"Interesting" Facts About Crisco

Crisco has been a staple in American pantries for many years. It's used for cooking, frying, baking, and making a flaky pie crust. It came about as a matter of necessity. William Proctor, a candle maker, and his brother-in-law James Gamble, a soap maker, teamed-up in 1837 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Competition was fierce, and the men knew they had to take huge steps if their company was going to survive. Read this informative article and find out some more interesting facts about Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening.


The Birth of Crisco

Proctor & Gamble christened their all-vegetable shortening Krispo. Problems with trademarks made them change it to Cryst which came from Crystalized Cottonseed Oil. Since "Chryst" was too close to "Christ", they finally changed the name once-and-for-all to Crisco. Crisco made its market debut in 1911. Selling their product to housewives who habitually cooked and baked with butter and lard was going to be no easy task.


Successful Advertising

Proctor & Gamble marketed their all-vegetable shortening as being healthier than animal fats, cheaper than butter, and easier to digest. The company published and gave away cookbooks full of recipes using Crisco. Jewish cooks were the first to switch over to the imitation lard.

The War Effort and Other Miscellaneous Facts

Another advantage of using Crisco was that it was easy to store in its tin can because it didn't need refrigeration. During World War II, it was packaged in glass jars.

The J.M. Smucker Company acquired the Crisco brand in 2002. In 2007, the company announced that it now contained zero grams trans-fat per serving.

Resources

http://www.crisco.com/About_Crisco/History.aspx

http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/rise-and-fall-of-crisco

Easy Blueberry Muffins

me and my mom have been working on another muffin recipe, and I think I finally got it :-) These are super simple little guys, that would probably work with any fruit inside, but I've been making them with defrosted blueberries. Enjoy!


Add to bowl:
4 eggs
2 tbsp ghee (which is casein-free), melted
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
(or 4 tbsp of either ghee or olive oil, but this is my favorite combo)
1/8 tsp chocolate raspberry liquid syrup
1/4 cup honey

Beat with mixer.

Add:
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat again.

Let it rest for about 5 minutes.

Add:
1.5 cups of defrosted blueberries

Fold blueberries into batter.

Fill unbleached muffin cups almost full.

Bake at 350 for about 24 minutes.

Makes about 9 muffins

Bacon

Bacon....us Muslims cannot eat bacon but be honest......we do want to eat it. But guess what turkey and beef bacon are there for us, now i have gathered a couple of bacon creations which you bacon lovers would love or as bacon mania in which an ordinary, underappreciated breakfast meat becomes an Internet meme, a rebellious anti-foodie statement and fodder for cookbooks, blogs, highly publicized events and numerous cheesy — or should we say meaty — novelty products. Although some may argue that the movement’s time has long come and gone, we’ve noticed that interest in “meat candy” has picked up steam again, thanks in part to a new bacon-heavy menu at a certain chain of popular diners. Is bacon mania back with an artery-clogging vengeance? We think so.

1.Bacon popcorn

Popped in bacon grease and topped with shredded Parmesan cheese, the popcorn is more about the essence of bacon than the literal product, but it’s just as addicting.

2. Bacon Ice cream

Bacon ice cream: sweet and savory in one dish.

3. Bacon pudding

This one started as a joke. A friend rolled her eyes at the suggestion bacon could be put in anything. Thus I started the search for a sweet bacon pudding.

A quick search for “bacon pudding” brings up savory dishes from the U.K.  Peace Love & Chocolate’s Sizzlin’ Bacon in Shot Glasses with Maple Syrup Pudding isn’t exactly a bacon-flavored pudding, but the combination of rich maple and salty bacon is too good to resist.

Who doesn’t love edible utensils — particularly when they are made out of bacon?

Wanna try the pudding thing? See ya on the next post for the recipe!

Totally Real Fast Food Products from Overseas and Singapore

Sure, America’s the land that introduced the Double Down (a “sandwich” that uses fried chicken breasts in lieu of a bun) and the McGriddle (a “breakfast sandwich” that uses syrup-injected pancakes in lieu of a bun) to the world. When it comes to absurd fast food, however, it’s not the only game in town. So the next time Mr. Foodie gets all up in your grill and tells you that America’s the sole source of bad grub on this planet, remind him that, much like Madea, the international eateries on this list can do bad all by themselves. (Yes, I just made a Tyler Perry reference – what of it?)

Bacon Potato Pie from McDonald’s

Crazy Japs!

Bacon. Potato. Pie. Three things all humans love. Mix them together and what do you have? Diabetes-inducing bliss. There’s just one little problem, though. The only place it can be purchased is Japanese McDonald’s. Why, God? WHY?!?

Winter Double King Pizza from Pizza Hut

Another crazy thing from the Japs!

Ahem. Mayo, crab, shrimp, beef, onion, broccoli, corn, egg and potato…all piled on a damn pizza. Enveloped in a shrimp and mayonnaise stuffed crust. Only one brain trust could have come up with something this outrageous: Pizza Hut Japan. (Although, one could argue that Pizza Huts in the Middle East have now trumped Japanese Pizza Huts in terms of ridiculousness, what with their recent introduction of the Crown Crust Burger Pizza, a pizza whose crust is – you guessed it – made out of cheeseburgers.)

McRice from McDonald’s

Healthy yet disgusting.

Despite the fact that it’s an official sponsor of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, McDonald’s is NOT athlete quality food. Which is why when McDonald’s restaurants in the Philippines decided to place their burgers on health-conscious rice cakes instead of buns, they failed miserably. Give the people what they want, dammit!

Wasabi Cheese Donut from Dunkin’ Donuts

Didn't knoow we had these.

Donuts are sweet. Wasabi is spicy. Cheese...uh...isn’t spicy, but it sure as hell isn’t sweet. What gives, Singapore Dunkin' Donuts? Do you exclusively manufacture edible brain benders, or what?

Seen any other delightfully absurd international fast-foodstuffs lately? Let me know in the comments!