Michael Scott has finally been taken down by the galaxy’s most fatherly bounty hunter. The Disney+ series The Mandalorian beat The Office and Netflix in the digital streaming ratings back in mid-December, making a bit of streaming history in the last weeks before The Office jumped to another streaming source.
According to Variety, Nielson reported on Thursday that for the first time since it started tracking streaming numbers, a Netflix show was not in the first slot of its Top 10 programs list.
For the week of Dec. 14 — in which the season 2 finale of the “Star Wars” spinoff series delivered a healthy heap of fanservice in its surprise cameo and plot twist reveal — “The Mandalorian” blasted off to the top spot of Nielsen’s Top 10 programs list, edging out the mid-aughts workplace sitcom led by Steve Carell. This win marks the first time that a non-Netflix show landed at number one on Nielsen’s streaming ranker. “The Mandalorian” also set a weekly record for the Disney Slus series, scoring around 1.34 billion minutes of viewing time.
It certainly speaks to the sheer number of subscribers Netflix has that it took the season finale of The Mandalorian to finally supplant Netflix, let alone the fact that a new episode was required to beat a show that went off the air in 2013. Interestingly, the show that Grogu and Mando had to compete with most fiercely is now no longer on Netflix, as The Office moved to Peacock at the start of the new year. Netflix certainly seems to have a long list of other competitors for the streaming throne, as every other show in the Top 10 is a Netflix show, including Virgin River and holiday movies like A California Christmas.
For those who are just getting on the Olivia Rodrigo fan train, and might not know some of the backstory that (maybe, possibly?) helped inspire her debut single “Drivers License,” buckle up. On the Disney+ show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Rodrigo plays Nini Salazar-Roberts alongside her co-star Joshua Bassett, who plays Ricky Bowen, and the two characters are dating on the show. As is often the case, life imitates art, and rumors that Olivia and Joshua were more than friends off camera have been circulating for a while.
my debut new single “drivers license” comes out this friday. presave link in my bio. OH MY GOD IM SO EXCITED IM GONNA PEE MY PANTS pic.twitter.com/2FxsThy06d
However, even a cursory listen of “Drivers License” reveals that if lyrics are to be believed, things aren’t going so smoothly in Olivia’s love life. Rodrigo refers to an older, blonde girl in her song, and Bassett has since been rumored to be dating Sabrina Carpenter, who fits the bill. So that sets the stage for the IRL context of “Drivers License” — now, consider, that an hour after the release of “Drivers License” was announced, Bassett announced that his own new single, “Lie Lie Lie” would be out January 14.
Today the song dropped and though there aren’t a lot of specific references, it could very easily be a response to, say, a very sad song about a breakup being someone else’s fault! “So they told me all the things you said, running all over my name,” the song begins, and just gets juicier from there. Yesterday in an Instagram story Joshua explained the backstory of the song: “I wrote ‘Lie Lie Lie’ after I found out a friend had been lying about me behind my back for a long time,” he said. “It always sucks to hear that someone you thought you could trust would throw you under the bus when it benefits them. It happens to all of us, and I think all you can do is seek out people that build you up rather than tear you down.”
Remember, this is all speculation, but so far, but it seems like the storyline tracks. Well, if this potential little pop drama isn’t a nice distraction from the political upheaval of this year, I don’t know what is. Check out Joshua’s video above and watch for more in this developing
For starters, Shaq went as far as to say that the trade would be a “bust” for both Harden and the Nets if it doesn’t come with a title this season.
“He got his superteam. He has to win this year. If he doesn’t win this year it’s a bust.” @SHAQ reacts to Harden being traded to Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/YSTlqewqB7
Later, Barkley discussed the potential fit between Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, saying that Durant to have proven “he’s not selfish” at this stage.
“Only one of those three guys who has proven to me he’s not selfish and not a ‘me guy’ is KD.”
Quite honestly, those opinions were not shocking from either Hall of Famer. After all, it will be fascinating to see how three of the best scorers in the NBA co-exist offensively, particularly when it comes to Harden and Irving trying to share primary ball-handling responsibilities.
In fact, the most amusing quip of the night came, of course, from Barkley, who said that Durant “went from The Splash Brothers to The Dribble Brothers” in joining up with Irving and Harden.
“KD went from the Splash Brothers to the Dribble Brothers”
This is both hysterical and on-brand for Barkley, who mixes just a little bit of analysis here with a spectacular one-liner. It doesn’t seem likely that “dribble brothers” will catch on like “splash brothers” did for Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson but, if the Durant-Harden-Irving experiment flames out, Barkley may have been ahead of the curve.
There’s more to keeping a green kitchen than recycling your yogurt containers or opting to store your leftovers in glass Tupperware. Little things, like your trash bags, can add up, which is why it’s important to try to reduce your footprint as much as possible. Fortunately, these sustainable kitchen products make it easy keep a green home!
Reusable silicone cupcake liners save you money on having to buy disposable paper cupcake wrappers every time you bake. These sustainable cupcake liners are just as festive as anything you would throw away. Because the liners are made with a sturdier silicone, they can be used for other purposes, like arts and crafts projects.
Now you can have filtered coffee without the guilt of wasting paper. This metal drip coffee filter is dishwasher safe, making for easy clean up. It’s also travel-friendly, meaning you can have the same, sustainable coffee as you do at home when you’re on the go!
These sustainable grocery bags are so cute, you’ll never forget them at home. Each bag replaces two to three conventional grocery bags. They’re waterproof, machine washable, foldable, and reinforced to carry heavy loads – so basically they’re everything you could ask for in a sustainable grocery bag.
Yes, you can reuse paper towels. These paper towels are made from bamboo, which means they’re sturdy enough to be used up to 1700 times before they have to hit the trash. While these paper towels are more expensive than regular paper towels, you get more bang for your buck. One paper towel roll is the equivalent of 60 standard rolls, which is a lot of trees saved.
If you’ve always wanted to try composting, why not give it a shot with this cute compost bin? It’s so stylish, it’ll practically blend into your kitchen décor. The bin is equipped with charcoal filters, meaning the smells won’t build up even when the waste does.
These plastic-free scrub brushes are made from sturdy bamboo, which means that they’re completely biodegradable once it comes time to throw them away. But it’ll take them a while to get to the point where they’re ready to scrap, because they’re sturdy and built to last for a long time. Plus, they’re designed to feel comfortable in your hand, meaning you can get clean dishes without hand cramps.
Even if you do your best to minimize the amount of plastic trash you make, you still have to throw away your trash in plastic. Unless you get yourself some biodegradable trash bags, which are designed to sturdily hold your trash without doing additional damage to the planet.
Server Flavaine Carvalho was waiting on her last table of the night at Mrs. Potatohead’s, a family restaurant in Orlando, Florida when she noticed something peculiar.
The parents of an 11-year-old boy were ordering food but told her that the child would be having his dinner later that night at home. She glanced at the boy who was wearing a hoodie, glasses, and a face mask and noticed a scratch between his eyes.
A closer look revealed a bruise on his temple.
So Carvalho walked away from the table and wrote a note that said, “Do you need help?” and showed it to the boy from an angle where his parents couldn’t see.
Mr.s Potatohead’s in Orlando, Florida
The boy shook his head, no. “I knew it that he was afraid,” she said.
Carvalho made two more attempts until the boy nodded yes.
The server then called the owner of the restaurant to let her know that she was going to call the police on the boy’s parents.
SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING: An Orlando waitress saw a family withholding food from a boy at a table. She noticed… https://t.co/A1BaOPKyc6
on one count of third-degree child abuse. His mother Kristen Swann was arrested with two counts of child neglect. A four-year-old girl was taken from the family by authorities. They say she showed no signs of abuse.
Detectives spoke with the boy and learned his parents frequently withheld food from him as a form of punishment. He was 20 pounds underweight. After searching his body, they discovered that he was nearly covered in bruises.
His father had recently beat him with a broomstick and back scratcher.
via Orlando PD
The boy told detectives that he was once hung upside down from his ankles in a door frame by his father and had been restrained by being strapped to a furniture dolly.
“To be honest what this child had gone through was torture,” Detective Erin Lawler said. “There was no justification for it in any realm of the world. I’m a mother and seeing what that 11-year-old had to go through, it shocks your soul.”
Chief Orlando Rolon, @OrlandoPolice, with waitress Flavaine Carvalho (middle) who saved an abused 11yo when he was… https://t.co/8KE3uI61a2
— Matt Trezza FOX 35 (@Matt Trezza FOX 35)1610650833.0
Carvalho’s quick thinking and bravery may have saved the lives of two children.
“This could have been a homicide situation if she had not have intervened,” Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said.
“The lesson here for all of us is to recognize when we see something that isn’t right to act on it… This saved the life of a child,” he added.
The restaurant’s owner, Rafaela Cabede, hopes that Carvalho’s bravery inspires others to look out for signs of abuse as well.
“We understand that this has to encourage other people that when you see something, say something,” Cabede said. “We know when we see a situation that is wrong, we know what’s the right thing to do. We know that speaking up is the right thing to do. But it takes more than acknowledging it. It takes courage.
Shh, listen — can you hear that? It’s the faint sound of a million Disney nerds in Southern California who are absolutely losing it right now because Disneyland just announced that it is putting an end to its Annual Pass program and will be canceling all currently active passes. I don’t care if you live on a different continent, underwater, or in space, you can definitely hear the sobbing. The southern California theme park has been closed since March of last year which has undoubtedly cost the park millions in revenue and Blog Mickey reports that the decision to ax the program comes as a direct response to new COVID-19 related restrictions the park will face when it eventually reopens.
Pass holders will be pleased to learn that Disneyland is at least working on some new sort of membership program according to a statement released by Disneyland president Ken Potrock,
“I know that sunsetting the Annual Passport program will be disappointing to many of our Passholders who are just as anxious as we are to reopen our gates and welcome guests back when the time is right… we plan to use this time while we remain closed to develop new membership offerings.”
What those new membership options will be is anyone’s guess but we can safely assume that they’ll be pretty expensive. Passholders not seeking a refund will still be able to enjoy pass holder discount benefits and an additional 40% discount on merchandise at select locations in Downtown Disney from January 18th through February 25th.
The response on Twitter was a pretty even mix of heartbreak and people celebrating the cancellation, as the passes are pretty much why the park was always prohibitively crowded pre-pandemic. One hour and 30 minutes for Space Mountain? F*ck out of here with that.
Disneyland getting rid of the annual pass program is a rough way to start 2021
Whoa got an email from disneyland that they’re discontinuing Annual Passes, that slaps honestly. The AP program and the culture around it was pretty bad
Thanks @GavinNewsom There’s no reason that the parks in California couldn’t have opened under strict guidelines. The rest of the world has done it. They’ve shut down when needed but here we are twiddling our thumbs watching business after business leave and/or go out of business
After the six-game extravaganza of Wild Card weekend, the NFL settles into its more conventional form this week with a four-game Divisional Round setup. There are pros and cons to that but, if nothing else, the Divisional Round has long been a favorite of die-hards, with eight high-level teams on display and plenty of time to dive into each matchup. That is also true in this space and, after a strong close to the regular season and a 3-2 mark last week, the focus is on keeping the ball rolling.
Before we dive into the five selections for this week, let’s take stock of the 18-week progress.
Wild Card: 3-2
2020 Season: 46-42-2
Come get these winners.
Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers UNDER 45.5 points
I was preparing to have the Rams in this spot but, once the number crept under seven, that was a no-go. Either way, I do like Los Angeles to at least slow Aaron Rodgers down a little bit, as the Rams are truly an elite defensive team. From there, Sean McVay doesn’t seem to have overwhelming confidence in Jared Goff and this should be a steady diet of Cam Akers and company, which keeps the clock churning.
Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills UNDER 49.5 points
The side is right where it should be, but the total is a touch high. Baltimore’s defense was really impressive a week ago in stopping Tennessee and, last week aside, Buffalo has been improved defensively in the back half of the season. The Ravens should lean on their running game and, while an Under involving Josh Allen is scary, you have to play the number sometimes.
