★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 14, 2014

★~Today’s Quote: “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”  ― Henry James

★~ Creamsicle Day:

The best flavors come in pairs: peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and lox and, of course, vanilla and orange via the Creamsicle, one of summers favorite summer treats

The Popsicle company,  offers three different types of Creamsicles: 100 calories bars, low-fat pops and sugar free pops in orange-vanilla, raspberry-vanilla and blueberry-vanilla. The flavor combination has even inspired other foods, from Creamsicle cupcakes to Creamsicle cocktails.

In honor of the holiday, try this grown-up Creamsicle Crush recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup thawed orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
3 tablespoons vanilla vodka
4 cups shaved ice (made with the grater blade of a food processor)

Preparation:

In a small pitcher, mix orange juice concentrate, Grand Marnier, and vanilla vodka. Stir to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, pack approximately 1 cup shaved ice into a paper snow cone cup (or cocktail glass), then drizzle with a quarter of the creamsicle mixture. Repeat with remaining ice.

Or if you want to make a kid Creamsicles:

Mix together 3/4 cup of fruit juice (usually orange juice)
one pint of vanilla ice cream in a large bowl.
Gradually beat in about 1 1/2 cups of milk and continue to mix.

Preparation:

Pour the mixture into small paper cups and place them in the freezer when they are partially frozen, insert popsicle sticks into them and place them back inside the freezer.
When the Creamsicles are frozen solid, peel off the paper cups, and ENJOY the cool refreshing taste.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1888 – Ernest L. Thayer’s Casey at the Bat was recited by actor DeWolf Hopper during a show at Wallack’s Theatre in New York City. The recitation began a long association between Hopper and the famous poem. The actor once commented that he had recited the poem some 15,000 times. 

♥~ 1893 – The world’s first automobile license plates reportedly were issued in Paris.

♥~ 1901 According to some press accounts, the Wright Brothers do not deserve credit for the first airplane flight in the U.S.  Aviator Gustave Whitehead claimed he flew a plane in Connecticut on this date in 1901, two years before the Wrights flew successfully at Kitty Hawk.

♥~ 1953 – David N. Mullany and his 13-year-old son, while trying to come up with a ball that would curve every time it was thrown, wound up inventing the Wiffle Ball. The ball had oblong holes on the top half, and a solid bottom. The original Wiffle bat was wood, but for many years it has been a skinny yellow fungo-shaped plastic bat. You can still buy the bat-and-ball set for a few dollars.

♥~ 1976 – A charity picnic and softball game was staged to raise money for a new softball field and for the Community General Hospital in Monticello, NY. Gager’s Diner and Bend ’n Elbow Tavern fielded competing teams (a total of 50 men and 20 women) to play a 365-inning ball game. The game began at 10 a.m. and was finally called because of rain and fog at 4 p.m. the following day. The score was Gager’s Diner 491, Bend ’n Elbow Tavern 467.

♥~ 1979 – Burglars broke into Jennie Martelli’s apartment in Niagara Falls, New York, and stole her kitchen sink. Nothing else was taken or damaged.

♥~ 1982 – Bill Neal became the first person to row a bathtub across the English Channel. In 13 hours and 29 minutes he paddled the 21 miles from Dover, England, to Cap Griz, France

♥~ 1992 –  A local health board in Massachusetts briefly closed a Chinese restaurant for the way it drained water from cabbage. They had placed the cabbages in laundry bags between two pieces of plywood in the parking lot and drove over them in a van.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1851 – Doc Holliday dentist, gambler, gunfighter of the Old West: usually remembered for his associations with Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral; died Nov 8, 1887

♥~ 1863 – Ernest Thayer writer: Casey at the Bat; died Aug 21, 1940.

♥~ 1945 – Steve Martin Emmy Award-winning comedy writer: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour [1968-69]; comedian, actor: All of Me, Roxanne, L.A. Story, Parenthood, Father of the Bride, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, Three Amigos, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Saturday Night Live, Cheaper by the Dozen series, The Pink Panther series

♥~ 1941 –  David Crosby, singer  and musician, Crosby, Stills, and Nash

♥~ 1947 – Danielle Steel (Schuelein-Steel) author:  of a romance novelist who has sold nearly 600 million books: Danielle Steel published her first novel, Going Home, in 1972. Her next five novels were rejected, but she kept writing, and she has recently published her 97th novel.

♥~ 1950 – Gary Larson cartoonist: The Far Side

♥~ 1961 – Susan Olsen actress: The Bradys, The Brady Bunch Hour, The Brady Bunch

★~ Baseball Gallimaufry:

Zack Hample, from New York, is a baseball fan and bawl hawk – he’s great at catching and stealing balls. But Zack isn’t an ordinary ball hawk, because no one else boasts a collection as impressive as his: more than 5,800 balls, both home runs and fouled balls. The way he goes after balls at matches can be characterized as almost professional.

A typical game for Zack Hample goes like this – running around the Major League ballpark, searching for foul balls or home runs, and sometimes even convincing coaches and players to toss balls into the stands. As you can imagine, being a ball hawk is no walk in the park. It involves a lot of athleticism, a bit of science and loads of luck too. All three of which Hample has plenty of. His collection of baseballs is the largest in the world. “Yes, I’m obsessed,” he admits.

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Well, there IS joy in Chicagoville. My car is running fine, and we have a plan to fix the bathroom leak. It also looks like a beautiful day.

Hope your Wednesday is Wonderful!

Odd Loves Company!