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FOOD ORIGINS
by Janet Spencer
NACHOS
• Ignacio Anaya was the maître d’ at a restaurant called the Victory Club in a town called Piedras Negras, Mexico, in 1943. His nickname was Nacho, short for Ignacio. • One day a group of ladies from the nearby U.S. military base Fort Duncan, Texas, came in wanting something to eat, but Ignacio could not find the chef. So, he went to the kitchen himself and threw together what he found available: tortilla chips, cheese, and jalapeno peppers. The ladies loved the treat and the dish was named after Ignacio’s nickname, Nacho. • Ignacio became the head chef at the restaurant, and later owned his own place, serving nachos regularly. They got a boost in popularity when Frank Liberato began serving them at Arlington Stadium in Texas in 1977. When Monday Night Football announcer Howard Cosell raved about them on the air, sales increased again. • Ignacio Anaya tried to trademark his invention, but failed. He never made much money off his invention. Ignacio died in 1975 but his son carries on his legacy, acting as a judge at the annual Nachos Competition held in Piedras Negras every October. (cont)
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Vol 2 Issue 3
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Tidbits of The Pass Area
Vol. 2 Issue 3
COOKIES & CREAM • John Harrison was a taste tester and flavor developer for Edy’s Grand Ice Cream Company in 1982. One day he wanted to snack on some vanilla ice cream during his break so he went to the company ice cream parlor to ask for a scoop. He noticed some cookies nearby and decided he would like to eat them as well. He was in a hurry to get back to work, so he crumbled the cookies over the top of the ice cream to save time. • With the first bite, he knew he was onto something. He took the idea to his bosses, but they dismissed it saying it was too much of a kid’s thing, and they were more interested in releasing their new Perfectly Peach flavor instead. • Then fate intervened: the winter of 1982 was harsh, and the peach crop was skimpy as a result. Perfectly Peach would have to wait. Harrison reminded his bosses of his idea, and they decided to give it a 90-day trial run, releasing it in 1983. Cookies ‘n Cream was an instant smash hit and remains one of the top selling flavors in the world. NUTELLA • In Turin, Italy, Pietro Ferrero was a local chocolate maker in the 1940s. When World War II started, cocoa beans became expensive and hard to find. Meanwhile, the local production of hazel nuts overflowed warehouses because they could not be shipped out as usual. • Needing to stretch his limited supply of chocolate, Ferrero began to mix chocolate with a paste made from ground hazel nuts. • Originally it came in the form of a loaf, designed to be sliced like cheese. By 1949 he had revamped the recipe to make the product extra creamy, and it came in a jar instead of a loaf. In 1964 the confection was named Nutella. The company now purchases 25% of the world’s supply of hazel nuts. (cont)
Capellini Frittata
A satisfying meal made with sauteed onion and red pepper baked in an egg-and-pasta custard. If you have leftover spaghetti in the fridge, use 1 cup of it instead of the cooked capellini. Serve with a green salad, our Spicy Tomato Dressing and a chunk of hearty peasant bread. 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) capellini or angel hair pasta, broken into pieces 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 small onion, thinly sliced 1 small red pepper, diced 6 large egg whites* 2 large eggs 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 1. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 3 cups water to boiling over high heat. Add pasta, and cook 2 minutes or just until tender. Drain and set aside. 2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425 F. In nonstick 10-inch skillet with heat-safe handle, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and red pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. 3. In large bowl, with wire whisk or fork, beat egg whites, whole eggs, Parmesan, milk, salt and hot pepper sauce; stir in pasta. Pour egg mixture over onion mixture; cover, and cook 3 minutes or until set around the edge. Uncover skillet, and place in oven. Bake 6 minutes longer, or until frittata is set in center. 4. To serve, invert frittata onto serving plate and cut into wedges. Serves 4. • Or, use powdered egg whites, reconstituted following package directions. Powdered egg whites are available in the baking section of most supermarkets. • Each serving: 190 calories, 8g total fat (3g saturated), 113mg cholesterol, 545mg sodium, 15g total carbohydrate, 15g protein. For thousands of triple-tested recipes, visit our Web site at www. goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/. (c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
