March 25th is Waffle Day.  Oh, you could break out the two-sided indented breakfast champion, smack around some Bisquick in a bowl and become everyone’s favorite friend at the dining room table.  Nobody’s stopping you.  If you live in the Houston area, however, you might want to revisit your maple syruped early morning passion this Wednesday to see waffles done right.

I’m talking about Phi Nguyen and his Waffle Bus.

Just a year ago, Nguyen got laid off from his job as a laptop screen expert, and found himself like so many, trying to figure out what to do next to make ends meet.  Not wanting to follow in everybody else’s footsteps back to some form of office environment, Nguyen embraced a desire to become a mobile restauranteur – a four-wheeled artist specializing in the common breakfast medium.

A few months ago, Nguyen outfitted a snazzy red food truck, christening it The Waffle Bus.  Not wanting to leave his business up to word of mouth, Nguyen took to the Web, creating The Waffle Bus website, a Facebook page, Twitter account and more.  You’ll find frequent status updates, and Nguyen takes social seriously, as he replies to many who contact him online.  He loves to use the hashtag #everydayimwafflin and loves sharing Twitpics of him in action.

“Every day for lunch we’ll make about 150 waffles,” said Nguyen in an interview with KIAH, Houston, Texas. “We’re fast enough to where we can make 80 waffles an hour.”

Wondering how a truck would fare slinging breakfast foods?  Because he takes his trade seriously, Nguyen’s menu includes his special recipe round confections served alongside Buttermilk Fried Chicken with spicy mayo of chili honey, Smoked Salmon with caper dill cream cheese, or even a quarter pound waffle cheeseburger, with a side of waffle fries.

Still want your waffle on the sweeter side?  Then try the Nutella and banana combination, or give a S’mores waffle a try.  You’re sure to be humbled by what Nguyen’s got cookin’.

You can find The Waffle Bus around a variety of Houston hotspots, Wednesdays through Saturdays.  Sorry, he’s closed today (maybe there ought to be a campaign to make sure he makes the rounds on Waffle Day?)  Stop by The Waffle Bus website to find out how to rendezvous with Houston’s famous big red mobile waffle machine.

In the Olduvai Gorge of Africa over 1,000,000 years ago, they enjoyed them, placing them on top of rocks and gingerly tapping them, one by one, until each was released, a repetition leaving small circular indentations in the stones surviving to this day.

Because they could be collected from all around, were lightweight, and could be stored for great periods of time through tough winters, nuts (mixed with other dried foods) allowed for the formation of base camps and hunting exhibitions.  The carrying of dried nuts allowed groups to travel great distances without the necessary concern of what to eat along the journey. In other words, the variety of nuts found in ancient times, in part, allowed our ancestors to comfortably spread out across the globe.

Today is National Nut Day, and I’m torn between celebrating either the guy who wears dirty sweaters and shouts at the walls as you transit from your parked car to the office door (and you pray he won’t notice you) or that little delicious, crunchy, culinary delight in the big grocery bin.  Maybe in some weird way, I can figure out how to do both…

If you asked a botanist

Ask a botanist what a nut is and he’ll likely first think of you, because you’re bothering him, and frankly he doesn’t know you.  After he moves past that, he’ll tell you that a “true nut” is a dry fruit with a hardened ovary (Ovary? Really?) and softer, detached seed center, and that it stays shut even at full maturity.   I don’t know why it has to be described in that way…ask your new botanist friend!  Examples of what a botanist would call a “true nut” are chestnuts, beechnuts, hazelnuts and filberts.  I’ll bet when a botanist is at Baskin Robbins and is ordering toppings for his girlfriend’s ice cream sundae, he says nuts, even if they are not “true nuts.”  He does if he wants to keep dating her….

If you asked someone who cooks for a living

In the world of cuisine, the definition of a nut is fast and loose.  If you spent your day around sharp knives and open flames, you might be a little loose with the definitions too.  Any large oily seed extracted from a shell and used to cook with is considered a nut in the world of the kitchen.  Because we have much closer relationships with those that cook our meals than botanists, we tend to view pistachios, walnuts, almonds, cashews, coconuts, pinenuts and even peanuts as “nuts.”  Everyone likes to remind the lowly peanut that he is actually a legume, or bean.  The peanut never asked for such dichotomy.  If some of us can call Perez Hilton a celebrity, why can’t we just call a peanut a nut?

Health benefits of eating nuts

A diet that includes nuts has a variety of benefits to the eater.  The Omega 3 oils in nuts reduces hypertension and the risk of heart disease, and may add years to your life if you replace sweet treats at breaktime with them often.  Studies have shown that putting out a bowl of walnuts and almonds can actually reduce the level of “bad” cholestrol in our bodies, and increase the number of health-conscious hotties hanging around your desk.

Nuts are rich in fiber, protein, antioxidants, and vitamins.  Because of a very low glycemic index, nuts are typically suggested as a snack for anyone with insulin resistance problems, such as diabeties. Nuts contain linoleic and linolenic acids that help with proper skin, hair, brain, blood and immunilogical development.  They are considered to be one of the “perfect” foods, due to the large cross-section of identified benefits in consuming them in moderation.

Types of nuts

Here is a non-comprehensive list, in alphabetical order, of the types of nuts you can eat.  Some may require special preparation, so don’t run out and grab just any one of them off the ground!  Have you had the opportunity to try most of these?  I’ll bet you haven’t!

• Acorn
• Beech
• Butternut
• Brazilnut
• Candlenut
• Cashew
• Chestnuts (Chinese, Malabar, and Sweet)
• Colocynth
• Cucurbita Ficifolia
• Filbert
• Gevuina Avellana
• Hazelnut
• Hickory (Pecan, Shagbark Hickory)
• Kola
• Macadamia
• Mamoncillo
• Maya
• Mongongo
• Oak Acorns
• Ogbono
• Paradise
• Pili
• Pistachio
• Walnut

From nut to “nutter”

So how did such a good little food, responsible for the survival and spread of our species over millenia, become a derogatory term meaning “insane?”  Although there are no really direct explanations for it, there are regional cultural cues in our language that may’ve led to this…

From the 18th to 20th Centuries, the slang version of nut or nuts was used in a positive manner, denoting an extreme desire toward something.  This was highlighted in Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn, circa 1884: “Tom had his store clothes on, and an audience — and that was always nuts for Tom Sawyer.”  It was not uncommon in literature to describe the height of love as being a form of insanity.  Sometime around the mid 20th Century, the word nut became synonymous with describing one’s head, with terms such as “tough nut to crack” being used to describe one with very guarded thoughts or emotions.

Somewhere in the mid 20th Century, all of these terms seemed to converge, and the term nuts came to be used to describe someone whose sanity was in permanent (rather than temporary) question.  A variety of terms came about, including nutter, nuthouse, nutty, nuthead, etc., all demeaning in form.  In the last 30 years of so, the term nuts has taken back some of its original meaning, and is used once again to describe a pleasant but strong desire toward something.

Add some nuts to your life

Knowing how the wonderful nut has contributed so greatly to our survival and in no small way to the fact that you live where you do, why not take some to the office with you?  And say hello on the way to the guy with the stinky sweater. He might want some too…

An accident becomes a treat

In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson left his homemade combination of fruity soda powder and water outside during a record cold night in San Francisco, with a stir-stick left in the glass.  He found the frozen concoction the next morning, using the stir stick to pull it out of the glass.  He liked the taste.

18 years later, while running a lemonade stand in Oakland, Frank remembered this experience, and decided there was money to be made from it. He quickly moved to patent his “frozen ice on a stick,” calling it an Epsicle Ice Pop and introduced it with 7 different flavors.

