Rob's Recommendations: Creme Brulee Coffee-Mate Creamer

This post may turn out to be a recommendation or a requiem - time will tell.

When I first started drinking coffee it was in college. I tried it mixed with some milk and honey because I had read in a Star Trek novel that this was the way Jim Kirk learned to drink coffee as a boy. It was pretty good and I soon learned to enjoy coffee, but always with cream and sweetener of some sort.

Fast forward a few years to 1989 when Nestle introduced Coffee-Mate flavored liquid non-dairy creamer. International Delights launched a version a couple of years earlier, but I would argue that Coffee-Mate perfected it. To this day I will only rarely use International Delights as most of their flavors leave a bit of an unpleasant aftertaste. The same goes for most other brands.

Over the years I have enjoyed most all of their flavors, especially Toffee Nut (since discontinued) and Creme Brulee. A few years ago Walmart stopped carrying the Creme Brulee flavor and I've had to stock up in the Twin Cities, buying 6 to 8 large containers at a time and enjoying them over the weeks. Recently, however, the locations that have reliably carried this flavor have come up empty. They are still on the shelf tags, but no product. 

I'm afraid that it may be discontinued soon, however it still is listed on the Coffee-Mate web site, so I hope it's just a supply chain issue that will be resolved soon. Otherwise I may have to begin experimenting with online recipes for this flavor.

So if you happen to come across the Creme Brulee flavor, let me recommend you try it. And if you do, please let me know so I can go stock up again!

Rob's Recommendations: The Way I Heard It podcast with Mike Rowe

I listen to lots of podcasts, but my favorite one right now - maybe one of my all-time favorites - is The Way I Heard It. Mike Rowe started this podcast several years ago as kind of an homage to Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story. 

The first about one hundred and fifty were about five-minute-long stories that were framed as kind of mysteries with a twist at the end "for the curious mind with a short attention span." He even wrote a book, The Way I Heard It, that features many of those stories, along with additional chapters about Mike's own life. 

After the book came out, he played chapters of the audiobook on his podcast and talked about them with his friend and producer, Chuck Klausmeyer. Once they completed the book discussion, they continued this longer-form podcast and essentially turned it into a kind of talk show. Now the podcast often features interesting interviews (including with Mike's mom, who is awesome) and sometimes just with Mike and Chuck talking - which is also very fascinating.

Rosalie and I enjoy listening to this podcast together when we're driving somewhere. I'd highly recommend checking it out!