Week of February 10, 2019
CHEETOS • The Flakall Company in Beloit, Wisconsin, specialized in making corn-based livestock feed in the 1930s. Their automatic corngrinding machine broke down hard kernels and turned them into flakes that were easily digested by rabbits, cattle, and pigs. • Because the machinery would heat up after several hours of use, workers would cool down the gears by pouring wet corn kernels into the hopper. These moistened kernels were extruded as long ribbons of puffy corn instead of the usual flakes. • One day a worker took some of these puffy corn ribbons home with him. His wife fried them and sprinkled them with salt. They both agreed they were delicious. After sharing them with neighbors, someone suggested they add cheese, since Wisconsin is a top cheese-producing state. The resulting snack was named the Korn Kurl. • In 1942 the Flakall Company patented a newly-created machine designed to turn out cheese-flavored Korn Kurls, but World War II interfered with their plan to market the snack due to shortages. When the war ended, other companies started creating corn curls, particularly the Frito Company in Texas. They dubbed the snack Cheetos. Another company called them Cheese Doodles. CHIMICHANGAS • Monica Flin owned the El Charro Café in Tucson, Arizona, in 1922. One especially busy day she was working in the kitchen when she accidentally knocked a burrito into the deep fryer. She was about to shout out a swear word when she remembered there were children present, so instead she hollered out “Chimichanga!” which is the Mexican word meaning “thingamajig.” Not wanting to waste any food, she discovered that the deep-fried burrito was very tasty, and the chimichanga was born. (Continued next page)
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Vacations for Vets
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If you're still digging out from all the snow last month, chances are you're thinking about taking a vacation when the weather warms up. Here are a few ideas: • Purple Heart recipients from Iraq and Afghanistan: Vacations for Veterans (www.vacationsforveterans.org) has sent over 500 veterans and their families on vacation since 2007. It's a nonprofit, which means it relies solely on donations, including vacation homes and timeshare weeks. Visit the website for more information. • Veterans Holidays (www.veteransholidays.com), a sister site to the Armed Forces Vacation Club, has low-cost vacation packages (starting at $349 for a week) in 100 countries. • Expedia.com (www.expedia.com) has vacation deals with airfare and hotel. Put in your location and destination, and then select a hotel, your room and your flight. At this writing, there is a bundle saving of $583 for the trip. • Cheap Caribbean (www.cheapcaribbean.com) offers a discount to military, reservists and veterans, as well as police and fire personnel. Call 800-869-2710 to redeem your discount for its all-inclusive vacation packages. • Sandals (www.sandals.com) is another all-inclusive site with locations in Jamaica, Lucia, Antigua, the Bahamas, Grenada and Barbados. If you can leave without much notice, click on Specials By Resort and Last Minute Deals. • One of the sites owned by the Department of Defense is Shades of Green (www.shadesofgreen. org), an Armed Forces Recreation Center next to Disney World in Florida. It has 600 rooms, golf, tennis, reduced rates to Disney World ... and site security, since it's owned by the military. Click on the Special Offers button for extra benefits at different times of the year. On all of these, do your homework and read reviews and ratings. Check them out before you commit. If you need to submit paperwork to verify your veteran status, don't wait until the last minute. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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To Your Good Health By Keith Roach, M.D.
