Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Tom Cruise ~ Spinach and Cheese Stromboli ~ Good Friends ~ National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

  

Good 42º pouring rain morning. 

 

Yesterday we had light rain on and off and we topped at 53º.

 

Picture of the Day....I found the cake! 😁

 

 

Interesting about Tom Cruise..........

 

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. His films have grossed over $4 billion in North America and over $11.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing box-office stars of all time. He is consistently one of the world's highest-paid actors.

 

Cruise began acting in the early 1980s and made his breakthrough with leading roles in the comedy film Risky Business (1983) and action film Top Gun (1986). Critical acclaim came with his roles in the dramas The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). For his portrayal of Ron Kovic in the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. As a leading Hollywood star in the 1990s, he starred in commercially successful films, including the drama A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the romance Jerry Maguire (1996). For the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and received a second Academy Award nomination. Cruise's performance as a motivational speaker in the drama Magnolia (1999) earned him another Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

 

Since then, Cruise has largely starred in science fiction and action films, establishing himself as an action star, often performing his own risky stunts. He has played Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series since 1996. His other notable roles in the genre include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016), The Mummy (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with Maverick being his highest-grossing film.

 

Cruise was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1990, and received the top honor of "Most Beautiful People" in 1997. He has been married to actresses Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes. He adopted two children during his marriage to Kidman, and a biological daughter conceived with Holmes. Cruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology, which he credits with helping him overcome dyslexia. In the 2000s, he sparked controversy with his criticisms of psychiatry and anti-depressant drugs, and his efforts to promote Scientology. Cruise has been a close friend of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige since the 1980s.

 

^{Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to electrical engineer Thomas Cruise Mapother III (1934–1984) and special education teacher Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer; 1936–2017). His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, and had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Cruise has three sisters named Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass. One of his cousins, William Mapother, is also an actor who has appeared alongside Cruise in five films. Cruise grew up in near poverty and had a Catholic upbringing. He later described his father as "a merchant of chaos", a "bully", and a "coward" who beat his children. He elaborated, "[My father] was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life—how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, 'There's something wrong with this guy. Don't trust him. Be careful around him.'" Cruise's biological father died of cancer in 1984.}

 

^{If you want to read a lot more, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cruise}

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Need something that's classically Italian? Try our Spinach and Cheese Stromboli. Refrigerated pizza dough is our shortcut to making this tasty meal in less than 15 minutes. It's a quick and easy vegetarian stromboli recipe that's guaranteed to fill you up. We're sure you'll agree, this simple Italian dinner is unquestionably tasty.

 

 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (13.8-ounce) package refrigerated pizza dough

 

1. Preheat oven to 425º. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add spinach and garlic and sauté 3 to 5 minutes, or until garlic is golden. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, combine ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, the oregano, and salt. Add spinach mixture and stir until well blended.
4. Unroll pizza dough and with your fingertips or the heel of your hand, spread dough out to a 10- x 15-inch rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise to make two 5- x 15-inch rectangles. Spread half the spinach mixture onto each piece of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Fold each piece of dough over and pinch the edges to seal securely. Place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

 

Historically this date.......

1869 – American outlaw Jesse James commits his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.

1941 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor – The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing a declaration of war upon Japan by the United States.

 

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor Hawaii:

  

 

1963 – Instant replay is used for the first time in an Army-Navy game by its inventor, director, Tony Verna.

1987 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and himself.

 

1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.

 

 

And births this date include....

1863 – Richard Sears, American department store founder (d. 1914)

 

 

1915 – Eli Wallach, American actor (d.2014)

 

 

1923 – Ted Knight, American actor (d. 1986)

 

 

1932 – Ellen Burstyn, American actress

 

1956 – Larry Bird, American basketball player

 

 

 

Yesterday I had a really nice lunch with good friends... Dave and Nancy Perry, Mike Hannan, and Jennifer Murphy. I took pictures but for some reason they didn't come out.  

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

Each year in the United States, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day honors all those who lost their lives when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. More than 3,500 Americans lost their lives or were wounded on that solemn day.

The day marked a turn in the United States’ position regarding involvement in World War II. The Japanese attack damaged several battleships, permanently sinking both the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma. Still, others capsized, taking crew members with them. One noted ship was the USS Utah. Along with naval vessels, the attack destroyed aircraft, too. As a result, the attack forced the U.S. into a war that had been raging for two years.

The day is also sometimes referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Organizations across the country honor the memory of Pearl Harbor with tributes; survivors share their stories and join in reunions. Traditionally the Flag of the United States is flown at half-staff until sunset to honor those who lost their lives serving this nation at Pearl Harbor.

Today, Pearl Harbor offers several sites in memory of those who served during the bombing. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial dedicates sites in memory of the crews lost on December 7th, 1941. For many of the crew of the USS Utah, USS Arizona, and USS Oklahoma, Pearl Harbor is their final resting place. The memorials serve as a place of honor to those service members lost during the attack. They also provide a moving reminder of the loss war causes.

 

NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY HISTORY

On August 23, 1994, the United States Congress by Pub L 103-308, designated December 7th, of each year, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

 

 

Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Sophia Loren ~ Stacked Taco Salad ~ Saint Nicholas Day ~ Microwave Oven D

  

Good 48º dark foggy rain predicted morning.

 

 

Yesterday we topped at 55º.

 

 

Picture of the Day...watching and exciting movie 😅

 

 

Interesting about Sophia Loren..........

 

Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone OMRI (Italian: [soˈfiːa vilˈlaːni ʃʃikoˈloːne]; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren  Italian:  is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest stars of classical Hollywood cinema and is one of the last surviving major stars from the era. Loren is also the only remaining living person to appear on AFI's list of the 50 greatest stars of American film history, positioned 21st.

 

Encouraged to enroll in acting lessons after entering a beauty pageant, Loren began her film career at age sixteen in 1950. She appeared in several bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade, until her five-picture contract with Paramount in 1956 launched her international career. Her film appearances around this time include The Pride and the Passion, Houseboat, and It Started in Naples. During the 1950s, she starred in films as a sexually emancipated persona and was one of the best known sex symbols of the time.

 

Loren's performance as Cesira in the film Two Women (1961) directed by Vittorio De Sica won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first actor to win an Oscar for a non-English-language performance. She holds the record for having earned seven David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress: Two Women; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963); Marriage Italian Style (1964, for which she was nominated for a second Oscar); Sunflower (1970); The Voyage (1974); A Special Day (1977) and The Life Ahead (2020). She has won five special Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, a Grammy Award, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1991, she received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievements.

 

At the start of the 1980s, Loren chose to make rarer film appearances. Since then, she has appeared in films such as Prêt-à-porter (1994), Grumpier Old Men (1995), Nine (2009), and The Life Ahead (2020).

In June 1996, she was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 

Early life

Family and childhood

Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone was born on September 20, 1934, in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, Italy, the daughter of Romilda Villani (1910–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone Murillo (1907–1976). Her mother was a piano teacher and aspiring actress, her father a failed engineer who worked temporarily for the national railway Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. Loren claimed in her autobiography that he was of noble descent, by virtue of which she is entitled to call herself "Viscountess of Pozzuoli, Lady of Caserta, a title given by the House of Hohenstaufen, Marchioness of Licata Scicolone Murillo".

 

Loren's father refused to marry her mother, leaving her without financial support. Loren met with her father three times, at age five, age seventeen and in 1976 at his deathbed, stating that she forgave him but had never forgotten his abandonment of her mother.^[7][8] Loren's parents had another child together, her sister Maria, in 1938. Scicolone did not want to formally recognize Maria as his daughter. When Loren became successful, she paid her father in order to have her sister Maria take the Scicolone last name. Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe. Romilda, Sofia, and Maria lived with Loren's grandmother in Pozzuoli, near Naples.

 

During the Second World War, the harbor and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives. After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Loren's grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Romilda played the piano, Maria sang, and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.

 

Pageantry

At age 15, Loren as Sofia Lazzaro entered the Miss Italia 1950 beauty pageant and was assigned as Candidate No. 2, being one of the four contestants representing the Lazio region. She was selected as one of the last three finalists and won the title of Miss Elegance 1950, while Liliana Cardinale won the title of Miss Cinema and Anna Maria Bugliari won the grand title of Miss Italia. She returned in 2001 as president of the jury for the 61st edition of the pageant. In 2010, Loren crowned the 71st Miss Italia pageant winner.

 

Marriage and family

Loren first met Ponti in 1950, when she was 15 and he was 37. Though Ponti had been long separated from his first wife, Giuliana, he was not legally divorced when Loren married him by proxy (two male lawyers stood in for them) in Mexico on 17 September 1957. The couple had their marriage annulled in 1962 to escape bigamy charges, but continued to live together. In 1965, they became French citizens after their application was approved by then French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou. Ponti then obtained a divorce from Giuliana in France, allowing him to marry Loren on 9 April 1966.

 

Affair with Cary Grant

Loren and Cary Grant co-starred in Houseboat (1958). Grant's wife Betsy Drake wrote the original script, and Grant originally intended that she would star with him. After he began an affair with Loren while filming The Pride and the Passion (1957), Grant arranged for Loren to take Drake's place with a rewritten script for which Drake asked to not receive credit. The affair ended in bitterness before The Pride and the Passion's filming ended, causing problems on the Houseboat set. Grant hoped to resume the relationship, but Loren decided to marry Carlo Ponti instead.

 

^{If you want to read a lot more, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Loren}

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

This Stacked Taco Salad is a great main course dish that looks great on any party or dinner table. It's a hearty salad that you can put together in a flash!

 

 

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (1-1/4-ounce) package dry taco seasoning mix
• 1 medium head iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (6-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14-1/2-ounce) can corn, drained
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 (2-1/4-ounce) cans sliced black olives, drained
• 1 (14-1/2-ounce) bag tortilla chips, crushed
• 1 (16-ounce) bottle sweet-and-spicy French salad dressing

 

1. In a medium skillet, brown ground beef with taco seasoning mix over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat; drain and cool.
    
2. In an extra-large salad bowl, layer half the lettuce then half the cheese, beans, corn, ground beef, tomatoes, and olives. Repeat layers then top with crushed tortilla chips. Just before serving, add dressing and toss to coat well.

 

 

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

1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica is published.

1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.

 

1877 – The first edition of the Washington Post is published.

 

1877 – Thomas Edison, using his new phonograph, makes one of the earliest recordings of a human voice, reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

 

1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is completed.

 

1897 – London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs.

 

 

And births this date include....

1900 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (d. 1974)

 

1920 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (d. 2012)

 

 

 

 

1924 – Wally Cox, American actor (d. 1973)

 

 

 

1928 – Bobby Van, American singer (d. 1980)

 

 

 

1948 – JoBeth Williams, American actress

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

On December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day recognizes the third-century saint who became an inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas is known for selling all his possessions and giving his money to the poor. Raised as a devout Christian, St. Nicholas dedicated his whole life to serving the sick and suffering.

Legendary stories about St. Nicholas later become part of the inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus. For example, during the third century, a daughter’s chances of marriage increased when her father offered a large dowry to prospective husbands. One story tells of a poor father with three daughters. He had no dowry to offer.

Traditionally, shoes were left by fires at night so they could dry. On three separate occasions, Ol’ St. Nicholas provided a dowry for each girl. It is said, he made gold appear in their shoes, drying by the fire.

While St. Nicholas Day is not to be confused with Christmas, there are similarities. Traditions include leaving gifts in shoes (or stockings) or the exchange of small gifts. Another tradition suggests leaving treats for good boys and girls. However, the naughty ones receive a twig or chunk of coal.

Interesting facts associated with St. Nicholas:

• He is the patron saint of a great many causes. Some of the causes include sailors, travelers, clergy, school children, and thieves, to name a few.
• He was born in the village of Patar, which was located on the southeastern coast of modern-day Turkey.
• Buried in a tomb in Myra, water believed to have healing powers formed in his grave. It is called the Manna of Saint Nicholas.
• December 6th is also known as The Feast of St. Nicholas and is widely celebrated in Europe.

ST. NICHOLAS DAY HISTORY

St. Nicholas Day is celebrated worldwide on the anniversary of his death, December 6th. 

Today is also............

On December 6th, National Microwave Oven Day honors one appliance that changed the way we use the kitchen. 

Quite by accident, self-taught American engineer Percy Spencer discovered a way to heat food safely with microwaves. While working with an active radar in 1945, he noticed a candy bar in his pocket was melting. The high-powered microwave beams created a heating effect ideal for cooking. Spencer deliberately attempted cooking popcorn with the microwaves. Next, he tried cooking an egg. The egg test was less successful than the popcorn. It exploded in his fellow engineer’s face! However, we can cook eggs in microwave ovens. Try poaching one. 

Spencer, employed by Raytheon, continued experimenting with different methods of heating food safely with microwaves.

• Raytheon filed a United States patent application for Spencer’s microwave cooking process on October 8, 1945.
• In 1947, Raytheon built the first commercially available microwave oven. It was called the “Radarange.”
• An estimated 90% of homes in the United States have a microwave in them.

HOW TO OBSERVE 

The microwave oven is more than an elaborate popcorn popper. Use this celebration to explore the many uses of the microwave oven. We’ve provided a few suggestions to get you started, but we also encourage you to share your favorites, too!

• make crispy bacon (and you won’t get burned either)
• melt chocolate for all that holiday dipping
• heat rice or bean-filled hot pads for achy muscles
• steam vegetables
• soften brown sugar
• dry herbs
• loosen labels from jars

While testing these ideas out, take some time to clean your microwave, too. Steam a wet cloth for a minute on high and let stand for another minute. The steam softens any build-up. Then, wipe your microwave down with a little hot soapy water to remove any greasy splatter.