exploding whale day

Nov 12 Architeuthis Chowder for exploding whale day #fantasticdrivel

Wednesday Tuesday is my night to cook dinner. But it is also a weekly opportunity for me to share some fantastic drivel—things you didn’t care you didn’t know—with you, dear reader.

November 12 is “Exploding Whale Day,” commemorating a bizarre story involving a rotting sperm whale carcass, the Oregon Highway Division, and a half-ton of dynamite.

I wanted to celebrate Exploding Whale Day, but I wasn’t about to serve up sperm whale for dinner. I decided instead to prepare something using the sperm whale’s favorite food: the giant squid (genus: Architeuthis). I adapted this recipe for Seafood Chowder, using mostly calamari instead of the other seafood the recipe calls for. The result was delicious, albeit slightly rubbery, as squid usually is. It’s a bit of a stretch to call it “Architeuthis” chowder, since I don’t think there was any giant squid in the calamari I bought at the store, but let’s not quibble over cephalopod taxonomy.

The really interesting stuff is the story of the exploding whale. (click more to find out!)

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guy fawkes day

Nov 05 Apple Pear Pork Flambe for Guy Fawkes Day #fantasticdrivel

Wednesday Tuesday is my night to cook dinner. But it is also a weekly opportunity for me to share some fantastic drivel—things you didn’t care you didn’t know—with you, dear reader.

FYI: I used to make dinner on Wednesday nights but, for scheduling reasons, had to switch to Tuesdays. I already had my Pinterest board, Another Wednesday Dinner, and I’ve grown rather fond of the title. “Another Wednesday or Tuesday Dinner” doesn’t really do it for me. And at this point I have more Wednesdays under my belt than Tuesdays, so “Another Tuesday Dinner” seems somewhat disingenuous. I guess it’s also disingenuous to keep calling them “Wednesday” dinners when I know they are on Tuesdays, but at least I have tradition to back me up. Sorry; this FYI is becoming TMI.

November 05 is Guy Fawkes Day. It is also known as Guy Fawkes Night, Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, and (in some times and places) Pope Day. The holiday is always celebrated with fire, so some kind of flambé seemed like a good choice.

I went with this one: Apple Pear Pork Loin Chops, although I like Apple Pear Pork Flambé as a title. If you are a first-time flambéer, I highly recommend reading these Flambé Cooking Tips first.

That’s all the cooking stuff…but at this point you are probably asking:

what is guy fawkes day?

Bard Ylvisaker (of Ylvis): "What is Guy Fawkes Day?" #fantasticdrivel #ylvis #guyfawkesday #thefox

Thank you for asking, Bård. (Bård Ylvisåker of Ylvis)

(click more to find out!)

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Wily Willie: Pot-Bellied Scourge of Eastern Des Moines

A tip of the hat to Kyle Munson of the Des Moines Register. This has to be one of the best stories in modern journalism.

You really need to read the full story: Pot-belly pig terrorizes Des Moines neighborhood. While this video doesn’t show off Munson’s ability to capture compelling video footage (Merle Schieffer demonstrating how the cage operates, Willie chasing the rabbit), his narration gives a small taste of the wonderful wit he wields with the written word. Kyle Munson, you would be a welcome guest driveller any time. Perhaps I can get him to do a fantastic op-ed someday.

foreign devil

Oct 01 Foreign Devil Fried Rice for World Vegetarian Day and birthday of the People's Republic of China #fantasticdrivel

Wednesday Tuesday is my night to cook dinner. But it is also a weekly opportunity for me to share some fantastic drivel—things you didn’t care you didn’t know—with you, dear reader.

October 1 is World Vegetarian Day. It is also the birthday of the People’s Republic of China, as proclaimed by Mao Zedong from atop Tiananmen (October 1, 1949).

I’ve written a good deal about the Chairman in the Zoo World 3 series. I encourage you to check it out.

Regarding what to cook on October 1: I went with a vegetarian fried rice called Foreign Devil Fried Rice.

Click more to see the graphic in detail, and a couple of photos from my trip to the exotic asian grocery store!

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cotton candy day

July 31 Homemade Cotton Candy for cotton candy day #fantasticdrivel

Wednesday is my night to cook dinner. But it is also a weekly opportunity for me to share some fantastic drivel—things you didn’t care you didn’t know—with you, dear reader.

July 31, 2013 is Cotton Candy Day. Yes, I’m aware that cotton candy is more of a dessert than a dinner, but my research for dinner options yielded very little fruit. July 31 is also Flag Day in Hawaii, so I did add coconut flavoring to my cotton candy. A token gesture, to be sure, but I was really excited about making homemade cotton candy!

I should mention that “National Cotton Candy Day” in the United States is on December 7th. Cotton candy seems like a strange way to commemorate Pearl Harbor Day, however, so I prefer the less nationalistic “Cotton Candy Day” celebrated July 31st.

Cotton candy is made by spinning strands of molten sugar around a stick. “Spun sugar” shows up in European history as early as the 18th century, but as it was expensive and time-consuming to make, it was a luxury confection for the rich folk.

Machine-spun cotton candy was invented in 1897 by the dentist William Morrison and confectioner John C. Wharton and first introduced to a wide audience at the 1904 World’s Fair as “Fairy Floss” with great success, selling 68,655 boxes at 25¢ per box (equivalent to $6 per box today). Joseph Lascaux, a dentist from New Orleans, Louisiana, invented a similar cotton candy machine in 1921. In fact, the Lascaux patent named the sweet confection “cotton candy” and the “fairy floss” name faded away, although it retains this name in Australia. |from Wikipedia

What a brilliant business partnership: a dentist and a confectioner. Reminds me of a line from a Tom Lehrer song, “The Old Dope Peddler”:

He gives the kids free samples
because he knows full well
that today’s young innocent faces
will be tomorrow’s clientele.

(pictures of my cotton candy attempt after the cut)

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