Devilish

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Oh, man, I’m hungry!!!  :)))))))))))))

With summer approaching, Jackie and I are getting more invitations to backyard parties and get togethers. And as tradition has it, we often offer to “bring” something to be shared with the other guests.  I’m lucky as Jackie has a whole bunch of fun recipes – appetizers, salads, side dishes and desserts – all of which I try to be discrete in not being the first one to jump in and clean the plate – (those meatballs in sauce on little toothpicks are killer!) In reality, I am actually performing a public service making sure that all the wonderful apps are ok to eat!  I have a bunch of favorites, but one dish that’s always on my radar is deviled eggs. I like to quickly scan the food tables and see if they are there.  It’s a simple food, and one where I like to try other people’s versions. I can just walk by, pop in my mouth, and move on. And they complement just about everything.  So, I did a little digging, found some trivia for you, along with a few recipes.  Be sure to send me your favorite, and I’ll give it a try.  Enjoy, and thanks to …sugarspunrun.com, natashaskitchen.com, virdrinksbeer.com, and Google search for the info.

  • Deviled eggs are a popular appetizer or side dish made with hard-boiled eggs that have been halved and filled with a mixture of the egg yolks and other ingredients such as mayonnaise, mustard, and spices.
  • The devilled egg is such an eye-catching name that it’s almost impossible to miss on any restaurant menu or table. It’s neither a dish from hell, nor has it undergone any specific evil rituals, other than boiling in water and being modified with different ingredients that are commonly used by humans. So, rest assured, this is not the devil’s work but rather a sinfully tasty dish that’s also well known by other names such as egg mimosa, Russian eggs.
  • Deviled eggs have a long history that can be traced back to ancient Rome. The Romans were known for their love of eggs, and they would often cook them, season them with various spices and sauces, and serve them as appetizers. In the ancient Roman literature “Satyricon” by Petronius, a banquet thrown by a wealthy person included songbirds marinated in peppered egg yolk and stuffed into peasant eggs (not sure I’m anxious to try marinated songbirds??).
  • The term “deviled” came into use in the 18th century in England, referring to any spicy or zesty food. It was popularly served as a first course known as gustatio. Different hot sauces today really make them fun to eat!
  • Even after the fall of the Roman Empire the stuffed egg recipe stood the test of time and continued to be enjoyed in various ways. In the 1200s a written record from Andalusia, modern-day Spain,  mentions a similar recipe, wherein the scooped out yolk is mixed with cilantro, coriander, onion juice, pepper and fish sauce or fermented barley. The stuffing is placed within the hollowed-out egg white halves and is put back together with a stick.
  • In Europe, all kinds of stuffed egg recipes gained popularity by the 1400s. Medieval cookbooks also contained various recipes for stuffed eggs. The stuffing used was cheese, herbs, raisins, and flavored oils. Some recipes involved frying the eggs after stuffing. The medieval-style stuffed egg was served cold.
  • In Western Europe regions like Germany, France, and the Netherlands the devilled egg preparations usually include tomato and parsley. In Germany cheese, capers and anchovies are used. Hungarian devilled eggs are made by mashing the yolk with white bread that is soaked in milk. In Sweden, sour cream, chives, onion, caviar, and pickled herring are also used.
  • The deviled egg recipes started appearing in American cookbooks in the mid-1800s. In 1786, “deviled” was a British term that was used to refer to fried, boiled, or highly seasoned hot and spicy ingredients or food items that were boiled or fried. In the 1800s Americans borrowed the term to refer to spicy food. Since then, the term deviled egg was used for the spicy stuffed eggs and the name stuck.
  • Sonya Thomas is the record holder for eating 65 hard Boiled Eggs in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. (impressive but not a good behavior at parties).
  • Deviled eggs are relatively nutritious, as they are a good source of protein, healthy fats, and essential vitamins and minerals. Eggs are protein-packed and contain all vitamins except vitamin C.
  • The largest deviled egg ever made weighed approximately 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). It was created in 2015 at the World Egg Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
  • Celebrated annually on 2nd November, the National Deviled Egg Day is an unofficial holiday. Be it family reunions, parties, or potluck, the devilled egg is always invited.

Here are some fun recipes:
Click here
Click here
And click here

 

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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!!

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

Yes, I’d Love Another Slice

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Apple pie. You don’t just eat it, you live it. Every… last… bite.  :)))

One of the things Jackie and I love these days is getting the whole, extended family together.  Now that the weather has changed, and everyone’s out and about more, we look in anticipation to have everyone over to the house. This year we’re celebrating May’s National Apple Pie Day. For those that know me, it doesn’t take much to trigger my love for food and desserts, (heck, I’d celebrate a cracker day, as long as there was cheese-dips!). We’ll be “enhancing” the celebration with “and ice cream, and chocolate syrup, and snacks, and good food off the grill, and, and and”. I’m guessing, if you ask a variety of people, most of them will jump at any chance they get to sink their teeth into a piece of apple pie, especially if it’s warmed up and fresh out of the oven with vanilla ice cream!. As my family already knows…There is no rule that says you can’t have apple pie as an appetizer! So, here’s some fun trivia and history and recipes so you too can have a reason to celebrate with friends and families.  Thanks to daysoftheyear.com and nationalday.com. delish.com, thetoastykitchen.com and epicurious.com for the info.  Enjoy!

