Junk Food Nation, good morning and welcome to Spring!  Sort of.  Last night after I stuffed myself at Ruth Chris, I came home to watch a multitude of sports.  Heat beating the Celts to extend their streak to 23 games.  Dominican Republic over Puerto Rico for the WBC championship.  But I was MOST interested in the first two play-in games.  I was correct that NC A&T would end Liberty’s run…but then Middle Tennessee let me down.  CAN YOU SINK A BASKET, SOMETIME, ANY TIME, GUYS???  The last five minutes had more bricks than Fort Knox.  Ugh.  Plus, I spent a good eight-nine minutes trying to FIND these games until my buddy Rob clued me in that they were on TruTV.  TruTV’s slogan is “It’s not reality, it’s Actuality.” THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

Onto my predictions for tonight:

(13) LaSalle will edge (13) Boise State: This is a great game, because both of these teams come from smaller conferences, the Atlantic 10 and the Mountain West.  Actually, who am I kidding, the A-10 has like 18 teams in it.  Anyways, both of these conferences put FIVE teams into the tourney this year…the ACC had FOUR.  Anyone snickering at mid majors now? Nope.  Anyways, I’m picking LaSalle because I feel like they are more battle tested.

(16) LIU Brooklyn will toast (16) JMU: LIU Brooklyn scores the 5th most points IN THE NATION.  Not just in their conference, IN THE NATION.  That doesn’t necessarily they are the most prolific shooting team, that means they are a FAST team. They are run and gun, put up more shots than you can imagine, Memphis style.  If JMU has any hopes of winning, they need to slow the tempo…which is hard, since they don’t particularly score a ton, or rebound well.  Lock this one up.

Tomorrow: MY BRACKET REVEALED!

Today’s junk food: Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares!

Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares: The Money Shot

I’ve had Ciao Bella before, and they are a very tasty gelato company.  I met some of their folks at the Summer Fancy Food Show last year, and was impressed.  When I saw these Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares, however, my jaw dropped.  Sandwiches MADE FROM GELATO???  Great googly moogly.

I am a key lime critic

Since my favorite desserts tend to be key lime based or meyer lemon based, I am a big critic when it comes to these flavors.  I like it tart, and then having a breakthrough sweetness.  We’ll see if these Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares stack up…

Frozen bites!

Ciao Bella, incidentally, is a New York originated company that began 30 years ago!  I am older than Ciao Bella.  #depressed

Pretty….caloric

Pump me up with more of that lime juice

Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares have standard calories and standard ingredients.  I wasn’t expecting a health food here!  Still 280 calories is like a cheeseburger…wow.

Ta-Da!

When I unwrapped one of these Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares, I could immediately smell a cool lime smell.  REALLY nice.  I started to wonder…would this actually taste like key lime pie? Or would it resemble more of a key lime cheesecake?  Only one way to find out.

Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares

WOW.  Ciao Bella Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares were on POINT.

As I bit into the EXTRA THICK sandwich, the first immediate flavor was a tart lime…icy but smooth since it was gelato, not sorbet.  As I chewed, i decided this did taste more like a key lime cheesecake than anything else – very citrusy-y yet quelled by a creaminess that reminded me of cheesecake.  The graham-based sandwich clearly helped this flavor profile in my head, resembling the graham crust that cheesecakes have.

The lime-taste of the gelato stayed consistent throughout, and provided plenty of tart.  And, as I hoped, the creamy sweetness did breakthrough as the bite finished.  This hit all the right notes for me, a lover of these types of desserts.  Really very good.  Like a frozen key lime cheesecake – a spot-on replication, in gelato sandwich form!  

High recommend!

PURCHASED AT: Harris Teeter

COST: $4.69.  Yeah, these were not cheap.  Weak, HT.

Thoughts? Please comment below 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 do this.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy