Brush Valley Brewer

There are several serious claims to authorship for the hamburger.

The hamburger chain White Castle traces the ancestry back to a Hamburg, Germany, cook named Otto Kuase, who in 1891 was celebrated for a sandwich made with a beef patty cooked in butter, topped with a fried egg. The German sailors brought the recipe to the United States, where the egg was dropped.

Residents of Seymour, Wis., home of the Hamburger Hall of Fame, argue that one of their hometown heroes, “Hamburger Charlie” Nagreen, created the hamburger at age 15 when he served the first hamburger from a stand at the Outgamie County Fair in 1885.

Others give the honor to Frank Menches of Ohio, who resorted to replacing beef for the pork in his famous sausages during a heat wave, and took the result to the World’s Fair. Connecticut relatives of New Haven restaurateur Louis Lassen say they have notarized statements backing up his claim to be the originator.

John Harmon, a Central Connecticut State University geographer who attempted to document the various claims, said he was unable to conclude who was really “the first.” Harmon said there is evidence the hamburger was around in America in the late 19th century, but “the date of the 1904 St. Louis [World’s Fair] is clear, and this is when the ‘world’ became aware of the hamburger.

Within two decades, its popularity mushroomed thanks to another American invention: marketing. The most common meals of the time were sausages and hotdogs, reflecting the influx of Jewish and German immigrants. Americans were wary of what might be in ground-up meat thanks to Upton Sinclair’s landmark expose of Chicago meat packers, ‘The Jungle.’”

Lance Gay. “Hamburger’s origins unclear, but became popular 100 years ago” San Angelo Standard Times. 18 March 2004. <www.texaswest.com/sast/news_national/article/0,1897,SAST_4957_2739911,00.html> (20 March 2004).

March 19, 2004

Food Log

Breakfast was a cup of coffee, a glass of orange juice, and half of a white grapefruit. I weighed 155 pounds.

Photograph of spring snow storm.

Due to the snow storm that hit us last night, Penn State decided to have a two hour delay so I got to relax at home for a little while this morning. Gretchen and I talked about what we are going to plant this year and how we are going to lay out the garden. I believe she is going to order some seed soon.

At the office this morning I had my daily ration of shortbread girl scout cookies with some coffee.

Lunch was Panda Express black pepper chicken — which I expected to be hot, but wasn’t — in fact, even though I could see the pepper, it wasn’t even noticeably peppery — with mixed vegetables on chow mein noodles with hot and sour soup, a small sierra mist and a fortune cookie.

You never hesitate to tackle

the most difficult problems.

Lucky Numbers 14, 18, 22, 31, 35, 37

Dinner was stir fried broccoli with mushrooms and water chestnuts over chow mien noodles with a glass of Avia Riesling from the Primorski Region of Slovenia, a hand full of cashews for dessert, and a glass of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry to finish.

March 18, 2004

Food Log

Breakfast was a cup of coffee and half of a white grapefruit. I weighed 155 pounds.

At the office this morning I had my daily ration of shortbread girl scout cookies with some coffee.

For lunch, I walked over to the HUB and got a salad at Piccalilli’s.

Dinner was some of our sausage rice casserole, a small green salad, and several hands full of cashew halves and peanuts.

March 17, 2004

Saint Patrick’s Day Food Log

Breakfast was a cup of coffee, half of a white grapefruit. I weighed 154 pounds.

I finally broke down and bought a box of Girl Scout Cookies. I got the Shortbread Cookies.

Shortbread Girl Scout Cookies

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 4 cookies (26g)

Servings Per Container about 11

Amount Per Serving

130 Calories

50 Calories from Fat

% Daily Value*

9% Total Fat 6g

6% Saturated Fat 1.5g

0% Cholesterol 0

6% Sodium 135mg

6% Total Carbohydrate 18g

2% Dietary Fiber 1g

Sugars 6g

Protein 1g

0% Vitamin A

0% Vitamin C

0% Calcium

2% Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

They’re practically health food. So I had “one serving” of shortbread cookies with my coffee at the office this morning.

I went to the Big Onion for lunch. I had two slices of pepperoni pizza. I also had a bag of Lays KC Masterpiece Barbecue Flavor Potato Chips (Now even crisper!) and a SoBe Tsunami.

Dinner was whole wheat spaghetti with my roasted tomato sauce and a small green salad with a hand full of pistachios for dessert.

March 17, 2004

Erin Go Braugh

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

The sun shine warm upon your face.

The rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again…

May God hold you in the hallow of His hand.

