Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Jack Daniel's Whiskey ~ Cheddar Potato Crushed Beef Casserole ~ Pam Clark ~ National Chocolate Cake Day

  

Good 23º frozen morning. 

 

Yesterday, again, we were frozen, at 23º, here and clear and Grants Pass had the fog.

 

 

Picture of the Day

 

 

 

 

Interesting about Jack Daniel's Whiskey

 

                         ^Jack Daniel founder

 

One of the enduring results of Prohibition was the establishment of so-called "dry counties" in some states, in which the purchase of alcohol is illegal. While most of America re-legalized booze after Prohibition was repealed in the 21st Amendment, some areas of the country stayed dry, and remain so today. Therefore it's beyond ironic that Jack Daniel's, one of the world's largest distillers, is located in Lynchburg, Tennessee, situated in a dry county. While it is illegal to sell Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey in town, it is perfectly legal to make it.

 

The product meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight bourbon, though the company chooses not to use this classification. It markets the beverage as "Tennessee whiskey" instead of "Tennessee bourbon". As defined in the North American Free Trade Agreement, "Tennessee whiskey" is classified as a straight bourbon authorized to be produced in the state of Tennessee. Tennessee law (57-2-106) further requires most producers of Tennessee whiskey to filter the spirit through charcoal made from maple prior to aging, in addition to meeting the above requirements (the "Lincoln County Process").

 

Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" Tennessee whiskey sold 12.5 million nine-liter cases in the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2017. Other brand variations, such as Tennessee Honey, Gentleman Jack, and Tennessee Fire, added another 2.9 million cases to sales. Sales of an additional 800,000 equivalent cases in ready to drink (RTD) products brought the fiscal year total to more than 16.1 million equivalent adjusted cases for the entire Jack Daniel's family of brands.

^casks of Jack Daniel's whiskey in the distillery

 

^{If you want to read a lot more, go here:}

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Daniel%27s}

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

We're so excited to share the 1st place winning recipe from our Dinner in a Dash Recipe Contest, sponsored by our friends at EasyHomeMeals.com. When we first looked at, and then tasted, the recipe submitted by Pamela S. from Parkersburg, WV, we knew it was special. As a mom of 7 children, she was used to making meals with what she had on hand and used easy shortcuts whenever possible. When faced with the pandemic, Pamela became extra creative and whipped up this budget-friendly, all-in-one casserole to make a dinner that was so good, we knew it was a winner after just one forkful.

 

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (1-ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas and carrots
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 (12-ounce) jar beef gravy
• 3 cups frozen potato tots
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced, optional
• 1/2 cup sour cream, optional

 

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Coat a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. In a large, deep skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink, stirring occasionally to crumble; drain liquid. Add onion soup mix, peas and carrots, the corn, and gravy to skillet; mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, in a microwaveable bowl, heat potato tots 2 to 3 minutes, just until you can crumble with a fork. Stir in cheese and jalapeño, if desired. Spoon beef mixture into baking dish and sprinkle potato mixture evenly over top. 
3. Bake 25 minutes or until heated in center. Top with sour cream, (if desired) and serve. 
   
   *** We love how Pamela crumbles up the potato tots and mixes them with some cheddar to make a topping that is second-to-none. In this case, thinking outside the box really paid off.

 

 

Special birthday today...

celebrating is Pam Clark, wife of Dave Clark (LASD ret). HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAM!

 

 

^2016 when Dave and Pam came to visit and we went to Taprock.

 

Historically this date....

1967 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

 

............such a HUGE tragedy. Such a sad sad day!

 

1984 – Pop singer Michael Jackson suffers second degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in the Shrine Auditorium. 

 

2006 – Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. :o( 

 

 

And births this date include....

 

1918 – Skitch Henderson, American bandleader (d. 2005) He was great! Missed as much as Johnny Carson....

 

 

 

1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)

 

 

 

 

1936 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)

 

 

 

1948 –Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian ballet dancer

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Chocolate Cake Day celebrates the cake more people favor. And more often than not, we celebrate our special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings with cake. Why not enjoy chocolate cake on January 27th every year?

In America, chocolate was consumed primarily as a beverage until the 1830s or 40s. Chocolate cakes, as we think of them today, mostly did not exist then.  According to the Dover Post, the chocolate cake was born in 1765 when a doctor and a chocolate maker teamed up in an old mill.  They ground up cocoa beans between huge millstones to make a thick syrup. The liquid was poured into molds shaped like cakes, which were meant to be transformed into a beverage.

A popular Philadelphia cookbook author, Eliza Leslie, published the earliest chocolate cake recipe in 1847 in The Lady’s Receipt Book.  Unlike chocolate cakes we know today, this recipe used chopped chocolate.  Other cooks of the time such as Sarah Tyson Rorer and Maria Parloa all made contributions to the development of the chocolate cake and were prolific authors of cookbooks.

The first boxed cake mix was created by a company called O. Duff and Sons in the late 1920s.  Betty Crocker released their first dry cake mixes in 1947.