Dinner Time

Grandchildren are asleep in the house once more. Karlee and Kyle are doing a sleepover. We had a great time in the pool yesterday and then Karlee helped with the dinner preparation; picking tomatoes for the salad and peaches for dessert. They’re both at a great age now, (9 and 7) an age where we can communicate! And once more I scored big time on the dinner. They both had multiple helpings of my macaroni, cheese, chicken, and corn salsa casserole. Plus additional helpings of salad. It’s those Sweet 100’s cherry tomatoes that make a great addition to the salad. And of course I had to share my fresh peach ice cream with them. With chocolate sauce.

It was a partial Trader Joe meal. I had some fancy noodles from TJ’s and they resembled elbow macaroni; sort of. I layered the al dente noodles, chunks of barbecued chicken, cheddar cheese and TJ’s corn salsa into the casserole dish. Then I made a roux of milk, flour, ½ teaspoon of dry mustard and cheddar cheese. When it had thickened, I poured it over the casserole and let it bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Good!

And I should mention the chocolate syrup we use for the ice cream. Abuelita, by Nestle. We spotted it at the store and just had to try it. It has cinnamon in it and that makes a great addition to the taste.

And then I had to go looking for some info about Abuelita on the internet. That’s when I ran across this…

Nestle Abuelita Chocolate Syrup With Cinnamon Flavor. $2.49 per 22-ounce bottle.

Bonnie: I've enjoyed cinnamon-accented Mexican hot chocolate when south of the border but couldn't imagine that cinnamon chocolate taste in cold milk -- that is, until I tried this new syrup from Nestle. It's quite yummy. Not too cinnamony, very different and, of course, sugary sweet. Two tablespoons of this syrup will add 100 calories to whatever you drizzle it over. Try it in milk and milk shakes or over ice cream, cake or, better yet, fruit!

Carolyn: Cinnamon-chocolate syrup may be standard in Mexico, but it raises a lot of questions for this American. Questions like: How do you pronounce this? Why did Nestle feel the need to package this in an upside-down container when the syrup is so thin? Why is Nestle using an Anglo-Saxon-looking old lady to try to sell this new product? And, most important, does cinnamon go with chocolate?

Oh Carolyn; you pronounce it just like it’s spelled. The upside down container is convenient and the Anglo-Saxon-looking old lady is the same image that Abuelita has used for decades. Anglo-Saxon? She looks ‘human’ to me. Cinnamon with chocolate? Try it and stop asking so darn many questions!