Boston Marathon Bombing

Along with the entire country, I have been closely following news this week, watching to find out more on the horrible bombing incident at the Boston Marathon. There was no doubt in my mind that we would catch the cruel terrorist(s) that was/were behind something so evil. I felt such anger and hatred for whoever was behind this, and painted the ugliest picture in my head of what they might look like. Of what evil might look like. Never in my mind did it look like this.

This is a little boy, with wide, innocent looking doe eyes. He is 19 years old, the same age as my daughter. I can't imagine what has happened in his short life to make him even think of doing something so horrific, let alone acting it out. His name is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and according to reports, he and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev (who died in a police shoot out) are responsible for the bombing. 

I am very proud of the city of Boston, for the way they responded to the bombing. I loved hearing all the stories of the people coming together to help those in need, both physically and emotionally. This is the only good thing to come out of the bombing. Instead of being discouraged by mankind (two lone people acting this evil out), I am choosing to be inspired by the hundreds of strong, brave and compassionate people that rallied around each other in this time of need.

The Boston city Police worked tirelessly to find the people responsible for this cruel act. I am so grateful to them, and I know the entire city of Boston has shown their gratitude to them as well.

The news reported that people were cheering in the streets when Dzhokhar was finally captured. 

I understand that the people must have felt so relieved that they were no longer in harm. They were showing their gratitude to the police for keeping them safe. I only hope that these picture don't translate differently in other countries. This was not a witch hunt, and these people are not cheering because they will get revenge on this boy. They are cheering because no other innocent people will be hurt by some one that was obviously out to do just that.

I am so sad for all those in Boston who lost loved ones, or were injured by this senseless act. But I am also sad for this 19 year old boy, who some how was so misguided and jaded. His life is over now too... and for what? 

The youngest victim of the bombings was Martin Richard. He was only 8 years old, but this picture taken of him earlier proves that he may have been the wisest of us all.

God Bless his precious little soul, as well as all the other victims in Boston.

Don't Judge a Bunny by It's Box

Milk chocolate, or dark chocolate? Hollow, or solid? Boxed or unboxed? So many considerations when trying to decide on the most perfect chocolate bunny for your Easter basket.

Last week I read a yahoo shopping article that wrote of the results of a blind taste test held to rate some of the top selling chocolate bunnies on the market. They tested eight different bunnies that ranged in price from $3.29 to $23.50. While Godiva did place third in the taste test (the most expensive bunny), the Lindt and Hershey bunnies, which are far less expensive, came in first and second respectively.

Here at the Rajewski house, we wanted to hold our own blind taste test. Seeing as I would never be willing to spend $23.50 on a chocolate bunny for an Easter basket, we decided to test three of the top placers, that were reasonably priced. After all agreeing that an Easter bunny was meant to be milk chocolate, we went with the Dove milk chocolate bunny, the Lindt milk chocolate bunny and the Hershey's Bliss milk chocolate bunny.

Before we did our blind taste test, we all came to the conclusion that esthetically, the Hershey's bunny looked the best. The Hershey's packaging was adorable. The box makes the bunny appear chunky in size, and it would look perfect nestled in a child's Easter basket. 

While the Lindt bunny is also attractive, it appears much smaller in size, and looks like more of an adult version of the Easter bunny. Very sophisticated.

The Dove bunny was our least favorite. It looks more like a cat than a bunny, and it is a yellowish mustard color, instead of a metallic gold like the other two.

Of the three bunnies, the Dove was the only solid bunny, and was a bit larger than the others at 4.5 ounces of chocolate. The Hershey's weighed in at 4 ounces, and the Lindt was 3.5 ounces of chocolate.

All three were comparable in calories/fat, as well as price per ounce. 

Moving on to the blind taste test. We had a unanimous first place winner! The results were a huge surprise to all of us. Without looking, or knowing which chocolate we were biting, we all chose the Dove milk chocolate bunny as the best tasting chocolate between the three.

Huh. Don't judge a book by it's cover, or in the case, don't judge a bunny by it's box.