Whaddya Think, Doctor Fink?

There’s angel hair, elbows, and fettucine. There’s also gold string melon, squaghetti, and spaghetti squash. As William Shakespeare wrote, “a [rose] by any other name would smell as sweet.” Huh? We all know pasta is delicious, high carb, and lots of calories. What about its look-alike, spaghetti squash? Take a deep breath. You can have your cake and eat it too – minus 300 calories. Ask chefs Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, and Ina Garten. Check out The Happy Cook or

*North Dakota is the top honey producing state in the U.S. with over 31 million pounds a year. *A single bee creates 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey during her lifetime. *U.S. imports honey from India, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, and Mexico. *One-third of the U.S. diet comes from insect-pollinated plants. *Honey lacks moisture and is acidic so bacteria can’t live in it. *The late Queen Elizabeth II gave Pope Francis a jar of honey as an official gift in

  It’s magical. Once upon a time, millions of years ago, lived tiny critters. Their colonies were large – as many as 60,000 residents. It was a powerful monarchy led by a Queen. Everyone worked for her. Each critter had its job; teamwork was essential. The Queen lived much longer than her subjects. If you were a worker – the largest population in the colony – your main job was to forage for food. Scouts located the best source of

*The average American eats about ten pounds of cereal a year. *In the mid-1800s a high protein diet was blamed for fueling “lust and laziness” – two of the seven deadly sins. *Grape-nuts today is probably the closest you’ll get to the original granula. *Nostalgia is one reason why adults love cold cereal and milk – it reminds them of their childhood. *Milk contributes to a cold cereal breakfast – it adds protein, calcium, and vitamins. *Lactose-free people often replace

  Meat, eggs, fried potatoes, sausage, hot biscuits, butter, jam, and coffee. Up until the mid-1800s that was a “healthy” breakfast. No one worried about upset tummies or cholesterol. Enter James Caleb Jackson. He was a reformer, abolitionist, and doctor who had strong beliefs on how to maintain good health. As a vegan, Jackson advocated simple food, clean air and water, sunshine, solid sleep, exercise, and hydropathy.   Compliments of J.C. Buttre, Wikimedia Commons   In 1858 Jackson bought a

*Indiana turkeys, Peanut Butter & Jelly, were chosen because of their “temperament, appearance, and I suspect their vaccination status,” President Biden joked in 2021 during the pandemic. “Instead of getting basted, they’re getting boosted.”  *Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird. He lost out to the bald eagle. *Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks and larger than chicken eggs. *A baby turkey is called a poult and is tan and brown. *The Presidential Flock is well

Compliments of Wikimedia Commons From commanders-in-chief to broad-breasted turkeys, it’s the annual duty of every U.S. President. As President Obama said in 2010, “I am sworn to uphold, as the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth . . . the awesome responsibility of granting a Presidential pardon to a pair of turkeys.” A pardon is an official act of forgiveness. Whether it’s for a lawbreaker who wants to avoid jail or a turkey who wants to avoid the

*Many believe that Hershey Kisses got their name from the machine that makes a “smooching” sound when it produces the tear-shaped chocolate. *Kiss was a generic turn-of-the-century term for a bite-sized piece of candy. *Kissables or candy-coated kisses were introduced in 2005 to compete with M&Ms. They failed. In 2009 they were pulled off the market. *Peanut blossoms are kisses baked into peanut dough. They were a finalist in the 1957 Pillsbury Bakeoff. They’re still popular today.     *One

Was it luck, a twist of fate, or coincidence? You decide. Milton Hershey, chocolatier, businessman, and philanthropist, was a wealthy man. Born on a Pennsylvania farm in 1857, Hershey grew up loving sweets. In 1894 he started The Hershey Chocolate Company as a subsidiary of The Lancaster Caramel Company. Six years later in 1900, Milton predicted that the future was in chocolate and sold the caramel company. He introduced Hershey’s milk chocolate with the goal, according to the company’s website,

*Roots are the energy-storage part of the plant. *Sweet cassava has low levels of cyanide that’s removed in cooking. Most of the poison is in the outer bark-like peel which is easily removed. *Happy International Carrot Day is celebrated every year on April 4. *WebMD reports that root vegetables are “dense in essential nutrients and come with a number of health benefits.” *In 19th century Victorian England, women used beet juice to give their hair a red glow. *In Bram