Ok, so I was reading an article on strange interview questions. So I decided to post one on my facebook(I spend too much time there) and my friend Michelle told me that she was once asked,"why are manhole covers round?". Very interesting? My first thought was because the man hole is round...but I thought there had to be a more explainable answer. So I looked it up.
Turns out. I'm pragmatically right. That means I took the simplist answer. but there is more to that explanation as well.
A round manhole cover cannot fall through its circular opening, whereas a square manhole cover may fall in if it were inserted diagonally in the hole. (A Reuleaux triangle or other curve of constant width would also serve this purpose, but round covers are much easier to manufacture. The existence of a "lip" holding up the lid means that the underlying hole is smaller than the cover, so that other shapes might suffice.)
Round tubes are the strongest and most material-efficient shape against the compression of the earth around them, and so it is natural that the cover of a round tube assume a circular shape.
Similarly, it is easier to dig a circular hole and thus the cover is also circular.
The bearing surfaces of manhole frames and covers are machined to assure flatness and prevent them from becoming dislodged by traffic. Round castings are much easier to machine using a lathe.
Circular covers do not need to be rotated to align them when covering a circular manhole.
Human beings have a roughly circular cross-section.
A round manhole cover can be more easily moved by being rolled.
If a cover had corners and were bent that would create a protruding point that could puncture tires.
Most manhole covers are made by a few large companies. A different shape would have to be custom made.
I'm personally going to also add that there has to be an aerodynamic advantage to having a round manhole cover in a street, where a flat side would be more likely to catch wind from passing cars and such and potentially cause it to fall through the hole. Not likely it would lift off as the weight is substantial.
So, I knew there had to be a reasonable set of explanations. However, there are manhole covers in many shapes and sizes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heroid_Shehu_FreeSB_2010_100_5701.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tombino_108_Milano.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ManholeSPQR.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vindobona_Hoher_Markt-71.JPG
I just blew my theory on the car and aerodynamics;
Manhole covers and race cars
Because of their aerodynamic design, modern racing cars create enough vacuum to lift a manhole cover off the ground. During races on city streets, manhole covers must therefore be welded down to prevent injury. In 1990, during the Group C World Sportscar Championship race in Montreal, racer Jésus Pareja's car struck a manhole cover that was lifted by the ground effect of the car he was following, causing his car to catch fire.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
I'll be home for Christmas......
Ok, Imagine this, close your eyes if you need to. It’s Mid-December, there’s a light snow on the ground, couple of inches of fluffy white powder. It’s lightly falling from the sky in BIG snowflakes the size of Maple leafs. You are sitting on the couch, wrapped up with the one you love, a crackling fire popping from across the room. Softly you hear a favorite Christmas song coming through the radio……”I’ll be home for Christmas,” Bing Crosby croons in his buttery smooth voice. “You can count on me, Please have snow and mistletoe, and presents ON the tree……..” SSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Either Jam Master Jay just broke in with some waxy remix or you jumped up to see if you heard that one right…..Presents ON THE TREE? What the HECK?
Doing a little bit of research….are ya catching on to HOW I know things, I found out that….
Limbs of the Tree
• Although it is most popular for presents to be placed beneath the Christmas tree, earlier traditions included tying gifts to the limbs of the tree.
According to Robert Chambers, author of "The Book of Days, A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection With the Calendar," "In Germany, (in the late 1800's), Christmas Eve is for children the most joyous night in the year, as they feast their eyes on the magnificence of the Christmas tree, and rejoice in the presents which have been provided for them on its branches by their parents...every branch glittering with little lighted tapers, while all sorts of ornaments and gifts are suspended from the branches..."
Read more: The History of Presents Under the Christmas Tree | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6623953_history-presents-under-christmas-tree.html#ixzz18ca53FqQ
Could this lyric be in reference to a potential German Tradition of hiding a glass pickle in the tree? Yes, you read that correctly, both times more than likely. There is a supposed German tradition of hanging a Glass Pickle ornament in the tree on Christmas Eve and the most observant child that would Find the ornament would receive an extra present from St. Nickolas. Problem with that is that German traditions say that St. Nick, not to be confused with Santa Claus would visit children on December 5th. Lending some support to the claim is that on Christmas Eve, Children would open presents from the Christkindl(Christ Child). Maybe St. Nick left that extra present behind? Note that the German Christmas holiday was basically a month long event that is referred to as the Advent, which starts the first Sunday after November 26th. The Advent tradition is actually rather new as far as time is concerned, starting some time after the end of WWI.
Well, that was a side note that went too far. Back to presents ON the tree. The custom of erecting a Christmas Tree can be historically traced to 15th century Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) and 16th century Northern Germany. According to the first documented uses of a Christmas tree in Estonia, in 1441, 1442, and 1514 the Brotherhood of the Blackheads erected a tree for the holidays in their brotherhood house in Reval (now Tallinn). At the last night of the celebrations leading up to the holidays, the tree was taken to the Town Hall Square where the members of the brotherhood danced around it. In 1584, the pastor and chronicler Balthasar Russow wrote of an established tradition of setting up a decorated spruce at the market square where the young men “went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame”. In that period, the guilds started erecting Christmas trees in front of their guildhalls: Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (Marburg professor of European ethnology) found a Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 which reports how a small tree was decorated with "apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers" and erected in the guild-house, for the benefit of the guild members' children, who collected the dainties on Christmas Day.
Of course, everything evolves and money dictates most evolution these days. It’s hard to hang a 52 inch flat panel TV or a Sony Xbox from a branch of a tree in your living room. I’m sure that lead to presents UNDER the tree. But let’s take a look at what this song was about for a minute. This is a song about people being away from their families during the holidays…So, when you are enjoying your holiday with your family this year, remember your own loved ones that can’t be with you and more importantly, remember those serving our country in faraway lands that can’t be with their families and let’s pray for their safe returns.
Either Jam Master Jay just broke in with some waxy remix or you jumped up to see if you heard that one right…..Presents ON THE TREE? What the HECK?
Doing a little bit of research….are ya catching on to HOW I know things, I found out that….
Limbs of the Tree
• Although it is most popular for presents to be placed beneath the Christmas tree, earlier traditions included tying gifts to the limbs of the tree.
According to Robert Chambers, author of "The Book of Days, A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection With the Calendar," "In Germany, (in the late 1800's), Christmas Eve is for children the most joyous night in the year, as they feast their eyes on the magnificence of the Christmas tree, and rejoice in the presents which have been provided for them on its branches by their parents...every branch glittering with little lighted tapers, while all sorts of ornaments and gifts are suspended from the branches..."
Read more: The History of Presents Under the Christmas Tree | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6623953_history-presents-under-christmas-tree.html#ixzz18ca53FqQ
Could this lyric be in reference to a potential German Tradition of hiding a glass pickle in the tree? Yes, you read that correctly, both times more than likely. There is a supposed German tradition of hanging a Glass Pickle ornament in the tree on Christmas Eve and the most observant child that would Find the ornament would receive an extra present from St. Nickolas. Problem with that is that German traditions say that St. Nick, not to be confused with Santa Claus would visit children on December 5th. Lending some support to the claim is that on Christmas Eve, Children would open presents from the Christkindl(Christ Child). Maybe St. Nick left that extra present behind? Note that the German Christmas holiday was basically a month long event that is referred to as the Advent, which starts the first Sunday after November 26th. The Advent tradition is actually rather new as far as time is concerned, starting some time after the end of WWI.
Well, that was a side note that went too far. Back to presents ON the tree. The custom of erecting a Christmas Tree can be historically traced to 15th century Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) and 16th century Northern Germany. According to the first documented uses of a Christmas tree in Estonia, in 1441, 1442, and 1514 the Brotherhood of the Blackheads erected a tree for the holidays in their brotherhood house in Reval (now Tallinn). At the last night of the celebrations leading up to the holidays, the tree was taken to the Town Hall Square where the members of the brotherhood danced around it. In 1584, the pastor and chronicler Balthasar Russow wrote of an established tradition of setting up a decorated spruce at the market square where the young men “went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame”. In that period, the guilds started erecting Christmas trees in front of their guildhalls: Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (Marburg professor of European ethnology) found a Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 which reports how a small tree was decorated with "apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers" and erected in the guild-house, for the benefit of the guild members' children, who collected the dainties on Christmas Day.
Of course, everything evolves and money dictates most evolution these days. It’s hard to hang a 52 inch flat panel TV or a Sony Xbox from a branch of a tree in your living room. I’m sure that lead to presents UNDER the tree. But let’s take a look at what this song was about for a minute. This is a song about people being away from their families during the holidays…So, when you are enjoying your holiday with your family this year, remember your own loved ones that can’t be with you and more importantly, remember those serving our country in faraway lands that can’t be with their families and let’s pray for their safe returns.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Mele Kalikimaka
Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say "Merry Christmas to you."
OK, to say I've been listening to too much Christmas music is like saying that William Shatner is too dramatic. But when it's forced upon you for 10 hours a day it begins to sink into your brain like listening to Jim Jones on a subliminal track. I'm freaking DREAMING Christmas music. I don't even decorate my house anymore because to live in Christmas 24 hours a day would surely be called cruel and unusual punishment by the supreme court. Not that I don't like the holiday, not that I don't believe in the holiday, but I just don't believe that 99% of people actually KNOW What the holiday is about.
But that's just not what this Blog is about. The above song is for one ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS. And for two it just makes me wonder about the Hawaiian language. It all sounds the same....So of course I had to find out why.
To start with, Hawaiian is a Polynesian Language that took it's name from the largest island of the chain that became known as the State of Hawaii. It originally had no written language other than petroglyphical symbols. The modern Hawaiian alphabet, ka pīʻāpā Hawaiʻi, is a variety of the Latin alphabet. Hawaiian words end only in vowels, and every consonant must be followed by a vowel. The Hawaiian alphabetical order has all of the vowels before the consonants, as in the following chart.
Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu Hh Kk Ll Mm Nn Pp Ww ʻ
/a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ /h/ /k~t/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /p/ /v~w/ /ʔ/
This writing system was developed by American Protestant missionaries during 1820–1826. It was the first thing they ever printed in Hawaiʻi, on January 7, 1822, and it originally included the consonants B, D, R, T, and V, in addition to the current ones (H, K, L, M, N, P, W), and it had F, G, S, Y and Z for "spelling foreign words". The initial printing also showed the five vowel letters (A, E, I, O, U) and seven of the short diphthongs (AE, AI, AO, AU, EI, EU, OU).
In 1826, the developers voted to eliminate some of the letters which represented functionally redundant allophones (called "interchangeable letters"), enabling the Hawaiian alphabet to approach the ideal state of one-symbol-one-sound, and thereby optimizing the ease with which people could teach and learn the reading and writing of Hawaiian. For example, instead of spelling one and the same word as pule, bule, pure, and bure (because of interchangeable p/b and l/r), the word is spelled only as pule.
Interchangeable B/P. B was dropped, P was kept.
Interchangeable L/R. R was dropped, L was kept.
Interchangeable K/T. T was dropped, K was kept.
Interchangeable V/W. V was dropped, W was kept.
A modern Hawaiian name for the symbol (a letter) which represents the glottal stop is ʻokina (ʻoki 'cut' + -na '-ing'). It was formerly known as ʻuʻina ('snap'.
For examples of the ʻokina, consider the Hawaiian words Hawaiʻi and Oʻahu (often simply Hawaii and Oahu in English orthography). In Hawaiian, these words can be pronounced [hʌˈʋʌi.ʔi] and [oˈʔʌ.hu], and can be written with an ʻokina where the glottal stop is pronounced.
As early as 1823, the missionaries made some limited use of the apostrophe to represent the glottal stop, but they did not make it a letter of the alphabet. In publishing the Hawaiian Bible, they used it to distinguish koʻu ('my') from kou ('your').In 1864, William DeWitt Alexander published a grammar of Hawaiian in which he made it clear that the glottal stop (calling it "guttural break") is definitely a true consonant of the Hawaiian language. He wrote it using an apostrophe. In 1922, the Andrews-Parker dictionary of Hawaiian made limited use of the opening single quote symbol, called "reversed apostrophe" or "inverse comma", to represent the glottal stop. Subsequent dictionaries have preferred to use that symbol. Today, many native speakers of Hawaiian do not bother, in general, to write any symbol for the glottal stop. Its use is advocated mainly among students and teachers of Hawaiian as a second language, and among linguists.
Not sure if all that helps any at all? I actually had to read through most of it twice to fully understand. Just a quick comment, the glottal stop thingy. Is basically when you bounce the back of your tongue off your uvula and it makes a sort of pause in sound. So Hawaii sounds like Hawai-EE. So basically for all the grief the English language takes for how to properly spell and pronounce words because of the way they are written, they tried to fix those issues with the Hawaiian language....yet we still managed to push our American ways into their language and screw it up. Oh well, three more weeks until Christmas and then I wont have to listen to this dreadful music any more.
