Most Important Crops

The order varies by study, but these are generally agreed to as the top ten crops harvested, not by revenue. Cannabis is the top revenue producing crop and sugar cane is the most popular.


They are, in order, Corn, Wheat, Rice, Potatoes, Cassava, Soybeans, Sweet potatoes, Sorghum, Yams, and Plantains.

Five Food Hacks

To cook potatoes evenly, drop in cool water, not hot. Hot water will make the outsides mushy and not cook the insides evenly. Allowing to water to warm up with the potatoes cooks the outside and inside evenly. Potatoes are more dense than veggies.

Heat the pan before cooking veggies. Preheating the pan and using a bit of olive oil keeps the veggies from sticking and helps them evenly brown without making them mushy.

Meat should never be tossed into a cold pan, in the oven or on the stovetop.

Slicing onions vertically is to slice along with the fibers of the onion. When you slice with the fibers, the onion pieces hold up a bit better as they cook. If you do not want them to retain the shape, cut along the side like circles or dice them and they will be more mushy.

Cakes should be light and airy and one way to help is to alternately mix in dry and wet ingredients. It is bubbles, unpopped and whole, that give an open crumb in cakes. When you are beating sugar into softened butter or when you are beating eggs into a froth, you are making bubbles. Adding dry ingredients keeps the bubbles from popping and makes for a light, airy cake. Dump and stir is better for more dense things, like brownies.

Seven Kitchen Tips

Microwave garlic cloves for 15 seconds and the skins slip off.
When working with dough, coat your with olive oil to prevent sticking.
Wrap celery in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator to keep for weeks.
Let raw potatoes stand in cold water for at least half an hour before frying to improve the crispness of french-fried potatoes.

Microwave lemons, limes, or oranges for 15 seconds in the microwave before squeezing them and you get twice as much juice.
After you drain pasta, while it’s still hot, grate some fresh Parmesan on top before tossing it with your sauce, so the sauce has more to stick to

Nine Ways to Keep Food Fresh Longer

• Put onions in pantyhose, and tie knots between onion - will last up to 8 months.
• Freeze green onions in a plastic bottle. Make sure the green onions are completely dry before storing or they will get freezer burn.
• Use a vinegar solution to make your berries last longer.
• Spray leftover guacamole with cooking spray before putting it back in the fridge.
• Store potatoes with apples to keep them from sprouting.
• Add a dab of butter to the cut side of cheese to keep it from drying out.
• Wrap celery, broccoli, and lettuce in tin foil before storing in the fridge.
• Keep ginger in the freezer.
• Keep mushrooms in a paper bag, not a plastic bag.

Spuds, Potatoes, and Fries

Among other definitions, a “spud” is a “sharp, narrow spade” used to dig up large rooted plants. Around the mid-19th century (first documented reference in 1845 in New Zealand), this implement began lending its name to the things it was often used to dig up, potatoes. This caught on throughout the English speaking world and this slang term for a potato is still common today.

The word “potato” comes from the Haitian word “batata”, which was their name for a sweet potato. Potatoes were grown about 2000 years ago in South America. This later came to Spanish as “patata” and eventually into English as “potato”. Potatoes were first introduced to Europe through the Spanish.

Exactly who introduced French fries to the world isn’t entirely known. Among the various theories, historical accounts indicate that the Belgians were possibly frying up thin strips of potatoes during the late 17th century. It was very common for the people to fry up small fish as a staple for their meals. However, when the rivers froze up thick enough, it was difficult to get fish. Instead of frying up fish in these times, they would cut up potatoes in long thin slices, and fry them up as they did the fish. Today, the Belgians still eat more French fries or Frites than any country in Europe.

The French originally thought potatoes caused various diseases. In fact, in 1748, the French Parliament even banned cultivation of potatoes as they were convinced potatoes caused leprosy. However, while in prison in Prussia, Antoine-Augustine Parmentier was forced to cultivate and eat potatoes and found the French notions about the potato weren’t true.

The French appeared to be the ones that spread fries to America and Britain and it, in turn, was the Americans, through fast food chains, that eventually popularly introduced them to the rest of the non-European world as 'French fries'. Because of this spread by American fast food chains, in many parts of the non-European world, 'French fries' are more often than not known as 'American fries'.

Nutmeg and Potatoes

Add just a dash of nutmeg to your next potato dish for a great taste.

Four More Uses for Potatoes

We all know that potato chips and french fries are natures almost perfect food, (next to bacon, of course). There are also more uses for potatoes you may enjoy.

Potatoes hold heat well, so warm one up and wrap it in a dishcloth and you have a great hot compress. Put a potato in the freezer for a while and you have a cold compress.

Cut a potato and rub on your hands to remove those stains from fresh berries. It the stains are extra tough, add some lemon juice to the potato.

Press a piece of raw cut potato against a cooking burn and it will soothe and remove the sting.

Mix some room temperature plain mashed potatoes with lemon juice and some milk for a soothing facial. Leave on your face for about 20 minutes and then rinse off to reveal soft skin.

Cut a potato in half and press the cut surface of a potato into the sharp edges of a broken light bulb. Unscrew the broken bulb with the potato. Don't forget to throw away the used potato with the broken bulb.