Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ The Chicken Or The Egg ~ Lemonade-Poached Salmon ~ National Root Beer Float Day

  

Good 55º clear morning.         

 

 

Yesterday we had scattered clouds and topped at 99º. 

 

 

Picture of the Day...shared by my friend Virginia Feiker

 

Interesting about the chicken or the egg..........

 

 

The chicken or the egg causality dilemma is commonly stated as the question, "which came first: the chicken or the egg?" The dilemma stems from the observation that all chickens hatch from eggs and all chicken eggs are laid by chickens. "Chicken-and-egg" is a metaphoric adjective describing situations where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect, to express a scenario of infinite regress, or to express the difficulty of sequencing actions where each seems to depend on others being done first. Plutarch posed the question as a philosophical matter in his essay "The Symposiacs", written in the 1st century CE.

 

Ancient legacy

The question represents an ancient folk paradox addressing the problem of origins and first cause. Aristotle, writing in the fourth century BCE, concluded that this was an infinite sequence, with no true origin. Plutarch, writing four centuries later, specifically highlighted this question as bearing on a "great and weighty problem (whether the world had a beginning)". In the fifth century CE, Macrobius wrote that while the question seemed trivial, it "should be regarded as one of importance".

 

By the end of the 16th century, the well-known question seemed to have been regarded as settled in the Christian world, based on the origin story of the Bible. In describing the creation of animals, it allows for a first chicken that did not come from an egg. However, later enlightenment philosophers began to question this solution. Carlo Dati in the mid 17th-century published an erudite satire on the subject.

 

Scientific resolutions

Although the question is typically used metaphorically, evolutionary biology provides literal answers, made possible by the Darwinian principle that species evolve over time, and thus that chickens had ancestors that were not chickens, similar to a view expressed by the Greek philosopher Anaximander when addressing the paradox.

 

If the question refers to eggs in general, the egg came first. The first amniote egg—that is, a hard-shelled egg that could be laid on land, rather than remaining in water like the eggs of fish or amphibians—appeared around 312 million years ago. In contrast, chickens are domesticated descendants of red junglefowl and probably arose little more than eight thousand years ago, at most.

 

If the question refers to chicken eggs specifically, the answer is still the egg, but the explanation is more complicated. The process by which the chicken arose through the interbreeding and domestication of multiple species of wild jungle fowl is poorly understood, and the point at which this evolving organism became a chicken is a somewhat arbitrary distinction. Whatever criteria one chooses, an animal nearly identical to the modern chicken (i.e., a proto-chicken) laid a fertilized egg that had DNA making it a modern chicken due to mutations in the mother's ovum, the father's sperm, or the fertilized zygote.

 

It has been suggested that the actions of a protein found in modern chicken eggs may make the answer different. In the uterus, chickens produce ovocleidin-17 (OC-17), which causes the formation of the thickened calcium carbonate shell around their eggs. Because OC-17 is expressed by the hen and not the egg, the bird in which the protein first arose, though having hatched from a non-reinforced egg, would then have laid the first egg having such a reinforced shell: the chicken would have preceded this first 'modern' chicken egg. However, the presence of OC-17 or a homolog in other species, such as turkeys and finches suggests that such eggshell-reinforcing proteins are common to all birds, and thus long predate the first chickens.

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Looking for a refreshing summer meal? Look no further than our Lemonade-Poached Salmon! This easy fish recipe offers something a little different for fish lovers everywhere. The refreshingly tart taste of lemonade elevates this salmon recipe to a one-of-a-kind dinner or a deliciously light lunch that you won't want to miss.

 

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (12-ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 salmon fillets (about 1-1/2 pounds total)

 

1. In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons lemonade concentrate, and pepper; mix well, then cover and chill. 
2. In a large skillet, bring remaining lemonade concentrate and water to a boil over medium-low heat. Add salmon and reduce heat to low; cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with fork. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve with chilled lemonade sauce.

 

****This salmon can also be made ahead and served well chilled for a refreshing light lunch!

 

 

 

Historically this date.............

1926 – Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.

1930 – Judge Joseph Force Crater steps into a taxi in New York and disappears never to be seen again.

2011 – A helicopter containing members of Navy SEAL 6 is shot down in Afghanistan killing 38.

2012 – Nasa's Curiosity rover lands on Mars.

 

 

 

And births this date include.....

1881 – Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)

 

1902 – Dutch Schultz, American organized crime figure (d. 1935)

1911 – Lucille Ball, American actress (d. 1989)

 

1917 – Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)

 

1928 – Andy Warhol, American artist (d. 1987)

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

On August 6th, National Root Beer Float Day tells us to float a scoop of vanilla ice cream in an ice-cold mug of frothy root beer. The classic beverage creates a creamy treat loved by generations!

Also known as the “Black Cow,” the root beer float got its start in Colorado in a mining camp. Frank J. Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado, gets the credit for inventing the “Black Cow” way back in August of 1893.

One night Wisner, owner of the Cripple Creek Cow Mountain Gold Mining Company, was staring out the window and thinking about the line of soda waters he was producing for the citizens of Cripple Creek when he came upon an idea. The full moon that night shined on the snow-capped Cow Mountain and reminded him of a scoop of vanilla ice cream. He hurried back to his bar and scooped a spoonful of ice cream into the children’s favorite flavor of soda, Myers Avenue Red Root Beer. After trying, he liked it and served it the very next day. It was an immediate hit.

Wisner named the new creation, “Black Cow Mountain” but the local children shortened the name to “Black Cow”.

Since its inception, hundreds of thousands of root beer floats have been enjoyed around the country each day.