March 16, 2004

Food Log

Breakfast was a cup of coffee, half of a white grapefruit, and a bowl of steel cut oats with brown sugar and milk. I weighed 156 pounds.

We had our “ITS Event” today. Sort of a mini technology trade show for people at PSU (including the non-University Park campuses) to come see the state of technology and what is available. I did wireless and authenticated wired Ethernet connections (we call it mobility). Having been to major trade shows on both sides of the table, I would say it was pretty successful. Though we did not get as many people as we had hoped because of the sudden snow storm that hit us.

Photograph of spring storm from HUB window.

The upshot is that I ended up spending the whole day standing in front of our booth, showing people how our wireless networking works. The organizers provided a deli tray for lunch, so I had two ham and cheese sandwiches, some pasta salad, a big cookie, and two cans of sierra mist.

Dinner was potato chowder, light rye rolls, and a glass of Bolla Sangiovese Di Romagna.

March 15, 2004

Food Log

Breakfast was half of a white grapefruit, a glass of orange juice, a piece of toasted Irish soda bread that Gretchen’s sister made, a piece of toasted rustic country bread that Gretchen made, both with homemade strawberry jam, and a cup of coffee.

For lunch, I walked over to the HUB and got a salad at Picallili’s. After lunch I took a walking survey of 11 buildings on campus that we are adding cable TV service to. All told, I am guessing I walked about five miles.

While I was out walking, I came across an impromptu art display in one of the buildings. I am not sure what it is, but it certainly is thought provoking.

Photograph of impromptu art display.

Dinner was a salad, a slice of Gretchen’s Rustic Country Bread — which we are now thinking is actually a pugliese — and a glass of Bolla Sangiovese Di Romagna.

March 14, 2004

Food Log

I cut up too many potatoes for the gratin last night, so I threw them in a bowl of water so they would not oxidize and this morning Gretchen made them in to hash brown potatoes. I also had half of a white grapefruit, a glass of orange juice, three strips of bacon, and several cups of coffee.

Lunch was a plate full of herb roasted winter vegetables — potatoes, onions, carrots, and butternut squash with rosemary, thyme, and savory and balsamic vinegar.

Gretchen and I like to watch Rachael Ray on 30 Minute Meals, but it’s usually just for entertainment. The other day though we both perked our ears up when she made Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichangas. We both love chimichangas, but don’t like the idea of deep fat frying. Actually I love deep fat frying, it’s a long, time-honored tradition with me, but I try not to do it any more often than absolutely necessary, for health reasons. So this recipe seemed to be the perfect compromise. Now it would seem to me that a baked chimichanga is about as accurate as a baked burrito, but I didn’t name it, so I’ll have to give her the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Now I have never follow a recipe completely, so I’ll just say what we did differently.

First of all, despite mounting evidence that it is imprecise, I am one of those ignorant Americans who measures everything by volume, rather than weight. So we used 2 cups of roast turkey, chopped — that we made ourselves — rather than “1 pound thickly sliced smoked turkey from deli counter, chopped.” Also, we couldn’t find any chipotles in adobo sauce. We are living in the middle of Pennsylvania, after all. However, we did find some chipotle marinade that also had some other spices that were consistent with adobo sauce. We also only had two-thirds of a cup of tomato sauce. Gretchen is not fond of scallions, so we left them out. We shorted the cheese a little — only a cup, rather than 1½ cups. We also left off the toppings. We did, however, turn on the broiler for the last few minutes to get a really brown brown on the chimis, and we started out with a layer of frijoles refritos before the cheese. Mmmmm… Good!

Dinner was two baked chimichangas, two glasses of Stone Cellars by Beringer Sauvignon Blanc, and a glass of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry to finish.

March 14, 2004

We’re all a little Irish

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day coming up in a few days, I thought I would cover this. Kathy Hamlin over at About Cocktails & Beer has this anecdote about the origin of the drink known as Irish Coffee.

Irish Coffee is indeed Irish. The Port of Foynes, which is located in County Limerick, was a major hub for for air traffic between the United States and Europe during the 30’s and 40’s. Travel was by Flying Boats. One flight that took off in 1943, encountered some really bad weather and turned back. The weather was equally as nasty upon their return and the passengers headed towards the terminal restaurant. Realizing how miserable these passengers were, Chef Joe Sheridan grabbed a bottle of Irish and prepared the comforting drinks. Legend has it that one of the passengers asked, “is this Brazilian coffee?”, to which Sheridan answered, “No, that’s Irish Coffee.” [Hamlin]