~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥

April 19th, 2012

★~ National High Five Day! 

Today is all about celebrating the high five and giving high fives to everyone you meet, including friends, classmates, coworkers, and strangers. A group of students at the University of Virginia declared the first National High Five Day in 2002. Today, people all across the country celebrate this unique holiday and help raise money for the National High Five Project.

Want to know the trick for the perfect high five? Look at the other person’s elbow as you are about to high five them. You’ll have a perfectly accurate high five every time. Happy National High Five Day! ^5!

★~ Amaretto Day: 

Amaretto is a popular Italian liqueur that is commonly added to many dishes and beverages. The almond flavoring comes from apricot kernel oil, burnt sugar, and spices. The word “amaretto” means slightly bitter? This refers to the occasional bitter aftertaste of amaretto.

This liqueur can be served by itself, on the rocks, or added to beverages such as mixed drinks or coffee. Amaretto is also used in cooking meat, fish, and vegetables for its almond flavoring. It can even be added to desserts such as ice cream to compliment chocolate.

Though amaretto did not arrive in the United States until the 1960’s, it was created during the 16th century in Italy by the Disaronno family. According to family legend, artist Bernadino Luini traveled to Saronno in northern Italy to paint. While he was there, he met a beautiful widow whom he asked to be the model for one of his paintings. She expressed her gratification towards him by presenting him with the first amaretto drink ever.

Cent’anni!

★~ Garlic Day:

Family, friends, and bread lovers: today we celebrate garlic! Dust off that box of garlic decorations stowed in the closet and display them proudly, eat whole cloves of garlic like apples, plant garlic, and slay vampires! At dinner tonight offer a toast to the spicy goodness of garlic and then take a large mouthful of buttery toasted garlic bread!

★~ Today in History:

♥~1956 – Actress Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco on this day. The beloved U.S. actress from Philadelphia married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in a storybook wedding. More than 1,500 radio, TV, newspaper and magazine reporters were on hand for the event in Monaco, as were most of the citizens of the tiny country

♥~1981 – The first major-league baseball team to win 11 straight games at the beginning of a season was the Oakland A’s. Win number 11 came with a few fireworks, as a brawl or two became a part of a 6-1 victory over Seattle in the first game of a doubleheader. In the second game, however, Seattle ended the A’s win streak with a 3-2 win.

♥~1988 – Former singer and one half of Sonny and Cher; Sonny Bono was inaugurated as the Mayor of Palm Springs.

★~Born Today:

♥~1930 – Dick Sargent (Richard Cox) actor: Bewitched, That Touch of Mink, Body Count, Fantasy Island; died July 8, 1994

♥~1935 – Dudley Moore actor: Arthur, Arthur 2, 10, Crazy People, Parallel Lives, Bedazzled, The Hound of the Baskervilles; died Mar 27, 2002

♥~1937 – Elinor Donahue actress: Father Knows Best, The Andy Griffith Show, Get a Life, Pretty Woman

♥~ 1979 – Kate Hudson actress: Almost Famous, 200 Cigarettes, Dr. T & the Women, The Cutting Room, Four Feathers, Le Divorce ; daughter of actress Goldie Hawn

★~ Did You Know:

♥~ Garlic contains 17 amino acids. Amino acids are essential to nearly every bodily function.

♥~  Garlic, along with onions and chives, is a member of the lily family.

♥~ Pliny the Elder, c.23-79 AD, historian, scientist and pharmacologist, claimed that taking garlic with coriander and neat wine was a powerful Roman aphrodisiac.

♥~ In medieval times, garlic was regarded as an antidote to drunkenness and overeating.

♥~  Alliumphobia is the fear of garlic.

♥~ Approximately 90 percent of the garlic grown in the United States is grown in California.

♥~ For the prevention of sunburn, field workers in the Mediterranean regions would rub slices of  garlic on their lips and noses. Taken internally, crushed garlic will give relief to colds, coughs and whooping cough. Painful corns can be soothed by rubbing garlic on them.

♥~ Egyptian slaves built the pyramids on a diet of garlic, bread and water.

♥~ Garden tip: The next time aphids are attacking your roses try spraying them with a mixture of crushed garlic and water…watch them drop

♥~ When the French joined a Soviet space mission in late 1986, their menus caused an international stir. The French would not go into space without garlic and apparently the ventilation system couldn’t dispel the aromas quickly enough for Soviet spacemen–which led to some interesting diplomatic talks

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As far as I can tell from my extensive El Morno garlic research, about the only thing garlic can’t do is deter dogs from sniffing out what they are meant to sniff out. So just keep that in mind when you cross the border—the hounds will sniff past that garlic clove quicker than you can say Scooby Doo. The many uses for garlic include: cooking,  treating acne, repelling mosquitoes, and protecting pets and gardens. Garlic can be used as a fish bait, glue, facial cleanser, cough syrup, aphrodisiac, or antibiotic for cuts and scrapes. It can also relieve ear aches, reduce stomach acids, lower blood pressure, help to prevent heart attacks, and protect us from evil.

Joe was summoned for jury duty yesterday.  Chicago is such a great town, you can serve on a jury and vote from the great beyond!

Wish I had something more exciting to share today but alas I do not. Wait, I just remembered I’m suppose to ask, if any of you are reading Fifty Shades of Grey? If you are what do you think about it? Do keep in mind my sweet Mom reads Odd, along with one of her more discerning friend of years, and years, and years. If they want to know more I will give them your e-mail…..Odd Loves Company!

♥

High Five Montage–This is FUN!     Thanks El Morno friend  Isabel!