Breakfast trivia.

QUOTE from THE POWER OF SMALL: WHY THE LITTLE THINGS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval: "Focusing on the tiniest details, finding magic in even the smallest inspirations, embracing the briefest moments - that's where the passion is."

I love to LEARN about trivial stuff from history. Like the quote said "focusing on the tiniest details", is what makes history come alive for me. I read in PARADE MAGAZINE some historical details about "BREAKFAST". The case for eating breakfast is well known in the medical field. It is known and proven that eating breakfast can keep your heart healthy, help with the waistline and prevent obesity, sharpen your memory and helps regulate blood sugar reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

So what did I LEARN about breakfast.

1. In the 1600s the Pilgrims used to drink a pint of beer or hard cider for breakfast along with some corn mush (maize porridge)they learned how
to make from the Native Americans. Beer and cider was safer to drink than the not-so-drinkable water.

2. In the 1700s immigrants from the Netherlands introduced "obiebollen" (oil balls), to America's breakfast table. We now know them as doughnuts. These deep-fried dollops of dough later became ring-shaped as part of an effort to speed production time and solve the soggy-middle problem.

3. We've all had corn flakes at one time or another for breakfast. Where did corn flakes come from? The answer is in 1902 Dr. John Kellogg and his brother, Will, baked up the first batch of corn flakes in a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Mich, which at that time was a mecca for health enthusiasts who avoided meat and fretted about digestion. Kellogg was a pioneer in proclaiming grains a healthy food and his ideas spread around
the world.

4.William Howard Taft was our largest president, weighing in the neighorhood of 350 pounds. He was also a big breakfast eater. In 1906, two years before he became president, Taft was observed eating breakfast in Savannah, GA. Taft ate shrimp with hominy, potted partridge, broiled venison, waffles with maple syrup, hot rolls, and a grapefruit. No wonder he was a 350 pounder.

5. However, the Breakfast of Champions goes to Olympic eight gold medal winner Michael Phelps. His standing breakfast during the Beijing Olympics was as follows:
a. Three fried egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise;
b. Two cups of coffee;
c. One five-egg omelet;
d. One bowl of grits;
e. Three slices of French toast topped with sugar;
f. And three chocolate chip cookies.

Phelps said he consumed 12,000 calories a day but with his rigorous training he burned them off. He is definitely The Breakfast of Champions.

Like I said this kind of historical trivia is interesting stuff to me.

HUMOR for today. This isn't so funny but it shows how dumb some people are.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: A Florida bank refused to let a man born without arms cash his wife's check even though he'd provided two forms of identification. The reason given: He couldn't provide a thumbprint.