The Benefits of Aspirin DEAR DR. ROACH: I recently read an article on the pros and cons of a daily aspirin for protection against both heart disease and colon cancer. This is not a new topic, I realize, and I know that the benefits of daily aspirin apply only to certain segments of the population. Here's my question: If a person doesn't experience any stomach or bleeding issues, does a much higher dose of aspirin daily also convey the same possibly protective effects? I don't believe that more is better, but I already take an average of nine 325 mg generic aspirin tablets daily for leg pain. I'm in that 50-59 age group, and there is heart disease on both sides of my family, so I'm hoping this dose confers some cardiac benefit. I would love to find a cure for the deep ache I get in my legs -usually just the right calf. I've had these since I was a child, and I've reconciled myself to the fact that I will have them for the rest of my life, but the aspirin I take has never caused me stomach pain or excessive bleeding, and it works for the pain. -- T.P. ANSWER: The studies showing that taking aspirin protects the heart mostly have been done using 81 mg daily or 325 mg every other day. However, the mechanism of the action, preventing platelets from forming a clot, is even stronger at higher doses, so it would make sense that higher doses would be at least as effective. However, they are much more likely to cause
Tidbits of The Pass Area
bleeding, even if most people can take higher doses without problems. So it's recommended you take the minimum effective dose to get the benefit with the least harm. In your case, however, I think you are likely getting all the benefit there may be. I say "may be" because recent studies have failed to replicate the protection seen in earlier studies. I still believe that aspirin is useful in people at higher-than-average risk for heart disease. More and more evidence is coming out that the same low dose of aspirin helps protect against several forms of cancer, especially of the colon. However, I don't yet recommend it just to protect against cancer, but I will continue to pay careful attention to ongoing studies on aspirin and will revisit this topic when more research becomes available. DEAR DR. ROACH: In a recent test, my blood vitamin D level was good, at 43, but my calcitriol level was low at 16. I do have hyperglycemia, but how do I increase my calcitriol level? I take no medications. -- J.I. ANSWER: If you don't have kidney or parathyroid hormone problems, then calcitriol isn't the right blood test to determine your bone health relative to vitamin D. Calcitriol is an activated form of vitamin D, and it best reflects calcium intake. I suspect low calcium intake when I see a high calcitriol. Since calcitriol removes calcium from the bones, it may worsen osteoporosis. If you haven't had your kidneys and parathyroid hormone level (which also affects calcium movement in the kidney and bones) checked recently, then do so. If those are OK, then be sure to get enough calcium, especially from dietary sources like leafy green vegetables. Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med. cornell.edu. (c) 2019 North America Synd., Inc. All Rights Reserved
Vol. 2 Issue 3
CORN STARCH (continued): • Starch is a carbohydrate extracted from agricultural raw materials. For many centuries starch came primarily from wheat and potatoes in a long, difficult, and time consuming process. • Starch was used for making glue, for whitening and stiffening clothing, and in cosmetics. It was so difficult to manufacture that Queen Elizabeth I ordered that starch could not be used for anything other than stiffening collars and powdering wigs. • All that changed in the 1830 when Thomas Kingsford, who was both a baker and a chemist, got a job at a starch factory in New Jersey. The factory was making starch out of wheat, and Kingsford saw that the company was barely able to make ends meet. He asked his boss if he could experiment with making starch out of corn instead, and got laughed out of the office. • Undeterred, Kingsford started experimenting with corn anyway, on his own time at his own home. He tried one thing after another. One day he mixed corn mush with wood-ash lye. It failed, and he dumped the results into a garbage pail. Next he tried mixing the corn mush with a solution of lime, a calcium-rich mineral that comes from heating limestone. This failed too, and he dumped the glop on top of the previous failure in the garbage pail. • A few days later he was starting yet another experiment, but decided to empty the garbage pail first. And there at the very bottom of the pail was perfectly white pure corn starch, formed from the interaction of the lye with the lime. Corn yielded far more starch than wheat. In 1842 Kingsford started his own factory and became a rich man. By 1848 his company was turning out over a million pounds of corn starch a year, and by 1859 annual output was over 7 million pounds. (Continued next page)
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• The thermostat has been lowered a bit to cut back on the fuel bill. (See Energy.gov for calculations on just how much you can save and whether a programmable thermostat will help you conserve energy.)
Hard Truths About Retirement
If you're planning for retirement, it's easy to assume that you've covered all the financial details. Based on my own experiences, however, here are a few things you might have overlooked in your budget: • Incidental spending might need to come to an immediate halt. When I retired, out of the half-dozen charities I routinely supported, I had to settle on two of them, at a fraction of the previous amount. • Buying in bulk on sale to stock up on canned goods or paper products was no longer automatic. Even bargains had to be considered in the overall total of the monthly grocery bill.
