~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 4, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote: “When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on Earth. So what the hell, leap.” ~ Cynthia Heimel

★~ Spaghetti Day:

Spaghetti and meatballs: a worldwide favorite! It was the Chinese who first invented pasta but it was the Italians who revolutionized this well-loved dish. Marco Polo brought the recipe for pasta back to Europe with him after his famous trip to the Middle Kingdom during the 13th century.

If you have kids (or are young at heart) check out the FUN-ghetti experiment below (under my name). Skillet Spaghetti is a tasty option when you don’t have the desire or the time to boil a large pot of water.

★~ Trivia Day:

In the 1980s when video games like “Indiana Jones in the Lost Kingdom” were few and far between, Trivial Pursuit was a top choice for family game night. The popular TV show “Jeopardy” has been airing intermittently since it first debuted in 1964 as a daytime game show. Trivia Day honors anyone who knows a lot facts or has a doctorate in uselessology.

In a Haiku amazing facts contest Tim H submitted and won with the following Haiku
George Lucas’ wife
Won an Oscar for “Star Wars”
George has never won

For trivia that isn’t true Click trivia Day Jan 4, 2012.

★~ Today in History: 

♥~ 1896 – Utah (45th state) entered the United States of America; capital: Salt Lake City; bird: seagull; flower: sego lily; nickname: Beehive State.

♥~ 1953 – Tufted plastic carpeting was introduced by Barwick Mills. The new carpet was said to be mothproof and stain resistant.

♥~ 1984 – Wayne ‘The Great One’ Gretzky scored eight points for the second time in his National Hockey League career. Edmonton’s Oilers defeated the Minnesota North Stars, 12-8. Gretzky had four goals on his own and four assists. The El Morno research team thought those of you facing hockey withdrawal would appreciate this tidbit.

♥~ 2010 –The Russian government set a minimum price for vodka that more than doubled existing prices in an effort to fight rampant alcoholism.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1785 –Jacob Grimm, born in Hanau, Germany along with his younger brother, Wilhelm, collected more than 200 German folk tales and published Grimm’s Fairy Tales in 1812. The fairy tales included, “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Snow White,” “Rapunzel,” and “Hansel and Grethel.”

♥~ 1809 –Louis Braille,   Blinded at the age of three by a leather working awl in his father’s saddle-making shop, Braille developed a system of writing that used, ironically, an awl-like stylus to punch marks in paper that could be felt and interpreted by people who are blind. The system was largely ignored until after his death.

♥~ 1838 – General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) entertainer: world’s most famous midget.  On his 18th birthday, he was measured at 2 feet 8.5 inches (82.6 cm) tall.

♥~ 1960 – Michael Stipe Grammy Award-winning singer: Out of Time [1991]; group: R.E.M.: Losing My Religion [1991], Radio Free Europe, Talk About the Passion, So Central Rain, [Don’t Go Back to] Rockville, Seven Chinese Brothers. Michael, has as a brick tattooed on his right hand and on his upper right arm a tattoo of the characters Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse from George Herriman’s comic strip “Krazy Kat”.

♥~ 1964 – Dot Jones, Actress (“Glee”) 15-time World and 6-time National arm-wrestling champion.

★~ Did You Know: Terrific Tips:

♥~ Pencil Eraser as Earring Securer:  If the backing for one of your studs goes AWOL, slice off a disk-shaped wedge from an eraser. The earring will stay put, even if your pencil looks denuded. I tried this yesterday and it worked great! If your hair is short, I would use a clean eraser.

♥~ Rubber Band as Earring Backing: Another option for when you’ve lost (another) earring backing, mosey on over to the junk drawer and cut out a small square from a thick rubber band.

♥~ Clip-On Earrings as Shoe Embellishments: Channel Grandma’s style and update plain shoes with a funky pair of clip-on earrings. Attach them to the shoes at the center (or slightly off center), and let your fancy footwork peek out from under your gown. You do have a closet full of gowns, right?

♥~ Duct Tape as Shoe Soles: Slip and slide no more….Tape a piece onto each sole of new, slippery shoes for added traction. You can also rub medium-grit sandpaper over the bottoms to give slippery soles some traction.

♥~ Washing Machine as Drink Chiller:  Fill the tub with ice and extra bottles of beer, wine, and soft drinks so you don’t have to empty the refrigerator to make room for party supplies.  Bonus: The melted ice neatly drains right through the machine’s holes. Finer points (added by Kb):   Extra credit if you live in a hairy household and you wipe the can off before handing to your guest. Check your washer carefully before adding ice and spare yourself the embrassement of having undies, bras, thongs, athletic socks, looped over the top of a beverages.

♥~ Colander as Ice Bucket: Make ice cubes last longer at your next party: Put them in a colander set into a bowl. As they melt, the water will drain through the holes instead of sitting and turning the ice to slush. Slushy water is never cool.

♥~ Raisin as Champagne Restorer:  Drop a raisin into the open bottle a few minutes before pouring and any last gasps of carbon dioxide that are left in the wine will stick to the raisin’s ridged surface, then release again as tiny bubbles. Remember when I showed you how a rasin would dance in Spirit? (Don’t despair if you missed this gem,  it is down below under my name and the spaghetti experiment) I didn’t use champaign because I  didn’t have an open bottle and opening a bottle to drop raisins in seemed like a bad idea (and would have brought down the wrath of my many odd drinking fans) but now I know the raisin is useful in an already open bottle of champaign for more….Just sharing a little Kb trivia.

♥~ Champagne Flutes as Candle Stands:  Flip thick-walled Champagne flutes upside down to create a beautiful grouping of candle stands for a shelf or a mantel. Use heavy wineglasses for table centerpieces, as the wider mouths will provide more stability to withstand bumping.

♥~ Wine Cork As Utensil Rest: Minimize countertop mess (and justify a predinner drink) by using a cork to elevate the necks of dirty spatulas and spoons. I have been collecting corks forever. I had no idea what I would do with them. Pinterest ideas were to complicated. Now I know what to do with them. This works.

♥~ Cork as Heat Protector: Another simple corkie use for corks! For a heat protector, slip a cork or two under a lid’s handle and you’ll always have something safe to grab. Corks are to be harder to collect now that tips like this are popping up left and right…so snatch them up right away!

♥~ Muffin Tin: Useful as a Large Ice Cube Tray: The cold, hard truth: Small ice cubes melt fast, leaving a pitcher of lemonade watery. To make long-lasting jumbo cubes, use a muffin tin. Pop them out by running the back of the tin under hot water for 30 seconds.

♥~ Denture Tablet as Wineglass Cleaner: Do away with red-wine dregs in goblets. Fill the glass with warm water, drop in a tablet, and let it dissolve.Denture tablets also makes a great gold and silver jewelry cleaner.

♥~ Cocktail Shaker as Egg Scrambler:  Whip up fluffy omelets by adding eggs, milk, and seasonings together in a cocktail mixer. Give it a few shakes and it’s ready for the skillet. (this is a great tip. works like a charm. however, my dearly departed Joe would not have been amused if I had used his shaker as a scrambler. Proceed with caution and rinse well!)

♥~ Flat Iron as Touch-Up Iron: No time to drag out your iron and ironing board? A straightening iron works perfectly between buttons where a regular iron doesn’t fit. And it smooths collar creases and minor wrinkles. So you can look perfectly pressed when you’re pressed for time.

♥~ Cooking Spray as Manicure Setter:  Set a manicure in record time. Lightly mist freshly painted nails for instant smudge protection. and after you spray dry your nails with Pam…you can fry an egg on them!!

♥~ Cork as Earring Holder:  Ha!! Another corkie tip! Are we winning or what! Marry pairs of earrings. Stick the posts into a cork to keep them together.

♥~ Clothespin as Napkin Holder: Clearly for the OCD : Use a clothespin to keep napkins neatly stacked at a party—or from blowing away at a picnic.

♥~ Balloon as Flower Preserver:  A leftover backyard-party balloon will help keep freshly cut flowers from wilting when you’re bringing them to a friend’s house. Fill the balloon with a bit of water, then slip the opening over the stems. This tip is even better if you add a vase. Dripping water all over your hosts floor while they search for a vase must not be a trivial concern.

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Don’t forget to look under my name for even more fascinating El Morno Trivia! Do you have any tips or trivia to share?

Odd Loves Company!

SWIMMING SPAGHETTI

Make spaghetti do tricks with this fun and fizzy experiment.

What You Need:

uncooked spaghetti

1 cup of water
2 teaspoons of baking soda
5 teaspoons of vinegar
tall clear glass

What You Do:
Put water and baking soda in the glass. Stir until the baking soda is dissolved. Break spaghetti into 1-inch pieces. Put about 6 pieces in the glass. They will sink to the bottom. Add vinegar to the mixture in the glass. Observe what happens to the pieces of spaghetti. Add more vinegar as the action starts to slow down.

What’s Going On:
When baking soda and vinegar are mixed together, a chemical reaction occurs. It produces a gas called carbon dioxide, which forms lots of bubbles on top of the mixture and smaller bubbles at the bottom of the glass. These little bubbles stick to the spaghetti and make it float to the surface, just as you do when you sit on a swimming pool noodle! When the spaghetti reaches the surface, the bubbles pop and the spaghetti sinks to the bottom.

 

Raisin as Champagne Restorer: Spirit used for the purpose of this  demonstration: