Kowalski Heat Treating Blog - Kowalski Heat Treating

Nice Catch

April 14, 2023/0 Comments/in Fish Sandwich, Food, Friday Afternoon, McDonald's, Trivia /by Steve Kowalski

I’m always lovin’ the McDonald’s Fillet-O-Fish sandwich. I can remember going to that old walk up restaurant for a fish sandwich and a bag of fries. Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!! Sooo great. So, check out that photo second to bottom—two iconic logos. But only one makes the fish sandwich. The other one will buy you one next time we’re together. And look there at the bottom. The mother of all fish sandwiches…the double Fillet-O-Fish sandwich! Guess what I had for lunch today. Yep, two of them!!!!! :))))))

Like most of you I’m guessing, I’m not much of a regular fast-food guy. Most often I eat at the office, with the gang out on the production floor, or at my desk, grinding over your PIA (Pain in the @%$) Jobs! Or actually just looking out at the beautiful Lake Erie! Of course, when I’m out and about, I’ll occasionally pop in for a quick burger, chicken or egg sandwich or tasty shake now and then (and of course some of those yummy hot French fries). But I must admit, during Lent, I was all about the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches at McDonald’s. It might be the light breading, it might be the cheese, or the tangy sauce, but the combination of the three does it for me. Quick, tasty, and not too heavy (even when they have their 2 for $$ deals!). After one of my “stops”, when I got back to the office, one of my sisters told me the story around the FOF sandwich, and was surprised to find it came from a franchisee, much like the famous Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich. So, here’s the backstory, along with some trivia on the sandwich and the insightful entrepreneurial courage of one guy from Ohio. Thanks to Smithsonian, YouTube and businessinsider.com for the info. Enjoy!

Fun jingle (and then try to get out of your head…)

And the original commercial

Hard to imagine, but the Filet-O-Fish almost missed the menu. Nowadays, the sandwich is iconic, and it’s responsible for a whole bunch of imitators, and remains a massive hit during Lent, when many Catholics fast and abstain from eating meat on Fridays. But the sandwich’s enduring success contrasts with its floundering start.
When Lou Groen opened the first McDonald’s in the Cincinnati area in 1959, business was tough. McDonald’s was new to the area—the McDonald brothers had only just begun to franchise their stores six years prior. Groen’s son, Paul, who worked at his father’s McDonald’s for 20 years straight (starting at 10 cents per hour!) remembers how hard his parents worked to keep the business alive in the beginning. Paul said, “On opening day, my father made $307.38 in sales. The restaurant only had two walk up windows, one register at each window. There was no inside seating. How do you run a business on $300 a day? My mom and dad were just struggling to make it.”
Though Lou Groen’s restaurant was one of 68 new franchises opened that year by founder Ray Kroc, there was something about Monfort Heights, Ohio, that didn’t bode well for a little-known burger joint during Lent: About 87 percent of the population was Catholic. Lou shared, “I was struggling. The crew was my wife, myself, and a man named George. I did repairs, swept floors, you name it. But my area was 87 percent Catholic. On Fridays we only took in about $75 a day.”
So Groen went to work creating a simple, battered, halibut-based prototype, with a slice of cheese between two buns, and went to Chicago to pitch it to founder Ray Kroc.
But Kroc hated the idea. He described his initial reaction in his book: “Hell no! I don’t care if the Pope himself comes to Cincinnati. He can eat hamburgers like everybody else. We are not going to stink up our restaurants with any of your damned fish.”
Kroc also had a meat alternative idea of his own, called the “Hula Burger,” a piece of grilled pineapple and cheese on a bun. But Kroc was willing to compromise: On Good Friday in 1962, both the Hula Burger and the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches would appear on the menu in selected locations—whichever sandwich sold the most would win. The final score? Hula Burger: 6, Filet-O-Fish: 350.
By 1965, the Filet-O-Fish, ”the fish that catches people”, became a staple on the McDonald’s menu nationwide among other greats like the Big Mac and the Egg McMuffin. Kroc would later recall the failure of his pineapple creation and the success of the sandwich in his biography Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald’s – “It was a giant flop when we tried it in our stores. One customer said, ‘I like the hula, but where’s the burger?” The success of the sandwich, especially during Lent, would far surpass Groen’s initial expectations.
Kroc reluctantly spread the sandwich to the chain restaurants, commenting, “You fellows just watch. Now that we’ve invested in all this equipment to handle fish, the Pope will change the rules.”
The company has gone through plenty of advertisements for the sandwich, but one character in particular, remains somewhat elusive—A cartoon by the name of Phil A. O’Fish had a brief stint as the face of the marketing campaign for Groen’s invention in 1976. But by ’77, the anthropomorphic sailor fish was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a simple advertisement that offered some “Food For Thought.”
The sandwich was the subject of a 1970s advertising campaign featuring a jingle with the lyrics, “Give me back that Filet-O-Fish, give me that fish.” In 2009, a different fishy fellow took the spotlight with the popular “Gimme Back That Filet-O-Fish” commercial featuring a singing, bass wall decoration. It did so well on television and on YouTube, (reaching over one million views in 2009) that the corporation sold the singing fish commercially.
The Filet-O-Fish sandwich has featured real fish since Groen wrote up the recipe in the ’60s (believe it or not). Whether the fish was sustainable, however, was up for debate. In the past, the company as well as other chains like Long John Silver’s have used the New Zealand hoki fish, whose population had diminished, followed by the addition of the sustainable blue “ecolabel” from the Marine Stewardship Council which certifies that the Alaskan Pollock used in the sandwiches come from places with sustainable fishing practices.
The item ended up being a “cash cow” for Groen. In the years following the Filet-O-Fish’s debut, he built 43 franchise locations in Cincinnati, hired 3,000 people, and began raking in annual sales of $60 million. He passed in 2011, and his family remains in the business.
McDonald’s sells over 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches each year worldwide.
In some locations, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich is sold in a “Double Filet-O-Fish” version, which includes two fish patties. It’s popular in many countries, including Japan, where it is served with a teriyaki sauce, and India, where it is made with a spicy sauce.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I. Love. My. Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good. :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

SWEET

April 7, 2023/0 Comments/in Candy, Chocolate, Easter, Food, Friday Afternoon, Trivia /by Steve Kowalski

CHOCOLATE!!! What more needs to be said? Read on to find out… :)))))))

Another favorite time for me is Easter morning – and memories of my girls hunting for their easter baskets, filled with Resses’s Easter eggs, jellybeans, and of course yummy chocolates. Our rules were simple, you had to find your basket, if you found someone else’s nothing could be said. Occasionally one of them would not be able to find their basket before church, it goes without saying that they were not happy during mass. Over the years Jackie and I had to get very creative in hiding the baskets which I think was half the fun! With Easter around the corner, and for many of you who gave up chocolate for Lent, I thought I’d share with you some chocolate trivia you can consume and share with the family. It’s no surprise that chocolate has been around for some time … in an article published by The University of British Columbia, a study uncovered evidence of cocoa’s domestication between 5,300 and 2,100 years ago. It’s no surprise that cocoa and chocolate have been delighting consumers for some time. So, here is some fun music to click on, and fun facts to enjoy. Thanks to wired.com, The Natural History Museum of Utah, thechocolatewebsite.com, Google, Wikipedia, forbes.com, theguardian.com, and YouTube for the info and links.

Music link

Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, which is native to Central and South America.

The fruit of the cacao tree is a melon-shaped pod that grows directly from the tree’s trunk or limbs. The pods begin as small flowers, which are pollinated by a tiny midge (rather than a bee). Successfully pollinated flowers bear fruit, and that fruit becomes the cacao pod. There are anywhere from 20 to 50 cream-colored seeds (called beans) inside each pod. The seeds, each roughly the size of an olive, are surrounded by a milky-white pulp. As pods ripen, they turn varying shades of orange, yellow, and red.

Although cacao originated in Central and South America thousands of years ago, over 66% of the entire world’s cacao is grown in Africa. Côte d’Ivoire alone produces over 33% of the world’s supply of chocolate. 90% of the world’s cacao is grown on small family-run farms, no larger than 12 acres. . Typically, there are two annual harvests. Cacao trees can live to be 200 years old, but they produce marketable cocoa beans for only 25 years.

The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word “xocolatl,” which means “bitter water.”

and the name for the cacao plant, Theobroma cacao, means “food of the gods.” Jackie would absolutely agree with this! . As early as 1900 B.C., a prehistoric culture called the Mokaya were processing and consuming a liquid that seems to have been chocolate.

Over the following millennium, chocolate became an important drink in Mesoamerica. It was used in rituals like burials, weddings, and baptisms by the cultures that followed: the Olmecs, the Mayans, and the Aztecs. It was so valued that it was used in place of money by the Mayans and Aztecs. According to a 16th-century Aztec document, one cacao bean could be traded for a tamale and 100 could be traded for a turkey hen.

Chocolate was originally consumed as a bitter beverage, and it wasn’t until the 16th century that sugar was added to make it sweeter.

But before chocolate became the sweet worldwide phenomenon we know today, Mesoamerican cultures made bitter drinks with the cacao bean. Some of these drinks were made of the fermented pulp around the beans, and their drinking chocolate was made from the ground cacao bean, water, and flavorings like corn, chilies, honey, vanilla, and agave syrup.

