Cook From The Heart

Did You Know?

Spam stands for Shoulder Pork and Ham.

1.5 billion cups of tea are enjoyed throughout the world every day.

Reportedly there are more than 1,750 “O’s” in a 15 ounce can of Spaghetti O’s.

Coco-Cola would be green if coloring weren’t added to it.

Half the world’s population lives on a staple diet of rice.

Within 2 hours of standing in daylight, milk loses between half and two thirds of its vitamin content.

Did You Know?

In 1670, a choirmaster in Cologne, Germany bent the end of the candy canes to resemble a shepherd’s staff and handed them out to the children during church services to keep them quiet.

In the early 1900s, candy canes acquired their famous stripes.

The first candy canes were straight, white sticks of sugar candy used as Christmas decorations.

More than 1.76 billion candy canes are made annually for the Christmas season.

In December 1998, Richard and Kathleen Fabiano-Ghinelli made the biggest candy cane at 36 feet 7 inches.

And when you’re finished celebrating Christmas, make sure you have at least 1 candy cane left to celebrate National Candy Cane Day on December 26^th.

Did You Know?

Christmas cookies dates back to Medieval Europe.

Dutch and German settlers first introduced cookie cutters to America.

German gingerbread (Lebkuchen) was the first cookie/cake associated with Christmas.

Wellesley Cookie Exchange, a most famous cookie exchange began in 1971 as a way to relieve holiday stress and continues as of this writing.

Did You Know?

 World’s largest Pumpkin Pie, as of February 2006, The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes a 2,020 pound pie as the biggest pie on record. It was made by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers from New Bremen, Ohio.

The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was more than 5 feet in diameter and weighed more than 350 pounds. It required 80 pounds of pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar and 12 dozen eggs.

Libby’s canned pumpkin was introduced to America in 1929. Libby’s is not actually pumpkin but another kind of squash called a Dickinson that also has orange flesh.

Did You Know?

There are 14 people in the United States listed in the white pages with the name of Cranberry.

Cranberry juice was first made by American settlers in 1683.

The first cranberry sauce was marketed in 1912.

Cranberries are almost 90% water.

It takes 200 cranberries to make one can of cranberry sauce.

Americans consume some 400 million pounds of cranberries a year, 20% during Thanksgiving.

The cranberry was made the official state berry of Massachusetts in 1994.

Did You Know?

Sweet potatoes are a Native American plant that was the main source of nourishment for early homesteaders and for soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
    

These tuberous roots are among the most nutritious foods in the vegetable kingdom. They are packed with calcium, potassium, and vitamins A and C. This is why one colonial physician called them the "vegetable indispensable."
    

Sweet potatoes are often confused with yams, but yams are large, starchy roots grown in Africa and Asia.

Nutritionally, sweet potatoes greatly outweigh yams. Because of the common use of the term "yam," it is acceptable to use this term when referring to sweet potatoes.
    

Sweet potatoes contain an enzyme that converts most of its starches into sugars as the potato matures. This sweetness continues to increase during storage and when they are cooked.
    

Although sweet potatoes are harvested in August through October, they are available in supermarkets all year. Many stores feature them at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
    

There are two varieties of sweet potatoes; the pale yellow with a dry flesh and the dark orange with a moist flesh. The dark orange variety is plumper in shape and somewhat sweeter than the yellow variety.

Did You Know?

Pepperoni is made from cured and fermented pork with just a little beef and is seasoned with black pepper, sugar, anise, cayenne, paprika (the source of its orange color) and lots of salt. A test was given to twenty one chefs and editors on six national brands of sliced pepperoni, straight from the package as well as baked on cheese pizza. They checked for spice, heat, meat and texture. They took points off for pepperoni that was dried out or leathery. When the slices were at room temperature, they could easily distinguish differences in flavor and spice, but the flavors became muted and the scores evened out when the pepperoni was baked on pizzas.

You may think of it as a greasy flavor atop a slice of pizza, but pepperoni dates back to ancient Rome, where it was a convenient food for soldiers on the march. It crossed time and the Atlantic Ocean to reach America with the Italian immigrants who arrived on these shores around 1900. Pepperoni met pizza in New York City, underwent a total transformation from artisanal to commercial, and the rest, as they say is history. Pepperoni is the most ordered pizza topping in the United States, according to Jeremy White, editor in chief of Pizza Today magazine.

Did You Know?

Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.

Apples are fat, sodium and cholesterol free.

