Riddle me this: is there any better way to celebrate the dawning of a new year than with chocolate and peanut butter?
No. The answer is no. Chocolate and peanut butter should always be used to mark the beginning of a new year, because chocolate and peanut butter together create such irrefutable and reliable deliciousness that to eat a treat based on their wondrousness is to ensure that your year is founded on happiness.
Look, yes. I know there are other aspects of life capable of helping 2013 start off with a bang. You could play frisbee in the park with friends, for example, or write a list of all the different ways you intend to be awesome in the next twelve months.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind if my 2013 began with the discovery that talking red pandas exist, because then I would track down such a talking red panda and convince him to be my best friend. I would call him Lord Snuggleruffle, he would call me Sparkleheart, and together we would live a life of such adventure that movies would be made about us and I’d end up with so much money from royalties that I could spend my life perpetually chasing summer, back and forth, back and forth, across the world.
I also wouldn’t mind starting 2013 by writing a post listing all the grammatical/spelling/just-plain-wrong errors I keep seeing in blogs. They’re driving me insane. Won’t somebody please employ me as The Internet’s Proofreader? Please? If I see one more person write “peaked my interest” instead of “piqued my interest”, “bare with me” instead of “bear with me”, or “here enlies the problem” instead of “herein lies the problem” (enlies isn’t even a word oh dear holy), I’m going to lie down in the snow until my eyelashes freeze together.
See? Starting the year with chocolate and peanut butter is far preferable to starting the year with a[n I-really-want-to-be-an-editor] rant about language errors.
Therefore I give you Puppy Chow. A strangely-named (here veganised) heavenly treat of Chex cereal coated in melted chocolate, peanut butter, and butter/vegan non-dairy spread, all tossed with icing sugar.
It’s incredible. It’s insanely sweet. It’s like crack. It’s American (of course). It’s chocolate and peanut butter and crispiness and sweetness. It’s irresistible. It’s Puppy Chow.
Oh, and the sculpture above? It’s made of neither chocolate nor peanut butter, but it is perhaps the most hilarious and terrifying piece of street art I’ve yet come across in Toronto, and thus it is great. (It is Koilos by Michael Christian.)
Happy New Year! Here’s to a 2013 filled with joy, sweetness, and the correct use of apostrophes.
Heel click,
Hannah
Vegan Puppy Chow
Makes 9 cups. Recipe from all over the Internet.
- 1 cup vegan dark chocolate (I used a 70% dark chocolate)
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup vegan non-dairy spread, such as Earth Balance or Nuttelex
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 9 cups Chex (rice cereal squares)
- 2 cups icing sugar
- Combine chocolate, peanut butter, and Earth Balance/non-dairy spread in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir until all melted together. Add in the vanilla, and stir to combine.
- Place the Chex cereal in a large bowl, then pour over the chocolate and peanut butter mixture. Gently stir until all the cereal squares are coated.
- Put the icing sugar in one enormous container/zip-lock bag or several smaller containers, and tip the coated cereal squares inside. Seal the containers/bags and shake shake shake! Shake shake shake! Shake your booty! … until the sugar has coated all the cereal.
- Place the cereal in the fridge until the chocolate hardens, and then enjoy. Preferably with your new talking red panda friend by your side. Because why not? Exactly. Happy New Year!
I almost wrote “without further adieu” on my blog but it felt wrong…. although I say clean up the internet! Bring on the grammar police!
I haven’t seen that statue.. I must track it down before I move.
Aaaaaah!! I saw someone make THAT EXACT MISTAKE on their post today and, I kid you not, I went and unsubscribed from them on Google Reader. Lest you think I’m completely crazy, though, this person makes such mistakes in almost every post, and I unsubscribed not because I’m judging them, but because I don’t like how upset I get by it. I’d rather not see it, and pretend I’m a calmer person.
Also, I was only subscribed to them because of one of the MoFo bundles, so… huh. I’m totally trying to justify my insanity right now. It’s not working.
P.S. If you ever see me err, tell me. Okay?
Hahaha there have been times when I was in a hurry and completely butchered something up too!
But usually I catch myself WAY after the fact. I’m a big sucker for spelling things right too, and I think most people who learn English as their 2nd/3rd language are~! Maybe I should hire you to prevent future humiliation for myself. 
And oh dearrrr these look so delicious! They look so perfectly rich and bite-sized that I want to take them off the screen. Have a happy new year Hannah, and I hope you get to reach all your dreams this year and grow in every area of your life. <3
Well, I am looking for a job at present…
Happy New Year to you too!
Oh dear I’m with you on the egregious spelling/grammatical errors! Please tell me if I’m guilty!
Anyway, Happy New Year to you; I look forward to reading about many more adventures and delightful kitchen creations. Funnily enough, I spent my New Year’s Eve at the Tranzac (Australia New Zealand Club of Toronto, I believe) – have you been? It’s a neat place.
Me too! Oh, please, do tell me if you ever spot mistakes in my writing. It destroys my soul when I catch errors months later.
