Expect Great Pie

On Halloween, our office had a chili cook-off. We had six different types of chili with lots of chips, breads, veggies, and desserts. Someone brought in a store-bought pumpkin pie, a piece of which I found to be fluffier and lighter and more delicious than any pumpkin pie I had enjoyed in the past. It was very similar to the pumpkin cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and I wondered how a store bakery had created such a great pie. Had they used fresh pumpkin?

When Cooking.com sent me my latest e-newsletter, it highlighted several pumpkin pie recipes. I noshed on leftover pie from the office fridge and still wondered, how had they done it? Would one of these recipes yield a pie that was thicker than an inch and not so dense as the ones that come from the recipe on a can of pumpkin?

Today I tried the pie for one last time, figuring it still looked good. This time I noticed the label from the grocery store: "SWEET POTATO PIE." Ahh. When I ate it this time, it tasted just like sweet potatoes. I have to smile at how much the taste changed from when I thought it was pumpkin to when I discovered it was sweet potato. It's an interesting lesson in how much our experiences are shaped by our expectations!

Rembrandt 2-Hour Whitening Kit

Pardon me for sounding like a commercial, but I get excited about new products.  This one from Rembrandt sounded so good, too: a whitening kit that works in two hours with a $5 coupon available online.  I used Rembrandt toothpaste for the entire year prior to my wedding with decent, but not whitening-kit, results.  Thus, I went to the Rembrandt site, downloaded the coupon, then turned around and left it on my desk while I went to the store.  Still, the kit only cost $19, so I bought it anyway.

Much to my surprise and delight, the process actually takes slightly less than two hours.  You wear it for 20 minutes, rest 10 minutes, then do that three more times.  I used it while watching a movie, then quickly ran into the bathroom to check out my magnificent new smile.  The results were pretty good.

My teeth were whiter, white enough to notice, but not obscenely fluorescent.  I probably could have achieved better results with a 7-Day kit, but I got natural-looking white teeth for less than twenty bucks (would have been less than 15 with the coupon) in less than two hours.  Before and after photos might have been nice, but did I take any?  No.  My husband prefers his Crest Whitestrips, but for my level of patience, this was perfect.