• When it came to an emergency home repair, I could no longer afford to just call someone and have it fixed. I knew there were senior service organizations in town, but I'd never applied for help. Finally I had to, and the work was done for free, but it was quite a jolt to actually need to ask for help. When you do your retirement planning, consider everything. Ideally you'll spend a full year in advance living only on the amount you'll have during retirement, writing down every dime you spend. Where you spend more (such as with charities or stocking up), be sure to note those expenses. Consider home repair, vehicle maintenance, new clothing ... don't leave anything out. First on your to-do list, however, is to pay off credit-card debt before you retire, and then pay off any balance each month. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
Week of February 10, 2019
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1. 1 Since 1969, how many times have the Boston Red Sox won the A.L. East title? 2. Two Minnesota Twins were 20-game winners during the 1990s. Name them. 3. Four head coaches for the University of Oklahoma football team have recorded at least 100 career wins. Name three of them. 4. In the 1973-74 season, Elmore Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers established a record for blocked shots in a season (393). How many players have surpassed that number since?
5 Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon set an Avalanche record when he started the 2018-19 NHL season with goals in 5. his first six games. Who had held the mark? 6. 6 Which Asian men's soccer team has appeared the most times in the World Cup? 7. 7 In what year did Roger Bannister record the first sub-four-minute mile?
• On Feb. 24, 1836, Texan Col. William Travis sends a desperate plea for help when the Mexican army of 5,000 soldiers badly outnumber the several hundred defenders of the Alamo. His message ended with the famous last words, "Victory or Death." "Remember the Alamo" quickly became the rallying cry for the Texas revolution. • On Feb. 19, 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the Donner Party, a group of Californiabound emigrants stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Of the 89 original members of the Donner Party, only 45 reached California. • On Feb. 22, 1918, swept along by hysterical fears of German spies, the Montana legislature passes a Sedition Law that severely restricts freedom of speech and assembly. The law made it illegal to criticize the federal government or the armed forces during time of war. • On Feb. 18, 1930, Pluto is discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh. He discovered the tiny, distant planet using a new astronomic technique of photographic plates combined with a blink microscope. • On Feb. 23, 1940, folksinger Woody Guthrie writes one of his best-known songs, "This Land is Your Land." Many of his songs reflected a strong commitment to the common working people. • On Feb. 20, 1986, France and Britain announce the Chunnel, a tunnel to be built under the English Channel. Construction began in late 1987 and the chunnel was finally completed in 1994. Attempts to dig a channel tunnel date back to 1883, and Napoleon drew blueprints for a tunnel in 1802. • On Feb. 21, 1994, CIA operative Aldrich Ames is arrested for selling secrets to the Soviet Union. At least 10 U.S. spies in Russia were killed after Ames revealed their identities, and more were sent to Russian gulags. (c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1. Ten times. 2. Scott Erickson (20 wins in 1991) and Brad Radke (20 wins in 1997). 3. Bob Stoops (190 wins), Barry Switzer (157), Bud Wilkinson (145) and Bennie Owen (122). 4. Two -- Mark Eaton (456 in 1984-85) and Manute Bol (397 in 1985-86). 5. Mats Sundin did it in the first five games of the 1992-93 season when the franchise was located in Quebec. 6. South Korea, with 10 appearances. 7. It was 1954. (c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
BRANDY & COGNAC (continued): • In the 1500s, Dutch merchants began to buy and trade wine grown in the Bordeaux region of France. The wine was good, but the local government charged steep tariffs for exporting the wine. • Dutch traders then turned their attention to the town of Cognac, 60 miles north. The wine produced there was not as good as Bordeaux wine, but there were no tariffs on it at all. • In order to maximize profits, the Dutch decided to burn off some of the extra water in the wine by distilling it. They could fit twice as much of this concentrated wine on their ships. The plan was to reconstitute it once they arrived at their destination. • What they found, however, was that the concentrated version of the inferior wine tasted much better for having been distilled. No reconstitution was necessary. The new product was called “brandewign” meaning “burnt wine” referring to the distillation process. This was shortened to “brandy.” • The next discovery came when they found that if you distilled the already-distilled brandy, the product was even better than before. They named it Cognac, after the region in France where it came from. All Cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is Cognac. • All Cognac is aged at least two years, turning darker as it continues to age. Unlike other types of spirits, however, after it’s aged about ten years or so, the quality will never improve. It must be aged in oak barrels from particular forests in France, from three types of grapes that must be harvested in October, and distilled in specifically-designed copper pots between November and March. Cognac is usually served in bulb-shaped glasses designed to channel heat from the hands to the drink, because it’s best consumed at about 70 F (21 C).