  • National Apple Pie Day is kind of like a blank check for eating apple pie, so everyone should be sure to make the most of it!  It has the ability to get families together, whether baking in the kitchen or enjoying delicious desserts together. And for many people, this day is an act of patriotism. After all, apple pie is as American as, well, as they say, apple pie!
  • History reveals that apple pie seems to have been very popular in centuries past in countries like England and The Netherlands. Both of these countries have recipes going back many centuries. In fact, the history of apple pie dates back more than 600 years, to the 14th century with an English recipe. However, it was not cemented as an American classic until around the turn of the 20th century.
  • The first recorded apple pie recipe was written in 1381 by the master cooks of King Richard II. This recipe was not the apple pie that we know today, but a type of apple tart that was cooked without a pastry crust. The recipe called for apples to be boiled with spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and saffron, and then strained through a sieve before being mixed with eggs, cream, and sugar.
  • The first apple pie recipe that included a pastry crust was published in 1589 by a Dutch author named Joridt Bont. This recipe called for a mixture of apples, sugar, and spices to be placed inside a pastry crust, which was then baked until golden brown.
  • Apple pie made its way to America with the early colonists, who brought with them their traditional recipes and cooking methods. Apple pie quickly became a popular dessert in America, especially in New England, where apples were abundant and the climate was suitable for growing them.
  • During the 19th century, apple pie became an important symbol of American identity and culture. The phrase “as American as apple pie” was coined during this time and has since become a well-known saying. Though the exact origin of the phrase is unclear, a 1928 New York Times article used it to describe the homemaking abilities of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover.
  • One of the most famous stories associated with apple pie is that of Johnny Appleseed, a legendary American folk hero who is said to have traveled across the country planting apple trees. While there is some truth to this story, it is believed to have been greatly exaggerated over time.
  • According to the American Pie Council, nearly one-in-five Americans prefer apple pie over others, with 35% of those surveyed saying they have apple pie for breakfast.
  • An article in The New York Times in 1902 proclaimed the apple pie as the “American synonym for prosperity”, with troops in the 20th century saying they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.” In 1999, Vermont deemed apple pie as its official state pie.
  • During World War II, apple pie became a symbol of American patriotism and was often served to soldiers as a reminder of home. The US government even used apple pie in its propaganda efforts, with posters and advertisements featuring images of apple pie and the slogan “as American as apple pie”.
  • Apple pie remains one of America’s most beloved desserts. (Today, apple pie is the most popular flavor in America, followed by pumpkin, chocolate, lemon meringue and cherry – according to the American Pie Council).
  • In recent years, apple pie has even become a popular subject for competitive eating contests, with contestants trying to eat as many slices of pie as possible in a set amount of time. WATCH! :)))))

Steve’s Handy Tips On How To Enjoy the Day:
The great thing about apple pies is that they don’t have to be super complicated to make, so a person doesn’t need to be a master in the kitchen in order to rustle up a fantastic-tasting apple pie at home!  When making apple pie, here are some tips from the experts that might make the process go a bit more smoothly:

  • Instead of using all the same type of apples, mix it up by combining some apples that are sweet and some that are tart. The result will be more flavorful and delicious!
  • Many recipes call for brushing the outside of the crust with an egg wash after it is put together, but one expert tip is to brush the inside of the crust with an egg wash before adding the filling. This creates a barrier that keeps the apple juices from making the bottom crust soggy.
  • Once the inside has its egg wash, take a few extra minutes to layer the apples into the crust, rather than simply dumping them in.

Steve’s Apple Pie Party Tips
The best way to do this is to get a few friends together and make a variety of apple pies using different recipes and baking methods. Try adding some adult beverages, like an apple pie cocktail.  Plus, there are many ways to make apple pies, so this is the perfect time to take the opportunity to try a recipe that puts a new spin on an old classic:

  • Caramel Apple Pear Granola Cream Pie
  • Savannah High Apple Pie (piled super high and topped with streusel)
  • Individual Fried Apple Pies (more like hand pies, can be served on a stick)
  • Spiced Bourbon and Cinnamon Apple Pie (now we’re talkin’)
  • 35 recipe variations

Classic Recipe:  CLICK

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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!!

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

Fiesta

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It’s Cinco De Mayo, amigos y amigas!!!! Time to put on your sombrero and celebrate with a lot of food, a margarita (or two), maybe some dancing and some skydive boogie! Read on to see what the heck I’m talking about.  :))))))))   (You know…a holiday featuring tacos has got to be a great holiday.) Have a great Cinco de Mayo, everyone!!!!!!  :))))))))

Like many ethnic holidays and celebrations, I like to jump right in, get caught up in the energy and culture, and of course, try all the food.  One of my favorites is being celebrated today – Cinco De Mayo, when I’m best known here as “El Steveo Diego Juan Manuel Garcia Kowalski”. It’s a day I get to sneak out a little early, hit the streets and enjoy the music, great food – which should not surprise anyone and celebrations. I put together some history to share for today and suggest you get out and enjoy as well.  Thanks to hy-vee.com, YouTube, and simplyrecipes.com for the info and links.

Get In the Spirit

  • Cinco de Mayo, which translates to “Fifth of May” in English, is a Mexican holiday that commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The battle was a significant moment in Mexican history, as it demonstrated the strength and determination of the Mexican people to defend their sovereignty against foreign invaders.
  • Interestingly, Cinco de Mayo is not a major holiday in Mexico itself, where Independence Day (September 16 El Grito de la Independencia) is the most important national holiday. However, the holiday has become increasingly popular in Mexico in recent years, particularly in the state of Puebla where the battle took place.
  • We can thank FDR for enacting something called the “Good Neighbor Policy,” which was meant to improve relations with Latin American countries and communities. It was under this policy that Cinco de Mayo began to pick up steam in the 1950s and 60s, eventually becoming a national holiday.
  • Because of its commercial success, other countries like Malta, Australia, the Cayman Islands, and Canada celebrate Cinco de Mayo as well. In Vancouver, the holiday is celebrated in an extra bizarre way. The tradition is called a “skydiving boogie” (you know it’s going to be amazing based on that name alone) and involves aerial acrobatics and an annual air show.  Check it out!
  • LA’s celebration is even bigger than the festival in the Mexican city of Puebla (that’s saying something). The party is called Fiesta Broadway and has been a huge celebration since the 1990s.  Most major streets in L.A. are blocked off to host hundreds of thousands of people celebrating Mexican heritage with food, music, dancing, and crafts.
  • Not surprisingly, 47% of all drinks ordered on Cinco de Mayo are margaritas. Tequila sales easily double within the week leading up to this infamous holiday. Centuries ago, Aztec priests used to make a milky beer-like drink from the agave plant called pulque. Only the priests could consume this “nectar of the God’s” precursor of tequila.
  • There are five different types of tequila (mezcal) – learn more
  • The town of Chandler, Arizona has your typical Cinco de Mayo celebration. Food, music, parades, dancing – and Chihuahua races. Townspeople enter their Chihuahuas into this race (think horse racing on a much smaller scale) and receive a large cash prize if their Chihuahua is the fastest. (Video – the tension is stiffing…and looks like they have Queen of the race!)
  • Even though Mexican troops won the initial Battle of Puebla, French troops came back strong and eventually took over Mexico for a short amount of time. They instituted Emperor Maximilian of Austria, who was essentially a puppet through which European nations could control Mexico. The story of Maximilian is one shrouded in legend; eventually, those loyal to the General Ignacio Seguin Zaragoza rose up against Maximilian, capturing and executing him and his generals.
  • Although guacamole (and avocados in general) is extremely popular nowadays, May 5th is still the biggest day for guacamole sales. The California Avocado Commission reports that 87 million pounds of avocados are purchased just for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. (don’t forget the limes!) How is guac made? Click Here
  • Cinco de Mayo is often associated with the consumption of a favorite south of the border drink, margaritas, a popular Mexican cocktail made with tequila, lime juice, and triple sec. The origin of this tradition is unclear, but it is thought to have started in the US in the 1940s or 1950s. Recipe
  • Molé Poblano is the official dish of Cinco de Mayo because the day commemorates Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Here are links to the recipe, along with other favorites for today: Click Here

