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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Nov 15 2008, 04:16 PM
 I want the truth…
Who of you out there has eaten Spam?
Will anyone admit it?
How about if I rephrase it and ask if anyone was ever forced to eat Spam?
I’m going to admit it.
I have eaten spam.
First let me tell you why I’m bringing up this product.
Spam , made by Hormel , of Austin, Minnesota, is in the news. It seems that they can’t keep up with the production of Spam. During hard times production of Spam increases. Austin has many restaurants that actually serve Spam on the menu. I mean, would you go out to a restaurant and actually order Spam? I have a hard time going out to a restaurant and ordering spaghetti since I think that’s too plain and simple and should be made at home.
Now I grew up in a very simple family. There were eight of us…and for a time we had three kids in each bedroom. We were crowded. We had a small house but a lot of land and a huge garden and orchard with organic vegetables and fruits. We ate simple food. And yes..sometimes we ate spam.
I remember asking my brother a few years ago how he prepared his turkey for Thanksgiving…he said he just carved a can of spam into the shape of a turkey and had that. …he didn’t want to go to any trouble. He was just making fun of our Spam days. But seriously…A sandwich of Spam, cut thin, fried, with lettuce, mustard and tomato on fresh white bread wasn’t all that bad…at least from what I remember.
I don’t eat Spam now but I won’t look down on people who do. Wow, that Spamburger in one of the restaurants is $6.29!
"Here in Austin, local officials have tried to capitalize on Spam’s kitschy cultural status, even if a decidedly unpleasant odor hangs over the town (a slaughterhouse next to the Hormel plant butchers 19,000 hogs a day). Austin advertises itself as “Spamtown,” and it boasts 13 restaurants with Spam on the menu.
Jerry’s Other Place sells a Spamburger for $6.29. Johnny’s “Spamarama” menu includes eggs Benedict with Spam for $7.35. At Steve’s Pizza, a medium Spam and pineapple pizza costs $11.58." You ‘ve got to read the entire article from the New York Times…
HERE
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Sep 13 2008, 07:05 AM
“Slow food;” it’s a movement, if you will.
Basically, it’s about eating more healthy…a change in lifestyle.
I know there are people here in Wisconsin who eat this way…fresh foods, organics. But look around in Wisconsin and what you’ll still see is mostly fast foods…
Out west it’s a different story:
"TOURISTS who took a wrong turn on their way to San Francisco’s cable car recently were in for a shock. There, between City Hall and other government buildings, a temporary organic garden had sprung up. Around it bustled a farmers’ market. Healthy-looking people were sampling local hams, heirloom tomatoes and raw-milk cheeses. And thus the Slow Food movement, founded two decades ago in Italy, officially arrived in America, the home of fast food. For several days there were taste pavilions here and slow hikes, slow picnics and slow dinners there. Chefs demonstrated their craft and put the footage up on You Tube. The world’s food celebrities weighed in on everything from the global food crisis to the role of food in the presidential election. "
Continued HERE
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Jul 11 2008, 11:02 PM
Eat your food, there are people starving in__________________
Enter name of country ….
During my childhood the country of choice was “China.”
I cringe when I think of being told that statement.
It was the thing to do during the 60s…
Maybe not everyone went through that, but I know from talking to others, they did too.
So I was supposed to eat more than I really wanted to because there were starving children in China?
My eating and cleaning my plate made it better?
Oh, wait…don’t waste any food on your plate…not when there are starving people in China.
I’m still cringing and would never think to say such a thing.
Then there's "waste not, want not."
That's the new motto of Britain.
Because of the economy and food shortages, they are being encouraged to think back to the time when the did have actual food rationing, during wartime.
"Well, of course, in the war years it was not only immoral to waste food — this was one of our slogans then — it also was illegal," said Marguerite Patten, 92, who worked at the Ministry of Food during World War II and urges a return to those more thrifty days.
"I know it's old fashioned, but some old fashioned things are worth doing," she said. During the war, Nazi Germany's U-boats crippled the flow of ships carrying food to Britain. Diets were tightly controlled by rationing. Bananas and pineapples became exotic treats, and enterprising housewives traded recipes for baked hedgehog and carrot fudge."
Britain Urging Return To Wartime Frugality í here
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Jun 26 2008, 09:52 PM
I like love very good chocolate.
I know I’ve said that before.
