Leftover Pizza's 2023 Holiday Journal!
GRIMEY AND DEREK’S 2023 Holiday Journal
12/25/2023 - GRIMEY
Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope everyone’s holiday has been great! I’m sure most peoples celebrations will carry well after the actual big day. Luckily for me that’s also the case since I’ve been laying in bed sick since Saturday night. It’s not the holly jolly last moment I was hoping for but it’s given me some time to just relax and take the final moments in by myself.
After several requests and recommendations, I finally watched Peewees Playhouse Christmas Special. 2 things.
I can’t believe Peewee made Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello make 500 copies of each style Christmas card while he went out to play in the snow…. what a dick… and
I thought I loved Conky before I saw him decked out like a Christmas tree. Boy… was I without any clue. There’s something about a robot covered in tinsel and popcorn I never knew I needed until now.
Another random tidbit I’d like to throw in here while I still have you, while watching a classic I’m way too familiar with, The Smurfs Christmas, it never dawned on me that I hadn’t previously gushed about Smurf Pudding!
Aside from “the last walnut,” I don’t think there are any real clues as to what the Smurf Pudding actually is but holy smokes does it look delicious. Judging by the color, I assume it has to be some kind of strawberry or cherry. Almost certainly not pink lemonade but… who knows?
Anyways, this is about the time where I start to panic watch every last Christmas special I can before it’s officially over starting with Christmas Comes to Pacland and ending with A Muppet Family Christmas with a big glass of eggnog. My most sincerest thank you goes out to anyone who managed to make it here through your holiday celebration and for anyone who caught an episode of The Leftover Pizza Podcast! Without you there wouldn’t be this so…. cheers to that and have a happy whatever you celebrate!
12/21/2023 - GRIMEY
Since she always has to spoil at least one gift before the big day, I present an early Christmas gift from my girlfriend; a gang of Xmas TMNT cutouts by Eureka from 1990! In her defense, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have gotten around to posting about them had I opened them on or after Christmas. So, fair enough!
Eureka, known for their holiday/birthday celebration cut outs, gift tags and cards, seemed to have a hand in a countless amount of different franchises; Turtles was certainly not the least of them.
It seems like such easy money. Most of these images had already existed prior to Eureka getting their hands on them; remove sewer cover or weapon here, replace with a Christmas gift or candy cane there and PRESTO! The end result always looked so goofy. Since they’d basically throw in and switch items at random, it never seemed to realistically match up the way they’d intended. Honestly though, I think that’s what I love about them most.
12/20/2023 - GRIMEY
If you’re a late 80s kid like me, you’ve most definitely seen this one before. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to find this Crayola Christmas tin sealed with all its contents complete with an old school Ames sticker in a random Goodwill store. For a couple bucks, I would never leave something like this behind.
The beautiful almost Norman Rockwell-like tin, a whopping 64 pack of Crayola brand crayons and an adorable little Crayola bear Christmas ornament; what more could you possibly want?
I don’t know if it’s just me but I notice smells almost immediately and I almost forgot how damn good a fresh pack of crayons smelled.
12/15/2023 - GRIMEY
Wanted to take a moment to express how awesome it is that Crunch Tators have recently become a seasonal Christmas snack thanks to Home Alone. They’re the same chips that are around all year long, as far as I can tell, without the adorable cartoon gator illustration on the front. You can find these at Dollar General and a few other stores. I haven’t. These are actually from last years batch. I still have both sitting in a rubbermaid bin in my basement.
In case you forgot exactly which scene you can see the beloved Crunch Tators, it’s Kevins big pig out fest with Mighty Mesquite chips, pepsi and a big bowl of ice cream with a viewing of Angles with Filthy Souls. Obviously, the bags have been updated a little (“Lays” instead of “Frito Lays” and letters have a black shadow cast behind them) but it’s close enough for me to purchase each year and snap a few shots of with Home Alone VHS tapes and an old Pepsi can.
12/11/2023 - GRIMEY
Thanks to Ephemeral Features on YouTube, I present to you one of the most underrated classic 90’s Christmas commercials; the 1995 Popcorn Fish from Long John Silvers! Derek and I recently talked about this one on our Thanksgiving episode but it felt absolutely necessary to mention it here as well.
I didn’t think much of it when it aired in 95 as I was six years old and, at the time, popcorn fish sounded pretty awesome. But, now days? Imagine being an Elf handing in your resignation, Santa is doing all he can to keep you, offering you a raise as well as a company sled and you tell him to shove it. All because you want some, probably cold by now, $1.99 popcorn fish. Should’ve taken the raise.
12/10/2023 - GRIMEY
I know a lot of people immediately think Halloween when it comes to McNugget buddies. Let’s face it, they were cooler than the originals and straight up some of the best McDonalds toys of all time. However, back in 1996, McDonald’s whipped up some holiday magic and unleashed a bunch of Christmas McNuggets; I present to you the McDonalds McMemories: A Merry McNugget Christmas collection!
I haven’t the slightest clue how many of these things they made but it seems like at least 24 ornaments (2 sets of which I’m missing) and a Santa and Reindeer display set. I know they made others but info on these things is super slim online. I do know that each set of ornaments came in a styrofoam pack of four packaged with a McNugget box and certificate of authenticity while the Santa and Reindeer set came in a similar, yet bigger, pack of its own.
In one hand, it’s surprising that no one seems to remember Merry McNuggets enough to mention them. Yet, on the other hand, they aren’t exactly toys that came in a happy meal. These things are legit collectors items (back before everything turned into a collectors item). To the best of my knowledge, the only way to purchase these was through a mail order catalog from McDonald’s. Had my folks took the time to purchase these, they wouldn’t have been for play. They’re also surprisingly heavy; could easily fight a polar bear with a hand full of them.
12/06/2023 - GRIMEY
My girlfriend was lucky enough to find and scoop this up for me on one of her random Goodwill stops recently. What you’re looking at is a Ninja Turtle ornament from 1990. This thing pulls all the stops; it’s an ornament in the shape of a wreath but it’s also a fucking snow globe, the mini Donatello almost feels like the bonus at this point.
Anyways, I did have the Raph version as a kid back in probably 1992 or 93. Inevitably, the entire ornament was dismantled leaving nothing but miniature Raph behind which I then dropped into the bathroom sink by accident. I remember bawling my eyes out but also being strangely comforted after my mom explained that Raph had just went back into the sewer where he’s suppose to be. I was never good at goodbyes.
12/05/2023 - GRIMEY
Hey, long time no see! As you could’ve guessed, it’s been super busy here. But, fear not as we’re back with regularly scheduled finding old bullshit and sharing and we’re glad you’re still here!
Now that we got that out of the way, I’d like to direct your attention to the 6 Super Mario Bros. Christmas cards above. These things come from 1989, the year I was born; further proving that basically everything good came out on or near my birth year. Weird coincidence.
Seriously though, these things are super rad! As you all know, I love anything in the style of SMB3; add a Christmas theme and I’m instantly sold. I mean, who wouldn’t love to see Mario and a Koopa Troopa having a snowball fight?
11/22/2023 - GRIMEY
Just wanted to pop in here really quick and wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! Hope your holiday season has been great so far; it’s just begun and already it feels like it’s zinging by way too fast as it normally does.
In case you missed it, our Thanksgiving episode is live now wherever you get your podcasts. We had so much fun with our Fox Halloween Bash show that we decided to create our own little television event with a Thanksgiving spin. Without spoiling too much, we delved into 2 Thanksgiving themed episodes from the 90s as well as a few cool holiday commercials to complement them. We laughed, we cried, we reminisced…. Give it a listen whenever you get a chance! The bonus show for Nov is still coming. While we are aiming for before Novembers end, it may hit just after. As the holidays grow busier, we can’t promise anything other than you will indeed have a show soon.
While I have you here, in case you find yourself bored or alone or just on the hunt for something seasonably appropriate to watch, I did a little digging to see what kind of Thanksgiving goodies YouTube might be hiding so you don’t have to! None of these videos are mine so, if you enjoyed them, please like the videos or subscribe and all that good stuff for the respective owners. ‘Tis the season and all!
Ok, 7 videos. That ought to keep you busy! I’ll more than likely be too fat and lazy to write anything here the next couple days during the festivities so, until we meet again! Whether you’re eating a classic thanksgiving turkey dinner or a plate of pretzels, popcorn, buttered toast and jelly beans, we hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!
11/18/2023 - GRIMEY
Listen, Thanksgiving doesn’t really get the push that Halloween and Christmas gets so we’re limited on how much there is to talk about the holiday. That’s not gonna stop me from squeezing in whatever little anecdotes I can. If that means I have to talk about Turkey Cranberry Ravioli from Aldi, SO BE IT!
As far as I can tell, these aren’t new but I’ve never had them so they are, at the least, new to me. These promise “Thanksgiving in a bite” so I was thinking a red sauce probably wouldn’t cut it. We’re gonna have to come up with something else to sort of mesh with the flavors of turkey, stuffing, cranberries and fine cheeses. The solution: heavy whipping cream, butter, vegetable stock, lemon juice and brown gravy powder. I made a (sort of) roux from butter and gravy powder then slowly added low salt vegetable stock with some lemon juice then slowly added the heavy whipping cream.
For winging this, it turned out pretty damn good! It really is a small bite of Thanksgiving though it’s mostly stuffing forward. I would appreciate more of the cranberry flavor coming through for some sweetness to give it a little balance from the savory notes. Would Gordon Ramsay say it’s good? Probably not. Is it New York Times good? Also no, but it’s certainly newsworthy enough here at Leftover Pizza where we try to keep it real even during the lesser loved seasons.
11/16/2023 - GRIMEY
Todays’ holly jolly Christmas special recommendation comes from 1993; The Elf and the Magic Key! It’s the sequel to the 1991 short, The Elf Who Saved Christmas (which, to be honest, I’m not at all familiar with). This is one of the least talked about, super obscure short Christmas films that I’ve had the chance to grow up with and, hopefully by the end of this little rant, it’ll catch a few more fans at the very least.
It’s Christmas Eve and Santa has been kidnapped by two (at least) 30 something year old brothers who are after all of the toys at Santas workshop in exchange for Santa. An elf, Toby, seeks the help of Mrs. Buzzard, a witch who later explains that she can’t offer help since she’s been imprisoned in Santas mail box by a wizard she had an argument with years ago. Mrs. Buzzard offers Toby a magic key the wizard gave her, which Mrs. Buzzard is convinced is useless, in hopes that she can release her from the mail box.
I’ve realized just how fucking weird this little movie is even more after explaining it here but I’m still convinced that, even with the horrible acting and cringe worthy little moments, it’s SO GOOD! Okay, nostalgia obviously plays a huge role in my thinking here but I still think you should give it a whirl if you’ve got nothing better to do tonite.
11/15/2023 - GRIMEY
So, your boy tried his hand at baking over the weekend. Baking has always been something my mother has been passionate about and I always looked forward to making Christmas cookies as a kid because of it. Even now, I still get a little giddy. However, I’ve never been one to personally bake by myself. It’s intimidating. I can cook whatever the hell you want me to, easily. Baking, on the other hand, has some rules and just feels so unforgiving if you mess up. After reading about Jacques Torres and his New York Times cookie recipe, I had to give it a whirl. The man’s been in the chocolatier/pastry business for over 45 years; how could he be wrong?
The recipe I’m referring to is the dipped chocolate chip cookie recipe, of course. You can find it online all over the place with slight variations. It’s a strange recipe though; 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons of this 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of that, 60% or more bittersweet chocolate wafers, a mix of bread and cake flours, chill flour for 24 hours before baking. But, as I said, the man probably knows a thing or two. Imma trust that man asap.
Admittedly, I’m not much for dark bittersweet chocolate but I used it the first round. I also used all purpose flour instead of bread flour. I ended up trying it again the next day and used the correct flour types but switched the dark chocolate chunks for milk chocolate melting wafers which I think made for a better texture but less chocolate flavor. What I’m saying is just follow the damn recipe to a “T” instead of what just did.