by Jo Ann Derson
• "Kids do love their sneakers, but sometimes when a kid loves his sneakers too much and wears them every day, those sneakers don't love the family back. In short, they stink. We filled a pair of socks with a mix of the crystal kitty litter and the detergent-boosting beads that smell so good. At night, Junior takes his sneaks off and stuffs these mock socks inside. The litter absorbs moisture, and the beads leave them smelling pretty good." -D.D. in Missouri • "For a clean look in our bathroom, we use clear pump bottles for shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I refill them as needed, and it's so much nicer than having 10 different partially filled bottles in the bathtub." -- R.B. in North Carolina • It's time to brush your shoes! Give white canvas shoes a makeover with a toothbrush and plain (not colored) toothpaste. Use the toothbrush to apply the toothpaste and scrub stained areas. Wait five minutes and wipe away with a damp white rag. You should see an improvement. • To get lift and body in your hair, use a volumizing spray at the roots, and then use your brush to lift the hair up while giving it a shot with a blow dryer. • "In cold winter months, keep your robe (and slippers or whatever else) under the covers with you when you sleep. Pull them next to or over you a few minutes before you get up. It'll be toasty and will help make the transition into the cold a little less harsh." -B.M. in New York Send your tips to Now Here's a Tip, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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Tidbits of The Pass Area
Vol. 2 Issue 3
1. Is the book of Bethel in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. Moses and Aaron were instructed to sacrifice what color of heifer without blemish? Red, White, Gold, Green 3. Which book (KJV) begins, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God"? Mark, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians 4. How many righteous people did Sodom need to keep God from destroying the city? 1, 2, 10, 20 5. Which Old Testament woman was buried in a cave in the field of Machpelah? Eve, Ruth, Sarah, Esther 6. From 2 Kings 17, who was the god of the men of Cuth? Succothbenoth, Nergal, Hamath, Ashima 1) Neither; 2) Red; 3) Ephesians; 4) 10; 5) Sarah; 6) Nergal Visit Wilson Casey’s Trivia Fan Siteat www.patreon.com/triviaguy. Š 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
Week of February 10, 2019
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Don't Fleas Know It's Winter? DEAR PAW'S CORNER: Help! It's January, and I shouldn't have fleas in my house, but they're everywhere. I don't give my dog or cat a monthly flea treatment in the winter months because usually the arrival of cold weather means no more fleas. Why are they here, now? -- Scratching Madly in Springfield, Massachusetts DEAR SCRATCHING: While cold weather does send fleas into a dormant state, it's never guaranteed that they'll disappear until spring. And a warm location like a nicely heated house or apartment can keep fleas active and multiplying.
If you have an active infestation, your pets need to be treated for fleas even if you don't normally do so. Treat them with the solution you use during the summer months -- whether that's a topical monthly flea treatment, a flea collar or a bath. Comb their coats daily to remove fleas, flea dust and eggs.
Likewise, your home needs to be treated for fleas. Remove your pets from the home completely, if possible, or sequester them in one section of the house. Use a home flea treatment on the floors and furniture, paying attention to corners and crevices. Let the treatment sit for the recommended amount of time and then vacuum the room thoroughly. To prevent another infestation, brush your pets once a day and vacuum your home twice a week throughout the winter. Continue to treat your pets with a flea repellent or preventative. It's not ideal, but by attacking the problem now, you'll be less likely go through this again next year, or even next summer. Send your questions or pet care tips to ask@pawscorner.com. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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Tidbits of The Pass Area
Vol. 2 Issue 3