Beavers used as Vanilla Flavoring

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Next time you pick up a vanilla candy, think twice. A chemical compound used in vanilla flavored foods and scents comes from the butt of a beaver.

Castoreum comes from a beaver's castor sacs, located between the pelvis and base of the tail. Due to its proximity to the anal glands, the slimy brown substance is often mixed with gland secretions and urine.

"I lift up the animal's tail," Joanne Crawford, a wildlife ecologist at Southern Illinois University told National Geographic. "I’m like, 'Get down there, and stick your nose near its bum.'"

"People think I'm nuts," she added. "I tell them, 'Oh, but it's beavers; it smells really good.'"

Beavers use the brown slime, often compared to a thinner version of molasses, to mark their territory. The musky, vanilla scent is attributed to a beaver's diet of bark and leaves.

Manufacture have been using castoreum as an additive in foods and perfumes for at least 80 years, according to a 2007 study in the International Journal of Toxicology.

But getting a beaver to emit castoreum is not easy. Foodies are willing to "milk" the animals in order to get their hands on the gooey substance.

"You can milk the anal glands so you can extract the fluid," Crawford said. "You can squirt [castoreum] out. It's pretty gross."

Only 292-pounds per year is collected because the milking method is unpleasant for all parties involved.

And the worst part? The FDA-approved castoreum is not required to be listed as an ingredient on food items. Manufacturers may list "natural flavoring" instead.

Perhaps a bit too natural for us.

Psycho Donuts

There is a web sites the boys go to to watch Kamen Rider Wizard. The site always 

decorates the site with donuts because the main character on the show loves donuts. 

This time the picture  was from a donut shop near San Jose, CA. 

Check out the different kinds they have. http://www.psycho-donuts.com/

Sushi donuts

10 Long Inches of Pleasure

A pound of milk chocolate, peanuts, caramel and nougats. The perfect food to eat while watching all those Christmas specials on TV. Also my wife doesn't like to do a lot of cooking when its cold. Hence my expertise of frozen pizza's, the microwave oven and ready to eat package foods. 

Bojangles Seasoning

link here

We go through about 20 pounds of potatoes a week. Largely due to the great seasoning that Bojangles is selling now in their stores and online. Even makes pork, chicken, steak and hamburger taste even better than using salt.

Pretzel Rolos

This is the easiest recipe to make.

Items needed:

1.      Mini pretzels

2.      Rolo candies

3.      Parchment paper

4.      Nuts – pecans, walnuts or other large size nuts

(M&M’s, sugar drop candies or your choice as a topping can be used)

Here’s what you do:

1.      Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2.      Cut parchment paper to fit on cooking tray (pizza tray can also be used)

3.      Spread out the mini pretzels onto tray

4.      Remove the wrapper of each Rolo and place one Rolo on one pretzel

5.      Once done, place tray in the over for 5 minutes

6.      After 5 minutes, remove from oven

The appearance of the Rolos looks unchanged but the they are melted so as to continue to the next step:

1.      Do not remove from the cooking tray just yet

2.      Take what topping you like and place one topping onto a Rolo

3.      Press lightly

4.      Let cool for a while

5.      Moved to a plate and begin eating

Food for Thought

I found this while surfing last night. Link here.

Here's a sample.

Minute Maid Apple Juice vs. Dunkin Donuts:

One 15.2 fl oz bottle of Minute Maid Apple Juice has 52 grams of sugar, the same amount of sugar in about 25 Dunkin Donut sugared munchkins.

Hi-C Poppin’ Lemonade vs. Krispy Kreme:

One 6.75 fl oz juice box of Hi-C Poppin’ Lemonade has 26 grams of sugar. In such a tiny kid-sized box it has 7 grams more sugar than a Krispy Kreme chocolate iced custard filled donut.

Minute Maid Orange Juice vs. Fruit Loops:

The sugar in one 15.2 fl oz bottle of Minute Maid Orange juice is equivalent to 4 cups of Kellogg’s Fruit Loops (48g).

Sobe Citrus Energy vs. Pixy Stixs:

You could eat about 29 sugar-filled straws of Pixy Stixs for the same amount of sugar in one 20 fl oz Sobe Citrus Energy drink (63g- about 12 ½ teaspoons).

Tropicana Twister Orange Strawberry Banana Burst vs. Tootsie Rolls:

One 20 fl oz bottle of Tropicana Twister has 64 grams of sugar, just about as much sugar as 21 Tootsie Roll candies.

Taco Raisu

I had an Okinawan dish “taco raisu” last tonight. It was as I expected. If you have a craving for this dish, I offer the following original recipe for a reasonable facsimile:

• Go to your closest Taco Bell and order a Taco Supreme
• Take it home and prepare a plate of cooked white rice
• Scrape the fillings out of the Taco Supreme and onto the bed of rice
• Throw the taco shell away
• Add salsa and hot sauce to taste
• Enjoy