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say "Merry Christmas to you."
OK, to say I've been listening to too much Christmas music is like saying that William Shatner is too dramatic. But when it's forced upon you for 10 hours a day it begins to sink into your brain like listening to Jim Jones on a subliminal track. I'm freaking DREAMING Christmas music. I don't even decorate my house anymore because to live in Christmas 24 hours a day would surely be called cruel and unusual punishment by the supreme court. Not that I don't like the holiday, not that I don't believe in the holiday, but I just don't believe that 99% of people actually KNOW What the holiday is about.
But that's just not what this Blog is about. The above song is for one ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS. And for two it just makes me wonder about the Hawaiian language. It all sounds the same....So of course I had to find out why.
To start with, Hawaiian is a Polynesian Language that took it's name from the largest island of the chain that became known as the State of Hawaii. It originally had no written language other than petroglyphical symbols. The modern Hawaiian alphabet, ka pīʻāpā Hawaiʻi, is a variety of the Latin alphabet. Hawaiian words end only in vowels, and every consonant must be followed by a vowel. The Hawaiian alphabetical order has all of the vowels before the consonants, as in the following chart.
Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu Hh Kk Ll Mm Nn Pp Ww ʻ
/a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ /h/ /k~t/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /p/ /v~w/ /ʔ/
This writing system was developed by American Protestant missionaries during 1820–1826. It was the first thing they ever printed in Hawaiʻi, on January 7, 1822, and it originally included the consonants B, D, R, T, and V, in addition to the current ones (H, K, L, M, N, P, W), and it had F, G, S, Y and Z for "spelling foreign words". The initial printing also showed the five vowel letters (A, E, I, O, U) and seven of the short diphthongs (AE, AI, AO, AU, EI, EU, OU).
In 1826, the developers voted to eliminate some of the letters which represented functionally redundant allophones (called "interchangeable letters"), enabling the Hawaiian alphabet to approach the ideal state of one-symbol-one-sound, and thereby optimizing the ease with which people could teach and learn the reading and writing of Hawaiian. For example, instead of spelling one and the same word as pule, bule, pure, and bure (because of interchangeable p/b and l/r), the word is spelled only as pule.
Interchangeable B/P. B was dropped, P was kept.
Interchangeable L/R. R was dropped, L was kept.
Interchangeable K/T. T was dropped, K was kept.
Interchangeable V/W. V was dropped, W was kept.
A modern Hawaiian name for the symbol (a letter) which represents the glottal stop is ʻokina (ʻoki 'cut' + -na '-ing'). It was formerly known as ʻuʻina ('snap'.
For examples of the ʻokina, consider the Hawaiian words Hawaiʻi and Oʻahu (often simply Hawaii and Oahu in English orthography). In Hawaiian, these words can be pronounced [hʌˈʋʌi.ʔi] and [oˈʔʌ.hu], and can be written with an ʻokina where the glottal stop is pronounced.
As early as 1823, the missionaries made some limited use of the apostrophe to represent the glottal stop, but they did not make it a letter of the alphabet. In publishing the Hawaiian Bible, they used it to distinguish koʻu ('my') from kou ('your').In 1864, William DeWitt Alexander published a grammar of Hawaiian in which he made it clear that the glottal stop (calling it "guttural break") is definitely a true consonant of the Hawaiian language. He wrote it using an apostrophe. In 1922, the Andrews-Parker dictionary of Hawaiian made limited use of the opening single quote symbol, called "reversed apostrophe" or "inverse comma", to represent the glottal stop. Subsequent dictionaries have preferred to use that symbol. Today, many native speakers of Hawaiian do not bother, in general, to write any symbol for the glottal stop. Its use is advocated mainly among students and teachers of Hawaiian as a second language, and among linguists.
Not sure if all that helps any at all? I actually had to read through most of it twice to fully understand. Just a quick comment, the glottal stop thingy. Is basically when you bounce the back of your tongue off your uvula and it makes a sort of pause in sound. So Hawaii sounds like Hawai-EE. So basically for all the grief the English language takes for how to properly spell and pronounce words because of the way they are written, they tried to fix those issues with the Hawaiian language....yet we still managed to push our American ways into their language and screw it up. Oh well, three more weeks until Christmas and then I wont have to listen to this dreadful music any more.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Black Friday
On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen,
OK, I'm up and I'm going Blitzen!
