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

• • 1. Dry noodles are considered a form of unleavened bread
    2. In China archaeologists discovered the world’s oldest bowl of noodles, thought to be over 4000 years old. They were made of millet flour.
    3. “Instant” noodles were invented in 1958. They are flash fried then quickly dried. This made for a long shelf life.(If they are kept dry, some say they will remain edible for decades)
    4. Over 40% of the flour in Asia is used to make noodles.  Feeding over half of the world’s population.
    5. Thomas Jefferson brought the first “macaroni” noodles to America in 1789 after returning from a trip to France.

Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

Today’s Food History

• • 1791 Samuel Mulliken of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received a patent for a machine to thresh corn and grain.
• • 1853 Self rising flour was supposedly invented by Henry Jones of Bristol.
• • 1903 Lawrence Welk, champagne music-maker, was born.

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Interesting Food Facts about Milky Way

• • 1. The Milky Way bar was created in 1923 by Frank Mars.
    2. In the 1920’s it came in two flavors chocolate and vanilla.
    3. It was the first mass produced chocolate bar with a filling.
    4.  The name ‘Milky Way’ was taken from a popular malted milkshake NOT the galaxy.
    5. Outside of North America the Milky Way is a completely different kind of candy bar.

Fun Fact:

The European version the Milky Way has no caramel topping and low density that it floats in milk.

There was vanilla flavored Milky Way called “Forever Yours” until 1979.

The first slogan of Milky Way was “The sweet you can eat between meals.”

The most recent slogan is “Life’s Better in the Milky Way.”

Today’s Food History

• 1841 Orlando Jones of Middlesex, England received a U.S. patent for a process to make starch from rice or corn.
• 1894 Coca Cola was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenham of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Before that it was only mixed to order at the soda fountain.
• 1912 Juliette ‘Daisy’ Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of the USA in Savannah, Georgia.
• 1929 RIP Asa Griggs Candler, In 1887, Asa Candler, a wholesale druggist, purchased the formula for Coca-Cola from John S. Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, for $2,300. He sold the company in 1919 for $25 million.
• 1930 Mahatma Gandhi began his march to the coastal village of Dandi, to protest the British salt monopoly.
• 1993 RIP Christian Kent Nelson, He was the inventor of the Eskimo Pie in 1919 in Iowa.

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Celebrate March Food Holidays

National Fresh Celery Month
National Noodle Month

National Caffeine Awareness Month

Daily Holidays

 March 1 
National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day

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March 2
National Banana Cream Pie Day

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–March 3
National Cold Cuts Day

National Moscow Mule Day

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March 4
National Poundcake Day

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March 5
National Cheese Doodle Day

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March 6
National Oreo Day

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March 7
National Cereal Day

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March 8
National Peanut Cluster Day

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March 9

–

NationalMeatball Day
National Crab Day

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March 10

National Ranch Dressing Day

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March 11
National “Eat Your Noodles” Day

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March 12
National Milky Way Day

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March 13
National Chicken Noodle Soup Day

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March 14
National Potato Chip Day

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March 15
National Peanut Lovers’ Day

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March 16
National Artichoke Heart Day

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March 17
National Irish Food Day

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March 18
National Sloppy Joe Day

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March 19
National Oatmeal Cookie Day

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March 20
National Ravioli Day

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March 21
National Crunchy Taco Day

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March 22
National Water Day

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March 23
National Chips and Dip Day

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March 24

National Cake Pop Day*
National Tortilla Chip Day

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March 25
National International Waffle Day

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March 26
National Nougat Day

National Spinach Day

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March 27
National World Whisky Day

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March 28
National Black Forest Cake Day

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March 29
National Chiffon Cake Day

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March 30

National Hot Chicken Day
National Turkey Neck Soup Day

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March 31

National Oysters on the Half Shell Day

National Clam Day

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

It takes around 2 1/2 pounds of grapes to make one bottle of wine.

Before corks were broadly used in wine bottles, wooden stoppers wrapped in oil-soaked rags were common.

Even though corks were commonly used since the 1600’s it wasn’t until 1795 that the corkscrew was patented. Before then the corks would have caps, similar to champagne corks.

An average bottle of wine is about 25 fluid ounces( officially  750 milliliters)

Most ancients urns found in greece, egypt, and the Mediterranean are ‘casks’ that held wine.  The sealed elongated box that holds them are called ‘caskets’

Today’s Food History

• 1871 Harry Brearley was born. Brearley was an English metallurgist who invented stainless steel in 1912.

• 1885 The ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain was published.

• 1901 Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner. Because of its large size, he mounted the machine on a horse carriage, with a long hose to reach inside a house

• 1930 At the St. Louis International Air Exposition, a cow supposedly flew in an airplane for the first time, and this same cow became the first cow to be milked while flying.

