Clouds ~ Yesterday ~ Picture of the Day ~ Hummingbirds ~ Cheesy Tex Mex Rice ~ Dinner/Chair/Wine/TV ~ National Peach Pie Day

Good 47º not quite as smokey morning. Some clouds.

 

Yesterday, of course it was still nasty smokey, but I had to do some errands. I went to the Fire Department to give them a check for their Life Flight program, the bank, pharmacy, Post Office for package and to mail my RELAC (Retired Employees Los Angeles County) dues, gas station for gas, Winco for canned dog food (Dude's dinner), and Safeway for groceries. I wore my "Lawn Enforcement Officer" shirt and it started several conversations! Everyone likes it! The worst part of all this is lugging the bags of groceries into the house in this smoke and heat! We topped at 90º. 

 

 

 

Picture of the Day

 

 

 

 

Interesting........

 

Hummingbirds find a nice and sheltered place at night, and they latch on to a branch with their tiny feet, and then they go to sleep. Some of them, as others have said here, use a strategy called torpor, where they can lower the amount of energy they use by 85%. They do this by basically shutting down a bunch of their bodily functions- they allow their body to get cold as the night gets colder. You and I spend a lot of energy keeping our bodies warm so everything functions normally. Hummingbirds in torpor give up this ‘normal’ function, and become more like lizards, in that they can get ‘cold-blooded’ in torpor. Torpor is a tricky state to be in, because they can’t respond to outside stimuli for 20–30 minutes, until they warm their bodies back up. They take that risk just to have enough energy in their tiny bodies to make it to the next morning!

Look at these infrared images:

 

 

The bird on the left is generating heat, keeping itself warm, while the one on the right is in torpor. It has allowed its body temperature to become the same as the air temperature and has stopped ‘thermoregulating’ - maintaining a high body temperature.

 

Hummingbirds weigh about 3.2 g which is the same as a penny!

More Hummingbird info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird

 

With the fires up here and the smoke it has moved a lot of the Hummers over here and instead of refilling my feeders every other week or so, I am refilling them every 3 or 4 days now!

 

 

Cheesy Tex Mex Rice

 

4 cups cooked white rice

1 16oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup fresh or frozen corn (if using frozen get the fire roasted corn)

1 cup diced green pepper

1 1oz package Old El Paso Taco Seasoning (or Spicy Taco Seasoning)

1 4.5oz can Old El Paso green chiles, undrained

1/2 cup diced white onion

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

2 cups Mexican Blend cheese

Freshly diced tomatoes, onion, and cilantro for garnish (optional)

 

Combine the cooked rice in a bowl with all the ingredients, adding the cheese last. Stir until everything is fully combined.

 

Pour the mixture into a nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat.

 

Allow to cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to release from the bottom and sides. Do not stir more than that, you want everything to caramelize.

 

That cheesy crust forming on the sides and bottom is the best part so be sure to scrape it all back into the rice.

 

Serve garnished with more cilantro, onion, and diced tomatoes....

 

 

 

 

Historically this date.....

 

1814 – British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington theWhite House is set ablaze, though not burned to the ground; as well as several other buildings.

1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).

1981 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

1989 – Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.

 

And births this date include....

1955 – Mike Huckabee, American politician, Governor/Presidential candidate

1958 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor

1960 – Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player

1976 – Alex O'Loughlin, Australian actor

Mmmmmmm..... Hawaii Five-O

 

 

Later it was some of Omaha Steaks mini crab cakes cooked in the air fryer and yogurt and a banana. Then chair, wine, and TV. 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Happy TGIF. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Peach Pie Day is observed annually on August 24th.  We celebrate this mouth-watering dessert during the heart of the Peach harvest season. Don’t forget the à la mode!

• The state of Georgia has been known as the center of peach growers.
• Georgia is known as the “Peach State”.
• Peach harvest occurs between June and August.
• Harvest from each peach tree lasts about one week.
• There are two main varieties of peaches: Clingstone and Freestone.
• A medium peach weighs 2.6 oz.
• A medium peach typically contains 30 calories, 7 g of carbohydrate, 1 g of protein, 140 mg of potassium, and 8% of the daily value for vitamin C.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Please enjoy these Peach Pie recipes:

Peach Pie
Piled-High Peach Pie
Peaches and Cream Pie
Homemade Peach Pie Filling