Junk Food Nation, guess what day it is, GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS.  Ugh, I hate that commercial.  Anyways, it is not only hump day, but it is also GAME ONE OF THE WORLD SERIES.  Yes, first the first time since 1999 the teams with the best record in both the AL and the NL have made it to the World Series.  I can’t believe it hasn’t happened sooner.

So it’s time to predict, since my pre-season pick of Tigers vs. Nationals CLEARLY didn’t come to fruition (DAMN YOU BENOIT!)  I’m not a fan of the Red Sox, as you know, but gotta give respect for the amazing team they built after unloading Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett.  Mike Napoli? Stroke of genius. Also gotta give the Cardinals a ton of credit – each World Series team, they trot out a team comprised of names only fantasy baseball peeps recognize (Matt Adams for the win!) Both teams are looking to add a third World Series ring in the past decade.  Incredible.

To determine who wins in H2H matchups, I look at three things: lineup, pitching, bullpen.  Duh.

LINEUP: The Cards 1-4 hitters are pretty good (Matt Carpenter, Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, and Yadier Molina).  That front of the lineup only gets better with the return of Allen Craig.  The problem is – the Red Sox 1-5 hitters are REALLY good (Ellsbury, Victorino, Pedroia, Ortiz, Napoli).  Yikes. It doesn’t matter that I like the Cards bottom half of lineup WAAAY better than the Sox bottom half (you suck, Stephen Drew!)  EDGE: SOX

PITCHING: In a 7 game series, you only need 3 pitchers, really, but let’s list out 4 anyways.  Wainwright vs. Lester – edge Wainwright. Wacha vs. Lackey – edge Wacha. Buchholz vs. Kelly – edge Buchholz. Peavy vs. Lynn – ugh…wash.  It’s slight, and it really depends on whether Wacha can maintain his magic, but I’ll give EDGE: CARDS.

BULLPEN: Koji Uehara is LIGHTS OUT. That’s a given.  But otherwise, BOTH bullpens are pretty evenly matched.  STL has a crop of young arms, and Boston has decent relievers in Tazawa and Breslow.  I’ll give the EDGE: SOX because of Uehara, but this is closer than you think.

Well, crap. I only had three categories, and I had the Sox edging out two of them!  Not to mention the series starts in Boston.  I’ve thought about this a million times, and I can really see this series going seven games, either way.  I’ll be rooting for the Cards, but not surprised if the Sox win.  How’s that for a cop out? Enjoy Game 1!!

OH, AND PS: I’m off to Vegas tonight, leaving the Junk Food Gal behind to throw some bones at the Craps table.  If you’re in Vegas, tweet me @junkfoodguy.  And as always, I’ll be Tweeting, Facebooking, and Instagraming all weekend.  Follow my adventure! Let’s hang out virtually.

Today’s junk food: New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos!

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos: The Money Shot

Does anyone really need to hear me say how much I love Milanos?  I don’t think so – I’ve blogged about various Milano flavors several times on this blog already!  Just get that goodness in me.

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos look they have an additional layer of “Dulce De Leche” in addition to the chocolate layer.  Definition Wiki time!  Dulce De Leche – “a confection prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from the caramelisation of the product, changing flavor and color.” Thanks, Wiki. I love you.

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos: 65 cal per cookie

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos: Hmmmmmmmmmmm

When I opened the bag of these New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos, I could immediately smell a caramel aroma.  It was VERY strong…hours later when I was holding the bag down by waist opening the bag again, the caramel smell hit me like a ton of bricks even from that distance.  Super loaded smell.  Let’s eat.

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos: Standard Milano Look

I bit into one of these New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos, I wasn’t shocked by the taste at all – essentially, it was a normal chocolate Milano cookie with a layer of caramel goodness added to it.  Pretty standard, actually, but executed very well.  The caramel wasn’t stretchy or chewy at all; this caramel was more of a caramel flavored confection, which broke apart and was able to be chewed just like the chocolate.

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos: Rimmed with light brown – the DDL?

The resulting flavor was tasty – standard sugary cookie with great dark chocolate flavor and nice sweet caramel notes.  Did it remind of Dulce De Leche?  Yeah, sort of.  It didn’t quite have the MILKY caramel flavor I’m used to, but the creaminess from the chocolate helped provide that.

New Pepperidge Farm Dulce De Leche Milanos: Thin layer of caramel

I think if Pepperidge Farm wanted to do a full-on Dulce De Leche cookie, they should’ve ditched the chocolate and gone entirely with a layer of caramel.  That’s what I’d have liked to see. Otherwise, however, solid cookie all around!

PURCHASED AT: Target

COST: $3.69 (ouch)

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

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy