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Thomas Jefferson
As President, Jefferson once recieved a 1235 pound wheel of cheese as a Christmas gift; coining the phrase: "The Big Cheese". His love of cheese led to the invention of Macaroni and Cheese in his kitchens at Monticello--perhaps America's first contribution to the culinary world. He actually designed the pasta maker needed for the macaroni and cheese (shown here to the left). He also was the first to grow eggplant in the New World. Boy, did Jefferson LOVE food!!!
Charcoal brickettes were invented by a millionare friend of Henry Ford, named Kingsford. They went camping a lot but, being milionare businessmen in wool suits, hated gathering firewood. Henry sold Kingsford piles of extra wooden clips used to fasten the canvas tops to the Model A's. Kingsford ground them up, made brickettes, and camping and cook-outs have never been the same. Until the 1950s, you could only buy Kingsford charcoal at your local Ford Dealership.
Strange but True:
The ancient Irish made jack o lanterns from red beets rather than pumpkins--go figure.
Remember the song 'Mellow Yellow'? Its actually a drug song about drying out banana peels and smoking them. I much prefer my bananas with ice cream.
Vegetarians Beware!!
Do you know how gelatin is made? Colligen (a thickening agent) is extracted by boiling, from cow, horse and pig hooves. Add some fruit flavors and YUM!
Long before it made it into the kitchen, PYREX glass was used to make railroad lanterns; but perhaps its finest hour was when it was used as windows in the Apollo Space Capsules.
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The Onion
Why do Orthodox churches have those 'bulbs' on their towers? Thats right--onions. They were a symbol of purity, strength, and wealth in the ancient world. Egyptian nobles used to swear oaths on an onion, much like we do a Bible in today's courts. During the Civil War (hows that for an oxymoron?) General Grant refused to march his troops into Richmond until his onions arrived--they were used as medicine to keep infection out of wounds.
Cinnamon: Long before it was used as a spice, cinnamon had a much different role. It was used as 'air freshener' in ancient Egyptian mortuaries.
Do you know where cream of tartar comes from? It is refined from crystals formed on the inside of wooden wine casks. In some European nations, they still hire very short people to climb into the casks and scrape it out.
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