★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
December 27, 2013

 ★~  Today’s Quote: “Memories can fade but a fruitcake lasts forever.” – unknown

★~ Fruitcake Day:

Blame the fruitcake plague on the cheap sugar that arrived in Europe from the colonies in the 16th century.

Some enlighten soul discovered that fruit could be preserved by soaking it in successively greater concentrations of sugar, intensifying color and flavor. Not only could native plums and cherries be conserved, but heretofore unavailable fruits were soon being imported in candied form from other parts of the world. Having so much sugar-laced fruit engendered the need to dispose of it in some way—thus the fruitcake. By the early 19th century, the typical recipe was heavy as lead with citrus peel, pineapples, plums, dates, pears, and cherries.

Whether or not anyone actually enjoyed eating it, fruitcake persisted, finding fertile soil in the New World, especially in places where fresh fruit was difficult to come by. Nuts were introduced into the recipe, probably because America’s foremost fruitcake makers—Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas, and Claxton Bakery of Claxton, Georgia—were located in rural Southern communities with a surplus of nuts. The expression “nutty as a fruitcake” was coined in 1935.

In spite of the size and preeminence of America’s fruitcake industry, the product’s popularity has drastically declined over the years. Some blame Johnny Carson, who found in the maligned cake a rich source of jokes: “The worst gift is fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.” Others point to an aging demographic that finds grandmothers sending cakes to their grown grandchildren, who privately throw them away, or even do it publicly at events like the annual Great Fruitcake Toss in Manitou Springs, Colorado, where, if you don’t own a fruitcake, you can rent one for 25 cents. Further evidence of fruitcake’s unpopularity: Ever seen one on a restaurant menu?

If, as the bakeries claim, sales continue to grow, you’ve got to wonder where all those fruitcakes are going. Anecdotal evidence indicates that a substantial number are sent to Japan, where customers appreciate the dense texture, jaw-aching sweetness, and surfeit of colorful fruit.

★~ Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/wTBh8pLfaFs[/youtube]

Who knew there was a right way and a wrong way to make a cut out snowflake! This video will teach you the right way!

★~ Today in History:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/fWWbu_RSh7Q[/youtube]

♥~ 1903 – The barbershop quartet favorite, Sweet Adeline, was sung for the first time — in New York City. The song was composed by Henry Armstrong with the words of Richard Gerard. The title of the song came from a theatre marquee that promoted the great operatic soprano, Adelina Patti. Now female barbershop quartets call themselves Sweet Adelines.

♥~ 1946 – The American team won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1938. The competition was held at Melbourne, Australia.

♥~ 1971 –  America’s favorite beagle, Snoopy, appeared atop his doghouse on the cover of the December 27th, 1971, issue of Newsweek magazine.  The “Merry Christmas” cover drawn by Charles Schulz also featured Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and Woodstock.  Other pop-culture figures to appear on Newsweek’s cover during ’71 included Mick Jagger, golfer Lee Trevino, and the cast of “All in the Family.”

♥~ 1978 – The South Pole had a record high temperature of 7.5° F (-13.6° C).

♥~ 1980 – The John Lennon hit, (Just Like) Starting Over, began a five-week stay at #1 on the pop charts. The hit was from the album, Double Fantasy.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1901 – Marlene Dietrich (Maria Magdelene von Losch) actress: The Blue Angel, 1st German talkie; Morocco, Kismet, Destry Rides Again, Judgment at Nuremberg, Witness for the Prosecution; died May 6, 1992

♥~ 1822 – Louis Pasteur  Raise a glass of wine (or milk, if you prefer) to toast the birthday of scientist Louis Pasteur Pasteur lent his name to the pasteurization process of reducing organisms in food, especially dairy products and wine.  He also developed a rabies vaccine.

♥~ 1931 – Scotty Moore Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician:guitar: Elvis Presley’s guitarist from 1954 to 1958 [Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, All Shook Up]; ranked inRolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time

♥~ 1941 – Mike Pinder musician: piano; songwriter, singer: group: The Moody Blues:

♥~ 1943 – Cokie Roberts TV news: ABC News Nightline, senior news analyst: National Public Radio

★~ Good to Know: 

♥~ Snowflake Picture ^: Photographer Alexey Kljatov has a special talent for capturing the brief life of these beautiful ice creations. He features many of his snowflake photos on Flickr. Kljatov says, “I capture snowflakes at open balcony of my house, mostly on glass surface, lighted by LED flashlight from opposite side of glass, and sometimes in natural light, using dark woolen fabrics as background.”

♥~ World Record Snowfall:  Mt. Baker ski area in Washington State has the world record for snowfall at 1,140 inches of snow in the 1998/1999 winter season.  Mt. Baker ski area is located near but not on the real 10,781’ Mount Baker.  You can just imagine what the snow totals were on the real Mount Baker that year…

♥~ Earth’s Fresh Water is Frozen:  80% of all the freshwater on earth is frozen as ice or snow.  This accounts for 12% of the earth’s surface.

♥~ What is a Blizzard?:  A blizzard occurs when you can’t see for 1/4 mile. The winds are always 35 miles an hour or more. The storm must last at least 3 hours to be classed as a blizzard. If any of these conditions are less, it is only a snowstorm.

♥~ 105 Snow Storm per Year in USA:  The USA averages 105 snow producing storms per year.  A typical storm will have a 2-5 day lifetime and drop snow in multiple states.

♥~ Eskimos Have 100 Words for Snow:  It’s a myth. “…In fact, the Eskimo–Aleut languages have about the same number of distinct word roots referring to snow as English does, but the structure of these languages tends to allow more variety as to how those roots can be modified in forming a single word” – wikipedia

#

I snow  know many of you are having trouble accessing Odd–If you made it here, congratulations and thank you. It is not you, it is not Odd. It is the hosting company (where Odd lives) that is giving us all fits. The problem is being worked on and in the New Year Odd will most certainly look into a new home. Please keep trying, and please let me know if the problem continues. I’ll google blueberry muffins for us all! And send big virtual hugs ((((    )))).

Coming up soon a Christmas blog post. Don’t forget to think about the three words you want to define your new year….. Chris Brogan wrote about this (see link) and I found the concept a very helpful way to start the New Year.

What is new with you?

Odd Loves Company!