Time & Temperature etc. ~ Downtown Grants Pass ~ 417 ~ Weather Predictions ~ Clouds/Sun/Dude ~ Picture of the Day ~ Funny Texas Town Names ~ Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie ~ Slipper Napping Bruiser ~ National Whipped Cream Day

 

Good super foggy 27º frozen morning.

 

Downtown Grants Pass ....

 

 

While I was complaining about the 28º yesterday morning, Brian texted me something funny.... he said when he woke up the clock said 6:31 and the temperature outside was 31.6 !!  It's like here once, I heard gunshots and the clock said 4:17 !!!

(for those of you who don't know what 417 is... a police radio code in Ca for 'person with a gun'.)

 

And then this is funny, an email I got yesterday...

The Latest on Your Home and Neighborhood

Rogue River, OR  OFF MARKET Zestimate: $417,467   3 bd, 2 ba, 1,476 sqft

Really? My property is worth $417 thousand????? LOL.

 

We stayed cool yesterday, in the low 40ºs, until early afternoon when we heated up to 55º!

 

The sun came and went. When it was out, Dude was happy!

 

 

 

Picture of the Day....

 

 

 

Interesting about town names in Texas.....

Muleshoe
It was named after Muleshoe Ranch. The ranch’s owner named it that after finding a mule shoe on his land.
Muleshoe represents our first – and only – foray in this post into the realm of real cities. Yes, it’s true. Muleshoe has over 5,000 people and is also the county seat. Some of the attractions of this major metropolis include the:

• National Mule Memorial
• Muleshoe Heritage Center
• Tour de Muleshoe bicycle race
• World Championship Muleshoe Pitching Contest

Muleshoe is in the northwest corner of the state, less than 20 miles from Circle Back.

Belcherville
The town fathers were divided between this, Burptown, Ructus Junction, and Eructation Station.  
Seriously, this place was named by the founders, John and Alex Belcher, who owned a huge ranch in the area. The surname is originally French, from the two words beau and chere, and basically means a person with a cheerful disposition.
Belcherville is just east of Wichita Falls. There are 30-some Belchervillians. At one time, B-ville was the smallest incorporated town in the US.

The Tomb of the Unknown Cowboy
Belcherville Cemetery

My adagio ballet teacher was Ernest Belcher, father of the female dancer of Marge & Gower Champion. 

Noodle
What is it about words that end with “oodle”? I mean, you’ve got poodle and doodle, and oodles, and strudel. And that’s totally apart from why anyone would want to name a town after a basic foodstuff anyway.
So, where’s it from? According to the TSHA (that’s the Texas State Historical Association, not the guys at the airport), it’s from Noodle Creek. And that creek got its name because it was dry, “noodle” being an old-timey way to say nothing, nada, zilch …
Noodle is just northwest of Abilene. There are about 40 Noodlers. The wonderfully named Noodle-Horn school there closed in the 1970s.

 

Earth
“So, where ya from?” “Earth.” “C’mon, smart ass, what town are ya from!?!”  “I already told you, Earth.”  [kerpow!]
So, here’s the story. Earth began as Fairlawn, which is what developer William E. Halsell called it when he first laid out the town. Unfortunately, there was already a Fairlawn in the state, so Halsell and the townsfolks had to come up with something else.
And here’s where things start to fall apart ... According to Wikipedia, “the townspeople sent in suggestions, and the agreed-upon best name was chosen.” Kinda makes you wonder what the townsfolk might have been drinking when they all agreed upon this as the “best” name, don’t it?
A second theory (from the Texas State Historical Association again) is that the town was “supposedly named for a sandstorm blowing when storekeeper and first postmaster C. H. Reeves had to come up with a name.” Once again, I’m not sure I totally get it.
Well, wherever it came from, Earth is in the northwest corner of Texas (near Circle Back and Muleshoe, in fact). There are a little over 1,000 Earthlings.

 

 Oatmeal
In this case, an early German settler named Othneil. Put that in your Texas translatin’ machine, and out comes Oatmeal. An alternative explanation is that it’s a direct translation of Habermill, the surname of another German settler (haber means “oats”).
Oatmeal is just a little northwest of Austin and has only 20 people. And, yes, they do have a festival, a spoof on the typical chili cook-off:

Chili cooks eat hot peppers. Oatmeal cooks eat boiled okra. Chili cooks have beauty queens. Oatmeal cooks have Ms. Bag, who is over 55, Groaty Oat, who is beyond description, and Miss Cookie and Miss Muffin, who are 4 to 8 years old.

 

Honorable Mention: 

• B-o-r-i-n-g – West, Wall, Woods, Orchard, Thicket, Plateau, Plains, Sand, Yard, Round Rock, Texas City, Universal City
• Short and sweet – Orla, Voca, Vega, Tira, Toco, Watt, Whon, Vick, Rusk, Rye, Tye, Pep, Plum, Pluck, Pleak, Poth, Shep, Zuehl, Zorn
• Just a little out of place – Oklahoma Lane, Omaha, Paducah, Peoria, South Bend, Pittsburg, Princeton, Rochester, Scranton, Saratoga, West Point, Washington, Richmond, Selma, Santa Fe, Reno, Oakland, San Jose, Pasadena, San Diego, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Paris (Eiffel tower with cowboy hat), Riviera, Roma, Sudan, Palestine, Saturn, Venus, Paradise, Utopia.
• Ghost towns – Pringle, Tuckertown, Tee Pee City, Sher-Han, Savage, Red Barn, Old Gomez, Samfordyce, Palafox, Sulphuria (formerly Rustler Springs), Zella

 

 

 

Yesterday I posted the Peanut Butter Cup Cake.... today it's the 

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie

 

 

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 (8oz) package cream cheese

1½ cups confectioners sugar

2 t. vanilla extract

1 (12oz or 8oz) container of frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

1 cup coarsely chopped peanut butter cups, divided

1 9" chocolate pie crust

 

In large bowl with electric mixer, beat peanut butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in confectioners sugar and vanilla, until smooth. Fold in 3 cups whipped topping and 3/4 cup peanut butter cups. Spoon mixture into crust. Top with remaining whipped topping and remaining peanut butter cups.

 

Chill 8 hours or overnight until firm.

 

**you can add the whipped topping in dollops on top of the pie or add it when serving.

 

 

 

Historically this date......

1759 – George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis.

 

1846 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.

 

1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

 

And births this date include...

1914 – George Reeves, American actor (d. 1959)

 

1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)

 

Interesting birth name~!!!

 

1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor

 

1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress

A Santa Ana High School graduate who used to babysit my nieces and nephew.

 

 

1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor

 

 

Later, as usual, it was chair, wine, cat napping in my slippers, and TV. 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

On January 5, add a little extra something special to desserts to celebrate National Whipped Cream Day.  Add whipped cream! Not only does it add creaminess and bit of pizzaz, but it also makes the difference between the ho-hum or a celebration kind of beverage or dessert. 

This holiday falls on the birthday of Reddi-wip founder Aaron “Bunny” Lapin.  Aaron who invented Reddi-wip in 1948,  was born on January 5, 1914, and died on July 10, 1999.

National Whipped Cream Day celebrates whipped cream’s contribution to the dessert world.

Often sweetened and sometimes flavored with vanilla, coffee, chocolate, orange and other flavors,  whipped cream is also sometimes called Chantilly cream or creme Chantilly.

Recipes from the 16th century included whipped cream that was sweetened and aromatised.  The names milk snow and snow cream were used.  In these recipes, naturally separated cream is whipped, typically with willow or rush branches, then the resulting foam on the surface would from time to time be skimmed off and drained, which was a process taking an hour or more.

The English name whipped cream found its beginning in 1673.   The name snow cream continued to be used throughout the 17th century.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Try one of the following recipes:

Whipped CreamSturdy Whipped Cream FrostingCaramelito Cookies with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Candied NutsMilk Chocolate Mousse with Coconut Whipped Cream