Recently in Trivia Category

Nuts. I didn't get this posted yesterday. Can you ever forgive me?

These 'helpful hints' were sent in by Val, and have not been officially tested in the DIF test kitchen, but some look pretty interesting! I did peel a banana from the bottom, and it seemed to help, so let me know if you try any of the other tips. I have reheated pizza in a skillet and it works, but there's nothing like a toaster oven for that kind of stuff in you have one.

Enjoy your weekend, friends, and make time to cook yourself something special!

BTW, the brownie hint with the mints sounds kinda gross, but that's just me...

Update: This post will remain on top for a few days, so please scroll down for the latest. Thanks! And hey, have you put yourself on our Frappr map yet? It's easy, and we love to see everyone that hangs out here.

Update 11/10: Okay, I'm waiting for clarification on this now. I think our Scovie is for "Best Packaging", and we were a runner-up in "Best Rub", but we'll take it!

Desert Island Foods™ is thrilled to announce that we've won a 2006 Scovie Award! Survival Spice™, our all natural, gluten free barbecue rub, has won third prize in the"Best Rub" category from Fiery Foods Magazine. We're proud and grateful to have received this recognition in our first year of business in a tough shoot-out, a blind tasting among numerous professional chefs, writers and foodies.

I'll have more about the competition in the next newsletter, Island Currents, along with information on our new gift box, stay tuned. Please remember, our gift tin of Survival Spice™ makes a great stocking stuffer!

The early November edition of the Desert Island Foods newsletter, Island Currents, is now online. Just click on the November 1, 2005 link to see the latest edition.

Check it out, lots of great holiday gift ideas that don't involve a masochistic time-sucking, gas-guzzling trip to the mall! Desert Island Foods™.com is offering a cool gift box this year for the first time, and tins of Survival Spice™ are an awesome stocking stuffer and casual gift for foodies, family, friends and co-workers alike! Such an simple way to buy some great gifts.

Email me, or just go to the Desert Island Foods™.com home page and sign up, if you want to get on the newsletter list. No spam, no evil mailing lists, just pure foodie goodness.

Okay, done with the plug. That didn't hurt, did it?

I've been tagged with a meme by Meg. I've been challenged to write about 5 childhood memories of food, and it's been fun to take a bit of time to remember some of this stuff. Here's what I came up with:

Cubed potatoes and meat balls- This is reportedly the first dish my Mom learned how to cook when my parents got married. I remember it involving little meatballs with rice in them, and diced potatos in a tomato sauce. Good comfort food.

Milk toast- We used to eat this when we were sick. Buttered toast in a bowl with warm milk and sugar on top. Just for the heck of it, when I was sick some years ago, I made it again. Kinda lost the charm, I guess it needed Mom's touch!

Mom's Irish Stew- What can I say? It's the best. I'm sitting here drooling as I think about it. Usually no dumplings, just lots of buttered bread. It was even better the next day. I make a mean stew, but I can't touch hers.

Hot dogs at Forbes Field- Long, skinny foot-longs burned to a crisp. I remember eating them in the bleachers at Forbes Field, watching Roberto Clemente.

Richardson's Fries- One of those French Fry stands at the County Fair. Long, long fries, cooked to perfection served in a paper cone. I remember burning my fingers on hot, salty grease and not caring. Lots of vinegar and a bit of ketchup.

Bonus memory:

Eating a Milk Bone. What can I say? It was good, too, as I recall it...

Wow, I really killed some time doing this. Where did the morning go?

I guess I'm supposed to tag 2 other food bloggers with this. How about:

Dr. Biggles and Shauna? If you can't do it, I understand! But it was really interesting how many memories I came up with.

The first edition of the Desert Island Foods newsletter, Island Currents, is now online. It's short and sweet, any feedback you have is really appreciated!

Email me, or just go to the Desert Island Foods™.com home page and sign up, if you want to get on the notification list. No spam, no evil mailing lists, just pure foodie goodness.

The voting for the Food Fight- Interpreted dishes is still underway until Friday night. Check out the entries here, then go vote. Paul has a commanding lead, but Ana's catching up, the voting will end Friday night, and you can vote once a day. Spread the word!

You may recall our White Castle French Onion burger taste test that we did a while back, which was won by Major John Tammes. Major John, BTW, is currently in New Orleans assisting with the relief effort there.

John requested that his prize be donated to Fisher House.org, an organization I hadn't heard of until he mentioned it.

Fisher House provides housing near hospitals for military families to stay while they're visiting recuperating soliders. They do an amazing job very efficiently , so I decided to up the ante, and we donated a case of Survival Spice™ to distribute to their houses.

We're proud to join companies like Newman's Own in supporting Fisher House, and I hope DIF can do more in the months and years to come.

Desert Island Foods™.com is proud to announce that Survival Spice™, our all natural, premium BBQ spice rub, is eligible to win a 2006 Scovie Award for Best Rub. Wish us luck!!!

Awwwww.... A couple has recently tied the McKnot at an Irwin, PA, McDonalds restaurant:

On Monday night, Sinchar rolled through the drive-thru in his white minivan, just as he had done day after day, hoping to chat with "that blue-eyed brunette named Lori."

But on this night, Sinchar rolled down his window, Sherbondy slid open hers and the couple grabbed hands as a district judge pronounced them husband and wife.

They found love in a drive-through. Hey, take it where you can find it, I guess. Best of luck to Ken Sinchar and Lori Sherbondy! No word if the bride was asked if she wanted to Super Size it.

Now why did I have to say that? I was being so nice...

Someone has taken the French Onion burger challenge. Major John, who mil-blogs at Miserable Donuts, has provided the necessary photo evidence to convince me that he indeed has ingested White Castle's latest morsel.

Semi-coherent remarks from his stretcher, "The horror...the horror..." "I'm....hurting" "...urk...one syrup of ipecac, three fingers, neat. STAT!", and finally "Oh, and they are, in fact, worse than the regular slider..." before passing out.

When/If Major John recovers consciousness, I'll send him some Survival Spice™and a DIF T-shirt.

Major John, thank you for your service to your country and to us fascinated foodies everywhere.

A big shout-out to Gail for hosting the event, and most likely talking him into doing it in the first place.

Gerry Thomas, widely credited for inventing the TV dinner, died here in the Phoenix area Monday of cancer at age 83.

From the AP release:

He recalled that the inspiration came when he was visiting a distributor, spotted a metal tray and was told it was developed for an experiment in preparation of hot meals on airliners.

"It was just a single compartment tray with foil," he recalled. "I asked if I could borrow it and stuck it in the pocket of my overcoat."

He said he came up with a three-compartment tray because "I spent five years in the service so I knew what a mess kit was. You could never tell what you were eating because it was all mixed together."

Since interest in television was booming, he added: "I figured if you could borrow from that, maybe you could get some attention. I think the name made all the difference in the world."

Read the whole article, but I thought it was interesting that he got so much hate mail from enraged husbands when they first came out. No word if he will be buried on an aluminum tray in a cardboard casket, but I'm guessing not.