Let me explain how this whole thing started. A former co-worker and I were discussing something vitally important and somehow we got on the subject of snack food. Rama startled me with the statement “Do you know that Twinkies are not baked?”

Okay, for those not in the know about the snack food industry, a Twinkie is “Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling”. Developed by Jimmy Dewar (Hostess in Schiller Park, IL) in 1930, the little cake is 4″ long, 1 1/2″ wide, golden colored, and filled with creamy filling. Originally, the Twinkie filling was banana flavored, but during World War II a lack of bananas forced Hostess to change the flavor to vanilla. In June, 2007, the banana flavor returned in the banana-flavored Twinkie.  Both the vanilla and banana flavored are available now.

Twinkie got its name from a popular brand of shoe called Twinkle Toes. A mascot named “Twinkie the Kid” was introduced as an advertising aid and was immediately popular. Twinkie the Kid must be doing some great work because over 500,000 are sold every year. Chicago consumes the largest number of Twinkies in the U.S.

Just for fun, a Twinkie is 150 calories and the ingredients are:

• Enriched Flour
• Water
• Sugar
• Corn syrup
• High fructose corn syrup
• Partially hydrogenated vegetable and/or animal shortening
• Eggs
• Dextrose
• Food starch
• Whey
• Leavenings
• Salt
• Corn flour
• Caseinate
• Sodium stearoyl lactylate (huh?)
• Cellulose gum
• Polysorbate 60
• Wheat gluten
• Lecithin
• Artificial and natural flavors
• Artificial colors (yellow 4, red 40)
• Caramel color
• Sorbic acid (preservative)

Nothing but the best for the Twinkie!

Twinkies are so popular that there are cookbooks (The Twinkies Cookbook: An Inventive and Unexpected Recipe Collection from Hostess), books on the merits of the ingredients (Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods are Grown, Mind (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats), and web sites devoted to love and experimentation - The T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project  where experiments on Twinkies are conducted including:

• Gravitational Response - What happens when you drop a Twinkie from a great height
• Radiation Test - Microwaving a Twinkie
• Turing Test - Compare the intelligence of a Twinkie to a college student
• Rapid Oxidation - Set the Twinkie on fire
• Solubility Test - Drown the Twinkie

Sound like junk science? It’s Junk-Food Science at its best. Besides, it’s entertaining to read the information and results for each of the tests.

Back to Rama

I was taken aback by the bold statement that Twinkies were not baked. I mean, how do you make sponge cake without baking it? Unbelievers claim it is a polymerized chemical reaction, like foam expanding.

Rama stated that he had read that Hostess actually colors the bottom of the cakes with caramel color to make it “appear” to have been baked - thus strengthening his argument. Actually, they do paint the bottoms, because in the baking process the bottoms are not browned enough and people prefer to see a dark bottom on their Twinkie.

It is baked I tell you, that is why it contains things like leavening agents. Besides, I’ve seen the FoodNetwork show “Unwrapped” and they showed Twinkies being baked!  Right on camera.  If it is on the FoodNetwork, it has to be true.

Twinkies are baked for 10 minutes and filled with cream via three holes punched into the bottom of the individual cakes.  Then they are wrapped two to a package.  Two Twinkies for double your cream-filled sponge cake pleasure.

Another popular myth is that Twinkies will last forever. Untrue, they have a shelf-life of about 25 days, which is sort of long. But this is due to having few dairy products in them, not because they are a mutant chemically processed sponge cake product. (Check out www.Snopes.Com for the complete story).

If you want to get some great recipes for Twinkies, check out the Hostess Site. They have recipes for all their cakes.  Think of Twinkie-Misu, Twinkie Toffee Treat, and Twinkie Tacos - what a great dessert to present to the whole family at Thanksgiving.  “No thanks dear, I don’t want pumpkin pie - hand cut me a big slice of that Twinkie Toffee Treat!”

Conclusion and end of this Horrifying Episode

So, after all this, Rama, I guess we have learned enough about the construction of the  Twinkie to dispel any further talk of Twinkies “not” being baked. I feel I have done my duty to the snack cake cause.

I’m hungry - SNACK TIME!!!  Off to the vending machine!

