Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Presidential Firsts ~ Chopstick Veggie Fried Rice ~ National Sponge Cake Day

Good 53º somewhat cloudy morning. 

Yesterday started off dark and cloudy gloomy....

Finally by 10 o'clock the clouds blew away and the sun came out....

We topped at 98º.

Picture of the Day...there are so many face masks being given out and sold. This one cracked me up. (Shared by Sally Harwell) If you love bacon, it's for you!!

Interesting about Presidential firsts....

On August 22, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt took the first public, official car ride during a presidential term. He actually wasn't too fond of the car, preferring horses instead. He was not the only U.S. president to be the first to do something, of course. 

Here are another five presidential "firsts." 

William Henry Harrison became the first president to have his photo taken during his term. After his inaugural address when he took office in March 1841. Unfortunately, the photo has been lost, and only a copy remains (it’s in the Metropolitan Museum of Art). The oldest surviving photo of a sitting president is of the 11th president, James K. Polk. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, was also photographed, but it was taken when he was in his mid-70s and been out of office for decades.

Martin Van Buren, the eighth president, who was born in 1782, was the first man born a U.S. citizen to hold the office. Every president before that was born before 1776, and therefore as a colonial subject of Great Britain.

When Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president after John F. Kennedy died, no one was really thinking about presidential firsts. Nevertheless, that swearing-in was the scene of a very important first: Johnson became the first president to be sworn in by a woman. Barefoot Sanders, a Texas attorney, called Hughes to tell her that then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson had requested that she administer the Oath of Office, and she headed to Dallas to board Air Force One.  The swearing-in ceremony administered by Judge Hughes in an Air Force One conference room represented the first time that a woman administered the presidential oath of office as well as the only time it was conducted on an airplane.

Resigning wasn’t the only thing Richard M. Nixon was first at! The 37th president would be the first one to visit all 50 states before leaving office. Nixon visited his 50th state, Delaware, in 1971 for a meeting with Republican fundraisers. Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama would follow his example (visiting every state, that is).

The first telephone in the White House dates all the way back to Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president, who installed one in the White House’s “telegraph room” in 1877. Herbert Hoover, however, was the first president to have one installed in the Oval Office, which he did in March 1929.

From Mr. Food

No need to pick up Chinese take-out when it's easy as can be to make some of our favorites, like vegetable fried rice! Our Chopstick Veggie Fried Rice can go from your skillet to your table in just minutes. It's loaded with veggies and you can add any type of protein you like best. Save on take-out and have perfect fried rice at home!

 

• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (16-ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• 3 cups cold cooked rice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

 

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Add eggs and scramble, then break up scrambled eggs into small pieces. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet; add garlic, peas and carrots and cook 3 minutes. Add rice and soy sauce and cook 3 to 5 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently. Stir in scrambled egg pieces and cook 1 to 2 additional minutes, or until heated through. Serve immediately.

 

****This is a great dish to make when you have leftover rice, or the next time you make rice, just make extra so you'll have some ready to go for this dish.

• If you would like a healthier version of this recipe, try using brown rice instead of white rice.

Historically this date...........

1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.

1970 – Organized by Mexican American union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins.

1990 – Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western"guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.

1996 – Osama bin Laden issues message entitled 'A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.'

2006 – Natascha Kampusch, who is abducted at the age of 10, managed to escape from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after 8 years of captivity.

...... this is an interesting story of her kidnapping and escape.

2011 – A 5.8 earthquake occurred in Mineral, Virginia, the earthquake was felt as far north as Ontario and as far south as Atlanta, Georgia. Damaged occurred to monuments in Washington D.C. and the resulted damage was estimated at $100 Million.

And births this date include....

1912 – Gene Kelly, American dancer and actor (d. 1996)

1917 – Tex Williams, American singer (d. 1985)

1929 – Vera Miles, American actress

1933 – Pete Wilson, American politician and former California Governor

1934 – Barbara Eden, American actress and singer

 

1949 – Shelley Long, American actress

 

1949 – Rick Springfield, Australian singer and actor

 

Mug shot ... Malibu DUI 5-11

1976 – Scott Caan, American actor

  Who's your daddy?

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

On August 23rd, enjoy National Sponge Cake Day with the quintessential classic of the cake world. This airy queen of teas is the guest of honor, but we get the pleasure of tasting! 

One of the trickiest cakes for bakers to master, a perfect sponge stands tall. Another balancing trick for bakers includes maintaining a fine crumb while keeping the cake moist. If you enjoy layering berries and whipped cream, the sponge handles this task beautifully. 

The sponge cake is believed to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes. 

The sponge cake is thought to have originated in the Caribbean. However, the earliest English printed recipe for sponge cake comes from an English poet and author, Gervase Markham. In 1615 he published a sponge cake recipe in the book The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman.

In 2003, the sponge cake played a tiny role in the movie Calendar Girls starring Helen Mirren. In the scene, Mirren’s character, Chris, enters a baking competition. However, she forgets she entered, and instead of entering a sponge cake of her own making, she submits a store-bought Victoria sponge cake.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Get some sponge cake and enjoy it. Or, if you are up to the challenge, try this Glorious Sponge Cake recipe. Serve it with berries or a preserve.