Dear LSNED, Why do I always burn my mouth when eating potatoes? Why do they stay so hot? -Hot Tater Dear Ms. Tater, It is true that, long after the asparagus has gone cold, your baked potato will be deliciously, or perhaps dangerously warm. The reason behind this is the high heat capacity of a [...]
Be mindful, world travelers, when you order a tall glass of cool lemonade. It can mean different things in different parts of the world. It all started with limonade in France. It was simply water with some pure lemon juice added for a spritz of flavour. In french the addition of -ade adds action or [...]
Why are there so many candies and treats that are “blue raspberry” flavour? There is no such thing as a blue raspberry in the natural world. Most all raspberries are red, though the Rubus leucodermis, sometimes called a “blue raspberry” does turn from dark red to purple as it ripens. The flavour is purely an [...]
In 1916, the American south was in the midst of the boll weevil crisis. The small beetle came from Mexico and was “just a-lookin’ for a home”. It was wreaking havoc on the cotton crops, which was the primary industry in much of the southern US at the time. That year, George Washington Carver was [...]
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love proclaimed “enough with the birds already!” So, instead we get eight maids a milking. A milk maid was a lady who was a professional cow milker. Often she would be involved in the manufacture of butter and cheese as well. The job has pretty much entirely [...]
I just bought a loaf of bread featuring “ancient grains”. (I know… born to be wild!) After carefully checking to make sure the best before date was in this century, I got to wondering just what’s up with these so-called ancient grains. Fortunately, these grains are just as fresh as any standard wheat would be. [...]
Aspartame! The mere mention of it sends shivers through the spines of proactive label-readers. It is an artificial sweetener that was accidentally discovered to be 180 times sweeter than sugar with no calories. Featured prominently in “NutraSweet” and diet soda drinks, where you will find the words “CONTAINS ASPARTAME” emblazoned on the front label as [...]