Today, my company is hosting the Take Your Child to Work Day. This program is dedicated to encouraging boys and girls to “dream without gender limitations” about possible careers. For kids 8 to 18, their parents can bring them to work and see what Mom or Dad does for a living. The company usually provides a lot of activities for the kids so the parents aren’t stuck with them all day. It’s very interesting coming in to work seeing co-workers running around the office with kids following them.

The Ms. Foundation for Women launched Take Your Daughter to Work Day in 1993. This program was created to expose young girls to the many career opportunities out in the world. The program was intended to address any self-esteem issues girls may suffer due to gender bias. Bowing to pressure from educators, boys were added to the program in 2003 to allow them to also be exposed to possible career paths. The day was then called Take your Child to Work.

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (as it is now called) is usually held on the fourth Thursday of April, but a company can actually have it any time. It is estimated that about 10% of companies do host a Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (or something like this). It is a really good program and companies put their own money into the activities for the kids. Some activities include learning Japanese (for Japanese companies in the U.S.), touring the company building, speakers, involvement by the local fire and police departments, and movies.

I have no children of my own, but I do believe that programs like Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day go a long way in helping kids explore career options.

But, as a childless person, I think I should be allowed to bring my Furry Kids (Fids) to work. Why can’t we have a Take Our Pets to Work Day? It would certainly be more entertaining to have my Lhasa Apso (Buddy) and Maltese (Chibi) running around with other dogs and cats than a bunch of unruly children. I feel so slighted by the total lack of acknowledgement of my Fids. Don’t I count in the company enough to allow me some quality time? What about providing my dogs with demonstrations of agility, obedience (Chibi would learn nothing), and even performing dogs. Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, could be a guest speaker!

I love the idea of opening the minds of kids to career possibilities, but let’s not forget the family members who really show us the most love….PETS!!

Dental Hygienists annoy me.

Okay, I know that proper dental care is extremely important and I want to keep my teeth. I watched my Mother lose all her teeth before the age of 45, so I do have concern about tooth retention. I’m 49 now and I have them all, thank-you. I faithfully go to the dentist twice a year for cleaning and checkups. I brush every day with a Sonicare toothbrush and use Listerine. But….I do not floss regularly.

When I say I do not floss regularly, I mean I floss twice a day for the first week after my dental appointment and then the frequency goes down to about 3-4 times a week until the next appointment.

According to a 2004 TIS survey of 1,004 consumers and 300 dentists, 90% of patients do not floss daily. Are you shocked? The only ones shocked should be the 10% who actually floss every day. No shock on the results of the survey - flossing is a pain in the butt.

Take 20 inches of dental floss, wrap it several times around your fingers until you have about 3-5 inches exposed, then somehow get your fingers and the floss inside your mouth and rub each surface between all of your teeth. At 6AM, this is not something I want to do. I also don’t want to do it at 10PM when I’m ready for bed. I have a friend who swears by keeping floss by her chair and she does it while watching TV. Yuck! All that flying tooth crud and old food in my living room? Nope.

So, I brush twice a day and use Listerine.  A 2004 study by the American Dental Association revealed that rinsing with Listerine (for at least 30 seconds) twice a day is as effective as flossing once a day. I can do that! As long as it’s Cool Mint Listerine or one of the other flavors - the original is revolting.

So, back to the dental hygienist. I am aware that I don’t floss, like 9/10 of the population, but I don’t need abuse because of it. The hygienist displayed a superior attitude about my lack of flossing that bordered on abuse. She gave me the ‘tsk, tsk” about my dental health and then had the nerve to comment on the fact that my teeth were not very white and that they offered a great whitening program (for $1,040). I do not like the look of bleached teeth, they glow and I don’t think anyone should have glowing teeth unless they are in a horror film. Besides, my teeth are not yellow; they are a little off white - due to coffee, which I will not give up.

You would have thought I had Meth Mouth (the result of years of Methamphetamine use which makes a person’s teeth rot and fall out). I just had some plaque, which I am paying for her to remove with sharp metal instruments.

So, “Princess” Dental Hygienist was very superior in her attitude. I could only imagine that before she received her training, she was, like me, a flossing loser. Her current attitude is due to her training and knowledge. I bet her teeth were even yellow before she graduated!

After my cleaning and dental lecture, I saw the Dentist. He said my teeth looked great and he would see me in 6 months. What?! No lecture on dental health and the importance of white teeth and flossing? He has more education that the hygienist, why didn’t he attack me?

