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Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

February 13, 2016

Fwench Toast

Going through my Facebook pages feed, I noticed this on the Relish Magazine wall:

(click graphic for larger view)


Any mention of French toast always reminds me of a story told to me by a friend; he had met the friend of a woman I was dating at her house and because my date and I wanted some privacy, went home with her. (great friend!) The babysitter was there and the woman paid the young girl who was doing the sitting and after she was gone, went in to look in on her daughter asleep in her bedroom. After a few minutes, the woman came out and sat beside my friend who was waiting on the couch. One thing lead to another and...well, you get the drift, I hope.

My friend said he woke up the next morning to find the little girl standing by his side of the bed, silently staring at him, her hair mussed by sleep, a thumb stuck in her mouth and a grubby little blanket held in her other arm. They looked at each other for a while, then my friend asked: "What do you want?"

The little girl took her thumb out of her mouth and answered:

"Fwench toast."

February 10, 2016

It's Lent

"Bumped" from a couple of yrs. ago and updated*.


Not being Catholic, I am usually unaware when Lent begins. (*This year, Lent begins today and ends on March 24.) When a spate of pancake recipes hit my reader earlier this week, I was reminded that before Lent begins, there is Shrove Tuesday or "Pancake Day", when housewives would try to use up all the ingredients they couldn't use during Lent.

As I said, not being Catholic, I am not familiar with Lent, but I do know that when making pancakes, one should not over mix the wet and dry ingredients or the pancakes will become "tough".  A few lumps are all right - they'll bake out when the pancakes are cooked.

I used to brag that someone could bring up a topic and I would know a joke about it.  Since it's Lent, here's my Lent joke:

A couple had just gotten married during this time of year.  On their honeymoon night, they went to bed and the new bride eagerly reached over to her husband, but he gently pushed her away.

"I can't...it's Lent." he explained.

"That's silly." she sniffed.  "To who and for how long?"

February 8, 2016

Good News & Bad News

The bad news?  No more football for six months. (not counting the draft...and that really doesn't count)

The good news?  My email inbox will quit getting deluged with Pizza Hut adverts.

The day after the Super Bowl has always been the saddest day of the year for me.  Now, as I grow older, I care less and less about all sports, but I still enjoy football...although one has to be a bit of a masochist to remain a Cowboys fan. -sigh-  I care nothing about basketball and even less (if possible) about hockey and the only reason I like seeing baseball in the news is that it means spring is here. 

I get one, sometimes two, Pizza Hut mailings every week.  I don't eat a lot of pizza, but I signed up so I can order online and take advantage of the deals offered only to members.  This week, though, I was getting two, sometimes three separate promotional emails every day.  Enough already!  I think being a pizza delivery person would be one of the worst jobs, particularly on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Well, except for working for Roto-Rooter on the day after Thanksgiving.

I'm also glad that my recipe newsletters will focus on something else besides party dips and especially chicken wing recipes.  I never made any of them, but I read so many I started sprouting pinfeathers.  Every time I've ever seen wings on the buffet, the "drumettes" were gone by the time I got to them.  I finally figured out the best way to eat the "arm" part of the wing;  pinch off the end with the bit of cartilage and pull the two tiny bones out and then you can eat the entire thing!

January 19, 2016

Brain Freeze

The scientific name for "brain freeze" or Ice cream headache caused by eating something cold is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia

January 3, 2016

Does It Go Bad?



From the website:

DoesItGoBad.com is a place where you can find information about when (or if) a particular product will expire or will be unfit for consumption. If you have a product and you can’t use it in a couple of days, or simply you don’t know when it’ll go bad, DoesItGoBad.com is the place where you’ll get the information you need.

http://www.doesitgobad.com/

December 16, 2015

The Ancient Spoon

Spoons were invented at least a thousand years before forks. It is thought the earliest ones were natural items, such as seashells or conveniently shaped stones.  Later versions were carved from wood, but the wealthy had ones made from bronze or silver.


That said, knives were the earliest utensil used for eating.

December 10, 2015

The Meat of the Matter

The average American eats about 200 sandwiches every day.


When I first saw that bit of trivia, I thought "That can't be right!  I'm an old bachelor and probably eat more sandwiches than the average person, but I don't eat THAT many!" Doing the math, I figured that each American consumes nearly four sandwiches per week.  That figure still seemed higher than the amount I eat a week, though.  

After doing a little research, I found out that 50 percent of America eats a sandwich daily. It made me think about my own sandwich consumption and considering that - probably every other day - I eat a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast, that probably counts as a sandwich, too. In fact, I had one for breakfast earlier today and two small turkey sandwiches for supper.

Oh well, I guess I really am above the mean on sandwich consumption.

November 26, 2015

giblets

giblets gib·lets [jib-lits] plural noun

the heart, liver, gizzard, and the like, of a fowl, often cooked separately.


There IS one more definition, classified as slang, but I didn't see it at Dictionary.com.  It was a LONG time ago during a football practice and after a play, one of my teammates was still on the ground after the play was over.  The coach leaned over the prostrate boy asking him where it hurt.  I wasn't close enough to hear the muffled answer, but the coach got up with a smile on his face.

"He'll be all right." he informed the rest of us. "He just got hit in the giblets."

That was a scene that came to mind at every Thanksgiving dinner after that.

Since the Word of the Day was more-or-less related to Thanksgiving, I'll just combine two posts into one.  I was going to write one about how many calories were in the average Thanksgiving dinner: from 3-4,000 and the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Calorie Control Council. (there were other sources that cited different numbers, but I like the alliteration of that website's name) 

That would take a LOT of exercise to work off that many calories!  A nice brisk walk would be better than spending the day in a gym, so check out the Walking Calories Calculator to see how far/fast you need to walk to get rid of those excess calories, or you can use the Holiday Calorie Counter to figure both the calories in your holiday meal and the amount of exercise needed to work off the meal.

I have my Thanksgiving meal already prepared.


Pathetic, huh? One good thing is that it will be ready in a minute and a half after I pop it in the microwave; another good thing is that it's only 290 calories with 9 grams of fat. I'll work that off watching the football games on TV!

November 23, 2015

The Toxic Avocado

At least they are to some animals, such as horses, cattle, goats and birds.

From the ASPCA website:

Avocado leaves, fruit, seeds and bark may contain a toxic principle known as persin. The Guatemalan variety, a common one found in stores, appears to be the most problematic. Other varieties of avocado can have different degrees of toxic potential.

November 18, 2015

How to Make Collard Greens

This looks SO good and an interesting change-of-pace to use turkey instead of pork.

October 26, 2015

Recipe Puppy



Recipe Puppy is an ingredient based recipe search engine. You can enter your ingredients in the search form or try an example search. If you already know what you want to make, there's a CookThing feature that lets you select the ingredients you want to use.

They also provide the code to put a nifty widget on your own website or blog.

Recipe Search by Ingredients:
Powered by Recipe Puppy

Recipe Puppy

September 20, 2015

What Flavor Kit Kat Are You?

You Are a Dark Chocolate Kit Kat

You are a passionate and quick-tempered person. You know what you love, and you know what you hate.

You are very competitive and even a bit ruthless when you need to be. You have what it takes to get ahead.

You are a daredevil that loves to take risks. You pride yourself on your courageousness, and you love to test your own limits.


You have a real flair for adventure - and it starts with being impulsive. You do what you feel like, and you often feel like flying solo.



Not to wax philosophic about candy, but these results are spot-on...well, maybe I'm flattering myself a little bit...although I do like the regular milk chocolate ones, as well. Dark chocolate is supposed to be better for you, I've read.

They're just about my favorite candy bar. I don't think I ate them much until I saw Richard Simmons being interviewed and he was asked how to deal with chocolate cravings. He said he liked Kit Kats because he could open one up and eat just one segment and satisfy his craving. I was thinking "Yeah, right. Don't think I could stop at one little piece." and he added that he sometimes ate the whole thing. He went on to say that they were fairly low in fat compared to other candy bars.

These days I'm not so much worried about the fat than I am the grams of sugar, but it doesn't seem to affect my glucose levels as much as other sweets and doesn't even come close to what rice or pasta does to my blood sugar.

September 19, 2015

Cider Sipping Sum & Song

It takes about three apples to make one glass of cider.



September 6, 2015

Flippin' Out

You Are Genuine

You are focused and inner-directed. You know who are, and you live a very authentic life.

You are quite modest and never too in love with yourself. You aren't perfect, and you don't take yourself too seriously.

You are more ambitious than you let on. You strive to be better without beating up on yourself.


You are highly effective, and others have taken notice. People want to be like you when they see who you really are. 


 



The title of this quiz post is an homage to an old friend; he was manic-depressive (or bi-polar, if you prefer) and his mood swings were severe, going from sleeping for days at a time to staying awake days at a time, frantically painting or writing. Most of the time his mood was even, though, but when he felt a bout coming on, he'd tell me "I'm goin' to see Aunt Jemima." (meaning, "flipping out", as in pancakes.

Personally, I'd have rather visited with Betty Crocker or even Little Debbie, but that's just me. (not a racist, I just prefer cakes and sweet snacks over pancakes)

August 21, 2015

What's Your Food Personality?

You Like Fun Food

You eat simply because you enjoy it, and you love food. You especially love delicious food.

You're not too into foodie trends or the newest diet. If you like something, you'll eat it - simple as that.

You love everything culinary. You love to cook, go out to eat, and grocery shop.


There's nothing you like better than sharing a good meal with friends. Except occasionally keeping it to yourself! 


 

August 12, 2015

Italian Quality

In Italy there are pizza inspectors hired by the government to ensure restaurants are making their pizzas of "Italian quality".


August 10, 2015

Chocolate Milk


Chocolate milk was originally sold as medicine.

(source: Smithsonian.com)

August 6, 2015

Caesar Salad on a Stick

From SampleStorm comes Caesar Salad on a Stick

Servings: 8
PREP 10 mins
READY IN 10 mins

Ingredients

8 croutons
8 (1-inch) wedges romaine lettuce
8 (1 ounce) cubes cooked chicken
8 (1/2-inch) cubes Parmesan cheese, or to taste
8 bamboo toothpicks
8 teaspoons Caesar salad dressing

Directions Thread a crouton, romaine lettuce wedge, chicken cube, and Parmesan cheese cube onto each toothpick, respectively.

Arrange toothpicks on a serving platter and drizzle Caesar salad dressing over each.


At first I thought this was silly, then after thinking about it for a while, decided it would be perfect for a picnic.

July 31, 2015

I Like My Trivia Over Easy

The 100 folds of a traditional chef's hat (aka "toque") are said to represent the many different ways a chef knows to cook an egg.



July 25, 2015

Got Milk?

The temperature of milk inside a cow is 101 degrees Fahrenheit.



But, after the cow is milked, the milk is then promptly cooled and stored at 40 deg. F.