Full Moon ~ Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ President John Adams ~ Diner-Style Salisbury Steak ~ National Irish Coffee Day

  

Good 43º morning.

 

Be careful out there, full moon!

 

Yesterday we topped at 59º.

 

 

Picture of the Day😁

 

 

Interesting about President John Adams.....

 

John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain. During the latter part of the Revolutionary War and in the early years of the new nation, he served the U.S. government as a senior diplomat in Europe. Adams was the first person to hold the office of vice president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. He was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with important contemporaries, including his wife and adviser Abigail Adams and his friend and political rival Thomas Jefferson.

 

A lawyer and political activist prior to the Revolution, Adams was devoted to the right to counsel and presumption of innocence. He defied anti-British sentiment and successfully defended British soldiers against murder charges arising from the Boston Massacre. Adams was a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress and became a leader of the revolution. He assisted Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and was its primary advocate in Congress. As a diplomat he helped negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain and secured vital governmental loans. Adams was the primary author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which influenced the United States Constitution, as did his essay Thoughts on Government.

 

Adams was elected to two terms as vice president under President George Washington and was elected as the United States' second president in 1796. He was the only president elected under the banner of the Federalist Party. During his term, Adams encountered fierce criticism from the Jeffersonian Republicans and from some in his own party, led by his rival Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the Army and Navy in the undeclared naval war with France. He was the first president to reside in the White House.

 

In his bid in 1800 for reelection to the presidency, opposition from Federalists and accusations of despotism from Jeffersonians led to Adams losing to his vice president and former friend Jefferson, and he retired to Massachusetts. He eventually resumed his friendship with Jefferson by initiating a continuing correspondence. He and Abigail generated the Adams political family, including their son John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. John Adams died on July 4, 1826 – the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Adams and his son are the only presidents of the first twelve who never owned slaves. Historians and scholars have favorably ranked his administration.

 

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, to John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston. He had two younger brothers, Peter and Elihu. Adams was born on the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. His mother was from a leading medical family of present-day Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was a deacon in the Congregational Church, a farmer, a cordwainer, and a lieutenant in the militia. Adams often praised his father and recalled their close relationship. Adams's great-great-grandfather Henry Adams immigrated to Massachusetts from Braintree, Essex, England, around 1638.

 

In time, Adams grew close to Abigail. They were married on October 25, 1764, despite the opposition of Abigail's mother. The pair shared a love of books and proved honest in their praise and criticism of each other. After his father's death in 1761, Adams had inherited a 9+1⁄2-acre farm and a house where they lived until 1783.

 

John and Abigail had six children: Abigail (known "Nabby") in 1765, John Quincy in 1767, Susanna in 1768, Charles in 1770, Thomas in 1772, and Elizabeth in 1777. Susanna died when she was one year old, while Elizabeth was stillborn. All three of Adams' sons became lawyers. Charles and Thomas were unsuccessful, became alcoholics, and died at a relatively young age. In contrast, John Quincy excelled and launched a political career, eventually becoming president himself.

 

^{Adams was sworn into office as the nation's second president on March 4, 1797. He followed Washington's lead in using the presidency to exemplify republican values and civic virtue, and his service was free of scandal. Adams spent much of his term at his Massachusetts home Peacefield, preferring the quietness of domestic life to business at the capital. He ignored the political patronage and office-seeking which other officeholders utilized.}

 

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

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

SERVES

4

COOK TIME

20 Min

This comforting dinner was popular in homes and diners across the country during the '50s and '60s. Our Diner-Style Salisbury Steak is beefy, hearty, and smothered in a flavor-packed mushroom gravy. To serve it the classic way, don't forget the green peas on the side!

 

• 1 1/2 pound ground beef
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (12-ounce) jar beef gravy
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

 

1. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray.
    
2. In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, scallions, bread crumbs, egg, mustard, salt, and pepper; mix well. Shape into four 1/2 inch-thick oval patties.
    
3. Heat skillet over medium heat; cook patties 5 to 7 minutes per side or until no pink remains.
    
4. Add gravy, water, horseradish, and mushrooms and cook 6 to 8 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally.
   
   

***Each serving makes a hearty meal, so you can certainly make smaller portions - just form the mixture into six or eight smaller patties.

***This recipe is inspired by the 1970s TV show, Happy Days. We're sure that "The Fonz," Richie, and the rest of the Cunninghams enjoyed this meal for dinner many times.

 

 

 

 

Historically this date........

1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.

1971 – Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.

1996 – Billy Bailey became the last person to be hanged in the United States of America.

2011 – Egyptian Revolution of 2011 begins in Egypt, with a series of street demonstrations, marches, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, and throughout other cities in Egypt.

 

And births this date include....

1931 – Dean Jones, American actor (d.2015)

1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (d. 1977)

 

1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress

 

1951 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (d. 1975)

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Irish Coffee Day kicks off January 25th each year with a mug of strong coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar, and topped with a layer of cream.

On a cold, wet day in 1942 weary travelers to the small Shannon Airport in southwest Ireland found their way to a restaurant and chef Joe Sheridan. To warm his guests, he served them hot coffee, spiked with whiskey and topped with whipped cream. The passengers asked if the beverage was Brazilian coffee. Sheridan responded that it was Irish coffee.

A travel writer, Stanton Delaplane, brought Irish coffee to the United States after having it at Shannon Airport.

Delaplane brought the idea to the Buena Vista Cafe on November 10, 1952. After much trial and error, sampling, and a trip back to Ireland for a taste of the original, Delaplane, along with Buena Vista owners Jack Koeppler and George Freeberg, were able to replicate the delicious coffee and the method for floating the cream on top of the coffee.

How to Make an Authentic Irish Coffee

Starting with a warm glass, fill 2/3 full of freshly brewed coffee. Stir in a heaping teaspoon of sugar.  Add 1 ounce of Irish whiskey.

Adding the cream, so it floats is the tricky part. According to the Buena Vista account, and at the suggestion of San Francisco’s mayor, a dairyman, cream that is 48 hours old, is best. However, others recommend whipping cream (not whipped cream) that has been lightly whipped or foamed.

When the coffee has stopped swirling from stirring in the sugar, pour the foamy cream over the back of a spoon.

Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ President Herbert Hoover ~ Dad's Beer Marinated Steak ~ National Peanut Butter Day

  

Good 46º raining morning.

 

 

Yesterday we started off cold and foggy......

Then we got some sunshine and some blue sky and topped at 60º.

 

 

Picture of the Day 😁

 

 

Interesting about President Herbert Hoover

 

 

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933. A member of the Republican Party, he held office during the onset of the Great Depression. A self-made man who became wealthy as a mining engineer, before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium, served as the director of the U.S. Food Administration, and served as the U.S. secretary of commerce.

 

Born to a Quaker family in West Branch, Iowa, Hoover grew up in Oregon. He was one of the first graduates of the new Stanford University in 1895. He took a position with a London-based mining company working in Australia and China. He rapidly became a wealthy mining engineer. In 1914, the outbreak of World War I, he organized and headed the Commission for Relief in Belgium, an international relief organization that provided food to occupied Belgium. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, president Woodrow Wilson appointed Hoover to lead the Food Administration. He became famous as his country's "food czar". After the war, Hoover led the American Relief Administration, which provided food to the starving millions in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Russia. Hoover's wartime service made him a favorite of many progressives, and he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the 1920 U.S. presidential election.

 

Hoover served as the secretary of commerce under presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Hoover was an unusually active and visible Cabinet member, becoming known as "Secretary of Commerce and Under-Secretary of all other departments." He was influential in the development of air travel and radio. He led the federal response to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Hoover won the Republican nomination in the 1928 presidential election and defeated Democratic candidate Al Smith in a landslide. In 1929, Hoover assumed the presidency during a period of widespread economic stability. However, during his first year in office, the stock market crashed, signaling the onset of the Great Depression, which dominated Hoover's presidency. Hoover's response to the depression was widely seen as lackluster and he scapegoated Mexican Americans for the economic crisis. Approximately 1.5-2 million Mexican Americans were forcibly "repatriated" to Mexico in a forced migration campaign known as the Mexican Repatriation — a majority of them were born in the United States.

 

In the midst of the Great Depression, Hoover was decisively defeated by Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. Hoover's retirement was over 31 years long, one of the longest presidential retirements. He authored numerous works and became increasingly conservative in retirement. He strongly criticized Roosevelt's foreign policy and the New Deal. In the 1940s and 1950s, public opinion of Hoover improved largely due to his service in various assignments for presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, including chairing the influential Hoover Commission. Critical assessments of his presidency by historians and political scientists generally rank him as a significantly below-average president, although Hoover has received praise for his actions as a humanitarian and public official.

 

When Hoover graduated from Stanford in 1895, the country was in the midst of the Panic of 1893 and he initially struggled to find a job. He worked in various low-level mining jobs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains until persuading prominent mining engineer Louis Janin to hire him. After working as a mine scout for a year, Hoover was hired by Bewick, Moreing & Co. ("Bewick"), a London-based company that operated gold mines in Western Australia.^[28] He first went to Coolgardie, then the center of the Eastern Goldfields, which was actually in Western Australia, receiving a $5,000 salary (equivalent to $175,880 in 2022). Conditions were harsh in the goldfields; Hoover described the Coolgardie and Murchison rangelands on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert as a land of "black flies, red dust and white heat".

 

Hoover traveled constantly across the Outback to evaluate and manage the company's mines. He convinced Bewick to purchase the Sons of Gwalia gold mine, which proved to be one of the most successful mines in the region. Partly due to Hoover's efforts, the company eventually controlled approximately 50 percent of gold production in Western Australia. Hoover brought in many Italian immigrants to cut costs and counter the labour movement of the Australian miners. During his time with the mining company, Hoover became opposed to measures such as a minimum wage and workers' compensation, feeling that they were unfair to owners. Hoover's work impressed his employers, and in 1898 he was promoted to junior partner. An open feud developed between Hoover and his boss, Ernest Williams, but Bewick's leaders defused the situation by offering Hoover a compelling position in China.

 

^{During his senior year at Stanford, Hoover became smitten with a classmate named Lou Henry, though his financial situation precluded marriage at that time. The daughter of a banker from Monterey, California, Lou Henry decided to study geology at Stanford after attending a lecture delivered by John C. Branner. Immediately after earning a promotion in 1898, Hoover cabled Lou Henry, asking her to marry him. After she cabled back her acceptance of the proposal, Hoover briefly returned to the United States for their wedding. They would remain married until Lou Henry Hoover's death in 1944. Hoover was the first president to be a widower since Woodrow Wilson.}

 

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

 

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

SERVES

4

CHILL TIME

2 Hr

COOK TIME

10 Min

We combined two of Dad's favorites to come up with this recipe for Dad's Beer Marinated Steak. It's our outrageous marinade that makes this flank steak so mouthwatering and rich-tasting. Make this for him on Father's Day or any day and you'll definitely impress him.

 

• 1 (12-ounce) can beer
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank steak
• Sea salt for sprinkling
• Black pepper for sprinkling

 

1. In a large resealable plastic bag or glass baking dish, combine beer, soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic; mix well.
2. Place steak in marinade and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, turning meat occasionally.
3. Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove steak from marinade and discard excess marinade.
4. Grill steak 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until center is cooked to medium-rare or desired doneness. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper, then slice on an angle across the grain, and serve.

 

 

Historically this date.......

1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.

 

 

1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.

 

1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.

 

 

1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.

 

 

1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.

 

 

1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

 

 

1989 – Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison

 

 

And births this date include....

1917 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d.2012)

 

1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer

 

1943 – Sharon Tate, American actress and Manson murder victim (d. 1969)

 

1949 – John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982)

 

1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast

               

1983 – Scott Speed, American race car driver

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Peanut Butter Day on January 24th recognizes an American staple in our pantries. Whether creamy or chunky, with chocolate or with jelly, peanut butter gets the recognition it deserves each year on this day.

The early peanut butter made by the Aztecs and Incas around 1000 BC was more of a paste and not nearly as creamy as the peanut butter we know now.

Peanut butter didn’t become widely used until the 20th century. First, the peanut had to be considered more than animal feed, which was until the late 1800s. At the turn of the century, inventions that made planting, cultivating and harvesting the legume (the peanut isn’t a nut at all) made it possible to see the peanut as a retail and wholesale food item. (See more by visiting National Peanut Day -September 13)

Peanut butter is a good source of vitamin E, B6, niacin, calcium, potassium and iron, is packed with protein and is rich in healthy monounsaturated fat.

Bringing Peanut Butter to the Masses

We can thank four men for the inventions and processes that bring us the creamy, smooth peanut butter we enjoy today: Marcus Gilmore Edson of Canada, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, Dr. Ambrose Straub of St. Louis, Missouri and chemist Joseph Rosefield.

In 1884, Edson developed a process to make peanut paste from milling roasted peanuts between two heated plates. The famous cereal maker and health food specialist of the time, Kellogg, patented a process with raw peanuts in 1895. Dr. Straub is responsible for patenting a peanut butter making machine in 1903.

Peanut butter was introduced to audiences at the 1904 Universal Exposition in St. Louis at C.H. Sumner’s concession stand.

But the man who brought us the peanut butter we know and love today was Joseph Rosefield. In 1922, through homogenization, Rosefield was able to keep peanut oil from separating from the peanut solids. He later sold the patent to a company that began making Peter Pan peanut butter. Rosefield then went into business for himself selling Skippy peanut butter through Rosefield Packing. He also supplied peanut butter for military rations during World War II.

 

I love peanut butter especially with chocolate.... love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and also a Hershey bar slathered with peanut butter!