1975: 'Peanut Buster Parfait'

Wikipedia tells us that the Peanut Buster Parfait debuted at the Dairy Queen in Saint Peter, Minnesota, in 1971. Per the following June 30, 1975, ad from the Sun-Democrat, it took four years for the treat to reach Paducah.

The Danny Dunn Cookbook

My favorite book series when I was a kid was the Danny Dunn series.  A great series of books about a boy who is interested in science.  Now when I read the books I always enjoy the food they are eating.  I was reading Daddy Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint and when Danny comes home from school his mom is making a pineapple upside down cake for after dinner.  Here is a recipe I found online at Lost American Recipes, that may be similar to what she made back in 1956 when this book was published.  

Ingredients:

4 Pineapple slices

1/4 C brown sugar

2 T butter melted

1 1/4 C all purpose flour

3/4 C sugar

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/4 C oil

1 egg

1/2 C milk

1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare 8x8x2 pan by greasing well with butter

Spread brown sugar and butter across the bottom of the pan. 

Arrange pineapple slices in bottom of pan

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add oil, egg, milk, and vanilla

Beat for 3 minutes, 150 strokes per minute, until well blended.  

Pour batter over pineapple

Bake for 35-40 minutes

Turn upside down on serving plate and serve with whipped cream.  

MLB Playoffs: Day Three

It was nice of MLB to schedule a couple of snoozers for a day when most of us were watching college football.  The Yankees hit the Twins for seven runs in the third inning, and then both teams snoozed through the remainder of an 8-2 blowout to give the Yanks a 2-0 series lead.  In the nightcap, Houston's Gerrit Cole overwhelmed the Rays -- he threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing no runs, one walk, and four hits, while striking about 15 Tampa batters.  The Astros rolled to an easy 3-1 win, giving them a 2-0 series lead.  As someone who's been waiting for a showdown between the Astros and the Yankees since May, the sooner these preliminaries are over, the happier I will be.

And now MLB will combine with the NFL to give middle-aged dads one of the best sports days of the year.  This is why we have those big screen televisions, those comfortable chairs, those overstuffed couches, those mini-refrigerators, and all the other knick-knacks in our "Man Cave," "Den," "Rec Room," or whatever name you choose to call the place where you watch sports.  It's cool and overcast in much of the Eastern United States, and the time is perfect for staying home and watching sports.  Here's my suggestion (assuming that, like me, you belong to a church that does not have an evening service):

1.  Big lunch with the family.

2.  Nap until about 3 PM Central Time.

3.  Wake up and catch the end of the NFL games that kicked off at noon Central.

4.  Load up with snacks, iPad, or any other entertainment you use to supplement your sports viewing.  Tell your wife and kids that you'll be in whatever room you use for serious viewing.  Keep the door open for anyone who wants to drop by.

5.  At 3:10 Central, start toggling back and forth between the Cowboys-Packers game on Fox and the Cardinals-Braves game on TBS.  (You can find TBS -- it's still wherever it was during the NCAA Tournament).  This is a huge game for St. Louis and Atlanta.  The Cardinals would have to play any Game Five in Atlanta, so they will want to wrap up the series in the next two games.  On the other hand, the Braves will not want to fall behind two games to one, which would force them to face an elimination game in St. Louis.  So this should be a good one.  These days, MLB games last about as long as NFL games, so you should be good for three hours of entertainment.

6.  Once these games have wrapped up, go into the kitchen and do some dad cooking.  Make something that you and the kids don't normally get to eat -- chocolate fudge, maybe, or some type of unusual sandwich.  If you're lucky, you may need to take one of the kids with you to the grocery store to pick up some extra ingredients.  (Just remember not to leave the kitchen in a big mess.)

7.  At around 7 PM Central, go back to the TV room, bringing any leftovers from the meal you just repaired.  Toggle back and forth between Chiefs-Colts on NBC and Nats-Dodgers on TBS.  Don't worry if you miss the beginning -- these games will go well past 10 P.M.  Personally, I would go with the Westwood One Radio broadcast of the football game and the TV picture of the baseball game, because the TBS announcers are dreadful, and the Westwood One announcers are great.  But that's all a matter of personal taste.  Actually, you could turn off the sound on the TV, and put some really good music on the hi-fi -- something a bit more sophisticated than you normally listen to.  Frank Sinatra, say, or an old Windham Hill album.  This is also a good time to catch up on your internet scrolling.  But keep an eye on the baseball, because the later innings of this game could be the key to this whole series.  The Dodgers can win the series even if they lose tonight -- they are clearly good enough to beat the Nats in Games Four and Five.  But the Nats are probably done for if they lose a game where Max Scherzer is starting.  I know the Nats always go out in this round -- and I expect them to do so again -- but they have a lot of grit and no bullpen, and that usually makes for high drama in the late innings.

Tomorrow, when you're at work, you can find the one old guy who really likes baseball, or (if you live in Western Kentucky) you can talk to all the folks who like the Cardinals.  Use baseball talk to brighten your Monday.

And that's it.  Enjoy the day!

(All times Central):
3:10 P.M.  Atlanta at St. Louis (series tied 1-1) (TBS)
6:45 P.M.  Los Angeles at Washington (series tied 1-1) (TBS)

Eating50States.com

I would like to introduce a new website that my daughter and I are doing called Eating50States.com.  Inspired by a cookbook about a father and daughter randomly picking countries to center meals around my daughter and I are doing the same for the 50 states. 

We have selected our first state and have picked out our first week of dishes.  Check it out and hopefully you'll learn something about the states that you didn't already know. 

Ultimate Bracket: Best Candy, Round 1

OK so it's time for round one of the Candy playoff.

A Bracket
1 Mounds vs 8 Peanut Butter Twix
4 Milky Way vs 5 3 Musketeers
2 Goobers vs 7 Snickers
3 Mr Goodbar vs 6 Caramello

B Bracket
1 Kit Kat vs 8 Neapolitan 3 Color Coconut Slice
4 Heath Bar vs 5 Chunky
2 Twix vs 7 Krackel
3 5th Avenue vs 6 Watchamacallit

C Bracket
1 Almond Joy vs 8 York Peppermint Patty
4 Peanut M&Ms vs 5 Reeses Pieces
2 Hersheys with Almonds vs 7 Mallo Cup
3 Goo Goo Clusters vs 6 Plain M&Ms

D Bracket
1 Nestle Crunch vs 8 Raisinets
4 Milky Way Dark vs 5 Starburst
2 Reese's Peanut Butter Cup vs 7 Ghirardelli 60%
3 Zero vs 6 Mars Bar


Be sure and click through each bracket and then click Finish Survey.

Ultimate Bracket: The 32 Candies

OK so we have our 32 candies.  Here's the bracket. The winners of A & D will play.

A Bracket
1 Mounds
8 Peanut Butter Twix

4 Milky Way
5 3 Musketeers

2 Goobers
7 Snickers

3 Mr. Goodbar
6 Caramello


B Bracket
1 Kit Kat
8 Neapolitan 3 Color Coconut Slice

4 Heath Bar
5 Chunky

2 Twix
7 Krackel

3 5th Avenue
6 Whatchamacallit


C Bracket
1 Almond Joy
8 York Peppermint Patty

4 Peanut M&Ms
5 Resse's Pieces

2 Hersheys with Almonds
7 Mallo Cup

3 Goo Goo Clusters
6 Plain M&Ms


D Bracket
1 Nestle Crunch
8 Raisinets

4 Milky Way Dark
5 Starburst

2 Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
7 Ghirardelli 60%

3 Zero
6 Mars Bar

Ultimate Bracket: The Best Candy

This is the last group, the D group.  After this voting is in we'll have our 32 tournament competitors.

Ultimate Bracket: The Best Candy

The C Group. Sort them in order of favorite to least favorite. Top eight in this group move on to the 32 candy tournament.

Ultimate Bracket: The Best Candy

The B Group.  Sort them in order of favorite to least favorite.  Top eight in this group move on to the 32 candy tournament.

Ultimate Bracket: The Best Candy

Before we could even begin on a candy tournament first we would have to choose the candy to be in the tournament.  Simplest way to do this is to rank the candies.  There are 76 candies and I've randomly broken them up into four groups.  We will rank the candies in each group and then take the top 8 out of each group to have a tournament of 32 candies.