Ponder and Enlightening comic drawn on 11/22/14 and uploaded 11/28/2014!

Click on it to make it bigger!

This is the newest Ponder and Enlightening thing! Click here to start with the first comic!

Made Real: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Meal! 2014

Happy Thanksgiving 2014 from the Ponder Couch!

I hope you all felt thankful today and got to watch all of your favorite Thanksgiving specials this year!

Hot Chocolate

I've never been much of a hot chocolate (hot cocoa) fan. I grew up preferring cold beverages (unless you're talking about soup, then hot is better), but I also didn't like coffee, tea, chocolate milk, cola, or beer until I was well past the legal age for each.

So I never really cared for hot chocolate... until last weekend.

Last weekend Princess Melawesome and I were walking around the Fashion Mall because we often do on the weekends. They have been building their Christmas Season Spirit since the day after Halloween. I don't wholly approve of this because I love Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and think each should get a full chunk of the calendar to itself, but it's hard to resist Christmas music, decorations, etc. when they're plastered all over everything you see.

We were walking around, taking it all in (reluctantly) when we saw a group of girl scouts just inside the middle doorway of Pottery Barn. They surrounded a folding table on which there was everything you need to make a gourmet hot chocolate. It was mainly to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital . I am all for charity that helps children. So we decided to donate some money and ordered a couple cups.

There were about 8 girl scouts and each of them had a job. They asked what we would like in/on our hot chocolates. We ordered two with everything. Their eyes got wide. Apparently no one had asked for one with everything yet. They worked eagerly and efficiently: one girl poured out the cocoa mix, one added hot water, one added marshmallows, one added cinnamon, one carefully unwrapped our candy canes and added those, and one stared off into space absentmindedly ringing a bell.

In the end they handed us these:

Thanked us, and we were on our way.

My heart is still bursting at the seams with Christmas joy from this experience. They were so earnest in their jobs; making hot chocolate (a drink most people loved) in order to raise money for a great cause.

I wish I could thank those girl scouts for giving me the first in what I hope is a full season of heart-warming Christmas memories for 2014, but it would probably come off as a little creepy and old-guy weird. So I decided to just tell all of you.

It's safe to say that I am officially converted. I now love hot chocolate.

Ponder and Enlightening Comic for 11/12/2014!

Click on it to make it bigger!

This is the newest Ponder and Enlightening thing! Click here to start with the first comic!

Krispy Kreme Glazed Pumpkin Pie! - A review from the Ponder Couch

How was your Halloween? Mine was great!

Well, it was good, but it could've been better. I had a costume party that I had to skip due to illness, and it was raining so we only got two Trick or Treaters. And they weren't in costumes. But I did watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" so the evening was saved.

I didn't post anything other than comics during October! I planned to, but got busy and decided to just enjoy the whole Halloween month without feeling obligated to post about it.

On to Thanksgiving!

A few days before Halloween I discovered this:

I've enjoyed each of the Krispy Kreme glazed pie variations that I've been able to find. And Pumpkin Pie is one of my favorite kinds of pie (second only to sweet potato). But I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to try this. It did not sound like pumpkin filling would go well with the glazed crust.

But I had to try it. I've reviewed all the other kinds I've found at my local grocery store, and this was available for a Limited Time Only!

So I bought one, hoping I was wrong about the taste and flavor.

I was.

More about that in a bit, but first... what's with the 4PUM on the back of the box? Did that mean 4 PUMpkin? For pumpkin? Or was that some other unrelated and coincidental thing?

Now back to the glazed pie.

They are very, very good.

I ate this pie like 3 weeks ago, and I can't quite remember exactly how it tasted and felt. I just remember that I was pleasantly surprised. If I remember correctly the pumpkin pie-like filling was much creamier than actual pumpkin pie filling. It was more like the normal creme filling you'd expect from a doughnut with some pumpkin-style spices.

Delicious.

I would put them as number 3 on my list of favorites after #1 Banana Kreme and #2 Lemon Pies! Unfortunately the Glazed Pumpkin Pies are for a "Limited Time Only!", just like the Banana Kreme pies.

So go out and buy a bunch and distribute them among your favorite family members at your Thanksgiving get-together!

Krispy Kreme, if you're reading this, please send me a case of your Glazed Banana Kreme pies. I miss them so.

Ponder and Enlightening comic for 11/3/14!

Click on it to make it bigger!

This is the newest Ponder and Enlightening thing! Click here to start with the first comic!