Cleveland Browns (+10) over Kansas City Chiefs
I don’t want to talk about it. It’s hard to make five picks on a four-game slate and this number should be 8-ish, not 10. The Chiefs will be the public side by kickoff. The Browns are healthier than they were a week ago. That’s all I have.
[Ed. Note: BRRROOOOOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSS]
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3) over New Orleans Saints
The Saints dominated the two previous matchups and that isn’t fun to think about. I do think this line indicates a real disparity between the two teams that I don’t think is there, since the full three-point swing doesn’t really happen for home-field advantage right. Moreover, I don’t trust the Saints offense, as they were clunky at best against a Bears defense that isn’t as good as the Bucs defense. In fact…
Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints UNDER 52 points
We had to double-dip at least once this week, and the nightcap gets the call. The Saints averaged 36 points per game in the two previous meetings and, if that happens, we’re going down in flames on both. That New Orleans offense isn’t on the field right now in my view and, while I like the Bucs to cover as a dog, the Saints do have a defense that I trust. If it was 49, I’d lay off. At 52, let’s rock.
Earlier today Selena Gomez announced on Twitter that she had a brand new song coming tonight, as if she hadn’t been busy enough with multiple seasons of a cooking show in the works. “De Una Vez. Esta noche,” she wrote. “Presave ahora.” Then, translating for those who don’t know Spanish: “Tonight. Presave Now.” It’s not an unusual message from an artist announcing a new single, but the way she prioritized Spanish over English, and the Spanish title of the song, definitely set the tone for a new phase.
Though Gomez was born and raised in Texas, and is proudly Mexican-American, she rarely releases music in Spanish and all three of her solo albums — and the three prior with her band Selena Gomez And The Scene — focused predominantly on English songs. Based off a further series of tweets today promoting the new single, it sounds like that’s all about to change. Re-posting an old tweet of her own from 2011 that reads “Can’t wait for y’all to hear the Spanish record 😉 it’s sounding so cool,” she added “I think it will be worth the wait.”
She went on to write in Spanish: “De Una Vez disponible ya. Este es el comienzo de algo que durante mucho tiempo había querido explorar. Espero que te guste tanto como a mí. // De Una Vez is out now.” Another tweet below translates to: “This is the beginning of something I’ve wanted to explore for so long. I hope you love it as much as I do.” Since Selena became a star, there’s certainly been a shift in American receptivity to Spanish language pop music, with rising superstars like J. Balvin, Bad Bunny, and many more paving the way and establishing huge fan bases in their own right. Check out the video for “De Una Vez” above and get ready for a new phase of Selena.
What makes one a snob of salsas? Well, for one, I make my own (and think you should too). I’m also Mexican, so I have a cultural connection and a high bar for authenticity. In fact, until very recently, I’ve never eaten salsa from a jar. Why would I? Even if I couldn’t make my own, I live in Los Angeles. Great salsa is always just a taco joint away.
But I do recognize that not everyone is so lucky. Many people get their salsa from grocery stores. And not even the fresh-ish stuff in the refrigerated aisle. I’m talking about the jars living in the shadows of an “ethnic foods” sign.
If that’s your situation, I feel for you. So I set out to find out which jars belong in your pantry, and which should remain on shelves forever to collect dust. In my search, I discovered a few things:
There are some seriously delicious jarred salsas out there.
Good as they are, jarred salsas beat fresh salsas on absolutely zero occasions, flavor-wise.
In terms of convenience, jarred salsa trumps fresh stuff, handily. If that’s a priority to you, well, I’m here to help.
A quick note on the brands selected:
I came to these twelve jars by reaching out to fellow food writers, friends, and salsa lovers in online communities like Twitter and Reddit. I’ve vetted each jar and, from what I can tell, the selections I’ve come to are available nationally. While I couldn’t always try each brand’s full roster of offerings, I tried to keep this list packed with a variety of different blends and opted for what seemed to be the best jar for each brand. (I also didn’t allow repeats — because the whole range of flavors from the top five are all better than any flavors from the bottom five.)
Whoever suggested — I know who, I’m being nice — this brand of salsa to me was trying to do me dirty. Seriously, this is probably the most disappointing salsa I’ve ever tasted and I think that calling it salsa at all is being too generous. I had the “mild” variety and the tomato-forward flavor was so strong that it practically pushes this into soup territory. Like a minestrone.
Visually, the sauce looks great, you can see chunks of green peppers, onions, and garlic, but that makes the lack of complexity all the more disorientating. Just a sad, sad sauce.
What To Eat It On
Spaghetti. We’re kidding, that would be gross too. Just don’t eat this. If you go to a party and they put out some Pace and chips, leave. You’re at the wrong joint.
I don’t have a problem with Speedy Gonzalez or the Taco Bell chihuahua, and I even think Trader Joe’s calling their Mexican themed products “Trader Jose” is/was funny, but for some reason Paul Newman wearing a sombrero with a bandit mustache talking about how his salsa is so good it “oughta be outlawed” just doesn’t sit right with me.
To be fair, that might come down to the fact that Newman’s Own salsa sucks.
I wasn’t expecting heat with this jar, but I also wasn’t expecting the overwhelming amount of sweetness I’d encounter. It’s off-putting and, like Pace, calling it salsa feels generous. Looking online, Newman’s seems to have ditched the label (I need to switch grocers, obviously). Regardless, it hasn’t improved the salsa.
What To Eat It On
Put it on a bed of lettuce like one of Newman’s Own salad dressings.
La Costeña may have at one time been the best grocery store jarred salsa you could find. Either that, or it was the only brand. Older millennials may recognize the bottle and, as a Mexican kid growing up in Southern California in the ‘90s, I have to say I’m pretty familiar with this one. Not because it was in my home, but because it’s the bottle found at every SoCal burger shack that also tries its hand at tacos or “bomb burritos.” (Which describes just about every mom and pop burger place below the Grapevine.)
While I definitely have nostalgic feelings towards La Costeña, my fondness for the brand only seems to exist in my memory. It’s not that La Costeña is explicitly bad, it’s just that it’s such a boring representation of salsa. The ingredients list is low, consisting of mostly tomatoes, jalapeños, and onions, giving the jar a fresh quality that easily places it above brands like Pace and Tostitos as more “authentic,” but it doesn’t feel essential to me.
What To Eat It On
La Costeña makes for a decent chip dip or any time you’re trying to liven up a non-Mexican dish like a cheeseburger or omelet.
If in the future you find yourself at a house party — remember those? — and the host has put out a serving of chips with On The Border salsa, you’ll at least know they actually like salsa and didn’t just go to the market thinking “What goes with chips?”
This one is solid, if not a little boring. On the Border’s salsa is slightly sweet, thanks to the addition of yellow onions rather than the usual white, but not in that off-putting Newman’s Own way. The tomatoes here are livened up by the inclusion of tomato paste which gives a noticeable brightness to this blend, but the heat, even in its spiciest offering, leaves something to be desired.
What To Eat It On
As I mentioned, this is a great chip dip salsa. You’re not going to ever feel like your meal is incomplete without it, but it has enough flavor to liven up a frozen burrito or two.
Every Mexican grandma living in LA has a jar of Herdez in her fridge and that’s probably because your local Mexican market has it on sale. That gives this brand a certain allure and authenticity, and flavor-wise it’s pretty authentic — though a little too watery to my liking.
When I say “watery” I’m not so much talking about the consistency as I am the flavor, you need a lot to taste this stuff and while the flavor is decent, I’m always left feeling like there is just something missing here. I have to overload a chip to really even notice it.
A decent choice, but I’d suggest chopping up some roasted Serrano chilis and mixing them in the jar to give it more of a kick. (All the salsas on this list would probably benefit from that.)
What To Eat It With
Put a healthy tablespoon or two in your omelet and instantly elevate your breakfast.
I didn’t want this one to be good because “I got this salsa at Whole Foods” is a bad look for any salsa snob. But compared to Herdez, this is a clear step up. Now a caveat, I’ve only ever had the Roasted Chipotle blend, so I can’t speak to the other salsas made by Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday Value brand. All I know is this and it’s pretty solid.
