What happened to Franco American?

 

    What is Franco American? Well, have you ever heard of Campbells? Apparently, back in the 60's Franco American was popular for giving us pastas in their cans as well as their sauce

    

 When did this company start? Well apparently, in the 1880's by a man who immigrated to the US from France. His name was Alphonse Bilardot. He and his two sons opened a commercial kitchen making their own foods like soups, pastas and even gravy.

 The company was acquired by Campbells soup in 1915, but kept the branding name. They were kind of the Campbells wannabee. They were even trying to even make better soups than Campbells could.

   Using their homemade recipes from their native French style soups, Biardot was trying to make Campbell's like soups with a Franco American label on it. They were good at the time, but later, around the 1950's Franco American was known for something else even greater than soups. Pastas.

With Chef Boyardee becoming known to America, Franco-American wanted to get on the game and not just make soups. They started with making their own homemade sauce and pastas like spaghetti. But soon, they came up with a great invention that would make eating spaghetti easier. 

  Starting in 1965, parents wanted to have a pasta that was a little less messy for their children to eat. Soon, an invention using tomato soup and noodle rings were created to make SpaghettiO's . Everyone loved it, even me when I was little of course. Now I've grown up to eating regular spaghetti.

 Donald Gorke, who worked with Franco American, was the creator of SpaghettiO's by adding noodle rings to tomato Sauce. Trying to find out what letter shape would be the best, he settled with O because it sounded as if it would fun to say as well as it was to eat. He worked for the Campbell's soup company until he retired in the 90's and passed away in 2010. Every child and parent has been grateful to know there was a man that answered the question of how fun Spaghetti would be in another way.

   SpaghettiO's soon became different with shapes an characters like Star Wars, UFO shapes, Life with Louie, Where's Waldo and many more. Campbells who is now required Spaghettios , is still doing that today as well as well as their soups to attract kids attentions with what is new today.

    Franco American was sold to Campbell's name around the mid 2000's why? Maybe the sons of the original creator have passed away and Campbells got the right to the Franco American. Changing the name to Campbells and using their recipe, I guess to make Spaghettios, and their own Spaghetti. I haven't had Spaghettios in years. I don't really eat that stuff because it's too salty.

   The Franco American label might be gone, but the memories the company gave us stay strong. In some Campbell's Spaghettio products, you can see a very tiny Franco American logo behind the can. Even though SpaghettiO's themselves have gone through a recall and a twitter issue, people will never forget that it wasn't just Campbell's that came up with the idea. It was one man, Franco American and even children who wanted a better spaghetti.

The Cusack Family

 

      There are too many sibling families in acting. Some are brother and sister, some can be twins, and some can be very famous. But how did they acheive the fame, and where did it come from? Well, with one family, it involves a brother and a sister and starting their fame when they were only teenagers.

 

    Yes, the Cusack family. From the famous John and Joan to their own father named Dick who was a filmmaker and document taker.

 

   It's not just John and Joan that are considered famous, they had other siblings like Anne, Bill and Nancy. Who are they? Well Anne, the oldest was considered an actor that was in movies and tv spots like Ghost Whisper and Fraiser.

   Anne is the oldest of her talented brother and sister John and Joan Cusack. She starred in a league of her own as the ball player who had trouble reading. Since then, she has mostly focused on guest appearances in movies and TV. Not as big as her brother and sister, she is still considered very talented. Sometimes she would appear in her siblings movies, mostly as a background character. She is married and has a few children.

    Bill Cusack, who was older than Joan and John, also did some minor rolls in his life. Sometimes while working on his brother's movies. He would either be a paramedic in Con-Air (which John starred in) or a Waiter in Gross point blank. One of the siblings that is unknown in the Cusack family, but is remembered through his family.

        Then we go to....

    Joan Mary Cusack. Older than her brother John, but younger than her sister Anne. In my opinion, she kind of frightens me. I don't know why, maybe it's in the facial features. Here are some things people didn't know about Joan.

   She used to be on SNL for a couple years back in the 80's, staying from 85 to 86. I guess she was funny there but, only wanted to stay for one season. That or she was fired. There are othrr things about her as well, when she is portrayed as a villan, it's very frightening.

  Like I said before in Addams Family Values, she portrayed Debbie, a nanny who was really a murderer. She was seeking Uncle Fester's fortune and would do anything to get it....even kill Fester. At the end, she gets what she deserves. I knew she was wearing a wig the whole time. LOL, and she was very good.

   She is a pretty talented voice actor. Voicing Ugly Ducking in the lack luster flop Chicken Little, and Jessie the Cowgirl from the hit Toy Story. She could be funny, sweet, scary and dramatic all in one role or voice. 

  She even starred as a bride to be almost marrying Kevin Kline (who's character turns out to be gay) She's funny in that movie. What do I think of her....she is very talented. But I like her little brother a bit more. No offense to Joan

 

   Brothers and sisters always stick together, even famous ones. John loves working with his older sister. Sometimes they even do movies together. But when did he start acting? I guess when he was young. His first movie was "Sixteen Candles"

   The movies also starred his sister Joan, but they were both in minor rolls. I guess John was a nerd who hung out with Anthony Michael Hall, another nerd who a crush on Molly Ringwald's character. 

  He even portrayed Wil Wheaton's dead brother in Stand by me. I found this movie to be dramatic and heartfelt. Not many Stephen King movies could be created that way. This was one of his stronger ones. Directed by Rob Reiner, four kids go to find a dead body, but I think at the end, they found themselves. John Cusack is only seen in Wil Wheaton's memory. Apparently his character dies in a car crash before the movie started.

 Another great movies in the 80's he starred in was Say Anything.... The most most memorable scene is him holding a boombox to a Peter Gabriel song "In your eyes" while he tried to confess his love to Ione Skye. I thought this movie was amazing and well, memorable. It got everybody crying and listening to Peter Gabriel as well. Oh and that memorable quote.... "I gave her my heart, and all she gave me was a pencil."

  He's done ok in action films, like playing a US Marshal in Con-Air when Jon Malkovich hijacks a plane full of murders. John tries to get it down with the help of another cop, some officers end up dead which others just argue. Eventually, he and Nicolas Cage find a way to partner up and find Jon before it's too late (that was near the end of the movie)

 John has played a convicted killer, a massed serial murderer, a cd store owner and much more. But in all the movies he had been in, he has been talented. He hasn't done much voice acting like his sister Joan does, but he works with her in many movies. I even remembered him being in serendipity as well  as America's sweetheart.

In that movie, America's sweetheart, he's a talentless actor who has broken up with Catherine Zeta-Jones. He ends up going insane, later falls in love with Julia Roberts. It's one of those romantic comedies that also stars his sister, Anne in a small roll.

  It seems this family has been together since their father was famous, and now, they have their own family. Joan is married, Anne is married and I think John is as well. But for now....it seems this family has not yet stopped acting, and with their children in their teenage years, I doubt it will ever stop

Ed, Edd n Eddy are Canadian

 

  Ok, maybe I'm just overexaggerating, but think about it. Three young tweens in a cul-de-sac with no parental supervision. That was the show I grew up on. A show about three boys named Ed.

    One a dufos, another a genius and the third....a scammer.

Ok, that's more how the show is... a story about three boys with the same name, but why do I think they're Canadian? Well... it's where the show itself is created. As well as the creator, Danny Antonucci.

   Born in Toronto, Danny dropped out of visual arts to create what would soon become, in my opinion of course, the best cartoon ever on Cartoon Network. He also worked on a number of series before then mostly with Hannah Barbara and MTV, and before doing Ed, Edd n Eddy...he did another cartoon that was mostly vile

 It was called the brother's grim and it involved some disgusting imagery of people doing gross things. It's as if he was watching a lot of Ren and Stimpy crap to make this. The design is similar to Ed, Edd n Eddy, but it seemed that it was more meant for adults

    How do I know Ed, Edd n Eddy are Canadian? Well, the voice actors of Ed, Edd n Eddy are. Where in Canada? Maybe Toronto where most of the animating, writing and much more go on with the show. Here are the voice actors that bring Ed, Edd n Eddy to life.

   Matt Hill who voices dim witted Ed. He mostly known for voicing anime shows like Bayblade burst, Powerpuff Girls Z, and many more amines. He was born around the same place another Ed lived in. He also voiced in My little Pony, Friendship is magic. The character was named Wonderbolt Sorin'. He was also in a live action movie flop called Shanghai nights starring Jackie Chan.

   Samuel Vincent is another Canadian actor who voices the intelligent Edd (with two D's). I have heard his voice before in other cartoons. Like Baby Loony Tunes when he voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy and Tweety. He also voiced in a cartoon called Littlest pet shop which I never heard of. He also did some anime projects like Matt did. He even voiced another pony in My Little Pony: The Movie

Now, we get to the schemer Ed known as Eddy. In real life, he's voiced by actor Tony Sampson from Vancouver, British Columbia. He isn't known very well in voice acting, but he does bring Eddy to life. He also has done other projects like Are you afraid of the dark as well as voicing in Dragonball Z and my little pony.

    It doesn't feel like this show came from Canada....but with the voice actors as well the creator being from the Canadian border, it seems like this show as well as Ed, Edd n Eddy are definitely Canadian. Boy do I miss this show

Foods created by accident

 

   Some foods that we love, whether it be sweet, savory or both, we don't know much about the history of where they came from. Sometimes...we don't even know how they were invented. Sometimes, a person creates the meal, or they did it by accident. Here are some foods we never knew were made by an accident.

   Yep, this is true. A cold treat everyone enjoys in the summer was created by an accident. How? Well, the story goes that a young boy named Frank Epperson was only 11 years old when he left a soda with stick in it out in the cold. When he came out the next day, he saw the soda had frozen on the stick. He didn't realize that he created something that would become a summer favorite. A few years later he decided to present these frozen desserts to other people thereby creating...popsicles

 

     Now a days, we have a young man to thank for making frozen ice treats you lick on a hot summer day. Yep. Popsicles were made by accident. Thank you, Epperson.

   I've never eaten a pot sticker. But this delicacy, that has been made in China, was also invented by accident. How?

   Well, first off, Pot Stickers are considered dumplings. In the Chinese term they are called Jiaozi. They were created, by accident of course, by the era of Eastern Hun by a man who have seen poor desperate people with frostbitten ears. He decided to create a dish that were like dumplings. He soon saw some sticking to the pot, so instead of dumplings, he called them "Jiaozi" or pot stickers.

     Many people enjoy pot stickers as they are seen in many Asian cuisines today. If that young man threw the stuck dumplings, we would never have known that pot stickers were created.

   Cookie Monster loves these. I love these. We call them Chocolate Chip cookies. If it weren't for a woman in the Tollhouse inn inventing these, the world would not be the same.

   

     A baker name Ruth Wakefield who worked and owned the Tollhouse Inn, was trying to develop a chocolate cookie crunch. She didn't have her usual dark of baker's chocolate. So, she used a Nestle Tollhouse chocolate bar instead. Hoping the chocolate would melt into the cookie, the chocolate stayed in its shape, blending in with the cookie. Ruth Wakefield was considered a stern woman. She didn't like the cookie, but other people that worked in the inn, fell in love with these morsels of heaven. I love Chocolate Chip cookies, especially Chips Ahoy. 

    Ruth, god rest her soul, got a lifetime supply of chocolate. You can get her original Chocolate chip cookie recipe on line, if you look hard enough

    Everyone loves ice cream, especially on a come. How did the cone become as what we know today? Well, another accident that is claimed by two sources, and one happened at the 1904 St. Louis world's fair.

   A young man named Arnold Formacue was running an ice cream booth. He soon ran out of dishes to serve the ice cream in. A man who was working at a waffle stand saw Arnold's trouble. He decided to help him by using one of his waffles. Creating a edible dish to place the ice cream on. He handed it to Arnold, and Wala! Ice cream cones were born.

   Another claim to the cone was created around 1825 where a young man described on how one person could roll a cone from little waffles. Another print for the edible cone was created in a cook book in the mid 1800's. But I'm believing the 1904 history over that one.

 We've all eaten corn flakes for breakfast (well not me, I don't like cereal) but we never knew this was another food created by accident.

   John Harvey Kellogg was a very active man who helped others try to exercise and eat right. He created some of the cereals that were healthy for you. His brother, W.K., was also known for being a part of the Kellogg's brand. However, one day they both left some cooked wheat to sit for a while. They eventually realized it, and saw that it had gone stale. They tried it, and were amazed to find that they have created something new. They called the creation a flake. 

   The potato chips we love and eat a lot, were also an accident. How and when were they created? Well... the first recorded recipe was in Saratoga, New York.

     An arrogant chef named George Crum got upset when they kept bringing back a dish from a patron who was pissed off his his fries were too thick. He was so angry, he decided to cut the potatoes super thin to get the man angry. He fried it in oil, served it the customer, but he loved them. Downside, he never patented the creation and soon other restaurants were creating the same thing. Soon there was a company called Saratoga chips that had the same recipe Crum made years ago.

    Cheese curds are also created by accident. Pasta, cereal and many other stuff we like would not have been created without knowing about puffs.

    A man named Edward Wilson noticed strings of puffed corn oozing from a flaking machine. A company in Beloit, Wisconsin  Partially cooking animal feed, he decided to experiment with a snack which would puff up. He decided to add cheese to the flavor to make: CHEESE CURLS! What do I think? In moderation, it's ok, but let's thank Animal feed for this invention.

  If you are a big fan of Mexican Cuisine, some of you would have heard of Chimichangas were another accident. How were they created.

    In a Tex-Mex restaurant, an old woman was creating a burrito. Her name was Monica Flin and she had a Tex-Mex restaurant in Tucson, Arizonia. However, she dropped the burrito in the deep fryer. She was about to say a swear, but with children in the restaurant, she said "Chimichanga.' Is another word for thing-a-ma-jig  or what not. Soon, a new creation was born. Never trying one, I don't know what they taste like. But I'm guessing it's just a fried burrito.

   Many foods are considered a creation, but some we never knew could have been created by an accident. A lot of foods are created by accident like nachos, champagne and even Coca Cola. Try some foods and find out the history of them. You might be amazed on what you find

Labor day weekend- Poem

 

For some,

the start of a school year,

for others,

the end of summer,

a summer,

that goes quick,

and ends fast

we celebrate,

by relaxing,

while thinking of the new season,

what will come of it,

what will the end of the year be,

The cool,

fresh air,

starting to come,

as a sign of autumn arriving,

Halloween will come soon,

as others wonder,

what the last barbecue will be like

what will they put on the grill,

what will they say to others,

before they go back to work,

or school,

or their life

close the grill and put it away,

enjoy the breeze of autumn,

the falling leaves,

but remember,

what labor day is all about

the hard work,

that goes into earning,

a dollar,

for our lives,

the hard labor,

we endure,

for an honest pay

we are honored by,

the skills we have,

the hard work we do,

and for that,

labor day is for the hard workers,

that need a day,

of relaxation