Weather/Snow ~ Picture of the Day ~ Buzz Aldrin ~ Zucchini Squares ~ National Dog Biscuit Day

  

Good 18º clear frozen morning. Burrrrrr........

 

Yesterday morning before 8am the snow started falling. Very light. Then it stopped and the dark clouds left and we got sun and HUGE fluffy clouds that hid my mountain....

We topped at 49º.

The sunset......

 

 

Picture of the Day ... odd friends!

 

 

Interesting about Buzz Aldrin....

 

As crazy as it may sound, Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, recorded a hip-hop track called "Rocket Experience," in 2009. Performing under the name "Doc Rendezvous," Aldrin teamed up with none other than Snoop Dogg, Quincy Jones, Talib Kweli, and Soulja Boy on the rap, which was released to mark the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing. “I’m not too good at carrying a tune, but I do have rhythm,” Aldrin said. The song was written to promote science to the next generation: “I want kids interested in space,” Aldrin explained.

 

Buzz Aldrin ( born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and, as Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, he and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first two people to land on the Moon. He is the last surviving crew member of Apollo 11.

Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Aldrin graduated third in the class of 1951 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned into the United States Air Force, and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions and shot down two MiG-15 aircraft.

 

After earning a Doctor of Science degree in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aldrin was selected as a member of NASA's Astronaut Group 3, making him the first astronaut with a doctoral degree. His doctoral thesis was Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous, earning him the nickname "Dr. Rendezvous" from fellow astronauts. His first space flight was in 1966 on Gemini 12 during which he spent over five hours on extravehicular activity. Three years later, Aldrin set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 on July 21, 1969 (UTC), nineteen minutes after Armstrong first touched the surface, while command module pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit. A Presbyterian elder, Aldrin became the first person to hold a religious ceremony on the Moon when he privately took communion. Apollo 11 effectively proved US victory in the Space Race, by fulfilling a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy "of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" before the end of the decade.

 

Upon leaving NASA in 1971, Aldrin became Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He retired from the Air Force in 1972, after 21 years of service. His autobiographies Return to Earth (1973), and Magnificent Desolation (2009), recount his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years after leaving NASA. Aldrin continues to advocate for space exploration, particularly a human mission to Mars, and developed the Aldrin cycler, a special spacecraft trajectory that makes travel to Mars more efficient in regard to time and propellant. He has been accorded numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.  

 

If you want to read a whole lot more about Buzz, go here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin

 

 

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Whether you grow zucchini in your garden, or you're picking it up from the store, this is the game-changing zucchini recipe you need! Our recipe for Zucchini Squares is a baked zucchini dish that's made with grated cheese, lots of seasonings, and a few other ingredients, making it one of our favorite zucchini side dishes. When you serve zucchini this way, even the pickiest of eaters will be asking for seconds of their veggies.

 

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (see Note)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup biscuit baking mix
• 3 cups grated zucchini

 

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until set in center. Let cool 5 minutes, then cut into squares.

 

***If you have the time, give this extra zip by using chopped fresh garlic instead of garlic powder.

 

 

 

Historically this date........

1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.

1896 – The Tootsie Roll is invented.

1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".

1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the California coastline near Santa Barbara.

1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.

1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.

 

And births this date include...

 

1940 – Peter Fonda, American actor (d.2019)

 

 

 

 

 

1951 – Patricia Richardson, American actress

 

 

1965 – Michael Dell, American computer manufacturer

 

1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

All dog owners, remember that February 23rd is National Dog Biscuit Day! This day is also observed around the world as International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day.

 

Dog biscuits come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and flavors. They serve to reward a man’s best friend for good behavior as part of their training. Dog owners may also give a biscuit to show their canine companions just how much they love them, too. Sometimes, dog biscuits serve to deliver vitamins and medicines we may have difficulty getting our pooches to take otherwise.

 

Specialty treats offer dogs and their owners so much to chews from! Even dogs on restricted diets won’t have trouble finding a dog biscuit that’s gentle on their tummy. Others help keep teeth healthy and fresh, too! What better reward could you ask for?

 

HOW TO OBSERVE 

• Get your canine companion a dog biscuit to celebrate.
• Go for a walk to burn off any extra calories or explore the varieties available. Maybe you’ll find a new treat your furry friend loves.

 

NATIONAL DOG BISCUIT DAY HISTORY

While National Day Calendar continues to search for the origins of this day, we’re going to treat our furry friends to an extra dog biscuit to celebrate. We have no doubt a dog lover created this day, too.

 

 

 

 

Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ High School Prom at White House ~ Creamy Crunchy Onion Bake ~ National Margarita Day

  

Good 33º cloudy morning. 

 

Yesterday rain/snow was predicted... we started cloudy quite cold and as the day went so did the sun. Then we got rain. The only snow we got was up on the mountain....

 

We topped at 48º.

 

Picture of the Day .... decorate your house to look like this?

 

 

 

 

Interesting about a high school prom at the White House....

 

In 1975, spearheaded by 17-year-old First Daughter Susan Ford, students from the Holton-Arms school attended the first (and only) high-school dance to ever take place at the executive mansion. Forty years later, the lucky attendees recall the details of the night—Swedish meatballs, an intergalactic band, and a sunset cruise on the presidential yacht.

 

The White House was rocking on the night of Saturday, May 31, 1975, for the Holton-Arms School senior prom. Susan Ford, the 17-year-old daughter of the 38th president of the United States, did the bump and the hustle in the East Room until one A.M., along with her classmates and their dates.

It was the only prom ever to be held at the executive mansion, which makes it an odd event in White House social history, right up there with President Andrew Jackson’s cheese party of 1835, which saw some 10,000 visitors gobbling up a wheel of cheddar that weighed nearly 1,400 pounds, and John F. Kennedy’s more exclusive skinny-dipping shindigs in the White House pool.

Susan had been a student at the Holton-Arms School, an academy for girls in Bethesda, Maryland, since her freshman year. The members of the class of ’75 paid the cost of the prom

— $1,300—after raising funds at bake sales and school fairs.

 

Tablecloths were made out of floral pink-and-yellow sheets. The menu included those staples of 1970s cuisine, Swedish meatballs and quiche, as well as a nonalcoholic punch made of tea, lemonade, soda, grape juice, and sugar. Susan and her classmates assembled the centerpieces—candles in a setting of daisies, tulips, lilies, sweet peas, and ming fern.

“The girls wore long dresses, light makeup, casual hairdos, and, in many cases, orchid corsages,” the Associated Press reported. “Many of their escorts, in black or white tuxedos, wore boutonnieres and below-the-collar length hair.” An AP wire photo accompanying articles that ran nationwide captured Susan and her date dancing (butt) cheek to (butt) cheek, along with a caption noting that the young couple was doing “the new dance, the bump.”

“Susan, at that age, was strikingly beautiful,” says Sally Alexander, a retired English teacher at Holton-Arms, who was one of six chaperones. “And it’s a great deal of fun to watch a bunch of beautiful young girls with handsome young men, all dressed up. They were clearly excited about being where they were, but they were not uncomfortably awed. It was a beautiful affair.”

Lady, Betty Ford, were en route from Belgium to Spain as part of a diplomatic tour of Europe. In their place was the president’s sister-in-law, Janet Ford, “a small figure in a white lace dress, casting a tolerant but observant eye on the proceedings,” as The New York Times described her.

Security was not what it is now. There were no bomb-sniffing dogs or counterterrorism agents on the grounds. Still, those who planned to attend had to provide their names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers, for Secret Service review, by April 15.

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

It's simple. It's creamy. It's crunchy. It's our Creamy Crunchy Onion Bake, and it's going to impress everyone, including you. Oh yeah, we hope you're ready to get blown away by this deliciously easy onion casserole.

 

• 4 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 1 stick butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 sleeve (about 30) buttery crackers, crushed
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 (10-1/2-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (8-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

 

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a skillet, melt butter and saute onions about 10 minutes, or until clear. Add salt and pepper; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together crushed crackers, soy sauce, soup, and milk. Stir in the onions then pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve immediately.

 

 

Historically this date.....

1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.

 

1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey

team 4-3.

 

1997 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.

 

 

 

And births this date include...

1732 – George Washington, First President of the United States (d. 1799)

 

1857 – Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, British soldier, author, and founder of the Scout movement (d. 1941)

 

 

1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English founder of the Girl Guide (d. 1977)

 

 

1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)

 

 

1932 – Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, American politician (d. 2009)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball manager (d. 2010)

 

 

 

1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer (d. 2003)

 

 

1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian herpetologist (d. 2006)

 

 

1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress

 

At only 46 married and divorced 3 times!

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Margarita Day on February 22nd rims a glass with salt and serves up a beverage that tastes like the summer sun.

Known to be the most common tequila-based cocktail served in the United States, the margarita is a cocktail that consists of tequila, triple sec and lime or lemon juice. A key ingredient is the freshly squeezed lime juice.  In the United States, the most common lime is the thick-skinned Persian lime. When margaritas are made with lemons, they have a much softer taste.

When it comes to sorting out the legends associated with the origin of the margarita, there are many. Two things are certain; the cocktail included tequila, and the bartender edged the rim of the glass with salt. In Mexico, when drinking straight tequila (especially if the quality was bad), the best course of action was to down it in one swallow, suck on a wedge of lime and lick a dash of salt off the back of your hand.

It makes sense that the salt followed the lime and the tequila to the margarita glass. Today, lime is not the only flavor of margarita, and the specialists behind the bar have gotten creative mixing dried herbs, infused sugars and exotic salts to enhance both the presentation of the glass and the flavor of the cocktail.

Margaritas can be served on the rocks (shaken with ice), frozen (blended with ice), or straight up (without ice).

Legends

There are many different stories and myths, beginning as early as 1938, as to how and when the margarita was created.

In the December 1953 issue of Esquire magazine, the margarita cocktail was the “Drink of the Month.”  The recipe as printed was:

• 1 ounce tequila
• Dash of Triple Sec
• Juice of 1/2 lime or lemon

Pour over crushed ice, stir.  Rub the rim of a stem glass with rind of lemon or lime, spin in salt—pour, and sip.  (Wikipedia)

The margarita was further popularized with the 1977 release of Jimmy Buffett’s song “Margaritaville.”