a menagerie of inspiration, time, travel and cocktail conversation
For one who didn't grow up with 45 records, it may be difficult to understand the little plastic insert needed for the turn table. The musically gifted Blognephew arrived for the holiday yesterday. It was quite a challenge describing this little thingy.
"What I think and feel and what I get are always a match. And so, if I want something different than what I've been getting, I have to, somehow, generate different feelings."
-Abraham-Hicks
Cranberries are actually one of the most unique fruits in the world. In fact, it's only one of three fruits that are native to North America. They are a wild fruit that grow on long-running vines in sandy bogs and marshes. Mostly in the northeast, but also in other parts of North America, like Wisconsin and the Pacific Northwest. It was Native Americans who first took advantage of cranberries. They mixed deer meat and mashed cranberries to make pemmicana-survival food. They also believed in the medicinal value of cranberries--long before science discovered cranberry's health benefits! Medicine men would use cranberries in poultices to draw poison from arrow wounds. They also used the rich red juice of the cranberry as a natural dye for rugs, blankets and clothing. Legend has it that the Pilgrims served cranberries at the first Thanksgiving. The tradition still continues today.
Sailors used cranberries as a source of vitamin C to prevent scurvy. And besides Vitamin C, we now know that cranberries are also full of antioxidants that help cleanse and purify the body.
Cranberries were called "sassamanesh" by Eastern Indians. While the Cape Cod Pequots and the South Jersey Leni-Lenape tribes named them "ibimi," or bitter berry. A very apropos name. And the Algonquins of Wisconsin called the fruit "atoqua." But it was the early German and Dutch settlers who started calling it the "crane berry" because the flower looked a lot like the head and bill of a crane.
Cranberries are primarily grown in five U.S. states " Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington " as well as British Columbia and Quebec, Canada.
“I always think I know how to do it,” Ms. Meche said. “And suddenly it seems really complicated: I have to skim, I have to whisk, meanwhile the turkey is getting cold and there are a hundred people in my kitchen.” But, she said, she finds herself addicted to the excitement. “It’s all part of the blood, sweat and tears,” she said. “That’s how you know it’s Thanksgiving.”The New York Times has some yummy advice on making gravy.
"Always keep a recent photograph of yourself on file in case of emergencies or unexpected notoriety."Bookmark this site for those days when you need rules and inspiration.
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper said in an interview with The Associated Press that it was "very disheartening" to lose her bag full of tools. She was trying to clean up grease that had oozed out of a grease gun in the backpack-size bag, when the tote and everything in it floated away Tuesday.
From The Frisky
