Animal Crackers for Christmas

or Now that makes sense.

I ran into a friend the other day while shopping. She was buying Barnum Animal Crackers and I was trying NOT to buy some Doritos. She told me that every year at Christmas, she buys a box of animal crackers for her kids since the crackers originally started as Christmas ornaments. Wow. I had never heard that. I guess that explains the string on the box.

Very curious, I went home (with a bag of Doritos) to see if this story were a piece of lore or truth. Here's what I found out. Animal crackers have a long history starting in England before the colonies were formed. After importing them for several years, they were eventually  produced here. There were various companies involved that eventually merged together to form the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). In 1902 they started to call them Barnum's Animals from Barnum and Bailey's Circus. That was the same year they had the idea of marketing them at Christmas with a colorful box and string to hang on a Christmas tree. I'm not sure how long the this campaign kept up, but the box, largely unchanged, with it's string is still around over 100 years later.

Guess what Santa is going to bring Ward, Wally, and Theodore for Christmas this year? It will be hanging on the tree waiting for them Christmas morning. A new tradition has begun.

Want to read more?

http://collectibles.about.com/od/advertisingstuff/a/blTFbarnums.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_cracker

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artanimalcrack.html

A Second Look--December 11, 2013

For a Second Look this week, I watched out my window one day while it snowed--my favorite way to do Second Looks on cold, wet days. :)

Here's what I saw this week during my Second Look.

The morning started as a dry, cloudy day with a flock of crows making a morning visit.

Later it started to snow and other birds arrived.

I saw a tufted titmouse.

and a male downy woodpecker who steadily ate while the other birds were in and out.

First he was joined by a Carolina wren.

Next a white-breasted nuthatch showed up.

Soon a junco came to take a bath in the snow on top of the feeder. The woodpecker kept eating away even though the junco was shaking things up. Next, the junco took a bath on top of the squirrel baffle.

Usually the juncos were hopping around below the feeder.

Several chickadees were flitting on and off the big feeder. They'd grab a seed and then go off to eat it.

Elsewhere, this pansy was still able to peek out from the falling snow.

We eventually ended up with about four inches of snow before it turned to sleet and freezing rain.

Today...

Today, I'm going to be like my cats and adapt to wherever I am.

With all of the upheaval in the house, many of the cat's favorite lounging spots have disappeared. Not to worry, cats can always adapt, and so can I.

 

Thankful Sunday--December 8, 2013

I am thankful that Ward is not afraid of heights.

I could get on the roof if I really had to. But I wouldn't like it because I'm afraid of heights. I am thankful that Ward isn't and was on the roof yesterday cleaning gutters and hanging Christmas lights.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Dec. 6, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

Pineapple

There was a can of pineapple that got shoved to the back of the refrigerator and lived there until we discovered the smelly contents. Turns out the can has quite a complex history involving three households, brisket, and 1 1/2 months of time. Ask Ward about it sometime if you want to know the complete story.

This Week's True Food Confessions

Look! I did actual cooking this week in the new kitchen. During the refrigerator clean out, I made some tasty vegetable soup to go with the homemade whole wheat bread. I'm not sure what we ate the rest of the week, but it paled in comparison to this meal. :)

And speaking of new kitchens and construction, we're so close to the end of it, I can almost taste it (pun intended). The work on the living room floor SHOULD be done on Monday with another week and a half of floor curing before we can move everything back in. Yea!

The work continues.