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Who Knew Wednesday

Ice Cream Sandwich Who Knew!

Summer is coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a staple summer treat! That’s right! The ice cream sandwich!
Here are some fun facts about the amazing summer snack…

  • Although ice cream sandwiches were made by hand and distributed by New York street vendors in the early 1940s, it wasn’t until 1945 that the first ice cream sandwiches were mass produced.
  • The current version was invented in 1945 by Jerry Newberg when he was selling ice cream at Forbes Field, in Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Pictures from the Jersey Shore circa 1905 “On the beach, Atlantic City”, show Ice Cream sandwiches were popular at 1c each.
  • August 2nd is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day.
  • The Coolhaus food truck empire has taken ice cream sandwiches to a new level. You can buy one of their pre-packaged ice cream sandwiches, pints of ice cream, or hand-dipped ice cream bars at one of 4,000+ markets ranging from Whole Foods to Kroger and Safeway, in all 50 states
  • The ice cream sandwich ranks as the second best-selling ice cream novelty in America.
  • The average number of ice cream sandwiches eaten per second nationally is 48.
  • If all the ice cream sandwiches made last year were placed end to end, they would circle Earth 3 1/2 times.
  • The 30-44 age group buys the most ice cream sandwiches.
  • The eastern seaboard consumes almost 50 percent of all ice cream sandwiches.
  • The ice cream sandwich is so American it is sold at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

    Here’s a recipe for ice cream sandwiches from the Food Network…

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 (1-pint) containers ice cream (any flavor)

    1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
    2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, beating until smooth. With a spoon, stir in the flour mixture, stirring just until you have a smooth dough.
    3. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie dough scoop, drop 6 mounds of dough on each baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between each cookie. Bake until the cookies are firm around the edges and soft in the middle, about 15 minutes. (For even baking, rotate the pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking.) Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.
    4. Meanwhile, turn the ice cream pints on their sides and use a serrated knife to slice through the containers, cutting each into 3 even rounds. Place the ice cream disks on a baking sheet and freeze until ready to assemble the sandwiches.
    5. To assemble, peel the cardboard from the ice cream disks and sandwich each disk between 2 cookies. Serve the sandwiches immediately, or wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 week.

    Image result for cut ice cream pint
    Cut your pints like this, getting perfect portions for ice cream sandwiches!

    Also, we’re celebrating August First Friday here in downtown Mt. Vernon THIS FRIDAY! Be sure to stop by and see us, and register for our prize basket!
    Our special Clean Up, Dress Up and Checkup” prize basket for the family features
    · An entire house cleaning from Carefree Cleaning Company. Amy Kessler gives you 4 hours of house cleaning! (Valued at $100)!
    · A certificate for 1 individual comprehensive eye exam with Amazing Eyes Family Vision! (Valued at $135)
    · Two $15.00 gift certificates for Premier Designs Jewelry with Amberly Frye (one for you and one for a friend)
    · Plus WNZR goodies including chip clips, hand fans, cups, Frisbees, guitar flyswatters and more! The prize package is valued at over $265.00!

    First Friday events are from 6 to 9pm in downtown Mount Vernon. The family-friendly activities include magician Jimmy Burcham, corn hole, a classic car cruise-in and music from Project Round Table on the public square stage.
    Other activities include:
    – TaVaci Select Performers followed by the Uncorrections will provide music at the South Stage – MVNU’s Buchwald Plaza Gazebo.
    – A presentation for the winner of the local Guns vs. Hoses Blood Drive for the American Red Cross. This competition is between our local police and fire departments.
    – The American Red Cross will host a bloodmobile at City Hall.
    – A Hidden in Plain Sight event with KSAAT (Knox Substance Abuse Action Team) will take place at the Elks Lodge.
    – “Outside” – an exhibition by the Creative Art of Women (CAW) will be at MVNU’s Schnormeier Gallery. In this exhibition, CAW explores the external forces and exterior surfaces that make up the world- whether structural, anatomical, or metaphysical. Each artist wrestled with the theme of “OUTSIDE” through her own lens resulting in a diverse view of what makes up the world outside ourselves.
    – Food vendors on the square

    Thanks for listening!
    -Lilly

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Ice Cream and Hot Dogs!

