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Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Forks ~ Louisiana Shrimp Bake ~ National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

  


Good 44º morning. We are very clear and sunny. 
 


Yesterday we had big fluffy white clouds and topped at 78º
 
 
Picture of the Day...Sunset Strip 1935 and now... 
 

 
Interesting about forks
 

In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from Latinfurca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to hold them to cut with a knife or to lift them to the mouth.
 
 
^
Assorted forks. From left to right: dessert fork; relish fork; salad fork; dinner fork; cold cuts fork; serving fork; carving fork
 
 
 

Bone forks have been found in archaeological sites of the Bronze Age Qijia culture (2400–1900 BC), the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC), as well as later Chinese dynasties. A stone carving from an Eastern Han tomb (in Ta-kua-liang, Suide County, Shaanxi) depicts three hanging two-pronged forks in a dining scene. Similar forks have also been depicted on top of a stove in a scene at another Eastern Han tomb (in Suide County, Shaanxi).



 

In Ancient Egypt, large forks were used as cooking utensils.

In the Roman Empirebronze and silver forks were used, many surviving examples of which are displayed in museums around Europe. Use varied according to local customs, social class, and the type of food, but in earlier periods forks were mostly used as cooking and serving utensils.

 

Although its origin may go back to Ancient Greece, the personal table fork was most likely invented in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, where they were in common use by the 4th century. Records show that by the 9th century in some elite circles of Persia a similar utensil known as a barjyn was in limited use. By the 10th century, the table fork was in common use throughout the Middle East. Chronographers mention the astonishment that the Byzantine princess Theophanu caused to the westerners, because she was using a fork instead of her hands when she was eating (she moved to the west because she married the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II). In addition, according to Peter Damian, the Byzantine princess Maria Argyropoulina brought some golden forks to Venice, when she married Giovanni Orseolo, the son of the Doge Pietro II Orseolo in 1004. Damian condemned the fork as "vanity". The same story (with Maria Argyropoulina) was said about the Byzantine princess Theodora Doukaina who came to Venice to marry the Doge Domenico Selvo and used forks at the meals.

 


By the 11th century, the table fork had become increasingly prevalent in the Italian peninsula before other European regions because of historical ties with Byzantium and, as pasta became a greater part of the Italian diet, continued to gain popularity, displacing the long wooden spike formerly used since the fork's three spikes proved better suited to gathering the noodles. By the 14th century the table fork had become commonplace in Italy, and by 1600 was almost universal among the merchant and upper classes. It was proper for a guest to arrive with his own fork and spoon enclosed in a box called a cadena; this usage was introduced to the French court with Catherine de' Medici's entourage. Although in Portugal forks were first used around 1450 by Infanta Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, King Manuel I of Portugal's mother, only by the 16th century, when they had become part of Italian etiquette, did forks enter into common use in Southern Europe, gaining some currency in Spain, and gradually spreading to France. The rest of Europe did not adopt the fork until the 18th century.

 

The fork's adoption in northern Europe was slower. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use; St. Peter Damian seeing it as "excessive delicacy". It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, although some sources say that forks were common in France, England and Sweden already by the early 17th century.


The fork did not become popular in North America until near the time of the American Revolution. The standard four-tine design became current in the early 19th century.

 

 

 
 
From Mr. Food
 

Ready for a new kind of shrimp recipe that will break you out of that dinnertime rut? Say good-bye to steamed shrimp cocktail, because our jazzy Louisiana Shrimp Bake is to-die-for! Baking the shrimp gives them that plump, pop that we all love. Your taste buds will be tinglin' when you pop these sensationally seasoned shrimp in your mouth.

 

  • 1/2 pounds large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

 

  1. Preheat oven to 400º.
  2. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place shrimp in a single layer in baking dish.
  3. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients; mix well. Remember, the cayenne pepper is optional. Pour butter mixture over shrimp and stir until evenly coated.
  4. Bake, uncovered, 8 to 10 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

 

***We think this dish would taste amazing served over some hot cooked rice. This way you won't miss out on any of that buttery rich sauce!
 
 
Historically this date....
1692 – Port RoyalJamaica, is hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people are killed and 3,000 are seriously injured.

 
1832 – Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada.

 
1982 – Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier is kept off-limits.

 
2013 – A gunman opens fire at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, after setting a house on fire nearby, killing six people, including the suspect.

 
 
And births this date include...
 
1917 – Dean Martin, American singer, actor, and producer (d. 1995)
 
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jfNXJ6Cz1hxHwnXk6vVS1p8uQsMeIrT4ud_LJkn-bxgOpZpqGsZEjjHYVwpK70fiplkj7HqfRqRJvV6HqG2K5FlOqw1xAtzpTyTmnBDLCmi-wmAUce3j2AQlHBfOVVD-O1UJdeLxCOky/s1600/deanMA29215911-0014.jpg
 


1940 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer and actor
If you read his page and click on "personal life" he was quite the gad-about!!!
What a handsome guy back then!!
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruJ411duKbApbeYx_lw6_4rmWBYf8IegYzjrxJju_BIRaFb_Qg3Gmc5OTA6nN4cCzJ6yxjeDW7DymmqakuB_Lzb_VNJK3wbj_QxHY8I-9rBmCjixH-HIPrzw5sKIQIyedoxwudKmYWIA7/s1600/tomMA29215911-0015.jpg
 
 
 
 
 


1952 – Liam Neeson, Irish actor
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjqWtrKt4c2uYRp5uafgGvkdy4y3UYBUNbb_7Q5IXitVChG176C4n7-P_Jx6E3NYEtjabbe-P22Be8ZymrVPu-N-WOyE5Od5Te49GCYXHZ4hHp75id2VhFWV91oezVXf0WNqaA1WXH3Db/s1600/liam1MA29215911-0016.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Tuesday. Ciao.
xo Sue Mom Bobo

 
 
To observe National Chocolate Ice Cream Day on June 7th all you need is chocolate ice cream. Who says you have to stop there, though? You can have it in a cone or make it from scratch. Add sprinkles or syrup or whipped cream.
Chocolate ice cream is the second most common flavor, surpassed only by vanilla. The chocolate-flavored ice cream has been in existence well over a hundred years and has been popular in the United States since the late 19th century.
Cocoa powder is blended in with eggs, cream, vanilla, and sugar to make chocolate ice cream. The cocoa powder is what gives the ice cream a brown color. Other flavors, such as rocky road or triple chocolate chunk, use chocolate ice cream in their creation.

How to observe...

While you can enjoy this day with a scoop or two, you could also explore the variety of chocolate ice creams available, too. “How many kinds of chocolate ice cream can there be?” you might ask. Well, you might be surprised. For starters, of course, there’s dark chocolate and milk chocolate. But then we can add peanut butter or marshmallow. We just recently celebrated Rocky Road. And don’t forget all the kinds of fudge. Some people like chocolate and mint mixed together, too. And the list goes on and on.

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