 

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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!!

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Nice Catch

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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

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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.

 

 

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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!!

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

That’s Corny

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St. Paddy’s Day is a fun day!!  :))))

Eh laddies – Stephen O’Brien Kirkpatrick Schemas Finnigan O’Kowalski here – just getting you ready for one of my favorite days of the year – St Patrick’s Day. For me, it’s hard to think of St. Patrick’s Day without glittered shamrocks, parades, green beer, leprechauns, and of course, corned beef and cabbage. Surprisingly, if you went to Ireland on St. Paddy’s Day, you would not find any of these things except maybe the glittered shamrocks. Leprechauns are not jolly, friendly cereal box characters, but mischievous nasty little fellows. And, just as much as the Irish would not pollute their beer with green dye, they would not eat corned beef, especially on St. Patrick’s Day. So, here’s some trivia you can share around the dinner table as you eat like a king and raise a pint or two in good cheer.  Enjoy, and thanks to Smithsonian Magazine for the info.

Fun music while you read: CLICK

  • The unpopularity of corned beef in Ireland comes from its relationship with beef in general. From early on, cattle in Ireland were not used for their meat but for their strength in the fields, for their milk and for the dairy products produced.
  • In Gaelic Ireland, cows were a symbol of wealth and a sacred animal. Because of their sacred association, they were only killed for their meat if the cows were too old to work or produce milk. So, beef was not even a part of the diet for most of the population. Only the wealthy few were able to eat the meat on a celebration or festival.
  • During the early times, beef was “salted” to be preserved. The first salted beef in Ireland was actually not made with salt but with sea ash, the product of burning seaweed. Pigs were the most prevalent animal bred only to be eaten; from ancient times to today, it earned the reputation as the most eaten meat in Ireland.
  • The Irish diet and way of life stayed pretty much the same for centuries until England conquered most of the country. The British were the ones who changed the sacred cow into a commodity, fueled beef production, and introduced the potato. The British had been a beef eating culture since the invasion of the Roman armies. England had to outsource to Ireland, Scotland and eventually North America to satisfy the growing palate of their people.
  • Herds of cattle were exported by the tens of thousands each year from Ireland to England. But, the Cattle Acts of 1663 and 1667 were what fueled the Irish corned beef industry. These acts prohibited the export of live cattle to England, which drastically flooded the Irish market and lowered the cost of meat available for salted beef production. The British invented the term “corned beef” in the 17th century to describe the size of the salt crystals used to cure the meat, the size of corn kernels. After the Cattle Acts, salt was the main reason Ireland became the hub for corned beef.
  • Ireland’s salt tax was almost 1/10 that of England’s and could import the highest quality at an inexpensive price. With the large quantities of cattle and high quality of salt, Irish corned beef was the best on the market. It didn’t take long for Ireland to be supplying Europe and the Americas with its wares. But this corned beef was much different than what we call corned beef today. With the meat being cured with salt the size of corn kernels, the taste was much more salt than beef.
  • Ironically, the ones producing the corned beef, the Irish people, could not afford beef or corned beef for themselves. When England conquered Ireland, oppressive laws against the native Irish Catholic population began. Their land was confiscated and feudal like plantations were set up. If the Irish could afford any meat at all, salted pork or bacon was consumed. What the Irish really relied on was – you guessed right – the potato.
  • By the end of the 18th century, the demand for Irish corned beef began to decline as the North American colonies began producing their own. Over the next 50 years, the glory days of Irish corned beef were over. By 1845, a potato blight broke out in Ireland completely destroying the food source for most of the Irish population, and The Great Famine began. Without help from the British government, the Irish people were forced to work to death, starve or immigrate. About a million people died and another million immigrated on “coffin ships” to the US. To this day, the Irish population is still less than it was before The Great Famine.
  • In America, the Irish were once again faced with the challenges of prejudice. To make it easier, they settled together in mainly urban areas with the largest numbers in New York City. However, they were making more money than they had in Ireland under British rule. Which brings us back to corned beef. With more money for food, the Irish could afford meat for the first time. Instead of their beloved bacon, the Irish began eating beef. And, the beef they could afford just happened to be – corned beef, the thing their great grandparents were famous for.
  • The Irish Americans transformed St. Patrick’s Day from a religious feast day to a celebration of their heritage and homeland. With the celebration, came a celebratory meal. In honor of their culture, the immigrants splurged on their neighbor’s flavorful corned beef, which was accompanied by their beloved potato and the most affordable vegetable, cabbage. It didn’t take long for corned beef and cabbage to become associated with St. Patrick’s Day
  • The popularity of corned beef and cabbage never crossed the Atlantic to the homeland. Instead of corned beef and cabbage, the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal eaten in Ireland is lamb or bacon. In fact, many of what we consider St. Patrick’s Day celebrations didn’t make it there until recently. St. Patrick’s Day parades and festivals began in the US. And, until 1970, pubs were closed by law in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day. It was originally a day about religion and family. Today in Ireland, thanks to Irish tourism and Guinness, you will find many of the Irish American traditions.
  • Lastly, if you are looking for a connection to the home country this holiday, there are many other ways to be authentic. For starters, know that the holiday is either St. Patrick’s Day or St. Paddy’s Day and not “St. Patty’s Day”. (Paddy is the proper nickname for Patrick, while Patty is a girl’s name in Ireland.)

