John-Bryan Hopkins's Blog, page 6
January 23, 2019
January 23rd is National Pie Day! / #NationalPieDay
Who's in?
Here are today’s five things to know about pie:
In 1986 National Pie Day was first celebrated by the American Pie Council to commemorate Crisco’s 75th anniversary of “serving foods to families everywhere.”
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The first pies appeared around 9500 BC.
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Meat pies with fillings such as steak, cheese, steak and kidney, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
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Pot pies with a flaky crust and bottom are also a popular American dish, typically with a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots and peas).
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Fruit pies may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in North America as pie à la mode.
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Today’s Food History
1862 Agoston Haraszthy de Mokcsa brought 1,400 varieties of grapevines from Europe to California in 1862, and planted the first large vineyard in California in the Sonoma Valley. After the phyloxera blight destroyed much of Europe’s vineyards, some of these same vines, now on resistant American root stock, helped save the European wine industries.
1931 Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova died. A “Povlova”, a meringue with whipped cream and fruit, was named after her.
1961 Wilhelm Koppers died. This cultural anthropologist developed theories on the origins of society based on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes.
1963 Three million gallons of soybean oil flooded streets in Mankato, Minnesota when a storage tank ruptured. Eventually the oil ended up in the Mississippi River. In the spring, more than 10,000 ducks were found dead in the wetlands along the river.
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January 22, 2019
January 22nd is National Southern Food Day! / #NationalSouthernFoodDay #SouthernFoodDay
The most notable influences on southern cooking come from English, Scottish, Irish, German, French, Native American, and African American cuisines.
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Many items such as squash, tomatoes, corn (and its derivatives, including grits), as well as the practice of deep pit barbecuing were inherited from the southeastern American Indian tribes such as the Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole.
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The South’s propensity for a full breakfast is derived from the English fry up, although it was altered substantially.
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A traditional Southern meal is pan-fried chicken, field peas (such as black-eyed peas), greens (such as collard greens or mustard), mashed potatoes, cornbread or corn pone, sweet tea, and a dessert that is usually a pie (sweet potato, chess, shoofly, pecan, and peach are traditional southern pies), or a cobbler (peach, blackberry, or mixed berry are traditional cobblers).
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At least a dozen soups also have their origins in the American South.
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Today’s Food History
1521 Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms.
1892 Coca-Cola was incorporated.
1939 Chef, Jeff Smith,The Frugal Gourmet was born
1985 A cold wave damaged 90 percent of the Florida citrus crop.
1997 A weekend freeze cost Florida farmers at least 100 million dollars in crop losses. Winter vegetables in south Dade County and southwest Florida were hardest hit
2008 The Jewish Holiday, Tu B’Shevat, celebrated by planting trees that bears fruits, is permitted work
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January 20, 2019
January 20th is National Cheese Lover’s Day! / #CheeseLoversDay
Here are Five Food Finds about Cheese:
Cheeses are more flavorful at room temperature. Let them stand for a half hour before serving.
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Cheese is an ancient food whose origins predate recorded history.
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Artisan cheese, made in small batches from local sources, is growing at a pace that exceeds even the growth rate of general cheese consumption in America.
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Some studies claim that cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss and American cheeses can help to prevent tooth decay.
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A study by the British Cheese Board in 2005 showed cheese has positive effects on sleep, not nightmares as Ebeneser Scrooge seemed to think.
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On This Day in Food History…
1785 Samuel Ellis advertised to sell his Oyster Island with no takers. Later renamed Ellis Island
1920 The 50-50 Club opened, considered the 1st ‘speakeasy.’
1964 The world’s largest cheese was presented at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, weighing in at over 34,000 pounds. It was presented by the Wisconsin Cheese Foundation, using over 170,000 qts of milk from over 16,000 cows.
1988 Famed vineyard manager Philippe de Rothschild dies.
1998 Researchers in America announced they had cloned calves for use in producing medicinal milk.
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January 19, 2019
January 19th is National Popcorn Day!! / #NationalPopcornDay
Do you like your popcorn salty, buttery and sugary? Do tell!
Here are today’s five things to know about popcorn:
Popcorn is the world’s most popular snack food.
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Popcorn is also the most profitable snack food, with over 1 thousand percent mark up.
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Evidence of popcorn from 3600 BCE was found in New Mexico and even earlier evidence dating to perhaps as early as 4700 BCE was found in Peru.
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Some popcorn has been found in early 1900s to be a purple color.
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At least six localities (all in the Midwestern United States) claim to be the “Popcorn Capital of the World”: Ridgway, Illinois; Valparaiso, Indiana; Van Buren, Indiana; Schaller, Iowa; Marion, Ohio; and North Loup, Nebraska.
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Today’s Food History
1825 The first U.S. patent for food storage in cans was granted to Ezra Daggett & Thomas Kensett of New York City, after developing the process in 1819.(it took over 30 years to invent the can open. Before then they were opened with knives or rods)
1915 George Claude of Paris was issued a U.S. patent for a neon tube advertising sign.(The first neon sign in Time Square was of a Heinz pickle)
1919 A huge wave of molasses kills dozens, Boston. Said to have been 45 ft high and 100ft wide.
1939 On this day in history, Wisconsin native Ernest Hausen sets the world chicken-plucking record at 4.4 seconds
1973 Iceland’s Cod War begins. Britain sends a Super Tug “The Statesman” to defend British fishermen against tactics such as wire cutting by the Icelandic Fishermen & Patrol Boats
2010 Kraft attempted a hostile bid for Cadbury’s.
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January 18, 2019
January 18th is National Gourmet Coffee Day! / #CoffeeDay
Happy National Gourmet Coffee Day
Here are today’s five things to know about Gourmet Coffee:
Until the invention of vacuum packed coffee tins in 1900 by Hill Bros. Coffee, almost every city or large town in America had their own local coffee roasters.
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In East Africa and Yemen, coffee was used in native religious ceremonies that were in competition with the Christian Church. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia.
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Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seeds, are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are also the most highly regarded Coffea arabica, and the “robusta” form of the hardier Coffea canephora.
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An important export commodity, coffee was the top agricultural export for twelve countries in 2004.
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Preparing coffee in a French press leaves more oils in the drink compared with coffee prepared with a paper coffee filter.
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Today’s Food History
1778 Captain Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands. He named them the Sandwich Islands, after Lord Sandwich, who was then first Lord of the Admiralty.
1799 Joseph Dixon was born. An American inventor and manufacturer. Among his many accomplishments, he produced the first pencil made in the U.S.
1813 Joseph Farwell Glidden was born. Glidden, an Illinois farmer, received a patent for the first commercial barbed wire on November 24, 1874. The beginning of the end to open range and the cowboy. Glidden formed the Barb Fence Company with his partner Isaac L. Ellwood, and became one of the wealthiest men in the country.
1818 George Palmer was born. Palmer, of Huntley and Palmer biscuit manufacturers, introduced the first biscuit tins.
1882 Alan Alexander Milne was born. Creator of Winnie the Pooh, the honey loving bear.
1943 Pre-sliced bread was banned in the U.S. for the duration of World War II, to conserve metal from spare parts that might be needed.
1990 The first McDonald’s in Moscow opened.
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January 17, 2019
January 17th is National Hot Buttered Rum Day!
Happy Hot Buttered Rum Day!
Perhaps the Perfect Winter drink.
Here are today’s five things to know about Hot Buttered Rum:
Hot Buttered Rum is a mixed drink containing rum, butter, hot cider, sugar, & spice (usually cinnamon).
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It’s considered one of the oldest “mixed drinks” in American History.
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Mention of this drink dates as far back as the 1600’s.
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A notable variation is the so-called “Jay’s Famous Hot Buttered Rum,” in which the hot drink is “creamed together with vanilla ice cream and chilled into a paste.”
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After molasses began being imported to Colonial America from Jamaica, and distilleries opened in New England in the 1650’s, colonists began adding distilled rum to hot beverages such as toddies and nogs.
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Today’s Food History
1501 Leonhard Fuchs was born. A German botanist who compiled the first modern glossary of botanical terms. From which the flowering plant & color fuchsia were named.
1706 Benjamin Franklin was born. American publisher,diplomat & inventor. Penned the name for male turkeys, Tom, as a dig to Thomas Jefferson, who helped appoint the Bald Eagle, NOT the turkey, as the National Bird.
1775 Nine women in Kalisk, Poland were burned as “witches” for causing a series of bad harvests.
1890 Scottish-American scientist Peter Henderson died, considered the “Father of America Horticulture.”
1893 Hawaii’s Queen Liliuokalana, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, leaves the throne, bowing to pressure from sugar planters .
1904 Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre.
1944 WWII’s first “Tin Can Day” was held. One of the largest recycling efforts in American history
2001 Norway lifted a ban on whale meat exports.
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January 16, 2019
January 16th is National Fig Newton Day! / #FigNewtonDay
Happy Fig Newton Day!
Here are today’s five food finds about fig newtons:
1. Fig Newtons were created in 1851.
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2. They were almost called “Fig Shrewsbury” before the name “Fig Newton” caught on.
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3. According to Nabisco, Fig Newtons were either named after Sir Isaac Newton or the town of Newton, Massachusetts.
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4. Fig Newtons are the 3rd most popular cookie in the United States.