It has many names, no matter what you want to call it, or your company wants to call it. Blitz, DAT, Day After Sale, Door Buster or Black Friday...What it means to retailers is pure MONEY, what it means to retail workers is PURE HELL.
But WHY does it have so many names? Blitz is a pretty simple one for football fans. Defenses Blitz....just like the hoards of shoppers when they enter a freshly opened door! Thus the special name Wal-Mart gives to their sale. DAT=Day after Thanksgiving...DUH! The others are again pretty simple....but Black Friday? Huh?
Jumping into the research I have found MANY explanations and a few of them from way out in the outers realms of believable. The City Desk website claims that it all started with a Salesman named Mr. Black that was so awesome at his job that his boss nicknamed the day after him when he died one year on the day after Thanksgiving when he got off work...I'm calling BS there.
Another commonly accepted explanation is that the day after Thanksgiving is the first day that retailers begin to show profits. Since accountants used to notate deficits or losses in the books in red ink and then profits were recorded in Black ink that led the holiday shopping season, which is very profitable, to be the beginning of the season for retailers to make profits. Makes sense to an extent, but with the Big Box retailers such as Wal-Mart becoming so successful they generally show profits all year long.
Historically Black Friday refers to the Gold Plummet of 1869. When the Federal Government sold a significant amount of gold on September 24th and caused the market to fall. But that's hardly relevant for our purposes.
Supposedly, Philadelphia was the origins of the Black Friday moniker, where it applied to the vehicle and pedestrian traffic on the day after Thanksgiving. Not sure why or what that is supposed to mean, but the day is right anyway?
I'm saying that it refers to the cold, black hearted way in which we treat each other on this day while out trying to get the best deals on things all over town....but that's just me.
Now in honor of Thanksgiving, I have another video for you to enjoy. I dedicate this one to my Turkey Trey and I'll add.....Nope!
OK, I'm up and I'm going Blitzen!
It has many names, no matter what you want to call it, or your company wants to call it. Blitz, DAT, Day After Sale, Door Buster or Black Friday...What it means to retailers is pure MONEY, what it means to retail workers is PURE HELL.
But WHY does it have so many names? Blitz is a pretty simple one for football fans. Defenses Blitz....just like the hoards of shoppers when they enter a freshly opened door! Thus the special name Wal-Mart gives to their sale. DAT=Day after Thanksgiving...DUH! The others are again pretty simple....but Black Friday? Huh?
Jumping into the research I have found MANY explanations and a few of them from way out in the outers realms of believable. The City Desk website claims that it all started with a Salesman named Mr. Black that was so awesome at his job that his boss nicknamed the day after him when he died one year on the day after Thanksgiving when he got off work...I'm calling BS there.
Another commonly accepted explanation is that the day after Thanksgiving is the first day that retailers begin to show profits. Since accountants used to notate deficits or losses in the books in red ink and then profits were recorded in Black ink that led the holiday shopping season, which is very profitable, to be the beginning of the season for retailers to make profits. Makes sense to an extent, but with the Big Box retailers such as Wal-Mart becoming so successful they generally show profits all year long.
Historically Black Friday refers to the Gold Plummet of 1869. When the Federal Government sold a significant amount of gold on September 24th and caused the market to fall. But that's hardly relevant for our purposes.
Supposedly, Philadelphia was the origins of the Black Friday moniker, where it applied to the vehicle and pedestrian traffic on the day after Thanksgiving. Not sure why or what that is supposed to mean, but the day is right anyway?
I'm saying that it refers to the cold, black hearted way in which we treat each other on this day while out trying to get the best deals on things all over town....but that's just me.
Now in honor of Thanksgiving, I have another video for you to enjoy. I dedicate this one to my Turkey Trey and I'll add.....Nope!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Answering to comments
Cara,
Yeah, Cara, I had to include that recipe when I saw how it was written. It was quoted out of an article and I just copy/pasted it. At first I thought there was some weird typos, then when I looked closer I saw it was written "historically". It was too neat not to include.
chuck, Spam??? maybe?
BTW: How do you all like the new background? Thanks to my kids, Kenny and Cheyenne for doing the work on that. My conception, their execution. It will be available on T-shirts through Zazzle. LOL And Thanks to Blaster for sending me a turkey youtube LINK. I found the videos through that.
Yeah, Cara, I had to include that recipe when I saw how it was written. It was quoted out of an article and I just copy/pasted it. At first I thought there was some weird typos, then when I looked closer I saw it was written "historically". It was too neat not to include.
chuck, Spam??? maybe?
BTW: How do you all like the new background? Thanks to my kids, Kenny and Cheyenne for doing the work on that. My conception, their execution. It will be available on T-shirts through Zazzle. LOL And Thanks to Blaster for sending me a turkey youtube LINK. I found the videos through that.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Do you stuff or dress a turkey?
Do you stuff or dress a turkey? I ask this with Personal interest at stake. When I grew up we STUFFED the turkey and we made an extra pan of stuffing on the side. We LOVED the stuff. My dad had his own recipe and it was GREAT….Ok, turns out he was using the recipe off the bag and switching celery for celery salt…but it was awesome. Nothing like having that stuffing on a turkey sandwich the day after….MMMM. hot or cold it was GOOD stuff.
So that got me wondering, why do some people call it dressing. Some call it a regional thing, like SODA and POP?? If you are from the North, you have SOOOOOdas. Said in my best Fargo accent. If you are from the south you drink Pop. Midwesterners, we ask for Coke no matter where we are and it’s second nature to hear the reply….”is Pepsi OK?” Yeah, whatever. And where the hell did Slice suddenly come from? Do you ever see a place that has RC Cola on tap? I haven’t….But I digress.
Doing my usual research I find that technically it’s STUFFING, if and only if, it is cooked inside the bird, otherwise it is DRESSING. Too simple. Too Obvious….Too….(yeah folks, that means also and to the extreme. ) Now, health departments and restaurants really prefer dressing over stuffing, apparently there is some concern about the items in the stuffing thoroughly cooking and passing through the temperature danger zones(40-140) quick enough. Plus I am sure the juices from the bird add to the concern. The whole poultry concerns, ya know. They recommend putting a second thermometer in the stuffing as well as the bird. Please don’t use the mercury kind! That’s a whole other batch of dangers.
So, If you are going to stuff your bird, do it safely, always use protection. If you are dressing your bird, do it to the 9’s. Here’s a few Thanksgiving links to bring you some smiles.
So that got me wondering, why do some people call it dressing. Some call it a regional thing, like SODA and POP?? If you are from the North, you have SOOOOOdas. Said in my best Fargo accent. If you are from the south you drink Pop. Midwesterners, we ask for Coke no matter where we are and it’s second nature to hear the reply….”is Pepsi OK?” Yeah, whatever. And where the hell did Slice suddenly come from? Do you ever see a place that has RC Cola on tap? I haven’t….But I digress.
Doing my usual research I find that technically it’s STUFFING, if and only if, it is cooked inside the bird, otherwise it is DRESSING. Too simple. Too Obvious….Too….(yeah folks, that means also and to the extreme. ) Now, health departments and restaurants really prefer dressing over stuffing, apparently there is some concern about the items in the stuffing thoroughly cooking and passing through the temperature danger zones(40-140) quick enough. Plus I am sure the juices from the bird add to the concern. The whole poultry concerns, ya know. They recommend putting a second thermometer in the stuffing as well as the bird. Please don’t use the mercury kind! That’s a whole other batch of dangers.
So, If you are going to stuff your bird, do it safely, always use protection. If you are dressing your bird, do it to the 9’s. Here’s a few Thanksgiving links to bring you some smiles.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Cookies or Bakies?
Mmmmmm, It’s coming into winter here in the Midwest and that means BAKING or making cookies…wait…cookies? You bake them right? Shouldn’t they be bakies?
This was just a random smartass post I made on Facebook. You’ll realize as time goes by that I spend a LOT of time on Facebook and many of my random thoughts make their way to my profile.
So after I made the comment I decided to go and check it out. A quick little search through a basic search engine(BTW I HATE BING) brought me to an answer page. As it turns out that the origin of the word “cookie” is actually the Dutch word “koekje”. I don’t speak Dutch….so , how in the world did that end up as cookie? Looking at the pronunciation the Dutch “oe” sounds like the “oo” in English, so Koek is pretty simply; cook. The latter part is a little more difficult, the e at the end is like the e in butter and the j is more like the consonant letter y. So the “je” is like “yuh”. When you put it together you get Cook-Yuh.
So that’s the basics, but that’s not all. There’s more. The word “koekje” actually means small cake. Cookies are NOT cakes, the texture is different, the flavors are different. They aren’t cakes. I’m fat, I know this. Small Cakes? They would put a small amount of cake batter in an oven to test the oven temperature. So these small cakes that were made to test the oven temps were called Koekjes…Cookies.
In earlier American cookbooks, cookies were given no space of their own but were listed at the end of the cake chapter. They were called by such names as Jumbles, Plunkets, and Cry Babies. The names were extremely puzzling and whimsical
1796 - . In the 1796 cookbook American Cookery: or, The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Puff-pastes, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Custards and Preserves, and all kinds of Cakes, from the Imperial Plumb to plain Cake by Amelia Simmons, she includes two recipes for cookies. One simply called "Cookies" and the other called "Chriftmas Cookey.' This was the first cookbook authored by an American and published in the United States.
Cookies - One pound fugar boiled flowly in half pint of water, fcum well and cool, add 1 tea fpoon perlafh, diffolved in milk, then two and a half pounds of four, rub in 4 ounces of butter, and two large fpoons of finely powdered coriander feed, wet with above; make rolls half an inch thick and cut to the fhape of pleafe; bake fifteen or twenty minutes in a flack oven - good three weeks.
Chriftmas Cookery - To three pound of flour, fprinkle a tea cup of fine powdered coriander feef, rub in one pound of butter, and one and half pound fugar, diffolve one tea fpoonful of pearlath in a tea cup of milk, kneed all together well, roll three quarter of an inch thick, and cut or ftamp into fhape and fize you pleafe, bake flowly fifteen or twenty minutes; tho' hard and dry at firft, if put in an earthern pot, and dry cellar, or damp room, they will be finer, fofter and better when fix months old…….Taken from Whatscookingamerica.com
So technically they are “Bakies” since cookies are koekjes.
This was just a random smartass post I made on Facebook. You’ll realize as time goes by that I spend a LOT of time on Facebook and many of my random thoughts make their way to my profile.
So after I made the comment I decided to go and check it out. A quick little search through a basic search engine(BTW I HATE BING) brought me to an answer page. As it turns out that the origin of the word “cookie” is actually the Dutch word “koekje”. I don’t speak Dutch….so , how in the world did that end up as cookie? Looking at the pronunciation the Dutch “oe” sounds like the “oo” in English, so Koek is pretty simply; cook. The latter part is a little more difficult, the e at the end is like the e in butter and the j is more like the consonant letter y. So the “je” is like “yuh”. When you put it together you get Cook-Yuh.
So that’s the basics, but that’s not all. There’s more. The word “koekje” actually means small cake. Cookies are NOT cakes, the texture is different, the flavors are different. They aren’t cakes. I’m fat, I know this. Small Cakes? They would put a small amount of cake batter in an oven to test the oven temperature. So these small cakes that were made to test the oven temps were called Koekjes…Cookies.
In earlier American cookbooks, cookies were given no space of their own but were listed at the end of the cake chapter. They were called by such names as Jumbles, Plunkets, and Cry Babies. The names were extremely puzzling and whimsical
1796 - . In the 1796 cookbook American Cookery: or, The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Puff-pastes, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Custards and Preserves, and all kinds of Cakes, from the Imperial Plumb to plain Cake by Amelia Simmons, she includes two recipes for cookies. One simply called "Cookies" and the other called "Chriftmas Cookey.' This was the first cookbook authored by an American and published in the United States.
Cookies - One pound fugar boiled flowly in half pint of water, fcum well and cool, add 1 tea fpoon perlafh, diffolved in milk, then two and a half pounds of four, rub in 4 ounces of butter, and two large fpoons of finely powdered coriander feed, wet with above; make rolls half an inch thick and cut to the fhape of pleafe; bake fifteen or twenty minutes in a flack oven - good three weeks.
Chriftmas Cookery - To three pound of flour, fprinkle a tea cup of fine powdered coriander feef, rub in one pound of butter, and one and half pound fugar, diffolve one tea fpoonful of pearlath in a tea cup of milk, kneed all together well, roll three quarter of an inch thick, and cut or ftamp into fhape and fize you pleafe, bake flowly fifteen or twenty minutes; tho' hard and dry at firft, if put in an earthern pot, and dry cellar, or damp room, they will be finer, fofter and better when fix months old…….Taken from Whatscookingamerica.com
So technically they are “Bakies” since cookies are koekjes.
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