★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
May 5, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote: He was a bold man that first eat an oyster. ~ Jonathan Swift

★~ Happy Cinco de Mayo:

On May 5, 1862, the Mexican army defeated the French army at the Battle of Puebla. A single military battle signified the defeat of a European colonial power and a victory for the Mexican people. In the battle lie the roots of Cinco de Mayo.

On Cinco de Mayo, celebrate the anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Puebla with a nice cold margarita, shot of tequila or a siesta. Here are a few snacks to consider.

Beef Flautas
Chicken Tostadas

~ Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. The date — May 5 — actually commemorates a battle in 1862 between the Mexican and the French forces.

~ Mexico introduced chocolate, corn, and chilies to the world

~  Mexico is the largest salt producers in the world. Along with that petroleum is their major export.

★~ Hoagie Day:

The Hoagie was originally created in Philadelphia, and was declared the “Official Sandwich of Philadelphia” in 1992. If you want to keep with the Cinco de Mayo theme, order your Hoagie with a little chorizo, salsa, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime!

If you want a genuine Italian Hoagie, build it with Italian ham, prosciutto, salami, provolone cheese, and the works. Wondering how Hoagie got its name? The most widely accepted story centers on an area of Philadelphia known as Hog Island, which was home to a shipyard during World War I (1914-1918). The Italian immigrants working there would bring giant sandwiches made with cold cuts, spices, oil, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers for their lunches. These workers were nicknamed “hoggies.” Over the years, the name was attached to the sandwiches, but under a different spelling.

★~ Oyster Day:

You could have a oyster with you Hoagie . . . or just wear your pearls in honor of Oyster Day. Seattle, Washington is the world’s largest producer of cultivated pearls. The city is known as the “Oyster Capital of the World.”

Two oysters walk into a bar, as one gets eaten the other one says, “Don’t look at me, the sign said ‘Oyster Bar’

Note: Oyster Day is also celebrated on August 5. So if you favor a Hoagie over an Oyster you will have a do-over in August, just sayin’ 

★~ Today in History;

♥~ 1958 – On the cover of LIFE magazine: “Fresh Hope on Cancer”. A 2,000,000-volt radiation machine was pictured.

♥~ 1961 – Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first U.S. space traveler as he rode a Redstone rocket on a 15-minute, suborbital flight that took him and his Freedom 7 Mercury capsule 116.5 miles high and 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral, FL.

♥~ 1973 – 56,800 fans paid $309,000 to see Led Zeppelin at Tampa Stadium. This was the largest, paid crowd ever assembled in the U.S. to see a single musical act. The concert topped The Beatles 55,000-person audience at Shea Stadium in New York ($301,000).

♥~ 1978 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds smacked his 3,000th major-league hit. Not many years later, ‘Charlie Hustle’ would break Ty Cobb’s career record of 4,191 hits.

♥~ 1985 – The first husband and wife team to win a major marathon,Ken and Lisa Martin, won over $50,000 for their first-place finishes in the Pittsburgh Marathon. They had never run in the same race before.

♥~ 2004 – A 1905 painting by Pablo Picasso titled Garcon a la pipe(Boy with a Pipe) sold for a record $104 million at Sotheby’s in New York City.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1927 – Pat Carroll Emmy Award-winning comedienne, actress: Caesar’s Hour [1956], The Ted Knight Show, With Six You Get Eggroll, Brothers O’Toole

♥~ 1942 – Tammy Wynette (Virginia Wynette Pugh) Grammy Award-winning country singer: I Don’t Wanna Play House [1967], Stand By Your Man [1969]; D-I-V-O-R-C-E, Near You, Apartment #9;died Apr 6, 1998

♥~ 1944 – John Rhys-Davies actor: Sliders, Lord of the Ringsseries, Helen of Troy, The Gold Cross, Au Pair, Marquis de Sade, The Untouchables, The Lost World, War and Remembrance, Raiders of the Lost Ark

♥~ 1973 – Tina Yothers actress: Family Ties, Laker Girls, Spunk: The Tonya Harding Story

♥~ 1979- Vincent Kartheiser – Mad Men

★~ Good to Know:

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Anyone who has experienced the painful aftermath of a date with too many margaritas (on, say, May 6) has likely wondered, “What is in this stuff?”

♥~ Tequila is made from the fermented and distilled juices taken from native Mexican Agave plants. By Mexican law, Tequila can be produced from only the Blue Agave (Weber Blue Agave, Agave Tequilana). The Agave plant is botanically classified as a succulent, and is a relative of the lily family. While cacti and Agave both share a common habitat, the Agave is not a cactus.

