The Cookie and Cake Mix Entry: Duncan Hines vs Betty Crocker (aka the Sweet Entry)

Hi All,

You might think that the day before the Superbowl I would pen a blog entry on football.  You know a blog entry with player stats, Superbowl stats and pictures and half-time show entertainment.  Nope.  Not this year. I've done that for a few years now and want to shake it up and mix it up and do something different.  So...one of the foods that is near and dear to my heart is the cookie.  I'm talking about chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal raisin cookies or Oreos...pretty much almost any cookie is a cookie that I'll take a taste of.  Cookies and milk.  What a combination!  Yum.

Click here for a brief history of the cookie - courtesy of Wikipedia.  Section four has a very concise history of the cookie - and is interesting to boot.

And for an alternative history of the cookie, click on this link - courtesy of What's Cooking America. This is a very off the cuff, information-rich, chronological history of the cookie.  Neat stuff.

Some of the more well known names in cookie and baking history are Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. The Duncan Hines link goes to the company website, but this link goes to the 'About Us' page on the site.   But...and this is important....neither of these two entities relies on just chocolate chip cookies now.  For example, Duncan Hines makes products as varied as Classic Devil's Food Cake Mix and Classic Yellow Cake Mix and brownie mixes.  In addition they make Lender's Bagels and Mrs. Butterworth (syrup), Wish-Bone Dressings, Aunt Jemima, Hungry-Man dinners and Vlassic pickles and Mrs Paul's fish sticks. Yum.  But probably not a great way to start breakfast every day...

Betty Crocker makes products as varied as Bisquick, Betty Crocker Frosting, Reese's Premium Cookie Mix and many, many different types of cupcake mixes and cookie mixes.

And what an interactive, fun site it is!  Filled with pictures and narrative all wrapped up in a magazine like interface, the site is fun and easy to use.  And its quite a trip back to the beginnings and history of Duncan Hines! Click on this link for a 'Product Locator'. Click on this link to find a scrumptious Chunky Chocolate Cookie recipe.


So...with all these delicious products, here is a great question: who makes the better cake mix? Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker?

For chocolate chip cookie recipes, click on this link from AllRecipes.com.  Click on this link for Anna's Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Ready in 25 minutes they received 4.5 stars (out of 5) and had over 900 reader reviews.  Of course you can type in almost any terms (chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookie, sugar cookie, etc) in the Allrecipes.com search box and you'll come up with interesting recipes.

And finally, click on this link from Keebler - those elves are doing something sinfully good in that treehouse of theirs to be able to make such a delicious cookie

Enjoy the links and the cookies and of course, don't forget the milk when you make cookies. What a wonderful combination!

Regards,
Stu

Everything Milk Entry

Hi All,

I was looking at the list of blog entries that I've written over the past few months and one in particular struck my fancy. The entry called, 'Everything Chocolate' must have struck a cord with readers also. (Click here for the entry btw.) It was a heavily read post...and then I got thinking about the idea for another blog entry.

My thought process went something like this, 'Hmmmm, many people like chocolate, okay, almost everybody likes chocolate...what is another product that many people like to either eat or drink or consume? Beer -well, yes, but I just didn't want to write a blog entry about beer for the library. What about meat? A possibility. What about cookies? Yes - that works but it is too much like chocolate. So I continued thinking....hmmm. Cookies -what goes well with cookies? Bingo - milk. And so a blog entry topic was borne.

Well, I had no idea that there was such controversy reagrding milk. I am completely floored. Click here for a brief summary of the debate. And while this is interesting I really just wanted to discuss the various health aspects of traditional milk that is bought in stores and supermarkets - not raw milk.

Click here for the link from Wikipedia about Milk. Yum. The entry is comprehensive and discusses, among other things, the history of milk, modern production methods, nutritional aspects of milk, the controversial aspects of milk and varieties/brands of milk. Click subject and you'll go to that part of the wikipedia entry about milk. Yum, yum - where are the cookies?

From the Dairy Council of California comes this link that discusses the various types of milk. Interesting and educational! Click here for a link to the National Milk Producers Association - the milk trade group for the United States. You'll find information about milk pricing, a section on milk related issues, and current milk related news. Interesting stuff!

Admit it - you love those 'Got Milk' advertisments and commercials. Click here for the link to the site - and boy, it is one cute (and well designed site - very visual and very appealing). On the site you'll be able to find info about the many health aspects of milk. Along the way you'll get to play lots of games to help learn...

Also, click on this link to find out about simulated milk. This will probably be familiar to most mothers since I'm talking about formula for children.

Click here for a link to the Similac website.
Click here for the Enfamil website.

Click on this link to find out about lactose intolerance - a not-so-funny condition which can result in stomach aches or worse after drinking milk

Click on this link from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) which discusses the uses of cows, milk and other aspects of using cows for food and the veal industry.

Click on this link to learn how to milk a cow - link is from Ehow.com and is pretty interesting.

And finally, to end this blog entry, click here for some pictures of cows - they are pretty animals and they certainly provide a fantastic product!

One last link - click on this to see a very funny cartoon dealing with cows!

Enjoy the links and remember to enjoy your milk! Now, who thinks that my next blog entry should have something to do with cookies? Send your email and comments to fdaleref@nassaulibrary.org if you want to see a cookie blog entry similar in format to this entry!

Regards,

Stu