ONE-UPSMANSHIP

My brother Les and I play what we call "ONE UPSMAN TRIVIA". When we ask a trivia question, we must respond with another trivia question, along similar lines! My brother Les asked, "Do you know the only food which doesn't spoil?" I told him that I did not and he told me HONEY! He said that there have been jars of sealed honey found in Egyptian tombs and when opened it was still good after thousands of years. Of course honey will crystallize but one just needs to heat it for it to be edible.

Although Les is usually ALWAYS right, I still had "to look it up"! In further investigation I learned that honey has an indefinite shelf life but it will stay good if properly sealed and stored. Temperatures over 81 degrees Fahrenheit will degrade the honey and it will start fermenting. The product of fermented honey is MEAD. Mead is supposedly the first wine! How many times have we heard MEAD referred to in old movies? I seem to remember Charles Laughton "quaffing" the brew. It's hard to believe that I didn't inquire what mead was!

Failing miserably with the honey query, and to stay within the "similar line"--food--I countered with, "Do you know what's the common term for porridge?" He chuckled and answered, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, who would put peas in the MUSH 10 days old?" Dammit, he one-upped me again!