Recipe HERE

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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!!

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

Perfect Condiment

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Ok. Now I’m hungry. And I just had lunch!!!  :)))))

There are certain things that just go together.  Cookies and cream. Peanut butter and jelly. Chips and dip.  And for me, one of those things is French fries and ketchup. Now, I know some of you out there would insist on eating them plain, or for my northern friends, splashing a little vinegar on them too, but for me, French fries and ketchup just go together. Take a minute – close your eyes and think about McDonalds French fries, and one of those little ketchup packets – you leave the drive thru, open the bag, the aroma hits you and your find the fries, tear the corner of the tiny ketchup packet, squirt the yummy ketchup into the top of the fry holder, pick a few and … bam!  Now that’s good! I have always loved ketchup – in my humble opinion it is the perfect condiment!  As I finished my burger and fries for lunch the other day, it got me to thinking about ketchup – history, production, recipes, and more. For my foodies out there, here’s some fun info about ketchup (catsup?). Thanks to google, businessinsider.com, Wikipedia and allrecipes.com for the info, and YouTube for the video, and Mickey D’s for those yummy fries!  Enjoy!

What 1.8 Million bottles a day looks like

(the video above tests my plant logistics brain – tons of tomatoes/sauce, gallons of water, 1.8 million bottles, caps, 5 million labels, boxes, palettes, shrink wrap – wow – talk about a PIA (Pain in the @%$) Job! – and that’s DAILY!!!). WOW.

  1. The word “ketchup” comes from the Hokkien Chinese word, “kê-tsiap”, which is a sauce that calls for fermented fish; a far cry from the ketchup we know today. Ketchup has come a long way from its roots in China as far back as the third century BCE, when cooks fermented seafood to create a salty, amber-colored sauce that resembles modern fish sauce (an anchovy-based condiment that adds umami flavor to many Asian dishes). Absolutely not a fan of fish sauce.
  2. The ketchup we slather onto hot dogs, burgers, and fries today once had a different purpose: Doctors believed it was best consumed as a health tonic. I am always telling Jackie that it’s heart healthy!
  3. By around the 16th century, British sailors had taken word of ketchup back to their home country, and British cooks tried to replicate it with their own versions made from walnuts and mushrooms.
  4. The word “catsup” first showed up in poems composed at Market Hill by Jonathan Swift in 1730 when he wrote about “Botargo, catsup, and caviare.” For a while the word “catsup” was more commonly used in North America, and then “ketchup” took over due to large-scale manufacturers like Heinz and Hunt’s calling is ketchup.
  5.  It’s not clear exactly when tomatoes came on the scene, though the first known tomato ketchup recipe appeared around 1812, published by Philadelphia horticulturist James Mease.
  6. It wasn’t until the 1830s that some doctors began rebranding tomatoes as a 19th-century superfood. One physician, Dr. John Cook Bennett, especially promoted tomatoes as cures for indigestion and other stomach ailments, encouraging a craze for the fruit that eventually saw the introduction of ketchup pills and extracts (one memorable jingle went, “tomato pills will cure all your ills”).
  7. The fad would last through around the 1850s, but soon enough home cooks focused on creating their own ketchups instead of taking the vitamin equivalents. The sauce then became an easily obtainable American dinner table staple in large part thanks to the H. J. Heinz Company, which released its first tomato ketchup in 1876.
  8. HJ Heinz was the son of immigrant parents. When Heinz turned six, he began helping his mother with her garden (1850).  By age eight, Henry began selling goods to neighbors out of a basket he would carry around (1852).  When he was nine, Henry was grinding and making his own horseradish sauce — it was his mother’s recipe (1853)
  9. Demand was so strong Heinz began to use a horse and cart to deliver his goods by age 12 (1856).  At 16, Heinz began making three weekly deliveries to Pittsburgh, Penn (1860).  By the time he was 25, Heinz had formed his first company with a friend. It was named Heinz Noble & Company (1869) and they sold canned beans.
  10. In just a few years they went bankrupt and shut down. Heinz quickly formed a new business with his cousin, the F & J Heinz Co. (1875).  In 1876 they began selling ketchup and the company
  11. In 1888, Henry bought out his family members and launched a major factory along the Allegheny.
  12. In 1896 Heinz added the 57 to the bottle, after seeing a shoe store advertise 21 styles of shoes. Although he was selling more than 60 products at the time, Heinz thought 57 was lucky.

TRIVIA:

  • Number of individual ketchup packets made by Heinz each year (as of 2020) – 12 billion
  • Approximate number of known tomato species – 10,000
  • Year the ketchup packet was patented – 1955
  • Weight (in tons) of tomatoes processed into ketchup each year by Heinz – 2 million
  • Top five brands – Heinz, Hunts, Del Monte, French’s, Primal Kitchen
  • The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle® stands proudly next to Route 159, just south of downtown Collinsville, Illinois – formerly a water tower: https://www.catsupbottle.com

If you want to make your own, here you go: 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!!

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

Slurp

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Out of a can or home-made, soups really are mmm-mmm-good!! :))))

 

Happy New Year to all my blog readers – I hope you had a safe, fun holiday with family and friends. My wish to you in the New Year is that you prosper in health and wealth, grounded in your faith and love of your families.  Over the holidays I was able to really enjoy some wonderful soups (and chili).  When the mercury dropped below zero, I was the first at the table with spoon in hand to lap up some of Jackie’s creations.  As a “foodie” (my definition is “eat everything”), soup and hearty sandwich on a blustery day is at the top of my list.  (who doesn’t dip your sandwich in the soup?) And when you are feeling down, there’s NOTHING like a bowl of steamy chicken noodle soup.  I know every family has “their” recipe and way of making it – as chicken soup is undeniable the dish that has souped its way into the hearts of people throughout the world and has become a staple ‘rainy day’/’sick day’ comfort meal. Here’s a little history, some recipes to try, and a great production video on how soup is made for my production buds out there.  If you have a “to die for” family recipe, please email it to me at skowalski@khtheat.com and I’ll ask Jackie to give it a try.  Thanks to Wikipedia, The Oxford Student, You Tube and the recipe folks for the info – ENJOY! (and don’t forget the crackers – saltines or oyster or wheat or Ritz or … perhaps another blog topic 😊.

