Welcome back to Minneapolis! I just got here myself (not as cold as I would have thought... famous last words!)and am helping to prepare the Thanksgiving meal in my parents' kitchen. That should provide ample opportunity to find weird stuff. I'm probably not going to be able to identify some of it since we are Chinese and there's bound to be some dried part of an animal in an unlabeled bag stuffed in a random cabinet somewhere. Have a great Thanksgiving!

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...you think cupcake wrappers are weird?

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Hello, mace?
Spice that is the ground outer husk of nutmeg, a swet mild spice with an affinity for honey and sweet fruits. Lovely addition to a summer fruit salad. I use it all the time in my New York home.

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Jeez, that's nothing! My Mom still has boxes of Jell-0 123; there's a jar of Lingenberries from the early 70s in the back of her refrigerator; six or seven jars of instant tea (again, circa. the 70s); products with the price STAMPED on them; and Funny Face drink mix. I should add that her "Spice Cabinet" contains approx. 75-100 canisters, all of which are outdated.

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I've eaten plenty of those little silver balls. Might explain things.

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The dragees are labeled "non-edible" because they're not classified as a food item by the FDA. Don't you remember when they were banned?

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Those things don't seem so odd to me. I found old "powdered Alum" in my mom's spice cabinet. 10 points to anyone who knows what she used to use that for.

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Brian -- might the alum have been for pickling? That's what I use mine for. Or perhaps is she a closet fan of The Three Stooges? Seems like they were always using it to make each others' mouths pucker up.

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My mom would put Alum in the homemade playdough ... I think it helped it stay soft & plyable ...


Funny Face drink mix was way better than Kool-Aid and Flavor-Aid ...


Too many good things have been banned by the FDA ... dang them ...

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