Trends, Las Vegas Sun, May 20, 2002

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Trends for May 20, 2002 Lisa Ferguson Monday, May 20, 2002 | 9:09 a.m. Get dressed If you hadn't already gleaned from fodder that's previously filled this space, we at Trends are always on the lookout for wacky holidays. And, lucky for us, May is chock-full of them. The folks at the Association for Dressings and Sauces are positively giddy about this being National Salad Month. The international organization, based in Atlanta, is a trade association for the makers of you guessed it salad dressing, mayonnaise, mustard and other sauces. Talk about pouring it on a little thick: The group has compiled a handful of trivial, er, trivia tidbits about the stuff it knows best on its website, dressings-sauces.org. It turns out the Babylonians began tossing their salad greens with oil and vinegar nearly 2,000 years ago. Meanwhile early Romans preferred to top their grass-and-herb salads with salt. The salad chefs of the great European monarchs of yore combined up to 35 ingredients rose petals, marigolds and violets among them in the salads they created for members of royalty. King Henry IV opted for a salad of boiled and diced potatoes topped with sardines and an herb dressing, while Mary, Queen of Scots, noshed on boiled, diced celery root tossed with lettuce, creamy mustard dressing, truffles, chervil and slices of hard-cooked egg. Until the turn of the last century, "store-bought" salad dressings (and other sauces) were largely unavailable and home chefs were forced to concoct their own recipes. Less-than-ideal storage conditions and lack of year-round supplies often meant varied results. In 1925 the Kraft Cheese Company purchased several regional mayonnaise manufacturers, thus entering the salad-product business. French dressing was its first pourable-dressing flavor. Here are some numbers to crunch while dining on your next salad: In 1950, 6.3 million gallons of salad dressing were sold. That jumped to 17.5 million in 1960; 34.3 million in 1970; and 60 million gallons in 1997. Miles of smiles If you eat a salad on Wednesday, don't forget to grin between bites, in honor of the First Annual Great American Grump-Out. The designation, urging people worldwide to "abstain from being grumpy" is the brainchild of Janice Hathy, president of a Kalamazoo, Mich., stress management company called Smile Mania. Hathy has devised some tips for helping turn frowns upside down: l "Wear anything with a smile on it: clothing, hats, buttons your face." l Take part in "The Million Smile E-Walk" by sending electronically a "smile chain letter," featuring a sizeable smiling face, to friends who can print the page and hang the smile on a wall or wear it. l Impose a "frown fine" at home and/or work, charging a fee to anyone caught frowning, and donate the fees collected throughout the day to an area charity. "Anti-grumpers" are also urged to submit smile-inducing ideas of their own to smilemania.com.