43/365: National Plum Pudding Day

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today is National Plum Pudding Day! If you’re wondering what plum pudding is, you’re not alone – so were we! Imagine our surprise when we learned that plum pudding contains no plums, and is more of a cake than a pudding. Before you scream “false advertising!” you have to understand that in Medieval times, when the dessert was first invented, raisins were called plums.

Plum pudding is also known as Christmas pudding, and in England – where it originated – it is traditionally served at Christmas time. It was historically prepared with 13 ingredients, to represent Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles, and made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity (which occurs on the 8th Sunday after Easter, which itself occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox (March 21). How anybody keeps track of all that is beyond me). It all roughly translates to Christmas time anyway, hence the name. Tradition dictates that all members of the family grab hold of the wooden spoon and help to stir the batter while making a wish. (If it were me, I’d wish we were making something other than plum pudding, but more on that later). This was known as “Stir-Up Sunday,” not to be confused with “Stirrup Sunday,” the popular gynecological holiday. Plum pudding was actually banned during the Puritan period in England because it was deemed “sinfully rich.” It used to be baked with silver coins and miniature thimbles, anchors, and wishbones, to signify wealth, thrift, safe harbor, and luck. This practice died out because people could never find their Monopoly pieces when they were ready to play.

3.5 ounces was plenty.

3.5 ounces was plenty.

I’m glad we planned ahead for the plum pudding, because lemme tell ya, it is a bitch to find in stores. Maybe it’s common in Liverpool, but in Portland? Not so much. So we looked up some recipes, and to say they looked daunting is an understatement. The ingredient list is a mile long (13, my ass!) and includes things like suet, mace, and currants. Oh, plus, after steaming it for six hours, you’ve got to let it all sit – in order for the flavors to blend together – for three weeks. This food holiday might easily have tripped us up had we not planned in advance. Planning in advance, in this case, meant ordering a small plum pudding online from Blue Moon Tea, an importer of teas and foods from the UK located just a few hours north in Tacoma, Washington. Whew! We ordered a small 3.5-ounce container of plum pudding, and believe me, that was plenty. The stuff is dark (because of treacle and other dark sugars, and the long cooking time) and not very appealing in appearance. We microwaved it for 30 seconds and each had a fork full with our morning coffee. It is cloyingly sweet and fruity, and reminds me of fruitcake. Suffice it to say, neither Tara nor I were real impressed with plum pudding.

Mmm!! Your mouth is watering now, huh?

Mmm!! Your mouth is watering now, huh?

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42/365: National Peppermint Pattie Day

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Midwest Mark

When I learned today was National Peppermint Pattie Day, I was confused. Tara makes us a drink called the Peppermint Patty, with hot chocolate and peppermint Schnapps, and I at first assumed this is what we were celebrating, cold winter day and all. Nope. And we’re not celebrating Charles Schulz’s fictional cartoon character from Peanuts, either. Instead, we are honoring the York Peppermint Pattie®.

Oh, well. They’re good, too.

The Peppermint Pattie was created by Henry Kessler of the York Cone Company in 1940. York’s traffic cones were selling well, but didn’t taste very good, so he decided to branch out into candy. Wait a sec…he sold ice cream cones. My bad. Anyway, chocolate covered peppermint candies had been around for years, but Kessler thought they were too soft, so he set out to create a crispier version, even performing a “snap test” to ensure it would break cleanly in the middle. The Peppermint Pattie became so popular, York stopped making cones altogether. The candy was only available regionally – mainly in the Northeastern United States – until 1975, when Peter Paul (which purchased the York Cone Company a few years earlier) rolled out the York Peppermint Pattie nationally. Peter Paul merged with Cadbury, and then Hershey’s acquired Cadbury, so nowadays they are the ones making the York Peppermint Pattie. In Mexico, no less. Peppermint Patties are known for their strong, clean flavors – cool, minty sugar surrounded by crispy dark chocolate – and have far fewer calories and fat than competing candy bars. They’re the health food of the candy world!

Maybe not quite.

To celebrate the holiday, we just stuck with the basics and enjoyed a Peppermint Pattie after dinner. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best, especially with something so distinctly flavorful.

Peppermint Pattie

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41/365: National Cream Cheese Brownie Day

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Whew! Thank goodness today’s food holiday celebrates a dessert. It’s been two whole days! (Even though we ate our molasses bars for breakfast). Today is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day.

Brownies are delicious. Cream cheese is great. Combining the two verges on genius, if you ask me!

I already discussed the history of brownies back on January 22nd, when we celebrated National Blonde Brownie Day. Chicago World’s Fair, Bertha Palmer, yadda yadda. No need to rehash the past. I guess that means I’ll have to focus on cream cheese instead! Early versions of cream cheese date back to the 16th century, but the American version was another of those happy accidents. In 1872, New York dairy farmer William Lawrence was attempting to make a batch of Neufchatel, a type of soft white cheese popular in France, but screwed up the recipe. His cheese was richer and contained cream, so he capitalized on his mistake and called it “cream cheese.” As if that were his intention all along. Typical entrepreneur! He ended up purchasing a Neufchâtel cheese factory and mass-producing cream cheese with his business partner, Samuel Durland. In 1880 a cheese distributor named Alvah Reynolds began selling Lawrence & Durland cheese, and he created a new brand name for it: Philadelphia Cream Cheese, based on that city’s reputation for making really good movies about down-on-their-luck boxers named Rocky cream cheese. Eventually Philadelphia merged with Kraft, and to this day those silver rectangular boxes are considered to be the gold standard of cream cheeses. Neufchâtel, by the way, is still manufactured, usually as a reduced-fat version of cream cheese, since it contains 33% less fat and a higher moisture content. Tara, in fact, is quite fond of Neufchâtel. The first time she bought it, I asked her where the “real” cream cheese was. I’ve since learned not to question her in matters of cheese. Cream cheese brownies consist of regular chocolate brownies with cream cheese swirled in to the mix.

Before I get to our brownies, I wanted to mention that once again we had a surprise visitor to the blog. Or a pair of visitors, actually: Alfredo and Ilse Di Lileo, the grandchildren of Alfredo Di Lileo, the inventor of Fettuccine Alfredo. I told his story here, and his grandkids happened upon the article and dropped by to say hi. They gave me a little information on what happened to their grandfather after his pasta dish achieved acclaim, and offered a slight correction, letting me know the current name of the restaurant in Rome is Il Vero Alfredo. We were honored and humbled that they would stop by and take the time to write us. This blog continues to surprise us in unintended ways!

So, the cream cheese brownies. What can I say? What else is there to say?? They were, of course, fantastic!

Cream Cheese Brownie

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40/365: National Bagels and Lox Day

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Here’s the truth, the hole truth, and nothing but the truth: today is National Bagels and Lox Day.

I was pretty excited for this holiday. I love bagels – they’re in my Top 2 list of favorite foods with a hole in the center – but had never tried one with lox. In fact, I wasn’t completely sure what lox even is. Some kind of fish, I knew that much. Turns out it’s thinly sliced smoked salmon – yum! My favorite fish. Living in the Pacific Northwest, it’s basically a prerequisite that you like salmon. Apparently Tara didn’t get the memo (ahem), but we decided to let her in anyway.

Bagels and lox traditionally consists of a bagel, cream cheese, salmon, and sliced red onion. Other ingredients such as capers, dill, and chives may be added. Bagels originated in Poland in the 16th century. They were a nod to the bublik, another circular bread with a big hole in the middle. Why the world needed two such similar foods is anybody’s guess, but then again, Ding Dongs and Ring Dings have coexisted peacefully for decades, so why not? Polish Jews immigrating to the United States brought along bagels, which is why they’re such a staple in New York City (which still makes the best in the country, in my opinion). Bagels caught on everywhere in the 1960s, when bagel bakers Harry and Murray Lender teamed with Florence Sender (they went on a real bender!) to mass produce and distribute frozen, pre-sliced bagels.

Lox have been around for thousands of years, swimming around contentedly in oceans and rivers.

For our bagels and lox, we headed to New Season’s Market, a local grocery store that advertises the delicacy. They served theirs with cream cheese, lox, red onions, and capers. I have to say, I was blown away, and declared this my favorite food challenge yet. The salty, smoked salmon perfectly contrasted the sweetness of the cream cheese, while the thinly sliced red onion added subtle crunch and the capers, a tart bite. I loved the bagels and lox, and will order this one again soon!

A little heavy on the red onion, but oh so good!

A little heavy on the red onion, but oh so good!

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39/365: National Molasses Bar Day

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Midwest Mark

February 8 is National Molasses Bar Day! If your first reaction is “What the heck is a molasses bar?!,” you are not alone. Tara and I wondered the same thing. Turns out it’s sort of like a brownie, only without the chocolate. Which makes for a pretty pointless brownie, if you ask me.

One website describes molasses bars as “a vintage favorite brought back to life” and mentions visits to grandma’s house. Neither of my grandmothers ever made molasses bars, so I was really in the dark on what they were, but there are enough recipe links online to be able to cobble something together, which is exactly what my sweet cobbler-slash-baker, Tara, did.

The Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

The Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Molasses is really good when it’s turned into rum, but is too richly flavored to slurp right out of the bottle by itself. Trust me on this. When sugar cane or sugar beets are processed, the sugar crystallizes and turns into a thick syrup. This is molasses. The word comes from melaco, Portugese for honey. Christopher Columbus introduced molasses to the Americas when he brought sugar cane to the West Indies in 1493, and it quickly became an important trade item for the early Colonists, who used it to bake gingerbread and taffy when they weren’t getting plastered on rum. Molasses may be sweet and sticky, but it is also deadly: in 1919 a tank of molasses at the Purity Baking Company in Boston exploded, generating an 8′ high sticky flood of hot molasses that traveled through the north end of town at 35 mph. Known as the Great Molasses Flood, it ended up killing 21 people and injuring 150. What a horrible disas-tah. Local residents claim they can still catch a hint of molasses in the air on warm and windy days. Now, that’s morbid. And what a horrible way to go, smothered by thick, hot syrup. Kinda makes you feel bad for pancakes.

As tragic as this was, we have to remember: molasses doesn’t kill people, people kill people. Only, in this case, molasses did kill people…

Anyway. Molasses bars! Tara made them last night, and we enjoyed them with coffee this morning. But “enjoyed” is a strong word, because honestly, neither of us were blown away. They taste sort of like spice cake, and were awfully crumbly. And neither of us is particularly keen on the flavor of molasses anyway. But hey, that’s another one in the books!

Molasses Bar

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38/365: National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Since no food holidays can get pasta me, today we are celebrating National Fettuccine Alfredo Day! (Bad Pun Day is every day in my book. Lucky you).

Fettuccine Alfredo was invented by a guy named Bob. OK, just kidding. His name was Alfredo. Bet you didn’t see that one coming! Alfredo Di Lelio owned a restaurant called Alfredo in Rome in 1914. While his wife was pregnant with their first son in 1914, she didn’t have much of an appetite. Since Alfredo liked a woman with a little junk in her trunk, he was desperate to get her to eat again, so he created a dish with fettuccine noodles, butter, and parmesan cheese that he knew she would be unable to resist. He was right, and it was so good he added it to his restaurant’s menu, where it quickly gained cult status. Hollywood stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were honeymooning in Rome in 1920, and stopped in for a plate of Alfredo’s alfredo at Alfredo. They loved the dish so much, they gave Alfredo a golden fork and spoon, and a photo of them eating in his restaurant. He proudly displayed these items on the wall, where they still hang to this day (the restaurant is still open, under the name Alfredo alla Scrofa. Next time I’m in Rome, I’m checking it out). Fairbanks and Pickford helped spread the word, and the dish became wildly popular. Interestingly enough, even though Fettuccine Alfredo is just as popular in Italy and Europe, nobody over there calls it that. It is known, instead, as “Fettuccine al burro;” burro meaning butter in Italian, not a type of ass.

Nowadays, Fettuccine Alfredo is typically made with cream, because butter only didn’t provide quite enough fat and calories. Other ingredients, such as chicken or shrimp, are often added. I used a jar of Alfredo sauce with mushrooms, and it turned out delicious. Not homemade? So what. There is no denying the importance of convenience during this challenge. Besides, we have to work on tomorrow’s food tonight, so…yeah. All hail Bertolli.

Fettuccine Alfredo

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37/365: National Nutella Day

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today is an unusually confusing day. As you know, we have an official food calendar we are consulting for these various holidays. Just for fun, I double check several other sites every day, to verify there isn’t a mistake. It’s all about authenticity, folks! 99% of the time there are no issues. Today? Ugh. Our calendar says it’s National Nutella Day. Some online sources agree, but others say that was yesterday. Depending on who you believe, today is either Nutella Day, Chopsticks Day, Frozen Yogurt Day, or even Food Checkout Day. Weird that February 6 is so full of disagreement. Since at least 4 or 5 different sites match our calendar, and we’d already planned for it, we are sticking to our guns. With that in mind, Happy National Nutella Day!

