Aunt Jemima Buckwheat Pancake Mix

If I'm going to eat pancakes, I much prefer buckwheats. Aunt Jemima Buckwheat Pancake Mix was a great product to have around for those days when I really wanted some buckwheats.

The loss of this product was inevitable. It's one of many hard-to-find products that I always looked for when traveling. Now I'll have to update my list again.

While doing a bit of research, I found a comment on Amazon.com that provides a way to make the mix yourself. According to the commenter, the recipe is from the Quaker Oats Company, the company that made--and discontinued--Aunt Jemima Buckwheat Pancake Mix. It makes me wonder whether this is the actual recipe Quaker used for their mix. It's possible.

3/4 cup Aunt Jemima Original pancake mix
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Stir dry ingredients together. Add milk and egg according to the instructions on the box of pancake mix.

I haven't tried this, but I'm thinking about it.

Choco' Lite

Choco' Lite candy bars were around in the 1970s and possibly the '80s. The "whipped" chocolate contained air holes to make it seem light and airy. Nestle discontinued this product long ago, but many people think they've found the modern equivalent. I'm not one of them.

For years, I've noticed that some people say the Aero bar is identical to Choco' Lite, so when I saw one at a specialty store one day, I decided to buy one.

It is absolutely not the same.

Other people say it's the same as Cadbury's Wispa. I haven't tried that one, but I'm already skeptical. I can't forget the Aero bar experience--not that the bar was bad, mind you. It just wasn't the same as Choco' Lite.

This photo of a Choco' Lite wrapper confirms something I knew all along: there was something crispy in the chocolate. More than once, I let the chocolate melt in my mouth so that I could try to figure out what was so crispy. I thought they were itty bitty pieces of crisped rice, but I was wrong; nothing like that is mentioned in the ingredients list. It does contain honey and corn syrup (not HFCS!), so maybe the "crispy chips," as the wrapper called them, were hardened pieces of honey or corn syrup.

Aero bars don't contain anything crispy. If I had to guess, I'd say that neither do Wispa bars.

A lot of people like both of those other bars. In fact, Wispa was discontinued and then brought back by popular demand. This shows that people do like this airy type of chocolate.

Nestle really should bring back Choco' Lite bars.

Pitter Patter Cookies

Pitter Patter cookies used to be one of my favorite after-school snacks. Here is a photo of a package of these cookies, which were made by Keebler.

Pitter Patter cookies were sandwich cookies filled with peanut butter creme. The cookies themselves were crunchy and made with oats. I liked to take them apart, eat one of the hard cookies, and then eat the remaining one with the peanut butter creme.

These were similar to Do-Si-Dos, the Girl Scout version of a peanut butter sandwich cookie. The main difference was that Pitter Patters were much harder and crunchier, whereas Do-Si-Dos tend to be crumbly and somewhat easier on the teeth.

Prontos Chips

In the mid-1970s, Frito Lay mailed out samples of Prontos chips in little boxes, and they were really good. I found a reference to the commercial from 1976.

Prontos were similar to the Sun Chips that are available now; they had the same shape, and I'm pretty sure they were also multigrain chips. They were very salty, and if I remember correctly, they were thicker and crunchier than Sun Chips. When looking up this product, I found that some people say they tasted like bacon. I never noticed that, so I can't say one way or the other, although I doubt I would have liked them if they had. I do like bacon but tend not to like meat-flavored products.

I like Sun Chips but would really like to see Prontos being manufactured again.

Tropicana Juice Sparklers

Tropicana Juice Sparklers were juice blends that also contained carbonated water to make them fizzy. My favorite was a blend of orange and passionfruit juices called Tropical Orange. I also liked the Wild Berries. I never noticed any other flavors, but this article says that there were two more: cranberry and grapefruit.

These drinks were sold in multi-packs of four 10-ounce glass bottles as well as in larger bottles. Check out this photo or this video to see if you remember them.

Tropicana Juice Sparklers were manufactured back in the early '90s. I used to buy them all the time until they went away.

Softsoap Lavender & Chamomile Moisturizing Body Wash

Softsoap Lavender & Chamomile Moisturizing Body Wash was a shower gel that was available for several years. From the moment I discovered this product, it was the only shower gel I bought--until it was discontinued.

I'm very sensitive to perfumes, but this didn't bother me at all. I think it's because it was lavender, and I can usually handle that. In fact, lavender is one of my favorite scents. Just as it was supposed to be, this product was very calming.

The first two shower gels made by Softsoap were also discontinued long ago, before this variety was introduced. I also liked them, but the lavender and chamomile version was my favorite.

I believe that this scent is still available in a liquid hand soap, but I can't use it due to sensitive skin.

Rubicon

Rubicon was an original series presented by American Movie Classics (AMC) last season. It was a conspiracy show with a gripping premiere, and I watched every episode. Unfortunately, a lot of people apparently lost interest at some point, because the ratings went down.

I thought Rubicon was a compelling series with very interesting characters. I was disappointed to hear that it would not be renewed for a second season.

Peanut Butter Frost Candy Bar

I discovered Peanut Butter Frost candy bars in the early 1980s. I saw one in a vending machine and had no idea what it was. Because of the name, it sounded good, so I decided to try one.

Peanut Butter Frost was coated in white chocolate, which I normally don't even like. Inside, it contained peanut butter and crisped rice. I think it also had some caramel, but I'm not sure about that. My less-than-perfect memory is also telling me that it came in two pieces about the same size as Almond Joy halves, but again, I'm not sure.

I couldn't remember who manufactured Peanut Butter Frost, so I did some digging and found that it was made by Luden's. I don't think it was available for very long. I know I had very few of them. Too bad. They were delicious!

Men, Women & Dogs

Men, Women & Dogs was a sitcom from 2001. Due to bad ratings, it was cancelled before all the episodes could air.

I won't say this was a fantastic show, but there was something about it--or rather, about one of its stars--that made me laugh hysterically every time he was onscreen. His name was Linus the Dog.

Linus was a French bulldog who played a Frenchie named Betsy, and he managed to steal every scene he was in. His other credits include Secondhand Lions and Bringing Down the House, but his work as Betsy is my favorite.

It's unlikely that Men, Women & Dogs will ever make it to DVD, but if it does, I'll have to buy a set.

Addendum: This is not the same Linus the Dog with this Facebook page, although both dogs are absolutely adorable.

Keebler Opera Cremes

Opera Cremes were sandwich cookies. That may not sound like anything special, but they were special. One package of Opera Cremes came with two kinds of cookie: chocolate and vanilla. What made them so good was that the creme filling was lemon.

I always gravitated toward the chocolate ones. Chocolate sandwich cookies with lemon creme filling are incredible. It's just such a delicious combination. I don't know why they were discontinued or why they haven't been resurrected. All I know is I would love to see them return to the store shelves. I would definitely be buying them.

Joan of Arcadia

Joan of Arcadia was a TV show set in the fictional town of Arcadia, Maryland. The show's premise was that God appeared in the flesh (in the form of several different people) to Joan. Although it had all the expected teenage angst, it wasn't just for and about teenagers. Both of Joan's parents figured prominently in the show.

Joan of Arcadia debuted in September 2003 and lasted two seasons. Since it was cancelled after the end of the second season, there was no official ending to the series. As often happens, it ended on a cliffhanger that left the fans wondering what the network was thinking when it ordered the show's cancellation.

Grape-Nuts O's

I always had a hard time eating Post Grape-Nuts. I liked the flavor, but they made my jaws tired, and I was afraid of breaking a tooth.

Grape-Nuts Flakes and Grape-Nuts O's were more my style. Grape-Nuts Flakes have been around since the 1930s, while Grape-Nuts O's hit the shelves in 1999. The flakes are still available, but the O's were discontinued a while back.

Why is it that so many great O's cereals don't stick around?

Grape-Nuts O's were sweetened with brown sugar, and they were delicious. Contrary to their name, they weren't exactly o-shaped. The outside edges weren't uniform; they almost resembled petals--almost. This cereal was crunchy, and it stood up well to milk without causing a major dental hazard.

I really wish Post would consider bringing Grape-Nuts O's back.

Fudge Jumbles

Back in the 1980s, Pillsbury had a variety of boxed dessert mixes called Fudge Jumbles. Each box contained a mix for three-layer dessert bars, all of which contained fudge. I think they all contained oats as well, but I'm not sure.

Fudge Jumbles were quick and easy to prepare. I've seen quite a few recipes, such as this one, that attempt to recreate the magic.

The person who posted the aforementioned recipe decided to try a peanut butter version. I really don't know whether there was a peanut butter version of Fudge Jumbles. I don't think there was, because it's definitely something I would have tried if I'd seen it. In any case, this recipe looks incredible!

Citra

I can't believe I'm doing another post about a soft drink so soon after the last one.

Well, maybe I can. After all, I did drink a lot of them in the past.

I have a feeling most people haven't heard of Citra, but it existed. Here's a picture of a can of Citra.

I never actually had a can of Citra. I only had it from a 2-liter bottle. Citra was a grapefruit-flavored carbonated drink that was around in the 1990s. The fact that I liked it is strange, because I don't like grapefruit, and I never liked any of the other grapefruit soft drinks I tried before this product came along.

Of course, it's gone now. I've heard that Fanta Citrus is identical to it, but I really don't know. Without having tried it or even seen it anywhere, I suspect that something is different--probably the sweetener.

Betty Crocker Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Mix

I found Betty Crocker Sour Cream Chocolate Cake mix many years ago, and it made me really curious. I don't normally like products containing sour cream, but something about this mix was calling to me. I had to try it.

I can say without reservation that this was the best chocolate cake mix I have ever had. Even though I don't like sour cream, this product was delicious. I topped it with Betty Crocker Sour Cream white icing, and the combination was outstanding. I bought these products several times over the years.

Then, one day, I wanted to buy a box of Betty Crocker Sour Cream Chocolate Cake mix, and they were all gone. I couldn't believe it! Betty Crocker got rid of the very best cake mix they ever had!

I did find a copycat recipe for this outstanding cake mix, but I haven't tried it yet. I haven't tried this one either. Even Betty Crocker has a recipe for sour cream chocolate cupcakes.

Someday, when I have time, I'll try these three recipes--just not on the same day.

Apple Slice

There used to be several flavors of Slice soft drinks. They all contained real fruit juice. It wasn't much--only 10 percent--but it was more than any other fizzy soft drinks had. I liked the mandarin orange, but my favorite flavor was apple. That's probably why it didn't last long.

Apple Slice was available briefly in the 1980s (late '80s, if I remember correctly). It was discontinued before the rest of the product line went away. It might have even been the first to go.

I haven't tried any other apple-flavored carbonated drinks. There are apparently a few still around, but I haven't seen them. If I ever do, I'll probably have to give them a try. Then again, maybe not. It just wouldn't be the same.

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

After having to neglect all my blogs for several months, I've joined the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011.

On Mondays through Saturdays in April, I'll be posting on anywhere from one blog to all five of them.

I'm hoping this will help me get back in the swing of things.