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ring doughnut free image
Although doughnuts were reportedly introduced to Americans by the Dutch, they were not the first people to come up with the idea of a hole in the middle.

So is there actually a reason for having the hole in the middle? The answer is yes.

As a sea going mariner, Hanson Gregory of Maine U.S.A. was posed with a dilemma while sailing one night and about to tuck into a delicious doughnut.
A fierce wind had sprung up and both of his hands were required for steering the ship, so what to do with the doughnut? After a quick glance at the ship's wheel, he promptly stuck it onto one of the wheel spokes, thereby punching the centre out.

After getting the ship under control and returning to his snack, he noted that the doughnut tasted much better without the centre portion which he had always found to be a little too undercooked and soggy. He therefore requested the ship's cook to prepare his doughnuts with a hole in the middle. thereby inventing the ring doughnut.
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coloured carrots
According to the World Carrot Museum, (yes, it really does exist!), carrots are the second-most popular vegetable after potato, and the most popular in the UK.

Originally carrots were found in a variety of colours including purple, white, black, yellow and red. Orange carrots did not appear until later on in the 1500's when the Dutch Royal House of Orange was in power and the Dutch decided therefore to breed an orange carrot by using a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa. Beta carotene, found in orange carrots is converted in the human body to vitamin A.

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A LESSON IN LAMINGTONS!!!

May 11th 2009 09:19
The chocolate Lamington is as Australian as meat pies, kangaroos and Holdens. (Who else remembers that song/chant from way back when - "Football, meat-pies, kangaroos and Holden cars...?")

For years lamingtons have been a way of putting stale or over-cooked sponge cake to good use, but where did it actually start?

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French fries hot chips
French fries. Are they actually French?

It turns out the answer is actually no.

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So What's YOUR CUP SIZE???

April 27th 2009 08:33
bra bras brassiere
Who knew cup sizes could vary so much related on your country of birth, and what does this have to do with the average woman (or man) who likes to spend a lot of time in the kitchen?

Well, it may not mean anything to some, but for those of us who dabble in international recipes it can make a world (no pun intended) of difference!

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drinking tap water
OK, they say we need to drink 2 litres of water a day to help keep our bodies healthy, but how much truth is there to this really apart from the true fact that you'd constantly be going to the loo?

It turns out it's another one of those cases of Chinese Whispers.

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FOOD COLOURING FRIGHT!!!

August 31st 2008 11:30
red color
Ever wondered where the red colouring in your alcopops, toppings, jams and strawberry milshakes come from?

Next time you visit the pantry or go out to eat you may want to consider this little tidbit of information. In some food products, and even shampoos, the reddish colouring is produced by the crushing of the tropical Cochineal beetle. That's right, beetles!

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ALL The TEA In CHINA!

August 4th 2008 21:31
tea
Most of us have heard the phrase "all the tea in China", as in " I wouldn't give up xxxx for all the tea in China".

But how much tea is there really in the whole of China???

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World's Largest Easter Egg

March 20th 2008 11:34
Easter egg worlds largest
Ever wondered about the size of the World's largest Easter egg?

Belgian chocolate company Guylian, known best for their seashell designed chocolates won themselves a place in the Guinness Book of Worlds records during Easter of 2005 with an egg composed of over 50,000 bars , the equivalent of or 1,950 kilograms (4,300 pounds in weight) of chocolate.

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UnRhymable Words

February 25th 2008 10:37
There are some words in the English language for which there is absolutely no rhyming counterpart. you might think that I'm talking about some obscure word in the dictionary like agathokakological. But no, I'm actually talking about common, every day, garden variety, words.

Try as you might, there is not a single word that rhymes with either:

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WHY DO ONIONS Make You CRY???

February 21st 2008 22:40
onions free images
A very old question indeed!

Exactly why is it that chopping and peeling onions makes our eyes water furiously???

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Christmas Turkeys & Christmas Dinners

December 14th 2007 00:05
turkey
In both the United Kingdom and the United States of America, turkeys are the currently the main choice for Christmas dinner.

In fact, before turkeys became popular in the UK, it was the custom to eat goose. Then during one particular Christmas, British monarch Henry VIII decided to try a turkey dinner.

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CASHEWS! NUTS OR NOT REALLY!!!

December 11th 2007 00:05
With Christmas approaching, I know many of you will go more than a little nuts in a variety of ways.

One way of course, is in the simple pleasure of consuming nuts. Usually during the silly season a wide variety are readily on offer, but why is is that one of our most popular nuts , the humble cashew, doesn't have a shell?

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Christmas shopping

Professionals at Deloitte have compiled the results of their annual survey, showing that the wet weather has dampened some of the expected results of Christmas shopping for 2007 in the UK, but overall British consumers are quite willing to fork out this Christmas, whilst also being very ‘canny’ about the items they spend their money on.

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