Are you planning to cook your very best dish for your significant other on Valentine’s Day? And is your “very best dish” boxed mac and cheese? This could be for you.
Kraft just revealed that they’ve created a special Valentine’s Day mac and cheese. It’s PINK-COLORED . . . and the cheese packet has a CANDY FLAVOR mixed in.
The only way to get it is through a giveaway on their site. They’ll be giving out 1,000 boxes, which will be delivered on February 14th.
Scotty McCreery is a country music making hit maker these days, but 10 years ago he was a flip-flop wearing teenager auditioning for American Idol.
Standing in front Season 10 judges, Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson, Scotty wowed them with covers of songs by Josh Turner and Randy Travis. The audition made J-Lo smile, got Randy to say “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,” and Steven blurted out a compliment in an explicit phrase that surprised everyone in the room.
After receiving three “yes” votes, Scotty was off and running on the show that he would eventually win.
Looking back on it today Scotty shares, “Can?t believe its been a DECADE since my Idol audition aired!”
Little did he know on that day what his future had in store for him. Scotty says, “10 years ago started me on the most insane journey I could ever dream of. Thanks for being there with me every step of the way! Here?s to another 10 years yall! Much love”
While he?s climbing the country music airplay charts with his new song “You Time” – check out that American Idol audition that changed everything for Scotty McCreery.
2,000 random British people were asked to list the best things America has given the world. The best thing is…. Netflix! Followed by Disney, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Apple products. Some of the other things to make the list include; Elvis, Tom Hanks, Hamburgers, Johnny Cash, M&Ms, Harley Davidson, The Superbowl, and Brad Pitt.
The poll also asked the worst things America has given the world…Some of the responses; The Kardashians, Crocs, Jerry Springer, and Pumpkin Pie.
I agree with everything except for pumpkin pie. -EK
Bob Uecker aka “Mr. Baseball” is celebrating his 89th birthday today!
He’s been the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers since 1971, and still going strong. It’s fun to look back on some of his old TV commercials, movie appearances, and his visits on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Budweiser will NOT air a Super Bowl ad for the first time in 37 years. Instead, the money will be reallocated to “raising awareness” for the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s a nice gesture, but it’s also a bit of a publicity stunt. They’re still releasing a spot online, and Bud Light will have a Super Bowl ad.
Winter weather has brought snow and school closings/delays! Find all the details here!
Light snow and travel impacts will persist this morning, affecting the morning commute. Conditions should slowly improve during the day as Iowa digs out of the snow. #iowaweatherpic.twitter.com/3PNE44lvk9
Get read to shovel once again! The National Weather Service is calling for some snow Saturday night.
“Snow is still on track to impact the area this weekend, with confidence increasing that amounts of 2 to 5 inches will be common for most of the area. The heaviest snow is expected to fall Saturday evening and overnight before coming to an end by Sunday morning. Plan now for travel impacts!”
A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for parts of Southern Minnesota where they could see 4-8 inches of white fluffy snow.
Lady A was taping their performance for the upcoming NBC special, Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Country Music when Opry member Darius Rucker surprised them by extending an invite to the trio to become the newest Opry members!
After the invite, an emotional Hillary Scott shared, “This is the best surprise we could ever ask for, I?ve been coming here since I was a little girl so to say we are honored is an understatement. We are so truly grateful to officially be a part of this amazing family.”
Congrats to Hillary, Dave Haywood, and Charles Kelley.
A new survey asked people what foods and drinks put them in a good mood . . . and what foods and drinks put them in a bad mood.
And the top food that leaves people feeling unhappy is . . . a DONUT. I guess that’s because it’s delicious in the moment, but leaves you feeling like garbage afterwards.
That’s basically true for most of the 10 “bad mood” foods. They are: Donuts . . . alcohol . . . soda . . . energy drinks . . . burgers . . . candy . . . pizza . . . cake . . . white bread . . . and chips.
And the 10 foods that put us in a good mood are: Coffee . . . dark chocolate . . . grapes . . . berries . . . yogurt . . . eggs . . . salmon . . . oranges . . . apples . . . and melons.
A teacher from Ankeny, Iowa launched a project he calls Woodworking with a Purpose. Nate Evans started building desks for kids when noticed some were logging into virtual classes on their kitchen tables or beds.. He got 50 volunteers to help, so they’ve now built around 600 desks.
The annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is canceled this year because of the pandemic. So I guess this is the next best thing . . .
For $80, you can get a personal message from the groundhog. I mean, technically, it comes from one of his handlers, while Phil just kinda sits there quietly.
