Way back in 2015 I wrote a series of three blogs on random Thanksgiving related trivia. While facts of the past do not change (usually), trivia related to statistics can. I figured it was time to peruse the internet for any fun-facts I might have missed previously and to update...
THANKSGIVING is fast approaching here in the US, and as everyone knows, food is a BIG and central aspect of this traditional holiday. For most of us, we have our established dishes that must be cooked year after year. In my household that “must have” no-compromise dish is the dressing recipe passed down...
Surely you didn’t think a butler or diner would brush fallen bread crumbs off the bleached white tablecloth onto the floor? Perish the thought! Instead, some clever person invented the table crumber, or simply, the crumber. The crumber came in many forms: a small brush and pan, a tiny brush on...
The original molded CHOCOLATE EASTER EGG was the product of candy company competition and one man’s dedication to the Quaker philosophy of helping the community. In 1824, John Cadbury opened a small shop in Birmingham, England, specializing in a variety of drinks, including tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate. He was...
Simnel cake is a light and airy fruitcake widely eaten in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries with patterns of migration from them, associated with Lent and Easter. It is distinguished by layers of almond paste or marzipan, typically one in the middle and one on top, and a set of eleven balls made of the same...
Pease-pudding hot,Pease-pudding cold,Pease-pudding in the pot,Nine days old;Some like it hot,Some like it cold,Some like it in the pot,Nine days old. Included in James Orchard Halliwell’s 1846 publication The Nursery Rhymes of England as a clapping game, the precise origin of the “Pease Pudding Hot” rhyme is unknown. Whoever wrote...
A nutmeg grater, or nutmeg rasp, is a device used to grate a nutmeg seed. Okay, simple enough, but why were they designed so fancy? And what was the big deal about nutmeg anyway? A common spice today, nutmeg was once a luxury. The Myristica fragrans tree from which the seed is...
Conversation hearts, Necco hearts, candy hearts, Sweethearts — there are many names applied to these tiny heart-shaped chunks of candy stamped with short love-themed messages. Not everyone is a fan, Sweethearts ranked up there with Candy Corn and marshmallow Peeps for heated debates between the lovers and haters. Yet no...
In the 1700s, the Thames River in London was replete with eels. Surprisingly easy to catch, these slippery creatures were free for the grabbing, nutritious, and tasty. Nets were set upriver, and the bountiful harvests quickly became a dietary staple for London’s poor. On top of being cheap, they were...
I’ve never been a fan of fruitcake, however, that is due to the nuts rather than any of the usual reasons people hate this classic holiday treat. I am not technically allergic to nuts, but as far as I am concerned, I might as well be since the teeniest sliver...
Thanksgiving is past and IMO that means the Christmas season is HERE!!! I can guarantee that over this past weekend we got our tree up and I at least started decorating the house. I simply LOVE, LOVE, LOVE CHRISTMAS! Hands down my favorite holiday season, which is why I shall...
Because I’ve written so many blogs about this fabulous and unique American holiday, I am not going crazy re-posting them separately. Instead, here are links to those past blogs, which cover everything from trivia, games to entertain during the holiday, recipes, and of course the history of Thanksgiving Day itself....
Inspired by my post on Tuesday uncovering the history of lemons and limes, I went searching for old recipes and stumbled across a great website: Cooking in the Archives A search of the site revealed no recipes featuring limes but a total of six with lemon as a main ingredient....
While preparing the latest Vocabulary Rocks! edition for the letter L — read that blog HERE – I was fascinated by the histories of these common citrus fruits. Rather than go into depth on a vocabulary blog when there are so many other interesting L words, I decided to devote...
Over the years I have posted multiple blogs containing recipes for cold weather drinks, both hot and chilled. Listed below are links to previous beverage-related blogs, some of which contain histories of these drinks. For today, I again scoured through Pinterest for unique beverages that fit into the autumn season....