WHAT IS THIS YOU SAY? THERE IS A CLUB OF MY PEOPLE HERE?!? Where? I must go to there.
Yes!! It’s in the Annex on Brunswick Ave, just south of Bloor. It looks quite non-descript from the outside but it’s lovely and cozy inside! Nice little bar and they have live music most days of the week.
Chocolate-peanut butter-crunchy-soft-and-sweet! Yes, I also went this route for a picnic 3 days ago.
Peaking and baring often have me in all sorts of discomfort, but “enlies”?! That is new to me. It is hilariously devine (sic).
Thank god I’m not alone in this. Thank you, Cindy. Devine is another horrific one, and I’ve also seen alot (sic
) of “no where near” lately. Also, every time I see “bare with me”, I just want to shake the computer and yell “really? YOU WANT US TO GET NAKED WITH YOU?”
Ha, yes – I find myself visualising the naked sympathising audience of the writer too, usually doing a happy support dance.
The audience *would* need support, surely, if they were nakedly dancing. So many jiggling bits.
Puppy Chow. Strange name for sure…. sounds deliciously evil
The other name, apparently, is Muddy Buddies, which I find equally unappealing. Oh, Americans. Bless their little hearts.
I just want to state for the record that I have never heard of a recipe like this, named Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies or anything else. Maybe it’s an East Coast thing?
And I totally agree about everything else, too, from insane-making grammatical errors (I, too, have unsubscribed from blogs for repeated mistakes such as these) to the hilarity/terror inspired by that awesome statue.
That’s interesting! I’ve been seeing it on American blogs for years now, but sadly have not been taking note of the location of the bloggers who post about it. So I’m happy to agree with you and call it East Coast. Or maybe it’s a “mommy bloggers” thing
Your talking red panda aside reminds me of a conversation Andy and I had last week. Somehow we went from deciding to plant bamboo behind our shed to saying that maybe when the bamboo grows we’ll get a panda. Andy said if we had a panda he would milk it. Then we proceeded to decide on the best uses for panda milk. Aside from being not vegan at all, I recognise how weird that all was, but I thought I would share, and hopefully you’ll giggle instead of getting weirded out by me!
Definitely giggling. I think it’d be easier to milk a red panda than a panda-panda, though. Would you make panda tofu and then panda okara and panda granola out of your panda milk?
Ooh, good idea, and far more vegan than Panda Milk custard!
I got your back.
Oh gosh. Now I feel even worse about that incorrect apostrophe.
No, see, what you need to understand is that the only reason I mentioned that to you is because we have True Friendship. Also it was perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back. And I am the humpy camel.
“I am the humpy camel”?!?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME TONIGHT?!
Teehee, I was coming back to say I am snorting with laughter at ‘humpy camel’, so at least we’re united in our amusement over that phrase
I am always open to apostrophe corrections, especially from you, but hope the straws lay off a bit for the sake of your poor humpy back!
Mmmm this sounds amazing! Such a great idea for a yummy sweet treat. Happy New Year!
I still cant get over the puppy chow name. For years I thought it was an actual pet treat until someone told me recently what it actually was. Those crazy Americans
Happy New Year Hannah
Oh, Americans. Particularly when you consider that actually feeding *this* Puppy Chow to a puppy could, you know, kill it. More for me!
That is such a quirky name for this recipe but it works I guess
Happy 2013 Hannah! Best wishes for the new year 
I’m not quite sure that it works myself, but it sure as all get out is delicious.
Surely the purpose of that sculpture is to give little children nightmares!!
I admire your talent for writing, grammar and spelling enormously. My grammar isn’t fantastic but I’m aware of that, so I make sure to double check my work before submitting it. I can’t believe the errors you’ve found! How is that possible?
Happy New Year to you Beautiful Hannah (capital B on purpose)
Now I’m a bit paranoid.
I’m sure this year will be very eventful for you my darling. xxxx
*laughs* The funny thing is, I’m now paranoid myself! I’m by no means perfect in this regard, so if I now start making errors all over the place, it’s going to seem much worse.
The sculpture reminds me of something out of a Miyazaki film, which I think is why I like it.
Margaret, thank you. Feeling a bit wobbly at present. Thank you for your always-positivity. xoxo
Amen to the correct use of apostrophes – maybe your movie could follow the exploits of one girl and her red panda on a mission to ensure that apostrophes are used correctly – the red panda could loom over people misusing them to put fear in their hearts and you could then appear like the good punctuation fairy and explain how they can change their ways. Hmmm it is late and I don’t have enough chocolate or peanut butter in my life – much as I have tried over the last couple of weeks
Oh and I was sort of glad your puppy chow wasn’t dog food! I suspect I would enjoy it. (and I thought I might be an editor until I worked with a few who were quite scary and now I am not so sure)
I love your proposed movie synopsis. The only possible glitch I can see is that red pandas are so small and adorable that I’m not sure they’d be any good at “looming”. But my BFF could potentially nip people’s hands with his teeth?
I’ve never had puppy chow, but I am sure I will try it someday. That sculpture is amazing, and I like how the snow seems so strategically placed. I detest spelling errors, too, and it is particularly horrifying when certain mistakes become so commonplace that I start to second-guess myself, even when I know the correct word. Argh!
