Linny's Kitchen: Happy Friday!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday to ALL!! For some reason this week seems to have been much longer than others. It must be let down after the hectic holiday season. None the less, I cannot wait to get home at 5:05 tonight throw a log on the fire and wait for the flakes to fall with a warm mug of hot cocoa.
The Munroe Dairy Chocolate milk makes the best and richest hot chocolate every. Just add a few marshmallows and there you have one of the best comforting drinks to be had, it is like getting a big warm hug with every sip.

Here are some great fun facts about cocoa and chocolate from cocoajava.com:

Chocolate syrup was used to represent blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "Psycho" a scene which took 7 days to shoot.

Once upon a time, money did grow on trees. Cocoa beans were used as currency by the Mayan and Aztec civilizations over 1400 years ago. When they had too much money to spend, they brewed the excess into hot chocolate drinks.
The Swiss consume more chocolate per capita than any other nation on earth. That's 22 pounds each compared to 11 pounds per person in the United States.
Rumor has it that Napoleon carried chocolate with him on all his military campaigns for a quick energy snack.
The word "chocolate" comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl", which means "bitter water".
The amount of caffeine in chocolate is lower than most people think. A 1.4 ounce piece of milk chocolate contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee. There is an average of 6 mg. of caffeine in both an ounce of milk chocolate and a cup of decaffeinated coffee, while a cup of regular coffee contains between 65 and 150 mg. of caffeine

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Linny's Tip - Cooking and Storing Potatoes

Potatoes should be kept in a cool, dark place with good ventilation. The ideal storage temperature is 45 to 50ºF. At these temperatures, potatoes will keep for several
weeks. But don't store potatoes in the refrigerator! When kept below 40ºF, potatoes develop a sweet taste, due to the conversion of starch to sugar. This increased sugar causes potatoes to darken when cooked. If you store potatoes at room temperature, try to use them within a week or so.

Keep potatoes away from prolonged exposure to light, which causes them to turn green. This greening causes a bitter flavor. If potatoes develop green areas or start to sprout, just trim off these areas before using.

Always add potatoes to cold water to boil. This ensures that potatoes will cook evenly throughout.

Linny's Tip: Tomatoes

Did you know tomatoes are second in consumption to potatoes!

However, there is one important thing everyone should know about tomatoes and that is how to store them. Tomatoes do not like the cold at all. In fact when you keep them in the refrigerator they will become mealy and loose their robust flavor.

Instead store them in a cool dark place with their stem side down for ripe tomatoes. For those tomatoes that a not quite ripe leave them on a sunny window sill and soon they will turn bright red and juicy ready to honor any salad or BLT!