Welcome to your Morning Cuppa for new Year’s Day, December 1st, 2008

Today is New Year’s Day, National Bloody Mary Day, Oatmeal Day, National Hangover Day (In the UK), St. Basil’s Day (Eastern Orthodox)

Wow, what a list! There’s obviously a lot going on at the beginning of the year.

What better day than January 1st to be proclaimed national Bloody Mary and National Hangover day. (I think they go hand in hand, myself) Oatmeal day? Is there a tradition I’m missing here? I know about Black Eyed peas on the first day of the new year, but oatmeal?

St. Basil’s Day has interesting traditions, especially in Greece, where St. Basil’s Cakes (a Cake with a coin in it) is distributed in a very specific order.

“The cake is distributed in accordance to a strict order. First piece is for St Basil, the second for the house, the next for the most senior member of the household down to the youngest member and also including absent members. There may also be a piece of cake for the cattle and a large piece for the poor. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake will be lucky for the next year.”

Absolutely Cool.

Today in Food History:

45 BC New Year’s Day was celebrated for the first time on January 1 when the Julian calendar took effect.
(It was also the date of the very first New Year’s Hangover.) 1449 Lorenzo de Medici (The Magnificent) of Florence was born. Many in this Italian noble family were patrons of learning and the arts. Lorenzo’s great granddaughter, Catherine, is known as the ‘mother of French haute cuisine’ because when she married the French king Henry II, she brought the finest Italian chefs, and her passion for fine food, with her to France. (With apologies to my French readers. Reasonable rebuttals accepted for future publication).
(so really, his only contribution to the world of food was his sexual exploits… Hmmm)

1735 Paul Revere was born. A silversmith and American Revolutionary folk hero, he also made surgical instruments and false teeth.
(Included here because he made some truly nice teapots and silverware.)

1800 Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton died. A French naturalist, he was a pioneer in several fields including plant physiology. He conducted many agricultural experiments and introduced Merino sheep to France. First director of the Museum of Natural History in Paris.
(Why does every other place in the world get all the prime mutton?)

1876 The first world’s oldest trademark is the red triangle registered for Bass Pale Ale. (Some sources say 1883 or 1890)
(a good reason for a trademark, if you ask me!)

1876 The first agricultural experiment station was established at Middleton, Connecticut.
(Attack of the killer parsnip’s followed shortly, though it wen largely unreported. The next incident occurred in 1978, when a doctor was working with tomatoes.)

1895 C.W. Post of Battle Creek, Michigan introduced Postum Food Coffee, a coffee substitute made from wheat, bran and molasses.
(Oh, C’mon!!! Why mess with perfection?)

1898 Post Grape Nuts are introduced by C. W. Post of Battle Creek, Michigan. (There are no grapes or nuts in Grape Nuts).
( I’ve always wondered at the name myself. A quick look brought me here , where I found that the cereal got its name because it contains maltose, a grape sugar, and has a nutty taste… Who knew?)

1905 The New York Times builds the Times Tower at Long Acre Square, has the name changed to Times Square and celebrated the event with a New Year’s Eve Fireworks show. The beginning of an American tradition at Times Square.

1907 The Times introduced the New Years Eve Ball on their building at Times Square in New York. Descending to mark the end of the old and the beginning of the New Year ever since.

(neither of the above have jack to do with food, but they are interesting facts nonetheless.)

1909 Marcel Proust had a flashback. On January 1, 1909, he ate a piece of tea-soaked toast whose taste caused a flood of childhood memories. In his 7 volume allegorical novel ‘Remembrance of Things Past,’ the character named Swann has a similar experience when he bites into a lemon cookie (a ‘Madeleine’) which brings on a similar flood of memories.
(Funny, I had a similar experience with onions about a week ago… Food really is a powerful thing.)

1935 In Miami, the first Orange Bowl was played on this day in 1935. Bucknell University wins over the University of Miami, 26-0.

1935 The first Sugar Bowl football game was played on this day in 1935 in New Orleans.

(Both of the above are included because they are named after food, not because of any relation to it.)

1935 B. (Barnard) Kliban was born. A satirical cartoonist, best known for his cat cartoons. A few of his cartoon book titles: ‘Never Eat Anything Larger Than Your Head’, ‘The Biggest Tongue in Tunisia’.
(I’d call the first title just good plain common sense, myself!)

1996 The last Polynesian tree snail, species Partula turgida, died at the London Zoo. They lived on the South Pacific island of Raiatea, where the residents imported predatory snails from Florida to eat a pest snail, originally imported from Africa. Instead they ate the native Tree Snail to extinction. We never seem to learn about the consequences of introducing nonnative species.
(Next will be the three nippled carp. It’s in serious danger…)

1998 Smoking is banned in California restaurants and bars.
(And restaurants in the state loose millions in revenue for the next two years, as smokers refuse to visit the establishments.)

Your Morning Recipe:

• Vasilopita (St. Basil’s Cake) Recipe from Recipezaar.
• The Classic Bloody Mary recipe , from drinksmix.net

Today in food history information is gathered by FoodReference.com . Check out their food trivia quizzes and more!

Most executive chefs and head chefs know the basic costs of a particular dish, but do most know how that particular dish performs as part of the restaurant sales mix? From my experience, the majority of chefs around the world have no idea what menu engineering is and how it can play an important role in determining overall profitability and food costs.

Menu engineering examines the sales history for each dish on the menu, and examines the item's selling price and cost price. It then relates their profit margins and their menu mix percentages to see which items are proving popular and thus profitable.

The best resource about menu engineering was written by Michael L. Kasavana and Donald J. Smith and is titled Menu Engineering: A Practical Guide to Menu Analysis. The book was published in 1982 and is difficult to locate today. The book includes various case studies as well as detailing the process of menu engineering. Menu Engineering involves dividing the menu and its dishes into 4 categories;

Stars
Stars are extremely popular and have a high contribution margin. Ideally Stars should be your flagship or signature menu item

Plow Horse
Plow Horses are high in popularity but low in contribution margin. Plow horse menu items sell well, but don’t significantly increase revenue.

Puzzles
Puzzles are generally low in popularity and higher contributions. Puzzle dishes are very difficult to sell, but have a high profit margin.

Dogs
Dogs are low in popularity and low in contribution margin. Basically they are difficult to sell and when you do they are not all that profitable.

Recently Philip Norman emailed me a copy of a menu engineering spreadsheet which takes the Kasavana and Smith theory on menu engineering and automates the process in a excel spreadsheet. The results are automatically charted in the spreadsheet for complete menu analysis.

It’s well worth getting the menu engineering file and applying it to your current menu to better analyse the menu. Then simply use it when developing a menu in the future. After all isn’t it important to understand the financial position of your menu?

To get a copy of menu engineering spreadsheet, simply register at Kitchen Profitability and you’ll be emailed the file straight away.

Benjamin Christie's Australian Food, BBQ Recipes and Australian Recipes feature bush tucker ingredients like lemon myrtle and wattleseed. Check out recipes like shrimp on the barbie, anzac biscuits, lamingtons and banana bread. 

Food Service professionals will be interested in his chef blog as well as articles on menu planning, food photography, cooking kangaroo, menu engineering and food costing.

New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve Traditions

Carnival of the Recipes #175

Cooking for New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve tends to be a random affair punctuated by comfort food and easy to prepare meals to be eaten at parties and in front of the television.

One of the most well-known traditions is that Black-eyed peas are traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day, often with collard greens or mustard greens. The tradition indicates that the eating of black eyed peas will bring good luck and fortune.

Famous Recipes presents Black-Eyed Peas Recipes posted at Famous Recipes.

