Which Sandwich

The Earl of Sandwich is purportedly the first to put a slab of meat between two slices of bread.

The existence of the club sandwich comes from a cook named Danny Mears, who worked at the Saratoga Club House in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. during the 1800s.

During the 1920s, Reuben Kulakofsky, who was playing poker at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, ordered a sandwich with corned beef and sauerkraut. Bernard Schimme made the sandwich by draining the sauerkraut and mixing it with Thousand Island dressing then layering it with corned beef and Swiss cheese on dark rye bread. He then grilled the sandwich and served it with it a sliced kosher dill pickle and potato chips.

A French myth says croque monsieur was accidentally discovered in 1910 when some French workers left their lunch pails full of cheese and ham sandwiches too close to a hot radiator. The sandwich was originally made with ham and Gruyère cheese, later evolving into other variations like the the croque madame, the croque Provencal, the croque tartiflette, and the Monte Cristo (my favorite).

The grilled cheese sandwich was first widely eaten as a cheap meal during the US Great Depression, when cheese and bread were some of the least expensive food items.

In 1901, Julia David Chandler published the first known recipe for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Peanut butter is not widely consumed in Europe and is almost never mixed with jelly. In the US peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a staple.

Joe Lorenza added cheese to a popular chopped steak sandwich creating the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich during the 1940s.

The bacon chip butty is made with handfuls of French fries and large pieces of crispy bacon between two slices of soft buttered bread. It was originally considered a working-class meal and was served in English pubs. Yum!

The most likely story of the origin of the  New Orleans po' boy belongs to Clovis and Benjamin Martin, who had a restaurant on St. Claude Avenue during the 1920s. When streetcar drivers went on strike in 1929, the brothers created an inexpensive sandwich consisting of gravy and bits of roast beef on French bread that they served unemployed workers out of the back of their restaurant. A worker would come to get one and the restaurant employees would yell, “Here comes another poor boy.” which eventually transferred to the name of the sandwich, po’ boy.

Wordology, Lector

The word ‘lector’ usually makes us think of university lecturers and public speakers, but in the 1900s, a lector was actually a form of entertainment. A factory lector was employed to entertain workers in cigar factories by reading out loud, usually newspapers and sometimes novels. The profession started in Cuba, later becoming more prominent in New York and Florida.

Life in a cigar factory was mostly manual labor, such as rolling cigars by hand, so the lectors proved to be good for the morale of workers. The employees would pool money together to help pay the lector’s salary. Lectors had a huge influence on the workers, providing an education for them through their reading. Lectors were eventually replaced by radios during the 1920’s.

Expired Milk Dates

That date on the carton of milk could mean very different things depending on what US state you are in. Some states require a sell by date, which indicates the last day a store can legally sell the milk. It is calculated to give the consumer a reasonable amount of time to enjoy. Other states have a use by date that indicates the date milk is believed to be at peak flavor. For instance, milk cartons in Montana are labeled with a sell by date 12 days after pasteurization, Washington requires a use by date that is 21 days after pasteurization.

While the pasteurization of milk kills most of the harmful bacteria, precautions always need to be made by the consumer to keep the milk from going bad. One way to keep milk as fresh as possible is to keep it on a shelf, never in the door of your fridge, where temperature fluctuates the most.

Depending on whom you ask, the refrigerator temperature should be 34-38 °F or 38-40 °F. Warmer temperatures give bacteria more of a chance to develop.

One rule of thumb is that if you are properly refrigerating it, whole milk's expiration date is five days after the "sell-by" date. If it is non-fat, skim, or reduced fat, you will have a bit less time. Ultra pasteurized milk has a longer shelf life than other types of milk and can be left in the pantry until opened, and then it must be chilled.

Free Friday Thought

Happy Friday

Happiness is its own reward.

I plan to reward myself by having a Happy Friday!

Wordology, Gnurr

It is the official name of the lint that collects at the bottom of your pockets.

Meeting Minutes

Meeting minutes have nothing to do with time, but rather small, as in minute (my-newt). Minutes in this sense first appeared in the early 18th century, possibly directly from the Latin “minuta scriptura”, meaning small notes.

Minutes as in 'meeting notes' references condensing something, such as information down, as in the 'my-newt' pronunciation, not as in 'seconds, minutes, hours'.

Straight Teeth Talk

Though fillings do crack and decay over time, you rarely need all of them replaced at once. Some dentists claim that old silver fillings need to be removed for safety reasons, because they leech mercury, but that idea is a myth.

There is enough fluoride in our drinking water and in over-the-counter toothpastes to prevent cavities in most people, so additional fluoride from a dentist is additional cost, with little benefit.

Circadian Rhythms

These are physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow an approximately 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in an organism’s environment. The study of circadian rhythms is called chronobiology.

The master clock that controls circadian rhythms consists of a group of nerve cells in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN. The SCN contains about 20,000 nerve cells and is located in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain just above where the optic nerves from the eyes cross. SCN controls the production of melatonin, a hormone that makes us sleepy. When there is less light, like at night, the SCN tells the brain to make more melatonin so we get drowsy.

Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature, and other important bodily functions. They have been linked to various sleep disorders, including insomnia. Abnormal circadian rhythms have also been associated with obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder.

Clock genes contain instructions for making clock proteins, whose levels rise and fall in a regular cyclic pattern. This pattern in turn regulates the activity of the genes.

Many of the clock genes and proteins are similar across species, allowing researchers to make important findings about human circadian processes by studying the clock components of other organisms. They have identified genes that direct circadian rhythms in people, fruit flies, mice, fungi, bread mold, plants, and several other model organisms used for studying genetics.

Jet lag occurs when travelers suffer from disrupted circadian rhythms. When you pass through different time zones, your body’s clock will be different from your wristwatch. For example, if you fly in an airplane from California to New York, you 'lose' 3 hours of time. So when you wake up at 7:00 a.m., your body still thinks it is 4:00 a.m., making you feel disoriented. Your body’s clock will eventually reset itself, but this often takes a few days. My circadian clock tells me this is a Happy Friday.

Bacon’s Blood Balancing Bounty

Several university and medical center studies have shown that including bacon as a regular, moderate part of one’s diet, naturally works to lower the body's blood pressure and blood sugar levels, helping to prevent and / or alleviate the effects of diabetes, as well as heart disease, and stroke.

What's in a Name, Budapest

Óbuda united with Buda and Pest in 1873. Budapest is the capital and largest city of Hungary.

Pest is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two thirds of the city's territory. It is separated from Buda by the Danube River. In colloquial Hungarian, "Pest" is often used for the whole capital of Budapest. Harry Houdini was from Pest

Buda is the former capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and the western part Budapest. Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's complete territory and is mostly wooded and hilly. Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, and was first completed in 1265.


Obuda means old Buda and it is located on the western side of the city. It has a sculpture in the town square of people waiting for the rain to stop.

Adware, Malware, Phishing, Spyware, Trojan Horse, Virus, and Warez

These terms show up often, especially during the holidays when more people than ever are cruising the web for bargains. Here are a few descriptions to help you understand the lingo.

Adware is typically an application that shows users an excessive amount of advertising in return for providing a service of little value. There is a grey area from most anti-virus companies as to how to handle adware, because so many applications have begun to show ads.

Malware generally is an all-encompassing term used to describe any harmful program. This includes spyware, viruses, and phishing scams.

Phishing and spyware are closely related. They work by tricking users and sending user information to a third party. A phishing application or website will pretend to be from a trusted source to try and trick a person into entering personal information.

Spyware tries to hide itself from users. It is an application that reads user information and data without the user actually knowing it - and reporting it back to a third party. This includes keystroke loggers to steal passwords or credit card information.

A trojan horse is a specific type of virus. The app pretends to be something useful, or helpful, or fun while causing harm or stealing data. This term is often used to describe spyware and phishing attacks as well.

The term virus term has mostly been replaced by malware, although there is a subtle difference. Virus typically takes control of the operating system and either damages it, or uses it for its own purposes. An example might be sending emails to everyone in the email address book.

Warez typically refers to pirated or unlicensed software. The files are stolen from the real developers.

Bottom line - Adware is aggravating, but not usually harmful. Phishing and trojan horses wear masks and steal data, while spyware hides itself and steals data. Malware is the new all-encompassing term, except for Warez. Malware aggravates or steals from us while Warez steals from developers.