I must be doing something right - no cavities, no rotting teeth, no bad breath. I think I’ll continue with my current regimen. We’ll see what another 6 months of rinsing with Listerine will do.

I am really an old-fashioned Farmer’s girl at heart.  I’d love to own a little hobby farm and raise chickens, goats, alpacas and have a lovely little garden.  I want this until I experience the pain of the kind of work it takes to keep a farm or even a garden going.

I have made strawberry jam every year for the last 10 years.  I go to Thompson’s Strawberry Farm in Bristol, WI, and pick 4 baskets (about 16 quarts all together).  Thompson’s has 26 acres of strawberries and lots of people go there.  This is a wonderful experience - being outside, in nature, picking the fruit to be made into wonderful jam…..until the next day.

For those who have never picked strawberries, they are plants that are close to the ground.  This means you either bend, squat, or sit to pick them.  Sitting means having to get up and move every few minutes and possibly getting tons of dirt and crushed strawberries on your shorts/pants.  If you are a not-too-small person, like me, it also means you don’t fit between the rows very well. 

Squatting (for the not-too-small person) causes more strain to the knee and ankle soft tissue than is permissible by natural law.  So, I am stuck with bending over, which is not so bad.  Unfortunately, this year the strawberries were very small and it took a lot more time bending over to pick 4 baskets worth.  About 1 1/2 hours total.

I was fine on Sunday, when I picked, but Monday was a new experience in pain.

I’m not a wimp, but any measure, but when you go from a laying down (sleeping) position to standing and every ligament, tendon, and muscle between your hips and knees start to scream - you turn wimpy real quick.  It took me a few minutes to work the kinks out and be able to walk without praying for a morphine drip.  It seemed like it might be okay - until I sat for longer than five minutes.  Each time you sit for a period of time, and then get up - the soft tissue begins its painful complaints. 

I tried ibuprophen, Icy-Hot, hot baths, and sleeping (my favorite pastime), but nothing seemed to help.  It was inevitable that time would be the only cure.

The bending-over muscles are apparently never used except for strawberry picking.  I don’t remember hurting this much last year, but I’m a year older and the berries were way too small.  I did manage to de-stem, clean, crush, and cook 2 1/2 baskets worth of strawberries for jam (42 half-pint jars).  I will finish the job on Friday, July 4th.

I send this information to warn those thinking of doing something strenuous - try working about beforehand.  Perhaps practice bending over for 5-10 minutes a day and working up to an hour.  Think of your body, your mind, and the mindless pain that comes from migrant work and the dream of a hobby farm.

WordPlay is a documentary by Patrick Creadon that presents the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor, Will Shortz and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament held every year for 31 years.

Will Shortz is a word-nerd who created his own academic major while attending Indiana State University. The major – Enigmatolgy, or the study of puzzles. He is so far the only person to have this degree. Shortz became the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle in 1973.

In 1978, Shortz founded the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament held every year in New York City. The tournament attracts around 500 players from around the world. The competition consists of 8 puzzles. These crossword puzzles are especially created for the competition. Seven of the puzzles are played to obtain the best overall score to enter the final competition, which is a crossword puzzle solved onstage. Only three competitors make it to the final puzzle. Entrants are scored on speed and accuracy. Points are taken off for blanks, incorrect letters, and time to complete puzzle after the official time has ended.

WordPlay features interviews with crossword enthusiasts like former President Bill Clinton, Daily Show host Jon Steward, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and musical group the Indigo Girls (Emily Saliers and Amy Ray).

The film follows five word-nerds who competed in the 2005 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament - Tyler Hinman, Trip Payne, Al Sanders, Ellen Ripstein, and Jon Delfin. Each competitor explains their attraction to puzzles and their method for completing the puzzles quickly and accurately. These are very intelligent people who are absolutely smitten with the challenge of the crossword.

The winner of the 2005 Tournament was Tyler Hinman, who was the youngest at 20- years-old. Tyler has gone on to win 4 Tournaments including the 2008 held February 29-March 2, 2008. Payne, Sanders, Ripstein, and Delfin place in the top 10 in most of annual tournaments – and they compete almost every year. These are serious puzzlers. The prize - $5,000.00 and major bragging rights.

Crossword puzzle creator, Merl Reagle, explains the process of creating a crossword puzzle. Interestingly, the actual rules of how to create a crossword puzzle were set down by the first New York Times Crossword Editor, Margaret Farrar:

• Diagonal Symmetry – the pattern of black squares should look the same when rotated 180 degrees.
• No two-letter words
• No more than 16% of the puzzle grid can be black squares

- From WordPlay the Movie website.

The New York Times crossword puzzle is famous for its complexity and challenge. Some things to note:

• The puzzle is easiest on Monday and gets progressively harder culminating with the harder puzzles presented on Friday or Saturday.
• The Sunday crossword is larger, but designed to be as difficult as a typical Thursday puzzle.
• The puzzles presented Monday through Saturday are 15 X 15 squares; the Sunday crossword is 21 X 21 squares.

Some tips for solving crossword puzzles:

• Start with the first clue you know for sure and build upon it.
• If the clue has an abbreviation, so will the answer.
• Clue is plural? So will the answer be.
• If the clue has a certain tense, so will the answer. (I see a pattern here)
• If the clue ends with a question mark, the answer will be a play on words.
• French and Spanish language answers will contain a city or name that is common to the country.

I found this documentary absolutely fascinating. I like crossword puzzles, but I’m abysmal at best at completing them. Watching this documentary made me admiring of the participants and gave me the feeling of complete inferiority. Here are two of the questions I found difficult even to watch on the film:

Stark and richly detailed, as writing – Answer: Zolaesque (I suppose in honor of writer Emil Zola.)

Big Basin – Answer: Amazonia (Amazon basin, maybe? Egads.)

I suppose that, depending on the other answers going down, I could have figured them out, but I’m no Word-Nerd. I leave the competition to the experts, like Tyler Hinman and Trip Payne – I just want to finish the puzzle with as few errors as possible – even if it takes several hours.

Okay, I was off for 6 days after an Austin Bunionectomy (more on that little trip down memory lane later) and it was BORING.  I had to sit around with my foot up for 6 days (Wednesday until I went back to work Tuesday) and as nice as sitting around watching TV, reading, with my dogs by my side sounds, it was horrible.

After a Law and Order marathon, a Law and Order Criminal Intent marathon, and watching everything I ever recorded on my DVR (Digital Video Recorder), I was desperate for some form of entertainment. 

I checked out the OnDemand channel (ComCast digital cable) and found BRIDEZILLA!  This little gem of a reality show is a car wreck you just can’t stop watching.

Brides, their families, friends, and hapless grooms are followed through the wedding planning process.  I have never been a bride myself, having proven that I am a true Registered Jerk Magnet, but apparently, the process of wedding planning turns the blushing bride into a complete and total WITCH.

Brides are seen screaming at their fiances, Mothers, friends, and caterers.  The phrase “This is supposed to be my day, I’m the bride” is screamed at near deafening levels.  The stress of a wedding can apparently turn a 37-year-old calm, business woman, into a 3-year-old needing a power nap.  The men they are going to marry seem to handle it all with confidence - shut-up, put-up, and tell her she is beautiful - or risk the wrath of Bridezilla!

Bridzilla is broadcast on WeTV.  Here is a sample of the upcoming episodes and the program comments.

Sunday, June 1 9|8C
Ayesah/Jennifer - Twenty-seven year old Ayesha Graves, is a burgeoning Bridezilla who hates to be touched-especially by her own fiancé. Her relationship with her bridesmaids isn’t much warmer.

Sunday, June 8 9|8C
Jennifer/Kenya - Sunday, June 8 9/8C - It’s the jaw dropping conclusion to the story of Jennifer Mahoney and her fiancé Shawn. Shawn’s mother shows up to the wedding despite her personal feelings toward the bride. We also begin the story of Kenya Fance who doesn’t lift a finger in the planning of her wedding.

Now, I am so addicted, that I may actually have to DVR this little parade of terror.  It’s always nice to see others melt-down, instead of yourself.

Not a good day to be the Mayor of Detroit. 

Besides his city’s rising crime rate, foreclosure problems, poverty level, and general crummy economic level, the Mayor of Detroit is now facing perjury and obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and misconduct in office charges (along with his main squeeze, Christine Beatty).  Beatty and Kilpatrick testified that they did not mislead jurors in their testimony that they did not fire Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown.  They apparently told the jurors that they were not an item - text messages between Beatty and Kilpatrick say they certainly are involved.  To read more on the scandal go to the Detroit Free Press to get all the information on the scandal.

Now a grassroots movement has started asking Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove Kilpatrick from his position as Mayor.   RecallKwame.org provides information on the request to fire/recall the Mayor and information regarding the scandal.  RecallKwame.org also offers a petition to sign which has 333 signatures as of this date. This site is great because it was started by a concerned citizen, outraged by the way his city was being run and willing to do something about it. 

Citizens should get involved in their government and this is a great example of how one person can get involved.

Here is a copy of the press release from RecallKwame.org sent today:

RECALLKWAME.ORG LAUNCHES AN EXTENSIVE WEBSITE
ALPENA, MI, APRIL 4, 2008: 

On March 31st, 2008 an extensive website was launched demanding that Gov. Jennifer Granholm remove Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. The website contains an Internet Petition to recall Detroit’s Mayor.  This website can be found at http://www.recallkwame.org. The website is not directed at the City Council of Detroit.  It is directed at Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The Governor is currently the only person who has the authority to remove him from his elected position because he has not been convicted for the crimes that he has been charged with.

The website allows for all individuals of Michigan to sign the petition, not just the citizens of Detroit. 

The group feels that not only is the City of Detroit being affected by the Mayor’s criminal charges and other allegations but so is the entire State of Michigan.  The members of this website are hoping to have over 10,000 confirmed names applied to the Internet Petition by the end of April.

This group does understand that the Internet Petition is not legal and binding.  The absolute intent is to create a necessary ground swell to make the Governor and the elected officials in Lansing, MI. remove what is felt to be a corrupt, unjust, unfit to lead and discriminatory Mayor of Detroit.

Ouch!  As I said before, not a good day for the Mayor.  This is the reason I don’t commit crime - I’d have someone with a website devoted to my downfall, and I’d probably deserve it.

Matt Griffin hated the middle pieces of brownies.  He liked the crispier edge pieces. So, what does a smart, entrepreneur do? —Invent a new kind of brownie pan!

Baker’s Edge pan offers 70% more edge for those whose idea of a great brownie is crispy, not soggy. Brownies turn out great! Don’t believe me? Look what experts say:

“When we tested the pan in our kitchen, we were pleased to discover the (pan) really eliminates the problem of undercooked middles and burned edges (and) gave each serving of our brownies two chewy edges.” - Cook’s Illustrated, Mar/Apr 2008, no. 91.

“When this unusual baking pan, designed for edge lovers…arrived in the mail, I couldn’t help wondering, Does anyone really need this? Shortly thereafter, at a brownie tasting in the Fine Cooking test kitchen, I noticed several FC staffers vying for the chewy edge pieces and suddenly I understood that, yes, some people really do need the Baker’s Edge pan.” - Fine Cooking, Mar 2007 no. 84.

Learn more about the Baker’s Edge brownie pan.

Bullying has finally been acknowledged as a huge problem in schools.  The shootings at Columbine High School and Jonesboro, Arkansas were an extreme reaction of victims who were horribly bullied for years and finally had enough.  It’s not just shootings, but victim’s commiting suicide because they cannot take the cruelty any more. 

Legislation has been passed against school bullying and harassment in 14 states.  Can you legislate to end bullying?  Is anti bullying legislation against free speech?  Check out my paper on Legislation Against Bullying.

Have you been a victim of a bully? Have you been a school bully? Give us your story by adding a comment to this blog entry.

Here is what I call a cute little boutique for your puppy.  Muddy Paws, which is located in Alpena, Michigan has the cutest assortment of doggy stuff in the world.  I have a friend, Brian, who happens to be my web designer has designed the website for this online store. 

Muddy Paws provides all your little pooch could possibly need from treats, beads, collars, and dental care to the latest in dog apparel.  No dog should be without the latest garb.  What I actually found most appealing was the pricing - an argyle sweater for $12.99?  Sign me up!  After visiting the Lush Puppy in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas and seeing a doggy t-shirt for $39.99, $12.99 seems like a dream. 

 My dogs are well worth it and so are yours.  Check out Muddy Paws at http://www.muddypawsoutfitting.com/ and get a real treat.