All in all, these cookies are kind of amazing and everyone who ate them laughed when I said I baked them. I individually wrapped them; it’s got me feeling some sort of way. It’s like I have my own little hotel cookie stash like Kevin McCallister. I really enjoyed this. There’s just something so comforting about breaking out mom’s old Kitchen Aid mixing bowl and doing her favorite thing during the holidays. It’s a vibe I didn’t realize was waiting there for me to find, but I found it.
11/09/2023 - GRIMEY
I know I’ve talked about this at least a dozen times before online but I figure one more time shouldn’t hurt. If you haven’t watched the Smurfs Christmas Special from 1982, you need to change that IMMEDIATELY! It’s available FOR FREE on YouTube thanks to the Smurfs Offical channel so…. you really don’t have much of an excuse not to!
The Smurfs come to the rescue of two children who are hunted by a mysterious magical wizard for revenge. Gargamel is offered a Smurf killing spell from the mysterious man in exchange for the children. Yeah, it gets really serious relatively fast. And that’s not even the craziest thing, you’ll see.
The last thing I’ll mention; if you’re like me, a sucker for happy “Christmas miracle” type endings, stay tuned for this one! It’s like pure crystalized Christmas happiness.
11/07/2023 - Derek
BAH! HUMBUG! No matter how much Grimey eggs me on, I absolutely refuse to acknowledge the holiday season until after my birthday.
I said NO! I don't care if Elf is turning 20, or that they finally gave Buddy a syrup to call his own. I said no holidays until after my birthday and I mean it, dammit!
That's more like it. Anyways, let's start off with a bit of Halloween hangover. As you may remember, I had the great pleasure of seeing the infamous Mac Sabbath on Halloween night. Not only were they a great live band, they actually had an exclusive Halloween t-shirt at the show! Check this bad boy out...
ALRIGHT, CUT IT OUT. There will be plenty of time to look at old toy books after, you guessed it, MY BIRTHDAY.
Thank you. Jeez.
Anyways, the other night I came up with a brilliant idea for dinner - Mediterranean Nachos. You see, over the Summer I had Arayes for the first time and my mind was absolutely blown with how delicious they were. While I had all the ingredients on hand, I was lacking the motivation to make them proper. So, I did what any good American would do...take the lazy way out! I have to tell you, it certainly paid off this time. They came out so delicious, just look at how good these look.
FOR THE LOVE OF...
Sometimes I just want to talk about food! Like these protein bars I found over at Trader Joe's the other night!!
See? That wasn't so bad was it? Finding Barebells in the wild can be just as exciting and as heartwarming as Holiday content. As a matter of fact, at that price it may even be more exciting than Black Friday or hand turkeys or hell, even Saint Nick himself. I thi- oh, hold on, I just got a notification.
I...don't tell Grimey.
11/06/2023 - GRIMEY
Alright! We gave you all a week to grieve the end of Halloween but they’ve got the Little Deb Xmas collection on shelves already; we’re ripping the bandaid off. It’s Holiday time here at Leftover Pizza!!
We can’t promise things will be as bumping as Halloween over here. Admittedly, after an insanely busy spooky season, it’s hard to recover quickly enough for the oncoming festivities. But we promise, with a little holiday magic we’ll try our best! We only get 2 months of green bean casserole and tube shaped red jelly season; we refuse to waste anymore time!
Just like the last journal, we probably won’t be plugging much on our socials aside from the Facebook group, so if you’re not part of that, (you should be) check back frequently; you might find a surprise or two!
If you’re new here, thanks for checking us out! Enjoy some of these fun posts from the holiday archives! Most of the posts were made under the Dem Boys name but they lack absolutely no luster! On top of that, you can always revisit our past holiday episodes! Click here to listen to our wild musical ride from the North Pole. Or you might check out this one here for our favorite iconic Santas from pop culture. Or, maybe you’re not quite ready to dive into Christmas and you want to take things slow. NO PROBLEM! Check out Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 of our favorite Thanksgiving things episodes for some hilarious turkey day banter!
With all that said, trace your hand on some paper and decorate it like a turkey, the holidays are here and we hope you’ll join us!
- Leftover Pizza Club