While the heat level is tame, you get a robust roasted tomato flavor here that pairs fantastically with fried tortilla and packs enough heat to kick in that addictive quality that good salsa has to it.
What To Eat It On
As I said, this is a great choice for fried tortillas, whether you’re dipping chips or serving extra globs on your chilaquiles.
I feel like no salsa list would be complete without a Mango Habanero blend and my choice for that is Frontera. Mango Habanero is a popular flavor combination, but most blends don’t include passionfruit, pineapple, and habanero into that mix, Frontera does. That adds a nice tropical fruit-forward character to this one, making it feel unique.
Don’t let “habanero” scare you off, the heat is really tamed down by the fruit. In fact, we wish this one packed just a little more heat.
What To Eat It On
Fish tacos or anything that feels like it wants some tropical warmth.
Trader Joe’s has four different varieties of salsa, of which I’ve tried three: the Organic, Habanero Ghost Pepper, and my favorite, the Pepita salsa. All three are pretty good, with the organic being the most boring, and the Habanero easily the hottest, but the Pepita gets a spot on our list for being the most interesting.
The Pepita salsa is incredibly chunky, with a delicious mix of zesty tomatoes and bright red bell peppers that are tamed by roasted pumpkin seeds (where the sauce gets its name), which add a rich and complex earthiness to the recipe that keeps it grounded.
This one might be seasonal at some TJ locations, so heads up.
What To Eat It On
This salsa is all about the chunkiness, so it makes a great choice for dipping. Chips, French fries, anything that can be scooped is the best way to enjoy it.
Now we’re talking, baby. While many of the previous salsas could be described as “good,” Xochitl delivers something that is truly worthy of the space it’ll take up in your fridge. This is better than a lot of taqueria salsas and blows anything Taco Bell, Del Taco, and even El Pollo Loco could ever hope to come up with.
From what I can tell, the Habanero used here is roasted, which tames some of the brighter citrus characteristics of the pepper and brings out the deep complexity. Best of all, this stuff is legitimately hot. A simply tablespoon of this stuff mixed into your refried beans or splattered across a taco is going to pack enough heat to linger through your whole meal.
Tame some of that heat with a side of fresh-cut cucumbers if it’s too much to handle.
What To Eat It On
A simple serving over an asada, carnitas, or al pastor soft taco with fresh chopped onions and cilantro is all you need to instantly elevate your at-home Mexican food.
Ahh, the famed Green Mountain Gringo. This brand tops many a “best salsa” list on the internet and was the brand that kept cropping up in suggestions from fellow salsa-heads. Overly high expectations might be affecting my opinion, but to my tastebuds, this one isn’t the best.
It is very good, though. I can definitely see the appeal.
Green Mountain just packs so much flavor, probably courtesy of the recipe’s use of ripe whole tomatoes, rather than a blend of whole tomatoes and tomato puree. That’s a difference you can taste, resulting in a fresher end product. The mix of Serrano, jalapeño, and tomato puts this in line with a traditional Mexican restaurant table salsa, but the added dose of Tomatillos adds a vegetal brightness that really pushes this one above the competition.
What To Eat It On
I like to take a scoop, throw it in a pan with some whole beans and bacon fat, and smash it all together into a thick soup of refried beans. Beans go in the burrito with chopped carne asada, a helping of cilantro, and Oaxaca cheese, another serving of Green Mountain Gringo on top, fold, roll, wrap in foil and I’m transported back to the corner taqueria, before the pandemic.
All of Mateo’s salsas, from the jar of mild to habanero hot, are delicious and worthy of your time. But if we had to choose just one, we’re going with the Hatch Chili blend. Hatch chilis, if you aren’t familiar, originate from New Mexico and are less spicy than then they are earthy and peppery, putting them more in the Anaheim chili camp than your hotter jalapeños.
For what the hatch chili lacks in heat, it more than makes up for in flavor — with a distinct smoky and savory characteristic, making it one of the best tasting peppers you’ll ever have the chance to eat. Mateo’s sensibly adds jalapeños to this blend, giving it more heat than you’d expect from a Hatch, delivering one of the best non-homemade salsas I’ve ever had, period.