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5. An alternate origin story for fig newtons involves Charles Roser from Kenton, Ohio who sold his cookie recipe to Nabisco in 1910.
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On This Day in Food History…
1868 William Davis, received a patent for a refrigerated railway car. First used to ship fish. Later ushering in the age of portable cold produced & foods.
1920 Prohibition began in the U.S., banning the sale of all alcoholic beverages. Allowances were made to produce wine for “religious purposes.”
1965 Searchers’ “Love Potion #9” peaks at #3
1958 A grasshopper plague causes serious damage across the state of Colorado & neighboring states. This “plagued” farmer’s crops; costing millions of dollars in damage.
some content is courtesy of FoodReference.com, used with permission.
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January 15, 2019
January 21st is National Granola Bar Day! / #NationalGranolaBarDay
Granola was invented in Dansville, New York.
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Dr. James Caleb Jackson at the Jackson Sanitarium created granola in 1863.
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The first granola bars were sold by Edward Thayer Sr. in Chico, California.
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Eating granola may help prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
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Granola is a great digestive aid because it contains both soluble and insoluble fiber.
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On This Day in Food History…
1338 Charles V of France was born. He commissioned Taillevent to write what is considered the first professional “cookery” book in French, ‘Le Viandier’.
1937 BBC first aired the Cook’s Night Out with Marcel Boulestin, the first television cook
1908 New York City NY regulation makes it illegal for a woman to smoke or drink in public
1912 Konrad (Emil) Bloch was born. Nobel prize winner for his work on cholesterol & fatty acids. Discovering that high levels of cholesterol may lead to an increased risk of heart attacks.
1942 Bronx magistrate rules all pinball machines in bars and eating establishments illegal
1985 James Beard, American culinary expert & cookbook author, died at age 81.
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January 15th is National Bagel Day! #NationalBagelDay
The bagel originated in Poland and it was designed for Lent.
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Its name derives from the Yiddish word ‘bengal’, meaning ‘ring’ or ‘bracelet’.
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Immigrant Polish-Jews brought the bagel to the United States.
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Automated production and distribution of frozen bagels started in the 1960s with bagel baker Harry Lender, Murray Lender, and Florence Sender.
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The hole in the center of the bagel is for multiple bagels to be threaded onto a dowel, which allows bakers to transport the bagel more easily.
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Today’s Food History
1686 Prince Louis II de Condé, known as the Great Condé, died. He was a French general who loved to hunt and had a passion for rice. Several dishes have been named for him, including Consommé Condé and Creme Condé.
1874 James Lewis Kraft was born. Founder of Kraft Co. a wholesale cheese distributor and producer. In 1916 he patented pasteurized process cheese, a low cost cheese that would not spoil. Not a great hit with the public, but the U.S. army purchased over 6 million tins of it during WW I. During the depression, it became popular because of its low cost.
1940 David Gates of the music group ‘Bread’ was born.
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January 15th is National Strawberry Ice Cream Day! First celebrated in 1932.
Happy National Strawberry Ice Cream Day
A ‘Day’ created in the 1950’s to celebrate a very popular flavor of the time.
Here are today’s five things to know about Strawberry Ice Cream:
It is thought that “iced” cream was first served in the White House in the early 1800’s.
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Huge chunks of frozen river ice were stored in basements vaults covered in hay to keep them from melting.
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Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.
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Strawberries are a member of the rose family.
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Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) is known to have loved snow flavored strawberries with nectar and honey.
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Today’s Food History
1785 William Prout was born. An English chemist, he was the first to classify food components into 3 main divisions – carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
1799 John Hetheringoton, a London haberdasher, created the “stove top” hat. A large crowd gathered to see this new hat, and was charged with disturbing the peace (charges later dropped). The “top” hat was an immediate success.
1889 A patent was issued to Daniel Johnson of Kansas City, MO, for a ‘Rotary Dining Table’ for use on ships. The table and attached chairs rotated so that everyone could be served from one spot, making it unnecessary to carry food around the table to serve everyone.
1919 The Great Molasses Flood. On January 15, 1919, a large 50 foot high storage tank in Boston burst and sent a tidal wave of over 2 million gallons of molasses traveling at over 30 miles per hour. Houses, buildings and parts of the elevated rail system were crushed in its path. Twenty-one people died, and over 150 were injured. It took over 6 months to clean up the mess. The damage was in the millions of dollars.
1945 Joan Johnson of the vocal group the ‘Dixie Cups’ was born.
1964 Jack Teagarden, jazz trombonist died.
1986 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn was introduced by General Mills.
1990 Campbell’s Soup produces its 20 billionth can of tomato soup.
2008 After six years of study, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that meat and milk from cloned pigs, cattle and goats and their offspring is safe and does not need to be labelled as derived from cloned animals.
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