National Candy Apple Day.

In 1908, William W. Kolb, a Newark candy maker, experimented by dipping apples in liquid red cinnamon candy and putting them on display at Christmas.  Their popularity took off and soon you could find the confections in candy shops all across the country.

Candy apples are whole apples covered in hard candy with a stick in the middle to make them easier to eat.  Nowadays candy shops offer apples decorated in anything from caramel, to sprinkles to chopped up chocolate bar pieces.

Today is National Candy Corn Day.

Candy corn is made pretty much the same way today as it was back in 1880 when George Renninger first created them while working at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia. In the 19th century the Goelitz Candy Company, now called the Jelly Belly Candy Company, started making their own version and is considered today as the oldest producer of candy corn.

A concoction of corn syrup, sugar, fondant, marshmallow, coloring and other ingredients are cooked in a large kettle, and then poured into buckets called runners. Workers, now robot automation, would pour the liquid into the candy corn molds, three different times, one for each color. Once the candy was dry it would be packed into containers for distribution.

Of the more than 35 million candies produced this year 75% will be sold at Halloween, though it does come in other colors for different occasions. Considered relatively healthy in terms of candy, each kernel only has 3.57 calories.

Today is National Oatmeal Day.

Rib sticking goodness!!!

Apricot Honey Oatmeal

1. In 3-quart saucepan, bring water, apricots, honey and cinnamon to a boil. Stir in oats; return to boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium; cook about 1 minute for quick oats (or 5 minutes for old fashioned oats) or until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally
3. Remove from heat. Let stand until of desired consistency.

Today is National Chocolate Day and National Wild Food Day.

Maybe cutting your brownies into extreme shapes counts as wild food?

Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies

You need:

Line a 8 inch baking dish with foil and grease with butter.

Coarsely chop the chocolate.

In a sauce pot over medium heat bring water to a simmer. 

Place glass bowl over sauce pot and add butter, brown sugar and chocolate.

While the mixture is melting add flour, salt, and sugar to separate bowl.

Stir the chocolate frequently until melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Add flour mixture to chocolate and mix well.

Add eggs and vanilla. 

Combine well until the mixture is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared baking dish and place in preheated 350 degree oven.  Bake for 45 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out moist. 

Once cool, remove brownies from pan using the foil as handles.  Make sure it’s completely cool to start cutting in pieces.

The brownies will be rich and moist and absolutely fantastic.

Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies Full Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 8-inch square baking pan with aluminium foil so that foil extends 2 inches beyond two opposite sides of pan. Lightly butter bottom and sides of foil-lined pan.
2. In medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and chocolate. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until butter and chocolate melt and mixture is smooth. Transfer to medium bowl.
3. With wooden spoon, stir in granulated sugar. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until there is no trace of yolk. Mix in vanilla extract.
4. Add flour and salt and mix vigorously until mixture is shiny and smooth. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula.
5. Bake brownies for 35-40 minutes or until cake tester inserted into centre comes out slightly moist. Do not over bake. Place pan on wire rack and let cool for 45 minutes. Using two ends of foil as handles, lift brownies out of pan. Invert onto cooling rack and peel off foil. Let cool completely (brownies will be frosted on smooth side).

Today is National Potato Day and National Beer Day.

Spicy French Fries

You need:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spread baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Peel potato and cut into thin long pieces.

Place potatoes in large zip lock bag and pour in oil. Toss to coat.

Add seasonings to bag and shake to coat.

Spread potatoes out evenly one baking sheet in one layer.

Bake in oven for 45-60 minutes until done to the crispness you prefer. 

I don’t turn over my fries because I like them with the one really crispy cooked side. I also transfer the fries to a paper towel lined plate to soak  up any excess oil.

Spicy French Fries Full Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spread 2 baking sheets with foil.
2. Peel potato and cut into thin long pieces. Place in large zip lock bag.
3. Pour in oil. Toss to coat.
4. Add seasonings to bag and shake to coat.
5. Spread potatoes out evenly in one layer. Bake in oven for 45-60 minutes until done to the crispness you prefer. I don’t turn over my fries because I like them with the one really crispy cooked side.

Today is National Mincemeat Day, National Pumpkin Day, and National Pretzel Day.

Learning how to make your own mincemeat will add something special to your Christmas baking.

Mincemeat Recipe

1. Finely chop the apples.
2. Mix with the dried fruit, sugar and spices in a large bowl.
3. Add the grated rind and juice of the orange and lemon and the rum. Mix well.
4. Pack into large jars and press well down. The less air there is in the jars, the better the mixture will keep. Put lids on jars
5. Store in a dark cupboard. After about a week, open the jars press the contents down thoroughly and reseal. By this time the sugar will have drawn some of the water out of the apples and the mincemeat will have started to form its characteristic rich dark sticky juices.
6. Try to press all the fruit down so that the juices just cover the fruit, as it seems to keep better this way (the sugar liquid acts as a preservative in the same way as in jam).
7. Leave in a dark cupboard for 3-4 weeks to mature, then use in mince pies

This mixture will keep for at least two months if stored in airtight containers in a dark place.

Today is National Greasy Foods Day.

Who hasn’t, at some point in their lives, been to a fast food restaurant and enjoyed some greasy food?  For some it’s an occasional ‘treat’ while for others it can be a way of life.  But whether you are a frequent visitor or casual observer everyone can associate the King, the Golden Arches or the little girl with the red braids.  But how did it all start?  Here are some short histories on three of North Americas’ favorite’s fast food restaurants.

Burger King

Originally called Insta-Burger King, it was founded by Keith J. Kramer and his wife’s uncle Matthew Barnes in 1953.  It received its name due to the success of the broiler they used to cook burgers called the Insta-Broiler.  Franchises all over the state of Florida began popping up but it wasn’t until 1961 when James McLamore and David R. Edgerton acquired the company, later to be known as the Burger King Corporation, that it expanded nationally.

Interesting dates:

1957- Launch of the Whopper

1958- First TV ads.

1982- Burger King claims it tastes better than McDonalds and Wendy’s.

2006- Burger King Corporation goes public with stock symbol BKC.

Wendy’s

Growing up Dave Thomas had a hard life of constant moving from city to city as his adoptive father looked for work.  One thing he did enjoy most was eating in different family restaurants.  At 12 years old he began earning money delivering groceries, then as a soda jerk at Walgreens and at 15, living on his own in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he got a job at the Hobby House Restaurant.  The enjoyment he got from watching families interact and have a good time at these places highly influenced him in his pursuit of owning his own restaurant.  He even returned to the Hobby House after serving in the war when he was 18, where he met a waitress named Lorraine who would later become his wife in 1954.

It was an opportunity in 1956 when along with his boss Phil Clauss, he met Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken and began working for his franchises.  After bringing several of the restaurants out of their financial woes and creating money makers Dave Thomas had become a millionaire.

In 1969 the first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburger Restaurant, named after his youngest daughter’s nickname, was launched and Dave’s lifelong dream had come true.

McDonalds

Dick and Mac McDonald had a vision.  While their drive-in restaurant was doing great in the late 40’s they still wanted to improve upon what they had already created.  They replaced the car-hop with a self-service counter, they reduced the menu from 25 to 9 items and they created a kitchen that could mass produce quickly in an assembly line fashion.  This new concept brought about speedy service, low prices and big volume, as well as doubled their yearly revenue and number of patrons.

News of their success spread quickly and the 1^st franchise opened in the early 50’s featuring the “Golden Arches”, red and white tiled building and slanted roof that is famous today.

But it was Ray Kroc, a 52 year old milkshake machine salesman who liked what he saw and helped propel the industry into what it is today.  The McDonalds didn’t have the drive to control the restaurants expansion so Ray became their exclusive franchising agent.  Retaining the original formula that had been working so well, he believed so much in the restaurants future that he didn’t take a single penny in salary until 1961.  That year Kroc obtained a loan and bought out the brothers, securing his full rights to control this future billion dollar mainstay.

Interesting Dates:

1967- Fist restaurant outside the US opened in Richmond, B.C

1970- Waikiki, Hawaii became the first city to serve breakfast

1980- 35 billion served

1995- The first play Place was created in Niagara Fall, Ont.

Today is National Bologna Day and National GOOD & PLENTY Day. 

Once upon a time there was an engineer

Choo Choo Charlie was his name, we hear.

He had an engine and he sure had fun

He used GOOD & PLENTY candy to make his train run.

Charlie says “Love my GOOD & PLENTY!”

Charlie says “Really rings my bell!”

Charlie says, “Love my GOOD & PLENTY!

Don’t know any other candy that I love so well!”
 

In 1950 Choo Choo Charlie and his theme song first appeared in advertisements for this little candy coated licorice treat.  However GOOD & PLANTY was first produced in 1893 by the Quaker City Confectionary Company in Philadelphia becoming the oldest candy to be branded in the US.  A few ownership changes later, GOOD & PLENTY is now produced by the Hershey’s Food Corporation.

Today is National Canning Day.

It was a cash prize offered by Napoleon Bonaparte that began the idea of food preservation. Nicholas Appert came up with the idea of preserving food in bottles like wine and began to realize that if food was heated and sealed airtight it would not spoil.

Peter Durand later developed the method of using an unbreakable tin container to seal food in and it was Bryan Dorkin and John Hall who set up the first commercial canning factory in England 1813.

As exploration of the undiscovered world grew so did the demand for supplies that would last the whole voyage and starvation would not be a concern.

The US started canning early than the Europeans with Thomas Kennett establishing the 1st American Canning facility in NY in 1812.

Canning is when food is packed into airtight containers, at their most nutritional and flavorful, after they have been heated to a temperature that will destroy all microorganisms. The containers are then heated under steam pressure to 240-250 degrees F. Each type of food requires a different amount of processing time based on density, acidity and ability to transfer heat.

Any food that is harvested or processed can be put into a can giving the consumer more options when it comes to the availability of seasonal items. While fresh is always the preference it’s nice to be able to enjoy a bowl of peaches or can of corn in the dead of winter.

Today is National Nut Day.

Here’s a great snack that I bet you can’t just stop at one handful.

You need:

I like to use a mixture of cashews, almonds, pecan, filberts and brazil nuts but you can use any nuts you prefer.

In a bowl lightly whisk one egg yolk.

Take a heaping tablespoonful of mustard

And mix it with the egg.

Add the sugar, salt and cayenne.  Mix together well.

Add the nuts and toss well to thoroughly coat them.

Spread nuts on a foil lined baking sheet.

Toast in preheated 350 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes until the nuts start to brown. Let cool and enjoy.

Spiced Nuts Full Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly whisk egg white and add mustard, sugar, cayenne and salt to taste.
3. Add nuts and toss well to cover.
4. Spread out onto a baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until nuts are lightly browned.