Nutella (like carrot cake) is another food item we can thank World War II for. Chocolate rationing left Italian baker Pietro Ferrero in a lurch. Chocolate was his bread and butter, so to speak. Looking for a way to make his supply last, he turned to hazelnuts, which grew like weeds in and around his hometown of Alba, in the Piedmont region of Italy. Ferrero initially created a solid block of hazelnuts and chocolate, but in 1951 he produced a creamy version he called Supercrema. In 1963 his son Michele (yes, son) wanted to sell the product all over Europe, so he modified the recipe and renamed it Nutella. It was an instant global success. But Nutella has lately suffered from some negative press. A class action lawsuit against Ferrero was settled just last year, after it was deemed that Nutella’s marketing claim of being “part of a nutritious breakfast” was, to put it mildly, not exactly the truth. Well, duh! One glance at the label – sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa solids, and milk – should give a clue to even the most naive consumer that Nutella is not on par health-wise with, say, oatmeal. Half of the calories come from fat, and 40% from sugar. If you really think that’s nutritious, I’ve got a bridge for sale.

Nutritious or not, Nutella is good. I had never tried it before today! I know, I know. I lead a sheltered life. Since I was a Nurgin® (a Nutella virgin, and yes, I’m trademarking that), I figured the simplest presentation would be best. A slice of white bread toast topped with Nutella. I’m not a big fan of sweet breakfasts unless there is something savory to accompany them, which may be why I said, two bites in, that the Nutella toast would have been perfect if it were topped with bacon. I wish I’d thought of that sooner! But, it was good. Nutty and chocolatey and creamy and smooth. I get the appeal now.

IMAG0503

Nutella on toast. Not a bad morning pick-me-up!

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36/365: National Chocolate Fondue Day

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Anybody longing for the 1970s should get a kick out of today’s food holiday: February 5 is National Chocolate Fondue Day!

Fondue pots (along with disco, polyester, and Bert Reynolds movies) might be synonymous with the 70s, but fondue has been around for a lot longer. The Swiss have a lot of cheese, you know, and needed a way to use it up once it became hard, so they figured they could melt it down and dip things in it. Surprisingly, even though Switzerland is just as well known for its chocolates as for cheese, it was a restaurant in New York City called Suisse Chalet that actually created chocolate fondue. Chef/Owner Konni Egli was looking for inventive new dishes to promote his restaurant in 1966, and turned to the Swiss National Tourist Office, conveniently located a block away. They were looking to promote a new chocolate bar called Toblerone whose oddly-shaped triangular pieces were meant to be eaten individually, each one resembling the Matterhorn (the mountain in Switzerland, not the theme park ride in Disneyland). Konni hit upon the idea of melting down the chocolate and creating a new type of fondue, one that was sweet instead of savory.

Incidentally, Toblerone chocolates were at the heart of a Swedish political scandal in 1995 when Mona Sahlin, a candidate for Prime Minister, used taxpayer money to purchase two Toblerone bars. She ended up dropping out of the race. Which begs the question: if the chocolate is known for its distinctive shape and tastes so good you’d risk your political career for a bite, why were the chefs at the Swiss Chalet trying to melt it down in the first place? But they were, and they did, and the rest is chocolate fondue history.Chocolate Fondue ingredients

When we were discussing what to dip in our chocolate fondue, I suggested apples. Tara thought that was an odd choice, but it turns out apples and other fruit (strawberries and bananas) are popular accompaniments, as are marshmallows, pretzels, and graham crackers.

I decided, in the interest of authenticity, to make Konni Egli’s original chocolate fondue recipe, using Toblerone, heavy cream, and a splash of brandy. We don’t own a fondue pot, which is a bit shocking considering our (ok, MY) penchant for anything retro. But I set up a poor man’s double boiler (a small pot inside a big pot), melted the chocolate, added the cream, and – voila! We had a chocolate fondue dish that would make ol’ Mr. Egli proud.

By the way, the Toblerone chocolate bar itself? Out of this world! I balked at the $2.69 price tag, but man, that’s some seriously good chocolate. And the little chocolate triangles really do look like the Matterhorn. Groovy.

Dig the fancy plating, yo.

Dig the fancy plating, yo.

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35/365: National Stuffed Mushroom Day*

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Midwest Mark

There are two food holidays celebrated on February 4, but since I’m a fun guy, we’re going with National Stuffed Mushroom Day! (The other is Homemade Soup Day. I actually did an Italian Wedding Soup a little over a week ago, but haven’t had stuffed mushrooms in ages. This decision was pretty much a no-brainer).

Besides, Tara and I both love mushrooms. We joke about this, because whenever we write up our weekly grocery list, we always put Mushrooms on there. And, in parentheses, add the word “lots.” I don’t think a week goes by where we don’t buy mushrooms…yet, we had never stuffed them before. Go figure.

Mousseron. Wait, no...that's Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation.

Mousseron. Wait, no…that’s Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation.

Mushrooms are a type of fungus that grows either on top of soil, or another food source. Mushrooms bear spores and contain a stem, cap, and gills. The word is derived from the French mousseron, which means “moustached man named Ron.” Err…wrong. It means “moss.” I need to work on my French translation skills. Mushrooms are known as “the meat of the vegetable world,” which explains their popularity with vegetarians, and are cooked in a wide variety of dishes across many cultures. They became popular in the 19th century, when the French began growing them for use as a food source. I’ve often thought it was a brave man who first decided to pluck a fungus from the ground and eat it because, let’s face it, the average mushroom does not look very appetizing, let alone edible. Plus, with so many poisonous varieties out there, it had to be like a foodie version of Russian Roulette.

Stuffed mushrooms are considered an Italian delicacy, typically made with breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and olive oil or butter. However, they can be stuffed with just about anything!

Tara found a recipe online. There are about a million different versions of stuffed mushrooms, and this one is basic but good. Bacon, green onions, cheese, bread crumbs – can’t go wrong with that combination!

Stuffed Mushrooms

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34/365: National Carrot Cake Day

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today is both Super Bowl Sunday AND National Carrot Cake Day. There would have been less work involved today if we were celebrating chicken wings or chips and dip, I suppose, but we can’t control the calendar!

At least carrot cake is healthier than most other cakes. Carrots have been used to flavor cakes since Medieval times, when sweeteners were hard to come by and expensive. Nothing satisfied a battle-hardened army freshly returned from plundering, pillaging, and ravishing young maidens more than a big ol’ hunk of carrot cake! This practice died out once sugar became more common and cheap, and for centuries the practice of using a veggie in a dessert was about as foreign as Donald Trump ever getting a decent haircut. And then World War II came along, and with it, sugar rationing. (I’ve never understood this. There was also metal and rubber rationing, which I get. Those are both used to make tanks and Jeeps. But while sugar might satisfy the sweet tooth of some boogie woogie bugle boy from Company B, why else was it such a big deal during “the big one”)? The British government promoted desserts using carrots in order to keep its citizens happy, and there was a sudden glut of carrot puddings, pies, and cakes. Carrot cakes first showed up in the U.S. right around the same time as the Beatles in the early 1960s, and were considered a novelty item on restaurant and cafeteria menus. Until people actually tried them, and fell in love. They are now a standard dessert item everywhere.

It’s been a crazy weekend – Tara and I got engaged Friday night (!) so we’ve been sort of preoccupied with thoughts about our future, ya know? But time – and Eat My Words – waits for no man, as they say. Mrs. Smith’s used to sell a frozen carrot cake that was really good, but we couldn’t find it anywhere yesterday, so we resigned ourselves to baking a cake of our own (and by “we” and “ourselves” I mean “Tara” and “herself”).

Tara diggin' in to the carrot cake!

Tara diggin’ in to the carrot cake!

Unfortunately, we had to use a box mix.  I don’t know why I feel like I have defend that choice, but we were already at the store and didn’t have a recipe on hand, so a pre-made mix seemed like the best choice.  And the weird thing is that Carrot Cake is one of the few that I’ve always wanted to make from scratch.  I loves me some Carrot Cake!  But after the excitement from this weekend and a few Bloody Marys during the Super Bowl, this is what we got.

By the way, I tried guilting Mark into baking the cake.  I’ve been up since 4:30am and was downstairs and cleaning the kitchen by 5:30.  We crashed early last night and the house has been neglected pretty much since before Christmas…I was long overdue for some productive chores.  By the time Mark’s parents showed up for lunch at noon, I was dead on my feet.  But at least the house looks good!

Anyway, Mark is always a trooper, but he seemed reluctant to bake that damn cake.  I showed him the instructions on the back of the box and assured him how easy it would be.  He eyed me skeptically, while about to dump the dry mix into a bowl.  I quickly yanked the bowl away and reminded him that Alton Brown always has a Dry Party and a Wet Party!  So I whisked together the eggs, veggie oil, and water…added the dry mix and poured it all into a cake pan.  As I opened the oven door, Mark asked, “Is that it??”

By the time the game was over, the cake had cooled enough for the pre-made (blech) cream cheese frosting.  Mark said it was “Sooooo good!”, but it reminded me too much of plain ol’ Spice Cake.  Definitely not as good as Mrs. Smiths!

I loved it, babe. Carrot cake is always good. (And I would have made it, even though I guess I would have made it wrong). Thanks for your help, as always!

Categories: Desserts | Tags: , , , , | 11 Comments

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