Good 45º cloudy morning. Slight chance of rain predicted for today.
Yesterday the clouds stayed but sunshine came between them and we topped at 72º.
Picture of the Day
Interesting about salt....
Chemically, table salt consists of two elements, sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl). Neither element occurs separately and free in nature, but are found bound together as the compound sodium chloride. Salt is essential for life in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt has over 14,000 known uses. Manufacturing textiles, glass, rubber, leather, even drilling oil wells, depends on salt. Common uses of salt include seasoning of food, deicing for safe roads, softening hard water, and food preservation.
Salt, also referred to as table salt or by its chemical formula NaCl (sodium chloride), is an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. All life has evolved to depend on its chemical properties to survive. It has been used by humans for thousands of years, from food preservation to seasoning. Salt's ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization. It helped eliminate dependence on seasonal availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances. However, salt was often difficult to obtain, so it was a highly valued trade item, and was considered a form of currency by certain people. Many salt roads, such as the via Salaria in Italy, had been established by the Bronze Age.
All through history, availability of salt has been pivotal to civilization. In Britain, the suffix "-wich" in a place name sometimes means it was once a source of salt, as in Northwich and Droitwich, although other - wich towns are so named from the Saxon 'wic', meaning fortified dwelling or emporium. The Natron Valley was a key region that supported the Egyptian Empire to its north, because it supplied it with a kind of salt that came to be called by its name, natron. Today, salt is almost universally accessible, relatively cheap, and often iodized.
Salt comes from two main sources: sea water and the sodium chloride mineral halite (also known as rock salt). Rock salt occurs in vast beds of sedimentary evaporite minerals that result from the drying up of enclosed lakes, playas, and seas. Salt beds may be up to 350 m thick and underlie broad areas.
In the United States and Canada extensive underground beds extend from the Appalachian basin of western New York through parts of Ontario and under much of the Michigan basin. Other deposits are in Texas, Ohio, Kansas, New Mexico, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan. In the United Kingdom underground beds are found in Cheshire and around Droitwich. Salzburg, Austria, was named "the city of salt" for its mines.
High-quality rock salt was cut in medieval Transylvania, Maramureş and Southern Poland (Wieliczka). Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina was named in Hungarian Só (salt) from the twelfth century on and later "place of salt" by Turks.
Salt is extracted from underground beds either by mining or by solution mining using water to dissolve the salt. In solution mining the salt reaches the surface as brine, from which the water is evaporated leaving salt crystals.
Salt was of high value to the Jews, Greeks, Tamils, Chinese, Hittites and other peoples of antiquity. In the early years of the Roman Republic, with the growth of the city of Rome, roads were built to make transportation of salt to the capital city easier. An example was the Via Salaria (originally a Sabine trail), leading from Rome to the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic, having a higher salinity due to its shallow depth, had more productive solar ponds compared with those of the Tyrrhenian Sea, much closer to Rome. The word "salary" comes from the Latin word for salt. The persistent modern claim that the Roman Legions were sometimes paid in salt is baseless. A salārium may have been an allowance paid to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt, but even that is not well established.
On an industrial scale, salt is produced in one of two principal ways: the evaporation of salt water (brine) or by mining. Evaporation can either be solar evaporation or using some heating device.
The earliest systematic exposition of the different kinds of salts, its uses, and the methods of its extraction was published in China around 2700 BCE. Hippocrates encouraged his fellow healers to use salt water to heal various ailments by immersing their patients in sea water. The ancient Greeks continued this, and in 1753, English author and physician Richard Russell published The Uses of Sea Water in which he declared that salt was a "common defence against the corruption of…bodies" and "contribut[es] greatly to all cures".
In Ethiopia blocks of salt, called amoleh, were carved from the salt pans of the Afar Depression, especially around Lake Afrera, then carried by camel west to Atsbi and Ficho in the highland, whence traders distributed them throughout the rest of Ethiopia, as far south as the Kingdom of Kaffa. These salt blocks served as a form of currency.
From Mr. Food
Wait until you try this creamy quiche.
- 1 refrigerated rolled pie crust (from a 14.1-ounce package)
- 5 eggs
- 3/4 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
- 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
- Preheat the oven to 450º. Unroll pie crust and place in a 10-inch quiche pan or 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Flute edges and prick bottom and sides of dough randomly with fork. Bake 8 minutes then remove from oven; set aside. Reduce heat to 375º.
- In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, ricotta cheese, heavy cream, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir in Italian cheese blend and sundried tomatoes. Pour mixture into crust.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until center of quiche is set. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.
Historically this date.....
And births this date include....
1946 – Lana Wood, American actress (6 husbands!!)
All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Tuesday. Ciao.
xo Sue Mom Bobo
Ah, peanut butter. One day is not enough to recognize peanut butter. March 1st was made for National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day. The goober has been paired, blended and added with many tasty results!
The slang term for peanut butter in World War II was “monkey butter.”
A monkey visited the lab at Kellogg’s one day and dipped his banana in a jar of peanut butter, and he’s been ape over the combination ever since. Actually, banana slices with peanut butter sandwiched between them and dipped in chocolate make a terrific snack.
Peanut butter and bananas was a combination even fit for a king. Elvis Presley loved a peanut butter and banana sandwich or two.
Fun Peanut Butter Facts:
- It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- C.H. Sumner first sold peanut butter in the United States at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis. He sold $705.11 of the “new treat” at his concession stand.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup was introduced to America in 1928.
- The oldest operating manufacturer and seller of peanut butter has been selling peanut butter since 1898.
- Mr. Ed TV’s used peanut butter as a secret ingredient to get a horse talking.
- Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter.
- January 24th is National Peanut Butter Day.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Fall in love with some peanut butter or a new peanut butter combination. Try peanut butter and apples. Or maybe fried peaches and peanut butter. Try one of the recipes above. Or how about peanut butter and bacon.
And.............. today is also...
National Pig Day, observed annually on the 1st of March, recognizes the domesticated pig. This holiday includes events and celebrations at zoos, schools, nursing homes and sporting events around the United States. Pig parties, pig parades and gatherings with pig collectibles are a few of the other events that have commemorated National Pig Day.
Pigs are a clever and intelligent animal, however, most people are not aware of their high level of intelligence. They are a household pet to some that can be trained and taught tricks.
In Dublin in 1772, a trained swine called the Learned Pig told time, counted and other such tricks to entertain crowds in the streets.
There was a famous, if fictitious, Learned Pig in London in the late 1700s which seemed to gain his learnedness from his mother eating an entire volume of Sir Robert Filmer’s manuscripts and “Saobeverel’s Sermons” before she delivered him into the world. He was born with an intelligence that seemed obvious just by looking. When one day he feasted upon the garden of the great Milton himself he began waxing poetic.
Pigs have been popular storybook characters for generations. From A.A. Milne’s Piglet to E.B. White’s Wilbur, pigs have an endearing and flavorful quality about them that makes us love them.
There are hundreds of different breeds, most of which are descended from the Eurasian Wild Boar. The female is called a gilt or sow and can produce 10 piglets in a single litter. They also produce bacon, ham, baby back ribs, spare ribs, sirloin, pork belly and oh, so many more delectable barbecue items it would be a shame to not honor the swine on this day of all days.
HISTORY
Research has found that this day was created in 1972 by two sisters, Ellen Stanley and Mary Lynne Rave. Ellen was a school teacher in Lubbock, Texas and Mary was from Beaufort, North Carolina. According to Mary Lynne Rave, the purpose of National Pig Day is “to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place as one of man’s most intellectual and domesticated animals.”
And, if you call a cop a pig... you are just reiterating his "pride integrity and guts" !!! 
