Close to Home by John McPherson for July 23, 2024

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    Yakety Sax  2 months ago

    Chef Boyardee is turning in his grave.

    After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Ettore Boiardi opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d’Italia (“The Garden of Italy”) in 19243 at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. The idea for Chef Boiardi came about when restaurant customers began asking Boiardi for his spaghetti sauce, which he began to distribute in milk bottles. Four years later, in 1928, Boiardi opened a factory and moved production to Milton, Pennsylvania, where he could grow his own tomatoes and mushrooms. He decided to anglicize the name of his product to “Boy-Ar-Dee” to help Americans pronounce his name correctly. The first product to be sold was a “ready-to-heat spaghetti kit” in 1928. The kit included uncooked pasta, tomato sauce, and a container of pre-grated cheese.

    The U.S. military commissioned the company during World War II for the production of army rations, requiring the factory to run 24 hours a day. At its peak, the company employed approximately 5,000 workers and produced 250,000 cans per day. After the war ended, Boiardi had to choose between selling the company or laying off everyone he had hired. He sold the company to American Home Foods in 1946 for nearly $6 million, and remained as a spokesman and consultant for the brand until 1978. American Home Foods turned its food division into International Home Foods in 1996. Four years later, International Home Foods was purchased by ConAgra Foods, which continues to produce Chef Boyardee canned pastas bearing Boiardi’s likeness.

    Chef Boyardee is one of the only brands to request to be removed from an episode of Seinfeld. In the 1996 episode “The Rye”, Kramer is allowed to operate a Hansom cab for a week, and feeds the horse excess cans of Beefaroni, which causes frequent and foul smelling flatulence. As a result of the request, the name was changed to “Beef-a-reeno”.

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    blunebottle  2 months ago

    Bleeb is all ready to be served.

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    BigBoy  2 months ago

    Mmmmm. 5 chalk lasagna.

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    phritzg Premium Member 2 months ago

    The lasagna must not be very hot if she can hold the pan without wearing oven mitts.

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    Gameguy49 Premium Member 2 months ago

    An attendee of the classless cooking class. (….or was it clueless??)

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    Dobie  Premium Member 2 months ago

    John McPherson and Dave Whamond give away more marketing ideas than I can dream up!

    I’m gonna be rich!!!!

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    jango  2 months ago

    Have a friend who invited us over for dinner and served homemade lasagna. Unfortunately she “baked” it in the microwave. We both left with bellyaches.

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    ladykat  2 months ago

    Ick.

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    GROG Premium Member 2 months ago

    Beef and tumsaroni.

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    djtenltd  2 months ago

    Gee! What a relief!

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    Robert- 50d99b]  2 months ago

    What flavor of Tums would go good with Lasagna?

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    Frank Burns Eats Worms  2 months ago

    Now that’s using your noodle.

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    davewhamond creator 2 months ago

    And at Thanksgiving, to counteract the tryptophan, she marinates the turkey in Redbull.

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    comixbomix  2 months ago

    I suspect it isn’t just her lasagna that irritates his system…

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    eb110americana  2 months ago

    Lasagna is one of the few dishes where I’d choose the vegetarian version. Not because I prefer veggies, but because your average chef will cook the beef until done, put it into the lasagna, and then bake it until it’s dry and overcooked in the oven. The beef should still be partially pink before the lasagna goes into the oven.

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    bookworm0812  2 months ago

    Ick. Instead of making the lasagna chalky with Tums, mix in some Prilosec OTC tablets with no flavor. That stuff works better anyway.

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    Rista  2 months ago

    Wow, that’s quite a take on the “That’s one spicy meatball” commercial from what, the 60’s?

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    buflogal!  2 months ago

    Sigh. Obviously the Tums should be baked into the cupcakes.

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    norphos  2 months ago

    She is cute, but she is either clueless or insane.

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    geese28  2 months ago

    I’ll eat it

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    markkahler52  2 months ago

    Garfield will help….

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    dbrucepm  2 months ago

    indigestion just like mom used to make

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