~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
September 22, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote:  “For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.” – Edwin Way Teale

★~ Fall has Arrived:

Temperatures begin to drop in the Northern Hemisphere and the leaves begin to turn different shades of red, orange kicking off the first few days of Autumn. Fall officially begins today at 10:20 p.m. EDT.

A Pumpkin Spice Latte is in my future.

★~ Hobbit Day:

Today is a special day for fans of Tolkien as Frodo and Bilbo are said to both have been born today, by Shire Reckoning of course. Add to that the fact that “The Hobbit” was first published this week in 1937 and you’ve got the makings for a party of special magnificence! Celebrate by having seven meals where cookies, honey cakes and Lembas (Elven waybread) are served. Enjoy literary discussions and readings, and of-course, Lord of the Rings movie marathons. Indulge your “inner Hobbit” by going barefoot

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo! Thanks for all the grand adventures!

★~ Elephant Appreciation Day:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/6Ig3ixrGthE[/youtube]

When people call this beast to mind,
They marvel more and more
At such a little tail behind,
So LARGE a trunk before.
(Hilaire Belloc)

The largest living land animal is the elephant. Their size,  thickness and toughness of their skins protect them from almost every other wild animal. Since they have few enemies to fear (except man), elephants are usually peaceful and easy going.

Celebrate elephants by visiting them at the zoo, eating peanuts, or even telling an elephant joke or two…they are so good natured they don’t mind.

Q: What did the elephant say to a naked man?

A: Hey that’s cute but can you breath through it?

★~ White Chocolate Day:

White chocolate was invented by the Nestlé company in Switzerland. The first white chocolate bar debuted in 1930.

Despite its long history, for many years the confection we know as “white chocolate” was not officially chocolate at all. White chocolate does not contain cocoa solids—one of the main ingredients in traditional chocolate. In 2004, ten years after chocolate manufacturers filed the first petition, the FDA finally relaxed its definition of “chocolate” and accepted white chocolate into the family. According to the regulations, true white chocolate must contain at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% total milk solids, 3.5% milk fat, and less than 63% sugar.

★~ Ice Cream Cone Day:

Italo Marchiony was a lemon ice pushcart vendor and a problem solver. He invented a paper cone to hold the lemon ice, much like the ones we now use for snow cones. Around 1896, using the paper cone as a mold, he created a new and improved cookie-like cone out of pastry dough. People whined and complained about the change, and threatened to take their lemon ice business to another vendor: The cone was stiff and uncomfortable to hold, the cone bits and pieces could get stuck in your teeth, and for some, there was a deep desire to bite the end of the cone off before they were done eating their lemon ice. Groups formed, and people banded together in dislike of the new cone. But Italo stood firm and asked his customers to just try the cone. Some insisted on finding a pushcart that only used paper cones, but others tried Italo’s cones and loved them. In 1903, he applied for a patent, and the ice cream cone was born. That may not have been exactly how it happened, but it’s close enough.

If you have some stale cones left over from summer, fill them with bird seeds, and hang them in the trees for the birds.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1692 – Nineteen people were hanged in Salem, Massachusetts, during a seven-month period in 1692, for allegedly practicing witchcraft. The final hanging happened on September 22nd that year.

♥~ 1773 – Twenty-one-year-old Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy by the British in New York City. Hale had gone behind enemy lines to observe the movements of British troops.

♥~ 1976 – Charles Angels premiered: This extremely popular show of the ’70s featured Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) and Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) signed on with detective agency Charles Townsend Associates. Their boss was never seen, only heard (the voice of John Forsythe); messages were communicated to the women by his associate, John Bosley (David Doyle).

♥~ 1982- Family Ties premiered. The last episode aired Sept 17, 1989.

♥~ 1994 – The comedy “Friends” premiered on NBC-TV.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1956 – Debby Boone: Grammy Award-winning singer: Best New Artist [1977], You Light Up My Life [1977], With My Song I Will Praise Him [1980], Keep the Flame Burning [w/Phil Driscoll – 1984]; group: The Boone Family; daughter of singers Pat and Shirley Boone

♥~ 1958 – Joan Jett singer: group: The Blackhearts: I Love Rock ’n’ Roll, Crimson and Clover, I Hate Myself for Loving You; actress: Light of Day; group: Runaways

♥~ 1960 – Scott Baio actor: Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi, Charles in Charge, Diagnosis Murder

♥~ 1964 – Bonnie Hunt: actress: The Green Mile, Beethoven, Beethoven’s 2nd, Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, Random Hearts

★~ Apple Gallimaufry:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/vdCGnuccRv0[/youtube]

♥~  More than 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States, but only the crabapple is native to North America.

♥~ Apples contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol and are a good source of fiber.

♥~Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.

♥~ Apples ripen six to 10 times faster at room temperature than if they are refrigerated.

♥~ Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit. The largest apple ever picked weighed 3 pounds.

♥~ Apples harvested from an average tree can fill 20 boxes that weigh 42 pounds each.

♥~ Apples are a member of the rose family.

♥~ The top apple producers around the world are China, United States, Turkey, Poland and Italy. Apples account for 50 percent of international deciduous fruit tree production.

♥~ A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds. A bushel of apples weighs about 42 pounds.

♥~ It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.

Apple Kuchen one of my favorite fall recipes. 

 Grandma’s Bonnie’s Apple Pudding (El Morno’s friend Beth Ann’s Grandma)

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It’s cool and crisp in Chicago and so far Bah-Humbug Monday isn’t too awful. We’ve become use to the jackhammers and trucks outside our front door that are working to improve Chicago’s infrastructure. The work is suppose to be finished this week. It’s noisy but the workmen are nice, and something tells me the infrastructure improvement will include an Odd story.

I’m off to make Apple cider donut holes in honor of the first day of fall. If they turn out I’ll share the recipe.

Hope your Monday doesn’t suck.

Odd Loves Company,