National Pretzel Day

By Chef Diane

The days before Christmas I can be found in my kitchen.   When I was growing up, the best part of Christmas was the treats my grandmother made.   My favorites were the fudge and snowball cookies that were kept in a foil lined metal tin.   As my grandmother got older, I began making the treats she couldn’t make anymore.  After she passed away I would make my favorite things, but then I thought that others in my family had their favorites too, and I wanted them to have great Christmas memories too, so I started fixing their favorites too.    Of course by the end of the holiday I wish that everyone had the same favorite!

One of my mother's favorites is chocolate covered pretzels, so every Christmas I fix her a batch.  I have learned that some others like them too, so this past Christmas, my mother's pretzels were eaten up by everyone.  So, I fixed her some just for her on Valentines, and other special occasions, such as Easter, Mother's Day and her birthday.  This past year my cousin's daughter made some chocolate cover pretzels using the rod pretzels that look like sticks.  I have seen them before, but have been wary of trying them thinking if the looked like sticks...maybe they were hard like sticks too.   Well I am happy to report they were delicious, and not hard at all! The bad news for her is now I will be expecting them every Christmas!!!

Today is National Pretzel Day.  Pretzels come in many shapes and sizes; they can also be crunchy or softly baked.  According to legend, in the late 1600s a Pennsylvania baker forgot a batch of pretzels in the oven. The over-baked treats were dark and hard, but the baker sampled one anyway. He was pleasantly surprised by the crunchy deliciousness. Hard pretzels are now one of the most popular snack foods.  According to punchbowl.com, centuries ago, Catholic monks created the first pretzels from scraps of leftover dough. The unique knot shape represented the Holy Trinity, but the significance of this symbol has evolved over the course of history. During the 17th century, pretzels symbolized the bond of marriage. This is where the phrase “tying the knot” originated.  It is also said that the pretzels were formed in the shape of a praying child.  If you are feeling adventurous today, click here to make your own soft pretzels.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Soft-Pretzels or you can just stop by the closest mall or grocery store and pick some up to enjoy.

National Popcorn Poppin' Month

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By Terry Orr

Life on the Internet can be a mixed blessing and deep dark hole of frustration.  Today, I want to share one of those unique and super resources that you will visit frequently if you’re a popcorn lover like me.  October is National Popcorn Poppin’ Month, so named because it is when popcorn is harvested in the Midwest. 

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According to Wikipedia - Popcorn was first discovered thousands of years ago by the Guatemalans. It is one of the oldest forms of corn: evidence of popcorn from 3600 BCE was found in New Mexico and even earlier evidence dating to perhaps as early as 4700 BCE was found in Peru.

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Fun Popcorn Facts (from www.popcorn.org)

• Americans consume some 16 billion quarts of this whole grain, good-for-you treat. That’s 51 quarts per man, woman, and child.
• Compared to most snack foods, popcorn is low in calories. Air-popped popcorn has only 31 calories per cup. Oil-popped is only 55 per cup.
• Popcorn is a type of maize (or corn), a member of the grass family, and is scientifically known as Zea mays everta.
• Of the 6 types of maize/corn—pod, sweet, flour, dent, flint, and popcorn—only popcorn pops.
• Popcorn is a whole grain. It is made up of three components: the germ, endosperm, and pericarp (also known as the hull).
• Popcorn needs between 13.5-14% moisture to pop.
• Popcorn differs from other types of maize/corn in that is has a thicker pericarp/hull. The hull allows pressure from the heated water to build and eventually bursts open. The inside starch becomes gelatinous while being heated; when the hull bursts, the gelatinized starch spills out and cools, giving it its familiar popcorn shape.
• Most U.S. popcorn is grown in the Midwest, primarily in Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri.
• Many people believe the acres of corn they see in the Midwest during growing season could be picked and eaten for dinner, or dried and popped. In fact, those acres are typically field corn, which is used largely for livestock feed, and differs from both sweet corn and popcorn.
• The peak period for popcorn sales for home consumption is in the fall.
• Most popcorn comes in two basic shapes when it's popped: snowflake and mushroom. Snowflake is used in movie theaters and ballparks because it looks and pops bigger. Mushroom is used for candy confections because it doesn't crumble.
• Popping popcorn is one of the number one uses for microwave ovens. Most microwave ovens have a "popcorn" control button.
• "Popability" is popcorn lingo that refers to the percentage of kernels that pop.
• There is no such thing as “hull-less” popcorn. All popcorn needs a hull in order to pop. Some varieties of popcorn have been bred so the hull shatters upon popping, making it appear to be hull-less.
• How high popcorn kernels can pop? Up to 3 feet in the air.
• The world’s largest popcorn ball was created by volunteers in Sac City, Iowa in February, 2009.  It weighed 5,000 lbs., stood over 8 ft. tall, and measured 28.8 ft. in circumference.
• If you made a trail of popcorn from New York City to Los Angeles, you would need more than 352,028,160 popped kernels!

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When thinking of popcorn, often I think of the ending of the 1985 movie “Real Genius” with Val Kilmer and others. 

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Popcorn.org has a wonderful free download of Popcorn recipes – 142 pages worth.  I’ll be printing it shortly and trying out new recipes.

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References and Links:

• http://resources.popcorn.org/client_files/recipes/popcorn_recipe_book.pdf
• http://www.popcorn.org/AboutUs/PopcornPoppinMonth/PressRelease/tabid/155/Default.aspx
• http://www.popcorn.org/AboutUs/PopcornPoppinMonth/tabid/72/Default.aspx

National Pretzel Day

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By Diane Forrest

When I was younger I lived in the rural Delta of Mississippi.  The area was not known for its availability to shopping, so every year at Christmas time, we would drive an hour to Memphis, Tennessee to choose from a variety of items.  On one of these excursions we went to a store that had a snack counter.  While my mother was busy shopping, my father took my brother and me to the counter and bought us a large, warm, soft pretzel.  This was my first soft pretzel, and one I will never forget.  He put a little mustard on it, and we ate it so fast you would think we were starving.  I have only had a few soft pretzels since that one, but nothing compares to taste of it.

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Pretzels have been around for centuries.  According to The History of Science and Technology, by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans, in 610 AD "...an Italian monk invents pretzels as a reward to children who learn their prayers.  Pretzels are believed to be the world's oldest snack.  Within the Catholic Church, pretzels were regarded as having religious significance for both ingredients and shape. Pretzels made with a simple recipe using only flour and water could be eaten during Lent, when Christians were forbidden to eat eggs, lard, or dairy products such as milk and butter. As time passed, pretzels became associated with both Lent and Easter. Pretzels were hidden on Easter morning just as eggs are hidden today, and are particularly associated with Lent, fasting, and prayers before Easter.

Hard pretzels were invented in the late 1600’s when a Pennsylvania baker forgot about a batch of pretzels in the oven. Though these pretzels seemed inedible because they were dark and hard, they were actually quite delicious!  Some of the best inventions were discovered by accident, such as fudge, another "mistake".  I use these hard pretzels every year at Christmas when I make my party mix, and also dip them in almond bark and give as gifts to my mother and stepdaughter in law.

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Today is National Pretzel Day.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate than to grab a bag of pretzels, or visit a Auntie Annie's store for the warm baked ones.  Enjoy!