smArtie's Blog

Vegemite (morgueFile)

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to enjoy a holiday party that included a great group of people, a variety of good food, and more than one dancing chicken?! (Perhaps, we’ll cover that in a future blog post).
One of the food items we sampled was a vegemite sandwich. Anyway, while we were eating an interesting question was brought up…

What is the history of vegemite?

Here’s what we found…
Vegemite is a nutritious concentrated yeast extract used as spread.
Vegemite is made from brewers yeast which is processed, concentrated and refined. The resultant dark coloured spread is an extremely rich source of vitamin B, being four to five times more concentrated than yeast, the natural source of the vitamin B complex.
Vegemite was developed in 1922 by food technologist Dr Cyril P. Callister for the Fred Walker Company, a Melbourne-based manufacturer and distributor of processed food products. (The company was later bought by Kraft.) The spread was released the following year under the brand name Vegemite, but made little market impact. It was relaunched in 1928 under the new brand name Pawill, a word play on the name of a rival spread – ‘if Marmite…then Pawill’. Public acceptance, however, remained slow. Walker returned to the original name and with a vigorous promotion campaign eventually set Vegemite on the road to success.
(Source: History Reference Center)

Interested in a good recipe that features vegemite?
Vegemite on Toast (Appetizer)
One of the easiest recipes around, it simply constitutes toasted bread with a Vegemite spread. This condiment is quite salty, so just use a small amount of Vegemite (or the more liquid, but similar, Marmite) and spread very thinly over toast with a generous amount of butter. Melted cheese, tomatoes, and eggs are common accompaniments.

Recipe Serving: Serves 1
Ingredients
2 slices bread
1/8 tsp (.5 g) Vegemite
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) butter

Instructions
Toast your favorite type of bread (white bread is traditional), butter it generously, and spread a thin layer of Vegemite on it. Cut into wedges and eat.
(Source: Global Road Warrior)

And of course, you can always visit the official vegemite web site, for more information on vegemite. (If you want to evaluate this web site, use our Evaluating Web Resources guide.)

~RG

Research Award for 2009-2010

You have worked hard all semester on your research papers and projects and deserve a reward!  Submit your paper/project to the SCC Library Research Award Contest and you may win one of the three prizes.

Visit http://library.scottsdalecc.edu/researchaward for more information.

Deadline is April 26, 2010, but you can submit the research paper/project you completed for Fall 2009 courses now.

USS Arizona (morgueFile)

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II. (www.history.com)

The SCC Library has many items available that will provide more details about this day in history. A few are listed here…

Conspiracy theories in American history : an encyclopedia
Reference E179 .C66 2003

Great events from history. The 20th century, 1941-1970
Reference D421 .G6295 2008

Encyclopedia of world history
Reference D21 .E5775 2008

Battleship Arizona : an illustrated history
VA65.A6 S75 1991

The world at war (DVD set)
D743 .W67 2004

The way it was : Pearl Harbor–the original photographs
D767.92 .G65 1991

December 7, 1941 : the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
D767.92 .P7215 1988

Pearl Harbor : the verdict of history
D767.92 .P722 1986

Infamy : Pearl Harbor and its aftermath
D767.92 .T63 1982

The road to Pearl Harbor–1941
D755.3 .C64

At dawn we slept : the untold story of Pearl Harbor
D767.92 .P72

~RG