A medium apple is about 80 calories.

Apples are a member of the rose family.

A peck of apples weigh 10.5 pounds.

A bushel of apples weigh about 42 pounds and will yield 20-24 quarts of applesauce.

It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.

Did You Know?

There are 5,638 people in the US listed with the last name of Corn.

The average ear of corn has 800 kernels arranged in 16 rows.

Corn is not only an important food for man, more than 50% of US production is used for livestock feed.

The world record for eating corn on the cob is 33 ½ ears in 12 minutes, held by Cookie Jarvis.

Did You Know?

The average American eats 54 quarts of popcorn annually.

There are 1,600 popcorn kernels in a cup.

The first time popcorn was mentioned in a cookbook was in 1846.

According to the Guinness Book of World records the largest popcorn ball is 12 ft. in diameter, containing 12,000 lbs. of popcorn, 40,000 lbs. of sugar, 280 gallons of corn syrup, and 400 gallons of water.

Did You Know?

More than 2 billion pounds of bacon is produced in the US each year.

Bacon is one of the oldest processed meats in history. The Chinese began salting pork bellies as early as 1500 BC.

The BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich) became available year round with the rapid expansion of supermarkets after World War 11.

Bacon doesn’t just come from one place on the pig. In fact English, American and Italian bacon comes from the belly of the pig while Irish and Canadian bacon comes from the back.

There are 24,872 people in the US listed on whitepages.com with the last name “Bacon”

Did You Know?

Each American consumes a yearly average of 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbert and ices

More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week

Children ages 2 through 12 and adults ages 45 + eat the most ice cream per person

Vanilla ice cream is voted the favorite flavor by 29%, Chocolate by 8.9%, Butter Pecan 5.3%, Strawberry 5.3%

The first ice cream parlor in America opened in New York City in 1776

Did You Know?

As with many holidays, the 4^th of July celebration includes food, drink and the realization of how fortunate we are as a nation.

More than 81 million

Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It's probably safe to assume a large number of these events took place on the Fourth.

Although we do not have a fixed menu for the celebration of the Fourth, you can almost count on traditional favorites such as hamburgers and hot dogs, chicken, ribs, garden salads, potato salad, chips and watermelon. Following is a summary of where these foods come from:

• There's a 1-in-6 chance the beef on your backyard grill came from Texas. The Lone Star State is the leader in the production of cattle and calves.
• The chicken on your barbecue grill probably came from one of the top broiler-producing states: Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi.
• The lettuce in your salad or on your hamburger probably was grown in California, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of USA lettuce production.
• Fresh tomatoes in your salad most likely came from Florida or California, which, combined, produced more than two-thirds of U.S. tomatoes. The ketchup on your hamburger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounts for 95 percent of processed tomato production.
• As to potato salad or potato chips or fries, Idaho and Washington produces about one-half of the nation's spuds.
• For dessert, six states — California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Indiana — combined to produce about 80 percent of watermelons last year.
• And the apples in your apple pie? They most likely came from Washington or New York, the two top apple producing states.
• On this day 155 million  hot dogs will be eaten.

Did You Know?

Watermelon is 92% water and in ancient times travelers used watermelon as a replacement for water.

The largest watermelon was grown in 1990 by Bill Carson of Tennessee weighing in at 262 pounds

To find out if a watermelon is ripe (of course without splitting it open) just knock on it, if it sounds hollow it is ripe.

A fat round watermelon can take up a lot of room in the refrigerator, so the Japanese farmer solved the dilemma by forcing the watermelons to grow into a square shape. Farmers inserted the melons into a square, tempered glass case while the fruit is still growing on the vine. However this process is costly and the average watermelon cost 10,000 yen, the equivalent of 82.00 American dollars. *I’ll stick to the round J

Did You Know?

Pizza is the second most popular takeout food (after chicken) in the over 50 group

In 1905 Gennaro Lombardi opened the first licensed American Pizzeria called Lombardi’s Pizzeria Napoletana in New York City

The mozzarella originally used on the pizza in Italy was made from Buffalo milk but now use cow’s milk as it is cheaper

Tuna is the most popular pizza topping in Europe

Did You Know?

White shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and white ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. There is no difference in nutrition between white and brown eggs.

An average hen lays 300 to 325 eggs a year. A hen starts laying eggs at 19 weeks of age.

The hen must eat 4 pounds of feed to make a dozen eggs.

A mother hen turns over her egg 50 times per day so the yolk doesn’t stick to the side of the shell.