You’ll have to come to North America, I think. I’ve wanted to make it for years but haven’t found a single cereal in Australia that would work for it. Chex is very… unique. NEVER SECOND-GUESS YOURSELF MY DEAR HAVE FAITH.
Oh yeah, chocolate+pb for a new year? I’m all over that. Yesterday I ate pretty much nothing but burritos and chocolate, ha ha.
Your language list is probably a wise idea – do people actually write “here enlies the problem”? Really? Hoo boy. Happy 2013!
In fairness, I’ve only seen that one once, but I actually screeched. Out loud. Alone in my sublet. Loudly. It physically hurt me.
With the title to this blog post I was very worried you have taken to eating dog food. Yes, grammatical errors! I try really hard to proofread my posts before hitting ‘publish’ but I know some errors do slip through the keeper. xx
Oh, me too. It happens to the best of us, but there’s a different between occasional grammatical errors/typos and actually being completely and consistently mistaken about what particular words or phrases are and mean.
You know, I can almost accept “peaked” interest…Don’t worry, I said almost! But at least there is a logical explanation for that one!
I’m always hyper-sensitive to the possibility of making a language error when writing anything in public, which is every day of my life in front of school kids. They love catching you out. Now I play a game with them to test them out, but in the land of the internet and self publishing, I really double check anything I am doubtful of. If I am not sure of the expression I read up on it. Initiative people. Initiative.
PS – sculpture is like Davey Jones from Pirates of the Carribean mixed with Gollum. Stuff of nightmares.
I completely understand what you mean about “peaked”, but it’s a slippery slope, Hannah! A SLIPPERY SLOPE OF DOOM AND PAIN!
You have no idea how many times I checked this post for errors before posting it, because writing this has completely opened me up to heightened embarrassment the next time (and there will be a next time) I make a sloppy typo due to typing too quickly! (For example, I Googled to make sure it *is* “lie down” and not “lay down”
) Oh, and Mum and I love catching errors that the other has made, so I understand the glee of your students.
See, I think of the sculpture as akin to something from a Miyazaki movie, so I find it almost adorable.
also, I will admit, that ever since The Simpsons so succesfully created the word “embiggened” that I use it all the time, though I know that it is not a proper word. Only problem is, it has cheapened my sense of outrage when other people add em or en as a prefix to words….Language can evolve, yes?
Maybe not that much.
Actually, I constantly make up words here on my blog/twitter/Facebook. Sometimes I delete them before posting, though, because I’m worried people won’t realise that I’m doing it deliberately. If Shakespeare and The Simpsons can do it, why not us?
I’ve so enjoyed reading the responses that I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say.
I do love that sculpture though. I love street art … even when it’s not great I love the fact that it’s there.
As for errors, yes, count me in as one who hates poor grammar. I know I make mistakes. Sometimes it’s that darned autocorrect and I miss it … but I want to self-flagellate when I do. One of my pet hates is “I could of” as in, say, “I could of used oil instead”. Still, it’s great to see people out these expressing themselves (particularly if I like what they are expressing!)
Aren’t the comments great? I’m loving how many language sticklers exist out here. In a sense, I can blame/thank you for my feelings in this matter. All those dinner time discussions about “ceremoaaaaaaaany”!
Oh phew! I’m glad that it is edible by humans because I thought that it looked too good and when you mentioned chocolate and pb well you know how exciting that is! Happy New Year Spay Lady!!
Who’s to say all puppy chow isn’t edible for humans? I’ve tried both dry dog food and canned cat food before.
Um… I’m not sure whether I should be admitting that so freely, actually.
LOL That statue reminds me of Doctor Who for some reason.
Oh frisbee in the park…you’re almost as good as chocolate & peanut butter
Did you get to play frisbee? or was that purely an example of fun. I hope you got to play. One time Ben & I missed our train in Switzerland as we were having too much fun doing just that. Happy 2013 darling. Cheers to a fantabulous, adventurous, magical year.
Heidi xo
ps I would love a grammar lesson from you. I need one. I want to learn. Their you go.
That was an example based on past reality. In Australia, my family usually goes on a picnic on Boxing Day, and usually frisbee and/or cricket are involved. Bit too cold and snowy for it here; I think frisbees might be hard to catch whilst wearing mittens
P.S. Your always welcome to ask me for grammar advice.
P.P.S. It physically made me feel nauseous, writing that first PS. The things I do for you….
hehe thanks, it means a lot, you’re very selfless
x
Oh dear gracious, that “art” is just plain scary, haha! On the bright side, your puppy chow looks delicious!
Happy New Year Hannah Dearest! Chocolate and peanut butter Mmmm that looks so good! Glad to see that you got snow for christmas even if just a little. Belmonte Raw looked like a good time – Ive been wanting to go there… next time Im in the city.
Which will be soon, right? You’re coming soon? I miss you! xoxo (And, now you’re back, I should email you! I didn’t want to interrupt your Cuban Christmas
)
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