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Hurray! It is National Pink Day!

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Pink Day Musings by Hunter (Hunter1)

I’m tickled pink to announce that June 23rd is National Pink Day.

Who knew? How did I miss that memo? I did do a bit of research and

couldn’t find the origination of this fabulous day, but who cares?

I think we should all just celebrate this delightful day while basking in pink splendor! It’s easy to enjoy and celebrate this holiday. Think pink clothes, pink lipstick, pink toenails, pink lemonade, pink jello, Pink Floyd and of course, pink books!

So while sipping on that pink lady, here’s a few books for all ages that might whet your pink appetite!

Pink by Lili Wilkinson

Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack clothing. She’s ready to try something new—she’s even ready to be someone new. Someone who fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink.

Pinkalicious Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink by Victoria Kann

One hot summer day, Pinkalicious gets an idea that is simply pinkerrific—a pink lemonade stand!

Pink Boots and a Machete: My Journey From NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer by Mireya Mayor

Against all odds, this self-professed former “girly girl” daughter of overprotective Cuban immigrants blossomed from NFL cheerleader to Fulbright Scholar to field scientist and ultimately, quintessential adventurer.

Shrimp: The Endless Quest for Pink Gold by Jack and Anne Rudloe

A deep and expert look not only at an important human food source, but also of the fragile complexity of the ecosystem in which it is created.

The Pink Society of the Pink Crystal Ball by Risa Green.

The crystal ball will give you answers about love and life… but at what price?

So how will you be celebrating Pink Day?

Photo by Betty D. (bettyatlanta)

: photo by Mary (kilchurn)

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Tags: Book Recommendations, Book Suggestions, Members
Posted in Holidays and Special Dates, Musings | 4 Comments »

Fresh Veggies Day

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Musings by James L. (JimiJam)

It seems only a few weeks ago we were still huddled warmly indoors, hiding from the frigid downpours fueled by the final melting of winter’s last snow. Yet here we are, huddling instead as fans and air conditioners struggle to shield us from the sweltering heat of summer’s imminent arrival. Gone are the sweaters and overcoats, time now for t-shirts and shorts; no more are the sunsets barely lighting our rush hour, here instead is the twilight that lingers long after some of us have gone to sleep. Most significantly (in my food-loving opinion), most have said goodbye to the steady diet of heavy hot meals to warm our bellies, and now look to welcome with open arms (and mouths) the sight of makeshift stands and homemade signs by the roadside, offering for our tables (and tummies) the first of the year’s bountiful harvest of vibrant fresh fruits and vegetables.

June 16^th is Fresh Veggies Day, and I don’t think it could come at a more perfect time (and not just because June 17^th is Eat Your Vegetables Day!). Just as warm, filling food can be the best defense against or remedy for an icy cold day in winter, there doesn’t seem to be anything better than copious amounts of cold, crisp, succulent vegetables when the Sun’s been beating down on you all day long. These are the days of verdant bell peppers, cucumbers, and lettuces, of robust scarlet tomatoes, and richly orange carrots. Few foods present so much palpable life in their texture and taste, but the very Earth and Sun themselves can be savored in the juicy crunch of fresh veg.

So often have I caught myself, standing there before the buffet at a party, drawn not to the casseroles or cookies laid out in abundance, but instead assessing that beautiful, colorful cornucopia of carrots and celery, cauliflower and peppers, with a dipping sauce stationed in the center, inviting the veggies for a swim. Countless times have I shrugged off the assertion that “salad bars are where they keep the pudding and jello”, instead amassing a mountain of every vegetable presented, down to those lovely little cherry tomatoes. When I make a salad, a few leaves and dressing are as good as no salad at all! I need radishes, celery, cucumbers, green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers and scallions, bright carrots, purple onions, and at least three kinds of lettuce (and they had better be crisp!).

Had I ever known, in years past, that there was a day set aside to celebrate this insatiable vegephilia, I would have by now been the type to hang decorations in honor of that fact. As it is, I will simply have to make due, with a trip to the local grocer’s, and to the stand set up just across the street…and perhaps the other stand only a few blocks away. When the 16^th and 17^th arrive, I will undoubtedly spend those days cleaning and skinning, slicing and dicing, and, best of all, crunching and munching my way to complete satisfaction. What better way to repay the sun for all its vicious beaming, than to savor its labors in each fresh veggie bite?

Vegetables Schmegetables

Rose Elliot’s Sumptuous Suppers

Hot Vegetables

Dangerous Vegetables

Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen

Tags: Book Recommendations, Book Suggestions, Members
Posted in Holidays and Special Dates | 4 Comments »

Happy Flag Day! Long may she wave….

