~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
February 7, 2012

Post Updated: February 7, 2013

Snow Moon

★~ Today’s Quote: If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, I guess it’s pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting. Laura Ingalls WIlder

★~ Full Moon – Named “Snow Moon”  by Native American tribes of New England and the Great Lakes because this time of year generally has heavy snowfalls. The February full moon is also called the Hunger Moon, because of the meager hunting at this time of winter.

★~ Wave All you Fingers at Your Neighbor Day:

Not one, not two, not even three! Make sure you wave all your fingers at your neighbor today. That’s right, turn to the person on your right, put on a big smile and… jazz hands!

★~ Fettuccine Alfredo Day:

Fettuccine Alfredo was first created by Alfredo de Lelio in Rome in 1914. Though it was an instant success in Italy, it did not become popular in other parts of the world until after World War II.

Fettuccine noodles are wider and flatter than linguine. They also have flat edges, unlike round spaghetti noodles. The translation of the word “fettuccine” in English is “little slices” of pasta. Pasta was designed in various shapes and textures in order to hold sauces differently in certain dishes? Wide noodles (like fettuccine) work best with cream sauces.

To celebrate National Fettuccine Alfredo Day, Cook your fettuccine in boiling water with a little bit of salt until al dente. Drain. Add melted butter, grated parmesan cheese, heavy cream and toss it all with a bit of seasoning. Sprinkle with a bit more parm and serve. Add broccoli or chicken for a contemporary twist!

Bon appétit!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1827 – Ballet was introduced to the US by renowned French danseuse Francisquy Hutin with a performance of The Deserter, staged at the Bowery Theater, New York, NY. A minor scandal erupted when the ladies in the lower boxes left the theater upon viewing the light and scanty attire of Mme Hutin and her troupe.

♥~ 1964 – More than 3,000 fans jammed JFK Airport in New York City as Beatlemania invaded the U.S. The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived for their first U.S. visit (including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show). The ‘Fab Four’ controlled the top spot on the pop music charts for the next 15 weeks and owned the top of the album charts for 10 weeks. Meet The Beatles, indeed!

♥~ 1985 – New York, New York became the official anthem of the Big Apple. The announcement was made by then New York mayor, Ed “How’m I Doin’?” Koch. Sinatra fans rejoiced at the honor.

♥~ 1986 – History’s most productive duck died in Princes Risborough, Great Britain. The Aylesbury duck laid 457 eggs in 463 days, including 375 days in a row.

♥~ 1987 – Madonna’s Open Your Heart hit #1 in the U.S. It was the third straight number-one single from her True Blue album.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1478 – Sir Thomas More ‘Man for All Seasons’: statesman, author; found guilty of treason: beheaded July 6, 1535; sainted in 1935

♥~ 1812 – Charles Dickens novelist: David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist; died June 9, 1870

♥~ 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder writer: Little House series including Little House on the Prairie and Little House in the Big Woods; died Feb 10, 1957…..”Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs….

♥~ 1960 – James Spader Emmy Award-winning actor: Boston Legal [2004, 2005, 2007]; The Practice, Crash, Wolf, Stargate, True Colors, sex, lies and videotape, Wall Street, Mannequin, Endless Love, The Family Tree

♥~ 1962 – (Troyal) Garth Brooks Grammy Award-winning singer: In Another’s Eyes [1998 w/Trisha Yearwood]; Friends in Low Places, The Thunder Rolls; LPs: Ropin’ the Wind[first LP in history to debut at #1 on Billboard’s pop and country charts], The Chase, In Pieces, Fresh Horses, Sevens, Double Live; has sold over 80 million albums — second only to The Beatles

♥~ 1962 – David Bryan musician: keyboard: group: Bon Jovi

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Ballet began 500 years ago in Italy as a form of court entertainment and later spread to the courts of France. The first full-scale ballet, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine (The Comic Ballet of the Queen), was staged in Paris on October 15, 1581. Written for the court of Hanry III of France, this lavish entertainment included songs, speeches, mimes, and dances and lasted almost six hours!

♥~Ballets five basic foot positions were devised in the 18th century by Pierre Beauchamps, ballet master to King Louis XIV of France. Beauchamps created the positions so that a dancer’s weight would be evenly distributed over her feet for any body position.

♥~Pointe shoes are handmade. Their toe boxes are painted or “blocked” with glue, then baked in ovens to stiffen and strengthen them. Some professional dancers can go through 20 pairs of ballet shoes a week; in fact, some can wear out a pair of pointe shoes in one hour. On average, England’s Royal Ballet troupe goes through 15,000 pairs of pointe shoes a year!

♥~ A male dancer lifts over 1-1/2 tons worth of ballerinas during performances. A three-hour ballet performance is roughly equivalent to two 90-minute soccer games back to back or running 18 miles.

♥~Every time a dancer jumps on pointe, three times her body weight is carried on the tip of her big toe.

♥~The English National Ballet company uses one and a half miles of ballet shoe ribbon per year

♥~The professional Tutu uses 10-12 meters of fabric and there are between 10 and 12 layers of net in the skirt. Each tutu takes over 40 hours to make and they are all made by hand. (English National Ballet Company)

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Tuesday is Rant Day (a tradition we started on El Morno’s Facebook page), so please feel free to rant about anything—anything at all. In Chicago, we all feel a little cheated that we cannot rant about the weather since it has remained unseasonably warm. Worse, friends and family members in warmer parts of the country don’t understand when they comment on our “chilly temperatures” and we find ourselves saying to them, “It’s February. Forty degrees is NOT cold!”

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

Odd Loves Company,