Photo: idogcow/Flickr

Susan McCrory
Research by Emma Jacobs

Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge
PRK just caught wind of a really super Super Bowl challenge. No footballs here, folks. This is the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge that Jessica of A Fete for Food and four of her foodie cronies (all based in MA, all nutrition-minded) are holding this week to expand our collective morning repertoires. Quinoa? For breakfast?? What’s Dat? There’s one more day to compete: tomorrow’s challenge is WALNUTS, with photos and recipes due Thursday, 2/18. Winners will be announced daily, beginning the week of February 22. Prizes, too!

Virtue or Vice: McDonald’s at the Olympic Games
Value [the] Meal reports that McDonald’s has set up three new franchises in Vancouver to serve arriving athletes and guests (though the photo with their story is clearly not of Vancouver in winter). The relationship between the Golden Arches and Olympic Rings apparently dates back to a 1968 airlift of burgers to homesick American athletes competing in Grenoble. Value [the] Meal argues that McDonald’s presence at the Olympics sends a bad message to kids at the expense of what could and should be the ultimate ad for healthy living. Not surprisingly, MacDonald’s sees it differently.

Cranberries from B.C.
According to the Boston Herald, Ocean Spray will be creating a floating set of Olympic rings in a city park in Richmond, British Columbia, made up of nothing less than 30,000 lbs of cranberries. This to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games and the approximately 60 family-run farms in the region that are part of the Ocean Spray Cooperative. Per Ocean Spray’s Marketing VP:

“We’ve staged a number of cranberry spectaculars in front of Rockefeller Center (in New York City) and Patriot Place (in Foxboro), so we wanted a really big spectacle for the Olympic Games.”

The display was originally planned for float on the Fraser River, but was moved due to “extraordinary river conditions.” Ice?

Modern Neccos
You may not have had them since junior high, but those tiny candy hearts from Necco have been an unchanging Valentine’s Day ritual for years. No more. The latest batch of Necco’s Sweethearts, which now come with such ultra-romantic messages as “Tweet Me” and “Text Me,” have had a flavor update, after 140 years. The new flavors are “bolder and brighter and more fruit-based.” The traditional varieties will be available this year, but only from dollar stores. Know how many Sweetheart candies the Necco factory in Revere will produce this year? 6.5 billion (!)

Valentine’s Day Menus
For other Valentine’s Day treats, NPR suggests avocados. The Boston Globe suggests a romantic meal at home, but also gives options for eating out. If avocados are your thing, Lindsey of Healthy Blog Snack offers her take on avocados for breakfast as part of the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge. You know what that means: breakfast in bed, anyone?