April 3rd is

National Chocolate Mousse Day

Five Food Finds about Chocolate Mousse

• The word mousse is French and translates as “froth” or “foam.”

• Cold dessert mousses are often poured into decorative glasses and garnished with fruit, sweet sauces, or whipped cream.

• Savory mousses can be made from fish, shellfish, meat, foie gras, etc.

• There are three key constituents to a mousse: base, binder, and aerator.

• They may be hot or cold and are often squeezed through a piping bag onto some kind of platform to be used as hors d’oeuvres.

Today’s Food History

on this day in…

1829 James Carrington of Connecticut patented a coffee mill.

1845 William James Farrer was born. An Australian agriculturist, he developed several new cultivars of wheat.

1860 The first Pony Express mail delivery service by horse and rider between St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California began. The 1,800 mile run took 10 days.

1956 Elvis Presley sings ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ on the ‘Milton Berle Show.’ An estimated 25% of the American population tuned in to hear him.

1959 The Coasters song ‘Charlie Brown’ is banned by the BBC because it refers to “throwin’ spitballs.” The ban only lasted 2 weeks.

1974 The Super Tornado Outbreak. 148 tornadoes in 13 states in 26 hours. The world’s largest tornado outbreak in recorded history. It included six F5 tornadoes and 30 F4 tornadoes. The first tornado hit at 1 p.m. and the final tornado hit at 2 a.m. the following morning.

1982 The temperature in Lamberton, Minnesota dropped from 78 degrees F to 7 degrees F in 24 hours.  The 71 degree drop in temperature is a Minnesota record.

1985 The Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood, California closed after 57 years. Robert Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby, created the Cobb Salad there in 1936.

2010 Students at a Utah high school created a replica of Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ using 2 tons of Malt-O-Meal cereal.