#snack foods :)

[goshyesvintageads]

General Mills Inc, 1967

[kply-industries]

This actor in the foreground just randomly gave an incredibly loopable performance.

[petermorwood]

Crisps / Chips again

Associated with this post, here's an artefact, two anecdotes and an opinion.

The artefact is a slightly dented but still remarkably airtight "Charles Chips" tin.

It was bought, full, many years ago from the Vermont Country Store, from whom we subsequently bought reflll packs - given their size, "sacks" would be more accurate - which were shipped to Ireland in sturdy cardboard boxes.

VCS no longer carry Charles Chips in either tin or refill. I know. I checked. BUT...

The Charles Chips company, which per Wikipedia was doing just fine in 1990 then got sold and went bankrupt twice in less than three years (gosh!) is Back In Business, and note has been taken, with considerable interest - oh, you bet - that they do international shipping...

*****

Anecdote No. 1 is from when @dduane lived in Bala Cynwyd near Philadelphia, in what was known as "The House of Dangerously Single Women" (ahem). She tells me that the household used to get Charles Chips delivered to the door about twice a week, by the company's own vans.

Speaking as a long-time crisp fan, I found that both very neat and a source of mild envy. :->

Anecdote No. 2 is from 30-ish years ago, when we were in New York for something or other and, being rather jetlagged with our internal food clocks out of whack, did our usual thing and went out for a walk.

Curiously enough, this involved visiting several food stores and supermarkets where we bought a lot of Interesting Foreign or Much Missed (i.e. American, in both instances) junk food for grazing on back in our hotel room.

In one of them DD was about to lay claim to a huge bag of Wise potato chips (its bag would have been the design in the middle)...

...while nattering to one of the shop staff how much she missed them. He told her that a new delivery was expected in about 20 minutes and if she wanted to wait, she'd get much fresher chips.

And So It Came To Pass.

Well done, that guy!

*****

Finally, while Saratoga Springs may have been where potato crisps / chips were popularised, standardised, commercialised or whatever, it's definitely not where they were invented.

Even the oft-repeated "creation myth" frequently has its hard-to-please celebrity demanding to have his potatoes sliced and fried really thin "The Way I Had Them In France" - which kinda sorta suggests they were, um, being made there just like that well before the Saratoga thing happened.

Myths are okay, even marketing myths - so long as they're recognised as myths and not shilled as true by places with reputations like the Smithsonian.

*****

It's a bit like the still-current nonsense about spices being used in medieval kitchens to disguise bad meat. As far as I've been able to find out, this originated with a historian called J. C. Drummond in the late 1930s - yup, just before World War Two - simply because he didn't know his period terminology.

"Green" meant fresh - even nowadays, an inexperienced or immature person is "green" - so green cheese was newly made, and green meat was newly slaughtered, unaged and consequently tough and flavourless.

Just ask any steak fan the difference between a fresh steak and a 30-day dry aged one.

Drummond, in his overspecialised-scholarship wisdom, assumed that "green venison" meant meat which had gone off, and that a recipe to improve it with spices was to cover the bad smell and taste.

In fact it was somewhere between a marinade and a rub, meant to improve the tenderness and flavour of fresh meat as if it had aged for a while, thus shortening the waiting time between killing a beast and getting it to the table of a hungry court.

As I've said before, it's always easier for no-proofs-given pop history to dismiss medieval people as (insert derogatory observation here) than take the time needed to explain why and how they in their time were not that different to us in ours.

*****

PS: when looking for that previously posted stuff about green meat I found a post where, with even less evidence than Saratoga Springs inventing crisps, a Brit poster claimed Brits invented curry.

Snrk.

Among other more or less pertinent observations, I mentioned that what Brits invented was BRITISH curry, and anyone who has read "Nanny Ogg's Cookbook" will know what I meant by that... :->

[ultimatebumblebee]

Things I've eaten since Wednesday (now Sunday) that are actively ruining my life:

3 small pickles

1-2 chugs pickle juice

2 Sonic All American dogs

Sonic cheddar peppers

Low level spicy ramen

2 gas station hot dogs

Crawfish for which the seasoning bag, and I quote, "broke inside the pot" followed by, "the second batch stewed longer"

A hard cider

Things that feel like they are not helping:

Intermittent tums and pepto pills.

Things I brought home and need to eat today:

More goddamn crawfish

[foodandfolklore]

Kitchen Witch Tips; Stale Marshmallows

Has ever happened to you before: You get a craving for something sweet, but you don't want to make a huge mess in your kitchen baking. Then you remember you have half a bag of marshmallows in your cupboard. Combine that with some butter and cereal you have on hand, you got a satisfying sweet treat.

But, oh dear...those marshmallows are not as soft as they once were. They've gone stale. Heating them in a pan or microwave will not allow them to puff up like they are supposed to. How will you get your cereal treats now?

After you try heating your marshmallows with your butter, and the butter melts but the mallows don't puff (about a minute and a half in the microwave) Try adding 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and a pinch of salt, mix and heat again.

The baking soda should give your marshmallows some needed fluff. Now you can mix in your Cereal.

In the future, try storing your leftover marshmallows in an air tight container or jar.

Marshmallows have good properties for Happiness, Fun, Creativity, Childhood, and Sticking Together.

[itsbiscuittime]

I thought this was a post for a few seconds and had myself a good laugh about how stupid that concept is. Also I can't believe they pulled a "planters" and killed Chester.

[clatterbane]

Minor snack haul from another trip to Bazaar this evening. I actually showed some restraint, including picking the smallest thing of halva that I saw.

Somewhat amusingly, that Bombay mix (from Bradford) was one of my least favorite brands when we were still in the UK. But, I couldn't resist grabbing a bag when I spotted it today.

Think I may have to grab a little of both snacks in a few minutes. I already have some coffee, so the tea can wait.

[malecaptions]

[hempseeeeds]

Yes, it's a bit absurd and frustrating when the "serving sizes" for snack foods, that nutritional information percentages are based on, are counterintuitive to both the package-size, and automatic cultural associations deduced from the biteability of a single Chip or cookie, and depictions of people in Media eating the Same snack foods in larger serving sizes, BUT! There is a way to make the actual prescribed serving sizes, and abiding by them, feel at least a little more satisfying, than taking a scarce half-a-handful out of the large package, stuffing it in your mouths all in one Go, and then being sad it's over as soon as you've chewed and swallowed, and that method is called PRESENTATION! Here goes:

Get yourself some dishes that hold a Volume of half a Cup or less. Like Sushi sauce-bowls, or (wide) Espresso cups, or Dollhouse Ceramics (such as the IKEA DUKTIG plates-and-bowls Set, or some Thrift Store donor's late Mom's childhood Tea Party set that is missing a single saucer)

Open the multi-serving package of snack food.

If the recommended serving size is given only by weight, use a scale to Portion one serving into a dish, and round UP rather than down. (If it says "three whole Crackers" or "two whole Cookies", count out those)

Put a seal-clip or Something on the package, and place it Out of sight.

Use your Phone camera to Take a picture of the plated snack food. This is mostly for reference to remember what an official serving of this snack food looks like in this particular dish, so you can do it by eye rather than with a scale by the Third time, but If you have time to halfheartedly experiment with light and with arranging the food a certain way, that will give you insight into whether or Not food-photography is a Thing you can potantially get pleasure from, which is good to know, whether or not you end up sharing those pictures with anyone.

Take your tiny snack dish into another room with you,(sit down,) Look at it for the duration of one slow inhale and exhale, and then eat.

When you have finished the Last piece, make the concious choice to get yourself another official-serving-size serving (or Not), by taking the Same dish into the room where the package is, plate the Same amount of food as before, put the package away, and only eat it once you're Back in the other room.

If you have Kids, or babysitting-charges, it's good for the development of their relationship to food, to serve them all of the "unhealthy" snack foods and some of the "healthy" snack foods ONLY in this way, and give them second servings only If they explicitly ASK for it.

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Just in case you've never seen a monkey run …… （a monkey in qianling mountain黔灵山 in china)

[rootzorganicsuae]

Looking for a healthy snack? Try Rootz Organic dry fruits! Packed with nutrients, free from additives, and naturally sweet, our dried fruit is the perfect snack for any time of day. Whether you're fueling up after a workout or adding flavor to your meals, Rootz Organic offers a wholesome, delicious option. Make the switch today and snack smarter with Rootz Organic.

[thoughtportal]

Gentrified food snacks

[fallingtowers]

dude not to be a bitch but starting my new job and spending every day surrounded by normies is really giving me a good long look at how fucked up the rhetorical landscape surrounding food and fatness is. the other week i overheard a guy confidently saying that the body doesn't actually require sugar and that if it wasn't for our dastardly perfidious taste buds we'd never crave it(???). just now my manager showed me this video of some dude scaremongering about pringles by saying that their ratio of sugar/salt/fat is CALCULATED to TRICK THE BRAIN into WANTING MORE. bitch you mean they made an effort to make their commercially produced snacks taste good? somebody phone the fucking fire department

[toyastales]

Pizza Grilled Cheese

[mad-scientist-fox]

I need to get back to trying these with chickpeas. I have some issues with the texture, but maybe mine wasn't crunchy enough?

Anyway, you can do the same with tofu. They are better if you freeze and defreeze before doing this, because they are more firm, but you can just separate into chunks, oil, cornstarch and then you fry, bake, airfry them until golden. I love it as a snack! I eat a lot of tofu by myself with this.

I improved the recipe by adding spices to the cornstarch (salt, pepper, cumin, parika) and doing the freeze and defreeze cycle twice. It means it takes longer to be able to actually prepare the tofu, but I do it in batches. Even scared my local oriental market by buying 3 kg of tofu at once.

If you are really in a hurry for a good snack, you can do without freezing. Just get out of the moisture with paper towels and something heavy on top of the tofu to draw out the moisture.

The first time I made crispy roasted chickpeas (for the stew), I said to my husband, “Now that I know how easy these are, I’m unstoppable.”

The second time I made them (for a salad topping), I said, “Do you want any more of these to snack on? I might have some more, but I don’t know… Actually, these are so easy I can’t afford not to eat them.”

Honestly? Life-changing snack. Go fuck myself. Wonderful chickpea revolution. Here’s what you do: dry these beans as much as you can (strainer, then paper towels), toss with olive oil and salt, bake on tray at 200c for like 30 minutes, stirring 2~3 times. Sprinkle with delicious spices, or pop directly in mouth.

(Also, the salad dressing is yogurt, tahini, roasted garlic, lemon, and olive oil, blended roughly with a fork and left in the fridge a few hours. It is also delicious.)