Weird Eats

Make a Chicken Out of Peanuts

Most of us have probably heard of peanut guy, George Washington Carver. In 1925, he published a booklet called How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption. Recipe #38 from this collection was for a peanut-based delight called Mock Chicken.

If you're a mock vegetarian and you're not sure how to proceed - I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you. Use your best judgment.

Here's the recipe, as it appeared in the booklet's seventh edition, dated January 1940.

NO. 38, MOCK CHICKEN
Blanch and grind a sufficient number of peanuts until they are quite oily;
stir in one well-beaten egg; if too thin, thicken with rolled bread crumbs
or cracker dust; stir in a little salt. Boil some sweet potatoes until done;
peel and cut in thin slices; spread generously with the peanut mixture; dip
in white of egg; fry to a chicken brown; serve hot.

Image: National Agricultural Library

Hendrix Liquid Experience & Earnhardt Candy

If you've been keeping track of Jimi Hendrix's "career" since 1970, you'll know that he's put out quite a few albums, even though this was the year he left us for rock and roll heaven.

Now, some 37 years after his passing, the influential guitarist has lent his name to an energy drink, of all things. Voodoo Vibe is the first in a planned line of beverages known as the Jimi Hendrix Liquid Experience. Clever. According to the Web site, "This new energy drink is a tribute to Jimi's legacy." Umm...

Those tireless tasters at BevNET recently reviewed Voodoo Vibe. For more on their verdict, look here.

Speaking of lending, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now lending his name to a line of candy bars. They're called Dale Jr.'s Big Mo' and are available in creamy caramel and peanut butter flavors. More at the Web site, including a sweepstakes.

Dead Man Eating

(Update)
The gang at Dead Man Eating recently posted Dead Man Eating: A Reenactment, to YouTube. Check it out here.

(Original Post)
Dead Man Eating has been "Chronicling the Culinary Cravings of the Condemned" since April 2002. If it sounds a kind of morbid, that's because it is. If it sounds too weird to be true - it's not. DME regularly lists the contents of condemned men's (most are men) last meals, summaries of their crimes, last words and assorted and sundry other facts.

Thus we find that in Texas, for example, Robert James Neville Jr. had as his last meal, the following, "Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, fried okra, bread with butter, mixed fresh veggies, donuts, chocolate cake with icing and sweet tea." A few weeks earlier, also in Texas, Marion Butler Dudley requested no last meal and had to be carried to the execution chamber.

If that's not enough entertainment for you, be sure to check out the ideal last meals sent in by readers, some of them rather on the gluttonous side. Or head to Dead Man Eating's main site and browse the fine merchandise, which includes thongs, mouse pads and more.

Marilyn Manson's Absinthe

Marilyn Manson, the Alice Cooper for a generation who missed Alice's heyday, is teaming up with Swiss distillery, Matter-Luginbuehl, to create a branded line of absinthe. The name - Mansinthe. Production began in August, with a run of 6,000 bottles. Manson has lent his artistic talents to the venture by designing Mansinthe's label.

If you're in the United States and you'd like a taste, you'll have to come up with some creative way of getting your hands on a bottle. Absinthe is apparently still a no-no in this part of the world, where you can still smoke cigarettes until your lungs are a cinder.

More details in this AFP article.

More about absinthe here and here.

Turkey Testicle Festival

(Update 2 - 09/11/2007)
The time is approaching again. Make your Turkey Testicle Festival Plans now.

(Update 1 - 10/18/2006)
Something else that never occurred to me before is that there might be more than one Turkey Testicle Festival. Apparently there are at least two others, besides the one I mentioned below. Here's the Web site for another one in Illinois, at the Parkside Pub, in Huntley.

The third such fest has taken place for the last few years in Fort Myers, Florida. According to recent reports, the town council there had expressed some reservations about the propriety of the name, but decided to allow the event to continue as the Turkey Testicle Festival. This one takes place at the Surf Club bar, in Fort Myers, but there doesn't appear to be an accompanying Web site.

(Original Post - 10/08/2006)
It never occurred to me before that turkeys might have testicles, but it's also not a matter that I've ever given much thought.

If you've got nothing to do October 14 and you're in the vicinity of Byron, Illinois, you might want to drop by the 28th Annual incarnation of the Turkey Testicle Festival. Or you might not. All depends on your inclination toward this sort of thing, I reckon.

While you're looking around at the Web site, make sure to check out the Turkey Testicle Song.

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I Don't Like SPAM!

What could I possibly say about SPAM that hasn't already been said? Probably not much, so I'll just leave you with a assortment of informative and entertaining links on the topic.

Official SPAM Home Page - Hormel
The Amazing SPAM Homepage
Don Garcia's Spam Homepage
SPAM Museum - Hormel
SPAM Museum - Roadside America
SPAM Limerick (Spamerick) Archive
SPAM Haiku Archive
SPAM Sculpture - Engineered Food Series
Love SPAM - Modernsurf.com
The Lighter Side of Spam - Slate
A Tribute to Spam, the Meat - Wired
French Fry Spam Casserole - RecipeSource

Image: Hormel Foods Corp.

Food On The Go

If you find anything the least bit peculiar about a candy bar designed to be eaten "on the go" you'll want to check out this recent article from the Washington Post. It takes a look at the increasing efforts - and sometimes absurd lengths - food makers will go to to make their products portable.

Among the other "portable" foods mentioned, peanut butter, yogurt, coffee, and cocktails.

World's Largest Ketchup Packet & Ketchup Instructions

The people of Collinsville, Illinois and H.J. Heinz Co. conspired yesterday to come up with the world's largest ketchup packet. It was eight feet tall and contained 3/4 of a ton of ketchup. Which would have been the perfect occasion for a really large order of French fries, but apparently that didn't happen.

For more, check out the World's Largest Ketchup Packet Web site.

If you've ever wondered how to pour ketchup, Robert Allgeyer has a Web page for you. Pouring Ketchup offers "the full technical explanation" (with illustrations) on...how to pour ketchup. Check it out here.