What To Have It On
Any of your Tex-Mex favorites, but for me, this is a go-to for enchiladas.
Texas-based Mrs. Renfro’s has 20 different varieties of salsa, some of which are pretty wild — peach salsa, tequila salsa, and pumpkin salsa among them. But my number one was always going to be a green salsa, and to these tastebuds, Mrs. Renfro’s makes the best on the market.
One of the things that jumps out at me after having a few jars of Renfro’s is that the heat level is wildly inconsistent from batch to batch. That sounds like a bad thing, but to me, it indicates the legitimacy of this salsa. There are tricks to figuring out which jalapeño pepper will be hotter than another, but sometimes you just don’t know how much heat a pepper will pack until you bite into it.
Anyway, Renfro’s inconsistency leads me to believe they are making their jars in smaller batches and using jalapeños as the main ingredient. Looking at the ingredients list confirms this, Renfro’s Green Salsa lists jalapeños as its first ingredient, followed by water, distilled vinegar, corn starch, salt, dried onion, spices, and dried garlic. The vinegar acts as a preservative, the corn starch as a thickener, but aside from that this has just about everything you’d want in a fresh, mildly hot green salsa.
If you’re looking for heat with this one, you’ll be wildly disappointed. Calling it “hot” as the jar does, shows little respect towards the spice level of the eater. What you will find, however, is a well-balanced salsa that seems to go with everything and adds a bit of brightness to meat-based dishes and a dark and savory complexity to meatless meals (with a nice, subtle heat that crops up as an aftertaste).
It smells great, with an earthy roasted pepper aroma that is rounded out nicely by the onion and garlic. The fact that I can’t find anything it tastes bad on makes it a great kitchen workhorse that you’re guaranteed to get a lot of mileage out of.
What To Eat It On
Nacho Fries — which are exactly what they sound like. Mrs. Renfro’s will pair perfectly with your meat of choice, bring out the vegetal qualities of your fresh chopped cilantro, and soak into the potatoes to really pull the whole dish together.
If making nacho fries sounds like a chore, this is a great choice for a mild breakfast burrito.
Many kids who grew up in the 90’s remember the phenomenon that was the first Pokemon games. The original Red and Blue versions caused an explosion of merchandise, TV shows, trading cards, and of course spin off games. Pokemon was more than just an RPG. It had many other genres of the game attached under its belt, but did you know it had a first-person shooter? Except instead of a gun you used a camera. Of course, that game was arguably the most popular of all the Pokemon spin off games, Pokemon Snap on Nintendo 64.
Pokemon Snap allowed players to ride around realistic 3D environments and simply observe Pokemon interacting in their natural habitat. You could witness Lapras in the ocean, a Charizard burst out of a Volcano, and a spooky Zubat flying around an old cave or mining shaft. It was mind blowing for children at the time and it is still a fan favorite to this day. So much so that fans have spent decades asking for a new one.
Finally, back in June, players were informed that a NewPokemon Snap game was in development for the Nintendo Switch. Of course, fan excitement was immediately met with more questions. When’s the release date? On Wednesday they got their answer.
April 30! Fans only have to wait a few more months to get back to capturing pictures of their favorite Pokemon in the wild, but now there are quite a few hundred more to look at. There’s no way they can stick that many into the game, but it’s going to be really interesting to see which ones do make the cut and what kinds of environments they give us to look around in.
From the trailer, it looks like players will be exploring in a similar fashion as the original. A protected hovercar that leads you down an on rails path. Personally, that’s a little disappointing, because it would have been fun to explore entire areas at your own free will as opposed to the on rails experience, but there’s definitely a sense of nostalgia in seeing that hold hovercar again.
In one sense, it would be perfectly fine if NewPokemon Snap is just a modern version of the original with as few changes as possible. Many fans would be content with just that, but it would also feel like a missed opportunity. The Nintendo 64 version came out over 20 years ago. Time has changed and so has technology. Let’s hope they use this opportunity to live up to the “New” in its name and create something unique.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Mr.s Potatohead’s in Orlando, Florida
via Orlando PD
(@lokilaniluvs) 
(@brownnsxga) 