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

For Which It Stands An Anecdotal Biography of the American Flag
Author: Michael Corcoran

A Grand Old Flag: A History of the United States Through its Flags

Authors: Kevin Keim, Peter Keim

Liberty A Lake Wobegon Novel
Author: Garrison Keillor

Flag
Author: Victor Friedman

Ain’t No Rag Freedom Family and the Flag

Author: Charlie Daniels

F Is for Flag
Author: Wendy Cheyette Lewison

Tags: Book Recommendations, Book Suggestions
Posted in Holidays and Special Dates | 1 Comment »

Sew – Sew musings on National Sewing Machine Day 6/13

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Member Musings by Cozette M. (CozSnShine)

I hadn’t thought about it until recently, but sewing machines are connected to many of my memories. Memories of my mama, my older sisters, and my niece are all connected by sewing machines!

My mama has six daughters and 3 sons! That meant a lot of clothes and you couldn’t just run to WalMart in those days! While I am too young <snicker> to remember, I know my mama owned a sewing machine in the 1940’s! I know this because of a story she used to tell on my older brother. Mama loved sewing for her daughters and often gussied up their dresses with ruffles and lace. When Bill was a little boy he wanted mama to put some ruffles or other pretties on the shirt she was making him. Mama, always wanting to make her children happy, sewed ruffles on the tail of his shirt. Daddy, proud of his first born son, made sure the shirt stayed tucked tightly in his pants! A great use of her sewing machine and her ingenuity.

My three older sisters were/are my heroines! They were also the best-dressed girls in high school and college. Two of them made all their own clothes, or remade clothes that were given to them. I love spending time with them, looking over old photographs and hearing them say, “Oh, I remember making that dress out of brown and white wool and wearing it to the homecoming game!” Or, “I made that dress for sister when she was elected college basketball queen!” They made good use of mama’s treadle sewing machine! We might not have had much money, but that didn’t keep my sisters from being up to date in their styles!

Sisters in the 1940’s looking good!

I am old enough to remember having no electricity in our home, no running water and no bathroom. But I can’t ever remember not having a sewing machine. Just as daddy needed his equipment for farming, mama needed her sewing machines!

My first memory of mama sitting at the sewing machine came on a day of sadness in our family. My sister Bonnie had married a soldier, had a baby and was leaving to live in Okinawa. I remember the family telling her goodbye and my brother driving off to take them to the airport. My mama, in tears, sat down at the sewing machine and started sewing. Using scraps of left-over fabric, she made clothes for every doll my little sister and I had. It was her way of keeping her hands busy while her heart hurt. Sewing machines, yes a way of life for her.

Mama sewed all her life. She had several sewing machines over the years and kept them singing all the time. She sewed for her 6 daughters, for her many, many grandchildren and once in awhile for herself.

My first attempts at sewing were at my sister, Ouida’s home. Since she was married and had a child, a great treat was to go stay at her house for a few weeks in the summertime. She was and is a great seamstress. One of the lessons I remember well has nothing to DO with a sewing machine! Lesson number one – if you drop a pin on the floor you have to find it! No matter how long it takes, you can’t give up! With a toddler in the home, the rule was enforced with vigor. It wasn’t until a few years ago that she told me that she taught my sister and I how to sew because she had no idea what else to do with us for weeks! She was a great teacher but I was just a sew-sew student!

I was one of the “younger” kids, and we had more store bought clothes than the older ones. But I had many pretty dresses made by my mother and stylish clothes made by my older sisters. I have fond memories of the poodle skirt, made by one of my sisters, that I wore in high school. Red with a white poodle – girl I was stylin’.

In high school, I took Home Economics, where I used my first electric sewing machine. Home Ec was taught, in those days, to almost every girl in the school. When we started the sewing class, I thought I had it made. I had been sewing since I was 10! I picked my pattern, I picked my material and I was on my way. I only halfway listened each day to the “lecture” part of the class. I just wanted to sew on that new Singer sewing machine! I had chosen a pattern with a sailor top. When I got to the point of putting the piping on the collar, I pinned it on and sewed away. Just as I was finishing, my teacher walks by and ask if I had basted the piping on. Basted? Surely I didn’t need to baste, I knew how to sew! My teacher insisted that to “do it right” the piping had to be basted first. It did not matter that the piping was on and looked great! To receive a passing grade, I had to redo all the piping. I refused and got a failing grade. My parents were NOT happy. The best thing I learned from that class is that an electric sewing machine made for faster sewing IF you didn’t need to baste first!

