Imagine sitting around a campfire on a cool evening toasting marshmallows over the flickering flames. Your gaze never wanders as the glowing white glob hisses and spits. The marshmallow emerges from the flame at just the right moment as a golden brown work of culinary perfection. As the melted, gooey confection oozes across the top of a Graham cracker, you grin in anticipation as you gently layer on some chocolate and another crunchy cracker. You look. You admire. You taste. Heavenly. S'mores, what would life be without them? The chocolate and marshmallows are the main attraction tempting our taste buds… but don't forget the humble Graham crackers holding everything together. If it weren't for them, we'd just have a melted, sweet conglomeration with nowhere to go. We must thank Sylvester Graham (1794-1851), a Presbyterian minister, for the ingenious combination of ingredients that now bear his name. Even though his original recipe for Graham cakes bears no resemblance to what we enjoy today, the story behind Graham crackers remains quite intriguing. Rev. Graham was a staunch social reformer and an advocate for healthy living. He preached that too much lustful living harmed the body, and excessive sexual activity caused ailments ranging from headaches and indigestion to pulmonary problems, spinal diseases, epilepsy, and insanity. He also believed that offspring conceived in this manner would die early due to weakened stock. Graham endorsed a strict high-fiber diet consisting of unrefined wheat flour, no fat, and no meats to suppress those carnal urges. In addition, Graham discouraged the use of mustard and ketchup since, according to him, it also caused insanity. Surprisingly, Graham's doctrine was accepted by a limited number of people during the American health craze of the 1820s and 1830s. His converts gladly confined themselves to Graham boarding houses in New York and Boston, adhering to the strict regimen. The Graham cakes made their grand entrance at that time. The Reverend wanted a special treat for his faithful friends and meticulously perfected his recipe made with unrefined wheat flour and without any sugar or flavorings. It became a staple among his followers to supplement the high-fiber vegetarian diet. As with all fads, though, Sylvester Graham's healthy living philosophy fizzled out. Yet, the Graham cakes lived on – slightly modified, of course. Graham's name remained because of the use of his highly proclaimed unsifted wheat flour. However, that was the only ingredient that survived the transition from Graham cakes to Graham crackers. It's a mystery who first concocted the cracker version, but the revised recipe appeared in a cookbook in 1882. The rest of the story is history. The crunchy wafer we all know and love come from the National Biscuit Company, a.k.a. Nabisco. They began marketing Graham crackers in the late 1800s. But their record-breaking success came in 1925 when the company introduced the Honey Maid line, and the delicious treat has remained popular since then. Sylvester Graham probably spins in his grave whenever his name is used to describe the cookie-like treat made with refined white flour and sugar. But hey, that's progress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may be wondering what the history of Graham crackers has to do with books or writing. Answer: Absolutely nothing. I just thought it was an interesting tidbit of history. At any rate, this is our Whatever blog, so it still fits, sort of. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did you know… I'm sure you know that S'more is a contraction of the phrase "some more." However, did you know the first recipe appeared in a Campfire Marshmallows cookbook in the early 1920s? The guide may have heralded the Graham Cracker Sandwich as an ingenious invention, but it was already a well-known treat for Boy and Girl Scouts alike. The first official recipe for a s'more came out in the 1927 Girl Scout guidebook, "Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts." While the book was intended to offer advice on being a good Girl Scout (always get a parent's permission before hiking!), its lasting legacy was the Some More. The renamed recipe, credited to a troop leader named Loretta Scott Crew, calls for 16 graham crackers, eight bars of plain chocolate, and 16 marshmallows. The instructions say, "Toast the marshmallows to a 'crispy, gooey state.' Put the marshmallow on top of a chocolate bar, between two graham crackers, and voilà, you got a " Some More." It's unclear when the name was shortened to simply s'more, but various Girl Scout publications referred to the treat as Some More until at least 1971. Thanks, Dannye, for digging up these little-known facts! Now, I'm craving some gooey, toasted marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. How long has it been since you ate a s'more? Today is St. Valentine’s Day. It’s the perfect occasion to express your heartfelt feelings to the ones you love. It didn’t begin that way, though. On the contrary, the legend started out with intrigue, beheadings, and scattered body parts. To top that off, no one even knows who the real St. Valentine was. All the details have been lost to time, only to be transformed by the poets in tales of love and romance. The story behind this February 14th celebration would make an excellent mystery novel. There are so many unknowns! First, the investigator must determine which of the 40+ St. Valentines died on that particular date. The next step entails lots of research to establish the causes of death – was it natural, or was the guy bumped off? After weeding the list down to the Valentines killed on February 14th, the detective must use his little gray cells to piece together how an event featuring a martyred saint could become a symbol of romance and love—a challenging task. Who was the Real St. Valentine? The facts he uncovers lead our sleuth to believe the victim could be one of several people or a combination of several of them. Two Valentines stand out as likely candidates, but neither dealt with matters of romance. Both were martyrs and were beheaded by Roman Emperor Claudius on the 14th of February, but in different years. The first Valentine refused to renounce his faith and was placed under house arrest. The whole house converted to Christianity after witnessing the priest restore sight to a young blind girl. Once word reached the Emperor, Valentine was executed. The second candidate, Bishop Valentine of Terni, was also known for his healing ability. The legend claims that a Roman scholar asked the bishop to heal his crippled son. After performing this miracle, the scholar, his family, and visiting friends converted to Christianity. Soon after, the bishop was arrested and killed. A third Valentine could also be a contender. This priest defied Emperor Claudius by performing marriages for young lovers in secret. Claudius believed that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, so he outlawed marriage for young men. When these illegal marriages were discovered, Valentine was put to death. But that’s not all. Another Valentine helped Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. After being imprisoned himself, he supposedly sent the first “From Your Valentine” greeting to a young girl who visited him during his confinement. The facts behind the Valentine legends are murky. It’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to track down the truth. Even more questionable is the validity of the saint’s sacred body parts believed to exist in churches across Europe. Our investigator must visit these places of worship in Prague, Rome, Madrid, Terni, Glasgow, and Dublin to search for any clues pertinent to his investigation. The Romance Angle Our gumshoe spends his time aboard his private jet, wracking his brain over where the romance angle comes in. Face it, Catholic priests and bishops do not mix all that well with images of Cupid. There is no evidence that any of these saints performed acts promoting romance, except that guy who wrote love letters from his jail cell to a kid. That doesn’t sound very likely and places Valentine number four at the bottom of the list of suspects. So, what inspired Valentine’s Day? Google predicts it could have been the execution of Valentine, a pagan holiday, or Middle Age poets looking for new ideas to entertain their readers. Our private eye has ruled out the executions of the assorted Valentines since there are no historical references to any parties where love-themed cards were exchanged for at least 1300 years or so after Claudius’ reign. The earliest possible origin of Valentine’s Day evolved from the pagan holiday Lupercalia. Occurring in mid-February, it was popular and one of the few pagan holidays allowed to be celebrated after Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire. Lupercalia celebrated fertility. Men stripped naked and sacrificed a goat and dog. Young boys would then take strips of hide from the sacrificed animals and use them to whip young women to promote fertility. We are getting closer to solving the mystery. Anyway, all the wild parties came to an end when Pope Gelasius came to power in the late fifth century and put an end to the fun. To replace Lupercalia, the Catholic church declared February 14 as a feast day to celebrate the martyred St. Valentine. Unfortunately, the early Valentine’s Day celebrations substituted the fertility, love, and sacrifices with food and prayers honoring the saint. No romance. The more modern notion of Valentine’s Day celebrating passion arose a thousand-plus years later when British author Geoffrey Chaucer introduced the idea of recognizing lovers during this annual feast. Evidence proves that much of the romanticized tales of St. Valentine originated from the imagination of Chaucer and other poets trying to liven up their work to attract more readers. (That is the opinion of our investigator, not historians.) As far as Valentine’s cards go, they didn’t become popular until the 1400s. The oldest known Valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London. That concludes the investigation. The mystery is solved. A priest or bishop named Valentine was martyred way back in the BC times. The Catholic church replaced the Roman pagan celebration, Lupercalia, with a calmer, more conservative feast in honor of St. Valentine. Chaucer added all the bells and whistles during the Middle Ages. The cards came into play a few years later. Case closed. Any questions? This is an article I wrote for Indies Unlimited. It was published on 03-22-2012. For the last week, I have been sitting at my computer, wracking my brain, trying to finish a short story. After seven days of madly typing away, only four paragraphs appear on the screen in front of me. The countless hours working on this one story, and that is all I have to show for it? The right words elude me. I have deleted more material than I have saved. Where is my inspiration? Why won’t the words come to me? Have I lost my ability to write? Desperation has set in. All I can think about is the stupid story. I need a distraction, maybe some housework. No, too close to the computer. How about yard work? Nope, I still look at my office window, and the siren song from my laptop lures me back inside. Ah ha, an escape. I have a doctor’s appointment. I hate going to the doctor’s office, but the nervousness and dread offer something new to occupy my battered mind - a couple of hours away from the pull of my computer, just what I need. While sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, inspiration strikes. The words I have been desperately searching for come to me. That’s it, that’s perfect, but I don’t have access to my computer, not even a tape recorder or notepad. I’ve got to get these thoughts down before I lose them. Why now? Why here? The other folks sitting next to me are staring; did I say something out loud? I don’t care what they think. I have to write this down before I forget it. I run up to the receptionist and blurt out, “I need paper and a pen…oh, and can I borrow your clipboard?” I don’t want to say too much, or the words in my head might escape from my one-track mind. I nervously pace back and forth, muttering to myself while I wait. Finally, after years…er minutes of waiting, she calmly hands over the requested materials to my shaking hands. Somehow, I made it back to my seat, still muttering to myself while scribbling down the words that had been repeating over and over in my brain. All eyes are upon me. Have I grown a second head or something? Hasn’t anyone else ever had a flash of inspiration before, or are the giggles accompanying my writing too much for everyone to bear? I hear voices coming from the office; two men carrying an oversized white jacket approach me. Distractions, not now. Can’t these people understand I am having an epiphany, a moment of sheer genius? “I’m not crazy, I’m an author…just a few more sentences …” are my last words before being taken to a padded cell. At least they let me keep my notes. Now, how do I get a computer in here? |
Categories
All
Book GenresArchives
April 2024
|
I will read forever because it lets me visit in my mind the worlds that I will never be able to see; it helps me put away the stresses of the day and relax into the rhythm of the story before me; it lets me bring to the surface and experience without regrets those feelings I hide away; it lets me re-experience the thrill of first love through someone else's eyes; it keeps my mind juiced so that it will never desert me; it is always there for me even when there's no one else. I will read forever no matter whether it is print or digital because the words will always call to me. ~ A Sassy Scribbler