SPELLING BEE

BY BEA WESTERBERG

Lots of yummies!

I am going to have to make a correction on a statement I made a while back regarding prepayment at Hastings gas stations. All the stations that I go to had moved on to the prepay method but I have been informed that some did not. Lucky me was hanging out at all that did change their payment method. Now I have to whip out my credit card twice instead of once to get inside goodies. Come to think of it, isn’t “credit” card a strange name for a card that is actually putting you in debt? On the other hand you do drive away from the purchase place without giving them actual money. However, it will come out of your pocket in the future. That way we can enjoy a bit of delayed money output.

Daughter Nissa keeps a watchful eye on things that would be of interest for me in her C& EN magazine. The title of this interesting article is “Hot soup to fill the void in your cold soul”. No matter when the groundhog saw his shadow, it’s still going to be a bit cool in our wonderful Minnesota and hot soup will remain a good idea for a period of time. Sensory scientists at the University of Arkansas found that people who slurped hot tomato soup reported more positive emotions than when they ate lukewarm or room temperature soup. Volunteers tasted soup at a number of different temperatures. Up until room temperature, positive words like happy, nostalgic, or affectionate were used to to describe how they were feeling emotionally. Room temperature soup brought out words like worried, disgusted, or bored. The flavors in the soup were not affected by temperature. They also did the tests with water and found that the participants’ emotional reactions were not as strong. (Information in article by Leigh Krietsch Boerner in the September 28, 2020 ACS magazine).

Not sure if having hot tomato soup all winter long will turn us all into happy campers but it is something to think about. The article next to this one was titled “For Superior Tea, Put On The Kettle”. Next week I will reveal why microwaved water is not the “HOT” tip for making tea. Okay, I just had to do that. From someone who does drink a lot of tea and microwaving is a part of it, don’t lose too much sleep about it.

I am always turning over “rocks” to see what is new underneath them and the latest find for me was Hong Kong style French Toast. This has a few different twists from what I would call regular French Toast because of the history behind it. A century or so back, a number of Europeans came to the Hong Kong area and had to make due with things like sweetened condensed milk because dairy and sweets are not a major part of the local diet. Hungry tummies wanting something good came up with taking 2 slices of bread (with or without crust) and spreading peanut butter on one piece to the edges, then pressing on the other slice. (You can do other fillings like Nutella, Marmalade or other jams and you can switch out the breads). Plan on using one large egg and 1 TBS of milk for every two pieces of bread. Beat egg and milk well and pour into a shallow pan for dipping. Before dipping, heat a skillet with several TBS of oil on medium heat until hot. (Can also use butter and others say to add a lot more oil to almost deep fry). Now dip both large sides and then be sure to dip each edge. Carefully place in hot pan and brown both sides and then pick up and do each edge for about 10 seconds (It’s kind of tricky but tongs work well). Remove to serving plate and drizzle with sweetened condensed milk and a pat of butter. Both the milk and butter are a major part of this creation. I don’t think the “food gods” will come down on you if you decide a good maple syrup will also be perfect for it.

This is information from a number of videos so do your own research. You will find there is also a custard filling that works for this and next week I will tell you about making French Toast with ice cream. We will make it through February just fine!