10 Interesting Facts About Junk Food

We have all heard the healthy eating tips about fruits and vegetable consumption, regular exercise and keeping our sugar intake low but what about the fun facts on junk food? Do you know what the 'm'in M&M's stands for? Or what happens if you chew a lifesaver? What about that orange beverage known as Tang, how did it come about? This infographic supplies 10 interesting facts about some of our favorite junk foods which is almost as good as a sugar rush itself. 

• This post is in honor of National Junk Food Day / July 21

From Visually.

Let's Make Some Peanut Brittle

Hey you guys let's make some peanut brittle today! Who's with me?

When I was reading up about brittle I found out that Peanut Brittle is the most popular brittle recipe in the United States. How about that. So I thought well shoot.... let me get one of my brittle recipes out and share it. I'm also going to share a few little quick facts that I found interesting.

Everybody knows what Brittle is!

Brittle is a type of confection consisting of flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy embedded with nuts such as pecans, almonds, or peanuts. And I had no idea about this but brittle is known all around the world. I'm listing what it's called in other countries below.

It's know all around the world / variations such as:

1. pasteli in Greece 
2. croquant in France
3. gozinaki in Georgia
4. gachak in Punjab (India) 
5. chikki in India
6. kotkoti in Bangladesh

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted peanuts)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup shelled peanuts - raw (roasted may be used, see Notes, below).
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (optional, I put the note about baking soda at the bottom).

Procedure

1. Grease a 9" x 12" cookie sheet. Set aside until needed.
2. Over medium heat, in a heavy 2-qt saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water to a boil.
3. Attach a candy thermometer to the sauce pan with the tip in the mixture.
4. Continue heating,stiring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
5. Add raw peanuts to the mixture. (Roasted peanuts are not recommended. If used, these must be added at a later stage of cooking to prevent burning).
6. Continue heating and stiring gently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
7. If you are using roasted peanuts (not recommended), stir these into the mixture now.
8. Remove from heat.
9. Add butter and (optional)vanilla extract. Stir in quickly.
10. Add baking soda and stir very quickly. The volume of the mixture will double as bubbles form throughout. Be sure the soda is evenly mixed in and does not collect in one spot.
11. Pour mixture onto cookie sheet.
12. Using a fork or wooden spoon, spread the mixture evenly across the entire surface of the 9" x 12" cookie sheet.
13. Allow to cool to room temperature.
14. Break peanut brittle into bite size pieces.

• Baking soda adds an "easier bite" to the peanut brittle, causing it to break when less force is applied. It also causes the sugar base around the peanuts to be opaque. It does this by "foaming up" and introducing small bubbles in the sugar syrup. If you desire a clearer almost transparent sugar base around the peanuts and a "harder bite", reduce or omit the baking soda.

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We Celebrate the Holidays

National Peanut Brittle Day / Celebrated annually in the United States / on January 26

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Photo above Creative Commons Attribution / Wikipedia /

Did you know this about Candy and vegetarianism?

A heap of HARIBO gummy bears

This post is in honor of National Candy Day which is celebrated on November 4th every year in the United States. We found a few interesting facts we wanted to share with our candy loving readers.

Some candy, including marshmallows and gummi bears, contain gelatin derived from animal collagen, a protein found in skin and bones, and is thus avoided by vegetarians and vegans. "Kosher gelatin" is also unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans, as it is derived from fish bones. Other substances, such as agar, pectin, starch and gum arabic may also be used as setting and gelling agents, and can be used in place of gelatin.

Other ingredients commonly found in candy that are not suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets include carmine, a red dye made from cochineal beetles, and confectioner's glaze, which may contain wings or other insect parts. wikipedia
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Wow right!?

Shelf Life Of Candy

photo by Elisa Azzali

Happy Candy Day everyone! Since we celebrate candy day every November 4th I thought I would post a bit of shelf life information. 

Because of its high sugar concentration, bacteria is not usually able to grow in candy. As a result, the shelf life of candy is longer than for many foods. Most candies can be safely stored in their original packaging at room temperature in a dry, dark cupboard for months or years. As a rule, the softer the candy or the damper the storage area, the sooner it goes stale.

Shelf life considerations with most candies are focused on appearance, taste, and texture, rather than about the potential for food poisoning. That is, old candy may not look pretty or taste very good, even though it is very unlikely to make the eater sick. Candy can be made unsafe by storing it badly, such as in a wet, moldy area. wikipedia

Typical recommendations are these:

• Hard candy may last indefinitely in good storage conditions.
• Milk chocolates and caramels usually become stale after about one year.
• Dark chocolate lasts up to two years.
• Soft or creamy candies, like candy corn, may last 8 to 10 months in ideal conditions.
• Chewing gum and gumballs may stay fresh as long as 8 months after manufacture.

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 ? What's your favorite candy? I like anything with caramel.

National Candy Day!

Caramels (Recipe)
Originally uploaded by Ruthieki

The great homemade candy photo is by Ruthieki from flickr.com. See the Caramels Recipe for this photo.

November 4 is the official day for National Candy Day. You would think that we had enough of candy since we just finished with Halloween but I thought we could talk about real homemade candy today instead of store bought candy which is what Halloween is mostly about.

If you click on the photo it will take you to the recipe to make lovely homemade Caramels. I enjoy making these myself during Thanksgiving and Christmas both. I just love to see a huge bowl of caramels where the rappers have been hand twisted. It looks fantastic and guys...... this homemade treat is a real memory for kids I assure you. You might want to make it a tradition in your family too.

Do you have a handmade candy recipe? Share it with us guys. I'm ready for a new one to add to my recipe collection.

For more candy fun visit:
http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/candy.html

National Candy Corn Day!

what makes a pumpkin smile? A big plate of candy corn, that's what!
Originally uploaded by tamelyn

In honor of National Candy Corn Day here's a snack recipe for you. How do you like to eat candy corn?

CANDY CORN TREATS

1/2 c. butter
10 c. Rice Krispies cereal
9 c. miniature marshmallows
2 c. mixture of original candy corn and Indian candy corn
3/4 c. miniature chocolate chips
Candy pumpkins
Yellow and red food colouring
Lightly grease a large baking pan.

Melt butter and marshmallows in medium sauce pan over medium heat; stir until smooth.
In a large bowl, mix cereal, candy corn, and miniature chocolate chips together.

To marshmallow mixture, blend in 2 drops yellow food coloring and 1 drop red food coloring, adding more coloring if necessary to reach an orange shade.

Add marshmallow mixture to cereal mixture; stir quickly to combine. Spread mixture onto the large pan and press with buttered hands. While warm, press the candy pumpkins on top. Let cool; cut into squares.