Famous Recipes presents Vanilla Cream Frosting posted at Famous Recipes.
Thelly presents Chicken Recipes - Chicken Biryiani Recipe posted at Chicken Recipes.
Famous Recipes presents Peanut Busters posted at Famous Recipes.
Turkey Recipes presents Turkey Tamale Pie posted at Turkey Recipes.

New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve Traditions

Carnival of the Recipes #175

Cooking for New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve tends to be a random affair punctuated by comfort food and easy to prepare meals to be eaten at parties and in front of the television.

One of the most well-known traditions is that Black-eyed peas are traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day, often with collard greens or mustard greens. The tradition indicates that the eating of black eyed peas will bring good luck and fortune.

Famous Recipes presents Black-Eyed Peas Recipes posted at Famous Recipes.

Slow Cooker Recipes presents Scallop Potato-Tomato Pot posted at Slow Cooker Recipes.
Bill presents Surprise Dessert posted at Recipes - World Famous Recipes.
Famous Recipes presents Vanilla Cream Frosting posted at Famous Recipes.
Thelly presents Chicken Recipes - Chicken Biryiani Recipe posted at Chicken Recipes.
Famous Recipes presents Peanut Busters posted at Famous Recipes.
Pancake Recipes presents Deli-Cakes posted at Pancake Recipes.
Turkey Recipes presents Turkey Tamale Pie posted at Turkey Recipes.
World Famous Recipes presents Red Velvet Cake Recipes posted at World Famous Recipes.

Each year brings new life, new challenges and of course, new resolutions. Each of us tries to improve our lives in some way, and hopefully to touch the lives of others in a more profound way. It’s the time of year that we take stock of ourselves and our lives, then resolve to make certain changes over the next twelve months.

In that spirit, let me share my New Year’s resolutions with you.

In 2008 I resolve to…

(more…)

As the year draws to a close and a new year is upon us, I would like to wish all of Like to Cook's readers and friends a very Happy New Year and a wonderful 2008.




I happily welcome any thoughts, ideas and suggestions you have for Like to Cook. Anything in particular you would like to see here? Anything you would change? Please let me know! I love to read your comments.

Happy New Year!
Santé!

See full article.

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This Post is For You - Happy New Year! - 31 December 2006

Happy New Year 2007 - 31 December 2006

Happy New Year - 31 December 2006

Happy New Year Everybody!!! - 01 January 2007

Welcome to your Morning Cuppa for December 31st, 2007
Today is New Years Eve, National Champagne Day

I’d like to wish you all a safe and happy new year’s eve. May your hearts be full of joy and contentment in the coming new year. As for the fact that it’s National Champagne day… Well, it just seems fitting, doesn’t it?

Today in Food History:

1600 The British East India Company was incorporated by royal charter. It was created to compete in the East Indian spice trade.
(And if memory serves me right, it made a lot of enemies in the process.) 1841 Alabama becomes the first state to issue dental licenses.
(Gee, I was just positive that the barber did a better job!)

1853 A New Years Eve dinner party for 21 scientists was held inside a life size model of an Iguanodon dinosaur on the grounds of the Crystal palace in London. Sculptor Benjamin W. Hawkins had teamed up with paleontologist Richard Owen to create more than 2 dozen lifesize models of dinosaurs for a special exhibit.
(Eat while being eaten… An interesting concept to say the least…)

1917 Sugar rationing began in Britain as a result of WW I
(Kinda sucked for all those dentists)

1938 The Harger ‘Drunkometer’, the first alcohol breath testing device, was introduced in Indiana.
(So he’s the @#~@!# responsible!)

Your Morning Recipe:

Today I just though I’d leave you with some champagne drink recipes . Enjoy, Y’all!

Today in food history information is gathered by FoodReference.com . Check out their food trivia quizzes and more!

Carnival of the Recipes #175 New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve Traditions Cooking for New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve tends to be a random affair punctuated by comfort food and easy to prepare meals to be eaten at parties and in front of the television. One of the most well-known traditions is that Black-eyed peas [...]