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

Stadium Food: Good, Better, and Best Choices

September 25, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

It’s football season. How can you possibly not chow down on thousands of calories when there are food vendors or tailgating friends about every 20 feet hawking dogs, barbecue, burgers, and fried everything?

There Are Ways And Then There Are Ways

If you’ve got a will of iron you could ignore the food and drinks. But if you’re tempted at every turn, try to minimize the damage without taking away the fun. If you know you’re going to be having a stadium or concession stand meal, do some thinking, planning, and sleuthing. The best choices are not always the obvious ones. If you always eat sausage and peppers at the stadium or corn dogs from your favorite concession stand, plan for it, have it, and enjoy it.

But give the total picture some thought. Do you need both peanuts and popcorn? Can you make do with a regular hot dog instead of a foot-long? Can you choose the small popcorn instead of the jumbo tub? Can you ditch the soda—or maybe the second one—and replace it with water?

Make Your Best Choice To Save A Few Calories — Use These Facts As Guidelines:

Cotton Candy: Nothing but heated and colored sugar that’s spun into threads with added air. Cotton candy on a stick or wrapped around a paper cone (about an ounce) has around 105 calories; a 2 ounce bag (common size) has 210. A lot of sugar, but not a lot of calories—albeit empty ones.
Funnel cake: The fried dough wonder is made by pouring dough through a funnel into cooking oil and deep frying the “funnels” of dough until they’re golden-brown and crispy—then topping the pieces with powdered sugar, syrup, or honey. The calories vary enormously depending on the quantity and toppings. Regardless of the shape, they’re all dough fried in oil topped with a sweetener—which means high calories and low nutrition. You have to figure a minimum of around 300 calories for a 6 inch funnel cake (do they ever come that small?).
Cracker Jack (officially cracker jack, not jacks): candy-coated popcorn with some peanuts. A 3.5 ounce stadium size box has 420 calories but it does have 7g of protein and 3.5g of fiber.
Hamburger: 6 ounces of food stand beef (they’re not using extra lean—the more fat, the juicier it is) on a bun has about 490 calories—without cheese or other toppings—which up the ante.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich: 6 ounces, 280 calories—not a bad choice. 6 ounces of chicken tenders clock in at 446 calories. Barbecue dipping sauce adds 30 calories a tablespoon.
Hot Dog: A regular hot dog with mustard has about 290 calories—that’s 180 for the 2 ounce dog, 110 for the bun, zilch for regular yellow mustard. Two tablespoons of sauerkraut adds another 5-10 calories and a punch of flavor, 2 tablespoons of ketchup adds 30, and 2 tablespoons of relish another 40. A Nathan’s hot dog racks up 320 calories; a foot-long Hebrew National 510 calories. A regular size corn dog has around 280 calories.
Fried Battered Clams: One cup (5 large clams or 8 medium clams or 10 small clams) has around 222 calories.
Pizza: Stadium pizza is usually larger than a regular slice, about 1/6 of a 16-inch pie (instead of 1/8) making it about 435 calories a slice—add calories if you add toppings.
Super Nachos with Cheese: A 12 ounce serving (40 chips, 4 ounces of cheese) has about 1,500 calories!!! Plain French fries look like a caloric bargain by comparison.
French Fries: A large serving has about 500 calories. A serving of Hardee’s chili cheese fries has 700 calories and 350 of them come from fat.
Potato Chips: One single serving bag has 153 calories (94 of them from fat).
Peanuts in the Shell: An 8 ounce bag has 840 calories; a 12 ounce bag has 1,260. Yes, they have some protein and fiber. But wow on the calories.
Soft Pretzel: One large soft pretzel has 483 calories—giant soft pretzels (7-8 ounces) have about 700 calories.
Draft Beer: A stadium draft beer—a 20 ounce cup, the usual size –has about 240 calories. A light draft saves you 60 calories.
Coca Cola: A 12 ounce can has 140 calories and close to 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Good Humor Ice Cream: Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bar (83g): 230 calories; Toasted Almond (113g): 240 calories; Candy Center Crunch: 310 calories; Low Fat Ice Cream Sandwich, vanilla:130 calories
Helmet Ice Cream: Your team’s mini-helmet filled with swirly Carvel, 550-590 calories.
Popcorn: FYI—at Yankee Stadium a jumbo size has 1,484 calories and a souvenir bucket has 2,473 calories.

Football, Food, and Beer

September 18, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

It’s football season. With it comes fun, excitement, joy, angst, wringing of the hands, a whole new spin on vocabulary, and tons of food and drinks.

It seems that football is associated with nine main food groups: beer, wings, pizza, chips and dip, barbecued ribs, burgers, chili, sausage (especially bratwurst), and pulled pork. It’s a calorie bonanza.

When fans were asked in a national survey if game day calories count, 46% said their diet goes out the window when they’re tailgating or watching their team play. thirty-nine percent said calories count but that they still indulge in a few favorites on game day. No big surprise there.

7 Tips To Keep You Happy . . .

or at least your stomach and waistline happy — your favorite football team is responsible for your mental happiness (or anguish).

1. Be aware of what and how much you’re eating. Mindless munching is a calorie disaster. You’re shoving hundreds of calories into your mouth and it’s probably not even registering that you’re eating. Put a portion on a plate and eat it rather than a constant hand to mouth action off of a platter or open bowl. It’ll save you hundreds of calories.

2. Learn approximately how many calories are in a portion of your favorite game day food so you can make intelligent choices. That way you’re not denying yourself what you love, but if pulled pork has hundreds more calories than a grilled sausage and you love them both, would you choose one over the other?

3. Save your calories for what you love and pass on the other stuff. You don’t have to eat something just because it’s there and it’s traditional football food. If you really don’t love guacamole why would you eat it? Salsa has a lot fewer calories.

4. Don’t be starving at game time (or for the pre-game tailgate). Have a healthy protein based snack (about 150 calories) before the game. Just don’t have a snack and then eat the same amount out of habit – then you’re just adding the snack calories to all of the others.

5. Cut it down a little. Can you have 4 or 5 wings instead of 6 or 7? How about a slider instead of a burger, 2 pieces of pizza instead of 3, or ½ a grinder instead of a whole one? Put only 1 or 2 toppings on your chili instead of sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and a never-ending supply of chips or nachos.

6. If you’re doing some shopping or cooking (or bringing food) for a tailgate or party, try making a slightly healthier version of your favorite food.

Fried chicken: Use crushed cornflakes for the breading and bake instead of fry
Nachos: Use low-fat cheese and salsa
Creamy dips: Use 2% yogurt instead of sour cream
Chips: Buy baked, not fried
Chili: Go beans only or use extra-lean ground beef or extra-lean ground turkey instead of ground chuck
Pizza: order thin crust instead of deep dish and stick with veggie toppings or plain cheese instead of pepperoni or meatball toppings

7. Beer. There’s huge variation between brands and types of beer. On average:

12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol

Different types of beer and malt liquor can have very different alcohol content. Light beer can have almost as much alcohol as regular beer – about 85% as much. Put another way, on average:

Regular beer: 5% alcohol
Some light beers: 4.2% alcohol
Malt liquor: 7% alcohol

For an extensive list of the calories in many popular brands of beer, click HERE.

Do you know someone who’s off to college?

Get my book for some easy, doable tips on how to eat well in dining halls and dorm rooms. Available in print and as an ebook from Amazon and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble.