~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 2nd, 2011

★~ Today’s Quote: “It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches.” Lemony Snicket.

★~ Ice Cream Sandwich Day:

Childhood memories and refreshingly cool freezer temperatures make ice cream sandwiches FUN. These delicious ice cream sandwiches have been around since the early 1900s. Vanilla, chocolate or a combination of the two, are the most popular. Our Aussie friends enjoy “Giant Sandwiches and Maxibons. In Scotland, the treats are called “sliders.” But the most exotic ice cream sandwiches are sold in Singapore, and popular flavors include red bean, yam, and honeydew.

According to El Morno-er Teresa, the best way to celebrate National Ice Cream Sandwich Day is to grab an ice cream sandwich out of your fridge, tear off its wrapper, and savor it while it melts in your mouth. “The sweet cream and chocolate outer cake layer combination will surpass any ecstatic cold novelty you dare to venture upon.”

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1769 – The city of Los Angeles was named on this day. Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish army captain, and Juan Crespi, a Franciscan priest, stopped on their way north from San Diego. They really liked the area and decided to name it Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula. It means Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula — Porciuncula being a chapel in Italy.

♥~ 1824 – Fifth Avenue was opened in New York City. It became one of the most famous thoroughfares in the world, the home of many beautiful, fashionable stores.

♥~ 1876 – Wild Bill (James Butler) Hickok was gunned down by Jack McCall, a desperado from Texas, in Saloon #10 at Deadwood, in the Dakota Territory. Hickok was playing poker (with his back to the door) at the time of the shooting. McCall shot Wild Bill in the back, and was hanged for the shooting, never revealing his motive. The poker hand Hickok was holding when he died consisted of a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This combination became known as the dead man’s hand.

♥~ 1945-  Norma Jean Dougherty filled out an application for the Blue Book Modeling Agency. Later, she would change her name to Marilyn Monroe.

♥~ 1984 – Charles Schulz’ award-winning comic strip was picked up by the Daily Times in Portsmouth, OH. With the addition of that paper, Peanuts, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Pigpen, Linus, Peppermint Pattie, Woodstock and the gang, became the first comic strip to appear in 2,000 newspapers.

♥~ 1998- A woman called San Francisco Animal Control to complain that an iguana was “staring at” her cat. The “iguana” turned out to be a 4-foot crocodile named Ernest, who escaped while his owner was moving. Though he reported Ernest missing, the owner kept moving because it’s illegal to own a crocodile in San Francisco.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1834 – Frederic Bartholdi sculptor: Statue of Liberty, Lion of Belfort; died Oct 4, 1904

♥~ 1892 – Jack L. (Leonard) Warner (Eichelbaum) movie mogul: one of Hollywood’s famed Warner Brothers; died Sep 9, 1978

♥~ 1914 – Beatrice Straight Academy Award-winning actress: Network [1976]; Poltergeist, Bloodline, Endless Love; Tony Award: The Crucible [1953]; died Apr 7, 2001

♥~ 1924 – Carroll O’Connor Emmy Award-winning actor: All in the Family, Cleopatra, The Devil’s Brigade, In Harm’s Way, Kelly’s Heroes, Marlowe; died June 21, 2001

♥~ 1932 – Peter O’Toole actor: Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, A Lion in Winter, The Last Emperor; autobiography: Loitering with Intent

♥~ 1945 – Joanna Cassidy actress: Boston Legal, Six Feet Under, Blade Runner, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Under Fire, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Package, Buffalo Bill

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ The ice cream sandwich ranks as the second best-selling ice cream novelty in America.

♥~ The average number of ice cream sandwiches eaten per second nationally is 48.

♥~ if all the ice cream sandwiches made last year were placed end to end, they would circle Earth 3 1/2 times.

♥~ The 30-44 age group buys the most ice cream sandwiches.

♥~ The eastern seaboard consumes almost 50 percent of all ice cream sandwiches.

♥~ The ice cream sandwich is so American it is sold at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

★~ Odd Town Names: 

♥~ Penistone, England:  ‘PENNIS-tun is a thriving Yorksjire town and  loosely means farm village.

♥~ Boring, Oregon: The community was named after W. H. Boring, an early resident of the area

♥~ Fucking, Austria: It is believed that the settlement was founded in the 6th century by Focko, a Bavarian nobleman. Fucking means “(place of) Focko’s people.

♥~ Crapstone, England: How the name crapstone came about is unclear but theories put forth by various residents included “place of the rocks,” “a kind of twisting of the original word,” “something to do with the soil” and “something to do with Sir Francis Drake,” who lived nearby.

♥~ Accident, Maryland: According to the book Labels for Locals by Paul Dickson, a person from Accident is called an “Accidental”

♥~ Fucking, Austria:  The settlement was founded in the 6th century by Focko, a Bavarian nobleman. Fucking means “(place of) Focko’s people.

♥~ Hell, Michigan:  Soon after Michigan gained statehood, George Reeves was asked what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and replied, “I don’t care, you can name it Hell for all I care.” The name became official on October 13, 1841.

♥~ Hooker, Oklahoma: John (Hooker) Thelkeld was so nicknamed after General “Fighting Joe” of Civil War fame, or maybe his nickname came from being a top notch hooker-of cattle. However his nickname came to be the town of Hooker,Oklahoma was named after John “Hooker” Threlkeld.

♥~ Embarrass, Minn:  Named after the river Rivière d’Embarras—best translated as “River of Obstacles” or “River of Obstructions.” Frustrated French priests and fur trappers helped dub the town back in the 1700s, as they tried to navigate the twisty, driftwood-strewn river that flows through the area.

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I am so glad that today’s food of the day (the Ice Cream Sandwich) can simply be unwrapped and savored. I am ready to give my mixer the day off!

For those of you playing “food of the day” with us, here are the foods we will celebrate for the rest of the week.

August 3rd: Wednesday: Watermelon Day– isn’t that just perfect–Wednesday- Watermelon, you get it right? Both Wednesday AND Watermelon start with a W.

August 4th: Thursday: Lasagna Day– Does anyone have a recipe for barbecued lasagna?

August 5th: Friday: International Beer Day– Celebrate the beer of your choice.

August 6th: Saturday: Root beer Float Day– Summer Saturday Toast with the kids!

Sunday 7th: Raspberries and Cream Day– My favorite way to eat fresh raspberries.

If you celebrate the food of –the day, send Odd a picture of your food!

At the end of August we will randomly draw from all the pictures and the winner will receive some home-made goodies specially prepared for them by Emily or Cousin Carla– I think, but I haven’t asked them yet. I just came up with this idea!

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday! I will be back later so we can muse together about Raspberry Cake and Raspberry Cream Pie! If you have a morno moment leave an El Morno comment…Odd Loves Company!