Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ First Edition of TV Guide ~ One Pot Taco Spaghetti ~ Phil Santisteven ~ Lydia Plunk ~ National Spaghetti Day

 

Good 44º raining morning. 

 

Yesterday we stayed dark cloudy and gloomy, no sun, all day. 

 

We topped at 51º. 

 

 

 

Picture of the Day   :o)

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting about the first edition of TV Guide....

 

America loved Lucy, and so did TV Guide. They loved her so much, in fact, that they put her and her baby boy, Desi Arnaz Jr., on the cover of their very first issue in April 1953. Arnaz Jr. (or "Lucy's $50,000,000 Baby," as the tagline called him) was the real cover star, but Lucille Ball did get some cover space in the form of an inset image in the top right corner.

Ball had given birth to the little one via C-section just a few months earlier, the same night her "I Love Lucy" character gave birth on TV. Because of that strategic timing and the subsequent TV Guide cover, many people assumed Arnaz Jr. actually played Lucy's baby on her show. (Their confusion may have been aided by the fact that casting agents chose look-alike infants for the role of Little Ricky.)

Volume 1, Issue 1 included complete TV listings for the week of April 3rd-9th, 1953 and featured the following articles:

Lucy’s $50,000,000 Baby

TV’s Last Minute Men (And Women)

Stars Tell ‘What TV Has Taught Me’

But, why the $50 million tagline? According to TV Guide, $50 million was the magazine's estimate as to how much the Desi Arnaz Jr. "brand" might be worth, based on the wave of baby Arnaz merchandise, which included everything from Lucille Ball maternity wear to dolls and nursery sets.

 

 

 

From the Slow Roasted Italian .. 

One Pot Taco Spaghetti

 

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon beef bouillon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional for heat)
• 16 ounces uncooked spaghetti, pieces broken in half
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 1 (4 oz) can mild diced green chilies
• 5 3/4 cups water
• 2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

Garnishes (optional)

• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Diced tomatoes
• Diced avocados
• Chopped cilantro
• Sour cream

 

1. Brown ground been and onions in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium high heat, crumbling beef as you cook. Drain off grease. Add garlic, beef bouillon and all seasonings and cook an additional 30 seconds over medium high heat.
2. Stir in spaghetti, tomatoes, green chilies and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cover and cook 12-15 minutes OR until pasta is al dente, stirring occasionally and replacing lid. Add additional water a little at time if water evaporates before spaghetti is cooked. Once cooked, there should be a little water remaining.
3. Remove from heat and stir in cheese a handful at a time until melted. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Top with desired garnishes.

 

 

Two special birthdays today....

Phil Santisteven (LASD ret) is celebrating. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHIL!

^with his bride, Suzanne (also LASD ret)

 

 

and....

My friend Lydia Plunk is celebrating. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYDIA!

 

 

Historically this date....

1847 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.

....Oh man, shootin' a Colt .45 is awesome!

 

1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York, New York.

 

1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

 

1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

 

 

And births this date include....

1905 – Sterling Holloway, American Character Actor (d. 1992)

 

1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress

 

1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress

 Boy, with Grant she looks 12.

 

 

 

 

1941 – Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)

 

 

1965 – Julia Ormond, English actress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

National Spaghetti Day on January 4th offers an opportunity to pick your sauce and add it to that long, thin cylindrical pasta of Italian and Sicilian origin.  Usually made from semolina flour, this pasta has been a worldwide favorite for ages and loved by millions.

There are a variety of different pasta dishes based on spaghetti, and the sauce determines most of them. Some examples include spaghetti ala Carbonara, garlic and oil, tomato sauce, meat sauce, bolognese, Alfredo sauce, clam sauce or other sauces. We traditionally serve spaghetti dishes topped with grated hard cheeses such as Pecorino Romano, Parmesan and Grana Padano.

The word spaghetti is plural for the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning “thin  string” or “twine.”

American restaurants offered Spaghetti around the end of the 19th century as Spaghetti Italienne (which is believed to have consisted of noodles cooked past al dente and a mild tomato sauce flavored with easily found spices and vegetables such as cloves, bay leaves, and garlic). Decades later, cooks added oregano and basil to many recipes.

Spaghetti Origins

There is a significant debate on the origin of spaghetti. However, we do know that pasta has been consumed for many, many years.  There are records in the Jerusalem Talmud of itrium, a kind of boiled dough, commonly available in Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD.  A 9th-century Arab dictionary describes itriyyaas as string-like shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking. In an 1154 writing for the Norman King of Sicily, itriyya is mentioned being manufactured and exported from Norman Sicily.  Dried pasta became popular in the 14th and 15th centuries due to its easy storage. People were able to store the dried pasta in ships when exploring the New World.  A century later, pasta was present around the globe during the voyages of discovery. (Wikipedia)

On Top of Spaghetti

In March of 2009, the world record for the largest bowl of spaghetti was set and then reset in March of 2010 when a Garden Grove California Buca di Beppo restaurant successfully filled a swimming pool with more than 13,780 pounds of pasta.

Sung to the tune of “On Top of Old Smoky,” the fun children’s song, “On Top of Spaghetti,” was written and originally sung by folk singer Tom Glazer with the Do-Re-Mi Children’s Chorus in 1963.

“On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.”

HOW TO OBSERVE

Make your favorite spaghetti dish.