As far as we know, Phil won’t give you a prediction on whether we’ll have an early spring or a longer winter.
Happy Birthday to country legend Dolly Parton! She turns 75 today. In addition to a legendary singing career, she is also a very good actress. Remember the time she starred in a movie with Sylvester Stallone??
The movie “Rhinestone” was released back in 1984 and only took in $23 Million against a $28 Million budget.
Remember the old Mentos commercials, where someone would pop one in their mouth and then do something clever? I guess that doesn’t work in real life: A woman in Pennsylvania stole four rolls of Mentos from a gas station this month . . . then walked outside and tried to steal an ambulance. She’s facing several felony charges.
Why not celebrate this Valentine’s Day in the most romantic way possible: By saving a grand on a divorce?
A law firm in Crossville, Tennessee is holding a contest where one person will win a FREE DIVORCE for Valentine’s Day. Since their divorce work starts at $1,150, that’d be a pretty good deal.
The contest is only open to people in Tennessee . . . and only people with amicable divorces who have, quote, “little to no custody issues.”
McDonald’s has announced it will run a promotion for six weeks called McDonald’s Throwback Thursday 2021 deals. They started yesterday and will continue through February 18th. Each Thursday you can get some menu item for a very low price, but the catch is you must also make an additional purchase of at least $1. You can get a cheeseburger on January 21st or February 18th for 25 cents, for example, or a small shake for 25 cents on January 28th, among other things. You can only get the special deals through the McDonald’s app.
You’ll spend a year driving around in a 27-foot-long Weinermobile, going to 200 different events, and serving as a brand ambassador for Oscar Mayer.
They’re looking for people with a degree or experience in marketing or communications who are outgoing, friendly, and have a valid driver’s license.
They didn’t list any salary information, but seven years ago, someone posted on the website Glassdoor that the pay was around $30,000 for the year. It’s probably gone up a little since then, but yeah, you’re not gonna get rich driving a hot dog.
If you’re interested in applying, you can do it on the KraftHeinz website. The deadline is the 31st.
Get ready to shovel! Here’s the latest from the National Weather Service…
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM CST FRIDAY…Mitchell-Howard-Winneshiek-Floyd-Chickasaw-Fayette-Fillmore * WHAT…Snow. Total accumulations of 4 to 7 inches. * WHERE…Portions of north central and northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota. * WHEN…From noon today to 6 PM CST Friday.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM CST FRIDAY…Allamakee-Clayton-Crawford-Richland-Grant * WHAT…Snow. Total accumulations of 3 to 5 inches. * WHERE…In Wisconsin, Grant, Richland and Crawford Counties. In Iowa, Allamakee and Clayton Counties. * WHEN…From noon today to 6 PM CST Friday.
Jake Owen is a pro at making music, but now he’s in a major motion picture for the very first time!
He has a role in the upcoming movie Our Friend.
Jake talked about his film debut, “I’ve never been in a ?movie? before so I won’t lie.. sitting down in front of Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel, and Casey Affleck and acting like I knew what I was doing, was a bit of a challenge. I’ve always loved a good challenge.”
Who says you have to put chocolate in a heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day? It’s a weird time right now, might as well get weird with THIS too.
Jack Link’s Beef Jerky is selling a heart-shaped box filled with BEEF JERKY for Valentine’s Day this year. And the box itself is covered in brown HAIR.
If your Christmas tree is still sitting in your house, here’s an option instead of dragging it out to the curb: Serve it for dinner.
There’s a new cookbook out from a, quote, “artisan baker and cook” in the U.K. named Julia Georgallis called “How to Eat Your Christmas Tree”. And it features dozens of recipes you can make using your tree.
For example, Christmas-Cured Fish uses almost a pound of needles for decoration and flavoring. With Christmas Tree Pickles, you throw a handful of needles into a jar with your pickles for a month.
There’s even ICE CREAM flavored with blue spruce needles and ginger.
Julia says she created the book so people would get better use out of their trees . . . rather than chopping down 30 million trees every year and then throwing them away.
Plus, quote, “I don’t know why it’s so weird because we eat and we forage so many [other] plants.”
Attention beer drinkers! The Busch Light Snow Day is back!
Anheuser-Busch is offering a $1 rebate for every inch of snow that falls in select cities between now and March 28, 2021.
The rebate is being offered in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa. You could potentially receive up to $15 off a 30-Pack of Busch Light.
The rebate in Iowa is determined by snowfall in Des Moines, in Wisconsin, Green Bay is the location. For the folks up north, Minneapolis is the location for Minnesota. Only one rebate is offered per person, and customers must be 21 or older, of course. More details here.
People in Queens, New York are being terrorized by an aggressive squirrel, or possibly a group of squirrels. Several people have reported attacks, including a woman who said it felt like she was losing an MMA fight. (A reporter also talked to a kid who said her mom makes her carry pepper spray now, just in case the squirrel shows up.)
A meteorologist from Sioux Falls, Iowa named Katie Nickolaou is going viral after she got on TikTok and told people not to eat icicles . . . because they’re full of bird poop.
New Year’s will be different with more people getting BLITZED at home this year. So what will YOU be sipping in your living room when midnight hits? Zippa looked at the most uniquely popular New Year’s drink in all 50 states, not including beer. So only wine, champagne, and cocktails. Here’s what they found . . .
1. Champagne is the top drink in 21 states, including most of the East Coast and a lot of states out West. And Connecticut is Prosecco, which is basically the same thing.
2. Frozen daiquiris are the top drink in five states: Maine, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Alabama, and Indiana.
3. Amaretto sour, four states: Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, and West Virginia.
4. Vodka-cranberry is #1 in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Lemon drops are first in Arkansas and North Dakota. And palomas are first in Idaho and Oregon.
5. 12 states have a favorite drink that didn’t place first anywhere else: In New Hampshire, margaritas . . . Utah, mimosas . . . Wisconsin, mulled wine . . . Hawaii, rum and Coke . . . Alaska, screwdrivers . . . Montana, tequila sunrise . . . Ohio, gin fizz . . .
Vermont, whiskey sour . . . South Dakota, kamikazes . . . Wyoming, White Russians . . . Delaware, New Year’s Sparklers . . .
The great band in the sky welcomed another group of awesomely talented artists from the world of country music in 2020. While they will be missed, their music will live on forever…
December 25, 2020
Tony Rice – age 69
December 21, 2020
K.T. Oslin – age 78
December 12, 2020
Charley Pride – age 86
November 23, 2020
Hal Ketchum – age 67
November 13, 2020
Doug Supernaw – age 60
October 28, 2020
Billy Joe Shaver – age 81
October 23, 2020
Jerry Jeff Walker – age 78
September 29, 2020
Mac Davis – age 78
July 6, 2020
Charlie Daniels – age 83
April 24, 2020
Harold Reid (of the Statler Brothers) – age 80
April 7, 2020
John Prine – age 73
March 29, 2020
Joe Diffie – age 61
March 20, 2020
Kenny Rogers – 81
Honorable mention to music icon and long time Nashville resident
Little Richard who died on May 9, 2020 – age 87
Iowa Environmental Mesonet has calculated some early snow fall totals. Looks like Northeast Iowa has received anywhere between 2-6 inches of snow. More snow fell south of HWY 20. Looks like the Fairfax/Hiawatha area were the big winners with about a foot of snow.
Carrie Underwood gave her fans a little musical present this year with her Christmas album, My Gift. Now she’s announced a very special project for 2021…a Gospel album, titled My Savior.
Carrie says she loved making the music on My Gift so much, that she didn’t want to stop, “I felt my soul was in such a great place, I wanted to keep making music like the music off of My Gift.”
So, Carrie has created an album full of gospel hymns that she grew up singing. She envisions this new project as a companion piece to her Christmas album.
Fans can expect the album My Savior to arrive around Easter 2021.
The Christmas season….a time for friends, family and TREATS!! The website Zippa did a little research and found out each states most popular holiday treat. In Iowa we are fond of the Oreo Balls, in Minnesota Peppermint Kiss Cookies are tops, and in Wisconsin Andes Peppermint is number one. Check out the rest of their findings….it’s a bit cheese-y. -EK
A staggering 9 states chow down on cheesecake during the winter holidays
20 states dig cakes, while 12 want candy, and 10 know cookies are what’s up
That doesn’t even count Pennsylvania and Hawaii who busy eating gingerbread cheesecake and Oreo cheesecake
Move over California, Missouri searches for “vegan Christmas cookies” more than any other state.
Wyoming and Arizona like their treats liquid, as delicious hot chocolate and less delicious egg nog
Forget candy you can get in the grocery store everyday, New Jersey knows treats are more satisfying when they have a chocolate-y Santa face
Only North Dakota is a big fan of vastly, underrated peanut butter blossoms
Oh give me some Christmas pudding, oh give me some pudding (says Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee)
Merry Christmas, and a happy Festivus to the rest of us! Festivus is celebrated every year on December 23rd. Frank Costanza explains how it all got started.
