The Simpsons predicted this in an episode first aired in 1996: Armed Mob Storms The Capitol. In another episode, The Simpsons predicted that Donald Trump would be elected president: Trump Elected President. The episode also predicted that when President Trump left the White House, he would leave behind a huge budget deficit. This episode first aired in 2000, 16 years before Donald Trump ran for president.
On December 17, McDonalds started selling McRib sandwiches again. This is the 9th time that McDonalds has brought back the McRib sandwich since 1981. McRibs have fanatically devoted fans. Some people regularly drive 100 miles or more to get a McRib sandwich. Not all McDonalds locations have McRibs, so McRib fans maintain locator web sites that list all the McDonalds in an area that have the sandwich. Here’s one: McRib Locator. The patty in a McRib sandwich is shaped like a small rack of spare ribs, but it is not actually made out of rib meat. It is made out of a mixture of inexpensive pig parts like tripe, pig hearts, and scalded pig stomachs; all of which are pureed together into a slurry and then pressed into a rib-shaped mold. Doesn’t that sound yummy? A McRib sandwich also contains a long list of chemicals, including azodicarbonamide, a foaming agent that is commonly used to make gym mats and the soles of tennis shoes. So – bon apetit!
The Simpsons and Gym Mats. If the story above sounds familiar, it may be that you saw it on The Simpsons. Many improbable things on The Simpsons have actually happened. In one episode of The Simpsons, Lunch Lady Doris is shown preparing lunch at Springfield Elementary School. As she forces gym mats into a meat grinder, she says: “There is very little meat in these gym mats.” In another episode of The Simpsons, Homer becomes addicted to the Ribwich, a sandwich available for a limited time only at Krusty Burger. Homer travels the country looking for Krusty Burger locations that have the Ribwich. Homer winds up in San Francisco, where he eats the very last Richwich.
Today’s Food Quiz Question: What food product is made from petroleum and tombstone dust? This product is sold in every supermarket in America and can be found in over 2/3 of the homes in the United States. What is ‘tombstone dust?’ When slabs of marble are carved into tombstones, it creates a lot of fine marble dust. Marble dust has a number of industrial uses. FDA-approved ‘food grade’ marble dust is used in making a number of edible products, including confections. And just in case you are wondering – No – I do not put tombstone dust in my chocolate.