Skyline grad Joe Thiel named 2013 Rhodes Scholar

Idaho Falls native Joe Thiel was named a 2013 Rhodes Scholar this weekend.

Joseph W. Thiel, an Idaho Falls native and 2008 graduate of Skyline High School, was named a Rhodes scholar this weekend, one of 32 young Americans in the Class of 2013.

Thiel is a senior at Montana State University, where he majors in chemical engineering; he is also pursuing a B.A. in liberal studies, with a focus on politics, philosophy and economics.  He is the only student representative on the Board of Regents of the Montana University System.

Thiel was the vice president of Engineers Without Borders at Montana State and served as a student senator.  He has done summer work related to the storage of spent nuclear fuel and in biofilms engineering.  He is keenly interested in international development, and worked in western Kenya on an engineering project to provide water to rural primary schools.

He intends to do the M.Sc. in economics for development at Oxford.

The Rhodes Scholarship program was created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those elected this weekend will enter Oxford in October 2013.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process.  First, candidates must be endorsed by their college or university.  This year, approximately 1,700 students sought their institution’s endorsement; 838 were endorsed by 302 different colleges and universities.   

Applicants in the United States may apply either through the state where they are legally resident or where they have attended college for at least two years. The district committees met separately, on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17, in cities across the country.

The Rhodes Scholars from the United States will join an international group of scholars chosen from 14 other jurisdictions around the world.

The Rhodes Trust pays all college and university fees, provides a stipend to cover necessary expenses while in residence in Oxford as well as during vacations, and transportation to and from England. It is estimated the total value of the scholarship averages approximately $50,000 per year.

Just over 1,900 American Rhodes Scholars, including former President Bill Clinton, are living in all parts of the U.S. and abroad.

Ever wonder what happens to a Twinkie when ... ?

Hostess Brands has declared bankruptcy, and while I can't say I'm terribly broken up about it I'm not too proud to admit I enjoy a Twinkie now and then.

Despite the company's demise, I expect the Twinkie will remain part of American life. It's too embedded in popular culture for somebody to not acquire the rights to it. Still, I wonder if it will be the same.

In the meantime, I thought I would reprint a piece by food writers Jane and Michael Stern detailing some experiments they performed on Twinkies. This appeared in the July 1989 edition of Spy Magazine. 

"Twinkie, Twinkie,
Little suet-filled sponge cake Crisco log,
Now I know just what you are."
                    
"Animal, vegetable, Mineral, or Food?''

In an effort to clarify questions about the purported durability and unusual physical characteristics of Twinkies, we subjected the Hostess snack logs to the following experiments:

EXPOSURE:
Twinkie was left on a ... window ledge for four days, during which time an inch and a half of rain fell.  Many flies `were observed crawling across the Twinkie's surface, but contrary to hypothesis, birds -- even pigeons -- avoided this potential source of sustenance. Despite the rain and prolonged exposure to the sun, the Twinkie retained its original color and form.  When removed ... the Twinkie was found to be substantially dehydrated.  Cracked open, it was observed to have taken on the consistency of industrial foam insulation; the filling, however, retained it adverstised ``creaminess.''

RADIATION:
A Twinkie was placed in a conventional microwave oven, which was set for precisely 4 minutes -- the approximate cooking time of bacon. After 20 seconds, the oven began to emit the Twinkie's rich,
characteristic aroma of artificial butter.  After 1 minute, this aroma began to resemble the acrid smell of burning rubber.  The experiment was aborted after 2 minutes, 10 seconds, when thick, foul smoke began billowing from the top of the oven ... a second Twinkie was subjected to the same experiment ... this Twinkie leaked molten white filling ... when cooled, this now epoxylike filling bonded the Twinkie to its plate,  defying gravity; it was removed only upon application of a butter knife.

EXTREME FORCE:
A Twinkie was dropped from a ninth-floor window, a fall of approximately 120 feet.  It landed right side up ... then bounced onto its back.  The expected ``splatter'' effect was not observed.  Indeed, the
only discernible damage to the Twinkie was a narrow fissure on its underside ... otherwise, the Twinkie remained structurally intact.

EXTREME COLD:
A Twinkie was placed in a conventional freezer for 24 hours.  Upon removal, the Twinkie was not found to be frozen solid, but its physical properties had noticeably ``slowed'' .. the filling was found to be the approximate consistency of acrylic paint, while exhibiting the mercurylike
property of not adhering to practically any surface.  It was noticed that the Twinkie had generously absorbed freezer odors.

EXTREME HEAT:
A Twinkie was exposed to a gas flame for 2 minutes.  While the Twinkie smoked and blackened and the filling in one of its "cream holes'' boiled, the Twinkie did not catch fire. It did, however, produce the same "burning rubber'' aroma noticed during the irradiation experiment.

IMMERSION:
A Twinkie was dropped into a large beaker filled with tap water. The Twinkie floated momentarily, began to list and sink ... viscous yellow tendrils ran off its lower half, possibly consisting of a water-soluble artificial coloring.  After 2 hours, the Twinkie had bloated substantially. Its coloring was now a very pale tan -- in contrast to the yellow, urine-like water the surrounded it.  The Twinkie bobbed when touched, and had a gelatinous texture.  After 72 hours, the Twinkie was found to have bloated to roughly 200 percent of its original size ... the water had turned opaque, and a small, fan-shaped spray of filling had leaked from one of the "cream holes.'' Unfortunately, efforts to remove the Twinkie for further analysis were abandoned when, under light pressure ... the Twinkie disintegrated
into an amorphous cloud of debris. A distinctly sour odor was noted.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
The Twinkie's survival of a 120-foot drop, along with some of the unusual phenomena associated with the ``creamy filling'' and artificial coloring, should give pause to those observers who would
unequivocally categorize the Twinkie as "food.''  Further clinical inquiry is required before any definite conclusions can be drawn.

Believe it or not, this was only a sidebar to a much larger piece. Here's a link to the July 1989 Spy (the Sterns' article starts on Page 89): http://books.google.com/books?id=VdRQYCi-SX8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Colorado chain, Natural Grocers, could be looking at store in Idaho Falls

Last year, while this blog was in its carefree youth, we sparked a bit of speculation by reporting on a conversation with Assistant City Planner Brad Cramer, who told us he'd been getting cryptic inquiries from a company interested in building a specialty grocery store about 15,000 square feet in size.

Trader Joe's? Whole Foods? If not them, then who?

This is the difference between writing a column (or blog) and writing a news story. I cannot report with absolute certainty that Natural Grocers, a Colorado-based chain, will be building a store on the 3.87 acres south of 17th Street where Andrew Well Drilling used to be.

What leads me to surmise that it is Natural Grocers that is interested in Idaho Falls is the fact that the city has been in communication with Leadership Circle, LLC, a company in Montrose, Colo., that  consults on planning and zoning for Natural Grocers. Here is a link to minutes from  Missoula Board of Adjustments meeting in January: ftp://www.co.missoula.mt.us/opgftp/Minutes/CiBOA/2012/120125CiBOAMinutes.pdf.

If they seek to build in Idaho Falls, they will have to submit a site plan, get the land rezoned and receive a special use permit. The deadline for the January Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is the first week in December. So this is something to stay on top of.

Natural Grocers has stores in 12 states. Earlier this year it opened stores in Boise and Missoula. Here is a link to its Web site: http://www.naturalgrocers.com/. And here is a link to the story that ran in the Idaho Statesman when it became official they were opening in Boise: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/01/26/1968611/natural-foods-grocery-to-open.html

As a footnote, I find it interesting that Whole Foods opened in Boise this week.

Mountain River Ranch plans season kickoff

Snow or no snow, the horses are ready at Mountain River Ranch

Mountain River Ranch near Ririe will have its fifth annual Lights On celebration Nov. 23.

In exchange for three cans of food, the owners will be sleigh or wagon rides and cider and cookies. Partners in the event are Farmer Brothers Co., Love at First Bite and Heise Hot Springs. Donations will go to the Idaho Food Bank.

For more information, call 538-7337 or visit www.mountainriver.com.

Downtown bakery owner eyes Jan. 15 opening

Napoleons will be among the European-style baked goods served at La Vanilla Bean Patisserie on Park Avenue

Work is due to start the Monday after Thanksgiving on a new European-style bakery at the corner of Park Avenue and B Street.

Kay Lynn Broadhead, owner of La Vanilla Bean Patisserie, said she is shooting for a Jan. 15, 2013 opening. The business, in the old A Street Games location, will focus on European style pastries (tarts, torts, Napoleons, eclairs, scones), and will also provide specialty cakes and lunch.

Broadhead was a communications professor at Idaho State University for 20 years before she took early retirement in 2010 to attend the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vt. When she returned to Idaho she had her eye on Boise, and even had a storefront lined up. But the deal fell through, and when she started looking at other places she was approached by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Development Corp.

"I've got a very good feeling about what's happening with the downtown here," she said. Broadhead will be assisted in the business by Jessica Carson.