One of the first things my husband and I bought was a sewing machine. I sewed many patches on his Navy uniforms over the years. I never knew that he could sew too, until I tried to make drapes. I liked the material I had chosen but I couldn’t get the prints to match. I was so frustrated that I finally went to bed in tears. When I got up the next morning, new drapes were hanging on the windows. He had cut out and sewn them himself. His logical mind could see what needed to be done and the sewing machine did the rest!

I almost always sewed for others and seldom for myself. I loved sewing for my niece that lived nearby. I made her many dresses and more Barbie clothes than I can even think about! I remember being very pregnant and making my younger sister (also pregnant) and my niece matching Christmas dresses and buying one for myself.

This is my grandniece wearing the dress I made her mother.

Since I had an only son, I didn’t think my sewing machine would get much use! Wrong again! He joined Boy Scouts and there were patches galore that needed to be sewn on! That sewing machine was brought out time after time to mend, sew on patches, and repair camping equipment!

As a young adult, my son joined SCA and my sewing machine got a real workout. He needed a cover for his fighting helmet (had to make it look medieval). He designed some of his fighting clothing and I used my trusty machine to make them come to life. Not EXACTLY the type of sewing I thought I’d be doing, but I loved it anyway.

Allan in his SCA garb that he designed and I sewed!

My sewing machine took a vacation for a few years. It languished in my closet and was only brought out for a scattered mend or two.

Then my darling grand niece decided she wanted to BE a princess for Christmas. She didn’t want princess things, she wanted to BE a princess. OH MY! I dust off my sewing machine and get to sewing. Princess dresses are not exactly easy to make! But. . . the look in her eyes when she wore those dresses were worth the nights of sewing and fussing and sometimes weeping I did. She got to BE both a fairy princess and a winter princess!

Back in the closet my sewing machine has gone, waiting for the next opportunity to bring smiles to someone. It may be to the little girl above, who is growing up way too fast or it may be for a someday grandchild. But one thing I know – I may be a sew-sew seamstress but I know how to use that sewing machine to make smiles!

The Sewing Room

Sew Deadly

The Seamstress: A Novel

Tags: Book Suggestions, Members
Posted in Holidays and Special Dates | 12 Comments »

Celebrate National Iced Tea Day

Friday, June 10th, 2011

National Iced Tea Day by Maria (SassenachD)

With triple digits upon us this wonderful alternative to soda and water is being celebrated!! *Fans self with magazine. June 10 is considered National Iced Tea Day, where and how this refreshing holiday began, I can’t seem to locate. I’m still fanning myself. I am just sharing my love of the bodacious brew. Remember the commercial with the handsome rugged guy in the white t-shirt glistening from work and drinking a sweaty tall glass of iced-tea? BIG SIGH!!!! Wait! Is it getting hotter here? OOO Wrong Forum…Blog not DOS!! * Pours more tea into glass and dabs forehead. Anyhoo…

I grew up drinking Iced Tea with meals. My family didn’t care if I drank milk or not. I chose Tea. My job in the evening was to make the tea! Get the pan, boil the water, fill the pan with tea bags (remember to fish them out when done steeping) fill the Tupperware pitcher with ice and if it was too strong add a bit of water. We didn’t add sugar (diabetics in the family). We had Pink Death (Sweet and Low or saccharin tablets or drops for special guests). My brother brought home something called Lipton Instant Lemon Iced Tea…Looked funky…smelled great…cold water , tea powder, ice, stir…done! That went by the wayside after a few years…Back to teabags…Drinking Iced Tea at the Aunt’s house was nice, she would serve it with lemon or mint…It was so cold…looking at that amber color through the ice cubes, not dark like Coke, but a friendlier brew, a darker form of sunshine. Twirling the ice cubes with the loonngg tea spoon. I loved to watch the condensation form on the glass… I would draw hearts on the glass then lick my finger of the cold wetness. ”Don’t forget to wrap the glass” Aunt Myrtle would holler out to us. She didn’t want her tall tea glasses to get broken if they slipped out of our hands.

I still make Iced Tea almost daily, either a nice black or green. It is a nice break from water or that bottled stuff they call tea. I have only found a few I really like. I add lemon, ginger slices, peaches, mint or even berries. Some of the Fruit Teas make lovely Iced Brews in the summer. My Mr. Coffee Tea maker has been chugging along making tea for 24 years now. I consider it the easy way to make tea, 4 tea bags; water ice cubes…hit the button…Viola! Tea in about 10 minutes! That works for us! When we entertain I usually make three pitchers of tea. One with no sweetener, one weird concoction of berries or mint and one sweet. Nothing ever goes to waste.

I have had Sweet Tea made lovingly by real southern women. It goes great with some peach cobbler or some warm scones or my favorite, on the porch with company. Iced Tea is a stop and savor- waves to the neighbors this moment kinda drink. It brings smile to people. Friends can sit together and hash out problems and find solutions. A comfort drink for a good cry and a great shoulder to lean on. A celebratory concoction for that great news you want to share. It’s a non-judgmental drink. It doesn’t wear a designer label or care if it comes from a specific shop. It lets generations reconnect with each other. You can’t OD on it or get a DUI (unless it is a Long Island Iced Tea!!). It’s a non- threatening beverage. No country has ever declared war with another over tea. Well, okay, I take that back. There was this mishap back in Boston about 250 years ago. I’m talking recently. Raise a glass this day (Don’t let it slip!) to this inexpensive, refreshing beverage. It is amazing how so much flavor and other health benefits can come from leaves.

Now about the guy in the white T-shirt…

Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods

Cold Tea On A Hot Day by Curtiss Ann Matlock

Drink the Tea: A Mystery by Thomas Kaufman

Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes by Sandra Chastain, Donna Ball, Virginia Ellis aka Lyn Ellis, Debra Dixon, Nancy Knight

My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens

Thank God for Iced Tea: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Family by Nicole L. Weyant

Zeus and the Giant Iced Tea: Poetry Leopold McGinnis

Tags: Book Suggestions, Members
Posted in Holidays and Special Dates, Musings | 5 Comments »

In Honor of National Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Month

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

We Present Mango Musings

By James L. (JimiJam)

There’s something strangely therapeutic about the way I eat mangoes, almost cathartic, though I rarely, if ever, cry. There’s a reckless abandon to the way I throw myself at the vibrant, glistening orb set before me, an almost childlike disregard for manners or decorum. That youthful innocence plays out in the shameless grinning of sticky sweet lips dripping with citrus pine juices; I swear that, were the seat high enough to allow for it, I would kick my feet playfully as I hummed sweet mango songs to myself through over-sized mouthfuls of delectable orange flesh.

There are few joys as uninhibited, and yet so simple and convenient. It takes merely the selection of a properly ripened specimen and a quick peeling, and the stage is set perfectly for bliss. No darkness dare oppose the happiness that lies within that multicolored rind, no amount of sadness or anger could possibly outlast the 5 minutes it takes to regrettably reach that ovular disc of a pit.

If I could, I would eat nothing but mangoes, though no doubt this would somehow blunt their powers of unrivaled and miraculous goodness. I am more than content, as ever I shall be, to have just eaten one, at its well appointed time. With no room in my stomach for another, there would be no room in my heart for more happiness, my cup having runneth over in abundance. In that moment my life, as my fingers and face, is undeniably juicy and sweet.

Some Mango Books to enjoy:

Tags: Book Suggestions, Members
Posted in Holidays and Special Dates, Musings | 10 Comments »

VostromoScope: Gemini

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

Element: Air
Ruling planet: Mercury
Symbol: Mary-Kate Olsen
Birthstone: Aquamarine

Ah, Gemini, you cheeky, cheeky sign! Not content with two arms, two legs, two eyes, and the occasional extra hoo-hah, you fill the cosmic byways with your dual nature like a Segway: are you remarkably unique, or just really sorta kinda strange? Consider some well-known Geminis, and ask yourself: can their personalities be reconciled?

– Paula Abdul: sings in English, speaks in her own language
– Clint Eastwood: talks like a normal person on Leno, growls throughout every movie
– Ian Fleming: gave us James Bond, also wrote “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”
– Jean-Paul Sartre: decided there is no God, then talked to an imaginary lobster
– Boy George: both sexes, and neither
– Drew Carey: hilarious when fat, but where is he now?
– Brooke Shields: still hasn’t returned any of my calls

But the double-sided construction of Geminis may be overemphasized, to the detriment of their many singular contributions to world culture:

– Thomas Mann: considered one of the most important writers in history, if only somebody would read his books
– Erich Segal: single-handedly responsible for the decline of American masculinity
– Paul McCartney: just keeps getting married
– Laurence Olivier: arguably the greatest actor in history, voluntarily made “The Betsy”
– Lionel Richie: also single-handedly responsible for the decline of American masculinity
– Ruth Westheimer: still hasn’t returned any of my calls

So Geminis are creative, witty, strong-willed, and sometimes clean. They love eclecticism, but can’t spell it. They are fearless and provocative lovers, but never pick up the check. They are often physically beautiful, but keep blocking my number. Gemini, which side are you on?

This month’s forecast: Celebrate your birthday on the 16th regardless of the actual date. Avoid anything fruit-filled. Really, I’ve changed.