ANSWER) Q: "Why did the popcorn get in the khakis?" A: " To make the flies go away!" If at any point today you are given thanks for anything, feel free to say "Don't thank me. Thank Tanna Blattler!" popcorn timelineWho would have guessed that way back when I innocently bought a box of microwave kettle corn, it would give birth to: - an expose on hidden Splenda and now... sweet resolution. As Jen predicted, the fine people at Orville Redenbacher have bought me a new microwave. The check arrived the other day. I should go spend it all on bitches and crack. Who's with me?! (Don't tell my wife. She totally frowns upon bitches AND crack.) All the popcorn posts can be found in chronological order right here. (And for the record, the microwave really does still reek.) |
![]() ![]() First time here? Steve, Don't Eat It! might not be a bad place to start. ![]() Why not subscribe to The Sneeze? It's free. It's painless. And I dare you. ![]() ![]()
THE PAINLESS SNEEZE HOLIDAY DONATION BOX If you're going to be doing any shopping at Amazon and would like to send a little love to The Sneeze at the same time... PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO GET TO AMAZON ![]() ![]() ![]() Cockeyed Retrocrush Uncanny Adventures Eric Joyner's Tin Robot Art Cloud Cult Andrew Zimmern - Bizarre Foods Natalie Dee Bent Objects Be The Boy The Slack Daily Defective Yeti Snack Reports The Art of S. Britt WilloToons Coop (sometimes nsfw) Bagel Radio Archie McPhee Awesome Book Journals! Be The Boy Drawn! Toothpaste for Dinner The Art of Gary Taxali In The Air Nicole Gastonguay Disgrasian Sloppy Cans Very Big Blog Tenth Muse The Bloggess .: FRIENDS OF THE STEVE :. Peter Pagano Graphics Doodle Monkey Pronutrex Creature from the Blog Sloppy Cans DelBloggolo Lisasmith Hungry Girl Forgotten NY Meshugena Interfuel Aquidneck Inquirer Leader Creative Steve Zmak Photography Guster Organic Consumers ![]() Moxie Design Studios™ some backgrounds by ![]() powered by: Movable Type © 2003-2012 The Sneeze All rights reserved. No portion of this site may be reproduced in any fashion without express written permission. |