~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
November 14th, 2013
★~Today’s Quote: Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love. ~ Claude Monet
★~ Pickle Day:
Pickles have been popular for thousands of years. In fact Cleopatra “attributed her good looks to a hearty diet of pickles” according to the New York Food Museum. Today we honor the pickle as a condiment, snack, or side dish. Whether you like them sweet, half sour or dill pop open a jar of pickles and pucker up.
★~ Loosen Up Lighten Up Day:
LU-LU Day! is all about celebrating joy and laughter. Don’t worry be happy! Is today’s motto.
Today In History:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/l9BbUqHrWFI[/youtube]
♥~ 1851– “Call me Ishmael. Some years ago — never mind how long precisely — having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world…” Thus begins Herman Melville’s book Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, which was first published in New York City by Harpoon & Brothers (or was that Harper and Brothers?)
♥~ 1987 – The Dirty Dancing movie soundtrack was the number one album in the U.S. It was number one for a total of eighteen weeks.
♥~ 1960 – Americans met the goal of reaching the moon before the end of the 1960′s when Apollo 11 landed in July of ’69. There would be one more manned trip to the moon before 1969 was over. Apollo 12 continued the moon exploration program when it was launched on November 14th that year.
♥~ 2007 – A sculpture of a stainless steel heart hanging from a golden bow sold for $23.6 million at a Sotheby’s Contemporary Art sale in New York. The piece, by artist Jeff Koons, was the most expensive piece by a living artist ever auctioned.
♥~ 2008 – The U.S. Army promoted a woman to the rank of four-star general for the first time. Ann Dunwoody received her fourth star on this day in a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Washington DC.
★~ Born Today:
♥~ 1840 – Claude Monet artist: Water Lilies, La Grenouillere, Impression: Sunrise, Old St. Lazare Station, Paris; died Dec 5, 1926
♥~ 1907 – Astrid Lindgren, author- She grew up on a farm in southern Sweden, playing with her brothers and sisters and listening to her family tell stories. Eventually she got married, had a daughter, and gave up working at age 24 in order to stay home and take care of her kids. One day, her daughter, Karin, was sick in bed, so Astrid started telling her stories of a spunky, strong, independent girl who mocks adults and manages to get by just fine without a family, caution, education, or the opposite sex. The girls name was Pippi Longstocking, with magical powers, a pet monkey, freckles, and bright red pigtails that stuck out on either side of her head. The book was published as Pippi Långstrump(1945) in Sweden, Pippi Longstocking in English, and it became one of the most beloved children’s books of all time
♥~ 1927 – McLean Stevenson actor: M*A*S*H, The McLean Stevenson Show, Hello Larry, The Tim Conway Comedy Hour, The Doris Day Show, Condo; died Feb 15, 1996
♥~ 1948 – Prince Charles (of Wales) (Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor Mountbatten) heir to British throne.
★~ Did You Know: Pickles!
♥~ People have been eating pickles ever since the Mesopotamians started making them way back in 2400 B.C.E.
♥~ In the Pacific Islands, natives pickle their foods in holes in the ground lined with banana leaves, and use them as food reserves in case of storms. The pickles are so valuable that they’ve become part of the courting process, helping a man prove he’ll be able to provide for a woman. In Fiji, guys can’t get a girl without first showing her parents his pickle pits.
♥~ Cleopatra claimed pickles made her beautiful.
♥~ The majority of pickle factories in America ferment their pickles in outdoor vats without lids (leaving them subject to insects and bird droppings)! But there’s a reason. According to food scientists, the sun’s direct rays prevent yeast and molds from growing in the brine.
♥~ In the Delta region of Mississippi, Kool-Aid pickles have become ridiculously popular with kids. The recipe’s simple: take some dill pickles, cut them in half, and then soak them in super strong Kool-Aid for more than a week. According to the New York Times, the sweet vinegar snacks are known to sell out at fairs and delicatessens, and generally go for $.50 to a $1.
♥~ Not everyone loves a sweet pickle. In America, dill pickles are twice as popular as the sweet variety.
♥~ The Department of Agriculture estimates that the average American eats 8.5 lbs of pickles a year.
