John-Bryan Hopkins's Blog, page 4

February 15th is National Chewing Gum Day!

Five Food Find about Chewing Gum

Kids in North America spend approximately half a billion dollars on bubble gum every year.



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100,000 tons of bubble gum is chewed every year all around the world.




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Scientists found a 9,000-year- old wad of chewing gum in Sweden.

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A mathematician once calculated and figured out that the energy Americans expend everyday when chewing bubble gum was enough to light a city of ten million people.


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It is believed that ancient Greeks found relief from stress by chewing a gum that was made from a resin.


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Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1758 Benjamin Jackson advertised mustard for sale for the first time in America. The advertisement was in the Philadelphia Chronicle, and claimed Jackson was the first and only manufacturer of mustard in America


1809 Cyrus Hall McCormick was born. McCormick is credited with the development of the first mechanical reaper.


1957 ‘The Banana Boat Song’ (Day-O) by Harry Belafonte is number one on the charts.


1965 Canada adopted its new red & white flag with a red maple leaf in the center.




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February 14th is National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day! #ValentinesDay

Five Food Find about Valentine’s Day Candy

In the 1800’s, physicians commonly advised their lovelorn patients to eat chocolate to calm their pining.

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More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day.

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At one time, conversation candies were made into shapes including horseshoes, baseballs, and watches.

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At least 10 new conversation heart sayings are introduced each year. Recent additions include “Yeah Right,” “Call Home” and “Puppy Love.”

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It is believed that Madame Du Barry served chocolate to all her suitors; Casanova consumed chocolate instead of champagne to induce romance; and Montezuma, the king of the ancient Aztecs, believed chocolate would make him virile.

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Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1779 RIP Captain James Cook, British explorer who charted and named many Pacific Islands, including the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).


1803 Moses Coats patented an apple parer.


1838 Margaret E. Knight was born. An American inventor, she invented an improved paper bag machine to make bags with flat bottoms.


1886 California oranges were first shipped East by rail.


1903 The U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor was established.


2003 Dolly the sheep died. Dolly was the first animal cloned from an adult animal. (Born July 5, 1996)



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The OFFICIAL February ‘Food Holiday’ list

[image error] [image error]Canned Food Month

National Chocolate Lovers Month

National Cherry Month 

National Grapefruit Month

National Snack Food Month

National Potato Lovers Month

Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month

National Hot Breakfast Month

!st week of Feb- African Heritage & Health Week

3rd Weekend of February: National Margarita Weekend
“Superbowl Sunday” : National Pork Rind Day (aka National Pork Rind Appreciation Day)

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Daily Holidays

February 1

National Cake Pops Day

National Baked Alaska Day

National Dark Chocolate Day

February 2

National Tater Tot Day

February 3

National Carrot Cake Day

February 4 

National Homemade Soup Day

National Stuffed Mushroom Day
Pork Rind Appreciation Day*

February 5

World Nutella Day

National Frozen Yogurt Day

February 6

National Chopsticks Day

February 7

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

February 8
National Molasses Bar Day
National Potato Lover’s Day

February 9

National Bagels and Lox Day
National Pizza Day

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February 10

National Cream Cheese Brownie Day
National “Have a Brownie” Day

February 11

National Peppermint Patty Day

February 12

National Plum Pudding Day

(National PB&J Day)
National Biscotti Day

February 13
National Cheddar Day

National Tortellini Day
National “Italian Food” Day

February 14 

National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day

February 15 

National Gumdrop Day
National Chewing Gum Day

February 16 

National Almond Day

February 17 

National Cafe’ Au Lait Day

February 18 

National “Drink Wine” Day

February 19 

National Chocolate Mint Day

February 20 
National Cherry Pie Day
National Muffin Day
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February 21 
National Pancake Day
National Sticky Bun Day

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February 22
National Margarita Day  

National Cook a Sweet Potato Day

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February 23 
National Chili Day

National Banana Bread Day


February 24 

National Tortilla Chip Day

February 25 

National Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day
National Clam Chowder Day

February 26

National Pistachio Day

February 27 
National Strawberry Day
National Kahlua Day

February 28 

National Chocolate Souffle Day

February 29

National Frog Legs Day

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February 13th is National Italian Food Day / #NationalItalianFoodDay

Five Food Finds about Italian Food
 It was not until the 1700’s that tomatoes were first found in Italian dishes.

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The ‘essential’ ingredients in Italian food include: olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiana, capers, tomatoes, sausage and of course pasta.

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An average Italian meal is divided in two parts, primo piatto & secondo piatto; the primo include a pasta or risotto; the secondi  includes any meat and fish meals, complemented by a contorno, a side dish of vegetables.

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The Italian dessert, Tiramisu, (ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with mascarpone cheese and egg yolks then flavored with liquor and cocoa) roughly translates to “pick-me-up.”  Did you know that this dessert did not appear in the U.S. until the early 1980’s?

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Italians prefer their pasta cooked ‘al dente’  literally meaning “to the tooth.” The pasta should be a bit firm, offering some resistance to the tooth, but tender.

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Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1837 Riot in New York over high price of flour


1933 The House of Commons defeated a bill that would have prohibited the sale of alcohol in the U.K.


1967 The Beatles single ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ is released.


2000 The last original ‘Peanuts’ comic strip is published.


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February 11th is National Peppermint Patty Day! / #PeppermintPattyDay

Happy National Peppermint Patty Day!
Five Food Finds about the Peppermint Patty:

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1. In 1940 York Cone Co. produced the first Peppermint Patties.

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2. Peppermint Patties were sold only in northeastern states until 1975.

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3. Peppermint Patties have one of the least about of calories and fat compared to other nationally popular candy bars.

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4. Charles Schulz introduced “Peppermint Patty” to his Peanuts comic strip on August 22, 1966

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5. Patricia Reichardt is Peppermint Patty’s actual name.

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Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1785 The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture was founded. It is the oldest active agricultural organization in the U.S.
1847 Thomas Alva Edison was born. Chefs use his inventions everyday, including light and music to work by.
1926 Paul Bocuse, French chef, was born at Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, France. He is known as one of the founders of ‘nouvelle cuisine’.
1963 Julia Child’s ‘The French Chef’ premiered on TV.
1977 The heaviest lobster known was caught off Nova Scotia, weighing in at 44 lb 6 oz (20.14 kg).
1994 Use of the genetically engineered growth hormone for cows, RBGH begins.


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February 10th is National “Have a Brownie” Day! / #BrownieDay

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Here are today’s five thing to know about Brownie:

It is said that the brownie was created at the Palmer House Hotel during the 1893 Columbian Exposition( The largest World’s Fair of it’s time) when the owner Bertha Palmer asked the chef to make a ‘ladies dessert’.
The word ‘brownie’ became so popular that soon after the Expedition even Kodak named one of it’s first hand held cameras after them, the little ‘brownie.’
Brownies were one of the very first prepackaged food ‘mixes’ ever sold. First appearing in the Sears, Roebuck catalogue in 1897.
Fannie Farmer, the First Lady of American Cookery, published the first written recipe for brownies in 1896.
A popular turn of the century alternative was considered of equal importance, the ‘blondie‘, which used many of the same ingredients except chocolate. Many believed chocolate to be a ‘vice’ on the same level as alcohol and even coffee.

Daily Quot e:

“A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.”

Benjamin Franklin

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Today’s Pinterest Board :  Foodimentary
Today’s Food History

1846 Ira Remsen was born. He was an American chemist, co-discoverer of saccharin, the artificial sweetener.


1933 The Postal Telegraph Co. of New York City delivers the first singing telegram with a box of chocolates.


1944 Author Frances Moore Lappe was born. Author of the best selling ‘Diet for a Small Planet’ (1971) The first best seller to encourage a vegetarian diet. Her premise was that the raising of animals was wasteful & potentially harmful to the environment.


1945 The Andrews Sisters recording of ‘Rum and Coca Cola’ hit #1 on the popular music charts.


1957 The ‘Styrofoam’ cooler was invented.

 

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February 9th is National Bagel and Lox Day! / #BagelandLoxDay

Here are today’s food finds about bagels and lox:


 The word Bagel is often thought to have derived from the ‘buckle‘ shape it has, but actually it is from a Yiddish word ‘beygl‘ meaning ring or hole.


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Bagels are one of the few breads that are boiled then baked. creating the soft inside while retaining a crisp exterior.

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Over a billion dollars a year are spent on bagels in the US alone.

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What is lox? Lox is thinly sliced smoked salmon.

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Bagel & Lox are typically bagels with cream cheese, onions,  and smoked salmon.

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Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1870 The creation of the U.S. Weather Service (National Weather Service) was authorized by Congress
1889 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was established as a Cabinet level agency.
1899 Minnesota’s all time record low temperature: 59 degrees F below zero at Leech Lake Dam.
1894 Hershey’s Chocolate Company was founded as a subsidiary of Milton S. Hershey’s Lancaster Caramel Company.
1901 RIP Fred Harvey Born in 1835 in London, Frederick Henry Harvey, was an American restaurateur who operated a chain of restaurants called the ‘Harvey House,’ and a series of railroad dining cars and hotels. The restaurants were opened along the route of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and were staffed by ‘Harvey Girls’, who over the years numbered in the thousands. Will Rogers said Harvey “kept the West in food and wives.”
1909 Carmen Miranda was born. Brazilian singer and actress. Appeared in many Hollywood movies, she was known as “the Brazilian bombshell” and also “the lady in the tutti-frutti hat.”
2001 The American submarine USS Greenville accidentally strikes and sinks a Japanese fishing & high school training ship, the Ehime-Maru. Nine crew members of the Ehime Maru and 4 high school students were drowned. The submarine was practicing an emergency rapid surfacing maneuver at the time.

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February 8th is National Potato Lover’s Day! / #PotatoDay

Here are today’s food finds about potatoes:
The word potato is derived from a Native American word “Batata”
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The first cultivated potatoes date back to 500o BC in Peru. Originally, they were purple and when cooked they turn a deep blue color.
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Most of the nutrients found in potatoes are in its skin.

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The average American eats 140 pounds of potatoes per year.

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The word spud actually means “to dig a small hole in the ground, similar to spade, a tool to dig small holes.

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Did you know that February is National Snack Food Month? Check out our STRANGE snack food taste off!

 

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1795 Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge was born. A German chemist who developed a method for obtaining sugar from beet juice.


1886 Wilhelm Koppers was born. This cultural anthropologist developed theories on the origins of society based on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes.


1898 John Sherman of Worcester, Massachusetts received a patent for the first machine to fold and seal envelopes.


1925 Actor Jack Lemmon was born. A couple of his film titles: ‘The Fortune Cookie’ and ‘Days of Wine and Roses’


1946 Adolfo De La Parra of the music group ‘Canned Heat’ was born.

 

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February 7th is National Fettuccine Alfredo Day / #NationalFettuccineDay

Happy National Fettuccine Alfredo Day!
Here are today’s food finds about fettuccine:
Fettuccine  is a flat, thick noodle made of flour and egg.(literally meaning “little ribbons” in Italian)

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 The original recipe for Fettuccine “Alfredo” is pasta made from fettucine noodles tossed with one part parmesan cheese and 3 parts butter.

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It was named by an Italian restaurateur at his restaurant Alfredo on the Via della Scrofa in Rome in 1914.

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Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, early movie stars, fell in love with the dish while on their honeymoon in 1927. This helped to make the dish and Alfredo world famous.

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There are authentic “Alfredo’s” restaurants in the US, Alfredo’s at Rockefeller Center in New York City is the most well known.

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Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1804 John Deere was born. Inventor and manufacturer, he developed the first steel plow in 1838. The mass production of the plow helped make farm yields per acre increase 10 fold within two decades.


1894 Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax died.  A musical instrument maker, he invented the saxophone. The shape was said to have been patterned after plumbing pipes and first constructed by a pipe fitter.


1989 It was reported that a “rain of sardines” fell in Ipswich, Australia. The rain was said to have taken place for over 15 minutes littering the town and countryside with fish and frogs.


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February 6th is National Chopsticks Day! / #NationalChopsticksDay

Today’s five foods finds about chopsticks:
[image error]In Old Chinese chopsticks are called kuaizi roughly meaning “quick little bamboo fellows.”
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Over a quarter of the world’s population uses chopsticks as their primary utensil for eating.
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The first chopsticks were probably used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or grabbing bits of food, and not as eating utensils.
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Chopsticks shapes and lengths very from region to region. Generally Chinese versions are tapered with blunt ends while Japanese are shorted and more pointed.
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Chopsticks in music: Who HASN’T played chopsticks on the piano? It’s original name is” The Celebrated Chop Waltz.”  Composed by Arthor de Lulli(pseudonym of Euphemia Allen.) in 1877. In Russia it is known as the “Cuplet Polka”
Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1617 RIP Prospero Alpini, An Italian physician and botanist; said to have introduced coffee and bananas to Europe.


1685 RIP Charles II, king of England,  Tea was introduced to England during his reign. On December 23, 1675, he issued a proclamation suppressing Coffee Houses.


1865 A horse meat banquet is held at the Grand Hotel in Paris. Horse meat was considered a common man’s food of the time.


1985 Perrier introduced Perrier with ‘a twist of lemon’ – its first new product in 125 years.


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