♥~ Tequila is never, ever bottled with a worm. The CRT enforces the NOM that specifically prohibits placing a worm in the bottle. Although technically the larvae of one of two kinds of insects, the “worm” is frequently seen in bottles of Mezcal. The most common type of larva is the Agave Snout Weevil (doesn’t that make you want to run right out and devour one or enjoy as a side dish with Tacos) or the red worm which is the caterpillar of the Hypopta Agavis Moth. A gastronomic genius named Jacobo Lozano Páez discovered in 1940 that the “worms” changed the taste of the spirit (makes you wonder, doesn’t it). The “worms” are now considered a delicacy and can be found on some restaurant menus.

♥~ Gold Tequilas are better than Silver Tequilas…No es cierto….Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a Tequila by its color. In fact, the majority of Gold (Oro) Tequilas are artificially colored with caramel coloring, while some of the finest aged Reposado, Añejo and Extra Añejo Tequilas acquire a golden color from the wooden barrels in which they age. Similarly, there are Silver (Blanco) Tequilas ranging from high-quality brands made from 100% Weber Blue Agave, to cheap, low-grade mixto brands that contain only the minimum 51% Agave. There is simply no way to determine quality solely by a Tequila’s color

♥~ The 1958 song, “Tequila” was the first, and only, #1 hit for a band called The Champs.

♥~ The world record holder for the largest margarita is Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in Orlando, FL. The colossal cocktail held 5,861 gallons of blended booze.

While many spirits are useful for activities beyond swilling (vodka, for example, is a great stain and odor remover), tequila holds some particularly magical powers.

♥~  SYNTHETIC BAUBLE:  In 2008, a team of scientists in Mexico discovered that when the heated vapor from an 80-proof tequila blanco was combined with a silicon or stainless steel substrate, it resulted in the formation of diamond films. These films can be used in commercial applications, such as electrical insulators, or to create one big fake diamond. Who knew that spending $50 on a bottle of Don Julio was such a wise investment?

♥~ ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE:  Keeping with the science theme: In 2011, researchers at England’s University of Oxford suggested that we may one day be gassing up our cars up with tequila. They identified agave, the plant from which tequila is produced, as a potential biofuel source—and a particularly attractive one, as the plant itself is not consumed by humans and can thrive in desert climates.

♥~ COLD REMEDY: In the 1930s, doctors in Mexico recommended the following concoction to fight off a cold:

.5 ounce of tequila blanco
.5 ounce of agave nectar (to eliminate bacteria and soothe sore throats)
.5 ounce of fresh lime juice (for Vitamin C)

♥~ WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENT: Scientists have long promoted the potential benefits of the agave plant for its ability to help dissolve fats and lower cholesterol. The bad news? These properties get a bit diluted when the plant is distilled into alcohol. Don’t expect to see the margarita diet appear anytime soon…on the other hand one never knows.

♥~ SLEEP AID: No Fooling…Really. Relaxation is one of the positive side effects of tequila drinking; a small amount (1 to 1.5 ounces) before bedtime can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. Drink more and you will sleep  but your probably not  wake up singing Jimmy Buffets Maragettiville.

♥~ COLON CLEANSER: Too much of a good thing may not bring a welcome turn of events for your liver … but your colon will thank you! Researchers at Mexico’s University of Guadalajara have identified the blue agave as a potentially helpful source for delivering drugs to the colon in order to treat colitis, IBS, Crohn’s disease and even cancer.

♥~ DIABETES PREVENTATIVE: If Ernest Hemingway had known about the healing properties of tequila, his signature drink might have been a margarita instead of a daiquiri. In 2010, experiments conducted at Mexico’s Polytechnic Institute of Guanajuato revealed that the agave plant (which is high in fructans, a fructose polymer) could stimulate the GLP-1 hormone, aiding in increased insulin production.

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I have never had a shot of Tequila. I’m usually a pretty brave soul, but my experience with liquid anything that doesn’t taste good is that it has an immediate and unattractive side effect. Oysters are okay if they are cooked and crusty; not slimy. I like pearls any old way. Not picky. Hoagies! Yes! Love Hoagies – especially when the bread is really fresh! Maybe it’s the hour…very early in the morning, but I just read this very random, nothing-to-do-with-anything tweet and it made me giggle…so I’ll share: “Housesitting” is just a nice way of saying, “I don’t want my house to get robbed, but if it does, I’d like you to be the one to die in it.” If you are going to church, add me to your prayer list, please!

What’s new with you? Amuse me!

Have a sunny Sunday (somebody should..)

♥~