Today's topic? Why, popcorn, of course.

Popcorn, a favorite snack to many dating back 5,600 years ago. That's right, 5,600 years ago. Popcorn is one of the oldest snack around. It's said to have originated in Mexico. Some of the native tribes believed that contented spirits lived inside of each popcorn kernel and when their houses were heated, the spirits would become angrier and angrier, shaking the kernels. Then, when the heat became unbearable, they would burst out of their homes and into the air in a disgruntled puff of steam. There was a method of eating the popcorn where they popped it on the ear and ate it like regular corn, only popped! The natives also made popcorn beer and popcorn soup. Explorers Columbus and Cortez have recorded seeing the natives wear popcorn on corsages, necklaces, and headdresses. They were always munching on popcorn and Columbus even describes the treat being sold to his crew. I'd say it was a hit.
Before the Europeans arrived to North America, popcorn had spread globally to India, China and Sumatra. When the colonists arrived they fell in love with popcorn. The natives would bring it to feasts and it was served at the first Thanksgiving.
The first puffed breakfast cereal was actually popcorn. Colonists ate it with sugar and some cream.
When the great depression hit, popcorn consumption rose due to how cheap it was, it was one of the few luxuries that Americans could afford. In the mid 1800s-1920 some of the popular popcorn flavors were: orange & lemon juice, rose, peppermint, honey, vanilla, molasses, and sugar. Popcorn balls have been around forever as well. A party book from 1912 gives tips on throwing a "Popcorn Frolic." It was not unusual at the time to throw a popcorn party. They decorated the house with popcorn, played popcorn games, gave away popcorn gifts, and, of course, consumed popcorn.
Today we have places like Austin popcorn where they make over forty gourmet flavors of popcorn. Popcorn, as it turns out, is rich in history.
I found some bacon popcorn and thought I'd share, lol, it's only because I love you guys. :3

Have a pet?

So you have a dog or a cat and you have to feed it, right? And I'm going to assume that you go to the store and buy a bag of dry food or a can of wet food but do you know what you're really feeding it? I bet you don't. In most cases the food you get is all the parts we don't eat. They take the cow or chicken (or fish) and cut off the parts consumed by humans and take the rest of the animal and make your pets food with it. In some cases there will be cancerous parts thrown in along with the rest of the parts not fit to be consumed by humans. Recently more and more people have started feeding their dogs following the BARF diet which is Bones and Raw Food. Turns out that the healthiest meal for dogs is raw meat and some bones along with the occasional grains and veggies. But today's topic is dogs and cats so we're going to be discussing the fruits and vegetables best fit for your pets. Now *remember, feeding your pets too many fruits or vegetables can give them diarrhea so please be smart about how much you are feeding your pet if you do try this. First thing you need to know is NOT to feed your pet grapes. Not only can they choke on them but grapes and raisins can have a toxic effect and have been known to cause kidney failure. If your pet has allergies then you should feed it cooked potatoes but please refrain from feeding it raw potatoes because those aren't good for any pet. Tomatoes can lower the risk of cancers. Papaya and mango are a good source of vitamin C and for arthritis and other anti-inflammatory conditions because they have a cooling affect on the body. Dogs have a natural love for watermelon and it contains vitamins A, B6, and C. Bananas are are great because they'll change bacteria in the intestines from harmful types of bacilli to beneficial acidophiles bacilli. Pumpkin is like Pepto bismol for your pet. It'll cure constipation, diarrhea, upset stomachs, and indigestion. If you have an obese pet you can feed it some pureed pumpkin over it's food and it'll eat less because pumpkin will give your pet the feeling of being full. Broccoli will boost your pet's immune system and carrots will provide healthy eyes, glands, and skin. A lot of the information you found here for your pet also can apply to you, maybe you guys can enjoy dinner together one evening. [; Wanna know some more fruits and vegetables for your pet?

You knew it was coming-- SPAM!

WELCOME! Eaters of spam(:< And no I'm not talking about the stuff you send to your junk folder on your e-mail. Spam was actually around before the internet. Yes, there was a time before the internet. (*Shock!*) Do you know what Spam is made of? Cause I do. It's made up of chopped pork with ham, salt, water, modified potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrite. That's Spam Classic, by the way. Spam is a product of Hormel and it comes in a few different flavors. You can purchase your Spam with bacon in it (yes, our friend bacon is everywhere, it's so great, my heart is swollen with love), Spam with cheese in it, Spam light (for all of you watching your figure), Spam singles if you want an easier and quicker Spam sandwich (the single come in light too! No fear, dieters, no fear!), low sodium Spam, hot and spicy Spam, golden honey grail spam, spreadable Spam (I cringe at that thought, spreadable spam... *shudder*), and the even grosser sounding Spam garlic. Spam has been in your local grocery store since 1937 and even though it might not be so popular in your household in Guam the statistic is that more than eight cans of Spam are consumed by every person each year. Spam is sold in over 50 countries meaning that's is a pretty popular dish. There's even a Spam fan club. (You had to know it was coming) They like Spam in the Philippines so much that in February 2004 they opened the SPAMJAM Cafe. That's right, a Spam cafe. This cafe features items such as Spam heros ( a sandwich with Spam, tomato, and cheese), Spam burgers, Spam clubs, Spam spaghetti, Spam baked macaroni, Spam nuggets, and Spam Caesar salad. Spam, it turns out, is much more interesting than most people would have guessed. Who'da thunk it?
Oh, and Spam has a mascot. Spammy the pig, although he's not really around anymore. Hey, mascots gotta retire too!
EDIT: I forgot! They also made a special edition Hawaiian Spam with pineapple in it. I'm not going to lie, that sounds delicious, no joke.

Are you feeling sweet or salty?

Sweet or salty, what's your flavor? Stuck in the middle? Here's a tip, try some potato chip cookies. And here's what's really great about them, you can make them without having to go to the store! (most likely) All you need is flour, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and some potato chips. Simple as that! I'm not crazy either, there are a surprising amount of people who have tried this tasty snack and liked it. I can't really give credit to anybody for being the original creator of this cookie because it's like the waffle cone, a lot of people thought of it and it just sort of happened. You may Google and find a creator but I will not acknowledge it if you decide to get smart with me. :P Want to try making this unique treat? Click here. (:

In an ingredient bind?

Have you ever started baking a cake or some cookies but forgot to check the recipe and later while mixing ingredients you find that you don't have enough eggs or there's no more milk? No worries, this blog is for you. Our first substitution is apple sauce. This can be used in place of oil or eggs and lately it's become more popular for getting back into shape. According to many websites you can't taste the difference. (This is a substitution for baking, so I probably wouldn't use it to make my ravioli.) Another substitute is the banana. You can use it instead of eggs in cake, muffins, and the like. This is a discovery found by a lovely friend of mine and it's hasn't failed yet. There seems to be a trend in fruit here and my baker's knowledge tells me that you can probably also substitute eggs or oil for pear sauce as well.
Milk can be substituted with cream (Warning, remember, creamer tends to be SWEET), fruit juice, or water (not recommended, but entirely possible). Don't have cornstarch? Use 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, potato flour, or rice flour for every tablespoon of cornstarch. That's all you're getting for now, just the basics. Hopefully this was helpful, these facts have definitely gotten me out of a few baking binds.
*REMEMBER: Substitutions may change the outcome of your product in small or very drastic ways. I tried to give you the ingredients that will change your recipes minimally.

BACON?!?!?!?!?!

Ah, yes, bacon. This is a subject I plan to touch upon many times in this blog because there is a lot to write about when we are faced with this delectable food. I assure you will be both amazed, shocked, and maybe slightly disgusted. I'm going to start you off easy and today we're discussing the Bacon-of-the-month. This is a club by Americans, for Americans. You pay for a membership to have a pound of bacon delivered to your doorstep every month. And this isn't your plain old hickory smoked pig either, it is quality artisan bacon. The guy who runs this shenanigan, he knows his bacon too! There are bacon charts where they store their bacon to identify what kind of bacon each slice is (what part of the pig it's from). Apparently each bacon slice is like a bacon fingerprint. Serious business, man.
When you sign up you not only get a pound of bacon every month but they give you cool bacon merch as well. You'll receive informative notes on all bacon selections, discounts on The Grateful Palate bacon products, a club membership card, members only monthly bacon comic strip (That's right, members only!), a bacon of the month club pig ballpoint pen, a little rubber toy pig, a free bacon tee shirt, a recipe each month using the bacon selected, and last but certainly not least, a bacon nose! It's a bacon enthusiasts dream come true!
Want to join?(:

So I think I started my blog wrong.

I have gone through a few blogs, including Mrs. Stoklosa's and it seems they all had in common what I was missing, an opening statement. Because I seemed to have missed it, here it is now. Welcome! To my blog(: It's about food if you haven't noticed. Throughout the time I write this I plan to tell readers about all the good stuff I find that's food related. It may be disgusting, very average, delicious, or maybe even a humorous story, one thing in common all of the posts will have is that they're edible in some way. You've already gotten to taste test my blog with the previous posts on food, hopefully you enjoyed them, until next time. [;

Forget the baby, check out that afterbirth!

Placentophagy is when a woman eats her placenta. Weird, right? Well it's not all that unusual. Many animals eat their placentas, including monkeys. Recently, more and more women have started to follow this funky trend mostly for the nutritional value. Eating a placenta is said to aid in postpartum depression. The placenta is high in progesterone which is a steroid hormone that supports gestation and oxytocin which stimulates contractions of the uterus and the ejection of milk. Mmm-mmmm!
Placentas can be cooked, surprising like any other meat. You can stew them, make them into a burger, bake them, fry them, or even bbq them! Some women even drink them in shakes. In most cases, the placenta is dried out like jerky and eaten as such or dried and ground as a lovely seasoning to sprinkle over your food as you would salt or pepper. A majority of women choose to have the dry ground placenta put into capsules to stretch out their nutritional value (and probably to pretend they're not eating their placenta). If you would like to eat your placenta then you must have a special placenta cook come to your house (by law it must be in the placenta owner's house) and prepare it. Have no fear, she will probably use her own tools and they make sure to keep her work area clean. And it's not recommended that you go buy a slab of placenta on amazon because as your own placenta is good for you, another woman's placenta can be dangerous. Placentas are full of blood and can carry diseases, yuck. Want more info:http://pregnancy.about.com/od/placenta/a/placentarecipes.htm

*While looking up info on placentas, I found out that they can also make your placenta into a teddy bear! Akward....