FROM KINGS TO KIDS: The Sticky Story of Marsh-Mallows

Is it a typo? No. It’s a plant. The scientific name is althaea officinalis. It grows wild in Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, along river banks, salt marshes, and swamps. Althaea Officinalis likes damp. The six-foot tall flowering plant was used over two thousand years ago by a
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WHAT’S YOUR RAMEN?

    Instant or gourmet? Tokyo or Cup O’ Noodles? Vegan or chicken? Ramen has taken over the world. Where did this yummy dish come from? Basically, ramen is noodles and broth. According to Stastista the World loves “Oodles of Noodles” to the tune of over 106 billion servings
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FROM LONGHOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE

    The Ice Age Glaciers gave us a gift. Ten thousand years ago, glaciers receded from what is now New England. They left bogs filled with sand, clay, and organic matter. Perfect for cranberries. What’s a cranberry bog? It’s soft, marshy ground with acidic soil. Low-lying cr
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FROM INDIANS AND CONQUISTADORES TO SOUL FOOD, KICKSTARTER, AND YOUR TABLE

    Potato salad – hot, warm, or cold from the fridge. It’s the salad that conquered the world. However, you can’t have potato salad without potatoes – so let’s start with that. Potatoes are native to South America. They were cultivated over 8,000 years ago by indigeno
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“Traditional” potato salad probably goes back to the 1700s. Frederick the Great of Germany, ordered that potatoes should be cultivated. The wheat crop had failed and he needed to feed his army. It wasn’t long before kartoffel (potatoes) became kartoffelsalat (potato salad). The salad was made by boiling potatoes in wine or a mixture of vinegar and spices and served warm. Sometimes they added bacon and sugar. German immigrants brought the recipe to the New World, and the American, Amish, and other regional potato salads were born. The recipe was also adapted by French, Greek, Polish, Israeli, and Austrian cooks. Eventually Japan, Korea, Vietnam, China and others created their own versions. Today potato salad is an American icon. There are countless variations related to community, history, family, and location. Culinary historian and author, Michael Twitty, noted that “like a child raised to believe that my church is the only true one, I have had to suspend the idea that I or my culture owns the sole, true potato salad.” There are so many recipes that it fills hundreds of cookbooks, websites, and family ¬recipe boxes. There’s Amish style, drizzled sweet creamy dressing over potatoes, celery, boiled eggs, onion, and sweet pickle relish How about soul food where Rosalind Cummings-Yeates in The Takeout explained that southern cooks prefered mayonnaise and sweet relish while northerners prefered dill and sour cream. Dr. Jon Paul Higgins declared in The Kitchen that his mother’s potato salad was the best, calling it “pure black joy.” Mama used mustard, relish, Lawry’s seasoning salt, and mayonnaise. Doesn’t sound very fancy. That’s all before your grandma’s recipe is added to the mix – along with celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay, Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, and Pioneer Woman’s “perfect potato salad.” Then there are the infamous potato salads – the ones that get attention for things other than their recipes. Guinness World Records awarded the largest serving of potato salad to Spilva Ltd, Latvia. It used over 1,102 pounds of mayonnaise, 2,072 pounds of boiled potatoes, 749 pounds of sausage, 6,000 pounds of boiled eggs, 440 pounds of canned peas, 310 pickled cucumbers, and 33 pounds of salt. That’s quite a mouthful. Not to be outdone, Ohio native Zach “Danger” Brown tried to raise $10 on Kickstarter to make his potato salad. He got $5,500 instead. He used the extra money to throw a party called “Potato Stock” where hundreds of pounds of potatoes were served. Don’t forget Mr. Potato Head or gag books like Always Be Yourself Unless You Can

STUMP FOODS: MUNCHING FOR VOTES

    George Washington knew what he was doing. Natalie Colarossi wrote in Business Insider that “he spent his entire campaign budget – a whopping 50 pounds – on 160 gallons of liquor in order to sway voters on election day.” Clearly, it worked. Munching for votes is a traditi
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DEEPER ROOTS

    *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. *We
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