~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
June 16, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote:  “Keep thy smooth words and juggling homilies for those who know thee not.” Lord Byron

★~National Hollerin’ Contest Day:

In an otherwise sleepyborough of southeastern North Carolina known as Spivey’s Corner (population 49), some 5,000-10,000 folks gather from far and wide to take part in the festivities and entertainment in the day-long extravaganza known as the National Hollerin’ Contest. It was started as a way to revive the almost-lost art of “Hollerin”, a sophisticated vocal tradition that served as a means of long-distance communication between individuals as well as an amusing form of entertainment, before the widespread adoption of the telephone. We may not be able to join in the folks at Spivey’s corner but we can still do our part to celebrate by Hooting and Hollerin’ today.

In an otherwise sleepyborough of southeastern North Carolina known as Spivey’s Corner (population 49), some 5,000-10,000 folks gather from far and wide to take part in the festivities and entertainment in the day-long extravaganza known as the National Hollerin’ Contest. It was started as a way to revive the almost-lost art of “Hollerin”, a sophisticated vocal tradition that served as a means of long-distance communication between individuals as well as an amusing form of entertainment, before the widespread adoption of the telephone.  We may not be able to join in the folks at Spivey’s corner but we can still do our part to celebrate by Hooting, Hollerin’ today.

★~ World Juggler’s Day – 

Who says you need to be in a circus to juggle? World Juggling Day is a great opportunity for everyone to get out there and give it a try! Though juggling with swords, torches or wild animals for your first time may not be the best idea…

Cole can juggle and, at some point today, I will ask him to show off his skills to celebrate World Juggling days.

★~ Fresh Veggie Day:

I know corn on the cob is not a vegetable, it’s a grain, but my sweet Mom shared this video with me, I tried it, and was amazed by the results. Now go eat some fresh veggies!

★~ National Fudge Day :

Let’s Fudge this holiday a little and make Ice Cream Fudge.  I actually made this recipe and it’s very tasty and refreshing.  If you don’t want to cook,  just pick up some Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chuck!  Of-course you could also enjoy traditional fudge made with chocolate, butter and milk=Yum.

★~ Today in History:

♥ ~ 1967 – The Monterey International Pop Festival got underway at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Northern California. Fifty thousand spectators flocked to the first major rock festival in U.S. history. Ticket prices ranged from $3.50 to $6.50 to see more than two dozen rock acts, including Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and the Papas, The Who and The Grateful Dead. The festival was immortalized in D.A. Pennebaker’s 1969 documentary Monterrey Pop.

♥~ 1981 – The Chicago Tribune purchased the Chicago Cubs baseball team from the P.K. Wrigley Chewing Gum Company for $20.5 million. The Wrigley family had controlled the team for over 60 years. The sale ended the longest continuous ownership of a team that stayed put in its original city.

♥ ~ 1999 – Cher launched her Do You Believe? Tour in Phoenix, Arizona. The CD had become a worldwide smash, and the single made Cher, at 52, the oldest woman to have a song hit #1. It was also the first time in nearly a decade that the Cher had done a concert tour.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1938 – Joyce Carol Oates novelist: The Time Traveler, Triumph of the Spider Monkey

♥~ 1943 – Joan Van Ark actress: Knots Landing, Tainted Blood, Frogs

♥~ 1955 – Laurie Metcalf Emmy Award-winning actress: Roseanne; A Dangerous Woman, JFK, Pacific Heights, Uncle Buck, Desperately Seeking Susan

★~ Did You Know:  Tips for optimum vegetable storage

♥~ Select the freshest produce: Probably stating the obvious here but the fresher and better quality your veg, the longer it’s going to last.

♥~  Minimize physical damage: Cuts and bruises damage the cell walls of your veg and open them up to spoilage by microbes. The bad news is that once you have one rotten piece of veg, it passes on to it’s mates so if you do notice any damaged veg, pitch them.

♥~ Avoid cutting or trimming: A whole pumpkin or squash will keep for much longer than a cut piece. This is all about exposure to the air and to microbes. Leave trimming and chopping until the last minute.

♥~ Select the best storage temperature: Root veg and onions store better at cooler temperatures but warmer climate veg like tomatoes, eggplant (aubergine), squash, cucumbers, capsicum (peppers) and beans can actually loose flavor, develop brown spots and have their texture effected if you pop them in the refrigerator. Unripe avocados develop brown spots and fail to ripen further if placed in the fridge. So best to store these in a cool dark place.

♥~ Dehydration:  One of the biggest contributors to aging in veg is loss of moisture. The air in your refrigerator tends to be very dry. So higher moisture things like celery or spinach or lettuce are best stored in plastic bags or containers to minimize moisture loss and wilting.

♥~ Beware the Banana:  Bananas are classed as fruit, but they can have an impact on vegetable storage. Bananas produce heaps of ethylene gas when they are ripening which stimulates ripening (and over ripening) in anything they snuggle up to. So if you want your avocado to ripen more quickly, put it in a paper bag with a banana. But if you don’t want it to over ripen keep them in separate spaces.

♥~ DON”T refrigerate your tomatoes. EVER. Of all the vegetables, tomatoes are the most dramatically damaged by chilling injury. Not only do they lose their lovely fragrance, but the texture goes mealy and ick.

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I’m pretty sure that I spotted a hawk flying out of the nest in our tree late yesterday afternoon so our bird mystery may be solved. I will share more later, I’m still doing a little research.

Do you have a favorite fresh veggie?

Have a super Saturday and don’t forget to Hoot and Holler!

Odd Loves Company,