"Santa Claus" news and stories

I have a fondness for Little Debbie. She has helped me through many a night when I had a craving for something sweet and sugary. I once had a dinner that consisted of Little Debbie brownies and Diet Coke.

Every year around this time the company comes out with Christmas-shaped snacks (if snacks can be "shaped" like Christmas). I don't mean they're shaped like Christ, I mean they're shaped like Christmas trees (there are other snacks as well, including cookies). The white trees are yellow cake covered in a white frosting, and on a scale of 1 to 10 they get an 8.

The green trees are brownies that are covered with a green glaze (to give it that tree look) and colored sprinkles (for the lights and decorations). My roommate loves the white cakes, but he finds the brownies to taste too "fake" and "chemical-ey." Now, I don't know if chemical-ey is a word, but I think that's exactly what makes them so good! They're kinda addictive, and unlike a lot of brownies, they're always incredibly moist and chewy.

Santa's Butt Winter Porter is just too naughty for Maine. The state's Bureau of Liquor Enforcement has barred Shelton Brothers from selling the beer, which sports an image of the jolly old elf hoisting a brew as he checks his list. The butt in the name is a reference to both Santa's rear and to the barrel he's perched on. Once upon a time in England brewers used large barrels called butts to store beer.

With the help of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, Shelton has sued the state agency on the grounds that not approving its label application violates the First Amendment by censoring artistic expression. The state, for its part, says that it's in the right because showing Saint Nick on a beer label might encourage the wee ones to take to the bottle.

I'm not sure I buy the state's argument. For one thing, there are many winter beers with labels that show Santa Claus. You'd think there would be legions of preteen dipsomaniacs by now. I wonder if Rogue is allowed to sell its Santa's Private Reserve in Maine.

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Picture the scene: it's Christmas Day, and you're making holiday dinner for your family. You have your turkey and your stuffing and your apple pie and your egg nog, and the gifts have all been opened and everything is just hunky-dory. Then Aunt Sally comes in with the side dish she made, puts it on the table, announces what it is, and freaks out all the kids.

Reindeer meatballs!

That's what they serve at Northern Delicacies, a takeout restaurant and grocery store in Brooklyn. They also sell fish balls and salty licorice.

My advice? Don't serve them on Christmas Day. Or, if you are going to serve them, do it before Christmas Eve, so the kids won't think you did something to Santa's reindeer after they dropped off the gifts that night.