The Daily Tannenbaum The stigmata of the single life.*

Fun Fact! Today’s picture was taken at the dentist’s office. I have one cavity. No idea how that happened…
COW Advent 12/14/11 – 11 days ’til Christmas!
Item: 3 Lindt truffles
Source: Adams Sweet Shop
Country of Origin: Switzerland
Yum Factor 5 of 10 (I’m jaded with all these international candies, it takes more than a truffle to get me going these days.)

COW (Calories Of the World) Advent 12/13/11 – 12 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss Bar
Source: Adams Sweet Shop
Country of Origin: UK
Yum Factor: 9 of 10 (Eating this reminded me of waiting for the tube in London, where every station has a Cabury vending machine. The chocolate is smooth, the filling is creamy, it’s big enough to be satisfying, but not so big that you feel sick. I think this is very close to perfect, and it was a highlight of an otherwise crummy day.)

COW Advent 12/12/11 – 13 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Mozartkugeln Dark “A soft hazelnut cream center surrounded by pistachio marzipan filling, covered in dark chocolate. Created to commemorate the gifted composer, Mozart.”
Source: Adams Sweet Shop
Country of Origin: Austria
Yum Factor 3 of 10 (These were in a bag in a sale basket. Even at 1/2 price, they were crazy expensive. I thought twice, but thought I could expect big things from pricey chocolate. How wrong I was. Boring, boring, boring this is.)

Can’t take these pictures too late in the day – no flash on the cell phone camera!
COW ADVENT 12/11/11 – 14 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Ritter Sport Pralines
Source: Adams Sweets Shop
Country of Origin: Germany
Yum Factor: 5 of 10 (They call this “sport” and I think it’s because eating all this sugar is actually becoming challenging. This is one large candy bar, but it’s soft and breaks into convenient pieces.)

COW Advent 12/10/11 – 15 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Stockholms Konfektyr Fabrik Lingon
Source: The Swedish Booksellers Association (they brought gifts when they came to visit our office.)
Country of Origin: Sweden
Yum Factor: 5 of 10 (They’re little lingonberry flavored jelly candies covered in sugar. They were good to eat and share during my swim meet, but I’m not going to Sweden anytime soon to get more.)

COW Advent 12/9/11 – 16 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Meiji Yam Yam with Strawberry Créam Dip – Look inside for fun words!
Source: The Dragon’s Den Comic Book Store
Country of Origin: from the back of the package: “Product of Singapore. Does not contain pig fat.”
Yum Factor: 7 of 10. (The fun is in the dipping, but there’s not quite enough creme to last through the generous amount of greasy sticks you get. Bonus point because it reminded me of our 7th grade home ec teacher. Mrs. Molnar, every time I sift flour or sew a button, I will think of you.)

COW Advent 12/8/11 – 17 days ’til Christmas!
Item: de la Rosa Dulche De Cacahuate (Peanut Confection)
Source: Casa Latina, City of Poughkeepsie
Country of Origin: Mexico
Ribbon: added by me so I could hang it on the corkboard.
Yum Factor 7 of 10 (Have you ever wanted to just eat the center of a Reeses’ Peanut Butter cup? Now you can! These come in a pack of 6. I ate the other 5 a long time ago. They are perfect with chocolate milk after a good swim.)

COW Advent 12/7/11 – 18 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Nestle’s LION
Source: Adams Fairacre Farms
Country of Origin: UK
Yum Factor: 8 of 10 (I was a little apprehensive at first, I thought this was going to be so dense, being named after a big cat and all. But it’s a kit-kat like wafer covered in a layer of twix-esque caramel and coated in nuts and chocolate. So much tastiness, I might have to try this again. In July, when I’m not so full.)

Note to the handful of you who are Facebook friends and RSS subscribers: I’m sorry to be so repetitive in my postings this month.  I promise that come 2012 you’ll either hear nothing from me or I’ll triple it up by cross-posting on Twitter, just to fully drive away everyone.  :)

COW Advent 12/6/11 – 19 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Parle Kreams Gold Pineapple Flavor Cookies
Source: Krishna Grocery on Rt. 9
Country of Origin: India
Yum Factor: 7 of 10 (The cookies have a delightful crunch, but the filling is a little skimpy. However, it sure does pack a lot of bang for the buck. These things are the pineapple-i-est things I’ve ever had! The first cookie was overpowering, but the second and third were refreshing. This is the first advent item I didn’t finish, but just because 50 cents bought me 10 cookies! Even though I’m eating a lot of sugar & fat this month, that was too much.)

COW Advent 12/5/11 – 20 days ’til Christmas!
Item: Terry’s Chocolate Orange
Source: Stop & Shop
Country of Origin: UK again.
Yum Factor: 4 of 10 (That’s just me. I thought maybe I would start liking orange flavor. I do not. I like oranges + chocolate, but only when they’re fresh. Also, I was disappointed that the slices didn’t break off cleanly. An extra point to the smooth British chocolate.)