• 1968 Actress Molly Ringwald was born. Two of her movies were ‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985) and ‘In the Weeds’ (2000).

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Happy National Chocolate Mint Day!

Here are today’s five thing to know about Chocolate Mint:

Andes chocolate mints, created in 1921, have little to do with the Andes mountains. They were once called “Andy’s Candies”  but the owner ‘found that men did not like giving boxes of candies with another man’s name on them to their wives and girlfriends’ so he changed the name.

Frango Mints, perhaps the first chocolate mints, were first patented in 1918. They were sold in tea houses and sold frozen to emphasize the sharp mint flavor.

Ancient Greeks believed mint could cure hiccups.

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Happy National Muffin Day!

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

American muffins are referred  to baked breads in small tins while “English” Muffins are oven-baked, then cooked in a griddle.

The word Muffin likely derives its name from the an Old German word Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake.

The Muffin Man was a real guy! He delivered muffins to homes along Drury Lane in England.

American muffins are similar to a cupcake in size and cooking methods but cupcakes are almost always made with cake batter.

The blueberry muffin is the official state muffin of Minnesota.

The corn muffin is the official state muffin of Massachusetts.

Today’s Food History

• 1829 Yuengling Brewery in Pennsylvania opened. It is the oldest brewery still operating in the U.S.
• 1872 Cyrus W. Baldwin received a patent for an electric elevator. It was installed in the Stephens Hotel in New York City.
• 1872 Silas Noble and J.Cooley of Massachusetts were issued a patent on a toothpick manufacturing machine.
• 1872 Luther Childs Crowell of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was granted a patent for a machine which made square bottom paper bags. It is the same basic design still used today.
• 1890  Hershel Geguzin was born in Lithuania, Known openly in America as a professional impostor and Hollywood restaurateur. He posed as Russian Prince Michael Alexandrovich Dmitri Oblensky Romanoff. Opening Romanoff’s restaurant in Beverly Hills in the 1930s, attracting Hollywood movie stars and millionaires
• 1985 Clarence Nash died. The original voice of Donald Duck.
• 2001 Foot-and-mouth disease ravages livestock in Britain in the worst epidemic since 1967. By March it has spread to mainland Europe. Millions of animals are destroyed.
• 2009 Hershey’s, the largest U.S. candy maker, closed its candy factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. The factory produced among others, the Zagnut, York Peppermint Pattie, and 5th Avenue candy bars. Production was moved to their new factory in Monterey, Mexico.

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Traditionally Feb 21st is National Sticky Buns Day

Here are today’s five things to know about sticky buns:

Sticky buns are also known as cinnamon rolls and monkey bread. 

A sticky bun should always be made of yeast dough. 

Ancient Egyptians were the first people to add honey and nuts to their bread. 

In the UK and Canada, sticky buns are known as “chelsea buns” and contain raisins! 

German settlers in Pennsylvania created the modern day sticky bun. 

Happy National Margarita Day!

Five Things to know about the Margarita

1. The original recipe for the Margarita is a concoction of equal parts tequila, orange liquor and lime, served over ice with a salt-rimmed glass.

2. Some say the Margarita is a version of a popular prohibition drink called the Daisy, a drink found on Mexican border towns substituting brandy with tequila . Margarita in Spanish means Daisy.

3. One  ‘Origin’ Myth about the Margarita is that in October 1941, a bartender at Husson’s cantina in Ensenada, Mexico created the drink for Margarita Henkel, a well known German celebrity.

3. Another ‘Origin’ Myth about the Margarita is that in 1948 at the Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas created the drink for the singer Peggy Lee. The Spanish version of Peggy’s name is Margarita  (Margaret).

4. ‘Authentic’ Margaritas are made with bitter Mexican limes (key limes). These are smaller thin-skinned limes, much more tart than regular limes.

5. The IBA’s (International Bartenders Association) official standard for the margarita is 7:4:3, that is 50% Tequila, 29% Cointreau, 21% fresh lime or lemon juice.

On This Day in Food History…

1630 Supposedly, Quadequina, an American Indian, introduced English colonists to popcorn.
1879 Woolworths, the first chain store, opened in 1879 in Utica, New York. Woolworth’s diners were the first to introduce the Frito Chili Pies and helped to popularize grilled cheese sandwiches and BLT’s,bacon ,lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.
1920 The first artificial rabbit is used at a dog racing trace in Emeryville, California.
1925 RIP Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt, English physician, he invented the short (6 inch) clinical thermometer, before then they averaged over 18″ in length.
1987 RIP Andy Warhol,American painter of the pop art movement. In the 1960s he made paintings of Campbell’s Soup cans.

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Five Food Facts about Bananas

1. Banana trees are considered giant herbs, not ‘trees’ at all.

2. A cluster of bananas is known as a hand, each banana are fingers.

3. Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on bug bites are said to relieve itching and inflammation.