Frank’s children especially loved the concoction, calling it “Pop’s Sicle.” The name Popsicle soon stuck, and is pretty much what we call a frozen fruity snack on a stick.

Our welcome to Summer

August 26th is Cherry Popsicle Day.  Our family makes a variety of homemade popsicles each year.  It’s one of the ways we usher in the Summer, juicing oranges and lemons, or blending pineapples and freezing them.  We buy boxes of craft sticks and place them “just right” in the molds.  The kids can never get enough of them, and we love to provide them.

Who owns Popsicle now?

In 1925, Frank sold his patent to the Joe Lowe Company, who in turn passed it on to the Good Humor Company, who currently own the rights to the Popsicle brand name, making over 30 flavors.

While holding the patent, Frank earned royalties on the sale of over 60 million popsicles.  Not bad for an accidental invention.

After WWII, families in the suburbs of America realized they could afford in-home refrigerators, and the Popsicle took off, showing up in grocery store freezers everywhere.

Of course, there are tons of cheap popsicles to be had in your local store, but maybe you’d like to replicate Frank Epperson’s accident!

Dress it up!

• Want to add a bit of zest to your homemade popsicles?  Try some of the following:
• Free your homemade popsicles with some small fresh diced fruit or thin fruit slices in the mix.
• Add some spicy Mexican fruit seasoning, such as Tajin.
• Add a little sweetened cream, sugary milk or yogurt to the fruit mix before freezing.
• Try a mix with coffee and chocolate bits.

How about yours?

What’s your favorite popsicle mix?  What are your fondest popsicle memories?

Please share with us in the comments below!

July 28th is National Chocolate Milk Day

There are actually a number of health benefits tied to both chocolate and milk, including muscle recovery following workouts or exercise. Read up on them at ChocolateMilk.com.

Of course, I think it best to spend a whole five minutes in deep research, in order to locate and produce, for you the admiring reader, these interesting chocolate milk recipes. The first three are hot, but you can always blend with some ice to make some nice mocha fraps.

Hot Spicy Chocolate Milk

Sandy at AllRecipes posted this recipe, which consists of combining a package of instant hot chocolate mix with vanilla extract, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, brown sugar and sweetened condensed milk. Check it out and love me for it’s simplicity.

Hot Orchata de Cacao

Elaine at BNet says you need to go the old-school Latino route, and find some nice Nicaraguan cocoa beans to make her very interesting Orchata de Cacao. It’s a much longer recipe requiring you to actually bake the beans and add rice. You can find the recipe right here.

White Hot Chocolate Milk

Hey, if you like hanging on the lighter side of life, why not try Stephanie’s Hot White Chocolate Recipe at JoyOfBaking! Stephanie says to make sure you get quality white chocolate – she uses Lindt, and make sure to have some instant coffee or espresso powder on hand. Give this recipe a shot, and tell me what you think!

Cold Lowfat Homemade Chocolate Milk

Linda at SparkRecipes has a low-fat alternative, which I am steering clear from simply out of principle. The principle that they make bigger pants… You can find her recipe here.

Of course, there are thousands of others our there, but these three should get you thinking about dressing up our old cold evening favorite. I know it’s summer…

If you have a recipe to share, please feel free to share it as a comment, and I’ll be sure to consider it for addition!

This video doesn’t have anything to do with making chocolate milk, but it was posted on YouTube with the title Chocolate Milk. I suspect her milkshake does not, indeed, bring all the boys to the yard.

July 21st is Junk Food Day, a day I’m sure a number of us love so much, we celebrate often. Although I do miss the days when I enjoyed fitting into a size 28 pair of jeans, I’m still not ready to give up the evil calories over it.

In commemoration of all the bad stuff we love to put in our mouths, here are a few junk food feats, all courtesy the Guinness Book of World Records.

Most expensive hamburger

The record for the most expensive hamburger sold on the market belongs to none other than Burger King, which went for $186 (or £95 given that it was sold in the Gloucester section of London, England) and was simply called “The Burger” (of course!)

The answer to the question “Where’s the beef?” included imported Japanese beef, truffles, Pata Negra ham, Cristal onion straws, Modena balsamic vinegar, pink Himalayan rock salt and shallots.

Proceeds from the sales went to the charitable organization Help a London Child, which assists children dealing with homelessness, abuse, disabilities, illnesses and poverty.

Hold the pickles! The largest hamburger

If you want a really big and simple burger to sink your teeth into, then perhaps you’d be interested in taking along a bunch of your meat-loving friends to share the hamburger that was put together last year by celebrity barbeque chef Ted Reader in Toronto, Canada. Reader and his crew of 10 assembled a goliath burder weighing in at 590 pounds.

The burger took 300 pounds of beef, and was cooked on a custom grill that had its own forklift, used to flip it when needed. Although not commercially available, Reader and crew are willing to repeat the feat for a mere $4,500, with all monies going to a charity for children with burn injuries.

Most ice cream flavors sold together

If you think Baskin Robbin’s 31 flavor variety makes your head spin, try heading to Padova, Italy to the UPA Galetieri, where they once put on display 521 different flavors of gelato.

Gelato is a creamier, sweeter version of the delicacy we all know, and I would love to find a list of the flavors to read over and over…

If you’ve never enjoyed gelato before, perhaps this photo will make you consider looking up a gelateria near you.  Seeing the incredible variety put out by the people in Padova would make me wish summer never ended.

Most ice cream eaten in 30 seconds

My ice cream headaches, caused by consuming too many spoonfulls in too little time, are almost epic. Everyone knows I am having them, as I hold my head, wave off any conversation, and squint like a pained pirate.

If you can endure such pain, then try to beat the record set on September 7, 2006 by competitive food eater Patrick Bertoletti. Bertoletti consumed, in half a minute, using only a teaspoon, 13.5 ounces of the cold stuff. Almost a full pound. My hero.

Bertoletti, by the way, holds a variety of eating records, including one for being the first to eat the famous Sasquatch Burger, made by Bigfoot Lodge Cafe in Memphis, Tennessee. Over 679 others previously tried to finish off the 4 lb. burger and mountain of fries but failed. It took Bertoletti 11 minutes and 5 seconds.

World’s biggest taco

Aye Chihuahua! On March 8, 2003, the City of Mexicali, Mexico put together a flour tortilla taco that weighed over 1,650 pounds. Must have taken a whole herd of cattle to fill that baby.

How long did it take for the town to eat this spicy monstrosity, I wonder, and did anyone need a good siesta afterward?

Biggest soda float

My favorite floats are root beer floats, which is why I’m disappointed that the 3,000 gallon float made with Vanilla Coca-Cola holds the record.

The concoction of soda and ice cream was made at the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia in May of 2007. Coca-Cola was offiically re-launching their new Vanilla Coke and wanted to make the event big – ten tons big!

Everyone on hand for the event was given a glass of the concoction to enjoy. If anyone would like to try making a 4,000 gallon one out of A & W root beer, I would be happy to assist.

Most expensive commercially sold pizza

Got a chunk of change to hand over for a fine pizza pie? Then go to Hell. Well, Hell’s Kitchen, that is.

If $178 is burning a hole in your wallet, Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant in London will whip up one of his creations made out of white truffles, fontina cheeze, baby mozzarella, pancetta, cep mushrooms, wild mizuna lettuce and onion puree. Why the expense? The white truffles are run, and run about $2,500 per kilogram.

They don’t deliver, but the next guys do…

Farthest pizza delivery ever

The owners of Opera Pizza in Madrid, Spain definitely could never have the motto “30 minutes or it’s free,” if they plan to repeat the trip made from their little pizzeria to Wellington, New Zealand in late June of 2006.

The journey was 12,346 miles in total length, done for charity, and customer Niko Apostolakis likely had to reheat his meal.

Is there a food-related record you wouldn’t mind trying to break?

May 11th is Eat What You Want Day.  You’re going to be told this over and over by people in your Twitter stream, pimping blog posts that tell you to throw gastrointestinal caution to the wind.  Have another donut! Wrap some bacon around that!  They make bigger pants!

I’m not going there, and you’re not, either.

Oh, I’m all for pulling the speakers outside, playing Funky Cold Medina loud and dancing on the roof in a Speedo, but damnit, I’m going to have a safety cable tied to my behind when I do it.  I’d like to survive the experience, if only to enjoy the isolation my neighbors will have in store for me.

Look, I didn’t say it was Global Gluttony Day.  There’s a fine shade difference between breaking from that diet for an afternoon, and developing a culinary tractor beam.  Gluttony is all about how many times your hand moves toward your mouth over a certain time period.

We’re going to discuss how to enjoy today, in moderation, and with meaning.

Identify Your Prey

First off, this isn’t exactly a national holiday, so unless you banged out a bunch of office flyers and used your office email in a frowned-upon manner (like you haven’t before…) nobody is going to bring a load of bad stuff to sample.

Make the day special by baking something for breakfast you absolutely adore, or visit an imported foods store, and wander the shelves with complete abandon. Just make sure you bring enough for others to have, too.

Sharing is Caring

Limit how much temptation stares at your cubicle, by getting rid of it as rapidly as possible.  Divide your loot into small, ready to take portions. Take one piece for yourself, then let everyone else in the office know what you brought in.  Try not to cry out loud as the vultures fly away with handfuls of your Love.

Potluck, Anyone?

Call for an office potluck, and invite everyone to bring their personal forbidden fruits.  Best to have done this before today, because I get annoyed when someone comes to my desk and asks me to bake something nice.  Now.

This exercise is also a great way to have a variety of foods on hand at minimal expense, and is an opportunity to bond a little more with that guy from Accounting.

Use a small plate, and fill it with ridiculously small portions of your favorites.  Fill it once, and drink plenty of water.  Avoid the temptation of going back for more, and remember the day is not over…

Snack Attack

You get one special mid-afternoon snack.  You decide what and how much, and you can only choose one person to secretly share it with.  Make it really good, but you have to share it.

It’s Not All About You

If you’re single, invite someone out to dinner, and tell your friend to choose where and what to have, and to dream big.  Got kids?  Then let them decide what they want, and make it for them.

Portion control is in full effect still, my friend.  But not for your guest or kids.

I think you’ll find that, despite being good (and bad) all day, that the empty spot in your tummy seems to be filled, simply by seeing someone you love sharing today’s adventure.

This article was first published as Eat What You Want, Already! on Technorati.  Feel free to visit there and enjoy it, one more time!

May 10th is the Birthday of the Buddha. I could go on and on with the story of Gautama Sakyamuni Buddha, tell you about how he achieved enlightenment, and through his teachings and wisdom began one of the major religions of the world.  But this is the Internet, and you can Google it pretty easily.  And I know you.

Oh, I know you.  You aren’t going to read it…

What you can’t easily find on the Internet, and I know you will take a look at, is this…

9 Buddhas You Can Eat

Blue Cheese Buddha

I tried and tried, but could not come across a Gouda Buddha.  Now that would’ve been awesome…

Buddha Cake

Not sure what flavor, but I hear it’s simply Divine.

Buddha Squash

Some farmer in China says he figured out a way to grow a squash in the shape of Buddha.  He’s not sharing his technique, though.

Buddha Chocolate

This little guy must’ve taken a lot of time to make.  It’s perched on top of a little cookie.  Two please.

Buddha Chocolate (Part II)

Would not want to be the person who wraps these goodies…

Buddha Cookie

Cinnamon flavored, made from a mold.  I so want one!

