Junk Food Nation, as I rode the Metro (subway) into work today, I noticed a man sitting straight up in one of the padded seats next to the sliding doors. He was wearing a nice grey suit, a thin black tie….AND FULL ON AVIATOR SUNGLASSES.  At first I looked around, trying to see if he was some bodyguard protecting a diplomat.  Nope, no important people around. Nope, no earpiece in his ear.

Here’s the thing – the Metro cars in DC are lit, but it’s not like they are THAT well lit.  Nobody goes into the subway blinded by the light, needed to shade their eyes.  So why the heck are you wearing gigantic reflective sunglasses for?

And trust me, I’m not an idiot – I know about the whole hangover/wanting to cover your bloodshot eyes thing. Or maybe you just want to snooze a few minutes and the sunglasses provide some cover.  Yeah, I know. This guy was not asleep, nor did he seem hungover, since he was perched straight up and down on the edge of the bench like a statue. The entire ride, he was unmoving. Unsmiling. Just sunglasses on, staring straight ahead. CREEPY. Maybe he was DEAD, Weekend at Bernie’s style.  But I didn’t see two comical sidekicks holding up and moving his arms with string, so THAT wasn’t it.

No, I concluded that the reason he was wearing aviators indoors was because he was a jackass.  He just liked the way they look, despite the fact that we were UNDERGROUND in a normal lit subway car.

Am I being too harsh? I just don’t understand wearing sunglasses indoors, or on the subway.  I once so a dude wearing wraparound Oakleys, STRUGGLING to read a newspaper because (um) IT WAS TOO DARK.  He kept holding the newspaper REALLY CLOSE to his face. Buddy, it’s ok. You can look NOT COOL for two seconds while you try to figure out what’s going on in Afghanistan.

What do YOU think about people who wear sunglasses indoors, and is there ever a good reason to?  (And NO, this guy I saw today was not blind. Trust me, I’m not that much of a jerk).  Tell me in the comments below!

Today’s junk food: Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAP. Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel. As much as I gripe about Fall-flavors coming out so early, I must admit, I JUMPED when I saw a picture of these over on The Impulsive Buy.  PUMPKIN PIE TOASTER STRUDEL??? My my my, what have you done, Pillsbury? Read my mind, that’s what.  GET OUT OF MY MIND.

The obvious question for me when I saw this Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel was why the hell did it take this long?  I mean, Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts have been around for a while – the technology was there people! JUST REACH OUT AND GRAB THAT UNICORN.

I love the instructions for these Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel. Toast for 1 to 2 cycles?  WHY SO COMPLICATED?

All I needed to see was “PUMPKIN PUREE” and we’re good.

Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel basically come six to a bag, while accompanied by six tiny tear off packages of icing.  I have to admit, in this form, everything sort of looks gross.  BUT, taste is all that matters!

I sent my Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel through my toaster oven 1.5 cycles, and out came this beautiful pastry. I know anyone who normally eats toaster pastries is used to the look of this. I didn’t quite expect it to be so scorching hot when I pulled it from the oven though.  Damn.

This Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel smelled great – when I placed my nose up to it, a barely-there, faint pumpkin smell. I won’t say this smelled like pumpkin pie right away, because it didn’t. Smelled mainly like …well, toast.

Once opened, this Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel DID smell like pumpkin pie.  Placing my nose up to the dark innards, I definitely smelled pumpkin, spice, cinnamon, all the familiar hallmarks.  I needed to get this in me. NOW.

I munched and munched on this Limited Edition Pillsbury Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel, and I have to say it was DAMN GOOD…with a caveat.  In totality, this tasted amazing – a nice, hot, and flaky toaster strudel, covered with still melting super-sweet icing, and the insides gave off a nice cinnamon, brown sugar, spice, slight pumpkin flavor.  It sort of tasted like a glaxed cinnamon donut.  Which is delicious. DELICIOUS!  The pastry was light yet full of flavor.

The caveat? NEEDED MORE PUMPKIN FLAVOR.  As you see when I described the inside flavor, I definitely noted the pumpkin as “slight.” Don’t get me wrong, I could taste it; it was there…but barely.  I could taste it because I was seeking it out, but it quickly got covered by the cinnamon and sugar and spice flavors, as well as the bold sweetness of the icing on the outside. When I tasted the inside goo by itself, the flavor was more prominent, but I still wanted MORE!  If this is truly going to be pumpkin pie-ish, I’m gonna need you to punch up the pumpkin and reduce all the other noise.  I DEFINTIELY recognized the overall flavor to be pumpkin, but I wonder if that’s because I’ve consumed way too many pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks.

BUT, all in all, VERY VERY good.  While I want more pumpkin, there was enough to make me want to buy these again. FINALLY, Pillsbury. Finally.

PURCHASED AT: Safeway

COST: $2.00 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