Did You Know?

Turophilia is a love or obsession with cheese

The first cheese factory to make cheese from scratch started in Rome NY in 1850 by Jesse Williams

Processed cheeses such as American cheese are more than 40% of total cheese production

The US produces more than 30% of the world’s cheese

Did You Know?

October is National Pizza month it was first designated in 1987.

Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day or 350 slices per second.

Pizza is a $30 billion per year in industry selling 3 billion pizzas each year in the US.

Did You Know?

The average person will consume 10,866 carrots in a lifetime.

Carrots are one of the rare vegetable which is more nutritious cooked then raw.

Carrots were the first vegetable to be canned commercially.

Carrot Names around the World

Did You Know?

The Tradition and History of Jordan Almonds

JORDAN ALMOND TRADITIONS

Fresh almonds have a bittersweet taste, which represents life. The sugarcoating is added with the hope that the newlyweds' life will be more sweet than bitter.

ITALIAN WEDDINGS Five almonds signify five wishes for the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity. These almonds decorate each place setting as favors, tucked into pretty boxes or tulle bags called *bomboniere* that are often personalized with the couple's names and wedding date.

GREEK WEDDINGS Sugarcoated almonds in traditional Greek weddings are called *koufeta*. They are placed in little bags in odd numbers and are served on a silver tray. Odd numbers are indivisible, symbolizing how the newlyweds will share everything and remain undivided. Tradition holds that if an unmarried woman puts the almonds under her pillow, she'll dream of her future husband.

MIDDLE EASTERN WEDDINGS Candy-covered almonds, considered aphrodisiacs, are always on hand (have too many and you may leave the reception early!).

A SWEET IDEA Jordan Almonds make great wedding favors -- wrap a cluster in tulle tied with ribbon, pack a few in boxes (made of sugar, straw, paper, metal, or plastic), stuff some in decorative bags, or pour a handful into champagne glasses or glass bowls. Attach a little card with a note explaining the almonds' meaning (so guests know they're not just an intermezzo between the salad and the filet mignon). Consider using this Jordan Almonds poem:

Jordan Almonds for Thee

Five sugared almonds for each guest to eat
To remind us that life is both bitter and sweet.
Five wishes for the new husband and wife --
Health, wealth, happiness, children, and a long life!


Tradition suggests using five Jordan Almonds for each guest. One to signify health, one for wealth, one for longevity, one for fertility and one for happiness.

Did You Know?

More than 5 million peeps are produced each day.

Almost 15 billion jelly beans are sold during the Easter season.

American people spend $2 billion on Easter goodies.

90 million chocolate bunnies are made each year for Easter.

76%people prefer to eat the ears of the chocolate bunny first before any other part.

Did You Know?

In 1954 C.A. Swanson and Sons introduced the first TV dinner it was roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, sweet potatoes and peas. Supposedly executive Gerald Thomas came up with the idea when the company had tons of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.

The cost of a TV dinner was .98 and came in an aluminum tray so you could just open it and heat the dinner in the oven. The idea of the aluminum trays came from the trays used by the airlines however Campbell Soup Company, owner of Swanson foods, replaced the aluminum trays with plastic microwavable trays in 1986.

They were an immediate success, and the turkey dinners were and are still the most popular Swanson frozen dinner. Swanson stopped calling them TV dinner in 1962.

Did You Know?

That Irish Soda Bread is a classic quick bread from Ireland, which takes its name from the fact that it uses baking soda for leavening. It is usually made with buttermilk, baked on the griddle or in the oven, and sometimes has raisins and caraway seeds added. Before baking, a cross is cut on the top with a knife, supposed to ward off the devil.

Did You Know?

That Irish coffee was supposedly created in the early 1950’s by Joe Sheridan, a bartender at the Shannon Airport. It was publicized by a travel writer Stanton Delaphane after he discovered it in his travels (check out the guest recipe page for an Irish coffee recipe).

The feast that is celebrated on Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19^th honors all fathers.

Did You Know?

In honor of president’s day this month, I thought it would be interesting to share some tidbits about various presidents and their favorite foods.