♥~ When the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys in sweltering heat in September 2000, many of the players attributed their win to one thing: guzzling down immense quantities of ice-cold pickle juice.
♥~ If it weren’t for pickles, Christopher Columbus might never have “discovered” America. In his famous 1492 voyage, Columbus rationed pickles to his sailors to keep them from getting scurvy. He even grew cucumbers during a pitstop in Haiti to restock for the rest of the voyage.
♥~ Napoleon was also a big fan of pickle power. In fact, he put up the equivalent of $250,000 as a prize to whoever could figure out the best way to pickle and preserve foods for his troops.
♥~ During the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, H. J. Heinz used pick-shaped pins to lure customers to his out of the way booth. By the end of the fair, he’d given out lots of free food, and over 1,000,000 pickle pins.
♥~ Berrien Springs, Michigan, has dubbed itself the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World. In early December, they host a parade, led by the Grand Dillmeister, who tosses out fresh pickles to parade watchers.
♥~ What do you call the pickle that got run over on the highway? Road dill!!!
#
Wishing you an easy peasy, nice and easy, light and breezy Thursday! And if you have not eaten you 8.5 pounds of pickles get busy! The year is almost over! Shout out to my sweet Mom and Suzanne–Check out the Paula Deen Fried Pickle recipe! Irene…not your cuppa.
Odd Loves Company!
I never read Pippi Longstocking, either when I was a kid or to Domer when he was. I’m not a big fan of monkeys (pet or wild), though, so I probably wouldn’t have found it as interesting as Lassie!
Count me in the dill pickle fan base. In fact, I just had some last night on my burger!
Love that picture of the happy little lamb.
I never read it either and I’m not sure why. And Cole considered them “girl books.”
Good job getting pickled!
Isn’t that lamb cute! He just looks so happy.
Morno,
I had an early morno meeting. I am doing my bit for pickles. And while I was not included in the fried pickle shout out those fried pickles sound really good. I think Hooters makes something like that, second hand knowledge of-course.
My daughter loved Pippi and went through a monkey stage. It was cute and she was reading which came a little slow for her.
Have a good one.
There is a girl in Cole’s class that looked a lot like Pippi.
Sorry about the shout out, I’m glad you clicked! I’m glad
you’re doing your bit for pickles
Believe or not I had the stereotypical pickle craving when I was pregnant with all of my kids. After the kid was born I still liked pickles on a burger or with a sandwich but the craving was gone. I am sure I ate enough pickles during that time tho to put me above average for the rest of my life.
It has been a kind of laid back day. Stayed in most of the day puttering around the house.
TTFN
We will have to ask the El Morno research department to find out why some people crave pickles when they are pregnant. Very interesting.
Cheers!
After reading this post I had to dance in to the kitchen and eat a couple dill pickles. I like pickles, sweet or dill. Has anyone on the list ever made or tasted watermelon pickles? My grandmother use to make them every year.
TTFN
MJ
Google knows all:
http://goo.gl/6qLahQ
They sound very interesting….
nothing like kicking up your heels like that spunky lamb….makes me happy! almost called it a goat…..
i don’t mind a section of dill pickle now & again. i remember putting bread & butter pickles on our hamburgers as a youngster.
a few colleagues were written up at work while watching dirty dancing during their break! i was conveniently doing something else in an adjoining room & wasn’t part of the reprimand. it paid off not being a movie buff. still makes me laugh.
good evening!
I have that lamb as my screen saver —he is a spunky little lamb.
Ok inquiring minds want to know was it the choice of movies or the act of watching a movie? It is pretty funny!
Content. The *administrator* deemed the movie highly inappropriate.
That administrator must have been a whole lot of fun. Every one was over 13 right? It was rated PG13 back in the day and mainly for that one “hot dance”.
I need a pickle. Right now!
Ok!! Have a pickle please.
I do not eat 8.5 # of pickles per year..not even close..but the Paula Deen recipe for fried pickles sound very good..
I consider myself to be into Art Appreciation but the stainless steel heart piece..unbelievable price..I don’t get it.