I am finally qualified to be considered a true “Mainer”. I moved to Maine in 1999 and was told by some of the natives that I would have to live here for at least 25 years before I could even be considered a “Mainer”. I can now wear that distinction with honor since I’m my 26th year of residency. Maine is a beautiful place with Mother Nature displaying all of her wonders at every turn. Most people know very little about Maine except for it’s abundance of lobsters, a rather expensive delicacy. Unfortunately I’m one of a very small group of people who actually dislike lobsters and everything connected with them. Being the book nerd that I am I decided to learn more about lobsters and their history because I’d heard odd stories over the years about how lobsters came to be the ultimate food with a price tag that could make you gasp. Here is a paraphrased account of some lobster history.
Lobsters have always been plentiful along the coast of Maine. The Pilgrims likely dined on lobster at the first Thanksgiving. There are stories of two-foot high piles of lobsters simply washing up on the shore during that time period. When things are plentiful the price is usually reasonable as was the case until the 1800’s. Massive quantities of cheap lobster weren’t all that appetizing at the time and were used to feed prison inmates and indentured servants. Some nearby states had rules insisting their inmates eat canned lobster meat more than once a week, and other sources noted that indentured servants often demanded that their contracts limit the number of lobster meals to no more than twice weekly.
Once lobsters were able to be shipped alive, over long distances, the Maine lobster became much sought after in the Boson and New York areas. Over the next decades that custom spread across the country and even during World War II lobster was considered a high priced delicacy and not subject to wartime rationing. My how things have changed. During the recent World Cup invasion I listened to some of our British friends trying out their first taste of our famous lobster rolls. They loved the taste enough to pay upwards of $40.00 for a small sandwich. That’s just another big reason for me to avoid that delicacy since I’ve always been a cheap SOB.
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Just pass me two of those big, fat, and juicy hamburgers, “Thank you very much!
I think we’ve all discovered the amount of weirdness online. It seems the weirder the post or vid the more likelihood of collecting a lot of clicks. Don’t ask me why. People crave being shocked and they seem to search out the bizarre for a cheap thrill. I like crazy and unusual as much as the next guy but I hesitate to follow some of the geniuses down their deep rabbit hole of truly strange and unusual fantasies. This post isn’t too strange because for me weird is only interesting if it’s true. These are true (LOL).
💞How To Find Your True Love 💞
Soak one of your socks in rose water, dry it out and put it under your bed. Send out nightly thoughts about your true love for a month, and then burn a red candle at sunset while thinking more about the object of your affections. Repeat for seven days.
❤️Here’s Another Way❤️
Pick a half-green half-red apple when the Moon is three days past full. Breathe on the green side and rub it with a red cloth while reciting this verse: “Fire sweet and fire red, warm the heart and turn the head.” Kiss the red half, and give it to the object of your desire. If he/she eats it he/she will fall under your spell.
⛈️Strange Rains⛈️
June 1901 -South Carolina – Cat fish, Perch, and Trout
August 1890 – Baghdad, Iraq – An edible substance (thought to be desert lichen of tamarisk) fell during a heavy shower. The locals gathered it up and made it into bread (Manna from heaven?)
1897 – Macerata, Italy – Millions of seeds from the Judas Tree dropped from a blood colored cloud.
1877 – Memphis, Tennessee – Hundreds of live snakes.
If you add up the time spent eating and drinking by an average person over the course of their entire life, it comes to approximately 5 years. This adds up to an estimated 33 tons of food you’ve eaten, which is the equivalent of six entire elephants. Unfortunately what goes in must eventually come out. The result is during your lifetime you will produce a pile of poo about the size of a medium sized car. Some animals, other than humans, that love to eat poo include rats, mice, rabbits, dung beetles, flies gorillas, and dogs.
Are you a “foodie”? Everyone I ask gives me the same answer. YES! Being a “foodie” means much more than just eating three squares meals a day. It refers to someone who is obsessed with food, it’s preparation, it’s presentation, and of course the flavor. I think I just inadvertently booted myself from the “foodie” ranks because I’m no longer concerned with all of that. Years ago when I was into cooking, canning, and wine-making, I was most certainly a “foodie”. Now that I’m fully into being retired the term doesn’t apply to me any longer. Todays post will be a short quiz for those of you who still identify yourselves as “foodies”. As always the answers will be listed below.
Italy leads the world in pasta consumption with 61.7 pounds each per person per year. What country is second?
Black-eyed peas are not peas. What are they?
Where was the first automated fortune cookie machine manufactured?
What does VVSOP mean on a cognac bottle?
What color did blue replace in 1995 when it was introduced to the standard package of M&M’s candies?
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On average, how many calories a day are American astronauts given to eat while on missions to outer space?
What do herring, cabbage and carrots represent at New Years Eve feasts in Germany and Scandinavia?
How much caffeine must be removed from coffee for it to be called decaffeinated?
What popular soft drink contained the drug lithium, now available only by prescription, when it was introduced in 1929?
What did the Wrigley Company do to promote its chewing gum nationwide in 1914?
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BONUS
What is the cordial kumiss made from?
