What's in a Name, Denny's

Richard Jezak and Harold Butler founded Denny's as Danny's Donuts in Lakewood, California in 1953. It expanded to twenty restaurants by 1959, when the chain was renamed Denny's to avoid confusion with another chain, Coffee Dan's.

KKR bought 47% of Denny's among others from owner TW corporation. Eventually, Denny's operations dominated the parent company so much that the Flagstar Companies changed its name to Denny's Corporation.

Russian Service

While most of our Western food flavors originate in French cuisine, the style of service we are all most used to – individual plates pre-filled and served – is called Russian service, and it originates from the table of the Czar.

In French cuisine it was traditional for all food to be prepared in advance and displayed in huge amounts on side tables. It was an extremely lavish affair, but the end result of this was that much food was wasted and wasn't always hot.

Russian service, prepared with the expertise of the chef in the kitchen, caught on very fast and was so convenient that it is now the primary way we dish our meals at home.

Grandfather Clocks

The name for the free standing tall clocks is actually newer than you might think. In 1875, an American songwriter named Henry Clay Work was visiting England. While there, he checked in to the George Hotel in North Yorkshire.

In the hotel’s lobby was a large pendulum clock. The clock had stopped many years prior and just sat in the lobby as decoration.

He was told a long made-up story how the clock stopped when the previous owner of the inn passed away. Work went home and penned a song about the clock. The song was called “My Grandfather’s Clock”, released in 1876.

You might remember the familiar lyrics of the children's song.

My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor; It was taller by half than the old man himself, Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born, And was always his treasure and pride;  but it stopp’d short – never to go again – When the old man died.

CHORUS
Ninety years without slumbering (tick, tick, tick, tick),
His life seconds numbering (tick, tick, tick, tick),
It stopp’d short – never to go again – When the old man died.
etc.

Happy Friday

"He who learns, but does not think, is lost. He who thinks, but does not learn, is in great danger." Confucius

I think I have learned to have a Happy Friday!

Popinator

Who said there are no new inventions. Here is one to benefit mankind. It is a machine that shoots a popcorn into your mouth when you say the word, "Pop." It uses a sound system to determine your direction and distance and shoots one kernel of popped popcorn directly into your mouth. LINK Not sure if you can actually buy one, but it is fun to watch.

Kitchen Tip

Glue a few magnets under your upper kitchen cabinets to attach your frequently used metal items, like kitchen scissors, mixing spoon, etc. It keeps them handy, but out of site and reduces drawer clutter.

Tooth Patch

The Japanese have developed a tooth-patch made of an ultra thin bio-compatible film made from hydroxyapatitte, the main mineral in tooth enamel. The microscopically thin film can coat individual teeth to prevent decay or to make them appear whiter. It could also mean an end to sensitive teeth. They are aiming to create artificial enamel.

Researchers can create film 0.00016 inches thick by firing lasers at compressed blocks of hydroxyapatite in a vacuum to make individual particles pop out. These particles fall onto a block of salt which is heated to crystallize them, before the salt stand is dissolved in water. The film is scooped up onto filter paper and dried, after which it is robust enough to be picked up by a pair of tweezers. The sheet has a number of minute holes that allow liquid and air to escape from underneath to prevent forming bubbles when it is applied onto a tooth.

The film is currently transparent, but it is possible to make it white for use in cosmetic dentistry.

It might be five years before the film could be used in practical dental treatment such as covering exposed dentin, the sensitive layer underneath enamel, but it could be used cosmetically within three years. The technology is currently patented in Japan and South Korea and applications have been made in the United States, Europe, and China.

Origin of Chocolate Milk

Chocolate milk was not just a clever ploy built up by a marketing team as a a way to sell more milk to children. In fact, Sir Hans Sloane first created chocolate milk over 350 years ago. He had tasted chocolate while in the West Indies, but said it made him nauseous, so he added milk and sugar to make it more appealing. By 1700, people would often go to 'chocolate houses' instead of coffee houses, where they could choose from a range of different chocolate milk mixes.

Farenheit Scale

Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). In 1717, Fahrenheit became a glassblower, making barometers, altimeters, and thermometers. After 1718 he was a lecturer in chemistry. At that time, temperature scales were not standardized and everybody made up their own scale. He originally copied another thermometer, but adjusted his scale so that the melting point of ice would be 32 degrees, body temperature 96 degrees, and water boil at about 212 degrees. 180 degrees made for even spacing of his scale.

Other scientists later refined it to make the freezing point of water exactly 32 °F, and the boiling point exactly 212 °F. That is how normal human oral body temperature became 98.6°.

The Fahrenheit scale was replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries during the 1960s and 1970s when converting to metrics. Fahrenheit remains the official scale of the United States, Cayman Islands, Belize (by Guatemala), Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Scientists use Celsius in all countries.

The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales intersect at −40° (−40 °F and −40 °C represent the same temperature).