4. Over 95% of American households purchase banana at least once a month.

5. Bananas are one of the only fruits harvested every day of the year. They do not grow in regions that have dramatic seasonal changes.

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

• 1884 Casimir Funk was born. Funk was a Polish-American biochemist who came up with the word ‘vitamine’ later changed to ‘vitamin.’

• 1896 Leo Hirshfield introduced the Tootsie Roll at his small store in New York City. It was supposedly named after his 5 year old daughter, whose nickname was ‘Tootsie.’

• 1931 RIP Helen Porter Mitchel, her stage name, Nellie Melba was a world famous operatic soprano born in Australia.  Melba Toast and Peach Melba were named for her.

• 1944  RIP Leo Hendrik Baekeland, a chemist who invented Bakelite, the first plastic that did not soften when heated. Those black plastic knobs on stoves were made of bakelite.

• 1997 Scientists in Scotland announced the first successful cloning of an adult mammal, Dolly, a sheep.

Here are today’s five things to know about Tortilla Chip:

Most tortilla chips are triangular shaped because they are cut from a round tortilla.

In Mexico, Tortilla Chips are called tostados, toasted chips. Outside of North America they are called “corn chips”

Doritos brand is the first toasted tortilla chip launched nationally in the U.S.(1966)

Tortilla chips are considered the most fattening item sold in Mexican restaurants with as much as 2 grams of fat per chip.

Nachos are said to be created by Ignacia Anaya in 1943,and account for 30% of all restaurant tortilla chips.

Happy National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day

Here are today’s five thing to know about Chocolate Covered Peanuts:

1. The original  chocolate covered peanut candy are Goobers first sold in 1925. The word “Goober” was a common slang word for peanut.
2. Peanut M & M’s were not introduced until 1954. They were tan until 1960 when colors were first introduced.(yellow, green, & red)
3. Rapper, Eminem’s original stage name was M & M, his name was eventually changed for obvious trademark issues.
4. The initials M & M stand for the Forrest Mars from Mars Candies and Bruce Murrie from Hershey Chocolates.
5. In 1976 red M & M’s were replaced with orange. The red dye(red #2) was ruled to be a potential carcinogen. Red did not return until 1987.

Daily Quote:

“M & M’s, the chocolates that melt in your mouth nor in your hand” first used in 1954

Extra: It is said that M & M’s were tan in color for decades because if they DID melt in your hand it would not show

Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

Today’s Food History

• 1904 Adelle Davis was born.  Nutritionist, and author of ‘Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit.’ She promoted many theories that have been labeled as unfounded and dangerous by the medical community.

• 1918 Wartime food rationing began in parts of England

• 1922 Donald McLean was born. McLean was a Scottish potato expert who supposedly discovered the world’s largest private collection of potatoes, with 367 varieties.

• 1934 RIP Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton, an American botanist, she helped establish the New York Botanical Gardens.

• 1950 RIP George Richard Minot, American physician, Minot was one of the developers of the ” raw-liver diet ” used to treat pernicious anemia.

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Here are today’s five things to know about Pistachio:

Pistachio nuts are a member of the cashew family and are closely related to mangos, sumac, and even poison ivy.

Iran produces more pistachios than any other country in the world with over 200k tons per year.

In Asia they are often referred to as ‘green almonds & the ‘happy nut’. In Iran they are called the ‘smiling nut.’

Male pistachio trees are alternate bearing, meaning they produce heavier crops every other year.

All pistachio shells are naturally beige in color. Many companies dye inferior nuts red or green.

Today’s Food History

• 1852 John Harvey Kellogg was born. A health food pioneer, developed the first breakfast cereals for his patients, Granose (flaked wheat) and toasted corn flakes.

• 1857 Emile Coue was born. A French pharmacist, he was an advocate of autosuggestion. He suggested repeating the following sentence 15 to 20 times in the morning and evening: “Every day, and in every way, I am becoming better and better.” It is said that 20% claim it works.

• 1895 Michael Joseph Owens patented an automatic glass blowing machine that could make multiple bottles at the same time. A big advance in bottle making, spurring the mass sale of beer, alcohol and sodas.

• 1903 RIP Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor of the Gatling Gun.  He also developed machines for sowing rice, wheat, and other grains, and the steam plow.

• 1928 Fats Domino (Antoine Domino) was born in New Orleans. One of rock-and-roll’s earliest stars, one of his early hits was ‘Blueberry Hill’ in 1956.

