A Second Look--February 29, 2012

As the days become longer, I am starting to see my first signs of spring. The birds are singing, the crocus are blooming, and I have smelled skunk. Now if the weather would just decide what it wants to do. We still have cold, nasty days interspersed with some pleasantly mild ones.

Wally, Aunt Martha, and Uncle Billy took one of my Second Looks with me this week. Uncle Billy and Aunt Martha pointed out a couple of very round cows behind us that should be calving soon. Wally took some of the pictures.

Here's What I Saw This Week

This was a very cold and windy day with a few snowflakes coming from these clouds.

The deer continue to be our daily visitors.

Our first purple crocus of the year. We had a white one bloom earlier.

 

The white and red cows look like they could be giving birth sometime this spring.

 I continue my fascination with the cardinal that raises and lowers its crest. This one showed up on the feeder with a full crest that he then raised and lowered a couple of times while he was eating.

Aunt Martha and Uncle Billy came with me on my walk this very pleasant day.

Cans

Ward, Wally, and I recently visited a local museum that had an exhibit on canneries--more specifically the older cans that came from them. We were lucky enough to talk to the exhibitor and learned a bit of local history in the process. I wish I could remember some of it to tell you, but I can't. I focused most of my time looking at the large variety of labels.

Look at a few of them below to see why I was so fascinated. Notice that two of the cans have plainer labels with a tank and warships on them. These were manufactured during wartime. Also, be sure to read all of the label on the Real Value can. I don't think you will see anything like that in our stores today.

Note: Most cans are paired with a front and back picture of the label.

Notice the tank on the back of this can. This is from WWII days.

Also, manufactured during WWII, notice the colorless label with the patriotic war theme.

I think this is what you call real truth in advertising.

You can tell there were cooked oysters in these cans because they have labels on them. Most oysters were not cooked and were shipped in cans on ice where the label would not survive.

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But Wait, There's More:
While Ward and Wally appreciated all of the labels, here's what they found most interesting.
Ward:
Early in the 20th century, canning was the primary method of preservation of food. Given the short time frame for harvest season, it was important to get crops to the canneries as fast as possible. Before transportation was cheap, fast and reliable, canneries were located nearly everywhere. Most towns of any size had a cannery, and many had two or four or even a dozen. Nowadays, we see many fewer, much larger canneries. Progress, I guess.

Wally:
Did you know that before 1906 weights didn't have to be put on the labels? Also, cans used to be made from three parts--a top, a bottom, and a cylinder. Not two parts like today. (Ward and I were not as interested in this. We are old enough to remember seeing three part cans.)

Food Waste Friday--February 24, 2012

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. 

Here it goes for this week.

We had no food waste this week. Yea! During my refrigerator clean up, I found a couple of things with a short shelf life, but nothing was ready for the trash can. Since I have no food pictures, I thought I would show my cross stitch of the this old saying, "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Do without." Food Waste Friday certainly embodies these ideals.

Conversations with Theodore--The Early Years

Theodore and

The Logic of a Six-year Old

"Mama, I need more practice lying."
"Why?"
"I need to practice for when a robber comes into the house. If he asks me if I have something worth stealing, I want to be able to lie and say, "No," and have him believe me. That's why I need a lot of practice lying--so I can be ready for a robber."

A Second Look--February 22, 2012

During my Second Look around the yard this week, I was uninspired except for the golf ball I found. So I decided to come inside and take a second look at the flowers Ward gave me for Valentines Day.

Here's What I Saw This Week

  

Lights

Let There Be Light

Presidents Day

PRESIDENT'S DAY QUIZ
(This was originally a paper quiz I made for my friends at work. I've reprinted it here for you.) 
 

How much do you know about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln whom we honor on President's Day? Try your hand at the questions below that apply to either Washington or Lincoln.

1. _____ Stood 6'2” tall.

     2. ______ His mother was born in what is now the state of West Virginia.

3. _____ Used his hat to carry important papers.

4. _____ The first president to wear a beard.

5. _____ Had three hoe cakes and tea most mornings for breakfast.

6. _____ Introduced the mule to America.

7. _____ Had red hair when he was young.

8. _____ His formal education was only 18 months.

