Food Stuff

Americans eat 500 million pounds of peanut butter a year, enough to coat the floor, of the Grand Canyon.

The tall chef’s hat is called a toque.

Some yoghurt contain beef or pork gelatin.

Tiramisu means ‘pick me up' in Italian.

Eating an early dinner, or just skipping it altogether, may increase the amount of fat a person burns at night, a study found.

Onion is Latin for ‘large pearl’.

The weight of a Babybel is 21 grammes.

Lettuce is a member of the sunflower family.

Death row inmates in Texas don't get to pick their last meal.

The reason why peppers taste hot is because of a chemical compound called capsaicin, which bonds to your sensory nerves and tricks them into thinking your mouth is actually being burned.

Pumpkin flowers are edible.

Real aged balsamic vinegar actually costs anywhere from $75 to $400 or more.

Ketchup was used as a medicine in the 1800s to treat diarrhea, among other things.

Several ancient cultures viewed the apple as a feminine symbol and found a resemblance between the two halves of a vertically cut apple to the female genital system. Alternatively, an apple cut horizontally resembled a pentagram, which was considered key in revealing knowledge of good and evil.

Ortharexia Nervosa is an eating disorder where the sufferer is obsessed with eating healthy food.

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

Chocolate can kill dogs; it directly affects their heart and nervous system.

The average American spends US$ 7,852 on food every year.

Alcohol consumed with food is absorbed more slowly, because it spends a longer time in the stomach.

The oldest evidence for soup is from 6,000 B.C. and calls for hippopotamus and sparrow meat.

If you lived as a child in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's how did you survive? Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have... As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable. We played dodgeball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We got cut and broke bones and broke teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame, but us. Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda but we were never overweight... we were always outside playing. We shared one grape soda with four friends, from one bottle and no one died from this. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games at all, 99 channels on cable,video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, Personal Computers, Internet chat rooms ... we had friends. We went outside and found them. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rung the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Imagine such a thing. Without asking a parent! By ourselves! Out there in the cold cruel world! Without a guardian. How did we do it? We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment... Some students weren't as smart as others so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade... Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law, imagine that! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years has been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations!