Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ First USA Female Doctor ~ Tex Mex Potato Spirals ~ National Corn Chip Day

  

Good 24º icy frozen morning. 

 

Yesterday was clear and sunny and we topped at 70º. 

 

 

Picture of the Day

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting about the first female doctor in the United States...

 

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. She became a lifelong advocate for female doctors.

Born in Bristol, England in 1821, Blackwell moved with her family to the United States at the age of 11. Her father Samuel made sure his daughters got a good education. When Samuel died in 1838, several of the Blackwell women became schoolteachers to provide for the family. Teaching was one of the only careers open to white, middle-class women during most of the 1800s.

After the family’s finances stabilized, Elizabeth looked for a more interesting line of work. Though she had felt “disgust” at the study of the body and physiology as a younger student, the experience of a sick female friend eventually changed her mind. Before she died, this friend told Elizabeth that if a “lady doctor” had cared for her, she would have suffered less. She encouraged Elizabeth to use her brains and energy to become a physician.

Blackwell wrote to several doctors she knew for advice on how to proceed. They all told her it would be impossible. Even if she could get admitted to a medical school, there was no way she would be able to graduate and practice. A few even advised her to disguise herself as a man. But the discouragement only made her more determined to succeed. “The idea of winning a doctor’s degree gradually assumed the aspect of a great moral struggle, and the moral fight possessed immense attraction for me,” she wrote. She saved her money from teaching and set out to win the fight.

Blackwell applied to more than a dozen medical schools. She received several rejections before finally, in October 1847, an acceptance letter arrived from Geneva Medical College in upstate New York. Although the male students mostly accepted her, she had to fight for access to a complete education. At first, she was excluded from observing surgical demonstrations. She had to insist that she be considered “a student simply,” not treated differently because of her sex.

Dr. Blackwell graduated in 1849 to great public interest and approval. In need of further training that was still not available in the United States, she studied for a few years in England and France. Unfortunately, her goal of becoming a surgeon was thwarted when she contracted an infection that caused her to lose her left eye.

In the early 1850s, Dr. Blackwell returned to the United States. She and two other female doctors—Dr. Marie Zakrzewska and Blackwell’s younger sister Dr. Emily Blackwell—established the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children (now New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital). They treated poor patients and provided medical training for women.

In her later years, Blackwell wrote several books on medicine and an autobiography. She continued to advocate for women in medicine until old age and poor health limited her activities. She died in England in 1910.

 

 

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

If you want a side dish with the big flavor of Texas, then Tex-Mex Potato Spirals are just what you're looking for!

 

• 4 large Idaho potatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup low fat finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 chopped scallions

 

1. Slice the round bottoms off the potatoes so they sit flat. Place 2 wooden spoons parallel to each other and place a potato lengthwise between the handles. Make 8 crosswise cuts three-quarters of the way through the potato, stopping each time the knife hits the spoon handles. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. Rinse the potatoes thoroughly.
2. Place the potatoes on a microwaveable plate. Cook on high about 7 minutes. Turn the potatoes over and microwave on high 7 more minutes, or until slightly soft.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Carefully brush the outside of the potatoes with oil, reserving the remaining oil for the topping. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place potatoes in a baking dish, then drizzle with barbecue sauce, letting the sauce drip between the slices.
5. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheese, garlic powder, and remaining olive oil. Top each potato with bread crumb mixture.
6. Bake potatoes about 20 minutes, or until soft in the center and topping is crispy and brown. Top with chopped scallion.

 

***Feel free to use nonfat Cheddar cheese if you prefer.

 

 

Historically this date....

1916 – World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.

1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.

1963 – The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.

 

And births this date include.....

1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)

... and as my high school pal Adelle (Easton) related to me her dad was an officer on a Coast Guard ship and Mature was one of his underlings. When he had given Mature an order and someone said, "Don't you know who that is??? It's Victor Mature!" Del's dad remarked, "Mature, manure, I don't care what his name is!"

1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)

1942 – Claudine Longet, French singer and dancer

shot her boyfriend Spider Sabich...

1944 – Katharine Ross, American actress

Busy gal, 5 husbands!

1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor, screenwriter and film producer

.... interesting read.... my sister knew his family. They had a place at Tahoe and she said they were the NICEST family!

1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver

1970 – Paul Ryan, American politician

 

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo 

 

On January 29th, grab the queso or salsa and celebrate National Corn Chip Day. Recognized each year across the country, the day encourages corn chip lovers to whip up their favorite dips and toppings.

The corn chip or friotes are not to be confused with the tortilla chip. Both are made from cornmeal which is baked or fried in oil.

Differing steps for processing the corn separate the tortilla from the corn chip. The corn for a tortilla chip is soaked in a lime-water solution that breaks down the hulls. This process creates a crisper, milder chip. A corn chip is sturdier with a stronger corn flavor. Both were popular snacks originating in Mexico.

There are two men credited with patenting and marketing the corn chip in the United States. First, Isador J. Filler often ate a tostada (a hard corn tortilla with toppings) while traveling in San Antonio, Texas as a salesman. He struck on the idea of making them in rectangles and marketing them as a chip. In 1932 he patented his concept.

Around the same time, Elmer Doolin was also traveling in San Antonio and was enjoying friotes. According to the story, he paid $100 for the recipe. Experimenting in his home until he created the ideal chip, Doolin then started selling them from the back of his Model T Ford. When he began mass-producing them under the name of Frito Corn Chips, they were a hit.

In 1945, Doolin came to an agreement with Herman Lay (of potato chip fame) to distribute Doolin’s Fritos across the country. The two companies merged in 1959 after Doolin’s death.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Grab your favorite corn chips. Add some dips or topping.

NATIONAL CORN CHIP DAY HISTORY

National Corn Chip Day has been observed since at least 2002. However, we’ve not been able to identify the organizer of the celebration.