• George Washington (1789-1797):  Ice cream, fish
• John Adams (1797-1801):  apple cider, pickles, kale and onions
• Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809):  Ice cream, pancakes, spoon breads, vegetables
• James Madison (1809-1817):  Ice cream
• James Monroe (1817-1825): chicken fried with rice, spoonbread
• John Quincy Adams (1825-1829): fresh fruit
• Andrew Jackson (1829-1837): French food, floating islands and mini-custard tarts
• Martin Van Buren (1837-1841): oysters, doughnuts, raisins, figs, and apples
• William Henry Harrison (1841): squirrel stew, hard cider
• John Tyler (1841-1845): dessert puddings
• James K. Polk (1845-1849): ham, corn pone, Southern food
• Zachary Taylor (1849-1850): Creole food
• Millard Fillmore (1850-1853): plain food, meat, potatoes, vegetables
• Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): plain, New Hampshire food of his day, fried clams, chowder, apple pan dowdy
• James Buchanan (1857-1861): French cuisine, gourmet food, cabbage
• Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865): Fruit salad, crackers, cheese
• Andrew Johnson (1865-1869): Fish, jam
• Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877): rice pudding
• Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881):  Cornmeal battercakes
• James A. Garfield (1881):  squirrel soup, milk, homemade breads, apple pie
• Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885):  mutton chops, rare roast beef, seafood
• Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897):  pickled herring
• Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893):  corn
• William McKinley (1897-1901):  potatoes, meats and fish, eggs, bread
• Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909):  coffee, wild game, biscuits and gravy
• William Howard Taft (1909-1913):  Turtle Soup
• Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921):  strawberry ice cream
• William G. Harding (1921-1923):  chicken pie
• Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929): curry of veal, pork apple pies
• Herbert Hoover (1929-1933):  Virginia ham, corn soup, potato soup
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945): scrambled eggs, fish chowder, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, and fruitcake
• Harry S. Truman (1945-1953): roast chicken, Senator’s Bean Soup
• Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961): onions, oxtail soup, succotash, prune whip
• John F. Kennedy (1961-1963): New England Clam Chowder
• Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969): Ice cream, pancakes, seafood, spinach soufflé, sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows
• Richard Nixon (1969-1974):  meatloaf, dried figs, cottage cheese
• Gerald Ford (1974-1977):  pot roast, red cabbage
• Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) eggplant, chicken, sirloin steak, cornbread
• Ronald Reagan (1981-1989): Jelly beans, macaroni and cheese, monkey bread
• George H. W. Bush (1989-1993): pork rinds, hated broccoli
• William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001): enchiladas, ribs, hamburgers, pie
• George W. Bush (2001 – 2009): Mexican food, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Did You Know?

70% of those celebrating Valentine’s Day give a card, followed by 49% a telephone call, 48% a gift, 37% a special dinner, 33% give candy 30% going out to dinner and 19% give flowers. ♥

Did You Know?

More than 35 million heart shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold on Valentine’s Day ♥

On Valentine’s Day E-Commerce retailers expect to rack up about 45 million dollars in food (including chocolate and wine).

Did You Know?

The following are Super Bowl Sunday snack stats

11 million lbs. of potato chips are consumed

8.2 million lbs. of tortilla chips

3.8 million lbs. of popcorn

4 million lbs. of pretzels

2.5 million lbs. of nuts

$ 11.8 million on beer

Pizza Hut expects to prepare 2 million pizza pies for that special day

And the most un-believable number of 9.5 billion chicken wings

Have a great Super Bowl 45 Party

Did You Know?

In 1866, candy manufacturer NECCO made the first “Conversation Heart” then called “Motto Hearts”. According to NECCO, eight billion of these little candies are sold between January 1^st and February 14^th.

Did You Know?

The first soda pop made in the US was Vernor’s Ginger Ale, created in Detroit Michigan in 1866.

Coco Cola, Hires Root Beer and Dr. Pepper were all introduced in the same year of 1886.

Americans drink over 13 billion gallons of soft drinks each year.

Did You Know?

According to the National Geographic, that scientist, seem to have settled the old dispute over which came first the chicken or the egg. They say that reptiles were laying eggs thousands of years before chickens appeared, and the first chicken came from an egg laid by a bird that was not quite a chicken. Thus the egg came first.

Chickens are one of the oldest domesticated birds and the average American eats over 80 lbs. of chicken each year.

Did You Know?

The 57 on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of pickles the company had.

Bananas are considered to be the greatest body builder among the fruit food. They have tissue building ability.

Did You Know?

For every dollar you spend on produce at the supermarket, about .05 of that dollar goes to the farmer that grew it.

When the power goes off, food will stay cold enough to be eaten safely for 4-6 hours if you don’t open the door. Items in a half-full freezer are probably safe for 12 hours and a full freezer for 2 days according to Prevention Magazine.

