A Beer Story

Although I have never liked beer, I'm about the only one in my family who never drank it.  My father never cared much for hard liquor, but he did like his beer.  I can even remember my mother, after doing some Spring cleaning, sitting down and having a cold beer.  It was a rare treat for her, though.

Anyway, I have a personal beer story, even though I've never liked the stuff.

I was an eighth grader, and it was close to the end of the year.  We were on the last day of our yearly Achievement Tests (they don't call them that anymore, do they?).  Our homeroom teacher had told us to bring a cold drink each day from home if we wanted to, and each day after testing we'd go out to the ballfield to enjoy the nice weather we were having, until the end of the school day. (no soft drink machines in the schools, back then.)

I was a "Mello Yello" drinker at the time, and for two days in a row I had wrapped a can of Mello Yello in tin foil to keep it cold and had taken it with me to school.

I know, I know.  You can see where this is going.

Well on the last day of testing I was running late, and my mother, being helpful, got the can out of the refrigerator and wrapped it for me, and handed it to me on the way out the door. 

In school, after we'd finished our tests, my best friends and I went to our lockers to get our colas.  While I was waiting for one of these friends, I began to unwrap my can.  Suddenly I realized that I was seeing one word repeated over and over on the can -- Blatz!

I quickly re-wrapped the can and put it back in my locker.  I wouldn't tell my friends what had happened until we got outside.  I was so mortified!  My friends joked that I could probably sell it to certain ones of our class members, but I really was very embarrassed.  I was a very good girl who never, EVER got in trouble for anything, and all I could think of was that I'd actually brought a BEER to school!

When I got home my mother greeted me with her usual, "How was school?", as I set the tin-foil-wrapped can on the kitchen table.  She eyed it.  "Why didn't you drink your --" gasp!  "I didn't send a beer with you, did I?" 

My mom's a quick one, she is.

She said she'd been half asleep, hadn't turned on the light in the kitchen, but had relied on the refrigerator light, but even then, she can't imagine how she came to make the mistake.  We had a good laugh about it together.

Learn Something New, Day 17: Presidential Trivia

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Things I didn't know before:

* Zachary Taylor and James Madison were second cousins.

* John Adams was a third cousin to his own wife, Abigail Adams.

* George Washington who commanded the Continental Army as
a four-star general was promoted posthumously to the position of six-star "General of the Armies of Congress" by an order of Jimmy Carter, who felt America's first President should also be America's highest military official.

Learn Something New, Day 16: Coca-Cola

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

I am a Pepsi drinker and can't handle Coca-Cola at all unless it's from a fountain.  Regardless, on this day I learned a bit of Coke trivia.

On May 15, 1950, it became the first product ever featured on the cover of TIME Magazine.  The Coca-Cola bottle shape was modeled after a cocoa bean.

Sorry, that's all I feel like learning about Coke today!

Learn Something New, Day 15: Snakes

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The 10 most deadly kinds of snakes in the world ALL live in Australia.

They are, in descending order, the Western Brown Snake, the Death Adder, the Black Tiger Snake, the Tiger Snake, the Sea Kraits, the Mainland Tiger Snake, the Eastern Tiger Snake, the Taipan, the King Brown Snake, and, in the number one place, the Inland Taipan (or Fierce) Snake, the world's most venomous snake.

Learn Something New, Day 14: Beer Trivia

Monday, May 14, 2007

This started with learning what the word "cenosillicaphobia" means, and it led to beer trivia.  Go figure.

I happened across the word, and supposedly it means "the fear of an empty glass".  I haven't found the word in any dictionary, though, so it may not actually be a real word.  It lead me to look up beer trivia, though, so here we go.

1) The country with the most beer brands is Belgium, with 400.

2) What was the length of Prohibition?  13 years, 10 months, 19 days, 17 hours, 32-1/2 minutes.  Even if this isn't true, I thought it was really funny!  Wonder how many people were counting down the days and hours?

3) The brand "Hamm's" was known as the beer from the "land of the sky blue waters".  It was brewed in Minneapolis and is now owned by Pabst.

4)  After prohibition was repealed, Anheuser Busch used their famous eight-horse wagon to deliver the first post-prohibition case of beer to FDR, in thanks for his help in ending the prohibition law.

I think that's enough beer trivia, especially since I don't even like beer.

 

Learn Something New, Day 13: My Mother . . . The Actress???

Sunday, May 13, 2007

This is SO great!

I don't know how the conversation got around to this, but at some point while all of us (my sibs, Thomas, the kids, and my Mom) were sitting around talking, Mom announced that she used to want to be an actress when she was a young girl. 

I've known my Mom for, like, all my life, and why did I never know this before??

When she was an eighth grader she says she thought she'd make a good actress, and she even had a part in a school play -- written by the students.  My mother went to school in a one-room schoolhouse where grades one to eight all met together.  She couldn't remember much about the play except that she played a .....

 

Wait for it .....

 

A black "mammy".

I thought my (African-American) husband was going to roll on the floor, he was laughing so hard!

She said she remembers that she was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking a "baby" (doll) for most of the play, and that at some point she was supposed to call off stage, "Now you chillens settle down!"

Can't tell she grew up in rural Kentucky in the 1920s and '30s, can you?

So far, this is my favorite "learn something new"!

I can actually see my Mom as an actress.   She used to get into "pretend" play scenarios with me and my friends, and with the grandchildren (and still does) very, very easily.

Hollywood may have lost a great actress in Eler Roberts, but we sure did get a great mother and grandmother in Eler Roberts Dowell!

Tags: Mothers

Learn Something New, Day 12: Zloty

Saturday, May 12, 2007

When all else fails, there's always "Z" in the dictionary --

I didn't know this, but now I do:  A Zloty is (zlawtee) is the chief monetary unit of Poland. 

Now I would imagine that some readers out there already knew this -- Guido? Nzforme?

This and That

Full Moon (93% full, anyway)

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night.  I kept getting up and logging on to the computer, messing around a little, and then trying again to go to sleep.  I think it was after 6 this morning before I finally dropped off.  Needless to say, I didn't get a lot done around the house today.  Oh well.

 

Opportunities

I had an interestingly titled email yesterday that somehow didn't go to my spam folder as it should have.  It was from "Australia Food Company" and the subject line said "PARTNERSHIP OPPUASRTUNITY".   I don't think I would want to partner with a company that can't spell opportunity.

 

Bird Flu

A BBC science writer reported yesterday that scientists have found a possible bird flu anitibody; haven't heard too much about the bird flu lately.  I hope this antibody works.  The antibody has been effective in mice and the scientists are hoping to be able to start testing in humans soon.  It was a rather interesting article.

 

Elephants

"JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) -- International wildlife experts have located hundreds of wild elephants on a treeless island in the swamps of south Sudan, where they apparently avoided unchecked hunting during more than 20 years of war."...CNN

The whole CNN article here.

Tags: Bird flue antibody, Elephants, Sudan

I should go to bed now...

I really should.

I can sleep in tomorrow, but I don't need to take this summer vacation thing too far, because I have plenty of things to get done tomorrow.  Mainly -- housekeeping!  I really let things go this weekend!

I'd better check my make up to see how badly the girls diminished my supplies.  Last time I checked there was some serious painting going on!

One last thing, though.  Amanda asked about the girls taking the "birds" for a walk.  I guess that did sound kind of funny, didn't it?  I had written about the gray, female cockatiel we got Eler Beth a couple months ago.  Well, two weeks later we bought her a yellow, tame male.  These birds have very quickly become a big part of the family.

They both love attention, but Lucy simply adores being taken outside, for rides in the car, and even for bike rides.  She will sit on the front of Eler Beth's bike, sitting on the brake cable where it crosses along the front of the handlebar while Eler Beth rides around the block.  Louie doesn't like riding around, but he does like to be taken for a walk, as long as he can sit as close to your body as possible, usually on your shoulder or your shirtfront.  If you have him on your hand, he wants you to hold him as close to your body as possible.

So anyway, now you know what I mean when I say they take the birds for a walk.

Learn Something New, Day 11: Zygomatic Bone

Friday, May 11, 2007

Do you know what the zygomatic bone is?

Would you like to know?

It is the bone that forms the prominent part of the cheekbone.

Learn Something New, Day 10: Gorillas

Thursday, May 10, 2007

I'm sure Eler Beth and I will be paying a few visits to The Louisville Zoo this summer, so I decided to learn something new about one of their exhibits.  A few years ago they added Gorilla Forest, and it is still one of our favorite exhibits to visit.  So I did a little research on Gorillas.

A lot of the information I already knew (had learned and retained) from previous visits to Gorilla Forest, but I did learn a few new things or was reminded of things I had learned and hadn't retained.

I knew that gorillas are being hunted for food and trophies in their natural habitats, and that those habitats are being destroyed for farmland, fuel and housing.  Although their main predator is man, they are sometimes preyed upon by leopards. 

Another new thing I re-learned is that they can live up to 50 years in captivity as opposed to up to 40 years in the wild.  The name "gorilla" means hairy person, and the name came from an explorer from ancient Carthage almost 2500 years ago.

There are three sub-species of Gorilla -- the mountain gorilla, the Western lowland gorilla, and the Eastern lowland gorilla.  The gorillas in The Louisville Zoo are captive-born, Western Lowland Gorillas, which is the species found in most zoos.   A gorilla social group is lead by one male, commonly called a Silverback.  Even if the group is all male, it will be lead by one silverback.  I also learned that although a gorilla's head is larger than a human's, it's brain is smaller.

The following is from The Louisville Zoo web site:

About Gorilla Forest
The award-winning four-acre Gorilla Forest is one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken at the Louisville Zoo. This multi-faceted exhibit immerses you, the visitor, into the world of gorillas. Whether you are searching along the Discovery Trail or stopping at Hippo Falls or discovering the gorillas in one of their three habitats, you are in the gorilla’s realm.

In addition to being the home of 11 western lowland gorillas and 2 pygmy hippos, Gorilla Forest provides new environmental education spaces and programming opportunities. Through its innovative approach this exhibit ties together the themes of animals, habitats, and the human culture of Africa. 

I'm looking forward to our next visit!  I'll be sure to take and post pictures when we go.

Tags: Gorillas, The Louisville Zoo, Gorilla Forest

Learn Something New, Day 9: Zygote

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

On this day, since nothing else has presented itself, I've decided to see what the last word is in my desktop dictionary.  And the winner is..............

Zygote

Hmmm.  I vaguely remember "zygote" from biology.

A zygote is, according to Oxford American Dictionary, "a cell formed by the union of two gametes". 

And that begs the question, "what is a gamete?"

A gamete is "a mature germ cell able to unite with another in sexual reproduction".

So gametes are momma and daddy germ cells, and zygotes are baby germ cells?  I guess so.

Tags: zygote, gamete

Learn Something New, Day 8: Spark Plugs

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Last night Thomas reminded me that since I'd changed the oil on my car on Friday, we really should have changed the spark plugs, too.  So I asked if he'd like to show me how to do that when he came in from work.

 

I've actually helped him to gap the spark plugs before when he's been changing them, but I've never done the whole thing myself.

 

The first thing I learned is that you always change just one plug at a time, putting the wire back on after you're done. If you pull all the wires off at once, you might put them back on the wrong spark plugs.  This would change the firing order, and Thomas assured me that that is a very bad thing!...As in car running badly or not at all. 

 

I knew enough to know that the car should not be running when changing spark plugs, but Thomas looked up from under the hood and said, "By the way,...." and proceeded to make sure that I knew that.  Yes, dear, I may be blonde, but I'm not that blonde.

 

So, anyway, I got to remove the old plugs, gap and attach the new ones.   And my car is running very well, thank you.

 

*Note:  Sorry I am so behind with these.  I have them all written out on my notepad, but haven't felt like cleaning them up and posting them.  Today, which is May 28, I learned something new -- the next time I decide to do a month of "learn something new" entries, I need to do it during the winter months not the beginning of summer vacation!

Tags: Spark Plugs

Eler Beth And The Bug

The graphic in my previous entry made me remember something. 

Eler Beth tolerates most bugs nowadays, except crickets, bees, and wasps.  And she has no problem handling worms and never has.  (Actually she'll handle a cricket if she's using it for bait.)  But when she was very young she would scream at the sight of a bug.  My father didn't know this.

When she was a toddler we were visiting my parents' house one day, and she had brought along a small magnifying glass of Andrew's.  She was walking around with my father "examining" a lot of things.  They were on the back porch and my father, to whom she had given the magnifying glass, pointed to a small bug crawling around on the floor.  I have no idea what kind of bug it was, but he was unwise enough to hold the magnifying glass over it as he drew her attention to it.

Those of us in the house heard a bloodcurdling scream, followed by a rapid and sustained pounding of the porch boards.  By the time we got outside my father was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his cheeks, and the bug was, in my father's words, nothing but a grease stain.

She had grabbed the magnifying glass out of Papaw's hand and beat the poor bug to death.  It must have looked huge to her through that lens.

Up to two weeks before his death my dad was still telling that story and laughing.

Tags: Bugs

Nice Start to Summer Vacation

We've had a great and beautiful long weekend here.  Thomas was off work yesterday and today;  his first days off for almost a month.  Yesterday we caught up on some yard work and then grilled out.

Andrew went to a party last night and spent the night.  They must have had a great time because he said they didn't get to sleep until about 7 this morning.  They played music (Andrew on keyboard, a couple on guitars and one on drums), video games, and at 5 a.m. this morning they were playing a game called "Manhunt" all around the block.  Anyway he came home around noon and has been asleep since 3 or so.  Ah to be young again!

Eler Beth's friend B spent the night here last night, and then Thomas took both girls fishing this morning.  They had a blast!  They caught a bunch of red ear and one bass.  Eler Beth caught the biggest red ear, which measured 10-3/4 inches, very big for a red ear.  B caught the bass, which is a first for her, and only the fourth fish she's ever caught in her life.  Her bass was 14 inches long.  The biggest bass Eler Beth has caught was over 21 inches, so she was very happy for B without having to fight jealousy. lol

When they got home with the days' catch they helped Thomas clean the fish and then he let them help him bread and fry them.  I heard Eler Beth say, "We caught the fish, and now we're making it!"  The big red ear was full of roe.  Yum!

So we had fish for dinner.  Thomas is in dreamland, now, poor man.  The girls took the birds for a walk, then played at B's cousin's house (also down our street) on her trampoline.  Now they're putting make up on each other.  I'm just waiting for them to drop -- I would think they'd be exhausted after their  busy day, but so far they're going strong.  B is, of course, spending the night again.

I've done nothing of any importance all day long, and it has been wonderful!

Andrew's last day of school was last Thursday, and Eler Beth and I finished up her year on Friday.  But we're going to be getting a head start on sixth grade later on this summer, and in the meantime she's going to be doing a lot of reading.  Oh my goodness, it just hit me!!  Andrew will be a SENIOR next year! Pardon me while I gasp for breath!!

Okay, better now.

I hope everyone has had a great holiday.

Jeff Dowell, Jr. 1922 - 2002

Five years ago today, May 19, at about 11:30 p.m. my father died.  Above are photos of him as a Navy Gunner during WWII; with my mom on their wedding day; with the first of his seven children; with me, the seventh child; with the first of their many great-grandchildren; and the beautiful headstone that my mother picked out for his grave.

Tags: Jeff Dowell Jr.

Allergies and Feed Readers

The symptoms from my allergic reaction last night didn't last too long.  I will be calling my doctor to make an appointment with an allergist soon, and I'll report back the findings. 

I need to post two or three of my "learn something new" entries each day if I'm ever going to get caught up.  All I have to do is edit and move them from my notepad into my journal; I'm just always busy with other things.  Oh well!

Not much going on here right now.  Our weather has been rather cool for the past few days, but very sunny and nice.  I plan to get yard work done tomorrow, and the kids are going to help me, although they don't know it yet.

Update on the RSS feedreader -- I love using it!  I don't miss my AOL alerts at all, although I was afraid I would.  I kind of weaned myself off at first, then I fell in love with the feedreader service.  I still have my comment alerts on aol alerts, and there are a few journals that I couldn't get a feed from, so I still have them on alerts.  Anyone have any idea why that would be so?

I am using Google Reader right now, which is simple and very easy and pleasant to use.  I have read that some people don't like it and have trouble with it, but so far it hasn't given me any problems.  I thought it would be a simple one to start with, then I could try out a different one later if I wanted to.

I love that I can see at a glance who has updated and how many entries they've made; I can scroll down the entries, and only open the journals when I'm going to make a comment.  I really believe it has made my journal reading a faster experience, and I like the layout in Google Reader.  I've been behind on journal reading all week, but I haven't felt stressed about it.  I don't see the alerts until I open up the reader, and then the way I am able to categorize all the journals I read, I don't look at them with dismay, but rather with anticipation.  I also have my favorite news sources on there, and I like that much better than getting email alerts or putting them in my favorites and then having to click on them.  I can browse the day's news easily and only open the stories I'm interested in reading.

Well, I guess that's all for now.  I may be back later this evening, but probably not.  I think I'll go visit a few journals now and catch up on some other things. 

I hope everyone has a great and beautiful weekend!

Tags: Google Reader, Rss Feedreader

Learn Something New, Day 7: Calculating Your Age With Chocolate

Monday, May 7, 2007

Recently I got an email from one of my sisters, demonstrating how I can calculate my age using chocolate.  I'd gotten it before a long time ago.  I did it again this time, and, sure enough, it calculated my age correctly.  I know there is a trick to it, so I decided to find out how it works.  What do you know, there is actually a WikiHow article explaining how it is done.

 

Here's how it goes: 

1.  Determine how many times a week you eat or want chocolate. It must be a number between 1 and 10, including 1 or 10.

2.  Multiply that number by 2.

3.  Add 5 to the previous result.

4.  Multiply that by 50.

5.  Add 1757 if you've had a birthday this year. If you haven't had a birthday this year, add 1756.

6.  Subtract your birth year.

7.  You'll end up with a 3 or 4 digit number. The last two digits are your age (if you're under 10 years old there will be a zero before your age). The remaining one or two digits will be the number of times per week you eat or want chocolate (the number you specified in the first step).

Sure enough, the last two digits in my calculations were 4 and 1.

So, how does it work?  Well, first of all, this formula will only work this year. Next year you would have to change the numbers in Step 5 to 1758 if your birthday already went by and change it to 1757 if it didn't.

The chocolate part is just for fun, and has nothing to do with the formula (duh!); and this will only work for anybody from 1 to 99 years old.  If you're 100 or older, well, too bad...this trick isn't for you!

Here's how Wikihow explains it:

"Select a number between 1 and 10. Multiply by 2, add 5, multiply by 50. These steps are just a fancy way to push your random number out into the hundreds place. Here is what you'll get for all possible selections:

1	350
2	450
3	550
4	650
5	750
6	850
7	950
8	1050
9	1150
10	1250

Add 1757 or 1756, if your birthday hasn't happened yet this year. This yields the year of your last birthday (2006 or 2007) plus 100 times your chosen number:

1	2106
2	2206
3	2306
4	2406
5	2506
6	2606
7	2706
8	2806
9	2906
10	3006

Subtract the year of your birth and get your age plus 100 times your chosen number. Put another way:

(Year of your last birthday + (100 x your chosen number)) - Year of your birth = Your age + (100 x your chosen number)"

So, now you know how the formula works.  Eler Beth and I enjoyed learning it and then showing off our magnificent powers to Andrew and Dad.

Tags: WikiHow, Calculate your age using chocolate

Allergic Reaction

I have been woefully neglectful of my journal and others' journals as well.  I spent quite a bit of this afternoon catching up on journals, and I have tried to leave at least one comment in each one.

I am sitting here at my desk with a badly swollen eye!  No, no one hit me (lol); it's an allergic reaction.  I am allergic to eggs.  Thomas put in a request for a marble cake with chocolate icing, and the recipe called for three eggs.  Usually I can eat a small piece of something like that, and the eggs won't bother me.  This time, however, not long after I'd finished my slice of cake, my eyes started itching like crazy, and the left one got really red, swollen and teary.  Cold compresses helped, but it's still really puffy and a little blurry.  I didn't want to take Benedryl because it really knocks me out.

This egg allergy started as a sensitivity to eggs, and over the past several years it has progressed into an all-out allergy.  If I were to actually eat an egg I would get very ill, but I can usually eat something that has eggs in it, as long as I don't eat much.  They say that if you have a food allergy, it isn't uncommon to develop more food allergies as you get older.  Well, I think I may be allergic to button mushrooms!  The last time I sauteed some and ate a handful by themselves before I added them to my roast, the inside of my mouth started itching like crazy, then my eyes started itching.  It was either the mushrooms, the olive oil, or the marjoram.  Also, the last time I had a sandwich on whole wheat bread my mouth started itching and I started getting nauseus.  And the only thing on the sandwich was turkey and tomato.  I've had turkey and tomato since then, and they haven't hurt me.  I guess I'll be paying a visit to an allergist some time soon.

 

Tags: Food allergies

Peace and Quiet

 

Okay.  I am now only one week behind in writing my "Learn Something New" series.  I’ll try to catch up a bit more later today.

 

I’ve had a busy week, but a pretty happy one.  Except for Eler Beth having come into contact with some poison ivy and being miserable for a couple of days, and her headache earlier in the week, everyone has been pretty healthy. 

 

We spent the early part of today at my Mom’s, which was very nice, of course.  (My "learn something new" for today has to do with that visit and will be written as soon as I can get to it.)

 

I’ve had a wonderful, relaxing day, full of good food and good company.  And now, to top it off just right for me, Thomas is asleep in a chair nearby, Eler Beth is napping on the couch, Andrew is off playing dodge ball with some friends, and I am left to have that eternally favorite gift for mothers everywhere – peace and quiet and time to myself!  So I am transferring some bits into my journal, and then I may write some more or I may try to catch up on reading journals, which I have neglected for most of the week.

 

I hope everyone is having a great day out there!

 

Learn Something New, Day Six: Oneida

 

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Okay, today I kind of cheated.  I didn’t have anything in particular in mind, and it has been such a relaxing day, that I just picked up the dictionary, determined that I would simply learn a new word.  I opened it randomly, and the first word my eyes fell upon was "Oneida”.  Oneida is not a new word for me; I knew it was an Indian tribe.  But I decided that I would learn something about this Indiana tribe, and that would be it for today.

 

Here is some of what I learned that I hadn’t known before:

 

For some reason I was thinking that the Oneida were Sioux, but they were actually part of the Iroquois Confederacy, which included the Mohawk, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Cayuga and the Seneca.  The Oneida lived in what is now New York, and they fought for the British during the French and Indian War, but fought for and gave great aid to the colonists during the Revolutionary War.

 

I enjoyed spending a couple of hours reading and learning about this Indian Nation.  For more on the Oneida's history and on the present-day nation, go to:

http://oneida-nation.net/

Tags: Oneida Nation, Iroquois

Learn Something New, Day Five: Various

 

Saturday, May 4, 2007

 

On this day I learned several things:

 

I learned a new recipe for Peach Crumble (see previous entry);

 

I learned that I do like Apple Martinis;

 

And I learned that a good friend of ours, Vivian, who is in her eighties, worked for the Space Program when she was a young woman. 

 

She actually helped make the components for some of the equipment that was used on the moon during the Apollo program.  She just happened to mention this as she was leaving on Saturday, and didn’t have time to go into a lot of details, so she promised to tell us more later. 

 

I can’t believe I’ve known this lady for years, and never knew that about her.  She said that she was chosen along with some other young women, because of their dexterity.  She was (and still is) a good seamstress, and it was felt that she would be good at putting together these pieces of equipment because of her attention to detail, and her ability to do "close" work.

 

Wow!  You really do learn something new every day!

Learn Something New, Day Four: Vehicle Maintenance

 

Friday, May 4, 2007

 

The oil in my car is due for a change, so I decided to ask Thomas to talk me through changing it.  I have never changed my own oil (although I do know how to change a tire, and have done so on my own a few times – once in the rain!).

 

Thomas always does those types of things himself instead of paying to have it done, so this evening we crawled under my Honda and I got to experience the thrill of changing motor oil.  I wore a pair of Thomas’ old coveralls, and had my hair up under a baseball cap.  NO, I’m sorry, no pictures!  Andrew begged to be allowed to take some, but I threatened him as only the mother of a 17-year-old boy can threaten, and well, what can I say … he’s a smart kid who knows what’s good for him!

 

Anyway, I can now say that I know how to drain an oil pan and change an oil filter.  And I didn’t even break a nail!

Tags: Changing Oil

Peach Crumble

 

Several readers asked me to share the Peach Crumble recipe I mentioned last week.  I made this on Saturday to take to a Derby Get-Together.  It’s the first time I used this particular recipe, and I can say that it is now a favorite.

 

Ingredients:

½ C flour

½ C rolled oats

½ C brown sugar

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. cloves

½ C butter

4 C peaches, sliced

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. water

 

Mix dry ingredients together.  Stir in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Put peaches in bottom of 8 inch square baking dish.  Cover with lemon juice and water.  Sprinkle crumb mixture over top and pat down.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

It was delicious!!

 

I used canned peaches, but when the peaches are in season here, I’m going to use fresh, and slice them very thin.  I also think I’ll try it with apples later on.  I actually doubled the recipe and put it in a large glass baking dish, and it turned out great.  Trust me, when you take this hot, bubbly, fragrant dish out of the oven, you’ll have to have some right away.  I served it with Cool Whip at the get-together, but at home we had it with vanilla ice cream!

 

I got the recipe off the internet quite a while back, and have no idea to whom to give the credit!

Tags: Peach Crumble

Learn Something New, Day 3: Mint Julep

 

Thursday, May 3, 2007

(This may seem like a long entry, but at least skim through it, and read the portion in green at the end.  It is worth the read, believe me!  Even if you have no desire to drink a mint julep, after reading that passage, you'll be thirsty for something!)

 

On this day, I was again trying to think of something new to learn that had to do with The KY Derby, and I realized that I have never, ever had a mint julep.  I’d always heard that it was an acquired taste.

 

It must be, because I didn’t like it at all.

 

I called a couple of friends, and I searched the internet, and I finally decided on using the following recipe:

 

The Perfect Mint Julep

Recipe courtesy Bill Samuels
Show:	Cooking Live
Episode:	All American Foods: Kentucky Derby

4 cups bourbon
2 bunches fresh spearmint
1 cup distilled water
1 cup granulated sugar
Powdered sugar

To prepare mint extract, remove about 40 small mint leaves. Wash and place in a small bowl. Cover with 3 ounces bourbon. Allow the leaves to soak for 15 minutes. Then gather the leaves in paper toweling. Thoroughly wring the mint over the bowl of whisky. Dip the bundle again and repeat the process several times.
To prepare simple syrup, mix 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of distilled water in a small saucepan. Heat to dissolve sugar. Stir constantly so the sugar does not burn. Set aside to cool.
To prepare mint julep mixture, pour 3 1/2 cups of bourbon into a large glass bowl or glass pitcher. Add 1 cup of the simple syrup to the bourbon.
Now begin adding the mint extract 1 tablespoon at a time to the julep mixture. Each batch of mint extract is different, so you must taste and smell after each tablespoon is added. You are looking for a soft mint aroma and taste-generally about 3 tablespoons. When you think it's right, pour the whole mixture back into the empty liter bottle and refrigerate it for at least 24 hours to "marry" the flavors.
To serve the julep, fill each glass (preferably asilver mint julepcup) 1/2 full with shaved ice. Insert a spring of mint and then pack in more ice to about 1-inch over the top of the cup. Then, insert a straw that has been cut to 1-inch above the top of the cup so the nose is forced close to the mint when sipping the julep.
When frost forms on the cup, pour the refrigerated julep mixture over the ice and add a sprinkle of powdered sugar to the top of the ice. Serve immediately.

Then, after reading the entire, very complicated and time consuming instructions, I decided to use this recipe instead:

4 fresh mint sprigs
2 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey
1 tsp powdered sugar
2 tsp water

Muddle mint leaves, powdered sugar, and water in a collins glass. Fill the glass with shaved or crushed ice and add bourbon. Top with more ice and garnish with a mint sprig. Serve with a straw.

 

Yes, I do know what “muddled” means.

 

The Early Times recipe actually sounded like it would be good, too, but it required refrigerating overnight, and I couldn’t do that if I was going to learn today, so I went with the former one.

 

Perhaps I would have liked it better if I’d used the time-consuming recipe, but I don’t think so.  I’m not a bourbon drinker, anyway, and although I do love mint tea, hot or cold, I just don’t think mint julep is my drink.  I did use Early Times bourbon, though, because it is a true Kentucky distilled bourbon, and it wouldn’t have been right to use any other.  There are those, also, who say that only pure spring water should be used to get the right taste, but I don't live where I can get real, honest-to-goodness, clean spring water.  And now I have the remains of a small bottle of Early Times Bourbon that I have to give away.  Thomas said just put it away, and this winter we'll use it to make hot toddies for sore throats!

 

I also found this very interesting and funny bit of writing regarding mint juleps, that is worth a read (part of it reprinted here, with link to entire writing following):

 

So far as the mere mechanics of the operation are concerned, the procedure, stripped of its ceremonial embellishments, can be described as follows:

     Go to a spring where cool, crystal-clear water bubbles from under a bank of dew-washed ferns. In a consecrated vessel, dip up a little water at the source. Follow the stream through its banks of green moss and wildflowers until it broadens and trickles through beds of mint growing in aromatic profusion and waving softly in the summer breezes. Gather the sweetest and tenderest shoots and gently carry them home. Go to the sideboard and select a decanter of Kentucky Bourbon, distilled by a master hand, mellowed with age yet still vigorous and inspiring. An ancestral sugar bowl, a row of silver goblets, some spoons and some ice and you are ready to start.

     In a canvas bag, pound twice as much ice as you think you will need. Make it fine as snow, keep it dry and do not allow it to degenerate into slush.

     In each goblet, put a slightly heaping teaspoonful of granulated sugar, barely cover this with spring water and slightly bruise one mint leaf into this, leaving the spoon in the goblet. Then pour elixir from the decanter until the goblets are about one-fourth full. Fill the goblets with snowy ice, sprinkling in a small amount of sugar as you fill. Wipe the outsides of the goblets dry and embellish copiously with mint.

     Then comes the important and delicate operation of frosting. By proper manipulation of the spoon, the ingredients are circulated and blended until Nature, wishing to take a further hand and add another of its beautiful phenomena, encrusts the whole in a glittering coat of white frost. Thus harmoniously blended by the deft touches of a skilled hand, you have a beverage eminently appropriate for honorable men and beautiful women.

     When all is ready, assemble your guests on the porch or in the garden, where the aroma of the juleps will rise Heavenward and make the birds sing. Propose a worthy toast, raise the goblet to your lips, bury your nose in the mint, inhale a deep breath of its fragrance and sip the nectar of the gods.

     Being overcome by thirst, I can write no further.

Sincerely,
S.B. Buckner, Jr.

With thanks to the Buckner Family for the above quoted passage, I now direct you to the Buckner Home Page: http://www.thebucknerhome.com/julep/index.html

Tags: Mint Julep, Bill Samuels, Cooking Live, S.B. Buckner Jr., Bucknerhome.com

Learn Something New, Day Two: The Belle Of Louisville

 

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

 

One of the festivities leading up to the Kentucky Derby is the Great Steamboat Race between The Belle of Louisville and The Delta Queen.  This competition has been going on now for 44 years.  After the victory of The Belle today (May 2), the current record stands at 23 wins for The Belle, and 21 wins for The Queen.

 

Living in Jeffersonville Indiana for 16 years, I have learned a bit about steamboats.  Three generations of the Howard Family of Jeffersonville owned and operated a shipbuilding yard for 107 years.  In 1939 Jeffersonville Boat and Marine began building LSTs, subchasers, and other ocean-going vessels on the site of the former Howard Shipbuilding yard.  In 1957 the name of the company was changed to Jeffboat, and is now owned by Amercial Commercial Lines, Inc.  The Belle was extensively rebuilt in 1968 at Jeffboat.  I have visited The Howard Steamboat Museum many times; Eler Beth and I usually visit a few times every summer, just because we love the house.  And we usually attend the Chautauqua on the grounds of the Howard Mansion every May.  If you visit the museum website, be sure to check out the photo album to get an idea of what the rooms look like.  It is one of our favorite places to go in town.

 

I decided that on this day I would try to learn something new about steamboats in general or about The Belle of Louisville in particular.  I did some research and reading on steamboats, but found that I have already learned quite a bit about James Watts, John Fitch and Robert Fulton and about steamboats over the years.  So I did a little reading about The Belle of Louisville and did learn a few NEW things.

 

I learned that:

 

• The Belle of Louisville was originally named Idlewild, when she was built in 1914
• As The Idlewild, she operated primarily as a ferry between Memphis, TN and Hopefield, AR
• In 1931 she took over the duties of The America, which had been destroyed by fire, ferrying Louisville passengers downstream to the Fountain Ferry amusement park and upstream to Rose Island Park
• During World War II, The Belle did her patriotic duty by towing oil and coal barges to factories on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers
• She was renamed Avalon in 1948
• Her hull was widened two feet so her decks could be enclosed and her cruising period extended, and she was converted from coal to diesal fuel
• For the next 10 years she was known as the most widely traveled river steamboat in the US (19 states and over 130 towns)
• She became The Belle of Lousiville in 1962 when County Judge Executive Marlow Cook and the Jefferson County Fiscal Court (Louisville, KY) bought her, over objections from some taxpayers
• Cook rescued the steamer from a Cincinnati scrapyard, purchasing her for $35,000
• Although she has been modified to meet modern governmental requirments, most of The Belle's original construction survives and modifications made for safety and accommodation do not detract from her integrity.
• The Belle lost the first race she ran against The Delta Queen

I believe a cruise on The Belle this summer is in order for me and Eler Beth, and I will be sure to take lots of pictures to share.

 

I have learned something new every day, and will try to get back this afternoon to do Days Three and Four.

Tags: Steamboats, The Belle of Louisville, Howard Steamboat Museum

Up Late

Eler Beth started getting a headache late this afternoon.  She has prescription Motrin that she's supposed to take at the first sign of a headache.  It's been a long time since she's had a migraine, so she took a Motrin, and we didn't think anything more about it.  But right before dinner time she told me that her head was hurting worse and that her eyes felt funny.  So I sent B home and tucked Eler Beth into bed with a cool cloth on her head.

Yep, it was a migraine, though not the worst one she's had, thank goodness.  She fell asleep with her head in my lap, poor baby.  She slept for a good two hours straight.  So I've been catching up on reading and commenting in journals while she's slept.  She woke up about an hour ago, and her head feels a lot better, though the headache isn't entirely gone yet.  She's lying here watching "Babe" right now, and she just ate some grapes and drank some cola.  Like it does with me, caffeine sometimes helps her headaches.

Anyway, I thought I'd write a bit, since I'm up anyway.  I have had so many things running through my mind today that I'd like to write about; most of them are memories that have absolutely nothing to do with one another, just random little snips of memory that have been coming to me all day long. So if I start a series of unrelated entries that just seem to come from out of the blue, then you'll know why.

Well, Thomas will be getting up at 3:00 to get ready for work. Hopefully Eler Beth will have drifted back to sleep by then.  It's times like these that I'm really glad she's home schooled, because tomorrow would be rough for her if she had to get up and go off to school.  We can kind of take it easy if we need to.

More later ~ ~

Monday Morning Questions

Do You Dance Crazy When No On Is Looking?

Why, yes.  Yes, I do!  And I also dance when my kids are looking, so I can see them roll their eyes or run from the room in embarassment.

It's especially fun to tell them that I'm going to dance like that around their friends if they don't obey me to the letter!

Click on the MMQ icon above to leave a link to your own Monday Morning Question entry in Krissy's journal.

Tags: Monday Morning Questions

Need To Catch Up

I am woefully behind with posting, but I'll try to get some things caught up this evening.  We've been very busy the last few days, but I have managed to learn something new each day, and I'll be back with those posts.

Yesterday we went to a get-together at the home of some friends of ours.  It was a nice gathering.  Our friends have a very lovely home that he designed himself, and she is a very good hostess.  Her parents were visiting from Ohio, and it was very nice to meet them.  Our friends had taken her parents to the Kroger in Middletown on Friday evening to see the Garland of Roses being sewn together, which is a very fascinating thing to see.

We enjoyed a lot of delicious food, and I even had an apple martini (made with apple pucker and vodka).  I very, very rarely drink anything, even at home, and it is almost unheard of for me to have a drink while we're out somewhere.  But I had one small martini, and it was pretty good, though very strong.  While we watched the Derby I had a glass of champagne.  If I'm going to have anything I prefer something white and dry, so I do really like champagne; I just rarely have any.

I really enjoyed watching the Derby, (and if you're going to see it, at a friends' lovely home and on a big screen tv is the way to see it, I say!) and I'm so glad Street Sense won.  It was Jockey Calvin Borel's first Derby, and if you watched coverage that kept the camera on him from the win all the way through his ride to the winner's circle, you would have seen that he had tears streaming down his face, was crying and laughing at the same time, and hugging and shaking hands and giving high-fives the whole way to the winner's circle.  It was very touching.

I had made a peach crumble for dessert, and I think there was about a tablespoon left at the end of the evening.  It was a new recipe, so I'm glad it went over well.

All in all, it has been a good weekend for us, but my heart goes out to the residents of Greensburg, Kansas.  I'll return later to make a few more posts.

 

Tags: KY Derby, Calvin Borel, Garland of Roses

In Honor Of Amazing Moms....

If you aren't already clicking daily to fund free mammograms for needy women, then at least please be sure to do so every day for the entire month of May.  During May The Breast Cancer Site will match the value of your click every day.  Click on the graphic below to go to the site and then just click the button.  Bookmark the site and return every day this month.

Thank you!

Tags: The Breast Cancer Site Daily Click,

"Learn Something New", Day 1

MAY 1

I'm so sorry I'm just now getting around to making this entry (I know everyone was worried!). Today has been very busy for me; Tuesday's usually are.

Okay. So.  What I decided to learn today is nothing exciting, but it is something I've been meaning to do for a long time now.  I downloaded an RSS feedreader and set up my alerts.  Joe recently did an entry on RSS feeds, so I decided it was a good time to learn.  And we all know that Journals Alerts go down periodically.  It's something I've meant to do for a while now.

And so I did.                  

I still have some journals to get set up, because GOOD GRIEF!! do you know how many journals I had on alert??

Anyway, I learned something new, and now I have to come up with something to learn tomorrow.  Don't worry.  At least a few of my "somethings" will be a little more interesting than this one.

Tags: RSS