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Celebrate March Food Holidays

National Fresh Celery Month
National Noodle Month

National Caffeine Awareness Month

Daily Holidays

 March 1 
National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day

–

March 2
National Banana Cream Pie Day

–

–March 3
National Cold Cuts Day

National Moscow Mule Day

–

March 4
National Poundcake Day

–

March 5
National Cheese Doodle Day

–

March 6
National Oreo Day

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March 7
National Cereal Day

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March 8
National Peanut Cluster Day

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March 9

–

NationalMeatball Day
National Crab Day

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March 10

National Ranch Dressing Day

–

March 11
National “Eat Your Noodles” Day

–

March 12
National Milky Way Day

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March 13
National Chicken Noodle Soup Day

–

March 14
National Potato Chip Day

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March 15
National Peanut Lovers’ Day

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March 16
National Artichoke Heart Day

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March 17
National Irish Food Day

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March 18
National Sloppy Joe Day

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March 19
National Oatmeal Cookie Day

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March 20
National Ravioli Day

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March 21
National Crunchy Taco Day

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March 22
National Water Day

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March 23
National Chips and Dip Day

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March 24

National Cake Pop Day*
National Tortilla Chip Day

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March 25
National International Waffle Day

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March 26
National Nougat Day

National Spinach Day

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March 27
National World Whisky Day

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March 28
National Black Forest Cake Day

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March 29
National Chiffon Cake Day

–

March 30

National Hot Chicken Day
National Turkey Neck Soup Day

—

March 31

National Oysters on the Half Shell Day

National Clam Day

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

1. Kahlúa is the ‘original’ coffee liquor.  First produced in 1936 by Veracruz, Mexico native Pedro Domeca.
2. The word Kah-lúa means “Heart of the Veracruz people”
3. The ‘Black Russian’ the worlds most popular Kahlúa mixed drink,was first created in 1949.
4. A 1 ounce serving of Kalúa contains 20% alcohol /42 proof, zero fat, 14 carbs, and 91 calories
5. It takes 7 years to create each bottle of Kalúa, from harvest of the coffee beans, vanilla, and sugar cane to bottle.

Daily Quote:

“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” ~Frank Sinatra

also: National Strawberry Day

Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

Today’s Food History

• 1827 The first Mardi Gras celebration was held in New Orleans.

• 1879 Saccharin, an artificial sweetener, was discovered by Constantine Fahlberg and Ira Remsen at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The FDA has required warning labels, since 1972, on products using saccharin because it is a suspected carcinogen.

• 1902 John Steinbeck was born. American novelist, some of his titles were: ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ ‘Tortilla Flats’ and ‘Cannery Row.’

• 1936 RIP Ivan Petrovich Pavlov died. He first theorized that digestion was controlled in part by sensory inputs of sight, smell and taste . ‘conditioned reflex.’

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Happy National Soufflé Day

Here are today’s five things to know about Chocolate Souffle:

Supposedly, the first recipe for soufflé appeared in Vincent La Chapelle’s Le Cuisinier Moderne (1742).

 The word soufflé first appeared in English in Louis Ude’s The French Cook, 1813.

 By 1845 the soufflé was so commonly accepted that in Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery (1845) a recipe for soufflé was included as just another recipe.

Due to soufflés’ tendency to collapse quickly upon removal from the oven, the media frequently depicts the dessert in sitcoms, cartoons, children’s programs and movies as a source of humor.

 Another kind of dish entirely is soufflé potatoes, which are puffed-up sautéed potato slices, traditionally served with a chateaubriand steak.

Today’s Food History
◦ 1553 Michel de Montaigne was born. French essayist. There are a few of his quotes about food and dining listed on the Food Reference website. (“A man should not so much respect what he eats, as with whom he eats.”)
◦ 1935 At the DuPont Corporation, Dr. Wallce Hume Carothers invented nylon. A patent was issued in 1937, and nylon stockings soon followed.
◦ 1979‘Mr. Ed’, the talking horse, died. This was not the horse who actually starred on the TV show, but another horse who did publicity work as Mr. Ed. The original Mr. Ed (Bamboo Harvester) died in 1970.
◦ 2006 Chicago’s oldest restaurant, the 107 year old Berghoff Restaurant closed today.
◦ 2009 Reduced demand for butter & cheese and falling milk prices are forcing dairy farmers in the U.S. to sell hundreds of thousands of dairy cows to be slaughtered for meat. Estimates are that more than 15% of the 9.3 million dairy cows may be sold for meat.

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Five Food Finds about Peanut Butter 

•  An 18oz jar of peanut butter needs 850 peanuts

• The USA produce about 6% of the world’s crop of peanuts: by comparison India and China, together, produce about 70%

• West Coast people  prefer chunky peanut butter, whereas those in the East Coast people like creamy

•  Peanuts account for 2/3rds of the total snack “nuts” consumption in the USA

•  96% of people, when making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, put the peanut butter on before the jelly

• Two presidents of the USA, Jimmy Carter and Thomas Jefferson, were peanut farmers

Food related Events of March 1

also: National Fruit Compote Day

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

• 1784 E. Kidner opened the first cooking school in Great Britain.