9. _____ He patented a system to alter buoyancy of steamboats.

   10.  _____ Had no biological children

Bonus: Both Washington and Lincoln were born in February. What days are their birthdays on?

Click on "Read More"  below to see the answers.

Steamboats

Rumsey monument and house where he lived.

If I asked you who invented the steamboat, you would probably respond, Robert Fulton. Most people do. But not if you're from West Virginia. We all know that James Rumsey invented the steamboat. We learned that in grade school in West Virginia history.


So recently when Ward and I visited Shepardstown, WV,  it was my goal to find where Rumsey lived and worked on this engineering feat. We tracked down his home and the monument marking where he launched his first steamboat. Success. How exciting to see my grade school lessons come to life all of these years later.
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But wait, there's more.

Who really invented the steamboat?

Like many significant inventions, there were several people working on the same thing at the same time. John Fitch and James Rumsey were two of these people. They both demonstrated a successful steamboat within a few months of each other in 1787. Rumsey demonstrated a less successful design in 1783. There was an an extreme rivalry and a nasty battle* between them for the rights to the first viable boat. The battle included pleas to George Washington, whom they both knew personally, for help. Washington didn't get involved. In the end, they both received federal patents on the same day, August 26, 1791. (But we all know, that before the patent, Rumsey was first.)

Now you may wonder, what about Robert Fulton? Where does he enter into all of this? Robert Fulton was the first one to make the steamboat a successful commercial venture with a route between New York City and Albany, NY, 20 years after Rumsey first demonstrated it. By the way, Fulton met Rumsey in France when all of the steamboat designs were being talked about and demonstrated. Another connection of Rumsey to the invention of the steamboat.

*We saw Wynkoop's Tavern in Shepherdstown where Fitch stayed while he was allegedly was spying on Rumsey.

Sources:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rumsey
 http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/steamboats/booklets1.htm
Shepherdstown Walking Tour Pamphlet

"Devil in the White City"--a book club discussion

The book for this month's book club was The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. The book takes place during the Gilded Age in Chicago and describes the players and events leading up to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. It also tells the story of a serial killer who used the fair to further his wealth and killing opportunities. The story of the world's fair is complex. It involves personality conflicts, city competitions, new technologies, illnesses, deaths, labor unions, acts of God, politics, and fires among other things. The story of the serial killer is disturbing but fascinating. The amazing thing is that these stories are true.

What did the critics think? Devil is the White City was on the best seller list when it came out in 2003 and has won numerous awards. Most critics liked it for Larson's ability to tell a story, pay attention to details, and build suspense. Some thought his writing was too obvious and didn't like it.


What did my book club think? (and a few others that I talked with who read the book)
Things we agreed on:

• We all liked the book.
  
• We were amazed by how much we didn't know about Chicago and the "Fair that changed the world" before reading the book.
• The building of the fair could have been a stand alone story.
• The book seemed well researched.
• The serial killer part was very creepy and disturbing.

Things we didn't agree on:

• Some thought the serial killer story was disturbing but interesting reading. Others thought that it was unnecessary and would have been just as happy if it had not been in the book.
• The book was written as two parallel stories that didn't really cross. Some thought the switching back and forth between the stories built suspense. Others found it cumbersome to reorient to a different story every chapter.
• Some found parts of it slow reading with details of the construction and committees. Others found  those parts interesting.
• Some would recommend Devil in the White City with few reservations while others would only recommend it to a select audience. All agreed that any recommendation would be accompanied with a warning about the serial killer part.

What did I think? Wow! But don't read the parts about the serial killer before you go to bed.

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But Wait, There's More
Did you know that among other things, the 1893 Chicago World's Fair introduced us to Cracker Jacks, Juicy Fruit gum, shredded wheat, and the Ferris Wheel?


Note: One of my pet peeves is a review of a movie or book that gives away most of the story. So when I discuss a book, I will only do it in the broadest sense in case you want to read it later. I'll always try to have a link where you can get more information if you want.

Food Waste Friday--February 17, 2012

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. 

Here it goes for this week.

