Fog/Rain ~ Go Patriots ~ Clouds ~ Bruiser ~ Picture of the Day ~ Odd Named Cities in Alabama ~ Crockpot Chicken Fajitas ~ National Women Physicians Day

 

Good 43º SUPER foggy raining Super Bowl morning. Joy.

 

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!

 

At age 41, in fact, Brady himself has now secured more Super Bowl appearances than every single team in the NFL outside of his own Patriots.

 

• Most games won by a quarterback: 232
• Most Super Bowl wins by a quarterback: 5
• Most Super Bowl MVP awards: 4
• Most Super Bowl appearances: 8
•  

Brady has been honored with four Super Bowl MVP awards (Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, XLIX, and LI), the most ever by a single player, has won three league MVP awards (2007, 2010, 2017), has been selected to 14 Pro Bowls, and has led his team to more division titles (15) than any other quarterback in NFL history.

 He is first all-time in career passing yards (regular season and postseason combined). His career postseason record is 27–10, winning more playoff games than any other quarterback, and he has appeared in more playoff games than any player at any position. Brady has never had a losing season as a starting quarterback in the NFL. His combined regular-season and postseason wins are also the most of any quarterback in NFL history. Brady is the first and only quarterback to reach 200 regular season wins. Brady also holds the record of being the oldest player to win the Super Bowl MVP at 39 years of age, and the oldest player to win the regular season MVP at the age of 40.

 

A California boy, Brady. His mentor and high school coach, Tom Martinez, was the uncle of a high school friend of mine. He had nothing but good things to say about Brady and his family.

 

 

 

Yesterday there was a lull in the rain so I went to the market. Much more fun to load groceries in your vehicle when it's not raining! The clouds were hanging on my mountain.... 

 

Then Bruiser decided to go out and explore before the rain started again.

 

 

 

Picture of the Day.......

National Geographic Photo Contest winner....

 

Thousands of Volkswagen and Audi cars sit idle in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert. Models manufactured from 2009 to 2015 were designed to cheat emissions tests mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Following the scandal, Volkswagen recalled millions of cars. By capturing scenes like this one, I hope we will all become more conscious of and more caring toward our beautiful planet.

 

 

Odd Named Cities in Alabama

Sweet Home Alabama, Heart of Dixie, the Cotton State – and one veritable treasure trove of really weird place names. So, here we go … 

 

Opp

Straightforward. To the point. Short, sweet. And just really, incredibly weird. That’s Opp for you.

 

Opp’s another metropolis, with over 6,000 people. It's in the south central part of Alabama, near the border with Florida.

It’s named after Henry Opp, a lawyer for the L&N railroad, who basically got the town going. That’s a German name, by the way.

 

Burnt Corn

You’ve got your pick of four competing explanations for this one:

• White settlers burn Indian cornfields.
• Indians burn white settlers’ corn cribs.
• Indians leave burnt corn at campsite which white settlers later discover.

Suffice it to say, it all somehow involved maize and fire.  

This one's in the southern part of the state, again - between Opp and Vinegar Bend. Looks like there's about 300 Burnt Cornerers.

The town has a great website, www.burntcorn.com, by the way – one that includes seizure-inducing flashing, missing links, animated parrots, and lots of centered text in bright colors. One of the pages – which I particularly liked out of context – is called “The Legacy of Burnt Corn.” No recipes.

 

Choccolocco

The Internet says this one comes from the Creek Indian language, and actually means “big shoals.”

 

And, yes, Choccolocco is home to the Choccolocco Monster. Quote this one straight out of Wikipedia:

 

The community gained brief notoriety in 2001 when The Daily Show aired a piece on the "Choccolocco Monster," a part of local folklore concerning sightings of a mysterious creature in the area in the late 1960s. An October 2001 article in the Anniston Starnewspaper revealed that the creature was, in fact, local resident Neal Williamson dressed in a cow skull and a sheet. As a teenager, Williamson would don his costume and gain the attention of passing cars by jumping out of the woods onto the roadside, often startling motorists.