We’re celebrating two American favorites today on the Drive!
ICE CREAM AND HOT DOGS! (I’m a little too excited about it).

Here’s some fun facts about Ice Cream!

  • The cone didn’t appear until 1904, when a Syrian waffle maker at the St. Louis World’s Fair began rolling his pastries into horns to help an ice cream vendor who had run out of dishes.
  • The idea of the ice cream cone had been patented a year earlier, in 1903, by an Italian in New York City, but the fair popularized it.
  • Today the average American eats about 20 quarts of ice cream a year―the world’s highest per capita consumption, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.
  • Top-selling ice cream flavors are: vanilla, with 33 percent of the market, and chocolate, with 19 percent.
  • It takes 5.8 pounds of whole milk and one pound of cream to make one gallon of ice cream.
  • June is the month that the most ice cream is produced.
  • California produces the most ice cream in America.
  • Chocolate syrup is the world’s most popular ice cream topping.
  • 87% of Americans have ice cream in their freezer at any given time.
  • It takes about 50 licks to finish a single scoop ice cream cone.
  • The perfect temperature for scooping ice cream is between 6 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • In Canada, more ice cream is sold in the winter months than in the summer.
  • Hawaiian Punch was originally an ice cream topping.
  • Among the most unusual flavors of ice cream ever manufactured are avocado, garlic, jalapeno, and pumpkin. Perhaps the weirdest of all: dill pickle ice cream, which was marketed to expectant mothers.
  • It takes 12 gallons of milk to create one gallon of ice cream.

    We gave away $5 to Troyer’s of Apple Valley today by asking this question…
    What are the names of the two original characters for Hawaiian Punch?
    Their names were Punchy and Oaf!
    Congratulations to Betsy from Mt. Vernon who correctly answered!
    Image result for punchy and oaf(Here they are, by the way, if you wanted to see what they looked like).

    Our For King and Country concert ticket artist trivia question today was a bit of a tricky, numerical one!
    We asked how many kids, including Joel and Luke, are in the Smallbone family!
    There are 7 of them!
    Joel, Luke, Libby, Rebecca, Ben, Daniel, and Josh!
    Congratulations to Troy of Mt. Vernon! She correctly guessed and won the tickets!

    Our Word of the Day is frankfurter, a noun that describes a hot dog
    noun ||  frank·furt·er \ˈfraŋk-fə(r)t-ər, -ˌfərt-\
    It’s a cured cooked sausage (as of beef or beef and pork) that may be skinless or stuffed in a casing.
    Did you know that the backyard barbecue staple is actually European? While it’s impossible to say who really “invented” the popular snack or where it came from, experts say hot dogs likely originated in Vienna, Austria, or Frankfurt, Germany.

    Thanks for listening!
    -Lilly

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Peaches, Who Knew!

Good afternoon!
We love talking about fruit and superfoods here on WNZR, and today we got to talk all about the peach! Check out everything we talked about today here!

Not only is a ripe peach delicious on its own as a portable, healthy snack, it also shines in a variety of dishes both sweet and savory: in cobblers, smoothies, ice cream, preserves, salads, salsas and sauces, and even cool summer cocktails. Grilling peaches brings out even more natural sweetness, making them a fantastic enhancement to grilled pork or chicken.

Canned peaches are just as nutritious as fresh, and the high temperatures in the canning process break down peaches’ cell walls and actually increase concentration of key nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and antioxidants. These nutrient levels remain high for up to two years. Whether you prefer peaches frozen, canned or dried, look for varieties with little to no added sugar.

To add some extra nutritional punch to your everyday diet, peach puree can be a great recipe substitution. Swapping 1/2 cup of pureed peaches for 1 cup of butter or 1 cup of oil in some baked goods saves fat and calories while adding vitamins and antioxidants.

Help your peaches ripen faster

Place unripe peaches in a paper bag, fold the bag closed and lay it on its side in a room-temperature location for a few days, checking periodically. The ethylene gas released by the peaches will prompt them to ripen more quickly. Once they’re ready, store them in the refrigerator until ready to eat or prepare.

Peach recipes
Here’s 55 peach recipes for your summer!

Our who knew question today was ‘what are the other two names for the seed of a peach?” The answers were the pit and the stone!

Our word of the day today was…

onerous

adjective || AH-nuh-rus

Definition: involving, imposing, or constituting a burden : troublesome, having legal obligations that outweigh the advantages

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Who Knew… Germs!

Good afternoon! I hope you’re having a great day!
Today on the Drive we talked about the dangers of germs, where you find them, and some of the best ways to prevent them.

What are germs and how do they get us sick?
Some certain germs won’t get you sick, but they can. Germs which usually stay in certain parts of the body where they do not cause disease, will make a person sick if they find their way to another part of the body. For example, Escherichia coli (which is also sometimes known as E. coli) lives in the gut and helps digest food. However, if it gets outside the gut, E. coli can cause sickness such as bladder infection.

Germs can get into the body through the mouth, nose, breaks in the skin and eyes.  Once disease-causing germs are inside the body they can stop it from working properly. They may breed very quickly and in a very short time a small number of germs can become millions.

Germs can cause disease by upsetting the way the body works. They do this when they:

  • produce toxins (poisons)
  • increase their number greatly by breeding and they can stop parts of the body from working properly, or
  • attack and damage a particular part of the body

Kids and germs are like the peas and carrots of family life — they go together perfectly. But something as simple as frequent, effective hand washing can help prevent many germs and diseases in adults and children alike.

Ensuring your children are eating healthy and getting enough sleep may also help their immune systems fight off potentially harmful conditions. Vitamin C from foods (bell pepper), fruits (any citrus) or supplements can help boost immune system function. Eating five varied servings of fruits and vegetables per day provides more than 200 mg of vitamin C. Examples…

3/4’s of a cup of Orange juice contains 93mg of Vitamin C
1 medium Kiwi contains 63mg of Vitamin C
and a 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries contain 49mg of Vitamin C

Other good sources of vitamin C are oranges, red peppers, kale, Brussels Sprouts, broccoli, grapefruit, guava, and green peppers.

How much Vitamin C should I be getting for my age?
0-6 months         40mg
7-12 months      50mg
1-3 years              15mg
4-8 years              25mg
9-13 years           45mg
13+ years        65-90mg per day.

Here are some tips for you to avoid contact with germs…

  1. Not too close
    Avoid having close contact with people who are sick and when you are sick, keep your distance from others.
  2. Stay home when sick
    If possible, stay home from work/school. Use the 24-hour rule: Stay home if you’ve had fever within the last 24 hours.
  3.  Keep it covered
    Use a tissue to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue away and wash your hands. If a tissue is not available, cover your nose and mouth with your sleeve or arm, not your hands.
  4. Hands off
    Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth when you are ill to help prevent spreading germs.
  5. Wipe it down
    Clean and disinfect surface areas at home, work and school.

    Just for fun… The three dirtiest things in your house?
    Your dish sponge… 775,460,560 bacteria per square inch
    Your sink handle…  228,854 bacteria per square inch
    Your keyboard mouse… 79,000 bacteria per square inch

    Our Word of the day today was…

interdigitate // Verb // [in-ter-dij-i-teyt]
to interlock, as or like the fingers of both hands.

[Interdigitate is a derivative of the Latin noun digitus, most commonly meaning is “finger” and secondarily “toe” and finally, as a measure of length, “the breadth of a finger, inch.” The Latin noun derives from the Proto-Indo-European root (and its variants) which mean “to point, point out, show.” One of the Germanic derivatives, which in Old English develops into tahe and then tā, whence Modern English “toe,” except that human beings cannot interdigitate with their toes. Interdigitate entered English in the 19th century. ]

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Who Knew? Summer Health edition…

wednesday

Today our show focused on a variety of summer health tips from UMR’s Healthy Living June issue…

1- Be bike safe EVEN if it makes you look silly! Click here for a printable bike safety checklist.

2- Exercise can be WITH your kids – keep them active! Find out more in this article/tips from middle school running coach Judy Svendsen here.

3- Vitamin Enjoyment?  What are the benefits? A 2009 study in Psychosomatic Medicine shared that leisure activities and hobbies that you enjoy can give you satisfaction, but your body may also thank you for it.

