You Don’t Know What a Purple Hull Pea Is — Poor Thing

Purple Hull, Crowder, Black Eyed, and Cream peas are coveted items during the southern states' gardening season.

When paired with potato salad with a touch of mustard and garlic and garnished with fresh onion and tomatoes, there is no finer eating.

There are as many ways to cook peas as there are southern cooks, but I'm sharing an old family recipe that I hope will inspire you to add a pot of these goodies to your next family dinner.

There are no fancy directions, diet analyses, ingredients, etc. This is straight from my kitchen in southern, granny-style simplicity.

Presuming your peas are shelled and washed, you're ready to do the following.

In a large pot, saute´ onions, a little diced garlic, and a can of drained, petite-cut tomatoes in 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings until onions are somewhat glazed and clear. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add peas and cover with water.

Add 1–2 tablespoons of molasses depending on the amount of peas you're cooking. I'd add 1 tablespoon and when peas have cooked, you can add more for taste,

Simmer peas on medium heat until done. I cook mine for about 2 hours. Add more water to the peas as needed to keep them covered.

I use the same basic recipe when cooking dried peas, as well.

And for added pleasure, a hot pan of fresh-baked cornbread is always a winner.

Just for Fun

White Chocolate Isn’t Really Chocolate. Okay, now I’m really sad.

Misconceptions play a prominent role in my view of the world. ~George Soros

When researching ingredients for a recipe article I’m currently writing, I came across this mood-altering fact. My precious while chocolate isn’t really chocolate. I’m crushed!

Don’t you just hate when marketing hype leads you down the wrong road, making you innocently believe in what is not true? Intentional or not, the result is the same — disappointment and disillusionment.

But I have to take responsibility for my own short-sightedness. I know better than to believe everything I read. But when looking at that creamy lusciousness, I wanted to believe in the chocolate hype. And isn’t that what advertising strategy is all about?

So, if white chocolate isn’t chocolate, what is it? Actually, it’s a combination of sugar, milk, vanilla, lecithin, and cocoa butter — no chocolate anywhere to be found.

A little history tidbit:

The history of white chocolate is largely unclear, but “the general consensus,” says Eagranie Yuh, author of “The Chocolate Tasting Kit” (Chronicle, 2014), “is that Nestlé was the first to develop white chocolate commercially in 1936 in Switzerland. The story is that it was a way to use up excess milk powder that had been produced for World War I and was no longer in demand.” ~ Source

Do you know that saying that states when you get lemons to make lemonade? Well, when you get white chocolate that isn’t really chocolate, why not make White Chocolate Pudding?

When is The Last Time You Ate a Hyperbolic Paraboloid Snack

Your average, unsullied Pringle is a hyperbolic paraboloid; its equation is (x²)/(a²) — (y²)/(b²) = z/c. Here’s where things get interesting, though (as if hyperbolic paraboloids weren’t interesting enough). Proctor & Gamble doesn’t just shove a bunch of Pringles in a can and call it a day. Rather, they use supercomputers to keep conditions just right to make sure the chips make it from their factory to your house unmolested. ~Source

I hope you found that as interesting as I did. Life is just full of technology-enhanced bits of fun. Don’t you just wish you could get into the head of the person who dreamed this up? Their problem-solving skills are way more superior to mine.

What problems you may ask? How to get a lot of chips into a small cylinder, is one. Since they stack tightly together, space is efficiently utilized.

How to keep chips from breaking and crumbling in the package? Since they stack tight, one on top of the other in an appropriate cylinder packaging, it prevents movement and therefore, breakage. Genius!

But the most awesome aspect of this Hyperbolic Paraboloid shaped snack to me is its ability to scoop into my favorite dip and bring out a large mouthful of deliciousness.

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Originally published here

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