Did You Know?

The most recognized smell in the world is coffee with peanut butter coming in second.

Frank Epperson was 11 years old when he mixed some soda water powder to drink, but he left it on the back porch overnight with the stirring stick in it. It froze solid and the Epsicle was born. Later the name was changed to Popsicle.

Did You Know?

The etymology of the word lasagna is amusing.  It starts with the Greek lasanon which means 'chamber pot'!  The Romans borrow it as lasanum to humorously refer to a 'cooking pot'.  Later, the Italian word lasagne (plural of lasagna) came to refer to a dish cooked in such a pot - flat sheets of pasta layered with minced meat and tomatoes topped with grated cheese.  Soon, the word lasagna was applied to the pasta itself.

Did You Know?

What  Figgy Pudding is?

Before you sing, "Now bring us some figgy pudding," it might be helpful to know exactly what you are requesting. Figgy pudding is an English dish similar to bread pudding. Made from figs, bread crumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and milk, the pudding is baked, then topped with a scrumptious brandied hard sauce, custard icing, powdered sugar, or whipped cream.

The dish was immortalized in the song We Wish You a Merry Christmas and was served by Mrs. Cratchit in the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.

Or what  fruitcake is?

Fruitcake früt-k¯ak n (1848) 1: a rich cake containing nuts, dried or candied fruits, and spices; 2: a foolish, eccentric, or crazy person J

What is Christmas without fruitcake? Indeed, this chewy, rich confection is a staple of the holidays, but what, exactly, is it? It is called a cake, but because it is chock-full of nuts and candied fruits, it resembles a candy bar. When sliced, pieces can be passed off as cookies.

In ancient times, fruitcake was made with raisins, pomegranate seeds, and pine nuts mixed together with barley mash. Later, honey, spices, and candied fruits were added. Because of fruitcake's consistency and longevity, early warriors and hunters carried it with them on long journeys.

Did You Know?

45 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving

22 million turkeys are eaten for Christmas

19 million turkeys are eaten for Easter

Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and 2 dressed turkeys to the President. The President doesn’t eat the turkey. He “pardons” it and allows it to live its days out on a historical farm.

Did You Know?

In 1912, Nabisco had a new idea for a cookie, two chocolate disks with a crème filling in between. The first cookie looked very similar to the Oreo cookie of today, with only a slight difference in the design of the cookie disks.

Since Oreo cookies debuted in 1912, over 362 billion have been sold, making them the best-selling cookie in the United States

Did You Know?

Since chicken can carry bacteria that can make you sick, safe poultry practices are crucial. So let’s do the lowdown on chicken safety.

At a store: place the chicken in a plastic bag and put under shelf in cart basket so they won’t touch and cross-contaminate produce.

When freezing: you can leave it in its packaging for 7 days before freezer burn sets in. Wrap it in plastic wrap if you plan to freeze it up to 6 months.

When defrosting: put it in the refrigerator the day before. (if it gets warmer than 40 degrees F, bacteria can grow)

When cooking: Don’t rinse chicken before cooking it, if it has salmonella you’ll spread it all over your kitchen sink and counter. Place the chicken in its cooking dish, then wash your hands, countertops and faucet.. Any bacteria on the meat will be killed by heating it to 165 degrees F.

With leftovers: Cooked parts can be refrigerated for 2 days, a whole bird cooked, 3 days.

And did you know the average American eats 90 lbs. of chicken a year.

Did You Know?

The candy bar “Baby Ruth” was named after the daughter of the US President Grover Cleveland in 1921

The sandwich is named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich for whom sandwiches were made so he could stay at a gambling table without interruptions for meals

The world’s rarest coffee cost $300.00 a pound. It’s called Kopi Luwak and comes from Indonesia.

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum.

Two thirds of the world’s eggplant is grown in New Jersey.

Did You Know

The first basic cookbook written for the housewife rather than the trained chef with a full staff was Eliza Acton’s “Modern Cookery for Private Families” published in London in 1845.

The corn dog was created in 1942 for the Texas State Fair.

Americans consume over 2 billion cookies a year or 300 cookies for each person annually.

       Did You Know

A honey bee must tap two million flowers to produce 1 pound of honey.

A typical American eats 28 pigs in her/his lifetime.

Americans consumed over 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate in 2001

Fortune cookies were invented in 1916 by George Jung, a Los Angeles noodle maker.