❤️🍔❤️🦐❤️🍚❤️🥗❤️
Answers
Venezuela at 27.9, Beans, Japan, Very Very Superior Old Pale, Tan, 3000, Herring represents good luck; cabbage, plenty of silver; and carrots, gold in the year ahead, 97%, 7UP, It mailed a stick of Doublemint gum to every person listed in the U.S. phonebooks, BONUS: Fermented mare’s or cow’s milk.
I think most of us consider ourselves “foodies”. People ridicule me at times because I claim foodiness but for them I haven’t got the experience with the more “la-de-dah” types of foods. It’s also their kind way of putting me in my place. They still don’t seem to realize it just gives me more interesting ammunition when writing this blog. Todays post will be ten trivia questions about food that are a little more difficult than usual. I’ll be challenging my foodie critics to score more than five correct answers. The real answers will be listed below. I hope you have fun with it and I also hope those snobby critics don’t.
What novelty salt shakers did publishing czar William Randolph Hearst have on the refectory table in the dining room of his San Simeon estate?
How many different animal shapes are there in the “Animal Crackers” cookie zoo?
Who said “Never eat more than you can lift”?
Who first developed frozen food?
In what country was the beverage we know as punch originate?
Drupes are a regular part of the American diet. What are they?
What was the name of the breakfast cereal Cheerios when it was first marketed 50 years ago?
What popular fruit was named after a papal estate outside Rome?
What was the first coffee sold in sealed tin cans in the United States?
What popular lunch and snack food did a St. Louis doctor develop in 1890 for patients requiring an easily digested form of protein?
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BONUS QUESTION
What food product was discovered because of a long camel ride?
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Answers
Mickey & Minnie Mouse shakers, Eighteen, Miss Piggy, Clarence Birdseye in 1930, India, Succulent usually single-pitted fruit (plums, apricots, peaches almonds, and olives etc.), Cheerioats (the name was changed because of complaints from the Quaker Oats Co.), Cantaloupe (named after the popes summer residence), Chase & Sanborn 1879, Peanut Buter – Patented by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, BONUS – Cottage Cheese – The milk in a hot goatskin bag turned white and tasty.
This post is being written on Easter Sunday and should be considered a tongue-in-cheek horror story from my youth. It will also explain to readers why I have never celebrated Easter as would be expected. In my early childhood I was always confused by my parents when my mother claimed Easter was a religious holiday but the rest of the family loaded me up with chocolate bunnies, candy eggs, and plastic eggs in the yard containing quarters. I was greatly confused but truly enjoyed all the candy that eventually rotted out a few of my teeth.
When I reached the age of ten they decided to take a different approach to Easter. I still got all the candy and eggs but they added a few things to the mix. I received four baby chicks that immediately ran behind the refrigerator and refused to come out. Eventually they did but within two weeks they had all passed away and never even got an offer of an Easter resurrection. I was truly sad but I hadn’t had time to develop much of a relationship with them. I did give them a silent prayer and a beautiful burial ceremony as my father tossed them into a trash can. I forgot to mention one other thing. Along with those chicks I was also gifted two small white baby rabbits which I immediately fell in love with. They were so damn cute and cuddly.
Now, let’s jump ahead three years. Those cute little bunnies had grown into two huge white rabbits that were so big we were forced build a hutch in the yard for them to live in. I still loved them both but my father did not. He constantly complained about them being a nuisance but I wouldn’t let him sell or give them away. I came home from school one afternoon prepared to do my homework and then have dinner. As I sat down at the table I immediately noticed a large plate of steaming meat and was told by my father to “eat up”. I asked what kind of meat it was and he told that the two rabbits would no longer be a problem. He’d killed my bunnies and served them to me for dinner. Needless to say I went to bed hungry that night. Happy Effing Easter!
That pretty much erased Easter from the list of holidays I chose to celebrate. Even now I cringe a little when my spouse has the grandchildren over for their annual Easter egg hunt. They love finding the hidden eggs especially the plastic ones with money in them. My only requirement is “No Bunnies or Chicks” chocolate or otherwise. I’d have terrible nightmares for a week.
I enjoy writing this blog but there are times it could drive a person to drink. Responding to some of the inane comments is time consuming and boring and many critics have been sent packing from this blog and occasionally if they p*ss me off enough they get blocked. Most criticisms are like water running off a ducks back because they consist mostly of a steady stream of BS but also loads and loads of your good old fashion boring political rhetoric. My solution is to ignore damn near everything, laugh my ass off, and then have a cold refreshing alcoholic beverage or whiskey. Todays post will concern trivial facts about the drinking of many of our favorite beverages. Here we go. . . .
The spot on the planet with the highest per capita consumption of wine is a tiny Pacific island of Norfolk with a population of approximately 1800. Their rate of consumption per capita is 77.8 bottles per year. (If I’d known this years ago I would have changed my retirement plans.)
And to continue my somewhat combative relationship with religion it should be noted that the Vatican City comes in a close second. Those jolly cardinals, priests, and Pope have a annual per capita consumption of 76 bottles. (Can I get a BIG AMEN!!)
