Champagne Bubbles Burst with Flavor

Dom Pérignon was a Benedictine monk who made important contributions to the production and quality of Champagne wine in an era when the region's wines were predominantly still and red. Popular myths frequently, but erroneously, credit him with the invention of sparkling Champagne, which didn't become the dominant style of Champagne until mid-19th century.

What is true about Dom is he was originally charged by his superiors at the Abbey of Hautvillers to get rid of the bubbles since the pressure in the bottles caused many of them to burst in the cellar. The disturbance caused by one bottle's disintegration could cause a chain reaction, with it being routine for cellars to lose 20-90% of their bottles to instability. The mysterious circumstance surrounding the then unknown process of fermentation and carbonic gas caused some critics to call the sparkling creations "The Devil's Wine".

He couldn't get rid of the bubbles, which is fortunate for us, as the bubbles help release the aroma of the Champagne.

This week, a look at how Champagne bubbles burst with flavor.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy." - Robert Louis Stevenson, (Scottish author, 1850 - 1894)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)


Champagne

Winter Solstice

We've just passed winter solstice, the longest night of the year, here in the northern hemisphere. After the winter solstice the light returns and the days grow longer.

The longest night of the year is a precious time. Night is a time of dream, vision and journey into the depths of oneself, the darkness of unknown possibility. From that journey into the dark new life as well as new light emerges.

This week, a look at Winter Solstice.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up -- they have no holidays." - Henry "Henny" Youngman (a British-born comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners," short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire, 1906 – 1998)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Winter Solstice

A Brief History of Chestnuts

Lately, I keeping stumbling across chestnuts. Of course, during the holidays Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett sing about them roasting on an open fire. According to The British Journal of Nutrition, chestnuts, along with pecans and walnuts, have the highest antioxidant content of the tree nuts. So in addition to being festive, they are good for you.

This week, a look at chestnuts.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world." - Calvin Coolidge's Presidential message on December 25, 1927; American president, 1872-1933)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

A Brief History of Chestnuts

C'mon, get happy!

Happiness is not an inborn disposition bestowed upon the lucky, nor is it the province of naive Pollyannas too dopey to understand the dark twists of the human condition.

British Medical Journal researchers reported in 2008 that happiness is a contagious bug. Based on data collected from nearly 5,000 people over 20 years, the journal found that living within a mile of a happy friend boosts a person’s happiness odds by 25 percent. Near a spirited sibling? Add 14 percent.

This week, a look at how being happy pays off.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together." - Garrison Keillor (from Leaving Home, American author, 1942 - )

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Butter Holds the Secret to Cookies That Sing

We've talked about butter before. Differences among European and American butters can be pronounced. Professionals can taste many flavor undertones in butter, including grass, flowers, whey, old cream, malt, must and weed. Some flavor differences come from cows’ feed, while others are acquired during processing.

Overall, the European-style butters have more of a golden, warm, toasty flavor. This is from a compound called diacetyl that develops during fermentation. Standard American butter has a fresher flavor of milk and cream.

In baking, the flavor differences mostly disappear. Especially in cookies. Cookies….mmmm….

This week why it's all about the butter when you make cookies.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin (US comedian and actor, 1937 - 2008)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Butter Holds the Secret to Cookies That Sing

Compass

Thanksgiving is the peak travel weekend in the United States, with nearly 40 million Americans leaving home to visit relatives, heading home from college or simply going on vacation to relax. And how to they know they are traveling in the right direction? The compass, of course.

Other, more accurate, devices have been invented for determining north that do not depend on the Earth's magnetic field for operation. A gyrocompass or astrocompass can be used to find true north, while being unaffected by stray magnetic fields, nearby electrical power circuits or nearby masses of ferrous metals. A recent development is the electronic compass, or Fibre optic gyrocompass, which detects the magnetic directions without potentially fallible moving parts. This device frequently appears as an optional subsystem built into GPS receivers. However, magnetic compasses remain popular, especially in remote areas, as they are cheap, durable, and require no electrical power supply.

This week, a look at the compass.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time." - Edith Wharton (US novelist, 1862 - 1937)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Compass

Talking Turkey

There are literally hundreds of ways to cook a turkey and each year new recipes and techniques are created based on trendy regional ingredients and creative cooking methods. Some are good, some are bad, and some are downright unsafe. All are designed to tantalize the senses and produce the perfect turkey - moist breast meat, tender legs and thighs, golden brown skin and memorable flavor. Believe it or not, cooking a turkey is not that difficult. Which turkey cooking method chosen is up to the cook, just make sure it is a safe method.

Pete Snyder runs the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management and is a frequent contributor to FOODSAFE, a food safety listserv. By beginning with the science of the recipe, Dr. Snyder strives to have one set of science-based food safety rules for everyone, from retail food operations to the home. He took on turkeys a few years ago and showed how you can cook a bird right from the freezer and skip the messy thawing part.

This week, how to cook a turkey from the frozen state.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx (US comedian with and without the Marx Brothers, 1890 - 1977)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Talking Turkey

Get your own at Scribd or explore others:

The Zing Starts Here

The Pilgrims learned all about cranberries from the Native Americans, who recognized the natural preservative power (benzoic acid) in the berries and often mixed them into pemmican (dried meat mixture) to extend its shelf life.

Cranberry sauce came into the picture via General Ulysses S. Grant who ordered it served to the troops during the seige of Petersburg in 1864. Cranberry sauce was first commercially canned in 1912 by the Cape Cod Cranberry Company which marketed the product as "Ocean Spray Cape Cod Cranberry Sauce." A merger with other growers evolved into the well-known Ocean Spray corporation now famous for their cranberry products.

Cranberries...love 'em or hate 'em, they are part of the holiday tradition. This week, a look at options for cranberries.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." - Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr (professional tennis player, 1943 - 1993)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

The Zing Starts Here

Oil that grows on trees

They say money doesn’t grow on trees. Not directly, anyway. But what if a substitute for oil, which we all know is expensive, grew on trees? Scientists are literally going to produce plastic that grows on trees, starting from a one-stop process that derives raw material for fuels and plastic from plants rather than crude oil.

This week, a look at oil that grows on trees.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub." - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (Swiss-born psychiatrist and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying, 1926 - 2004)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Oil That Grows on Trees

Addicted to Sweets

Hard-wired from birth to seek out sweet tastes, the human body evolved a survival instinct 2 million years ago that steered Homo sapiens to sweet foods dense with energy, like ripe mangoes hanging from the tree, berries clustered on the vine and honey seeping from the comb.

Thousands of generations later, that primitive impulse, in a land of overabundant processed foods and sedentary lifestyles, works against easy weight control and a healthy energy balance. Scientists are now asking if our natural inclination to eat sweets can go too far. Can we lose control of our hunger for sugar, the very taste that aided our ancestors’ survival?

This week, a look at addiction to sweets.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible." - Frank Zappa (composer, musician, film director, 1940-1993)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Addicted to Sweets

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Health & Medicine Health & Lifestyle treatment drugs

The Onion throughout the Ages

Historically, the onion is nothing to cry about. Over many centuries it occupied an exalted position as a work of art as well as a food. Not many people today would burst into tears if they were asked to consider the onion as a work of art, but they might do so if they had to eat one raw.

This week, a look at onions.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Of these obscure heroes, philosophers, and martyrs the greater part will never be known." - Charles Reade (English novelist and dramatist, 1814 - 1884)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Onions

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Recipes & Menus Uncategorizable-Unca Health-Nutrition

The History of Ketchup

Call it ketchup, catsup, catchup, tomato ketchup, or various other names, but it's a condiment consisting of a thick, smooth-textured, spicy sauce usually made from tomatoes. The primary ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, corn syrup (or other sugar), salt, and various spice and herb extracts.

But where did it come from? And how can something that is mostly tomatoes (which are botanically classified as a fruit) be a vegetable?

This week a look at the history of ketchup.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." - Dr. Seuss (Theodore Giesel, author and illustrator, 1904-1991)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)


Ketchup

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Recipes & Menus culture ketchup

Columbus' historic voyages changed the world's menu

What would Italian cooking be without the tomato? How would Irish history have been different without the potato? What would the Swiss have done without chocolate? These and such products as tobacco, corn, cassava, and most species of bean were unknown in Europe before the voyages of Columbus.

He led four expeditions to the New World, but never accomplished his original goal: to find a western ocean route to Asia. Instead, Christopher Columbus ushered in a new era in world history by opening up the Americas to exploration, and brought these exotic items from the Americas to Europe and Africa, where they eventually revolutionized eating habits.

This week a look at how Columbus' historic voyages changed the world's menu.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." - Carl Gustav Jung (a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology known as Jungian psychology, 1875 - 1961)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Columbus Day

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs ohio columbus day sale

How Dry Cleaning Works

Doing laundry has been a common household activity for years. Whether the technology was beating the garments on rocks by the river or pushing buttons on programmed washing machines, this process depends on water and a mechanical action usually assisted by soap or an alkali, followed by the drying process of either hanging clothes on a clothesline or tumbling them in a gas- or electric-heated dryer.

Dry cleaning, on the other hand, is different. It's a process that cleans clothes without water. The cleaning fluid that is used is a liquid, and all garments are immersed and cleaned in a liquid solvent – the fact that there is no water is why the process is called "dry."

This week, a look at how dry cleaning works.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Road, n. A strip of land along which one may pass from where it is too tiresome to be to where it is futile to go."- Ambrose Bierce, from The Devil's Dictionary (American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, best known for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his satirical dictionary, The Devil's Dictionary, 1881 - 1906)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Dry Cleaning

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Internet & Technolog Other How-to-Guides & Manu tips products

Start At The Store

The consumer's role in keeping food safe is a crucial one because it is the last safety check on the road from farm to table. Practicing safe food preparation practices begins as early as shopping in the market, and extends all the way to placing food on the plate. You can help keep your family's food safe by using the following precautions.

This week, we look at how food safety at home begins at the store.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor." - D. H. Lawrence (English author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary critic, 1885 - 1930)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Start at the Store - Upload a Document to Scribd

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of various types of fungi. Mushrooms can be classified as nonpoisonous and poisonous, and can be found in many different places, such as damp woods, open pastures, and lawns in the city. They seem to appear suddenly, as they grow very rapidly during a moist warm night and quickly become full grown. They decay as quickly; some last a few hours, others a few days.

Mushrooms have a great many shapes and colors. The most familiar ones are shaped like umbrellas. Other shapes resemble funnels, stars, balls, honeycomb, pieces of coral, or bells. My favorite are sautéed with butter and onions...yum!

This week, a look at mushrooms.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appétit." - Julia Child (US cook, cookbook author and host of cooking shows that are the basis for every cooking show today, 1912 - 2004)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Mushrooms

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Macaroons

“Macaroon” means different things to different people. To some, it’s a big ball of coconut, to others, a delicate, airy meringue, and sometimes made into a sandwich cookie filled with wondrous tastes. I prefer the straight coconut, but these others are darn good as well.

Where did they come from? And why are they all consider macaroons? This week, we look at the history and development of macaroons.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." - Mary Chase, Harvey (US author & educator, 1887 - 1973)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Macaroons

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Dishing Up Food Safety Fact From Fiction

September is National Food Safety Month. What better way to start it than with separating Food Safety Fact From Fiction.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions." - Lillian Hellman, letter to Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives, May 19, 1952 (US dramatist, 1905 - 1984)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Dishing Up Food Safety Fact From Fiction

A History of Potato Chips

There is little consistency in the English speaking world for names of fried potato cuttings. American and Canadian-English uses 'chips' for the above mentioned dish – this term is also used in continental Europe – and sometimes 'crisps' for the same made from batter, and 'French fries' for the hot crispy batons with a soft core. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, 'crisps' are the brittle slices eaten at room temperature and 'chips' refer to the hot dish (as in 'fish and chips'). In Australia, New Zealand and some parts of South Africa, both forms of potato product are simply known as 'chips', as are the larger "home-style" potato chips. Sometimes the distinction is made between 'hot chips' (French fried potatoes) and 'packet chips'.

Call them what you will, they are thin, salted, made from potatoes and are America's favorite snack food. This week, a look at potato chips.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities." - Walt Kelly, "Pogo", (US animator & cartoonist, 1913 - 1973)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

A History of the Potato Chip

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Bread

Why do we have bread? That's a great place to start. We could just as easily munch on dry wheat kernels instead. Or we could grind the wheat into flour, mix the flour with water and eat it as a wet mush. Or we could pour the mush out on a table and dry the mush into thin brittle sheets.

We don't do that, mainly because bread tastes a lot better, and it also works a lot better for sandwiches. Bread is moist (not wet like mush or dry like dried mush), soft (unlike wheat kernels), spongy and delicious. Bread is a bio-chemical technology for turning wheat flour into something tasty!

This week, we look at the history of bread.

TTFN, Fred.


Quote of the week: "Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves." - Carl Sagan, Cosmos, (US astronomer & popularizer of astronomy (1934 - 1996)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Bread

How Cheese Works 2

According to legend, the first cheese was made when someone, probably in the Middle East, discovered that storing milk in a calf's stomach over a long journey made it separate into curds and whey. Cheese was found in an Egyptian tomb dating to 3200 B.C., and Homer mentioned it in "The Odyssey".

It became popular as a way to preserve milk and keep it from spoiling in warm climates. Eventually, travelers brought cheese to Europe. During medieval times, cheese was perfected by monks in monasteries, who aged it in caves. Bacteria and molds that are now added by hand originally existed naturally or were accidentally introduced, creating new types of cheeses.

This week, a look at how cheese is made.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance." - Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus (US novelist, 1922 - 2007)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

How Cheese Works 2

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

How Cheese Works 1

Cheese is everywhere. There's a theory that it can make just about anything – from sandwiches and hamburgers to pasta and salads – taste better. It's a classic topping for crackers, and it's hard to imagine pizza without warm, gooey mozzarella. When something is kitschy, we might refer to it as "cheesy." When you get your photo taken, you "say cheese." Fans of the Green Bay Packers football team wear foam cheese wedges on their heads. Cheese, glorious cheese.

This week, a look at the various types of cheese.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive." - Robert Heinlein, "Job", 1984 (US science fiction author, 1907 - 1988)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

How Cheese Works 1

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Mustard

National Mustard Day is Celebrated the first Saturday of every August at the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.

Just in case you can't get there to celebrate the "king of condiments" with fun games and free bratwursts, this week, a look at mustard.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Alone, adj. In bad company." - Ambrose Bierce, from The Devil's Dictionary (American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, best known for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his satirical dictionary, The Devil's Dictionary, 1881 - 1906)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Mustard

Cotton Candy

What's sticky, colorful, messy, fun, available at the county fair, the ballpark, or many other places? What is attractive to children of all ages due to the way it is made, its shape, the way you hold it, the way you eat it, and of course, its taste?

This week, a look at Cotton Candy.

TTFN, Fred

Quote of the week: "Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you – if you don't play, you can't win." - Robert Heinlein (US science fiction author, 1907 - 1988)

(scroll over or click on iPaper below to have a drop-down menu that includes a print option)

Cotton Candy

Publish at Scribd or explore others: