Crazy Random Food Facts

Hey everyone! I know everyone is starting to dive into the insanity of the holiday season. Lots of shopping, cooking, visiting, traveling, partying is underway. It seems to just be go, go, go from now until January. Has anyone else noticed that stores are crazy crowded, like the-week-before-Christmas-crowded lately?! Anyway, I thought I would write a fun, random post that you can read to give your brain a break from all the chaos going on around you.

Here are some crazy random food facts I’ve recently learned. Happy reading!

Hass Avocados

Avocado Currently 95% of avocados grown commercially in California, and 80% of all U.S. avocados, are descendants of one tree in California. That’s right, way back in 1926, Rudolph Hass planted what is now known as the “Mother Tree”, which grew the first Hass avocados! Another fun fact: Rudolph Hass was the first to file a patent on a tree. One more fun fact: I LOVE LOVE LOVE avocados!

100% Canned Pumpkin – True or False?!

Pumpkin In 2016, a rumor ran rampant online claiming that most canned pumpkin is not 100% pumpkin, even if the label claims it is. The rumor stated that most canned pumpkin is actually a concoction of various types of winter squashes, including butternut squash. However, that rumor has since been squashed (pun intended, LOL) and canned pumpkin is in fact pumpkin. BUT…90% of canned pumpkin sold in the U.S. is made from Dickinson pumpkins, which apparently aren’t as pretty as the pumpkins we use for display purposes. My takeaway: who cares?! Regardless what type of pumpkin it’s from, or even a mixture of winter squashes, it is delicious, easy to use, healthy, and versatile!!

Popsicles

Popsicles were invented by an 11-year-old in 1905! Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson left a cup filled with powdered soda, water, and a stirring stick on the porch overnight, causing the mixture to freeze. Ta-da! The popsicle was born. Hello brain-freeze!

Honey

Honey is bee vomit! Well, technically. We all know bees make honey, but do you know the actual process? Bees store nectar in their honey stomachs, also known as the crop – yes, they have a second stomach specifically to store nectar! Once the forager bees get back to the hive, they regurgitate the nectar in a processor bee’s mouth. The processor bees then store the nectar in their honey stomachs and regurgitate it to a bee that’s close to the honeycomb for storage. The bees then fan the stored honey with their wings which evaporates the excess water in the nectar. Wow, that’s a lot of work!

Ketchup

Fries with Ketchup Ketchup used to be used as medicine! Ketchup used to be a tomato-less sauce made of fish or mushrooms (gross!!). However, in 1834, Dr. John Cooke Bennet added tomatoes to ketchup (thank you, Doc!). This meant that ketchup now consisted of various vitamins and antioxidants, which he claimed could cure diarrhea, indigestion, jaundice and rheumatism. He even had the sauce made into extract of tomato pills!! Unfortunately, ketchup stopped being used as medicine in 1850 when copycats sold false tomato pills and made false claims about it curing everything under the sun. Sure goes great with French fries, though!

Rich Chocolate

Rich chocolate has a whole new meaning to me now, as chocolate was once used as currency! I know many people who wouldn’t mind getting paid in chocolate! From 1200-1521 (ya know, just a few years ago), Aztecs traded cacao and demanded people to pay taxes in cacao seeds! Love me some chocolate, but cash is what pays the bills today!

Nutmeg – A spice or a drug?!

Nutmeg If nutmeg is ingested in large doses, it can give people a hallucinogenic high, which can last one to two days. Why, you ask? Nutmeg contains myristicin, a natural compound that induces the same type of mind-altering effects as LSD. No worries, Dad, the apple pie that you love has just a bit of nutmeg in it!