Homemade Chili Seasoning And Serendipity The Goonies Sloth & Chunk Rocky Rooooaad Ice Cream

 

Winter's coming, and the quest for warm is on! You want some good chili to help you with that? Forget about that store bought nonsense. Make you up your own spice mix. It's easy, and you can make as little or as much as you want!

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Teaspoons Cumin
1 Teaspoon Coriander
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (optional, and add more for your desired spice level)

Simply mix all the ingredients together, and babow, you have chili seasoning. I make a ton of this stuff in advance, and give some out to people around me, who seem to enjoy it quite a bit.

Today, I used it to make a pot of chili spatz. I call it that because I basically made chili, threw in three cups of cheese, and added a bag of spatzle.

Turned out delicious!

While I wish I could give you the precise measurements for my bowl of goodness, chili is one of those things where I never bother to measure out anything. Particularly, the spices. I just add it until I feel like there is enough.

For standard purposes, I.E. one pound of beef, one can of diced tomatoes and one can of kidney beans, you would typically use about three tablespoons of spice. I think I ended up using about a cup and a half. But I also added four cans of beans, tomato sauce, and two cups of water to cook the spatzle towards the end (yes, I put the "noodles" in the pot with the chili).

The other beauty of chili is that there's really no specified cooking time. It can take as little as thirty minutes, but also simmer on low (or in a crock pot) all day. Mine typically takes between four and twelve hours, depending on how long I feel like simmering it. The longer it cooks, the more the flavor enhances.

Because it was good and spicy, I needed a little something to cool down my tongue. That came in the form of Serendeipity's The Goonies: Sloth & Chunk Rocky Rooooaad ice cream.

This is one of four new flavors from the brand, the other three being based on Friends, Caddyshack and A Christmas Story, and will unfortunately see a limited release. In other words, if you're interested in trying it, find it sooner than later. This was just at my local grocery store.

Popping the lid off, I was a bit disappointed in the flat chocolate top. However, much like the search for One-Eyed Willy's treasure, a simple exploration below the surface revealed a whole lot of booty. 

The mix-ins were plentiful throughout the entire pint, with each bite containing several mini marshmallows and nuts.

I don't know how they pulled it off, but each marshmallow was fluffy and soft in texture. The chocolate flavor of the ice cream was also nice and rich. Overall, it was pretty delicious.

Serendipity brand is definitely my go to for ice cream, with their Birthday Cake being my all time favorite flavor. If you see them in your store, I highly recommend giving them a try. They're reasonably priced, and far superior, in my opinion, to the other more commonly known brands available.

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Retro Spins: The Goonies

The Goonies is a timeless classic, and yet it's funny how my perspective of watching has changed from that as a kid to an adult. For those of you who remember the film as vividly as I do, picture if you will the scene where Mama Frutelli shoes the kids out of the restaurant, slamming the door behind them. She rests her back against it and mutters, "Kids suck." As a child, I would always shout at the TV, "Hey, screw you, lady!" As an adult, I can't do anything other than shake my head in agreement and proclaim, "Boy, you said it, lady." Funny how time changes us.

The Goonies, a tightly-knit band of misfit youngsters, are breaking up. With greedy developers about to raze the neighborhood, the kids spend a final drizzly morning together, trying to find a way to say goodbye. Instead, they find a real honest-to-gosh 17th century pirate map - and set out on a dazzling, day-long quest for treasure rich enough to save all their homes.

The Goonies follow the map (and their dreams)...and enter a fabulous subterranean world filled with caverns, crooks, skeletons, booby-traps, a magical, moldering pirate ship and marvelous milquetoast of a monster (ex-Raider football star John Matuszak who has swivel piglet ears and a face only Dr. Frankenstein could love.

Steven Spielberg (creator of E.T. - The Extraterrestrial, the Indian Jones films, Gremlins, Back to the Future and other blockbusters) and Richard Donner, director of Superman, Inside Moves and Ladyhawke) combine their cinematic wizardry to create The Goonies, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" sings Cyndi Lauper in the film's title song...and you'll agree because The Goonies is part Hardy Boys, part Treasure Island, part Our Gang and 100 percent adventure! - Back cover of the original VHS

Cyndi Lauper does indeed sing "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", but is the soundtrack?

No.

Thank you for reading. Goodnight.

I kid, but unfortunately not about the album being any good.

It's a pretty big thud for such a monumental film. Cyndi Lauper's above mentioned track is decent, or, "good enough", if you will. However, let's be honest. It's by no means her best material. Nor is it a top ten hit.

This is disappointing as this album is not easy to track down in CD format, neither is it necessarily cheap. You'll easily spend between $30.00 and $50.00 for the few which appear on ebay here and there.

Overall, the soundtrack is like a sandwich. It starts with Cyndi Lauper's track as a nice piece of bread, and finishes with the instrumental theme from Dave Grusin as the second piece of delicious bread. Unfortunately, in between said bread is a bunch of moldy meats and cheese with soggy vegetables and out of date condiments.

