(no subject)

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

OK, yuck, but needs must right? It doesn't go bad and doesn't need refrigeration, and makes a cool shower of sparks when you throw it at the bonfire. What I find bizarre is that there are RECIPES. Not just one, but a batch of them. Uh?

Not sure of the date, but it was one of the first coffee whiteners, introduced in 1952, so it's got to be after that.

Comments

[whoseline_wlsc]

Yeah, the fact there are recipes is interesting. Potatoes with Pream? Uh, no thanks.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

*searches for Pream + Jello recipes*

[meezergal.livejournal.com]

Hahahahahaha!!!!

[write-light.livejournal.com]

Oh, you laugh.

http://www.funkymunky.co.za/letter147.html Scroll to the bottom to "The Recipes"

[crossfire.livejournal.com]

makes a cool shower of sparks when you throw it at the bonfire

brb trying this

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

Mythbusters took this on a few years ago and if you can get a pretty impressive explosion if you use enough of the stuff.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

was it fun? :)

[mschilepepper.livejournal.com]

Works if you just use flour, too. It's an exothermic reaction, and happens because the tiny granules of flour or creamer ignite very quickly. This is why grain elevators often go asplodey spontaneously.

[mschilepepper.livejournal.com]

Oops, forgot to add on the end of my comment:

/high school science fair geekery (I got to blow things up, light things on fire, and make things GLOW!)

[write-light.livejournal.com]

We totally did this in summer science class at the museum. IT WAS AWESOME. Our teacher also threw a chunk of sodium metal into water with phenolphthalein in it. KAF*INGBOOM. Shattered the beaker, cloud of smoke, deafening bang, brought three other classes running into our room to see what the hell just happened, and pink water everywhere. Best summer ever.

[mystical-chickn.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they used powdered coffee creamer (or something similar) during the opening campfire scenes on Are You Afraid Of The Dark on Nickelodeon.

[otana.livejournal.com]

I got this AWESOME coffee creamer in Japan, the name reminded me of it: Creap. Considering how awful the dairy was, powdered creamer was the only option I had and it made the BEST hot chocolate.

It did not, however, look like a swirl of real cream when you poured it in.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

Most hot choc mix is based on Pream-like substances; also many cream soup mixes.

[otana.livejournal.com]

This wasn't a hot chocolate mix.

It was a dark cocoa powder that could be mixed with hot water and either cream or milk.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

so cocoa + sugar + creamer ?

[otana.livejournal.com]

Essentially. I believe it's slightly sweetened, but it translates to drinking chocolate, so more bitter than hot chocolate and obviously without the creamer. I still buy it over here at the Japanese market.

[champdaddy.livejournal.com]

"baked potatoes de luxe".... *snicker*

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

But looking back at the lit of the day, it *was* deluxe; processed food was "luxury" food, it had status. Tang=astronauts=science=progress=wealth.

I wonder when processed food became cheaper than real food? 70s maybe?

[franklanguage.livejournal.com]

Right, and Space Food Sticks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPZ8HHRR1A0) also came out of the space program; I read an article in Cosmo when I was a kid where the secretary in the office that was doing market research on these asked, "What is that—a tampon for a midget?"

[charlotterhys.livejournal.com]

I don't know about that stuff, but I can imagine some things that using creamer for would be useful in a wider cooking arena. I know that flavored liquid creamer can make some really awesome french toast.

That ad is really disturbing looking, though.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

They are in virtually every hot chocolate mix or or ready-to-drink instant coffee powder. It's the only way to give them enough shelf life, they would go rancid very quickly if it was powdered milk.

[weelisa.livejournal.com]

I've never understood why they couldn't just sell whole milk powder for this purpose - does anyone know why not? I mean, it might have to be refrigerated, sure. But anything is better than hydrogenated poo.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

Milk powder at the time was not the instant stuff we are used to now - it was chalky and tasted quite unlike fresh milk. If you've ever tried non-instant powdered milk, the kind you have to bring to a boil, that's the stuff; you can't just mix it into a warm liquid. Also any milk powder goes rancid, and is hydroscopic, so it cakes up pretty quickly; and it doesn't "whiten".

Not to mention that at the time, powdered milk was seen as "war rations", something nasty you used of necessity, while Pream et al were Science and Progress. Powdered milk was what poor people used, using Pream showed you had money for "fancy" food.

[cactuswren.livejournal.com]

Hey, at least it's made from "fresh sweet cream and other milk products". Do you know what Coffee-Mate is made of?

Quick, super-supersimplified chemistry lesson: every molecule in an oil or fat has what might be called little prongs on the ends, that catch hold of atoms that fly by. When these prongs catch oxygen atoms, as when the fat is exposed to air, the fat becomes oxygenated: it goes rancid. However, when they catch hydrogen atoms, the fat becomes hydrogenated: it becomes more solid, and it's harder for it to go rancid since there's less space for oxygen atoms.

(Margarine is made largely of hydrogenated oils. And now you know how soft "spreadable" margarine is made: just add less hydrogen and charge more money.)

But if you keep pumping hydrogen through the fat, eventually it becomes completely hydrogenated. It coalesces into a very solid, brickish, white substance.

Grind this to a powder, add sweeteners, flavoring agents, and a bit of lecithin to emulsify so it will mix with your coffee. That is Coffee-Mate.

[corridor7f.livejournal.com]

The coffee looks like it's rejecting the Pream. :P

[willowind76.livejournal.com]

raped by Pream. how traumatizing for Mr.Coffee...

[vp19.livejournal.com]

I occasionally put a tiny bit of non-dairy creamer in soups and other things I'm about to microwave, then stir before heating. It adds a creamier texture to sauces and such.