Junk Food Nation! It’s Friday, I’m in love…with all of you, my readers! Let’s get into it:

1) An article caught my eye the other day about how the Pope is raffling off gifts that were given to him to raise money for the poor.  The article says: “Pope Francis is raffling off the Homero Ortega brand hat, a new four-wheel-drive Fiat Panda, bicycles, an espresso coffee machine, watches and other objects he has received as gifts in order to raise money for the poor.”

Holy crap. That’s awesome. Now look – I’m not turning this post into a religious debate; this isn’t about religion vs. non-religion, or “This Pope is awesome” vs. “This Pope sucks!” NO. My takeaway from this article is that the Pope is NOT A MEMORABILIA COLLECTOR OR A HOARDER. And I can get behind that.

I used to be a memorabilia collector – celeb/athlete autographs – back in the day. Then eventually, I was like, “Who CARES about this stuff? I’m not even displaying it! No one even knows about it, and it’s not worth anything but its cluttering EVERYTHING up.” So I just gave that ish all away and it was AWESOME. I almost ended up one of those middle aged dudes waiting with a crowd of six year olds trying to get Drew Brees’ autograph during training camp. Dodged a bullet there.

Anyways, so I can get behind ANYONE looking around their joint, thinking, “You know what? I really don’t need this extra crap.” Hence why Ebay, Goodwill, and charity auctions exist, and shows like Clean Sweep are immensely popular. And you KNOW the Pope has good stuff. It’s like the best garage sale on the block. AND he’s giving the money to the poor? Golf clap, Pope….golf clap. Now tell me more about this espresso machine. Does it have a timer?

I dunno, what do you think? Tell me in the comments below.

2) FOOTBALL TIME! And GODDAMNIT Chiefs. I was JUST about to start rooting for you, and you go and lay an egg against OAKLAND?? UGH TOWN. Never again will I EVER EVER EVER bet on Thursday night games for ANYTHING. EVER. Here’s the tally so far regarding the season long bet between me and the BackUp QB:

	Backup QB Picks	JFG Picks
WEEK 11	4-9-0 (8 pts – HIT LOCK)	5-8-0 (5 pts – MISSED LOCK)
SEASON	70-75-5 (86 pts)	75-70-5 (87 pts)

 

One point lead???  STOP BEING STUPID, NFL.  For the second week, the STEELERS LET ME DOWN. You let the TITANS cover??? NEVER AGAIN.  Steelers – dead to me. Chiefs – dead to me.

The BQB’s lock for Week 12 is Cardinals +6.5. His explanation: “On what planet is a 9-1 team nearly a touchdown dog to a team that has looked no better than mediocre the past 8 weeks?  The vaunted Seahawks at the friendly confines of CenturyLink Field?:

Week 1: dominant win over Green Bay on Opening Night
Week 3: Overtime win over Denver
Week 6: Lost to the Cowboys
Week 9: Beat the Raiders by 6
Week 10: Were tied in the 4th quarter against the Giants before running away with the game late

Arizona might not score 20 points, but I think they win the game.”

My LOCK OF THE CENTURY…OF THE WEEK… is the SEAHAWKS -6.5. EFF IT. GO BIG OR GO HOME, AMIRIGHT?! AM I RIGHT!?? That’s right, I’m going directly head to head with the BQB’s lock this week. So what if I think the Cardinals are actually legit? If this so called Legion of Boom wants to make a statement it’s GOT TO BE NOW. Five of their last six games are against divisional opponents, so the time is NOW Russell Wilson. DO IT. SWEEP THE LEG.

The rest of our picks here:

GAME	Backup QB Picks	JFG Picks
Browns @ FALCONS	Browns +3	FALCONS -3
Titans @ EAGLES	Titans +11	EAGLES -11
Lions @ PATRIOTS	PATRIOTS -7	PATRIOTS -7
Packers @ VIKINGS	Packers -10	Packers -10
Jaguars @ COLTS	Jaguars +14	COLTS -14
Bengals @ TEXANS	TEXANS -1.5	Bengals +1.5
Bucs @ BEARS	BEARS -5.5	BEARS -5.5
Cardinals @ SEAHAWKS	Cardinals +6.5 (LOCK)	SEAHAWKS -6.5 (LOCK)
Rams @ CHARGERS	Rams +4.5	CHARGERS -4.5
Dolphins @ BRONCOS	BRONCOS -7	BRONCOS -7
Redskins @ NINERS	NINERS -9	Redskins +9
Cowboys @ GIANTS	Cowboys -3	Cowboys -3
Jets @ BILLS (in DET)	BILLS -4.5	BILLS -4.5
Ravens @ SAINTS	Ravens +3	SAINTS -3

 

Yeah, that’s right. I took both the Seahawks AND both double digit favorites. WHAT.

Today’s junk food: Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato!

Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato isn’t new, and Dubba over at On Second Scoop did a review of this back in March. The reason I’m reviewing this now is because, ever since Dubba’s review, I’ve been LOOKING for this flavor to no avail…until the other day when a new Giant Grocery opened near me, and THEY HAD THE FLAVOR.  SWEET.

Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato is the first gelato I’ve seen with balsamic vinegar in it, so I’m intrigued.  It really wasn’t until after law school that I ever had a berry dessert with balsamic vinegar, but now they are everywhere and I think more and more people are getting used to that awesome combo of balsamic and berry.

I opened up this jar of Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato and it was BEAUTIFUL. A white creamy base with plenty of raspberries bits and a deep red swirl.  SO PRETTY LET ME LICK YOU.

Even before breaking the surface of this Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato, I could see deep red specks of raspberry. Amazing.

After I dug out a spoonful of this Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato, I could see the raspberry innards more clearly – big specks of raspberry fruit and a bit of raspberry swirl throughout. I love raspberries, so I was toked for this.  Smelled sweet and fruity….light aroma. Super smooth texture.

The flavor of this Talenti Raspberries & Cream Gelato was very simple, but executed perfectly.  The white base was just a nice, slightly sweet, creamy flavor with a hint of vanilla.  Dubba described it as almost cream cheese-y, but to me it was just a creamy vanilla base.  A nice white background for whatever sweet fruit that was thrown onto the canvas.

And that’s where the raspberries came in – simply SUPERB. Each of those large blips of red were actual raspberry fruit, seeds and all.  Tiny bursts of sweet and tart raspberry flavor permeated the entire spoonful. A nice bold fruit flavor that was softened by the sweet creamy base gelato.  If you are a normal berries and cream sort of person, you’ll like this flavor.

Did I taste that balsamic?  Err……I mean, it made the raspberries more tart, but I didn’t catch any actual distinct balsamic flavor myself 🙁 Still that didn’t stop me from chowing down on the whole tub while moaning softly to myself.  Glad I finally found this flavor!

PURCHASED AT: Giant Grocery, Cathedral Commons, DC

COST: $3.99

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