The more we turn to our active leisure activities, the better chance we have of lowering blood pressure and our body mass index. This makes the case for trying to find the fun factor in physical health.  So find something you enjoy and do it often!  One great idea is just a 15 minute evening walk 3-4 times a week.

4- Nix the nail biting! It can help your health.  Texas A&M researchers found these five reasons why:

  • fingernails have germs – then they get into your mouth…
  • nail biting could lead to painful nail infections called cellulitis
  • nail biting can impact your smile and mouth hygiene – teeth can shift and you could get bad breath from germs on your gums
  • biting your nails increases the chance of hangnails or ingrown nails
  • if you paint your nails, toxins in polish or gel polish can put you at risk of poisoning

Today’s Word of the Day is what you read earlier – cellulitis (cell-you-LIE-tus), which is a noun meaning simply, inflammation of cellular or body tissue.

Thanks for listening!
-Joe

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ICED TEA MONTH WHO KNEW!

Happy Wednesday and Happy Iced Tea Month!
On the show today, I gave you all the ins and outs and who knew’s about iced tea that you could ever want! Keep reading to find out about the history of iced tea, and some fun facts about my favorite beverage.

Though usually served in a glass with ice, it can also refer to a tea that has been chilled or cooled. It may or may not be sweetened. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, with multiple common flavors including lemon, raspberry, lime, passion fruit, peach, orange, strawberry, and cherry. While most iced teas get their flavor from tea leaves (Camellia sinensis), herbal teas are also sometimes served cold and referred to as iced tea. Iced tea is sometimes made by a particularly long steeping of tea leaves at lower temperature (one hour in the sun versus 5 minutes at 180–212 °F / 80–100 °C). Some people call this “sun tea”. In addition, sometimes it is also left to stand overnight in the refrigerator.

Variations on iced tea in the US…

  • In barbecue, soul food, and Southern cuisine-style, establishments, along with greasy spoons and general eateries, black tea is iced. This is by far the most commonly available form of freshly brewed iced tea, to which the above statements apply. Fruit-flavored teas and herbal teas are also popular iced.
  • Iced Chai (spiced Indian tea) is available from some restaurants and stores. While not traditionally served iced, in the U.S. chai is frequently served iced, with honey as a sweetener, or pre-sweetened when bottled.
  • Iced Jasmine tea, Genmaicha, and Hojicha are available from some Chinese cuisine or other Asian cuisine restaurants, but rarely. It is more common to find one of these

Variations on iced tea in Canada…
In Canada, iced tea refers to sweetened iced tea, flavored with lemon. The iced tea is usually made at home from drink powder or obtained in bottles or cans. Sweetened green teas and those flavored with raspberry, peach, or pomegranate are also becoming more common via marketing efforts.

Variations on iced tea in Turkey…

Turkey

In a traditional tea-drinking country such as Turkey, with its own tea and tea culture, iced tea became popular when Lipton introduced it in the 2000s. Iced teas are a popular alternative to soft drinks. Lipton and Nestea were the two major brands until 2012, when the contract between Coca Cola İçecek A.Ş. and Nestea expired, Coca Cola replaced Nestea with its Fuze Beverage brand.

Iced Tea variations in the United Kingdom…

Although iced tea is not as widely consumed in the United Kingdom as the rest of Europe, the drink became more popular in the 2000s.[7] Lipton sold their carbonated iced tea, similar to the one sold in Belgium, in the 1990s. Recently,[when?] Lipton has returned to general sale of non-carbonated tea, quickly followed by Nestea and Twinings.

 

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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A Sunny Who Knew Wednesday!

Good afternoon! It was a hot one today, but we spent Who Knew Wednesday today talking about the benefits of sunscreen! Check out these sunscreen facts!

  • Apply sunscreen before you play, reapply every two hours or at the ninth hole. Don’t forget to apply on exposed scalp, the backs of hands, neck and ears.
  • Try to tee off at sunrise or late in the afternoon to avoid the sun when it’s most intense (10 am – 4 pm).
  • Between shots find some shade under a tree or in your cart.
  • Use a wide-brim hat to help shade your ears, face and neck. If temperatures allow, wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants.
  • Look for wraparound sunglasses that block UV radiation to protect eyes, eyelids and the surrounding area.
  • Treat overcast days like sunny ones, as up to 80 percent of UV rays can penetrate cloud cover.
  • It doesn’t matter if you are casting off the shore or in a boat, the same protections recommended for golfers work for anglers. Several studies have shown fishermen are at a high risk for skin disorders.
  • Try to find a shady area to cast from.
  • Sun reflecting off the water can burn you in areas you may not normally consider, like the backs of knees or under the chin.
  • The World Health Organization warns that every 3,200 ft. of elevation increases the intensity of UV rays by as much as 10 percent.

And I think we’ve all heard the term ‘SPF’, but do we all know what it means and how the SPF on a sunscreen really works? Read below to find out!

Most sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher do an excellent job of protecting against UVB. SPF — or Sun Protection Factor — is a measure of a sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here’s how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours.

You might be asking yourself what kind of sunscreen you should be using… well…
The answer depends on how much sun exposure you’re anticipating. In all cases we recommend a broad-spectrum sunscreen offering protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Read more about the type of sunscreen you should be using here!

Our word of the day today was aptly… Ultraviolet!
adj || [uhl-truh–vahy–uh-lit]
This means beyond the violet in the spectrum, corresponding to light havingwavelengths shorter than 4000 angstrom units. Or pertaining to, producing, or utilizing light having such wavelengths.

Thanks for listening!

-Lilly

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Blueberry Who Knew!

Hope you’re having a great Wednesday!
With summer in full swing, blueberries are in season! Today on the show we gave you all sorts of fun facts about the versatile super-food, the blueberry!
Check out these facts!

Fiber…
One handful of blueberries gives you 4 grams of fiber
Getting the proper amount of fiber may reduce the risk of heart disease
Eating a fiber-rich diet can also keep your cholesterol in check!

Antioxidant properties…
Blueberries have some of the highest levels of antioxidants compared to most fruits and vegetables! These antioxidants neutralize free radicals, and prevent against various types of diseases and aging!

Vitamin C…
Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells and promote the growth of healthy tissue. One serving of blueberries will supply you with 25 percent of the daily recommendation for vitamin C.

Manganese…

Manganese is important for bone development. Manganese also helps the body process cholesterol and nutrients such as carbohydrates and protein.

Need a Superfood recipe? Try one of these:

Blueberry parfait
Blueberry muffins
Blueberry smoothie

Our word of the day today was, aptly, manganese!
noun || man·ga·nese || \ˈmaŋ-gə-ˌnēz, -ˌnēs\
This is a grayish-white usually hard and brittle metallic element that resembles iron but is not magnetic and is used especially in alloys, batteries, and plant fertilizers.

We are now accepting submissions for ‘Take Dad to Dinner’, 2017 edition!
Click on this link here, and scroll to the bottom to submit your form!

We need your Dad’s Name, address and phone number and a special message about your Dad. Tell us why you love your Dad and want to take him out for dinner.

Our staff will share these special messages on The Morning Thing on Friday, June 16th and choose 4 Dads in a random drawing. Our 4 winning Dads will each receive a $25.00 gift card to Parkside Restaurant and $15 in gift cards to Wendys!

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Who Knew? Digital Safety Tips

wednesday

Summer is here and for our kids, that means hanging out with friends, baseball, softball and swimming…but it also means they are spending more time with the internet and their digital devices.

Today we shared an article from the Sam’s Club Healthy Living magazine called “Safety First,” where Bentonville, Arkansas Sheriff’s Detective Olin Rankin shared some of the tips he uses in workshops with parents.  Det. Rankin works in the Cyber Crimes Division and helps educate parents about the potential dangers of digital use.

Some of them include:

  • Be involved in your child’s digital life
  • Talk to other parents
  • Learn what apps are popular and look at the apps on your kids’ devices
  • Make sure you have PIN access to their devices
  • Limit access and plan other non-device activities
  • Treat the internet like the real world
  • Don’t be afraid to make changes in your home’s ‘internet policy’

The whole article with in-depth advice can be found by clicking the link here.

Today’s Word of Day is whirligig (WUR-li-gig),  a noun meaning something that continuously whirls or changes or has a whirling or circling course.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe

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