Tidbit #17 - April 12, 2011

Anyone up for some Starbucks? I always get a Tall Strawberries n' Cream Frappucino. Mmmm... Milkshakes. But why is it a Tall size if it's so small?

Question: Why is tall coffee the small size?


Answer: This one was tougher to search up than I thought. I found what seems to be the right answer, though:

Originally, most coffeeshops only had two sizes: short and tall, based on not only the amount of drink they held, but by their height. (hence, short and tall) Eventually, as supply and demand grew, so did the drink sizes, and what was once the largest size (tall) became the shortest size, and the name just stuck. You can still order it as a "short" size and you'll get the same size, but isn't it sad how demand has grown like that?

So, as a condensed answer, we have:

Tall coffee is the small size because, due to increasing demand for more drink, the large (tall) became the small, and the name stuck.

Tidbit #16 - April 11, 2011

I don't know about you, but when I come home after a long day, the first thing I have to eat is a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, better known as PB&J action. It really hits the spot, the mixture of sweet and salty and peanut-buttery, with the taste of the bread... Anyways, I'm getting off topic. When I was having my sandwich today, I was thinking: "What's so different about jams, jellies and preserves?" So, naturally, I posted it on here.

Question: What's the difference between jam, jelly and preserves?


Answer: Luckily, we have TLC's cooking website to help us out. Someone asked on the forum and we've got a nice answer:

Jelly, jam and preserves all contain fruit in some form, mixed with sugar and pectin; the difference between them is caused by the form of the fruit in the substance:

• In jelly, the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice.
• In jam, the fruit comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit (and is less stiff than jelly as a result)
• In preserves, the fruit comes in the form of chunks in a syrup or a jam.

Pectin is a type of carb that your stomach can't digest and that is found in a fruit's cell walls. "When heated in water with sugar, it gels, giving jelly, jam and preserves their thickness.

So, what do we have here?

Jelly, jam and preserves differ in the form that the fruit takes in the container.

Tidbit #11 - April 6, 2011

I was just recently hired at my local amusement park, Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was all jazzed when I found out where I was working, because I was working at a place called Suzette's Bakery, which was the place where they make funnel cakes! I thought about how tasty-smelling my job was going to be, working with funnel cakes every day. But then I got to wondering after I served my first cake, "Why is it called a funnel cake?" So, naturally, I searched it up.

Question: Why is it called a funnel cake?

Answer: I searched it up, and I found a couple possible solutions:

1. "It is made from an oil funnel like the one you use in your garage." (Re: WikiAnswers)
2. The batter that is fried to create the funnel cake has to be poured out in a certain indistinguishable pattern to create that uneven plaid-checkered pattern. My guess is that, in most cases, you use any type of funnel to pour the batter in that uneven pattern, so as to get more control over the shape instead of having it just be a plain circle. (In a nutshell, using a funnel to pour the batter out) Although this might just be the original or most common way people make their funnel cakes, because my work area uses a pitcher to pour the batter into the fryer.

So, what do we have here?

Our delicious fried treat is so aptly named because a funnel is used to make one, in most cases.

I could have guessed that!