Yeah, it's been another slow week. I made a nice variant of the asparagus soup with tarragon and garlic, and learned the hard way just how much fucking fun it is when woody asparagus strings wrap themselves tightly around the shaft of an immersion blender, but otherwise, nothing blogworthy.

Luckily, Pepsico's penchant for putting out proper sugar versions of its corn syrup sodas continues unabated, as today's Target run led to the discovery of Sierra Mist Natural, an all-sugar, no-corn-syrup variant of the lemon-lime soda that's not as good as Slice was.

And by variant, I mean more than just the usual, very slight difference to the character of the sweetness you get from a Pepsi Throwback or a Mexican Coke. This is actually a fairly distinct flavor. Less sweet a bit crisper, a bit more citrusy, but also with a bit more glass cleanery aftertaste.

Which is a shame, because I think, after first and second impressions, and both room temp and cold tastings, that I actually prefer Sierra Mist Unnatural. Take out the aftertaste, and you've got a winner, but any drink that leaves one's mouth tasting fainly of Windex isn't going to stay in my regular rotation.

Plus, the pastel packaging makes it look like I'm a hippie on a diet who's late to their art therapy session. They're gonna look awful when the empties pile up on my work desk.