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National Daiquiri Day

When you look up the National Day calendar, a lot of the days have more than one “thing” honored. Today there is only one. The daiquiri. If nothing else, I will learn how to spell daiquiri.

Generally a daiquiri has strawberries, sugar and rum. A Pina Colada is coconut milk, pineapple, sugar and rum. I don’t know why it isn’t called a daiquiri. Probably to make me ask silly questions.

In my early twenties, I lived for a time in Biloxi, Mississippi. A refreshing strawberry daiquiri on a hot muggy day was a treat. Blue Hawaiians were also popular. They had rum, blue curacao, pineapple juice and sugar. They were my favorite. Served in a hurricane glass. During the time I lived there, no hurricanes visited the shoreline. I was lucky.

I remember the police clearing the beaches some afternoons because of the dangerous heat index. I had a friend that was pregnant and when we went to the beach she would dig a hole for her growing belly, then lie on her stomach like the rest of us. She told us the cool sand put the baby to sleep.

I miss those days. I was young, innocent, not afraid of anything, and thought life would always be rosy. Now I know how naïve I was, and life has given me way too much experience in unpleasant ways. (Disenchantment, divorce, death, money problems, etc.) On the up side, I now have the ammunition to be able to write about life and make it real.

A few years back I read an article that said a woman’s personality could be pegged by what she drank. A woman who orders a strawberry daiquiri is a high maintenance person who wants her own way. I haven’t ordered one since. I wouldn’t want to give people the wrong impression.

07/19/2016 0

National Sour Candy Day

I’ve never thought much of sour candy, other than lemon balls. When I was young, Sweet Tarts, was the sour candy of choice. When I got them on Halloween, I gave them away or traded them for anything with caramel in it.

Speaking of Halloween, I grew up in a one block town, literally. My sisters and I, along with our mother, could sit at the kitchen table and go from house to house on each side of the street, name the adults, children if any, and pets. We did this one evening to count the number of dogs in town. Who remembers why. We also knew which house gave the best candy, or treats on Halloween. One lady gave out homemade caramel popcorn balls. Big ones. I went to her house first. Another lady wanted us to come in, sit down, and chat while we had doughnuts and cider. We went there last because it took so long.

In the mid 1970’s my father turned our childhood home into an antique shop. On Halloween he gave out what were then $1.00 candy bars. Though he never locked the shop, he never had a break-in. He would tell people those huge candy bars were his security system because the older teens in town protected his property. We agreed with him. He taught us one got better results with sugar, than by being a sour-puss.

I can’t tell you what the sour candy choice of today is. I still only eat the lemon balls.

07/18/2016 0

National Ice Cream Day

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day. My adult children and their families were visiting so I didn’t take the time to write. I’m sure everyone has a favorite ice cream story or memory. Or perhaps loads of them, especially if you live in a hot climate.

The one that comes to mind first is when I was about seven. My father worked evenings so my three older sisters and my mother ate supper without him. That was in the old days when the family ate together. (I’m sorry that has changed.) I don’t remember which night Gunsmoke was on television, but we would watch it with Dad and have vanilla ice cream with home made chocolate sauce on it. It was one of the few things we did with him.

Yesterday, I printed a copy of the chocolate sauce recipe for my daughter-in-law, written in my mother’s handwriting. Mom passed in 1970. Seeing her handwriting is always a pleasure.

Granny’s Chocolate Sauce.

1 Cup sugar, 1/3 Cup water, butter the size of a walnut, pinch of salt, 1 1/2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

Slowly bring this mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for about one minute.

Remove from heat, add 1 1/2 caps pure vanilla extract. Stir and serve hot.

When my husband and I go for ice cream now, we laugh, because we pass about seven other ice cream stands to get to Bruster’s, our favorite. I’m sure wherever you live, there is a brand you prefer over all others. Enjoy.

07/18/2016 0

National Personal Chef Day

Having a personal chef is something I know nothing about if you are referring to someone you pay to do your cooking.

I know some people that have had a dinner party and paid a chef to put on a cooking demonstration, then eaten the food prepared, but I’ve never been invited to one of those events. I think I’ve missed a fun time.

I have eaten in a restaurant or two where someone prepares your food table side. If one could call the preparer a personal chef, I remember both times the young man was very easy on the eyes, and the food was excellent.

On family dinner day in our house, I am the chef. Mostly because I like to be. Our tradition is to let the person who has a birthday that month pick the menu. Luckily we are a small group and most of the months are represented. November we have turkey for Thanksgiving, so our November birthday picks the menu for the month we don’t have anyone. It all works well. Oh, and broccoli is served most every month because the grandchildren will eat it. And dessert? I have spent the day before making a scrumptious cake from scratch and it gets pushed aside for ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce. Hence, now I just plan on ice cream. As I said, it all works well.

07/16/2016 0

Kitchen Table Memories

Hi Folks. I am an aspiring author that needs a social media footprint. This is one step.

You know those weird National Day of whatever it might be that day, like hot dogs, or tapioca pudding, that you hear about. I don’t know where they come from, or how they got started, but I do know every time I hear one mentioned, it evokes a memory or two.

I hope you will come by often to share my memories of what comes to mind when I check the calendar that day. Some of what you read here may be something that one of my characters experiences. I find a bit of myself in all of them, as you can only write what you know, or can gain from another person.

My first family saga is finished. Well, let me clarify. Something you write can always be edited or completely rewritten, so it’s finished for now. It is in need of an agent that can’t put it down during the first reading, and a publisher that agrees. Bear with me, I dream big.

Thanks for joining me. I’ll keep you updated about the progress of my first novel while I share what made me the person I am today.

07/15/2016 0

National I Love Horses Day

When I was a little girl there was a farm we passed on the way to our summer cottage that had a pair of Percherons. I would ask my mother to drive by very slowly so I could admire the huge, gentle animals. Sometimes we would see them pulling a plow and other times a wagon. When they leaned into their harness you could see the muscles ripple down their shoulders and flanks. I remember they always seemed to be beautifully clean, their manes free from tangles. I was told that took hours of brushing and care.

During that same time period, our neighbors had a pony. I desperately wanted to ride that pony. The one time I was given the opportunity I don’t remember being given any instructions other than to hold on to the reins and saddle horn. The pony ran along the electric fence, my leg getting shocked at every step. I got off as fast as I could and didn’t ask to do that again.

As an adult I went with some friends to a horse ranch to ride in the hills of western Washington. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get up on top of that big animal, but wasn’t going to admit I was afraid. I didn’t know the horse could tell I was. He ambled along while I hung on for dear life. I didn’t do that again either.

You practiced horse riders are probably thinking there is nothing easier than riding a horse, and having a good chuckle at my inexperience. That’s all right. Another person smiling because of something I said or did is a good thing. In my book, horses are one of the most majestic and beautiful animals on this earth, and I love them.

07/15/2016 0