Buddha Pear

A Japanese farmer had some Buddha-shaped molds made, and wraps them around a young pear.  The pear grows into the mold, then the mold is removed.  Voila!

Buddha Toast

There are a few toasters out there that allow inserts…. I suppose you could compete with the Jesus toast sightings..

Tutti-Buddha

Jello molds.  Nuff said.

Happy Birthday, Buddha!  Now let’s eat in celebration!

April 26th is National Pretzel Day.

I can’t walk into a mall without going through that inner struggle…

I want a fresh soft pretzel.  I always will.  The dough-slinging muses know this, as they coyily smile through the flour-encrusted glass, beckoning me to wreck my ship upon their rocky shoals of buttery goodness.

I have lost that battle too often to detail here, but I now live 20 miles away from the nearest pretzel kiosk, and have had to turn to making pretzels myself.  When I do get back to town, the pretzel women are there, staring at me, as though they’ve never gone home…

That’s right, I bake.  I’m looking pretty good to you right about now, aren’t I?  You know you want me, because I smell like soft pretzels….

Awesome Pretzel Recipe

If you’d like to make your own almost-perfect soft pretzel, here’s a decent recipe…

Add to a big mixing bowl:

2 cups of warm water (100 degrees or so) and a tablespoon of sugar together and mix.  Add to this a package of active dry yeast, mix and let this sit for 5-10 minutes, while the mixture gets all foamy.

To the yeast mixture add a cup of flour and mix by hand.  Then add 4 more cups of flour and a pinch of salt.  Man, your hands are gonna get sticky for a bit, but get over it…  Add around a 1/2 cup more flour after kneading for about 2 minutes, and knead for another minute.

Get another bowl, and oil it.  Add the dough, roll it around on the oily surface, and cover  for an hour.  Your dough should roughly double in size.

Get the oven heated to 450 degrees, and spray two cookie sheets with some cooking spray.

Punch the dough down and move it to a floured surface.  Knead a couple of times and begin breaking off dough to roll 16 thick, 18 inch long strands for your pretzels.

Make the pretzel shape with each length, and put your new pretzel dough buddies on the cookie sheets.  Cover and let rise for 15 minutes – just enough time to read a few more of my blog posts…

Fill a big pot half-way with water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda.  Bring it to a boil then lower heat to simmer.  Add a few pretzels at a time to the water and boil them for 1 minute each.  Remove from water and put ‘em back on your cookie sheets.

When you’re done with this, beat an egg with a tablespoon of water and brush your pretzels with the egg mix.  Add some big ol’ sea salt chunks and bake 12-15 minutes.  Remove and let cool on a rack.

Send me a dozen, and I’ll love you forever.

For Your Viewing Pleasure…

Here’s a really weird Japanese pretzel commercial, to enjoy while your pretzels bake…

So, are you a mustard person? A melted cheese person? Or cinnamon sugar?  What kind of pretzel toppings are your favorite – let us all know in the comments section below!

April 19th is Garlic Day. Whenever I head up to the San Francisco Bay area, I pass through the small town of Gilroy, garlic capital of the world.  Oh my God, the whole town smells like an Olive Garden restaurant!  They farm it in every nook and cranny of land, and are fiercely proud of their crop, celebrating it with an annual festival.

If you’re not that into garlic, but love it enough to wonder how it can be used besides making your kitchen smell nice, here you go!

