Dog On A Root

 

 

- jim Young “‘Cause when you’ve got the munchies, nothing else will do.” - Hostess Potato Chip slogan. What does 1960s Teen Idol Bobby Vinton have to do with an old bag of Hostess Potato chips? Not much really, unless you’re brave enough to venture into my world for a few minutes.  But first, a disclaimer. The accuracy of this article is almost completely reliant upon my memory, which I sometimes find to be disappointing of late. So please take this trip down memory lane with a grain or two of the salt found on Hostess Potato Chips in the 60s. In my efforts to vet some of the details in my story, even my research buddy Dr. Google has failed me. For example, my story takes place circa 1965 when I was about 12 or 13. If you look closely you will see the weight claim on the foil bag of Hostess Potato Chips in the picture I have provided is 40 grams. Canada did not switch to metric weights until 1975, but this was the closest image I could find to what “I” remember Hostess Potato Chip...

 

Two questions will inevitably come to mind. “Why?” and “How?” WHY? First the “why? W hy toast the bread on just one side? Before we can answer this question we should first ask, “Why toast the bread at all?” Aside from toasting stale bread to make it more presentable, toasting bread puts it through a scientific process called the “Maillard Reaction” .  Without getting bogged down on exactly what the “Maillard Reaction '' is, let's just accept that it's the same scientific process that occurs when searing steaks, frying dumplings, baking cookies and biscuits and even toasting marshmallows as well as many other foods to give them their distinctive flavours. It’s a bit like caramelisation. If that’s not a good enough explanation for you, you are welcome to peruse this chart or Google the “Maillard Reaction” for yourself while the rest of us are enjoying our “Bacon & Tomato Sandwiches Toasted One Side.”  The “Maillard Reaction” aside, some sandwiches are still best...

Editor's Note: If you read this recipe prior to today (Aug-03-2023) you might have noticed something odd about it. The recipe that had been included here was actually just a recipe for Jerk Wings and not my recipe for Buffalo Jerk Wings. Thanks to an observant reader for pointing this out to me, I have just updated it and I hope you will enjoy my Dog On A Root Buffalo Jerk Wings". I apologize for the error . The definition of a “ Buffalo Wing” is “a chicken wing section (wingette or drumette) that is generally deep-fried, un-breaded and coated in vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. They are traditionally served hot, along with celery sticks and/or carrot sticks with blue cheese dressing or ranch for dipping.” I love Buffalo Wings although I’m not really a purist. I mean it’s not like they were ever made with Buffalo meat anyway. So if I order Buffalo Wings in a restaurant I’m not going to go ape-shit if they are breaded and baked instead of plain and deep frie...

- jim Young “I ain’t got no matches, but I got a long way to go.” - Carl Perkins When my parents first built their cottage on Gibson Lake in the early 1950s it was just a one room cabin. Highway 69 or even “Highway 103” or the “400 extension” as it was named in its early days, didn’t exist. So it was over an hour drive from Stroud, up Highway 11 to Bala and over dirt back roads to Sahanatien’s Landing at the north end of the lake. From there we rode by boat to the bay our cottage was on, half way between Sahanatien’s and “the narrows” . Next to sufficient supplies of food and water, probably the single most important thing to have on hand was matches. We needed matches to light the campfire, the wood stove when it was cold, the coal oil and naphtha lanterns when it got dark and in later years even the propane fridge and cook stove, not to mention the cigarettes that my parents enjoyed in an era when just about everyone smoked. I remember matches often being used to test for gas level...