The Minnesota hot dish is another product of a community attempting to make due with the resources that they were provided with. The hot dish came to fruition via budget-minded farm wives that needed a hearty meal that could feed an entire family the fill necessary in order to continue normal work habits. What most city-dwelling folks might consider your average casserole is actually a delicacy to many throughout the Midwest. The Minnesota hot dish has become a staple at large holiday gatherings, church functions, banquets, and your average night in.
For those of you wondering the hot dish consists of a crispy, baked tater tot base covered with cooked ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and mixed vegetables topped by a layer of smoldering cheddar cheese and an additional layer of tater tots. It's an extremely easy dish to recreate and remix to add different elements and flavors to your liking. The hot dish is so popular in Minnesota, the state's congressional delegation holds an annual competition to see who can make the best rendition of the casserole.
When we think of inventors, the image that comes to mind is usually that of a frazzled scientist toiling away in a lab, not celebrities pulled from the pages of Us Weekly. However, a number of well-known public figures hold patents for various innovations. Some are related to the work that made them famous, while others are offshoots of hobbies or just a single great idea.
Part of guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen's signature sound was his two-handed tapping technique, but letting all ten fingers fly while simultaneously holding up the guitar's neck could get a bit tricky. Van Halen came up with a novel way to get around this problem, though; he invented a support (top) that could flip out of the back of his axe's body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like "Eruption." While Van Halen was obviously interested in improving his guitar work, the patent application he filed in 1985 notes that the device would work with any stringed instrument. Want to tap out a scorching mandolin solo? Find someone selling Eddie's device.
It’s probably not surprising that James Cameron—who designed a submersible to take him to the deepest known part of the ocean—will often invent technology to make his films if what he needs doesn’t exist. He holds a number of patents, including US Patent No. 4996938, “apparatus for propelling a user in an underwater environment,” that he and his brother, Michael, created to film The Abyss and patented in 1989. The device is basically an underwater dolly equipped with propellers that makes it easy for a camera operator to maneuver in the water—and allowed Cameron to capture the shots he wanted for the 1989 film, part of which was filmed in an abandoned nuclear reactor.
In 1987 Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes. She hasn't profited from her idea yet, though, since she refuses to license the patent until diaper companies make biodegradable products.
You know him as a rock legend, but Neil Young also loves trains—so much that he owns a stake in a model train manufacturing company and has an extensive collection. He also holds seven patents related to model trains, including Patent No. US5441223, "Model train controller using electromagnetic field between track and ground."