Makin’ Soup

Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, dumplings, or grains such as rice and barley. Chicken soup has acquired the reputation of a folk remedy for colds and influenza, and in many countries is considered a comfort food.

Chicken soup has been with us for a long, long time, and there its fame has made its history so easy to find. People have obsessed over chicken soup since the domestication of fowl around 7,000 to 10,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. The Ancient Greeks also had their own version of chicken broth and believed the soup to have healing properties much like today.

Variations on the flavor are gained by adding root vegetables such as parsnip, potato, sweet potato and celery root; herbs such as bay leaves, parsley and dill; other vegetables such as zucchini, whole garlic cloves, lettuce, or tomatoes; and black pepper. Saffron or turmeric are sometimes added as a yellow colorant.

Chicken soup is the undoubtable symbol of Jewish cuisine. But the hot broth — made of scarce and expensive fresh meat — was not always readily available in every Eastern European community.  There was one day a year when every family, rich or poor, prepared the soup: Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.  “At night, the people of the village [Cycow in Poland] would wave fluttering chickens above their heads for the atonement ceremony called kapparot, and right after the ceremony people marched in droves to the slaughterhouse,” recalled Shmil Holand in his book “Schmaltz.” A few hours later, the village was filled with the aroma of fresh chicken soup, which was then served before the Yom Kippur fast.

While every chef has their own approach, some terms to keep in mind when creating your base:

  • Chicken broth is the liquid part of chicken soup. Broth can be served as is, or used as stock, or served as soup with noodles. Chicken bouillon or bouillon de poulet is the French term for chicken broth.
  • Chicken consommé is a more refined chicken broth. It is usually strained to perfect clarity and reduced to concentrate it.
  • Chicken stock is a liquid in which chicken bones and vegetables have been simmered for the purpose of serving as an ingredient in more complex dishes.
  • Chicken stew is a more substantial dish with a higher ratio of solids to broth. The broth may also be thickened toward a gravy-like consistency with a roux or by adding flour-based dumplings

Some ingredient variations to try from around the world include: 

  • China ginger, scallions, black pepper, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil.
  • Colombia includes maize, three types of potatoes, avocado, capers, and a herb called guascas, and is served with a dollop of cream.
  • Denmark uses suppehøner (“soup-hens”) celeriac, carrots, onions and leek are usually added and typical flavourings are thyme, laurels and white pepper.
  • France serves chicken-based forms of bouillon and consommé with bay leaves, fresh thyme, dry white wine and garlic. Germany uses chicken broth, vegetables, such as carrots, spices and herbs and small noodles. For the broth, a large hen, called a Suppenhuhn (lit.: “soup hen”), may be boiled.
  • Ghana chicken soup, also known as Chicken Light soup is made by cooking the chicken in a blended mixture of tomatoes, onions, pepper and other spices and sometimes garden eggs and is served primarily with fufu or on its own.
  • Greece In Greece, chicken soup is most commonly made in the avgolemono (“egg-lemon”) fashion, wherein beaten eggs mixed with lemon are added to a broth slowly so that the mixture heats up without curdling, also adding rice or pasta like kritharáki (“little barley;” orzo), resulting in a thicker texture.
  • Hungary is a clear soup, a consommé, called Újházi chicken soup. A consommé with entire pieces of chicken, chicken liver and heart, with chunky vegetables and spices like whole black peppercorn, bay leaves, salt and ground black pepper.
  • Indonesia sayur sop, vegetable and chicken broth soup that contains chicken pieces, potato, green beans, carrot, celery, and fried shallot.
  • Italy often served with pasta, in such dishes as cappelletti in brodo, tortellini in brodo and passatelli. Even when served on its own, the meat and any vegetables used are usually removed from the broth and served as a second dish.
  • Japan torijiru starts with dashi, which is made from boiling konbu (kelp) and katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna flakes), and not by boiling the chicken (whole chicken is not typically available in Japanese supermarkets). After the dashi is prepared, pieces of boneless chicken thigh meat are usually used and combined with vegetables.
  • Jewish (Ashkenazi) The Russian and Polish Jewish communities use a relatively high proportion of chicken stock for their soup, made mostly from the bones. The soup is prepared with herbs like parsley and fresh dill or thyme, and is often served with knaidlach (matzah balls), kreplach (dumplings), lokshen (flat egg noodles), or mandlen (Shkedei Marak in Israel) (soup “almonds”). A traditional garnish was eyerlekh (little eggs). These unlaid chicken eggs were taken from a hen and boiled in the soup.
  • Mexico Caldo de pollo, is a common Latin-American soup made with whole chicken pieces instead of chopped or shredded chicken, and large cuts of vegetables, such as half-slices of potatoes and whole leaves of cabbage.
  • Pakistan most famous one is Chicken Corn Soup served as a popular street food in the winter. White vinegar with green chilli slices, soy sauce, and red chilli sauce are condiments often served alongside chicken soup.
  • Polish (Yeah!) The Polish chicken soup is called rosół. It is commonly served with fine noodles, boiled carrots and parsley every Sunday. The broth is served separate from chicken meat. There are many types of rosół, as: Rosół Królewski (royal rosół), made of three meats: beef or veal, white poultry (hen, turkey or chicken) and dark poultry as duck, goose (crop only The cooking must take at least six hours of sensitive boiling over a small fire. At the end, softly burnt onion is added to the soup. Rosół myśliwski (The hunter’s rosół) is made of a variety of wild birds as well as pheasant, capercaillie, wood grouse, black grouse, or grey partridge, with a small addition of roe deer meat, a couple of wild mushrooms, and 2–3 juniper fruits.

If you are brave enough to veer from tradition, here are a few recipes to try:
>>THIS ONE
>>THIS ONE
>>AND THIS ONE

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

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!!

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

Ahhh, lasagna

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Guess what I had for lunch today.  :)))))))))) 

Now that the daylight savings flip is behind us, it’s time to start cooking indoors – yummy fall soups, fresh breads, sweet deserts and of course Italian sauces and foods. And that includes lasagna. If you’re like me, you can eat lasagna pretty much all the time! A warm, cheesy, gooey lasagna dish is an ideal go-to meal for chilly nights, romantic weekdays, family gatherings and dinners with friends. When topped with grated fresh parmesan cheese and a nice glass of cab or pinot noir, a regular lasagna dish on a Friday night is elevated to a gourmet meal fit for a king and queen. Now, before I go any further, a tip to my readers. Be extremely cautious when discussing the tastes and origins of your favorite lasagna dish. Avoid the words, “honey, I like your lasagna recipe, but it’s not even close to my _______ (insert: mom’s, gramdma’s, first wife, Aunt Betty’s, at Antonio’s, Uncle Carmen’s, etc.) recipe.”  This is sure to create havoc, and you’ll soon find a ladle dent on your forehead.  Picking “the best” is truly a PIA (Pain In The @%$) Job!  I’m lucky, as I LOVE both my Mom’s recipe and wife Jackie’s recipe – totally different and totally delicious. Everyone has a little twist to their recipe (homemade sauce, fresh ground sausage, variety of vegetables, special spices, long hours of simmering sauce), and more. At a work event we held recently, one of my supervisors surprised us with his significant other’s recipe – OOOHHH MMMYYY GGGOOOSSSHHHH – simply amazing.  So good, I included it below.  Be sure to share your favorite recipe – and send a photo too! (skowalski@khtheat.com). Special thanks to history.com, ciaoitalia.com, and inside therustickitchen.com and YouTube.com for the insights and music. Divertiti!

Great music to enjoy while reading and cooking

  • The origins of the word lasagne or lasagna can be traced back to Ancient Greece. What we know as lasagne or lasagna is derived from the word “laganon”, which was the first form of pasta. Laganon was a reference to flat sheets of pasta dough cut into thin strips, looking very different from what we know to be a typical lasagna dish today. It consisted of layers of pasta and sauce without traditional Italian ingredients. Ancient Rome was known to have a similar dish called “lasanum”, which is Latin for container or pot. Italians used this word to refer to the pot that the dish was served in. Eventually, the dish evolved and took on the same name.
  • The Greeks are believed to have first settled in the area of Naples in 2BC and it is currently the third-largest city of Italy. Naples is also the capital city of Campania, one of the most populous areas in Italy. It eventually became the epicenter of culture for the Roman empire and played a key role as the capital of the Duchy of Naples and the Kingdom of Naples. Eventually, it became the center of the baroque period and an artistic renaissance sparked by the famed Italian painter Caravaggio.
  • Lasagne is the plural word for one sheet of lasagna and is used regionally throughout Italy. Referencing lasagne or lasagna depends on whether you’re in the northern or southern regions of Italy. The plural form is mostly used in British English, while American English is known to use the singular version.
  • The Italian favorite of lasagne or lasagna that we all know and love originated in Italy in the city of Naples during the Middle Ages. One of the first references to modern-day lasagne can be found in a 14th-century English cookbook that highlighted a dish with layers of pasta without the tomatoes. Later, another reference was made to lasagne in an Italian cookbook in the 1880s that featured tomato sauce.
  • The dish eventually evolved into the traditional lasagna of Naples called “Lasagna di Carnevale” made with local sausage, fried meatballs, veal, pork, hard-boiled eggs, ricotta or mozzarella, and Neapolitan Ragu. One of the most popular variations of this lasagna dish is called “Lasagna al Forno”  This variation originates from the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna and is made with ricotta or mozzarella, thick Ragu, bechamel sauce, wine, onion, oregano, and green sheets of pasta made with spinach and baked.
  • Lasagne’s history wouldn’t be complete without variety throughout the regions of Italy. Different areas may use different dough or sauces. The beautiful Italian region of Piedmont specializes in lasagna al Sangue, which translates to “bloody lasagne” due to the addition of blood from a slaughtered pig (eeeuuuww).
  • The person who invented lasagna could never have imagined how it would impact the world today and what nutritional value it contains. When discussing lasagna history, carbohydrates never tasted so good and this dish is packed full of them. Carbohydrates bring energy to your blood cells and help drive essential day to day bodily functions. Most of this energy comes directly from the noodles, with a small amount of coming from the sauce and any vegetables you add.
  • Your favorite lasagna dish is also packed with B vitamins. These nutrients are responsible for driving your body’s metabolism. The beef in the recipe gives your body the iron it needs to promote healthy blood circulation. You can easily add vitamins A and C by including zucchini and red pepper. Adding vegetables will increase your vitamin intake and make for a delicious lasagna dish.
  • Lasagna is also an excellent source for dietary protein and fat. Proteins are broken down by your body into amino acids that are used to create and maintain healthy tissues. Each ounce of meat and cheese adds between 6 and 7 grams of protein. These components are a major source of saturated fat so you’ll want to be cautious when adding them.
  • We know that lasagna is far from being considered a health food, but you can make healthy substitutions when making it at home. For example, instead of using white noodles, you can substitute whole wheat noodles that will help to stabilize your blood sugar levels. When making a lasagna dish with meat, try to substitute with 95% lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken and make sure to thoroughly drain off any excess fat. While we all love cheese, try to limit the use of mozzarella cheese to only a few sprinkles on the top or choose a low-fat cheese. To add the nutritional value, load your lasagna with plenty of vegetables to boost fiber, vitamins, and mineral intake. Before adding them to the dish, try pureeing them to improve the texture and adding them directly to your tomato sauce. This way, you’ll be able to reap the nutritional benefits of adding vegetables while not compromising taste or texture.
  • While packing your lasagna with vegetables and lean meats adds nutritional value, using no-boil noodles will improve the taste. They are typically thinner than the dry noodles and absorb the tomato sauce well. Also, you won’t have to wait for the noodles to cook. Using pork sausage instead of ground beef for your tomato sauce will bring your pasta dish to a different level of satisfaction. You can choose to mix sweet and spicy sausage to enhance the flavor of the sauce. Instead of using grated mozzarella, add fresh mozzarella instead. You’ll notice that the rich diary flavor is tasty and the texture is smooth.
  • If you’ve never thought about using eggs in a lasagna dish, now is a great time to try. When coupled with parmesan cheese and herbs, eggs round out the flavor and create a creamy texture filling that is mouth-watering. Lastly, when you’re adding vegetables, you’ll want to add the right ones that don’t turn soggy while baking. While this can be fixed by pureeing your vegetables before they are added to the sauce, you can also use spinach. Adding spinach is a great alternative to including vegetables and adding flavor.
  • However you make it – experiment and enjoy – and if you hit a winner, send me the recipe!!

Amazing recipe from one of our team here at KHT Heat.

From The Kitchen of Danielle Lorence
Recipe: Lasagna –  Double Batch (Recipe is estimations – _I don’t measure)
Baking Dish –  Layers work best in 16 9/10” _long 10 1/5” _– _4 1/4” _depth
(Le Creuset has a Lasagna Deep Baker)
Line Oven Racks with Foil –  Cheese will melt over

Ingredients: (Can Be Found at Giant Eagle Market Districts)

  • 4-5 lbs. Ground Beef 80/20, Ground Pork and Ground Veal
  • 2 lbs. Spicy Bob Evans Sausage
  • 5-6 (32 oz.) Jars Mids Garlic and Onion Spaghetti Sauce
  • 2 cans Contadina Petite Diced Tomatoes
  • 4 (30 oz.) Micelili’s Whole Milk Traditional Ricotta Cheese (Must Be Micelili’s)
  • 1 (30 oz) Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese
  • 2-3 Micelili’s Mozerella Pears (Balls)
  • 3 pks. Bel Gioioso Sharp Provolone Cheese
  • 3 pks. Bel Gioioso Regular Provolone Cheese
  • 3 pks. Bel Gioioso Fontina Cheese
  • 3 pks Bel Gioioso Asiago Cheese
  • 1 container Parmesano Reggiano
  • 1 container of Pecorino Romano
  • 1 pint Whole Whipping Cream
  • 4 Eggs
  • 2 sticks Salted Butter
  • 3 boxes Barilla Lasagna Noodles
  • 4 Shallots
  • 8 Cloves Garlic
  • 3 large Yellow Onions
  • 1 bunch Fresh Parsley
  • 2 tbsp. Marjoram
  • 1 tbsp. Italian Seasonings
  • 4 tbsp. Garlic Powder
  • 2 tbsp. Onion Powder
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste when browning meat)
  • ½ cup Sugar

Instructions: 

  • Brown all meat in a large pot, as meat browns season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder. Do not drain grease, let meat cook down and allow grease to caramelize. Stir frequently and be careful not to scorch.
  • In a large skillet add diced onions and shallots, minced garlic – _sauté in 2 sticks of butter until soft. 1/3 approximately will be added to ricotta cheese mixture and rest will go into browned meat mixture.
  • After meat caramelizes, add 2/3 of sauteed onions, shallots and garlic and petite diced tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes and add Mid’s sauce, add 4 tbsp. garlic powder, 2 tbsp. onion powder, 1 cup of parmesano reggiano and ½ cup pecorino romano. Let sauce simmer at least one hour.
  • Grate all cheeses and combine all in an extra-large bowl mix thoroughly with hands.
  • In an extra-large bowl add ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, parsley, marjoram, Italian seasonings, sprinkle layer with garlic powder, onion powder, ½ sugar, ¾ cup whipping cream, 4 handfuls shredded cheeses, add 1 cup meat mixture and mix thoroughly with clean hands.
  • Coat 2 lasagna baking dishes with non-stick spray. Put a layer of sauce on bottom of baking dish. Layer lasagna noodles, then add approximately one inch of ricotta mixture, lasagna noodle layer, sauce layer, generous layer of shredded cheese and grated parmesano reggiano and pecorino romano. Layer lasagna noodles, one inch of ricotta mixture and repeat other layers.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, possibly 1 hour – _15 min. – _Let lasagna set 20-30 minutes before serving.

 

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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!!

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Traditions

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The pictures follow the text below. Enjoy!!!!  :)))))

How it’s Fall already is sort of surprising… just sort of snuck up on us… but here it is.  As with many of the seasonal and holiday transitions throughout the year, Fall brings with it some interesting traditions (and chores – leaf raking – I actually love using my backpack blower!). I find myself looking forward to many of these, like our drives in the country for fresh apples, watching the grandkids pull the apples off the trees – magic! There’s more to autumn than just pumpkin spice — it’s also filled with good stuff like pumpkin pie (yum!! – ice cream and Cool Whip too) pumpkin patches, harvesting and even a semi-obscure sport known as “punkin chunkin” (not to mention other non-squash-related customs). I’ve often wondered why I have the sudden urge to wander through a corn maze in the fall, or what it is about October that’s so conducive to bobbing for apples and eating different shaped candy.  Below are the surprising origins of eight autumn traditions that I’m guessing you like too – enjoy, and thanks to interestingfacts.com, foodnetwork.com, tailgating magazine and You Tube for the info.

Corn Maze

  • Mazes and labyrinths (elaborate and confusing circular maze structures) date back over 4000 years ago to the time of ancient Greece and Rome.  During Roman times, mazes and labyrinths were seen in artwork, home flooring, pavement on streets, and dug into the earth.
  • It was believed that although beautiful and puzzling, the mazes were actually used for rituals and processions.
  • Garden mazes began to pop up throughout Europe in the wealthiest castles and palaces as a way to amuse their inhabitants.  Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles included an elaborate labyrinth in the garden, which is said to have been inspired by Aesop’s fables.
  • One of the finest examples of garden mazes can be found in the gardens at Hampton Court Palace in England, which was first planted by William III in 1690.
  • By the 18th century, hedge mazes became increasingly popular in England and Europe, but it took some time before the concept came to America, at which point it took the form of a corn maze.
  • In 1993, the first modern elaborate corn maze was created by Don Frantz and Adrian Fisher, which inspired a worldwide fad of corn mazes.  Their corn maze was constructed on only 3 acres of land and had 1.92 miles of pathway.  The maze received accreditation in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the world’s largest corn maze.
  • The record now belongs to Cool Patch Pumpkins for their 60 acre maze in Dixon, California in 2014.

Leaf Peeping

  • This one goes back more than 1,200 years, which is another way of saying it didn’t originate in America. Rather, it appears we have Japan to thank for the custom. Their version of it, which carries the considerably more evocative name of momijigari (“autumn leaf hunting”), dates back to at least the Heian Era of 794-1185. A renaissance of sorts, that epoch brought about both visual art that celebrated the vibrant colors of fall and the endlessly influential Tale of Genji, which explicitly mentions “an imperial celebration of autumn foliage.”
  • As for how it became an American tradition, a professor of Asian art history has a theory: Japan and New England were connected via shipping routes, resulting in New Englanders being exposed to Japanese lacquerware featuring a maple-leaf motif that made them more inclined to seek out gorgeous leaves without traveling halfway across the world.
  • Best places to see Fall leaves include Rocky Mountain National Park, Sonoma Valley, Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan, Acadia National Park, Maine and pretty much anywhere in Ohio and Pennsylvania

OKTOBERFEST

  • Beginning in the third weekend of September and lasting until the first Sunday in October, Oktoberfest has long served as an excuse for revelers to do as the Germans do and wet their whistle at the local beer hall (lederhosen optional).
  • The first Oktoberfest was a wedding reception: On October 12, 1810, the citizens of Munich gathered at the city’s gates to celebrate the marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The event (known locally as d’Wiesn) was so popular that it took place again the following year — and the year after that, and so on and so forth until it became the world-famous festival of Bavarian culture that it is today.
  • You can’t start drinking until the mayor opens the first keg.  The festival officially begins when the mayor says “O’ zapft is” during the opening ceremony on the first day of the event. There’s only one place to be to witness this; the Schottenhamel tent. Here you’ll get to experience the Bavarian tradition where the Mayor of Munich will have the honor of tapping the first keg of Oktoberfest beer at noon. Once the first barrel of beer has been opened, then everyone else can get their beers in and officially start Oktoberfest… AND, only beer from Munich is sold at Oktoberfest.  CLICK FOR A TOUR!
  • And Check THIS Out————> The Oktoberfest in 4k Time lapse & Tilt shift

Election Day

  • Though rarely thought of in the same way as apple cider and leaf-peeping, American elections take place in autumn for a reason. Out of consideration for farming schedules, Congress chose November (when the harvest was finished but it hadn’t usually begun to snow yet) in its 1845 decree establishing the date.
  • As for Tuesday? Weekends were a no-go due to church, and Wednesdays were off the table because farmers usually went to the market to sell their goods. Thus, Tuesday emerged as a sort of compromise, and the tradition stuck.
  • It’s a blessing we can enjoy free and open elections …be sure to vote!

BOBBING FOR APPLES

  • It may not be as popular now as it was a century ago, but bobbing for apples persists as an autumnal activity, especially on Halloween. Long before kiddos dressed up on October 31, however, British singles played the game as a sort of courting ritual. Each apple represented a different eligible bachelor and, if the young woman bobbing for said apple bit into it on her first try, the two would live happily ever after.
  • Succeeding on the second attempt meant that the two would be together for a time but the romance would fade.
  • Not getting it right until the third try foretold doom – yikes!  Click For Video

Punkin Chuckin

  • For the past two decades, “chunkers” have created slingshots, trebuchets, and even pneumatic cannons to hurl pumpkins as far as possible. The World Championship Punkin Chunkin Contest has taken place in Bridgeville, Delaware, every November since 1986, with First State native Bill Thompson claiming credit for inventing the sport.
  • The Guinness world record shot is held by a pneumatic cannon dubbed “Big 10 Inch”, at 5,545.43 feet (1,690.25 m), on September 9, 2010 in Moab, Utah. (for you math majors out there…that’s over a mile!!)
  • Enjoy this “chuckin” link – made me just laugh out loud seeing the machines and the people

Tailgating

  • The history of tailgating dates all the way back to the start of the Civil War. In 1861, civilians gathered in Washington DC, to watch the first battle of the Bull Run and cheer on their “team,” the Union or the Confederates.  People brought picnic baskets filled with minced meat, apple pies, and plum puddings. This time in history marks the beginning of aged whiskey and wine production, so we can assume the colonists were also celebrating with adult beverages.
  • Tailgating is now a year-round activity at sporting events and concerts, but it’s always been especially popular at football games. One theory posits that it dates all the way back to the first college football game, a contest between Rutgers and Princeton that took place in 1869, when some in attendance sat at their horses’ “tail end” while grilling sausages before the game began.
  • Another theory centers around the Green Bay Packers, whose fans are said to have coined the term “tailgating” when the “cheeseheads” first began supporting the team in 1919. Ever industrious, they positioned their trucks around the field and sat in the beds for comfortable viewing while enjoying their food and drinks.
  • Today tailgater’s across the country come early, set tables and tents, and serve all sorts of grilled and “crock pot” goodies, along with snacks galore.
  • “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” takes place around the college football games between the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs, where fans meet in the parking lot, RV lot and local marina, entertaining nearly 200,000 fans.

Candy Corn

  • It may be the year’s most polarizing candy, but its history is long and sweet. Candy corn dates back to the 1880s, when a confectioner at the Wunderle Candy Company began producing it under the even-less-appetizing name of Chicken Feed.
  • The corn-shaped sugar molds were then manufactured by the Goelitz Confectionery Company, who made the product famous (you may now know Goelitz as Jelly Belly too). More than 35 million pounds (or nine billion individual pieces) of candy corn are produced every year, so someone must like the stuff.
  • California residents consume more of the orange, yellow and white confection than any other state. To be fair, it is a big state, and so is the state that comes in second in the eats-the-most-candy-corn lineup: Texas! Florida, in third place, takes the proverbial bronze, followed by New York, Michigan and Illinois.

I have to admit, this candy does not even make my top 100 list!

I saw this New Yorker cartoon on Twitter…couldn’t resist sharing.  :))))) @NewYorker

 

 

 

 

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

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!!

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