~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
November 23, 2014

★~  Today’s Quote:  I was the same kind of father as I was a harpist – I played by ear. Harpo Marx

★~ Espresso Day:

Luigi Bezzera invented the espresso coffee machine in Italy in 1901. His objective was to decrease his employees’ coffee break time and increase their productivity! Bezzera’s machine used steam pressure to force hot water through the finely ground coffee. This allowed coffee to be prepared quickly, on demand, and by the cup. The resulting brew of coffee was also stronger in flavor and body. Bezzera’s patent was sold in 1903 to Desidero Pavoni who began commercially producing and distributing the espresso machine throughout Europe.

~ The correct pronunciation  or ordering an intense caffeine fix is not Espresso, but rather EXpresso (like expressway).

~ The serving temperature for espresso (temperature inside the cup) is 160°F.

~ The ideal time for brewing 1 shot of espresso is 25-30 seconds.

~ Any type of coffee roast can be used to make an espresso; the grind size and preparation are what makes it an espresso.

~ Roasted coffee beans start to lose small amounts of flavor within two weeks. Ground coffee begins to lose its flavor in one hour. Brewed coffee and espresso begin to lose flavor within minutes.

~ Using the right espresso cup is important. The maximum capacity should be 2 ounces (60 ml) but should only be filled 2/3 of the way full. If the cups are too large the espresso will cool down too quickly.

~ The cup should also be made of thick porcelain and it is recommended to always preheat the cup before adding the espresso.

~ A good espresso should be able to hold a sprinkling of sugar on top of the crema for approximately 30 seconds before it sinks.

Composition of an Espresso Shot:

~ Crema: is the top layer of an espresso shot. The crema is thin and foamy, with a golden-brown and sometimes red color. This thin top layer holds sweet flavor notes as it contains the espresso’s concentrated sugars and oils.

~ Body: is the middle layer of an espresso shot that is typically a caramel-brown color.

~ Heart: is the very bottom of an espresso shot that should be a deep brown hue. The heart contains the bitterness that provides a balance to the sweetness of the espresso’s crema.

★~ Cranberry Day:

While they may be very good for you, most people don’t snack on fresh cranberries due to their bitter taste. However, we can appreciate cranberries today, perhaps munch on some dried one’s and on Thanksgiving celebrate them to their fullest!

~ The word cranberry comes from “craneberry”;  first named by the early European settlers in America who felt the expanding flower, stem, calyx and petals resembled the neck, head and bill of a crane.

~ Cranberries come from the cranberry bush, a dwarf shrub that grows in acidic bogs. Commercially, cranberries are grown in cranberry beds, which are surrounded by dykes to hold water in, allowing the bushes to be grown in water.

~ Wisconsin is the leading producer of cranberries, with over half of U.S. production.

~ Raw cranberries have been marketed as a “superfruit” due to their nutrient content and antioxidant qualities.

~ Laboratory studies indicate that extracts containing cranberry may have anti-aging effects.

★~ Today in History:

♥~  1889 – The Jukebox made its debut at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

♥~ 1936 – LIFE magazine debuted. The first cover pictured the Fort Peck Dam in Montana (part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program) photographed by Margaret Bourke-White. On page 2, a photo showed a doctor slapping a newborn baby — and the caption read, “LIFE begins.”

♥~ 1954 – Bruce Hornsby musician: piano, singer: group: The Range: The Way It Is

♥~ 1964 – The Vatican abolished Latin as the official language of the Roman Catholic liturgy. In 1988, however, Pope John Paul II, in a binding pronouncement, decreed that respect must be shown everywhere for the feelings of all those attached to the old Latin tradition by wide and generous permission for celebration of the old (Tridentine) rite. By the close of the twentieth century, the Tridentine Mass was once again being celebrated throughout the world with the permission and encouragement of many Catholic Bishops.

♥~ 1974 – One Hit wonder Billy Swan reached the #1 spot on the singles charts with I Can Help, the most popular song in the U.S. for two weeks.

♥~ 1984 – Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie passed his way into sports history by leading Boston College past Miami, 47-45, at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Flutie threw a 48-yard pass on the final play of the game. That play became known as ‘The Pass’. Coaches  were wrong when the said the 175-pound senior was too short to play football.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1859 – Billy The Kid, Legendary outlaw of western US.  Ruthless killer, a failure at everything legal, he escaped from jail at age 21 while under sentence of hanging. Recaptured at Stinking Springs, NM, and returned to jail, he again escaped, only to be shot through the heart by pursuing Lincoln County sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner, NM, on the night of July 14, 1881. His last words, answered by two shots, reportedly were, “Who is there?”

♥~ 1888 – Harpo (Adolph) Marx comedian, musician: harp, piano; silent member of the Marx Brothers comedy team: Animal Crackers, A Day at the Races, Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, A Night at the Opera, Go West, At the Circus; actor: Silent Panic; died Sep 28, 1964

♥~ 1992 – Miley Cyrus actress: Hannah Montana; songwriter, singer: Who Said, Best of Both Worlds, True Friend

★~ Jukebox Gallimaufry:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/wwv6WiRM7Ck[/youtube]

♥~ In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, a coin-operated music machine that played music from a wax cylinder.

♥~ On November 23, 1889, Louis Glass installed a coin-operated phonograph in his Palais Royale Saloon located in San Francisco.

♥~ The Jukebox was originally called “nickel-in-a-slot” because that was the amount of money needed to make a selection. Later, the term was shortened to nickelodeon.

♥~ In 1906, John Gabel invented the “Automatic Entertainer,” a music machine that replaced the wax cylinder with 78-rpm disc recordings and offered several selections of records that could be played. Gabel’s Automatic Entertainer dominated the market until the mid-1920s.

♥~ The classic jukebox has a bunch of buttons with letters and numbers. You push a combination of letters and numbers to listen to what song you want.

♥~ In the Jukebox’s first month of service, it earned about $1,000.

♥~ The jukebox remained something of a novelty arcade item until the invention of the electric amplifier. Without amplification, it was impossible for a large group of listeners to enjoy the music played by the jukebox. When Automated Musical Instruments Inc. (AMI) developed an amplifier in 1927, the popularity of the jukebox surged.

♥~ The Jukebox was was especially popular in the illegal speakeasies of the Prohibition Era because it provided a cheap form of entertainment. AMI sold 50,000 of its amplified machines in one year, bringing to life the age of the jukebox.

♥~ In its height of popularity in the mid-1950s, approximately 750,000 jukeboxes were in use across the United States. That number dipped during the 1970s and 1980s, but with the advent of CD technology and a growing antiques market, the number of jukeboxes presently in use is a about 250,000.

♥~ The jukebox is comprised of 700-800 different components.

♥~ Top Jukebox singles include:
Hound Dog, Elvis Presley
Crazy, Patsy Cline
Old Time Rock & Roll, Bob Seger
I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
Don’t Be Cruel, Elvis Presley
Rock Around The Clock Bill Haley & His Comets
Hey Jude the Beatles
The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding
Lady, Kenny Rogers
Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom, White Perez

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Now that the kitchen sink has a new faucet I’ve decided the whole kitchen needs to be cleaned from top to bottom before Thanksgiving prep begins, so that is how I am spending my weekend. What are you up to?

Odd Loves Company,