This is quite a bummer because it's not like this album is packed full of a bunch of random no name bands. It's got the likes of Philip Bailey, The Bangles, REO Speedwagon, Luther Vandross and Joseph Williams (who would later join Toto, and is the son of composer John Williams). These are not nobodies in the realm of 80's mainstream music. Cyndi Lauper even has a second track on the album, but it's nothing to write home about. It's as if the producers went to all of this trouble to find some of the hottest names of the 80's, but none of them wanted to bring their "A" game to the project.

Now that I've totally stepped all over the soundtrack, let me be fair to one track which gets an honorable mention. Teena Marie's 14K is a pretty good track. In fact, it may be better than The Goonies 'R' Good Enough. Glaringly omitted from the soundtrack is the on the edge of your seat opening queue, Fratelli Chase, where the family break brother Jake from prison and lead the police on a chase across town, introducing us to most of The Goonies in the process.

I proclaimed a couple Retro Spin posts ago that I was having a lot of fun with this year's albums. After The Lost Boys, and now, The Goonies, I'm starting to get a little bored of it all. I need to dig deep and find a good soundtrack to get me back on a positive mindset.

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Painted Memories: Lowest Point Nothing

Please share your own thoughts, memories and stories in the comment section.

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The Goonies (Funko / ReAction Figures)

The Goonies
Funko / ReAction Figures
2014

True story - I once sent a letter to Richard Donner pitching an idea for a Goonies sequel. The concept was a simple one - Bring back the old cast, have them sitting around Mikey's home celebrating a holiday such as Thanksgiving or Christmas with their own children. Mikey's kid comes running to the table dressed in pirate garb to which one of the Goonies says, "Just like One Eyed Willy!" The adults (older cast) have a laugh, to which one of the younger children asks, "What's so funny?"

After settling down, Mikey says something to the tune of, "When we were younger we met THE One Eyed Willy." Of course the kids all scoff, saying, "No way," and things like that. Mikey says, "No, it's true. It all started when we ran into the vile Fratellis famly..." The film then fades into the beginning of the original Goonies movie which plays from start to finish

Boom, done! Long time fans get their long awaited sequel, but also the original. Why the original? Because let's be honest here - Fans of movies want sequels that are nothing short of the original. So, just give them the original with fluff (such as a reunited cast telling the tale of their younger days), and watch the cash flow in. I'd see it.

So....The Goonies. It's a classic. Can't deny it. Everyone knows it, to and include Funko. That's why they chose the film as one of their leading releases for their new Funko ReAction Figures back in 2014.

Mikey

Funko hit the basics, releasing Mikey, Mouth, Data, Chunk and Sloth, but let's hope that a follow up series is in the works. We still need Brandon, Andy, Stef and of course the Fratellis; Mama, Francis and Jake. We also wouldn't mind a Rosalita to give our plastic Mouth someone to torment. Give us more, Funko!

Mouth

Data

Chunk (below) needs a little more....Well, chunk to him. The figure is way too skinny. Especially when compared side by side with the other figures. Look at the stock photo on the package - Data (cowering behind Chunk) is literally half the size of the actual actor. This should have been reflected in the figure.

Chunk

Sloth

It's a little annoying that the SDCC exclusive Sloth was nothing short of the same figure with the Superman logo added to the shirt. We're not saying we don't want a Sloth with a Superman shirt on, we're just saying that it shouldn't have been an exclusive - It's how the figure above should have been to begin with. A better exclusive would have been Sloth with his chains on.

Sloth (2014 SDCC Exclusive)

Admittedly, we were skeptical about any of the ReAction Figure lines when we first started hearing about them. We thought it was a step backwards for toys, and would give companies an excuse to charge premium prices for "dumb downed" figures. After actually getting our hands on the product - We can't help but think the complete opposite. These are fun, nostalgic in feeling, and quite frankly - They're just awesome when combined with that wonderful packaging.

On a side note, Funko, can we please get a Revenge of the Nerds series?

Join us next time when we take a look at Back to the Future!

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The Goonies (Mezco)

Since its release in 1985, three of its stars; Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, and Corey Feldman have gone on to see major success in Hollywood. Of course, writers Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner have managed to make fair careers as well since then (sarcasm, got to love it).

The film is a timeless classic, with a strong following. Even today rumblings of a sequel tickle out of various movie related sites, and the cast has made themselves available for several group photos, only adding to fan anticipation of a new film. Of course, to date there has been no said sequel, nor has there been any official announcement that we should expect one.


Much like the tease of a sequel, Mezco loves to tease fans and collector's alike by producing small series that have so much potential to soar, and then suddenly cease production and move on. Their 2007 line based on The Goonies fit this bill perfectly.

Five figures were produced in 2007 exciting fans of the film, and nostalgic collectors across the world - Mainly the USA. A major gripe about the series was that the sculpting was really hit or miss. While some of the figures were spot on renditions of the young characters, others were way off. While no official explanation as to why this was the case, it's possible that the licenses required to make accurate sculpts of the actors was too costly. Another issue that collectors had was that some of the heads seemed too big when compared to the body size of the figure.

Unlike a lot of toy lines, there are no known variants for the line. The five figures you see are all you get. Despite fan request, and the ability for Mezco to finish the series with the other characters from the film, the line has ceased with no official word that it has been canceled or not. While it's possible that a second series could be produced, we don't bet that one will - which is a real shame.

Join us next time when we take a look at Dragon's Lair 3D!

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