10 Extraordinary Uses of Garlic

1. Dog spending more time loving on the fleas than you? Did you know that some dried dog food makers put garlic in the mix to drive away pet parasites?  Garlic can help your pets ward off ticks and fleas.  I’d like to see you try to hold down your poodle and rub on a big ol’ bottle of crushed garlic you got from Costco.  Ha!  Just make sure to add a little bit of garlic to their meals, to taste of course.  Might just do the trick…

2. Gophers having their way with your garden? Rather than spraying fine coats of toxic chemicals on your future salad fare, why not plant some garlic alongside your veggies?  Gophers can’t stand the smell, and will simply move on to your neighbor’s place.  You can also mix garlic oil with pepper and soap to make a spray for the leaves the rabbits and deer love to nibble on…

3. Let garlic become part of your next fishing trip. Well, technically garlic and marshmallows.  Rub tiny marshmallow pieces in crushed garlic, and put ‘em on your hook.  This is good for large-mouthed bass, trout, and other larger (and yummy) fish.  I suppose you could also use the garlic when grilling the fish at the campfire later…

4. Super scented Glue, anyone? If your kid has a project requiring them to glue together paper and you don’t have any Elmer’s handy, give garlic juice a try.  You might be pleasantly surprised, and the project will have a certain something extra, especially if the teacher loves the smell of garlic.  Got a glass or china emergency?  Try garlic juice there too.

5. Are you mosquito dinner? If you’re like me, and discovered that mosquitos treat your blood like a fine Zinfandel, you can turn to the can of Off! but don’t expect anyone to hug you up with that poison on your skin.  Try this out — chop up fresh cloves of garlic and place in a bowl near where you’ll be sitting.  Works great against those tiny winged vampires!  Feel free to put a small oscilatting fan near the bowl to enhance your protective “garlic cloud.”

6. Nurse! Two cloves of garlic!  Stat! Did you know that if you don’t have some Neosporin available, you can use garlic as an antibiotic until you get some?  Crush some good ol’ staph-killing garlic cloves and place the mix on the wound, while seeking professional medical attention.

7. Got zits? Garlic has been shown to be an effective (and cheap) replacement for products such as ProActive.  Simply split a clove and rub it on your face on the affected areas.  Make sure you do this when you have time for your skin to absorb the garlic oils followed by a thorough cleanup and perfume overspray!

8. Making garlic a part of your daily do? People have known about the cleaning abilities of garlic for millennia.  Okay, I’m not really sure if it’s millennia, but certainly for a long time, right?  Anyway, you can mix garlic, lemon juice, water and cider vinegar, along with your favorite essential fragrance oil.  Scrub your face with this concoction.  Yummy.

9. Got a cold? Garlic’s got a cure. Garlic has a lot of essential antibacterials in it, so if you are down on the weather, it’s a great turn-to.  Boil some cloves in water, remove the cloves, and add the garlic tea to honey. Sweeten to taste. Cough remedy, sore throat soother, and overall great guy to spend your day with.  Along with a great book.  Or this website.

10. You’ve lost that loving feeling? Garlic as an aphrodisiac.  Whodathunk?   Well, Aristotle, among others, extolled the virtues of garlic as a love enhancer.  Hindi aesthetics steer clear of garlic, out of concern it will aid in distractions from the opposite sex.  The next time you are out on a romantic dinner date, get something with a bit of garlic in it.  Just not too much, know what I mean?  You. Are. Welcome.

Got any other great and interesting uses for garlic?  Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu

As the story goes, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was playing cards one night in 1782 with other muckety-mucks, something he did quite often. Getting hungry but not wanting to stop and eat a proper meal (hence interrupting what was a very good game,) Montagu asked his valet that some sliced meat be brought to him, stuck between two slices of bread so he wouldn’t get his fingers greasy. The other players, noting the request, stated aloud “I’ll have the same as Sandwich!” This story was first noted in 1770, and has had a lot of runtime since, although never proven to be true. But I love unproven stories… National Sandwich Day is celebrated today, in honor of Montagu’s birth on Nov. 3rd, 1718.

History of the Sandwich

The sandwich is the original mashup. The concept of putting meat and bread together in one form or another has been around for a very long time. In the 1st Century Rabbi Hillel enjoyed a thick mixture of nuts, apples, spice and wine between layers of unleavened matzot bread. This was eaten alongside the traditional bitter herbs to commemorate Passover, and to this day is called the “Hillel Sandwich.”

Dining in the Middle Ages

In the 6th Century, tavern-goers in the Middle Ages would eat meat with sauces on large, thick slices of stale bread, open-faced sandwiches known as Trenchers. The hard bread sopped up the sauces and softened to an edible state, at which point it was either eaten, tossed to dogs, or given to beggars. In Northern European countries, softer versions of bread were layered with butters and carefully sliced meats, likely an early predecessor to the English version of the modern sandwich.

What was a sandwich called before it got its current name? Up to the 16th Century, the combination of bread and meat was called, well, bread and meat. I suppose it wasn’t imaginative, but it did the job…

The Sandwich Arrives in America

Elizabeth Leslie

How did the sandwich make its way to America? In 1840 Englishwoman Elizabeth Leslie wrote a cookbook called Directions for Cookery wherein she introduced a recipe for a ham sandwich. Really? A recipe? For a ham sandwich? Elizabeth suggested the sandwich as a main dish. That must’ve been one heck of a sandwich. Ham was typically used in American sandwiches, as it was much easier to come across than beef, which was more prevalent in England.

During the Industrial Revolution, as bread-making and meat preserving became more prevalent, sandwiches became the oft-chosen lunch option for workers, as it was quick, easy and relatively inexpensive. The early versions typically included some form of sliced vegetable, meat, and even cheese. On July 7, 1928 the Chillicothe Baking Company began marketing pre-sliced wrapped bread loaves, and the sandwich positively took off…. (Note: The Wonder Bread Company is oft-credited as inventing sliced bread first, in 1930. Not true – they are the first to market it nationally.)

Army C Rations

During the Temperance movement, barkeeps worked hard to keep customers coming despite the growing ban on alcohol, offering free sandwiches with drinks, thus furthering its popularity. As workers commuted greater distances to work, train stations began selling sandwiches to weary travelers, who scooped them up rather than consider making dinner so late in the early evening.

In World War II, soldiers would put together the canned or otherwise packaged peanut butter, jellies and bread they found in their C Rations and invented the PB&J. Returning home from war, the soldiers shared their favorite sandwich with their growing children, and a perennial American favorite was born.

What is Legally a Sandwich?

Not legally a sandwich...

Believe it or not, in 2006 the Superior Court of Boston, Massachusetts had to rule what a sandwich is. A shopping mall had lured a sandwich shop as a vendor, with the provision that the mall management would not allow another “sandwich shop” to set up a storefront in the mall. Along came a burrito stand, and the sandwich shop challenged their right to set up shop. A judge had to determine what the legal definition of a “sandwich” was, and after much thought, ruled that a sandwich is composed of at least two slices of bread, Because no burritos (or tacos, chimichangas, wraps or pitas) may claim this title, the sandwich shop owner lost his challenge.

Sandwiches Around the World

Regional variations on the sandwich (legal definition aside) include the Vietnamese Bahn Mi, Chilean Barros, Pakistan’s Bun Kebab, Germany’s Butterbrot, English Chip Butty, Uruguayan Chivito, New York Hero, Philadelphia Cheesesteak, Greek Gyro, Chinese Shaobing Youtiao and more. Seems there is no shortage of the idea to combine bread with something good. Breads are either sliced, wrapped, or covered in a dough and boiled, fried or baked along with their fillings. In many cultures, much as it is in American, the sandwich and its many variations are the staple luncheon fare.

The Impossible and Improbable Dagwood

Hey, you can’t write something about the history of the sandwich without including the Dagwood, a concoction created by Chic Young and featured in Blondie, his comic strip. The original mention of the Dagwood included beef tongue, onion, mustard, sardine, beans and horseradish. Yum. You know, beans as a sandwich additive are certainly under-represented.

Over the years, more and more was added to the Dagwood, reaching epic proportions. If life truly is like a sandwich, and the more we add the better it gets, then the Dagwood reminds us of the joys received in biting off more than we can chew…