25 Days of Cereal Day 8: 2017 Winter Edition Cocoa Puffs

in 2018, it seems that hot cocoa might become the “pumpkin spice” of the Christmas season. There are tons of Hot Cocoa “limited edition” versions of food items, which is awesome. I LOVE limited edition foods.

Hot Cocoa makes sense as it’s generally saved for just the winter time. When we were kids, my mom would heat up milk and make home made hot cocoa on Christmas Eve. We would all be in our pajamas, all wound up and excited for Santa to come, and wake up to some fun stuff in the morning.

As we got older and stopped believing in Santa …..errr kidding, we still believe in Santa, but we realized that our parents brought us some toys, silver tab jeans and grind plates for K2 fatty rollerblades (IT WAS FUN DAMNIT). We didn't have our moms hot cocoa in years, but she randomly decided to make it. At first we (my little sister and older brother) weren’t on board, but we gave in, and it drinking it was like a taste of the 80’s. I heard He-Man chanting that he has the power, Janine saying “WE GOT ONE”, and Hulk Hogan telling me to say my prayers, train and take my vitamins.

That’s the thing about old holiday traditions. They can be an instant mind trip to your past. What Squeezer and I try to do it keep the memories of what we consider the “Rad Years” alive in all of your beautiful minds, but sometimes an old family tradition can accomplish that in a split second.

I think maybe this year, we can make some hot chocolate again, but add some good bourbon to make it a fun adult tradition.

Now, the cereal. Hot Cocoa-Cocoa Puffs were a limited edition for the holiday season in 2017, but they came out before Halloween. I bought these at Target on October 26th. I bought two boxes and never opened them, today for the first time, I opened 1 of the boxes for the first time. I was hesitant to try it because they expired in August of 2018. I opened the bag and took a whiff and wasn’t sure if the smell was what I should be smelling.

I had a fresh travel pack of Cocoa Puffs, so I popped them open and smelled them for a safety check. They smelled just like the other bag, so I figured it was safe to eat.

I poured a bowl, and my goodness, THEY’RE FREAKING AMAZING. They might be my favorite cereal I’ve tried so far. I don’t know why they didn’t release these this year. It’s got me very excited for the 2018 Chocolate Lucky Charms, because as you know, I’m a bigger fan of oat pieces than corn, and Cocoa Puffs are corn based, but damn they’re delicious.