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July is National Ice Cream Month.
Chewing Gum - according to the National Confectioners Association:
Beeman's gum was introduced in 1879 and was the first gum with the added benefit of the digestive aid pepsin.
The US consumed almost $3 billion worth of gum in 2006, with the most likely chewer being a college-educated woman in her early 30s.
Ancient Greeks chewed the resin of the mastic tree. Mastic is the root word for masticate, "to chew."
Mayans chewed the chicle sap of the sapodilla tree and native Americans chewed spruce-tree resin.
Failing to integrate chicle into carriage wheels, inventor Thomas Adams recalled the Myans' chewing habit. He invented our modern gum in 1869.
The best bubbles are blown with gum that has lost its sweetness, because sugar does not stretch well.
Susan Montgomery Williams of Fresno, California is the record holder of the largest bubble - a 23 inch bubble she blew in 1994.
According to Ted Haigh, curator, Museum of the American Cocktail:
A cocktail is traditionally required to contain spirits, sugar, and bitters.
The cocktail was originally considered a morning eye-opener. Some speculate the name "cocktail" was a metaphor for a cock (rooster) crowing to welcome the dawn.
In New Orleans, legend has it that Antoine Peychaud served his blend of bitters and brandy in egg cups, known as "coquetiers" to the French-speaking residents. The word was later corrupted to "cocktay" and finally to cocktail.
In the 1800s, bitters were used as medicine. Peychaud's bitters' label still reads, "Good for what ails one irrespective of malady."
Lollipop is the longest word typed with only the right hand.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Pizza:
The food at the bottom of the list of favorite pizza toppings is anchovy.
Women, more than men, prefer vegetables on their pizza. Favorites include peppers, broccoli, mushrooms.
Eggs:
The breed of chicken determines the color of eggs. The Araucana chickens produce eggs in shades of pale blue, celadon, and beige. Araucana eggs are often called "Easter eggs."
There is no nutritional difference in eggs due to their color.
Tomatoes:
Tomatoes are native to South America and spread to Mexico.
In the late 1400s, European explorers discovered the tomato and took it home.
The French -- believing tomatoes had aphrodisiac qualities -- called them "love apples" (pommes d'armour).
In the early 1800s, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous, when Robert Gibbon Johnson brought them to Salem, New Jersey. To disprove the popular notion, on September 26, 1820, Mr. Johnson sat on the courthouse steps and ate an entire basket in front of a disbelieving crowd.
The botanical classification of a tomato is a fruit, because it is the ripened ovary of a plant. However, an 1893 Supreme Court ruling -- in Nix Vs Hedden -- declared tomatoes to be a vegetable. At the time, an import tariff was placed on vegetables, but not on fruit. In their infinite wisdom, the Court declared tomatoes to be a vegetable because they were grown in kitchen gardens and are normally served at dinner, while fruit is usually a dessert. Therefore, tomatoes were subject to the tariff.
Florida produces the entire fresh market of field grown tomatoes in the United States from December through May. The annual Florida fresh tomato production is about 50 percent of the US total. Interestingly, summer is the season when Florida does not produce a commercial tomato harvest.
The largest tomato on record was seven pounds, 12 ounces and was picked in 1986 in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Candy corn is in virtually the same form used since its invention in the 1890s.
Halloween accounts for 75 percent of candy corn production.
Beta Carotene gives certain vegetables their orange coloring.
Julia McWilliams served in Asia and Washington, DC with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. In Asia, she was inspired by Chinese cooking, developed a passion for food, and met her husband Paul. Julia is better remembered as Julia Child, "the French Chef."
"Brachium," the Latin word for "arm" or "branch" is the root of our word "broccoli."
The "Grunt Fish" makes grunting sounds when removed from the water.
Chef George Crum, Sarasota Springs, New York invented the potato chip in response to a guest's complaint that the french fries were too thick."
The four largest flour milling companies in the world are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 1827, the first matches were made by English pharmacist John Walker.
In 1765, a man named Boulanger - a soup vendor in Paris - first used the term "restaurant," which meant "to restore."
We get our word "galaxy" from the Greek word for milk.
The gift of an apple for the teacher is thought to have originated in the 19th century, when rural school teachers were often paid in kind, with apples and other vegetables.
The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for Blood plasma.
You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
Pearls melt in vinegar.
Coca-Cola was originally green.
When it comes to tea, in the United States iced tea is the most popular form.
What is the only food that doesn’t spoil? Honey.
The Irish are the world’s greatest tea drinkers. Each year, they average about 1,600 cups per person.
President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Hayes initiated the custom of egg rolling on the White House lawn in 1878.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, American Pioneer Jonathan Chapman planted a large number of apple trees along the frontier. We know him today as Johnny Appleseed.
The potato has three times more potassium than a medium orange.
Origin of the Name Eggnog:
Originating in England, the word “eggnog” is literally translated to mean, “egg inside a small cup.” The old English word “nog” was used to describe a type of strong beer. The “noggin” was a wooden drinking cup.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
Beer History
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" - or what we know today as the "honeymoon".
Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb".
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."
Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It's clear from the Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste beer looking for a better site. The log goes on to state that the passengers "were hasted ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer".
After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor or even shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means, "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.
In 1740 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today.
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice.
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