Nabisco started advertising their SnackWell's cookie cakes in 1992. In the commercials, hordes of women were going crazy over these devil's food cookie cakes.
SnackWell's were supposed to be a healthier alternative to traditional store-bought cookies, and consumers were encouraged to go wild with them--although the suggested serving was one cookie cake, which contained 50 calories.
They looked good, so I bought a box and tried them. I thought they were okay, but they weren't something I just had to have--unlike the hordes of women in their commercials.
A few years later, though, I noticed two new varieties: black forest and chocolate mint. Something told me I'd like them much better than the original, and I was right. They were soooooooo good. I couldn't decide which one I preferred. I think it was whichever one I was eating at the time.
I bought both new flavors regularly, and no, I didn't eat an entire box in once sitting; I actually stopped after a cookie or two. Then one day, the inevitable happened: they were gone from the shelves. Nabisco had discontinued both the black forest and the chocolate mint flavors. Both of them? Seriously? The original devil's food cookie cakes were still available.
The devil's food cookie cakes were discontinued at some point but eventually came back, possibly with a different recipe. This time around, they contain HFCS. It's possible that the devil's food always did, but the black forest and chocolate mint contained maltitol instead.
I found this compilation of all 23 of the classic SnackWell's commercials.
SnackWell's Black Forest and Chocolate Mint Cookie Cakes
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.
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.
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.
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.