But sometimes the little kid in me creeps back in.
The one who loved that old fashioned candy bar made with overly sweet, sort-of grainy, (I’ll say it) cheap chocolate.
I didn’t have a whole lot of candy when I was a kid. I lived out in the country in Connecticut in a small home, with five brothers and sisters, on a lot of land. We had a huge garden with a fruit orchard…organic fruits and vegetables; lots of flower gardens and organic berry patches.
Milk?
We went to a farm and it was put in bottles with thick cream floating on top.
Eggs?
We went to the chicken farm and got fresh eggs…I think they were still warm.
Soda?
We made our own…only root beer. I still make it…in glass bottles that I saved in two wooden crates from American Soda Co. I have two bottle cappers, too. Nothing better than a yeasty glass of cold homemade root beer. Ask Mrs. Meinhart’s third grade class from back in 1984-85 at old Ben Franklin School. I taught the whole class how to make it. Each student bottled their own, it brewed for a week on the rooftop, and then we all enjoyed it together. Great memories.
Anyway, my favorite old-time candy bar?
Sky Bar.
Chocolate candy bar with four molded centers--fudge, vanilla, peanut and caramel
It’s made by Necco (New England Confectionery Company). Check out their link...you'll be surprised at which of your favorite candies they make.
You may not have ever had a Sky Bar...but it gives you a variety of candy bars all in one. It's all you could want in an old fashioned candy bar.
I bet you've had this ….
Necco Assorted Wafers
Sugar treat with eight pastel colors and flavors--Chocolate, lemon, lime, orange, clove, wintergreen, cinnamon, licorice
(I only like the rolls of all chocolate :)
In the past few years, Nostalgic candy shops have come back. Kids can now have some of the candy from long ago.
Oak Creek has Debbie’s Sweets and Treats
8880 S. Howell Ave.
Suite 300
Oak Creek, WI 53154 Retail Store Hours
Monday through Friday - 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday - 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday - 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What’s your favorite old fashioned candy?
P.S.
I was so disappointed when Bonomo Turkish Taffy stopped being made in 1989.
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Apr 27 2008, 10:15 AM
We recently purchased a new gas grill.
It's not an easy task anymore.
It's like buying a major appliance.
I saw grills priced between $200 and $1,800.
We finally settled for one based on quality, the size for the average amount of people we would be cooking for, and the price I was willing to pay without feeling too ripped-off.
Did I get the one I wanted? Not exactly.
That one was just a little too large so we settled for the next one down.
Honestly, I miss the old-fashioned Weber charcoal grill (I can't believe I said old-fashioned about a grill)!
At least that's done so now I can make one of my favorite kabob recipes.
Yum!
Barbequed Pork & Apple Kebabs
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grill
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds (about 1 1/2 inches each) pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise and cut into 16 cubes
- 1 medium red onion, cut into 8 wedges
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
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Directions1. Heat grill to medium-high. Make the sauce: In a large bowl, combine jam, vinegar, tomato paste, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Assemble 4 long skewers, alternating 4 pork cubes with 2 onion wedges and 2 apple wedges on each (begin with pork and end with apple). Roll skewers in remaining tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Lightly oil grates. Place skewers on grill; cover grill, and cook, turning occasionally, until grill marks are visible, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Open grill; baste skewers with some sauce, and cook, turning skewers and basting occasionally with more sauce, until pork is no longer pink in the center and is nicely glazed, 4 to 8 minutes more. |
from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Foods
I'm glad we got that grill though.
Our other one was shot.
If we hadn't, I might have had to have gone back to my Girl Scout leader days and made a “Buddy Burner,” which, by the way, everyone should make at least once in their lives, especially if you have kids.
There is no way better to cook bacon and French toast than on a Buddy Burner. French toast cooked in bacon grease, outside while camping, or even in your back yard, on the back side of a recyclable coffee can. No pan to wash.
Now that's living!
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Apr 11 2008, 05:05 PM
Don't do this....
What were they thinking back then????
 
The cola ad print says, "Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early, formative period have a much better chance of gaining acceptance and 'fitting in' during those awkward pre-teen and teenage years. So, do yourself a favor, do your child a favor. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other surgary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness."
Right....I believe that....
Look, Mom, no cavities!
And to think today we try to ban soda in schools!
H/T: thecitydesk
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