Junk Food Nation, today I’d like to share with you what it’s like to live in DC during an election cycle. For the past few weeks (no, strike that, the last few months), we’ve all been inundated with TV ads, radio spots, and web promotion for a variety of candidates.  On Facebook and Twitter, people made drinking games out of the debates, and memes of various shapes and sizes have been posted on Reddit, Tumblr, EVERYWHERE.  Now imagine that kind of sensory overload, triple it, and you’re still nowhere close to how it is to live in DC during these times.

People say DC is an event-driven town, and oh, are they right.  Most people in the nation just watched the Democratic and Republican Conventions if they had time, and if it conflicted with baseball, well, pitching duels won out. Not in DC.  I had a friend who took three days off work to absorb EVERY MINUTE OF DNC COVERAGE, like it was March Madness.  I had friends who made it a roadtrip to drive down to Florida and partake in the RNC.  I remember during one of the last election cycles, during the RNC and DNC, you could hear people in the apartment building cheering and wooping through the HVAC vents.  LIKE IT WAS THE OLYMPICS.

Debates? FORGET IT. Every restaurant, bar, speakeasy, establishment I knew of was having a party/drink specials/themed nights for the debates.  People packed into bars and cheered for each side like it was an English soccer match.  Oooo lay oooo lay olay olayyyyyyyyy.

And tomorrow night in DC, on Election Day, the first question will be: stay home and have a party, or go out and mingle with city folk?  Just laying low, for many, is not an option.  The event-driven nature of the town is what leads to articles like this and this.  Whether you’re an Elephant or a Donkey, you’re going to be drinking heavily tomorrow night in the District.

I grew up in an area (like many of you) where politics was definite water cooler talk, and maybe there was some buzz.  In Upstate NY, we only had parties three times a year: graduation, holiday, and Super Bowl.  And for my city that lives and breathes politics, THIS IS THE SUPER BOWL.  And, admittedly, I love every second of it.

Today’s junk food: Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate!

Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate: The Money Shot

Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate is from Lindt Germany, where apparently there is a whole line of these “Hello, My Name Is…”  Obviously, the name of this chocolate was inspired by two songs: Hello by Lionel Richie or My Name Is by Eminem.  Obviously.

NICE TO SWEET YOU

Combining chocolate and strawberry cheesecake flavors is ambitious, but Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate attempts it.  According to the description, “I’m irresistibly smooth melting milk chocolate, sinfully delicious strawberry pieces, and a light quark crème filling.”  What is quark? Apparently, it’s a soft cheese, NOT just the name of the computer program I was NEVER able to learn in college.

Uhhhhh

The best translation Google Translate could give me on this was: whole milk chocolate with earthy berry juice cremefüllung…I’m going to assume the last word should translate to creme filling.  Not bad, Google Translate, not bad!

50 calories per block

More translation: “discover the exciting new combination of irresistibly smooth melting milk chocolate lindt fully sundhaft delicious earthy beer stuckchen and a loose light quark cream stuffing”  Starting to peter out on me here, Google…

I appreciate real strawberries

Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate does contain real strawberries and cream cheese, though, which is nice – at least they aren’t trying to produce Strawberry Cheesecake flavor through artificial means.  Well, through ONLY artificial means.

Red bar!

Lordy, every inch of the packaging of this Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate bar is like a party, huh? The colorful foil, the cartoon-y message within….it’s like a party up in here!

10 pieces of glory

Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate smelled A LOT LIKE STRAWBERRIES as soon as I opened the foil.  WOW.  The smell of fruit just came pouring out.  That seems like a good sign, although somewhat unnatural – what on Earth could make it smell so strong, if not something artificial?  Opinions reserved until I take a bite…

Cheesecake within???

WHOA.  SPOT. ON.  This Lindt “Hello My Name Is Strawberry Cheesecake” Chocolate bar basically tasted just like pieces of strawberry cheesecake that had been wrapped in chocolate.

The Lindt milk chocolate was smooth, creamy, and sweet – exactly what you’d expect of Lindt.  The filling, however, was so much more.  It had the texture of cheesecake – licking it, the creme had a thick quality like that you’d find in a cheesecake.  And the flavor was amazingly accurate – the sweet cream cheese highlighted by moments of strawberry fruit. The fruit sweetness tickled the tongue at the same time the cream calmed it.  REALLY accurate.

One strange texture thing – there were, I think, candied strawberry crystals within, which ended up giving the chocolate piece a tiny bit of crunch – which was strange.  Unnecessary, IMO.

The flavor of the strawberry cheesecake mixed with the milk chocolate made it feel like I was eating, in some respects, Neapolitan ice cream (WHICH I LOVE).  So that combo really worked for me.

Really tasty – if you get a chance, try this!

PURCHASED AT: Gift from Lindt themselves, but you can buy it at Lindt online

COST: $5.00

Thoughts? Please comment below (I always reply) or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy