~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 29, 2011

Updated: 8/29/2012: 

★~ Today’s Quote: “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” Mary Poppins

★~ Lemon Juice Day:

The natural way to think of using lemons is to squeeze them over everything from chicken to ice-tea. However lemons are as helpful to the homemaker as they are to the cook!  Use them as an air freshener, a degreaser, and for cleaning wooden cutting boards. Toss a quartered lemon down your garbage disposal after you have run some ice through it to help freshen it up.

★~ More Herbs-Less Salt Day:

The harvest of garden herbs is at a peak, and there is nothing better than fresh garden herbs in your favorite recipes. More Herbs, Less Salt Day encourages you to take the simple step to use herbs in home-cooked dishes in place of salt. It doesn’t take much room or effort to grow a variety of fresh herbs, and a little rosemary, thyme, mint, or other herb can do just as much to enrich a dish as a heavy dose of salt.

★~ Chop Suey Day:

The origins of this Chinese-American dish are disputed. Some say that Chinese immigrants created the dish, while others insist that the dish is traditionally Chinese. But really, do we care? The name comes from Cantonese and means “odds and ends.” This stew is simply made from many different ingredients mixed together, such as egg, meat, and vegetables (don’t forget the herbs and lemon). Then, it is served over rice or with noodles.

Tonight you could make chop suey, or you could make reservations or call in an order to your favorite Chinese restaurant. Chop, chop!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1886 – Li Hung-Chang’s chef devised a tasty dish in New York City. It satisfied both American and Oriental tastes. The delicacy was called chop suey. Who was Li Hung-Chang, you ask? He was China’s Ambassador to the United States.

♥~ 1964 – Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman was released. It hit number one (for 3 weeks) on September 26th and became the biggest of his career. Oh, Pretty Woman was Orbison’s second #1 hit. The other was Running Scared (6/05/61).

♥~ 1964 – Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins was released. The family musical comedy fantasy stars Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke as Bert/Mr. Dawes, Sr., with help from David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Reta Shaw, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Ed Wynn, Jane Darwell, Arthur Malet and James Logan. The movie was supercallifragilisticexpialidocious!

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1809 – Oliver Wendell Holmes physician, author: The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Elsie Venner; poet: Old Ironsides; died Oct 7, 1894

♥~ 1915 – Ingrid Bergman Academy Award-winning actress: Gaslight [1944], Anastasia [1966], Murder on the Orient Express [1974]; Casablanca; Emmy Award-winner: The Turn of the Screw [1959-60],A Woman Called Golda [1981-82]; died Aug 29, 1982

♥~ 1935 – William Friedkin Academy Award-winning director: The French Connection [1971]; The Exorcist, To Live & Die in LA, The Boys in the Band

♥~ 1938 – Elliott Gould (Goldstein) actor: Bob & Carol, Ted & Alice, M*A*S*H, The Long Good-Bye, The Night They Raided Minsky’s

♥~ 1958 – Michael Jackson ‘King of Pop’: singer, entertainer; died Jun 25, 2009; see King of Pop Day [above]

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Lemon trees bloom and produce fruit year-round. Each tree can produce between 500 and 600 pounds of lemons in a year.

♥~ Next time you have a sore throat, reach for a lemon! Add the juice of one lemon to an equal amount of hot water for an anti-bacterial gargle.

♥~ Food historians say lemons have been in cultivation around the Mediterranean from as early as the first century A.D.

♥~ High in vitamin C, lemons prevent scurvy, a disease that causes bleeding gums, loose teeth and aching joints. To this day, the British Navy requires ships to carry enough lemons so that every sailor can have one ounce of juice a day.

♥~ The demand for lemons and their scurvy-preventing properties hit a peak during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Miners were willing to pay huge sums for a single lemon. As a result, lemon trees were planted in abundance throughout California.

♥~ During the European Renaissance, fashionable ladies used lemon juice as a way to redden their lips.

♥~ California and Arizona produce 95% of the entire U.S. lemon crop.

★~ Odd Things: You may not know about Michael Jackson:

♥~ Jackson’s Patented Anti-Gravity Boot: Michael Jackson invented and patented special  boots that allowed the wearer to lean so far forward that it seems to defy gravity. He used these for the famous “lean” in the “Smooth Criminal” music video.

♥~ Bubble the Chimp, Michael’s best friend: In 1985, a three-year-old chimpanzee named Bubbles was rescued from a Texas cancer research center by Michael Jackson. From that moment on, Bubbles went everywhere with Jackson, becoming his constant companion and purported best friend,

♥~ Billie Jean was the first MTV video by a black artist: “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson was the first video by a black artist to be on air on MTV (1983).

♥~ Michael Jackson’s Video Game: Back when Jackson was merely a semi-eccentric star, Sega created a video game property for him, named Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. Moonwalker was notable for being an early example of real-life celebrities appearing in video games, and for using digitized versions of some of Jackson’s songs.

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Mary Poppins is such a great musical. I loved it when I was a kid and I would love it all over again if I watched it tomorrow.  The story, the songs…well it’s just practically perfect in every way!

Do you have a lemon tip to share?  I think that I read once that lemons will whitening the tips of your finger nails–

If you have an El Morno moment leave a comment….Odd Loves Company!

Merry Monday!

♥
Kb