• 1927 Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, was born. His biggest hit was “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song” in 1956.

• 1970 U.S. commercial whale hunting ended.

• 1989 Jack Dietz holds the world’s record for watermelon seed spitting, 66 feet 11 inches.

• 1989 A 75 year-long ban on beer was lifted this day in Iceland.

• 1990 The British Royal Navy began issuing rum rations to sailors as early as 1655. The Royal New Zealand Navy was the last navy in the world to end daily rum rations for sailors in 1990.

• 2002 McDonald’s announced in a press release that it has agreed to pay 10 million dollars to Hindu and vegetarian groups to settle lawsuits over its use of beef flavoring in its French Fries.

Today’s Pinterest Board at : Foodimentary

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Here are today’s five food finds about banana cream pie: 

Banana cream pie was considered the American soldier’s favorite dessert in 1951. 

A banana cream pie with a “black bottom” is a banana cream pie with chocolate on the bottom. 

The english variation of the banana cream pie is called the “Banoffee Pie” and it contains banana and toffee.

Bananas are proven to be great after a strenuous workout!

Bananas can help defend against anemia.

Today’s Food History
◦ 1799 The first U.S. weights and measures law was passed by Congress. Actually it did not set standards, but rather required the surveyor of each port to test and correct the instruments and weights used to calculate duties on imports. Basically each surveyor was on his own in setting the standards to be tested.
◦ 1887 Harry E. Soref was born. Inventor of the laminated steel padlock, founder of the Master Lock Company in 1921. The company became well known in 1928 when it shipped 147,600 padlocks to federal prohibition agents in New York for locking up speakeasies they raided.
◦ 1904 Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) was born. Writer and cartoonist. A few of his childrens books were ‘Green Eggs and Ham,’ ‘One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish,’ ‘Scrambled Eggs Super!’ and ‘The Butter Battle Book’

Here are five food finds about the Moscow Mule:

The original Moscow Mule combined Smirnoff vodka and ginger beer.

The famous copper mugs were part of the original Moscow Mule recipe.

Because of the popularity of this cocktail, Smirnoff Vodka took off.

The Moscow Mule had it’s own jingle!

Today’s Food History
◦ 1709 Andreas Sigismund Marggraf was born. A German chemist, in 1747 he extracted sugar from the sugar beet and determined it was identical to cane sugar. It wasn’t until 1802 that the first beet sugar refinery would be built.
◦ 1797 The first patent for a washing machine was issued to Nathaniel Briggs
◦ 1855 Congress authorized $30,000 to purchase dromedaries (camels) for the military to use in the Southwest.
◦ 1879 Elmer McCollum was born. He was a chemist who discovered vitamins A, B and D.
◦

Happy National Pound Cake Day!

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

 The Pound Cake is a British creation that dates back to the early 1700s.

Pound cakes are generally baked in either a loaf pan or a Bundt mold, and served either dusted with powdered sugar, lightly glazed, or sometimes with a coat of icing.

 In Britain pound cake is more commonly known as ‘Sponge cake’ or ‘Madeira cake’.

The German “Eischwerkuchen” cake is a recipe very similar to the pound cake.

 In France pound cake is a traditional and popular cake of the French region of Brittany, and uses the same quantity of the four ingredients but with no added fruit of any kind.

Today’s Food History
◦ 1634 Samuel Cole supposedly opened the first tavern in the U.S., in Boston.
◦ 1792 Samuel Slocum was born. He invented a machine to make pins with solid heads and a machine for sticking the pins in a paper holder for sale.
◦ 1792 Oranges were said to have been introduced to Hawaii.
◦ 1927 RIP Ira Remsen An American chemist, co-discoverer (with Constantine Fahlberg) of saccharin, the artificial sweetener. (The FDA has required warning labels, since 1972, on products using saccharin because it is a suspected carcinogen).

Here are today’s five things to know about the Cheese Doodle:

Cheetos cheese-flavored puffs became a hit in the 1950’s. Soon after, Cheez Doodles appeared.

 “Cheez Doodles fingers” is the official term used when you get cheese powder on your fingers after eating any cheese flavored snack food.

Cheez Doodles are said to be one of the only packaged snack foods preferred by Julia Child.

They have recently entered pop culture as the preferred snack of ESPN NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith. They are also the favorite snack of Lincoln Peirce’s comic character Big Nate.

Wise (the company that produces Cheez Doodles) recently made their Crunchy Cheez Doodles “cheezier,” more akin to Cheetos’ flavor.

Today’s Food History
1836 Charles Goodnight was born. He is said to have devised the first ‘chuck wagon’ from an Army wagon in the 1850s with various shelves and compartments for food, equipment, utensils, medical supplies, etc.
1893 Emmett J. Culligan was born. He was the founder of the water treatment company that carries his name.
1910 Momofuku Ando was born in Taiwan. Mr. Ando was the founder of Nissin Food Products, and invented ‘Instant Ramen’ noodles.
1991 Patent # 5,000,000 was issued to Lonnie O. Ingram of the University of Florida. The patent was for a genetically engineered form of the E. coli bacterium that converts plant material into ethanol.

Five Food Facts about Oreos

In 1912, Nabisco had a new idea for a cookie – two chocolate disks with a creme filling in between.

The first Oreo cookie looked very similar to the Oreo cookie of today, with only a slight difference in the design on the chocolate disks.

Little did they know that the Oreo cookie would become the largest selling cookie of all time.

The origin of the name Oreo is unknown, but there are many theories. ‘Or’ means golden in French or the Greek word ‘Oreo’, meaning beautiful, nice or well done.

Starting in January 2006, Oreo cookies replaced the trans fat in the cookie with non-hydrogenated vegetable oil.

On This Day in Food History…

• 1899 Aspirin was patented by Felix Hoffman of the German company, Bayer. Aspirin was originally developed by Charles Frederic Gerhardt in 1853, but he never thought it important enough to patent.

• 1912 Nabisco debuts the Oreo cookie. The Oreo is considered largest selling cookie of all time.

• 1930 Retail frozen foods go on sale for the first time in Springfield, Massachusetts. Various fruits, vegetables, meat and fish were offered for sale. Clarence Birdseye had developed the method used to successfully freeze foods on a commercial scale.

Interesting Food Facts about Cereal

The word cereal comes from Cerealia, the name of ancient Roman ceremonies that honored Ceres, the goddess of grain.

The first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal, Granula was invented in the United States in 1863 by James Caleb Jackson.

Cereal is often eaten cold with with milk, yogurt, and sometimes fruit, but may be eaten dry.

Astronauts from Apollo 11 ate cereal during their mission to the moon. The cereal with fruit was compressed into cubes because the lack of gravity made bowls of milk impossible.

The average American eats 160 bowls of cereal each year.

Today’s Food History

1804 John Wedgwood, the son of Josiah Wedgwood of pottery fame, founded the Royal Horticultural Society.

1849 Luther Burbank was born. American horticulturist, he developed many new varieties of fruits and vegetables, including the Burbank Potato (1873), the Shasta Daisy, over 100 varieties of plums and prunes and 10 varieties of berries.

1897 Dr. John Kellogg served corn flakes for the first time to his patients at his hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. They wouldn’t be sold commercially until 1906.

1914 The Coca Cola Bottler’s Association was formed.

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Here are today’s five thing to know about Peanut Cluster:

1. ‘Peanut Cluster’ is referred to a type of candy that mixes melted chocolate and peanuts.
2. These crunchy treats are a perfect combination of a sweet and salty deliciousness.
3. There are several versions of peanut clusters including caramel clusters, butterscotch clusters and chocolate peanut clusters.
4. Peanuts have a higher antioxidant capacity over grapes, green tea, tomatoes, spinach, carrots and many more.
5. Peanut clusters have been around for many years dating way before 1912 when they were made popular by the Goo Goo Cluster.

Fun Fact:

Astronaut Allen B. Sheppard brought peanuts with him to the moon.

During World War II the  the Emporia Wholesale Coffee Company “shipped approximately 50,000 pounds of chocolate peanut clusters weekly for consumption by those on the fighting front.”

Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

Today’s Food History

• 1824 RIP Jean Jacques Regis de Cambaceres, A French politician and gourmet, a contemporary and rival of Talleyrand and Carême. The dinners he gave were legendary. He refused to admit late-comers, and was demanded complete silence while dining.

• 1923 The Coca Cola 6 bottle carton was introduced.

• 1992 RIP Christian K. Nelson, inventor of the Eskimo Pie at age 98.

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5 food facts about crab cakes

A crab cake is an American dish composed of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, milk, mayonnaise, eggs, yellow onions, and seasonings.

The two most common styles of Maryland crab cakes are known as Boardwalk and Restaurant.

Boardwalk crabcakes are typically breaded and deep-fried, and are often filled with stuffing of various sorts and served on a hamburger bun.

Restaurant crab cakes, which are sometimes called gourmet crab cakes, are often prepared with no filler, and are composed of all-lump crab meat served on a platter or open-faced sandwich.

Many restaurants that offer Maryland crab cakes will offer to have the cakes fried or broiled.

On This Day in Food History…

1822 Charles Graham of New York received a patent for artificial teeth.

1839 Famous Food Fights

The Great Pastry War ended this day. A brief conflict began on November 30, 1838, between Mexico and France caused by a French pastry cook who claimed that some Mexican Army soldiers had damaged his restaurant. The Mexican government refused to pay for damages. Several other countries had asked the Mexican government for similar claims in the past due to civil unrest in Mexico, without any resolution. France decided to do something about it, and sent a fleet to Veracruz and fired on the fortress outside the harbor. They occupied the city on April 16, 1838, and through the mediation of Great Britain were promised payment of 600,000 pesos for the damages. They withdrew on March 9, 1839.

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Here are today’s five thing to know about Ranch Dressing:

1. In 1954 ranch dressing was invented at Hidden Valley Ranch, a dude ranch near Santa Barbara, California.
   
2. Ranch dressing has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, overtaking Italian dressing.
3. Hidden Valley brand owns the right to ‘the Original Ranch®‘ After decades of trademark lawsuits similar products can be labeled ‘ranch style’ or simply ‘ranch’
4. While popular in the United States and Canada, ranch dressing is virtually unknown in most of the world
5.  Since 1972 Hidden Valley Ranch has been owned by Clorox.

Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary

Today’s Food History

• 1845 RIP John Chapman, ‘Johnny Appleseed’ ,an American pioneer and legend, he planted apple seeds in the Ohio River valley area (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois)

• 1867 Lillian D. Wald was born. She was a scientist and nurse, and among her activities, she helped initiate the enactment of pure food laws in the U.S.

• 1873 RIP John Torrey, he was the first professional botanist in the New World.

• 1914 At the National Gallery in London, a suffragette slashed Diego Velázquez’s ‘Rokeby Venus’ with a meat cleaver.

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

1. A gyro is a dish of meat roasted on a vertical spit. It is usually served as a sandwich, also called a gyros, with tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce, wrapped in pita bread.
2. To make gyros, pieces of meat are placed on a tall vertical spit, which turns in front of a source of heat, usually an electric broiler.
3.  If the meat is not fatty enough, strips of fat are added so that the roasting meat remains always moist and crisp.
4. The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the strength of the heat and the distance between the heat and the meat, allowing the cook to adjust to varying rates of consumption.
5. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done. It is generally served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with various salads and sauces.

Today’s Food History

• 1819 J.J. Wood patented a plow with interchangeable parts.
• 1826 Alfred Ely Beach was born. American inventor and publisher of Scientific American magazine.
• 1906 Karl August Folkers was born. He was the first to isolate vitamin B12.
• 1914 Martha, the last surviving Passenger Pigeon died on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo, the species having been commercially hunted to extinction.
• 1940 Lillian D. Wald died. She was a scientist and nurse, and among her activities, she helped initiate the enactment of pure food laws in the U.S.
• 1951 The Premier, the first supermarket in Britain, opened it’s doors.

September 25^th is National Quesadilla Day

Today’s 5 Facts about the Quesadilla:

1. The word, Quesadilla, in Spanish, literally means “little cheesy thing.”
2. It is said that one in three Americans make a quesadilla every week. * V&V Supremo®’s Chihuahua® Brand Quesadilla Cheese is the best choice for making your quesadillas authentic.
3. In the central and southern regions of Mexico, a quesadilla is a flat circle of cooked corn masa, called a tortilla, warmed to soften it enough to be folded in half, and then filled.
4. While 66% of people use two tortillas when they make quesadillas, the traditional Mexican method requires folding one tortilla in half.
5. In culinary terms, a quesadilla, is a tortilla that is filled with cheese, other toppings, then grilled or pan fried.

*Created in 2019 by Foodimentary & V&V Supremo®

For more information on National Quesadilla Day and to learn more about how V&V Supremo® is celebrating, visit www.nationalquesadilladay.com or follow along on social media @vvsupremo and #NationalQuesadillaDay.

Today’s Food History

 On this day in…

•     1851 Jacob Fussell, a Baltimore dairyman, opens the first commercial ice-cream factory.
•     1869 R.I.P. Joseph Dixon. An American inventor and manufacturer. Among his many accomplishments, he produced the first pencil made in the U.S.
•     1969 ‘Ice Cube’ (O’Shea Jackson) singer and actor, was born.
•     1992 At a spelling bee in a Trenton, New Jersey school, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, corrects a student’s spelling of ‘potato’ by telling him it should have an ‘e’ at the end.

National Quesadilla Day

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1777 Johann Heinrich Lambert died. He proved that Apple pie was irrational.  Oops – never mind – that was ‘pi’ that he proved was an irrational number.

1843 Melville Reuben Bissell was born. Bissell invented the carpet sweeper in 1876.

1879 The Cream Separator was patented.

1974 It is first reported that freon from aerosol cans is destroying the ozone layer above the earth.

1976 The largest dolphin caught with rod and reel weighed 87 pounds. It was caught off the coast of Costa Rica.

1985 William Cumming Rose died. An American biochemist, he researched amino acids, and established the importance of the 8 essential amino acids in human nutrition.

Five Food Finds about Soufflé Potatoes

1. Souffle potatoes, also known as pommes souffles or potato puffs, are a type of fried potato.
2. The item was created by French chef Jean-Louis-Francois Collinet completely by accident, sometime in the 1830s.
3. The potatoes are fried once to seal the outside, then fried again at a higher temperature, causing the steam inside to puff them like balloons. 
4. The hand-cut souffle potatoes are often accompanied by bearnaise sauce.
5. Burbank Russet potatoes puff the best, due to their intrinsic moisture and high starch content.

*

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1861 William Wrigley, Jr. was born. William Wrigley Jr. started out as a traveling salesman at the age of 13, selling soap for his father’s company. He had a series of sales jobs, one which gave chewing gum as a premium. Customers liked the gum better than the product, so he was soon marketing his own gum, Juicy Fruit in 1893, and later that year Wrigley’s Spearmint. He was an advertising genius, and his company became one of the largest advertisers in the U.S., and the largest chewing gum manufacturer in the world.

1958 The Frisbee was patented. The pie tins of the Frisbee Pie Company of Connecticut were the inspiration for the creation of the Frisbee. A Wham-O employee supposedly saw drivers for the pie company showing Yale students how to throw the pie tins.

1960 The last episode of ‘The Howdy Doody Show’ airs on NBC.

1962 The United Farm Workers union is founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.

1982 The TV show ‘Cheers’ debuted.

2004 California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill that bans the production and sale of foie gras beginning in 2012.

Photo credit: BYWATER BAKERY KING CAKE

January 6th is National King Cake Day (North America)

10 Fun Facts about King Cake: (thanks to New Orleans & Company)

1. The name “King Cake” comes from the biblical story of the three kings who brought gifts to baby Jesus
2. Most king cake is colored with Purple, Green and Gold frosting or sugar. These colors each represent a special meaning: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. These three colors were chosen by the first Krewe of Rex to be the heraldry for the King of Carnival. 
3. King cakes typically have a hidden plastic baby inside. Whoever finds it must either bring the next cake or throw a party, thus sparking an unending round of food and fun (most of the babies now come OUTSIDE of the cake and are placed in the cake by the person who buys the cake)
4. Some bakeries have signature trinkets in lieu of a plastic baby. For example, restaurant Cochon has a small plastic pig for their king cakes.
5. The King Cake Baby has become so synonymous with New Orleans culture that the NBA team Pelicans has a King Cake Baby mascot and the former triple-a baseball team located in New Orleans was called the Baby Cakes  
6. Though King Cake is available in some forms year-round, New Orleanians are mostly steadfast on only eating it during Carnival Season which starts on January 6th (Twelfth Night) and runs through Mardi Gras Day (aka Fat Tuesday) 
7. King cakes have continued to evolve through the years and while “traditional king cake” is somewhere between a cinnamon role and coffee cake, many bakeries are now making fruit-stuffed king cakes and even savory king cakes 
8. A king cake alternative known as a Queen’s Cake or Galette de Rois is a traditional French pastry which is baked to celebrate Epiphany (Twelfth Night) and is typically puff pastry with almond frangipani (on a personal note, I like queen cake better than king cake!)
9. It is believed that French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville brought the traditions of Mardi Gras to southern Louisiana, but the king cake tradition itself is thought to have arrived around 1870 from France
10. Though it is widely associated with Epiphany/Twelfth Night, which is of significance in Christianity, the King Cake is believed to have Pagan origins

Today’s Food History

• 1884 Gregor Johann Mendel died. Mendel was an Austrian botanist whose work was the foundation of the science of genetics. Working mainly with garden peas (some 28,000 plants over 7 years), he discovered what was to become known as the laws of heredity.
• 1901 Philip Danforth Armour, died. American industrialist who pioneered the use of refrigeration and meat canning. Armour & Co. became the largest meatpacker in the world and this helped Chicago become the meatpacking capital of the world. (The fact that Chicago is the ‘Windy City’ may have helped also).
• 1910 ‘Kid Chocolate’ (Elgio Saldana) was born. He became Cuba’s first world boxing champion in 1931 after defeating Benny Bass for the Jr. Lightweight Championship.
• 1929 Sheffeld Farms of New York began using wax paper cartons instead of glass bottles for milk delivery.
• 1936 Warner Bros. Loony Tunes character ‘Porky Pig’ makes his debut.
• 1988 The famous Paris restaurant ‘La Coupole’ was sold and eventually replaced by an office building. It was famous for its Welsh rarebit, and had been frequented by James Joyce, Henry Miller and many other notable Americans.