Geology Candy Part 5

Previously:

Part 1 - - Part 2 - - Part 3 - - Part 4

From time to time the ol' sweet tooth demands satisfaction.  But just because it's "cheat day" on the diet doesn't mean your snack can't be educational.  With that, we dive into another installment of our "Geology Candy" series!

Oil may be "Texas Tea" but it looks like it can also be "Texas Oil Drops", A.K.A black licorice jelly beans.  Black licorice can be a divisive issue so this one might not be for everybody.

This one takes the rock candy concept and mixes in crystals and caves to create "Crystal Cave Candy."  They look like they'd make a great addition to your pack during field work.

The holiday season is always good about providing a new round of coal candy.  Unlike past versions we've seen before, these are cinnamon flavored.  What's the connection between cinnamon and coal?  Maybe coal burns and sometimes cinnamon does too?  Maybe?

People like to eat rocks in North Carolina as much as they do everywhere else.  And it wouldn't be a list of Geology Candy without candy rocks making an appearance.  Here you get your choice of jelly bean rocks or gold/silver chocolate.  Bon appetite!

We Found the Best Vending Machine in the World

Previously:

 The Geology Vending Machine  - -  Jurassic World Fruit Snacks

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has everything you want in a natural history museum.  Fossils, rocks, interactive displays, rotating exhibits...and all the dinosaurs you stare at.

But it was when we were on our way out that we discovered something truly unique.  Near the gift shop is this unassuming vending machine:

Sure, it looks like the average treat dispenser but if you take a closer look you'll see a menu of science specific snacks and borderline gross grub.  Let's start with some of the more traditional fare.  And what's more at home at a museum than dinosaurs?

Gummi bears are replaced with Gummi Dinosaurs but the real find here is the top row.  Choc-o-saurus is a combination of two museum staples: dinosaurs and freeze dried ice cream!  It's chocolate with chocolate chips and, while eating it, you have the option to pretend like you're an astronaut or a extinct predator who loves dehydrated food.

Larvets!  Wondering if these things are what they look like?  Well, here's the explanation directly from their website: "Real larva, deliciously seasoned. Offered in three flavors: BBQ, Cheddar Cheese, or Mexican Spice."  And that's not enough bugs to satisfy your appetite, then good news...

Here we've got "Crick-ettes." which are, you guessed it, real crickets.  These are Bacon & Cheese flavor but they also come in Salt N' Vinegar and Sour Cream & Onion.  And if you're still hungry for bugs, you can also grab some Ant Wafers!  It's essentially what it sounds like: "Real ants in chocolate flavored round wafers."

Have you ever eaten hard candy and thought to yourself, "I wish this had ants in it."  Then you should have picked #56 or #57 from this vending machine.  You get the option of either Cherry or Apple flavor, both with Black Ants of course.

For our final selections we head to outer space for Alien Ice Cream.  This another freeze dried ice cream and is your standard Neapolitan flavor but it's either made by or eaten by Aliens.  Or maybe there's just one on the package.  Or you can have a Moon Pie!  Get it?  "Moon"

So the next time you head out to the museum, bring some change and an adventurous appetite.

Dino Food: Jurassic World Fruit Snacks

Welcome to "Dino Food," our new semi-regular feature (not to be confused with Geology Candy or Geology Kitchen) where we take a look at dinosaur related snack treats.

The next installment of the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World, may still be months away but the barrage of merchandise has already started.  One of the most tried and true promotional tie-ins is the Fruit Snack.  Every great franchise has delved into this high fructose Wonderland and today you can fill your shopping cart and your belly with these suckers: 

Now when it comes to passing judgement on a new fruit snack, taste is not an issue.  They all taste the same.  No, it all comes down to shapes: variety, design, appearance, relevance, etc.  I mean you don't want to open up a box of dinosaur shaped candy and not find anything dinosaur related.  Well, good news:

Let's break them down one by one:

• "T. rex" (orange) - no surprise there.  He's the big man on the dinosaur campus and the star of the first movie.  We got a good full body shot of him here.
• "Pteranodan" (red/cherry) - Flying dinosaurs are always a hit.  It took awhile to get them into the JP franchise and I wouldn't be surprised to see some in the new movie
• "Triceratops" (green/lime) - We just get the head but let's face it, the second most popular dinosaur has a very distinctive head.  Can't blame Kellogg's for that.
• "Roar" (yellow/lemon) - This is clearly just another way to get a T-Rex-like shape into the mix.
• "Raptor Claw" (purple/grape) - When you think "raptor," you think "raptor claw."  But this is a three toed foot which doesn't feature the distinctive curved claw that Alan Grant used to threaten a young boy's genitals in the first movie.  It could be several different types of dinosaur claws.
• "Fossil" (blue/blue raspberry?) - A nice nod to the science behind studying dinosaurs and it definitely fits in with the JP themes.  Although, c'mon, here we go with the T-Rex thing again...

Now occasionally there is a miscommunication with the marketing and promotional people and some spoilers can slip through in the merchandise before the movie comes out.  Unfortunately we didn't get any of that this time.  There has been talk of some new super mutant dinosaur in the new movie but it looks like he didn't make the cut for the fruit snacks.  Maybe he'll be in the cereal.      

Don't forget to sneak a box in to the theater when you see the movie this summer!