Weather ~ Geese ~ Picture of the Day ~ Ostriches ~ Cheesy Onion Potatoes ~ Cathy Norman ~ National Popcorn Day

 

Good 33º foggy morning. 

We stayed cloudy and gloomy yesterday and topped at 42º.

 

Yesterday again the geese were on top of the barn honking and honking before they flew down and munched on the grass!!

 

Picture of the Day

 

 

 

Interesting about ostriches.....

 

The common ostrich or simply ostrich, is a species of large flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members of the genus Struthio in the ratite order of birds. The other is the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes), which was recognized as a distinct species by Bird Life International in 2014 having been previously considered a very distinctive subspecies of ostrich.

The strong legs of the common ostrich are unfeathered and show bare skin, with the tarsus (the lowest upright part of the leg) being covered in scales: red in the male, black in the female. The tarsus of the common ostrich is the largest of any living bird, measuring 15 to 21 inches in length.

The bird has just two toes on each foot (most birds have four), with the nail on the larger, inner toe resembling a hoof. The outer toe has no nail. The reduced number of toes is an adaptation that appears to aid in running, useful for getting away from predators.

 

Common ostriches can run at a speed over 43 mph and can cover 9.8 to 16.4 feet in a single stride. The wings reach a span of about 6 ft 7 inches, and the wing chord measurement of 35 inches is around the same size as for the largest flying birds.

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

These home-style potatoes topped with Cheddar cheese bring back memories of a restaurant specialty. A scrumptious side dish couldn't be any easier! Our recipe calls for unpeeled potatoes, which make this dish quick. Remember, though, there are no rules. So if you want to peel your potatoes, go for it!

 

• 6 medium baking potatoes, unpeeled and cubed (about 2 pounds)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (1-ounce) envelope onion soup mix
• 1 1/2 cups (6-ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 5 green onions, chopped

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Place potatoes in a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Dot with butter, and sprinkle dry onion soup mix over the top.
    
2. Cover and bake 25 minutes; uncover and stir. Cover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with cheese and green onions; serve immediately.
    

 

 

Special birthday today, Cathy Norman (LASD ret) is celebrating. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHY my friend!! xo

 

Historically this date....

1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.

1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.

1935 – Coopers Inc. sells the world's first briefs.

1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.

1953 – 71.7% of all television sets in the United States are tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.

1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.

1981 – Iran Hostage Crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.

1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter piracy of the software they had written.

1991 – Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries.

And births this date include...

1807 – Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (d. 1870) 

1809 – Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet (d. 1849) 

1839 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906) 

 

 

 

1922 – Guy Madison, American actor (d. 1996) 

1923 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (d.2013)

1930 – Tippi Hedren, American actress 

1939 – Phil Everly, American musician (d. 2014)

"wake up little Susie, wake up" !!

1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer (Big Brother and the Holding Company) (d. 1970) 

1944 – Shelley Fabares, American actress

YIKES!

1946 – Dolly Parton, American singer and actress

 

1953 – Desi Arnaz, Jr., American actor

1958 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter (d. 2012) 

 

 

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Tuesday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

On January 19th, National Popcorn Day pops onto the scene with a crunch we all love to enjoy! The annual celebration recognizes a treat that satisfies munchies, day or night. 

This time-honored snack can be sweet or savory, caramelized, buttered or plain, molded into a candied ball, or tossed with nuts and chocolate. However it is enjoyed, enjoy it on National Popcorn Day, January 19th.

The word “corn” in Old English meant “grain” or, more specifically, the most prominent grain grown in a region. As maize was the most common grain in early America, the word “corn” was aptly applied.

As early as the 16th century, the Aztec used popcorn in headdresses worn during ceremonies honoring Tlaloc, their god of maize and fertility. Early Spanish explorers were fascinated by the corn that burst into what looked like a white flower.

Popcorn started becoming popular in the United States in the middle 1800s. It wasn’t until Charles Cretors, a candy-store owner, developed a machine for popping corn with steam that the tasty treat became more abundantly poppable. By 1900 he had horse-drawn popcorn wagons going through the streets of Chicago.

At about the same time, Louise Ruckheim added peanuts and molasses to popcorn to bring Cracker Jack to the world. Then in 1908, the national anthem of baseball was born. Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer wrote Take Me out to the Ballgame. From that point onward, popcorn, specifically Cracker Jack, became forever married to the game.

At the Movies

Another romance connected to popcorn may have had a slow start but eventually took off. Today, who can imagine going to the movies without getting a box of buttered popcorn? While popcorn was an economical choice for a snack food, the expense of installing a machine and adequately venting the building didn’t seem worth the effort. If it weren’t for Glen W. Dickson, we would be purchasing our popcorn from a vendor on the street before taking in the show. Dickson put in the effort and expense of placing machines inside his theaters. After realizing how quickly he recouped his costs, other theater owners followed suit.

The microwave oven spurred the next big advancement for popcorn. With the invention of the microwave, a whole new market opened for the snack food. Magnetrons, a technology produced by Raytheon Manufacturing Corporation for the military during World War II, were later used to develop microwave ovens. Percy Spencer was the man who made it happen. He used popcorn in his initial experiments during the microwave’s development.

Today, Americans consume 13 billion quarts of popcorn a year, more than any other country in the world. A majority of the popcorn produced in the world is grown in the United States. Nebraska leads the corn belt in popcorn production.

NATIONAL POPCORN DAY HISTORY

The a-maizing origins of this pop-ular day is mysteriously amiss. However, the day has been observed since at least 1988.