Choccolocco's just a little east of Eastaboga, and probably's got even fewer people.

 

 Smut Eye

According to the Montgomery Advertiser:

"This old store was the center of things – where men would sit around and drink beer and smoke cigarettes and tell lies," Cox said.  And they did the same thing a century earlier just across the road at a blacksmith shop where the name, "Smuteye," was forged from fire and steel and a homemade ale that the local women called the devil's brew, he said.  Cox, who has a farm near this Bullock County town, said the blacksmith's shop became quite a gathering place for men to talk and drink. The area used to be called Welcome.  "The men folk would stand around the fire in the winter time and drink moonshine," Cox said.  As the story goes, staying close to the fire left their faces smudged with smut, covering everything except their eyes.  "When they got home, their wives would take one look at their smutty faces and know where they had been," Cox said. "The women came to call the blacksmith shop 'Smuteye,' and soon folks called the community 'Smuteye,"' he said.

 

A Google search of this term brought up a fair amount of pornography. Also some stuff about mascara.  Maybe the name’s true origin involves one of these two topics.

Interestingly, Smut Eye started out as Welcome.Talk about leaving well enough alone.
SE's just a little southeast of Montgomery. It's basically just a crossroads in the middle of absolute nowhere.

 

 

Honorable Mention:

• B-o-r-i-n-g – Flat Rock, County Line, Valley, Center Point, Centreville, Centre, Our Town, New Home, Pleasant Site, New Site, Land
• Short and sweet – Jeff, Ralph, Jack, Saco, Clio, Ider, Ino, Awin, Ada, Ai
• Just a little off color – Beaverton, Beaver Town
• Numerically oriented – Twin, Five Points, Three Notch, Six Mile, Six Way, Thirtynine
• Native American mouthfuls – Eufaula, Opelika, Notasulga, Hightogy, Wedowee, Weogufka, Wetumpka, Tuscumbia (Helen Keller's birthplace), Tuscaloosa, Letohatchee, Clayhatchee, Loachapoka ("Turtle Sitting Place")
• Abnormal nouns – Wing, Canoe, Almond, Empire, Enterprise, Octagon, Section, Suspension, Strata, Sardine, Nectar, June Bug, The Bottle, Coal Fire, Shorts, Screamer 
• Just plain weird – Pine Apple, Half Acre, Little Hope, Needmore, Yelling Settlement, Blow Gourd, Pumpkin Center, Possum Trot, Frog Eye, Pigeye, Boar Tush, Hog Jaw, Bucksnort, Pulltight, Zip City, Remlap (Palmer backwards), Scarce Grease, Muck City, Scratch Ankle, Sky Ball, Slapout … and, of course, Hot Coffee (birthplace of Stella Stevens)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 lbs chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts cut into strips

1 Envelope Taco Seasoning

1 Can Diced Tomatoes with Lime and Cilantro

3 Cloves Garlic- Minced (We use Freeze Dried)

3 Bell Peppers- Cut into Strips

1 Sweet Onion-Cut into Strips

1 Lime- Juiced

Small tortillas

Toppings of choice

 

1. Place chicken in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle with Taco Seasoning.
3. Pour Tomatoes on top.
4. Top with Peppers and Onions.
5. Sprinkle with garlic and lime juice.
6. Cook on high for 90 minutes to 2 hours or on low for 3 to 4 hours
7. Serve with a slotted spoon onto small tortillas with toppings of choice.

**

Note we used a flavored diced tomato because we love the lime and cilantro variety for our Mexican inspired dishes. If you cannot find that variety, feel free to use regular diced tomatoes and if you would like, add a few tablespoons of fresh cilantro.

 

 

 

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

1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America. 

 

1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax. 

 

1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

 

1947 – The lowest temperature in North America is recorded in Snag, Yukon.

 

.... -81º !!!! 

 

1959 – A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died. 

 

1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of theSAC's command post. 

 

1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him. 

 

 

And births this date include....1894 – Norman Rockwell, American illustrator (d. 1978)

 

 

 

1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)

 

 

 

1907 – James Michener, American author (d. 1997)

 

 

 

1918 – Joey Bishop, American entertainer, member of the Rat Pack (d. 2007)

 

 

 

1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress

 

 

 

1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress

 

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

On February 3, honor the path that female doctors have paved since 1849 as we recognize National Women Physicians Day.

This day marks the birthday of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States in 1849. Dr. Blackwell initiated the movement that helped women gain entry and equality in the field of medicine.

If society will not admit of a woman’s free development, then society must be remodeled. ~ Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell

National Women Physicians Day celebrates the courage of Elizabeth Blackwell and the accomplishments of female physicians everywhere. At the same time, the day strives to bring improvements to the workplace for the growing number of women physicians entering the field of medicine.

While the number of women doctors gradually increased in the last two decades, 2016 statistics show 35% of physicians are women. A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine last year revealed that women doctors earn on average 8% less than their male counterparts. That discrepancy along with nearly a third of women physicians reporting sexual harassment in the workplace and large majority experiencing gender bias. Clearly, there is still work to be done.

National Women Physicians Day recognizes not only the strides that have been made by generations of women doctors but that a balance must be struck that allows women to succeed professionally while balancing family. Join National Women Physicians Day in celebrating these accomplishments and supporting women physicians as colleagues, friends, family and doctors.

HISTORY

In an effort to raise awareness of the importance of a physician-led healthcare team and female physicians’ roles in medicine, Physician Moms Group and Medelita founded February 3rd as National Women Physicians Day. Physician Moms Group successfully celebrated the first National Women Physicians Day on February 3, 2016. 

The Registrar at National Day Calendar declared National Women Physicians Day in 2017.

Rain ~ Punxsutawney Phil ~ Picture of the Day ~ Seals Take Over California Beach ~ Creamy Chicken & Gnocchi Soup ~ John & Trish Bowler ~ Groundhog Day

Good 44º cloudy drizzling morning. 

Rain started yesterday afternoon and so far we've gotten 1/2". More coming and even a chance of snow down here by Sunday or Monday.

HAPPY GROUND HOG DAY!

As of this morning in Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted and early spring!

Picture of the Day ... orphaned pony and his best friend...

Interesting .....

These seals took over a California beach during the government shutdown - and won't give it back!

It’s unclear whether the initial incursion happened stealthily at night or brazenly during the day — though authorities are almost certain the invasion occurred by sea.

And federal employees who returned from the month-long partial government shutdown decided that it was probably not worth the effort to relocate the roughly 90 individuals involved. That’s because some of them were pregnant or newborns, and all of them were opportunistic elephant seals that have taken over what used to be the tourist area of Drakes Beach, Calif.

Across the nation this week, returning federal workers slogged through backlogs of voicemails, sifted through bursting email inboxes and tried to remember the name of the childhood pet at the beginning of their log-in passwords.

At Drakes Beach, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, employees had a much bigger problem. Literally. Some of the elephant seal squatters weigh as much as a car.

A colony of nearly 1,500 seals inhabits nearby Chimney Beach, which is protected from binocular-wearing tourists by 100-foot-tall cliffs. But Drakes Beach, with its wide swath of sand and spectacular views of the Pacific, has been claimed by humans. Park officials have used a decidedly low-tech method to enforce an armistice between the mammal species: They waved blue tarps to annoy the seals away from the areas most popular with Homo sapiens.

“It doesn’t scare them, and it’s a standard technique used with elephant seals,” John Dell’Osso, chief of interpretation and resource education for the seashore, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “This would have kept them farther away from tourists.”

The annoying tarps were an effective plan, usually chasing all but a seal or two away from the beach, which is a 90-minute drive from San Francisco.

But the federal government apparently does not regard the tarp-wavers as essential federal employees, so the workers who did it were among the 800,000 furloughed.

During that time, according to the Chronicle, high tides and storms battered the seals' normal habitat.

So the seals showed up at the suddenly deserted Drakes Beach, and they brought friends and apparently family, too. Seals give birth during winter, and the unoccupied Drakes Beach appears to be an excellent place to raise pups.

On Jan. 27, Point Reyes National Seashore notified eager would-be visitors that Drakes Beach and other popular locations would reopen after the shutdown. Then four days later, officials posted this:

“Drakes Beach and its access road from Sir Francis Drake Boulevard are temporarily closed to all vehicle, foot and bicycle traffic due to elephant seal activity in the area.”

Pictures of the beach’s newest residents show seals of all sizes sunning themselves in the sand, basking on a beach that provides some of the best views in Northern California.

A few have made forays into more human territory. According to Vice, two male adults have been spotted in the parking lot, one on the ramp to the empty visitor center and another beneath a picnic table.

Bulls can weigh as much as 4,500 pounds and, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns, “despite their sometimes docile and clumsy appearance, elephant seals can be extremely quick and sometimes vicious if humans or their pets get too close.”

Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)

Prep Time:10 minutes Cook Time:20 minutesTotal Time:30 minutes Servings: 4

A light and creamy chicken soup with pillowy soft gnocchi, potato dumplings, that is so easy to make!

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup onion
• 1 cup carrot
• 1 cup celery
• 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup flour (or rice flour for gluten-free)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups chicken, cooked and diced or shredded
• 1 pound gnocchi (gluten-free for gluten-free)

 

• 1 pound gnocchi 
• 1/2 cup cream (or milk)
• 1 cup spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons white miso paste* (optional)
• salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter along with the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the onions, carrots and celery, and cook until just tender, about 7-10 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, thyme and flour and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Add the broth, chicken and gnocchi, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the gnocchi floats, about 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat, mix in the cream, spinach and Parmesan and letting the spinach wilt and the cheese to melt into the soup.
5. Mix the miso paste into 1/4 cup of the broth from the soup and then mix back into the soup before seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: White miso (aka shiro miso) is a salty bean paste used in Japanese cuisine that can often be found in the international, sushi or health food sections of grocery stores or at an Asian grocery store. Feel free to omit this if you cannot find it.

My friends John (LASD ret) and Trish Bowler got married on this date in 1963! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KIDS! XO

Historically this date.......1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated. 

1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco, California. 

1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed. 

1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada. 

1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.

And births this date include...

1937 – Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian

1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)

Here is a picture I took of her in Acapulco when I was working for Fabergé and we represented her line of hair products...

1948 – Ina Garten, American author and TV personality

1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model
.... still a rare beauty! She looks like a teenager! and she's 65!!!!!

All I know. Nuff said. Happy Saturday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

Groundhog Day is observed on February 2nd, each year in the United States and Canada.  For a nice welcomed break during the winter, on this day the groundhog awakens from his nap and goes outside to see if he can see his shadow.  It is believed by many that if the groundhog sees his shadow that there will then be six more weeks of winter. If this is so,  he then retrieves back into his den and goes back to sleep.  If he is not able to see his shadow, the groundhog remains outside to play and people celebrate believing that spring is just around the corner.

The tradition of predicting the length of the remaining winter is intertwined with the Christian holiday, Candlemas. Clergy would bless candles symbolizing the ‘light of the world’ to give to their congregations.  Another tradition associated with this day is eating crepes.  Germans practiced the art of predicting the winter with a hedgehog until their arrival in the United States when they settled in the hills of Pennsylvania, and the groundhog became the official predictor.

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has been chosen as the site for the annual Groundhog day event.  Thousands of people come to the town of Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day for this day of celebration.

Although already a well known day, Groundhog Day received widespread attention as a result of the 1993 film Groundhog Day, which was set in Punxsutawney and portrayed Roger Rininger as the groundhog.

HISTORY

An early American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry, by storekeeper James Morris, dated February 4th, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania.

“Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.”