Cacao only grows in certain climates.

Chocolate emerged as a product of Mesoamerica, although cacao is native to South America, specifically the Amazonian basin. While we think of vigorous vegetation when we consider Amazonian rainforests, it turns out that cacao is a finicky plant to grow. In fact, cacao only grows within 20 degrees latitude (north and south) of the equator. The trees need light, but not too intense UV light. They need humidity and moisture, generally 40-100 inches of rain per year. And they need constant, warm-to-hot temperatures all year long (60-90 degrees Fahrenheit). The pollinator for this tree is also a very small midge that only thrives in a very humid and moist environment.

White chocolate is not actually chocolate at all, as it contains no cocoa solids.

White chocolate is a confectionery typically made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter, but no cocoa solids. It is pale ivory in color,

In 1937, the white chocolate Galak was launched in Europe by the Swiss company Nestlé. From about 1948 until the 1990s, Nestlé produced a white chocolate bar with almond pieces, Alpine White, for markets in the US and Canada. Hershey began mass production of white Hershey’s Kisses in the 1990s, a product that diversified during the early 21st century to include a chocolate white-dark swirl Kiss called the Hug.

The world’s largest chocolate bar weighed over 12,000 pounds and was made in Italy in 2010.

The largest chocolate bar weighed 12,770 lb 4.48 oz and was created by Thorntons PLC in Alfreton, Derbyshire, UK on October 7, 2011. The chocolate bar measured 13 ft 1.48 in by 4.0 13 ft 1.48 in by 1 ft 1.78 in. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/oct/12/chocolate-world-record-broken-by-thorntons

Chocolate has been shown to have numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

One fact is clear for chocolate: the purer and darker the chocolate, the greater your health benefits.. Dark chocolate has anywhere from 50 to 90 percent cocoa solids, while milk chocolate is typically 10 to 30 percent. To get noticeable health benefits from chocolate, you need to eat more of the cocoa solids found in dark chocolate. Cocoa solids contain minerals and antioxidants;. Dark chocolate is especially rich in flavanols like epicatechin and catechin, as well as anthocyanins and phenolic acids. All of these compounds help protect your cells from inflammation, improve your brain function, and boost your immune and cardiovascular health. Dark chocolate can also give you cardiovascular support.

The antioxidants in dark chocolate help to lower bad cholesterol levels and prevent plaque on artery walls, while the flavanols in chocolate are good for lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow. Eating dark chocolate in moderation can lower your chances of heart disease and also ease lower inflammation in the body. Plus, theobromine (mentioned earlier), a compound in dark chocolate, has similar effects to caffeine for boosting energy and overall morale. It helps to enhance mood and make you more alert. All said, I’ll have another bite!

The Swiss consume more chocolate per capita than any other country in the world.

The Swiss are the leaders in per capita consumption, weighing in at 19.8 lbs per person, with Germany second, Ireland third and UK fourth. The US is ninth, at 9.5lbs – equal to about 2.8 billion pounds per year. That said, I’ll do my best to help us move up in the rankings.

May you enjoy a blessed Easter, and rejoice in HIS glory.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I. Love. My. Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good. :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Fooled Ya!

March 31, 2023/0 Comments/in April Fool!!, Friday Afternoon, Music, Trivia /by Steve Kowalski

Be careful out there. Not everything is as it seems. Tricks, traps and smooth talkers are everywhere. Read on for some of the most famous cons ever.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s when I get to play some practical jokes on the family. Nothing too serious of course, but all in good fun. I have to admit I am not nearly as good at this as my girls! it’s especially fun with the grandkids, as they are not old enough to know what I’m really up to. Although in full disclosure I think they will never really know what I’m up to anyways! (That’s part of my charm!)To trick, or con someone, on a larger scale to me is morally unjust and legally inadvisable – but there is nonetheless an art to pulling off an effective con. Throughout history, there’s been some doozies – some are so outlandish, so conniving, and so audacious that we can’t help but be fascinated. Thanks to the internet and the digital nature of scams like phishing, it’s getting harder and harder to actually fooling people to follow your tricks. But once upon a time, cons were up close and personal. Special thanks to mentalfloss.com and spyscape.com for the stories – I picked some of my favorite hoaxes, impersonations and other tricks. Enjoy!

Here’s some music to enjoy while you read (it will make sense when you read the last con)

Selling the Eiffel Tower

As is probably fitting, much of the life of Victor Lustig is unclear, including his name (when he was at Alcatraz, he was held under Robert V. Miller). Lustig was a famous counterfeiter, but it’s said his biggest swindle came in 1925, when he had documentation arranged identifying him as the “Deputy Director General of the Ministère de Postes et Télégraphes.” The premise was simple: Lustig set up meetings with scrap iron dealers and told them that the Eiffel Tower, then in desperate need of repair, was going to be demolished and its materials sold off to the highest bidder. All of the dealers were interested, but Lustig fixated on André Poisson, asking Poisson for a bribe in order to “award” him the materials. After securing the money, Lustig fled France but soon returned to try to perpetuate the same scam a second time…he went to jail.

The Man Who “Revealed” Howard Hughes

A writer of little regard in the 1970s, Clifford Irving concocted a literary scheme for the ages. He approached publisher McGraw-Hill in 1971 claiming that he had struck up a rapport with eccentric aviator and billionaire Howard Hughes, who had largely retreated from public life. Irving’s con was simple: He offered editors an autobiography of Hughes, one he would secretly invent out of whole cloth, and bank on the fact that Hughes would never come forward to debunk it. After netting hundreds of thousands of dollars for various publishing deals, Irving was dismayed to discover Hughes could indeed be bothered to come out of hiding and deny any knowledge of Irving or his book. In 1972, Irving and his wife and co-conspirator, Edith, pled guilty to conspiracy in federal court and conspiracy and grand larceny in state court. Irving went to prison for 17 months, but a book did materialize: 1972’s Clifford Irving: What Really Happened (later retitled The Hoax), in which Irving recounted the con in detail. Irving, who died in 2017, said he thought it was a harmless “joke” and that he would do it again if given the chance.

The Golden Gulch Gold Mine

The secret to good business for Ed Barbara, a furniture salesman in the San Francisco Bay area in the 1970s and 1980s, was irritation. Barbara became a well-known figure by peppering the region with annoying commercials. He also did more than just irritate: In 1984, Barbara declared he had a 50 percent interest in the Golden Gulch gold mine near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The site was said to be prepared to excavate gold worth as much as $93 million in the first year alone; Barbara’s company, Dynapac, Inc., sold shares, netting Barbara big profits. It was a con, of course. A whistleblower, mine assayer David Fingado, disclosed the mine was meritless to CNN. Less than a week later, he was dead after a highly suspicious car crash (though the official report determined it was an accident. Barbara fled before being hauled back to New Mexico to stand trial on fraud and racketeering charges. He racked up guilty verdicts in 1988 but fled on bail and remained a fugitive until his death in 1990.

The NASCAR Driver Who Wasn’t

It takes guts and glory to drive on the NASCAR circuit. Alternately, you could just lie your face off and hope for the best. That was the strategy for L.W. Wright, who entered the Winston 500 race in Talladega, Alabama, in 1982 and who (falsely) claimed country music star Merle Haggard was a sponsor. Wright then went around in search of a race car and convinced several race veterans to part with money so he could get some wheels under him. All of it seemed on the level because it seemed preposterous anyone would lie about being a NASCAR pro. Wright performed poorly, completing just 13 out of 188 laps—enough for second-to-last place, because the car in last place crashed—and then disappeared in a haze of bounced checks and no real hint as to his actual identity.

The Trunk Scam

In the 1700s, Barbara Erni traveled in and around Liechtenstein toting a large trunk secured to her back. Living a nomadic existence, she would make frequent stops to secure lodging for the night. Each time, Erni would tell the innkeeper that her trunk contained her most valued possessions and to put it in the most secure room in the inn. The owners obliged, unaware that the trunk didn’t hold clothes or jewels—it contained a co-conspirator who would spring out of the trunk, scoop up any valuables, and then disappear with Erni in tow. The plot worked for 15 years until Erni and her partner were arrested in 1784. As a sentence for their crimes, the two lost their most valuable possessions: their heads.

The Record-Setting Con

In the late 1980s, pop music heralded the arrival of Milli Vanilli, an energetic song-and-dance duo that had a hit album, Girl You Know It’s True, and the Grammy for Best New Artist. Performers Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan certainly looked the part of pop stars, with model looks and sharp dance moves. They had come out of the Munich music scene and were signed by producer Frank Farian, who decided that a complete pop package would need something more—like singing talent. Farian masterminded a plot in which Rob and Fab would be the faces of Milli Vanilli while other vocalists did the heavy lifting. Farian later claimed he didn’t know the act would get as big as it did. After three number one singles and worldwide adoration, the band was subjected to more scrutiny, and Rob and Fab started demanding to do their own singing. Rather than allow that, a panicking Farian held a press conference where he disclosed the truth.

Bunch more if interested: CLICK

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I. Love. My. Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good. :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::