Junk Food Nation, today is Election Day, and that means some of you will vote, and some of you will not. I personally think everyone SHOULD vote, but I’m not gonna get all preachy in this post.  My friend Jen once told me that her right to vote means she has the right not to vote, and that’s completely true. Growing up, people used to always tell me, “Well, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain about what happens after.” Personally, I think that’s sort of dumb – I can complain about whatever I want, whenever I want.  Heck, I complain about PLENTY of things which I have even MORE direct control over but do nothing about – that hole in my sock, my addiction to Swedish Fish, that smell that’s coming from the garbage disposal. Don’t vote, buy a Slurpee, and watch Homeland until you fall asleep.  Sounds like a good day to me.

The only thing I DO have a problem with, and which I WILL get all preachy about, is the idea that “my vote doesn’t make a difference.” This is, presumably, because there are millions of votes so people think, “Well, what’s one more?” This is usually supported by the idea that the collective hive mind of the US will make the right decision regardless of whether you vote.  And THAT is the mistake, people.  BECAUSE THE COLLECTIVE HIVE MIND IS DUMB SOMETIMES. That’s the only explanation I can think of why Grown Ups 2 made $247 million. Guys, that movie was awful. WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

Take the Toronto Raptors basketball team, for example. Back when the NBA wanted to expand in 1993, they fielded names for the new franchise. The contest narrowed the field of names to: Beavers, Bobcats, Dragons, Grizzlies, Hogs, Raptors, Scorpions, T-Rex, Tarantulas, and Terriers. The public voted, and eventually chose Raptors. It was explained that “the choice was influenced by the popularity of the 1993 film Jurassic Park.” Seriously? That means members of the public ACTUALLY thought “man I love hoops, and I JUST saw this great movie last Friday, SO LET’S COMBINE THE TWO.” That’s how that happened, and how we ended up with THIS as a team logo.  Holy Jeebus. I can’t wait until the Los Angeles Walking Deads get added to the NBA next year.

My point is we’ve ALL been in situations where you’ve been with a group of friends, said “I don’t care where we eat,” and the next thing you know you’re sitting at a Long John Silvers looking at a box of hush puppies thinking HOW THE EFF DID THIS HAPPEN? Election Day is the same way – yeah, the national races might be more difficult to put into perspective, but all those local races are important too. One day you’re living your life, the next day some legislation has passed which mandates that only Detroit Lions games be played on a 24-hour loop on all channels. WTF? How the hell did THIS happen?? And how is Reggie Bush hurt AGAIN?

I really don’t give an ish if you’re Repub, Dem, Green, Indep., Whig, Bull Moose, or whatever. Your vote DOES make a difference.  If you chose not to exercise it – you do what you wanna do. But don’t just hope that your neighbors will make the right decision for you. Because you know that your neighbors are morons.

Today’s junk food: Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies!

Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies were bought at the same time as yesterday’s Snowball cookies. I feel like I’ve eaten plenty of Linzer cookies in my day, whether they be other brands or homemade.  They are usually cookies made with almond and vanilla extract that have raspberry preserves sandwiched in between.  Tasty, tasty devils.

Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies, according to Google, were around last season – again, I never saw them.  Maybe they’ve always been part of large cookie mixes and these are just now being individually packaged? Who knows.

Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies contain both red and black raspberry juice, and lots of other things.

By the way, what does Linzer mean?  According to Wiki: “The Linzer Torte (or Linzertorte) is an Austrian torte with a lattice design on top of the pastry. It is named after the city of Linz, Austria.”

When I opened this bag of Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies, I could smell the almond extract.  Actually, when I put my nose right up to the cookies, careful not to snort the powdered sugar, these also smelled sort of gingerbread-y.  I think it was the molasses.  Yeah…strong hints of almond extract and molasses.  I likey already.

These Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies were very pretty.  Google has pictures of various shapes of Linzer cookies, from hearts to Oreo-like sandwich cookies.  I like the sort of star/snowflake design on these.  Makes me feel classy….as I stuff my maw with cookies.

Twisting open one of these Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies revealed the raspberry jam/filling within.  There was about a quarter-size clump in the center of the cookie.  I tasted a bit of it, and it was very sweet, and full of raspberry flavor.  The raspberry filling was thick – sort of like the inside of a Fruit Newton.

When I bit into these Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Raspberry Linzer Cookies all together?  YUM. Like, REALLY YUM. The cookies themselves, as I mentioned before, sort of smelled like gingerbread up close – and while they didn’t quite taste like gingerbread, they did taste of molasses and sugar and baked goodness.  The texture of the cookie was sort of dry but crumbled nicely so there was clearly enough butter or shortening in these.

Eaten with the raspberry filling, the overall flavor was pretty awesome.  Sweet and fruity mixed with the molasses-spiced cookie…it did evoke memories of the holidays for me. The chew was pleasant, as the crumbly cookie mixed with the chewy center to produce a multi-textured feel.  The balance of fruit and cookie was just right (although I wouldn’t have complained about more fruit). Add on some of that nice powdered sugar, and these cookies hit all the right notes on my tongue.

REALLY GOOD, Pepperidge Farm – I liked these even more than the Snowball cookies from yesterday.  I will definitely be buying more of these.

PURCHASED AT: Safeway, Chevy Chase, DC

COST: $2.50 on sale

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy