Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Democrat and Republican Symbols ~ Christmas Magic Squares ~ Jim Forbus ~ National Pfeffernusse Day

 

Good 29º everything is frozen morning. 

 

 

Yesterday the fog finally left and we got sunshine! We topped at 52º.

 

 

 

Picture of the Day

 

 

 

 

Interesting

 

Why is the Republican party symbol an elephant and the Democratic symbol a donkey? Both go back to political cartoons by Thomas Nast. In 1870 a drawing entitled ‘a live jackass kicking a dead lion’ symbolized the Democratic newspaper of the south as a donkey — while the dead lion referred to Edwin McMasters Stanton, Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of state for war during the latter stages of the Civil War. Four years later Nast symbolized the Republican vote — as opposed to the party itself — as a berserk elephant in danger of falling off a precipice into the ‘chaos’ below. The symbols took time to catch on, however. In the mid-20th century the Democratic party was officially using a rooster, while the Republicans used an eagle.

 

 

The donkey and elephant first appeared in the mid-19th century as the symbols of the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties. They were created by political cartoonist Thomas Nast. He began his work by using the symbol of a donkey in the American Art Journal. Next, he used the Democratic donkey in newspaper cartoons and made the symbol famous.

With the Republican elephant, it first appeared in a cartoon in Harper's Weekly in 1874. Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away at all the animals in the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

Today, Democrats say the donkey is smart and brave, while Republicans say the elephant is strong and dignified.

 

 

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Create a little Christmas magic of your own with our easy recipe for Christmas Magic Squares. This holiday-festive cookie bar recipe is great for snackin' on all holiday season long, like when you're at a cookie exchange with friends or when you're trimming the tree! No matter when you bake these up, they'll definitely fill you with the feeling of holiday magic!

 

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 (10-ounce) package holiday dark chocolate and mint chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup red and green chocolate covered candies (See Note)

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter in a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, then place in oven 5 minutes, or until butter is melted.
2. Layer graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut over butter. Pour condensed milk over coconut; top with chocolate covered candies.
3. Bake 30 minutes. Cool in baking dish on a wire rack, then cut into squares.

 

**We used holiday mini M&M's to make these Christmas-special, but you can make them for any holiday by changing up the colors!

 

 

 

Special birthday today......... one of our "sons" from the Sheriff's Dept... Jim Forbus, aka The Busses is celebrating. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY!!! xo

 

                        ^ with his bride Dawn

Jim was on LASD, then moved and worked for and retired as a Lt. from the Washoe County Sheriff's Department. Now he is in real estate sales and a volunteer with Honor Flight Nevada. 

 

 

Historically this date.....

1954 – First successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison, M.D. and Joseph E. Murray.

1968 – The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea.

1970 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.

1972 – The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.

1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.

 

And births this date include....

1946 – Susan Lucci, American actress

 

1971 – Corey Haim, Canadian actor (d. 2010)

 

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All I know. Nuff said. Hope you have a good Wednesday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

December 23rd is reserved for National Pfeffernusse Day, a German spice cookie.  Very popular around the holidays, pfeffernusse are fluffy cookies made with ground nuts and spices and covered in powdered sugar.

The exact origin of the cookie is unknown. However, the Dutch believe that pfeffernusse (or pepernoten) are linked to the feast of Sinterklaas, which is celebrated on December 5 in the Netherlands and December 6 in Germany and Belgium. This holiday is when children receive gifts from St. Nicholas, who is partially the inspiration for the Santa Claus tradition.

Over time, many bakers have created their own pfeffernusse recipes. Traditional methods included various nuts such as almonds and walnuts. Some modern recipes exclude nuts altogether along with the black pepper, retaining only cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom as flavorings. Bakers also use molasses and honey to sweeten the cookie

HOW TO OBSERVE

Try one of the following pfeffernusse recipes:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pfeffernusse/http://www.food.com/recipe/pfeffernusse-german-pepper-nut-cookies-79103