Food for Fun and Thought

Why is a Jack-o’-Lantern called a Jack-o’-Lantern?

October 28, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Stingy Jack and the Devil

The story goes that the Jack-O’-Lantern comes from a legend that goes back hundreds of years in Irish history.

It’s said that a miserable old drunk named Stingy Jack — who liked to play tricks on his family, friends, and even the Devil — tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. Stingy Jack then put crosses around the apple tree’s trunk so the Devil couldn’t get down — but made a bargain that if the Devil promised not to take Stingy Jack’s soul when he died he would remove the crosses and let the Devil down.

When Jack died, Saint Peter, at the pearly gates of Heaven, told him that he couldn’t enter Heaven because he was mean, cruel, and had led a miserable and worthless life. Stingy Jack then went down to Hell but the Devil wouldn’t take him in. Ultimate payback! Jack was scared and with nowhere to go he had to wander around in the darkness between Heaven and Hell.

Stingy Jack, Jack-o-Lanterns, and Halloween

Halloween, or the Hallow E’en in Ireland and Scotland, is short for All Hallows Eve, or the night before All Hallows. On All Hallows Eve the Irish made Jack-O’-Lanterns by hollowing out turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes, and beets and put lights in them to keep away both the evil spirits and Stingy Jack. In the 1800′s when Irish immigrants came to America, they discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve, and the pumpkin became the Jack-o’-lantern.

If You Want To Eat Your Pumpkin . . .

Jumping from legend to fact: pumpkins are Cucurbitaceae, a family of vegetables that includes cucumbers and melons. They are fat free and can be baked, steamed, or canned.

One cup of pumpkin has about 30 calories, is high in vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and other nutrients like folate, manganese, and omega 3′s. Pumpkin is filled with the anti-oxidant beta-carotene, which gives it its rich orange color. It can be used many ways and can be added to baked goods and blended with many foods. Pumpkin seeds are delicious and are a good source of iron, copper, and zinc.

Although pumpkin is low in calories, pumpkin seeds aren’t. They have 126 calories in an ounce (about 85 seeds) and 285 calories in a cup.

Adults — What Wine Will You Drink With Your Halloween Candy?

October 23, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Halloween candy isn’t only for kids. Neither are Halloween parties. So, if you’re an adult, why not have some beer, wine, or booze with your Halloween candy – whether it’s the candy you bought to give to hand out to trick or treaters or what you snagged from your kid’s collection.

There are many opinions about what beverages go well with what candy. The general consensus is that wine or beer should be sweeter than what you are eating which raises a Halloween candy pairing issue since all of the candy is pretty darn sweet.

Of course, there are many opinions. Here’s a synopsis of some of the recommendations:

Nerds go best with sparkling wines like champagne, proseco, cava, and sparkling rose.

Starburst calls for light reds such as Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Zweigelt or Gamay or sweet whites such as Reisling, Moscato, Malvasia.

The high acidity in Chenin Blanc off sets the sweetness in Jollyranchers.

Skittles also go well with the sweet whites or dry whites such as white table wine, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio.

The sweet creaminess of the yellow, orange, and white mellow crème kernels of Candy Corn can pair with sweet whites, rich whites such as Chardonnay, Marsanne, or Viognier, the sparkling wines, and Port. Or you can just keep shoving handfuls of them into your mouth without allowing time to sip!

KitKat and 3 Musketeers are lighter and fluffier candy and pair with sparkling wines and medium reds such as red table wine, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Grenache.

Try a Muscat with sugary Smarties.

Tootsie rolls stick to your teeth and pair well with the light reds.

Butterfingers go with the rich whites and the dessert wines such as late harvest ice wines, Sherry, Port, Tawny Port, and Ruby Port.

Twix also goes with the dessert wines and with the bold reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, Malbec, and Syrah. The sweetness of ice wines will likely taste delicious with the caramel, cookies, and chocolate in Twix.

The cherry undertones of Pinot Noir pair nicely with Twizzlers – you could even dunk!

Reese’s pieces, those wonderful bites of peanut butter and chocolate can go with the light reds, bold reds, and dessert wines.

Heath Bar (one of my all time favorites) goes well with the dessert wines.

M&Ms, while they’re melting in your mouth and not in your hands, can be washed down with the bold and medium reds. Try a red Zinfandel.

You can always depend on milk chocolate Hershey bars and of course they go with most wines, especially the rich and sweet whites and the light and medium reds.

With the more bitter Hershey’s Dark chocolate, try a red Syrah.

For the coconut lovers, the harsh tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon pair well with the dark chocolate and coconut in Mounds.

The strong, sweet, creamy taste of Port pairs quite well with chocolate, caramel, and peanuts like the combo found in Snickers and with classic Caramels.

Sour Patch Kids – maybe aptly named, don’t seem to pair well with anything except a puckering mouth, but you can try a bubbly NV Rosé.

If there are some caramel apples to bite into, the toastiness of caramel and butterscotch might pair well with Muscat or Gewürztraminer because the acidity of the white wines should stand up well to the sweetness of caramel. If you want to focus on the apple flavor, try ice wine, Sauternes, or a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc.

And why not pair a Grand Cru Bordeaux with a 100 Grand Bar?

Happy Halloween!

Candy Corn Trivia: 8 Sweet Things To Know

October 13, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

It’s prime candy corn time! Those little tri-colored triangles have celebrated over 130 birthdays and are still going strong. Here are 8 sweet things you probably never knew about candy corn:

1. Candy corn was created in the 1880s by the Wunderlee Candy Company. It was popular among farmers who loved the corn kernel shaped candy that looked different from a lot of other candy. The Goelitz Candy Company, famous for their candy corn, began selling their brand around 1900. They still make candy corn today, but their company name has changed to the Jelly Belly Candy Company (guess what else they make!).

Candy corn is over 130 years old. It’s a “mellow cream,” or a type of candy that’s made from corn syrup and sugar with a marshmallow kind of flavor. It tastes rich, but it’s actually fat-free.

The original three colors of candy corn — orange, yellow, and white — mimic a corn kernel, although each piece of candy is about three times the size of an actual kernel. The bottom of the triangular candy is yellow, it’s orange in the middle, and the pointy end is white.

Although 75% of the annual candy corn production is for Halloween, you can find it year round in varying holiday colors.

Indian corn has a chocolate brown wide end, orange center and pointed white tip, often available around Thanksgiving
Blackberry cobbler candy corn can be found in eastern Canada around Halloween
Reindeer corn, the Christmas variety, is red, green, and white
Cupid corn for Valentine’s Day is red, pink, and white
Bunny corn for Easter is only a two-color candy and comes with a variety of pastel bases (pink, green, yellow, and purple) with white tips.

Brach’s Candy Corn:

There are nineteen pieces of candy corn in a serving.
A serving has140 calories (7.4 calories per kernel), zero grams of fat, 70 mg of sodium, 36 grams of carbs, and no protein.
A large bag of Brach’s candy corn is 22 ounces and has about 300 pieces.
Ingredients in Brach’s candy corn: sugar, corn syrup, confectioner’s sugar glaze, salt, honey, dextrose, artificial flavor, gelatin, titanium dioxide color, yellow 6, yellow 5, red 3, blue 1, sesame oil.

According to the National Confectioners Association:

candy makers will produce nearly 35 million pounds of candy corn this year
this is equal to about 9 billion individual kernels of corn, enough to circle the moon nearly 21 times if laid end-to-end
candy corn is so popular that it has its own day: October 30 is National Candy Corn Day.

How candy corn is made:

Originally it was made by hand.
Sugar, water, and corn syrup were cooked into a slurry (a thin mud consistency) in large kettles. Fondant (a sweet, creamy paste made from corn syrup, sugar, and water) and marshmallow were whipped in to give it a smooth texture and a soft bite.
The hot mixture was poured into “runners,” or hand-held buckets that held 45 pounds of candy mixture. Men called “stringers” walked backwards as they poured the steaming mixture into trays coated with cornstarch and imprinted with kernel-shaped molds. They made three passes; one each for the orange, white and yellow colors.
Today, the recipe is much the same but production is mechanized. A machine fills trays of kernel-shaped holes with cornstarch to hold the candy in corn triangle shapes. The holes are partially filled with white syrup, then orange syrup, followed by yellow syrup. The mold is allowed to cool, the mixture hardens for about 24 hours, then a machine empties the trays, the kernels to fall into chutes, and finally the candy corn is glazed to make it shine.

Candy corn and candy corn flavor is big – you find it in drinks, bagels, cookies, and ice cream.

Nabisco has a limited-edition of candy-corn Oreos with a yellow-and-orange cream filling sandwiched between vanilla wafers.
There are also candy corn M&Ms with this description on Amazon: “Two classic candies join together to put a new spin on a traditional fall favorite. M&M’s candy corn white chocolate candies combine M&M’s chocolate candies and candy corn. In the distinctive orange, yellow and white candy corn colors, these bright candies will bring a festive and delicious approach to snacking and decorating this fall.”

A survey of Americans found:

8%think the whole piece of candy corn should be eaten at once
7% think you should be start eating at the narrow, white end 10.6% like to start eating at the wider yellow end

Count Your Cashews: How Many Nuts and Calories Are In a Serving?

September 12, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Nuts are amazing – they taste great and they’re full of fiber, nutrients, heart healthy fats, along with protein and, for most nuts, a minimal amount of carbohydrates. They’re a great addition to many dishes and they’re a delicious snack that can help tide you over until your next meal.

But, because nuts are loaded with fat (even though most of it is healthy fat, it’s still fat), it means they’re also high in calories. So, be careful of portions — a serving size of most nuts is one ounce. And, think twice about “dressed and spiced up” nuts like honey glazed, honey roasted, beer nuts, spiced (spices are often mixed with butter or oil), and nuts that have been candied.

Here’s some info to help you gauge how many nuts and calories are in a one-ounce serving:

49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
23 almonds, 169 calories
21 hazelnuts, 183 calories
18 cashews, 163 calories
19 pecans, 201 calories
14 English walnut halves, 185 calories
10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
39 peanuts (technically a legume, not a nut),dry roasted, 170 calories

What Do You Search For Through The Vending Machine Glass Window?

June 4, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Sooner or later you will likely have your next sharing moment with a vending machine: you share your money and the machine shares its calories.

Vending machines actually have a holy history. Around 215 BC the mathematician Hero invented a type of vending device that accepted bronze coins to dispense holy water. Vending eventually became economically viable In 1888 when the Adams Gum Company put gum machines on New York City’s elevated train platforms to dispense a piece of Tutti-Frutti gum for a penny.

Now they’re everywhere: down the hall from your hotel room, in train stations, and in just about every rest stop on the road. And, they call your name when you’re especially vulnerable – when you’re stressed, tired, bored, anxious, and your blood sugar is traveling south—all of which means the allure of sweet, fatty, and salty junk food is hard to overcome.

No Choice Is Perfect — Make the Best Choice for You

When a vending machine calls your name, choose wisely. There are good, better, and best choices to be made.

You can almost always find packages of nuts, or popcorn, or pretzels, or dried fruit.
Be careful of things with too much sugar, especially if you’re driving. A big time sugar hit may give you energy as your blood sugar surges but more than likely it will be followed by a drop –which will probably make you sleepy, grouchy, and hungry for more sweet and fatty food.
Your choice depends on what you want: protein, sweet satisfaction, fill-you-up fiber, or salty crunch. Here are some choices – take a look at the calories, carbs, protein, and fiber of some of your favorites.

Crunchy

Baked Lays Potato Chips: 130 calories, 2 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
Baked Doritos, Nacho Cheese: 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers: 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 20 grams carbs, 4 grams of protein
Ruffles Potato Chips: 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
Cheetos, Crunchy: 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
Sun Chips Original: 210 calories, 10 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels: 160 calories, no fat, 35 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, Smartfood: 120 calories, 8 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Nuts/Seeds

Planters Sunflower Kernels: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs, 11 grams of protein
Planters Salted Peanuts: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs, 13 grams of protein

Cookies/Pastry/Bars

Mini Chips Ahoy: 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts (2 pastries): 410 calories, 10 grams of fat, 75 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
Hostess Fruit Pie, apple: 470 calories, 20 grams of fat, 70 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
Fig Newtons: 200 calories, 4 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
Quaker Chewy Low-Fat Granola Bar, Chocolate Chunk: 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein
Nature Valley Granola Bar, Crunchy Oats and Honey (2 bars): 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Candy

Skittles: 240 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 56 grams of carbs, no protein
Twix (2 cookies): 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
3 Musketeers, king size: 200 calories, 6 grams of fat, 36 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein
Peanut M&Ms: 250 calories, 13 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein
Snickers, regular size: 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein