CLIF Chocolate Cherry BLOK Contest; CLIF Holiday Bar Winners; Random Shots of Beauty

“Three is a magic number, yes it is ... “

-      - From Schoolhouse Rock

This is the third straight weekend that I’m offering up a new CLIF Bar contest, and I’m also announcing three winners of last week’s CLIF holiday bar contest – so we'll ahead and have some fun with the theme of three on this one.  But first, let’s get to this weekend’s Random Shot of Beauty:

As seen in Carmel Valley, three days before Halloween.  Incidentally, if it weren’t for decorations like this, it would be hard to tell that it’s fall around here lately with the 80-degree weekend we just enjoyed.  Have I mentioned that I love living in California?

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Now it's time to announce the three winners of last week’s CLIF Bar holiday flavor giveaway contest.  Grimzeak, Southern Tim, and MittenKim: e-mail me your contact info – you’ve won!  Thanks to everyone who entered, and remember to get your holiday flavors while they last, so you don’t have to wait until 2013.

(P.S.  Remember how many holiday flavors there are?  Three, of course!)

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So it’s time for the new contest, which features a brand new CLIF product.

Shortly before our family trip to Zion, we received a sampler box that contained three (yes, really) packs of CLIF’s brand new Chocolate Cherry flavor BLOKS.  In the midst of our three days of hiking, each of my three kids got to sample the new flavor – and the reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

CLIF offers this same flavor in their SHOT gel, but it’s somewhat unique among energy chews, which generally seems dominated by strictly fruit flavors.  Evidently it’s hard to mimic the taste of chocolate in this category of energy food, but CLIF does a pretty good job of it with the Chocolate Cherry BLOKS. 

The chocolate flavor is subtle but unmistakable; I thought of it like someone had poured chocolate syrup on CLIF’s black cherry BLOK flavor.  However, my 11-year-old daughter came up with an even better description: “It tastes like an ice cream sundae.” 

With the addition of this new flavor, CLIF now has nine (or, stated another way, three times three) BLOK flavors to choose from.  Like other BLOKS, the Chocolate Cherry flavor is made with 95 percent organic ingredients, with a balance of carbohydrates and electrolytes for quick energy and proper muscle function during athletic activity.  This variety will give you a caffeine boost as well, as each pack features 50mg worth, which is the equivalent of one shot of coffee.

Sound interesting?  The new BLOKS are now available in stores, but a few of my readers will get to try a sampler pack for themselves.  And in case you didn’t guess … the number of winners will be three.  However, I’m making it slightly more challenging than just leaving a comment.  This time, you have to name something that comes in threes, or name a group of three things that go together: for example, the past, present and future, or faith and hope and charity, or the heart and brain and body … you get the idea.  If your item(s) are the same as one that’s already listed, your entry doesn’t count.

And if those three examples I just mentioned seem obscure, it’s because I didn’t really make them up: they’re from one of my favorite childhood songs that has become something of a pop culture classic.  That Schoolhouse Rock video is below, and I’ll announce the winners of this contest on – you guessed it, November 3!

Special thanks to CLIF Bar for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!

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“Three Is A Magic Number” from Schoolhouse Rock (click to play):

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