CLIF Bar Seasonal Flavors Giveaway Contest; Random Shots of Beauty

Remember last weekend, when I did a combination Random Shot of Beauty and CLIF contest post?  And remember how I said that it would be the first of three CLIF contests here?  Well, this is Part II of the Great CLIF Giveaway Bonanza, as I’m now calling it.  Accordingly, we may as well do this in similar fashion as last weekend, and throw an RSOB in at the top for good measure.

Before getting to that, however, remember that you’ve got until October 31 to enter last weekend’s contest by pasting a link to your Meet the Moment entry on my contest page.  There are some strong entries so far, but I wouldn’t say there’s no possibility of someone topping it. 

But that was last week, and this is this week – so let’s jump into our Random Shot of Beauty:

A scene from the Zion Narrows, during a family hike that I'll report on later in the week (um ... hopefully).  Fuel for the all-day outing included three flavors of CLIF Builder’s Bars, three flavors of MOJO Bars, two flavors of regular CLIF Bars, and a multi-flavored stash of CLIF Bloks for everyone.  We must have built up some great CLIF karma, because when we got home …

… this box was waiting for us.  It was our annual sampling of CLIF’s seasonal flavors, most of which have already vanished since the time of this photo.  We’ll remember them fondly, though.

For the uninitiated, here’s the scoop: CLIF gets in the holiday spirit every year by releasing holiday-themed CLIF Bar flavors alongside the regular versions on most store shelves.  Since this is the 10^th consecutive year of CLIF’s holiday flavors, the annual release is moving right up there with pumpkin carving and Christmas tree cutting on our family’s list of fun holiday traditions.

The new flavors are made with 70 percent organic ingredients, and have the same blend of carbohydrates, protein and fiber as the regular bars.  Oh, there’s one more thing: they taste absolutely fantastic.  My favorite bar is a dead heat between the pumpkin pie and iced gingerbread flavors, and my kids are crazy about the peppermint stick flavor that was first introduced last year.  (And we all collectively miss the cranberry orange nut bread flavor that was discontinued two years ago.  Seriously – this is the kind of thing we talk about.)  My wife also found these bars on the right side of this list of the healthiest and unhealthiest pumpkin-flavored goodies you can indulge in over the holidays.

Winter athletes – I’m not one, but I’m pretty sure I’ve talked to some – often see the seasonal bar release as the beginning of winter sports season, and for those folks, CLIF’s holiday promotion benefits them even further.  This year the company is donating one percent of their seasonal bar sales to Protect Our Winters, an organization committed to engaging and mobilizing the winter sports community to lead the fight against climate change.

Another cool thing that came in our package this year was a recipe book of favorite holiday recipes from CLIF’s family of employees and sponsored athletes.  Rest assured that by the time the holidays have come and gone, we’ll have tested each of these recipes a few times, so maybe I can report back here at some point with an update.  In the meantime, this one for "Zingerbread" is catching my eye as the first one we’ll try:

Click to enlarge for easier reading

There’s only one downside to the seasonal flavors:  once they’re gone, you have to wait another year before you see them again.  So consider this your rallying cry to look for the seasonal bars in stores, and stock up on your favorites to keep the taste of the holidays rolling as long as possible.  And let’s go ahead and roll into our contest as well.

To help a few of my readers celebrate the holidays, CLIF is providing one of the sample boxes pictured above to three lucky winners.  For this contest, you don’t have to upload a picture or paste a link – all you have to do is leave a comment in the box below, and hope that CLIF karma is on your side.  I’ll announce the winners here next Sunday.

As always, thanks very much to CLIF Bar for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!

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