This was the week for green waste. First there was the green jello that I made for Ward when he needed something mild to eat. He swore that he was going to eat the rest of it, but it has been in the fridge for almost two weeks. I think it's time to go. Next there's the green Shamrock Shake from McDonalds that Theodore purchased. Apparently, the mint flavor was too strong for him so he'd didn't finish it. Also there's the green vase with flowers in it. Oh, wait. That's not waste.* I just think they're pretty. I prefer to have no waste, but at least this week, we're not wasting anything that is really good for you.

* I guess there's a whole discussion to be had about cut flowers and waste since they will eventually be thrown away, composted or whatever. I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes I need to learn to relax and just enjoy something without thinking too much about it. I try to do this with cut flowers. I am especially enjoying this bunch because the cats are leaving them alone. Usually they chew them with several messy results.

 

Second Look--February 15, 2012

During these winter doldrums, I am finding the Second Look harder to do. However, I was rewarded this week with some surprises. My idea was to do a post about the different evergreens we have in the yard.  However, a funny thing happened on my way to the evergreens. I found one lone crocus blooming. Then in another area that was overgrown, I found snow drops. I had forgotten that we even had those. Also, I found buds emerging from a set of daffodils--a result of the warmer weather we had in January, no doubt. These exciting finds reminded me of why I take a Second Look.

Here's what I saw this week.

Crocus

Hydrangea bud

Snowdrops

Daffodil buds

Evergreens around the yard.

Food Waste Friday--February 10, 2012

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. 

Here it goes for this week.
 

We did pretty well again this week with the big stuff. However, I lost another peanut butter sandwich in my desk at work.Technically it wasn't bad, but it had been there long enough I didn't want to eat it. Therefore, I put it out on our patio for the critters to eat.

Some of the critters that come to our patio for snacks.

Second Look--February 8, 2012

This week we continued having our mild, wintery-mix weather which meant warm days interspersed with a little snow, ice, and rain. So when I did a Second Look around the yard, the only consistent thing was mud. This really showed up in the field behind us where the cattle tromp around.

I also continued my fascination with bird crests. I watched the male cardinal, that I've only seen with his crest down, raise it this week. He didn't put up many feathers, but I could see it all the same. Very exciting.

Here's what I saw this week.

Rhododendron bud

Conenose bug (?)

Silver maple buds (Wally's hand)

Fresh hay was just delivered for the cattle behind us.

White breasted nuthatch

The deer have discovered me and are starting to flee.

Deer hoof print

Male cardinal starting to raise his crest

Soup

I made soup.

Is this a big deal? Well, yes and no. First, it's not a big deal because I make soup fairly often. But second, it is a big deal because I followed a recipe. You see, I usually make soup when we have food to use up from the refrigerator or freezer and I make it with no set formula of ingredients, spices, or amounts. Usually, it turns out very good. But sometimes it doesn't.

Therefore, I decided since this week I was going to make soup for friends, I would follow a recipe to ensure a good outcome. Broccoli cheese soup was my choice. I read several recipes and reviews of broccoli soups and decided on one from Cooking Light. But I guess old habits die hard. On my way to follow the recipe, I changed at least eight things including adding ingredients, changing ingredients, changing amounts and changing cooking methods. And guess what? I got lucky. It turned out great.

Now you may wonder how that counts for following a recipe? It counts because I had one posted on the refrigerator. Usually there is not a recipe anywhere in sight.

Here's what I ended up with.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

by June

1 medium onion-chopped

2 cloves garlic-- minced 

3 cups chicken broth

1 8 oz. package of frozen broccoli florets

2 large carrots-sliced

1 medium potato-chopped

2 1/2 cups skim milk

1/4 cup all purpose flour

8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese made with 2 % milk

1/4 t of black pepper

Baked Cheese Doritos

In a large skillet or soup pot, saute onion and garlic in a little oil until they are translucent. Add chicken broth and carrot and bring to a boil. Boil for a minute. Add potato and boil for an additional minute. Then add broccoli and boil for another 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Whisk milk and flour and pepper together until there are no more lumps. Add to broccoli mixture and boil until slightly thickened stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. 

Puree 1/2 of soup with blender or similar device. Combine with other half.

Garnish with crushed Doritos.

Enjoy.

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Note: I noticed some cream cheese in the fridge and am going to add a couple of ounces of this with the cheddar cheese next time I make the soup.