Just to be fair the following five locations aren’t far behind: Andorra, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia, and Macedonia. (This final tidbit makes me smile a little. France comes in a measly eighth.)
Since I’m a confirmed hater of beer I’ll give a big shout out to Czechoslovakia who is far and away the winner of annual per capita beer consumption at 142.6 liters.Austria and Germany are third andforth and Poland is sixth. The U.S.A. places 17th while the British bitter beer and port consumption brings them in at 28th place. (No wonder we revolted.)
Lets talk about something I love – WHISKEY. The UK is well down the list with a per capita consumption of 1.25 liters. India and Ireland come in at 1.24 liters but the big winner in whiskey consumption is surprisingly France at 2.15 liters a year or 87 shots per person. (I guess It takes a lot to make those hairy ladies in France sexually attractive. LOL)
I’m not addressing the world’s vodka consumption today because it would take another lengthy post to even scratch the surface. That topic will be addressed at a later date.
Today is the perfect day as we sit around waiting for the bird to be cooked for a “Foodie Quiz”. These questions are all related to food and drink in some fashion or another. I suppose if we could answer six of these ten incredibly difficult questions we would be considered something of an “foodie” expert. As always the answers will be listed below.
The father of what American poet invented peppermint Life Savers?
How many pounds of roasted, ground coffee does one coffee tree produce annually?
What product did Mother Nature personally endorse in a television commercial, and who played the role?
How tall was celebrity chef Julia child’s?
How many lemons does the average lemon tree yield per year?
❤️THE CAFFEINE MACHINE❤️
What is Bombay duck?
What American city lead all others in per capita consumption of pizza in 1990?
How long would a 130 pound person have to walk at a leisurely pace to burn off the calories in a McDonald’s Big Mac?
How much money did American Airlines claim it saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each of the salads served in first-class?
A pound of ground coffee yields 50 cups. How many cups does a pound of tea yield?
BIG MAC ATTACK
This is my favorite since I’m an avid fan of ice cream and a so-so fan of religion.
How did the ice cream sundae get its name?
❤️YUM, YUM, YUM!❤️
Answers
Hart Crane son of Clarence, Just one, Chiffon Margarine; Dena Dietrich played Mother Nature, 6’2″, 1500, Dry, salted fish, Milwaukee, Two hours and 1 minute, $40,000, 200, **My Fav: The sundae was created in Evanston, Illinois, in the late 19th century to get around a Sabbath ban on selling ice-cream sodas. It was dubbed Sunday but spelled with an “e” instead of a “y” to avoid religious objections.
Todays post will be a little different from my normal trivia posts. Instead of a quiz I decided to just supply you with a few not-commonly-known trivia facts. I found them them to be fascinating and hope you will too.
In 1939, Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer was created by an Montgomery Ward advertising employee as part of his job.
Barbie’s (the doll) official real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
In 1884, P.T. Barnum once marched a herd of twenty-one elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge on it’s opening day to prove it was structurally sound.
In 1929, Armenian born Sarkis Colombosian created and produced yogurt in Methuen, Massachusetts.
In 1857, Joseph C. Gayetty invented modern day toilet paper.
The original McDonalds drive-in opened by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald in 1948 made 10 hamburger patties per pound.
On July 28, 1933, the first singing telegram was delivered to Rudy Vallee on the occasion of his birthday.
Henry Ford kept the final breath of Thomas Edison in a bottle. It remains in the Ford Museum in Greenfield Village, Michigan.
The term “twofers” was created in 1892 to sell two-for-a-nickel cigars.
In 1908 in Germany, Melitta Bentz, first invented the coffee filter.
My Favorite
In June 1946, French engineer-designer Louis Reard
invented and introduced the bikini for the first time.
I thought today I would add a few little known Science facts. With all of the space related science discussions of late I thought this would be a good time to join in. Enjoy!
In five years, a woman who wears lipstick will use enough to draw a line equal to her height.
Beards are the fastest growing hairs on the human body. If the average man never trimmed his beard, it would grow nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime.
A general rule of thumb for distinguishing fruits from vegetables: For fruits, seeds are on the inside; for vegetables, seeds are on the outside.
Tomatoes are native to the Americas and were initially cultivated by Aztec Indians as early as A.D. 700. They are also a common source of allergies.
The roller coaster was invented and patented in Ohio by a toboggan designer, John Miller in 1926. It featured small cars sliding down incline ramps.
The barcode was patented in 1952 by Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver. In June of 1974, the first barcode scanner was installed at a Marshes supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The first product to carry a barcode was Wrigley’s gum.
IBM called its first laptop computer “The Convertible”. It was the size of a suitcase.
On April 12, 1934, the highest surface wind speed ever recorded occurred over Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It was clocked at 231 miles per hour.
The 400 mg of nicotine that an average pack-a-day smokers inhale in a week would instantly kill them if ingested in a single hour.
Six-year-olds laugh on average of 300 times a day.
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Here’s a favorite tongue twister that is considered the most difficult in the English language due to the complex brain and motor coordination it requires,
everyuselessthing.com 