Ireland's Great Famine in the mid-19th century led to the demise of farms, starvation, and many Irish emigrating to other countries. The most common potato affected was the Lumper, a popular potato at the time because it would grow in poor soil. It had all but disappeared until recently, when farmer Michael McKillop grew some heirloom seeds to resurrect the Lumper.

As its name implies, this potato is not especially beautiful. It’s large, knobby, and, well, lumpy, with pale brown skin and yellow flesh. Still, it was widely grown in Ireland before the famine because it did well in poor soil and could feed a lot of mouths.

According to University College Dublin’s Cormac O’Grada, an expert on the history of famines, the blight (Phytophtora infestans) destroyed about one-third of Ireland’s potato crop in 1845 and almost all of it in 1846. Because so many people were poor and relied on potatoes for sustenance, the blight had catastrophic consequences, including food riots and mass death from starvation.

Spuds are faring much better today thanks to modern farming techniques and technology, although potato blight is still an ongoing concern for Irish farmers.

Killop wants to bring back the Lumper for historic purposes, not to produce on a large scale. They don't taste as good as more modern potatoes. Irish potato farmers today generally grow newer varieties of potatoes for better quality and disease resistance. The news article includes a recipe for potato gratin, calling for russet potatoes. Link

You won't get wishes if you capture these leprechauns, but you will get a tasty treat for St. Patrick's Day. To make Jill's ice cream cones, you'll need cake frosting, white heart candies, Twizzler strings and yellow, green and orange mini marshmallows. Read her recipe at the link.

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Chocolate, peanut butter and chickpeas--who would ever have thought that they'd go well together? This recipe from the foodblog Peanut Butter and Peppers mixes them with maple syrup and vanilla extract to make a healthy if unconventional treat.

Link -via Tasteologie

Do you want to live life on the edge? These hot and spicy sticks of happiness will get you there. Zach Wilkins and Jason Medina ground Hot Cheetos and bread crumbs together and made an egg wash with Tabasco sauce. They then dipped mozzarella sticks in the wash, then the Cheeto mix, before finally laying these wonders into a deep fryer.

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This healthy (i.e. pork-based) meal is perfect for Pi Day or any other. Emily Fleischaker made the bottom crust out of flour and butter and the filling out of macaroni, cheese and bacon bits. The top crust is a carefully woven layer of bacon strips. Yummy! You can find her recipe at the link.

Link -via Foodbeast | Photo: Macey J. Foronda

Mint, chocolate and Oreo cookies--it's the perfect storm for a dessert that you'll eat before dinner. Donna and Chad Elick's chocolate mint Oreo cookie trifle is packed with Andes mints, which makes a great thing even better. You can find their recipe at the link.

Link -via Tasteologie

The sale of Kinder Eggs has been illegal in the U.S. since 1938. We Americans learned of these wonderful chocolate eggs with toys inside them from European friends, and just had to be jealous, unless we traveled abroad. But that will change very soon with the introduction of Choco Treasures!

But first, a history lesson. In 1938, the FDA passed The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits “non-nutritive (inedible) object inside a candy.” Furthermore, the toys in Kinder and other such surprise eggs are also only safe for kids 3 and up, which violates the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s requirement that all candy-encased toys be safe for children of all ages.

But Choco Treasures are different. First off, each of the three different editions of Choco Treasure has its own collection of all ages toys, from the original chocolate eggs to sports balls to even a Spider-man-inspired egg, licensed from Marvel. Second, each egg features a specially-designed capsule that separates the two halves of the chocolate so even a small child can see the there’s something on the inside.

Choco Treasures should be in major retailers before Easter. Find out more about them at FoodBeast. Link  -Thanks,  Dominique!

In America, you can't keep a good ol' indestructible Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling down for long. That's right: Twinkies are coming back, baby!

The bankrupt Hostess bakery has sold Twinkies and other snacks to Apollo Global Management for $410 million. The new owners are working to restock the shelves by this summer: Link

(Image: Twinkie the Kid Twinkie Container from the NeatoShop)

Foodbeast's Kiera Wright-Ruiz ruthlessly hunted down and rounded up scrumptious ways that you can use Peeps, the classic Easter marshmallow candy. This temptation is a Peep s'more. At the link, you can also discover Peep cocktails, Peep monkey bread, Peep Rice Krispie treats and more.

Link | Photo: Live, Love, Pasta

It's been almost twelve years since Douglas Adams thanked us for the fish and wished us farewell. Had he lived, yesterday would have been the 61st birthday of the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Monica Holbert marked the occasion by making these cookies.

Remember that May 25th is Towel Day. On that day, carry a towel everywhere you go so that you're always prepared for an unexpected interstellar journey.

Link | Baker's Website

We love the work of Hong Yi, an artist who "likes to paint, but not with a paintbrush." For her latest project, she's creating images with her food, one each day for the month of March. You can view them all at her Instagram feed.

Hong Yi's Instagram Feed -via Foodiggity

Wait, why are you walking away? I haven't even described it to you yet! Come back here and listen.

Remember the bold words of Captain Kirk: "Risk is our business." Do you want to live a quiet, sedentary life or one of daring culinary adventures? The latter, of course. That's why Nick of DudeFoods has the perfect cheeseburger for you. Its bread cheese, beef, Brunkow cheese and bacon give you a 4,300 calorie exploit that your descendants will talk about for generations.

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St. Patrick's Day is only five days away. So how can you celebrate it in a way that demonstrates a reckless disregard for actual Irish culture and your waistline? I suggest this novel cheesecake recipe by Dan. He separated the oats and marshmallow charms that comprise the cereal. Then he strained the cheesecake ingredients through the marshmallows to infuse them with flavor and good luck. Dan used the oats for the crust, added the cheesecake mixture and then a layer of marshmallows.

Link -via Foodbeast

Imperial College in London unveiled their plans for a new campus called Imperial West. An architectural model is customary for such events, but this one is a cake! Cake artist Michelle Wibowo of Michelle Sugar Art created the edible sculpture, which took 80 hours and 66 pounds of sugar -and some broccoli for the trees. Nice looking campus -and I bet it was tasty, too! See more pictures at the artist's blog. Link  -Thanks Michael Christian!

Have you ever seen individually-wrapped jelly beans before? What a hassle! You might think this is a scheme to give away tiny little candies in tiny little bunches at Halloween, but this is sugar-free candy. Redditor BetterDayz4me ordered Jelly Bellies and was so surprised by the wrapping that he took a picture.  And wouldn't you know it, got a couple of very good explanations in no time at all. Chubbysumo said,  

actually, its probably because to be truly sugar free, they cannot use the corn starch powder that they usually toss in with them to stop them from sticking together, so, if they don't wrap them like that, they stick horribly.

And many others said it was to keep you from eating too many at once. There's a reason for this, as mrbooze explained,

This is important for people that somehow don't know it. Sugar-free candies meant for diabetics and such often use sorbitol/malitol/some-other-sugar-alcohol, which can be a powerful laxative if one consumes a large enough amount of it.

Edit: Apparently one of the sugar alcohols, erythritol, does not have the strong laxative effect of the others. On the other hand, eating too much at once can cause nausea and borborygmi, which is fun to say.

So whether you are diabetic or not, don't eat too many sugar-free candies at one time! Link