The Turkey (bird) is native to North America.  When Europeans got here they thought it was a Turkey-Cock, a bird from Turkey (the country).  The name stuck but the cock dropped.

Turkey, the country, is actually spelled Türkiye in the native language of the people there, but Turkey in English, and it literally means “land of the Turks”, which is what they call themselves.

That is, if you can believe what you read on Wikipedia, which as of this moment, has listed under the “History and naming” section of the Turkey (bird) article: “a turkey is a turkey DUH” so I’m not so sure about how accurate it really is.

Mechanically Separated chicken.

This news on the heels of a show we watched over the weekend spotlighting a restaurant in New York who claims to have invented the “hamburger sandwich” in about 1902.  It was served on toast.

Other notable White Castle trivia:

• Opened in 1921 when ground beef was “unpopular.”
• White Castle is credited as being the first fast food restaurant.
• All locations are privately owned; no franchises.
• Due to their thin patties, White Castles do not need to be flipped during cooking.
• Contrary to some people’s opinions, the signature 5 holes in the burgers help with cooking, not “help is slide down your throat easier.”
• Had an internal employee magazine named “White Castle Official House Organ.” It was later renamed “The Slider Times” and was printed until the 1980′s.

Source:  wiki

Went to a “Country Buffet” last night.  (They are owned by the same people who own OCB)

It’s basically exactly the same as OCB.  However, this location was newer than the OCBs in MN, and had some new features (like a steak grill!)  I figure that’s a feature of the relative newness, not the missing adjective on the name.

Putting provolone on roast beef and throwing it in the microwave does not make it a Philly Cheese Steak.

Some Pepperoni Fun Facts:

• Although it’s based on an Italian spiced salami, pepperoni is an American invention.
• To be considered pepperoni, the meat must contain both beef and pork.
• A typical mix is 72% Pork meat, 8% Beef meat, and 20% Pork fat.
• The “pep” in the pepperoni comes from paprika.

Source: The show on the History Channel that has the fat guy who loves food.

Not a contract, per se, but an “agreement”.

I’d always wondered how Hooters got away with their shtick and avoided lawsuits.  Fortunately, we have TSG.

The agreement that the girls must sign is here.  Read some entertaining excerpts from the employee handbook here.

I always wanted to know the connection between SPAM, the ‘food’ and Spam, the e-mail. To start, we must look at the food. Not literally.

SPAM was originally named Hormel Spiced Ham. That name is not catchy, so they had a name contest with a $100 prize. SPAM (which, as the food has all 4 letters in caps) probably stands for Spiced Ham, but has also been claimed as being called shoulder ham – since pork shoulder is one of the chief ingredients. Interestingly, SPAM is cooked in the can. Which is why you can eat it cold… if you were bold enough to do so.

Before we can get to the e-mail, we need to make a detour to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. One of their most famous sketches was about a couple who go into a restaurant that has SPAM in almost every item on the menu. Only one person in the restaurant doesn’t want SPAM in her food. Sounds like a hilarious plot to me!

When the internet was becoming populated, people kept recounting the sketch on various forums. Due to the overuse of the word “spam” on the forums, and recounting the repetitive and unwanted presence of Spam in the sketch, the term Spam became associated with abuse of electronic messaging systems.

It was a long journey from Austin, MN to my junk mail, but I think we made it.

Source: 3 different wikies named “Spam.”

Yes, some people would describe Domino’s Pizza as offensive, but that’s not exactly what I mean.

Domino’s recently discovered what the rest of America has know for some time – their pizza sucks.  But, instead of crying about it, they decided to reinvent their product.  Bold move.

Even bolder move – their new ad campaign.  They don’t even try to defend the old pizza.  The message is, “yes, our old pizza tasted like cardboard – try the new stuff.”  In fact, I think the word cardboard is invoked about 20 times in this video.

I haven’t tried the new pizza yet.  I don’t even know if we have a Domino’s around here.  But I will try it soon, if only to reward a company for being straightforward with their customers.

via Hot Air, where Allah gives the new pizza a B+.

Anyone who remembers Jeff’s foreign exchange student also remembers the awesome look on his face when he opened a bag of potato chips to find it was puffed up with air, and was over half empty inside.  We tried to explain to him the chips were sold by weight, not by volume, but it didn’t translate well.  I think it had to do with the metric system.

Well, according to Unwrapped, a show hosted by Marc Summers which airs on Food Network, that puffed up bag is not a conspiracy to make it look like you’re buying more chips… it’s protection!  Two-fold protection, even.  The show claims that the bags are filled with nitrogen (atomic weight ).  The nitrogen serves to keep the chip from going stale, and the puffed up bag helps protect against chip-breakage.

I’m not 100% convinced that the these reasons aren’t fabricated, but they do make sense.  And I can’t see Marc Summers lying!