FASCINATING TRIVIA, GOT ZUCCHINI?, QUICK QUESTION, TRACY BECKERMAN HUMOR
Greetings Amazing readers!
Presenting Wednesday Reader this July 17.
Another fabulous post filled with thoughts, quick question, riddle + beautiful, colorful artwork.
BEGINNING WITH:
LESLIE ELMAN’S FASCINATING FACTS + TRIVIA!
Super-duper informative in a fun learning way — always!
QUICK QUESTION
What will I never do again?
Quick answer:
Climb aboard on a seat on a Ferris Wheel!
I did it once. And once was enough!
Oh, Lordy!
It was the scariest ride at the fair for me.
As in EVER!
Height! That wheel ride went way up in the air.
The seating basket rocked back and forth! Like a rocking chair flying high in the sky.
No thank you.
That experience happened way back in the day in Billings, Montana, at the summer fair.
I was like 16 years old or maybe a year younger.
It was a white knuckle ride to my extreme.
Who’d have thought such a quiet little ride just going ’round and ’round way up in the air and then gently rolling down to the ground could have been so frightening?
Was for me.
I’d rather be strapped into a roller coaster seat or on the “Zipper” or the “Bob Sled” ride with the carnival dude at the microphone yelling, “Wanna go faster?” While The Cars band was playing ** MOVING IN STEREO** super loud. And we were all laughing and screaming, “Yes! Faster!”
Just not the Ferris Wheel!
You?
ABUNDANCE OF ZUCCHINI
In your garden?
Please neighbors and friends, feel free to drop off a basket load to me!
Swear I’ll make delish use of the GIFT!
GET YOUR JAM ON
2 jam recipes you’ve probably never heard of until today.
Hands down — incredible!
TRACY BECKERMAN’S COLUMN
Regarding car diagnosis is a slice-of-life-laugh!
I can personally relate.
I also learned how to spell the word carburetor typing out her column today. Carburetor was a bit of a stumbling block as I typed it and realized I had misspelled it more than once.
No more.
I could now spell carburetor without hesitation in a spelling bee tomorrow! HA
THE INSTANT KARMA MESSAGE
PUT UP WITH FOOLS
Fact. Whole lotta fools out there.
Duly noted!
OHHHH, AND!
THIS FRIDAY’S DAYMAKER POST – July 19
Is a don’t wanna miss!
STACY’S WORLD
Is awesome!
I can’t tell.
Been sworn to secrecy sort of thing so I don’t give a spoiler alert! ha
What I can say is that it’s hilarious + great tip or two.
You won’t wanna miss it.
THANKS ALL
For sliding by today and giving us a piece of your valuable time today + sharing + engaging.
GRATEFUL!
CATCH YA FRIDAY
Same time.
Same place.
Ready?
Set.
Here we go.
POP QUIZ
- SWEDISH KOTTYBYKKAR, DANISH FRIKADELLAR AND SPANISH ALBONDIGAS ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT FOODS?
a) Cheese
b) Meatballs
c) Noodles
d) Pancakes - “KISS ME” WAS A 1998 SONG HIT FOR WHICH BAND, WHOSE NAME COMES FROM A BOOK BY C.S. LEWIS?
a) The Doors
b) Fine Young Cannibals
c) Modest Mouse
d) Sixpence None the Richer - IN THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, MARCH 31 IS TRANSFER DAY, CELEBRATING THE TREATY UNDER WHICH THE UNITED STATES TOOK POSSESSION OF THE ISLANDS FROM WHAT COUNTRY?
a) Denmark
b) France
c) The Netherlands
d) Spain
QUICK QUESTION
WHAT WILL YOU NEVER DO AGAIN?
POP QUIZ ANSWERS
- Swedish kottbullar, Danish frikadaller and Spanish albondigas are types of meatballs.
- The band Sixpence None the Richer took its name from the book “Mere Christianity,” by C.S. Lewis.
- Transfer Day in the U.S. Virgin Islands celebrates the treaty under which the United States took possession of the islands from Denmark.
COPYRIGHT 2024 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
IS THAT ZO?
The good news for home gardeners is this:
Zucchini are very easy to grow, and thrive in many different climates and soil conditions.
The bad news for gardeners is this:
Zucchini are very easy to grow.
So easy, in fact, that come mid-summer, backyard botanists across the nation find themselves faced with a surplus of zucchini that doesn’t take well to canning or freezing.
So what to do with the bounty? Give it away, of course.
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, August 8 (coming up on us soon!) is National Sneak some zucchini onto your neighbor’s porch day.
As writer Noreen G. Howard explains, “To celebrate it, you simply wait until the dark of night and quietly creep up to your neighbors’ fron door, leaving plenty of zucchini for them to enjoy.”
Your other option is to just let them grow, and grow they will.
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS lists the longest zucchini ever measured as 8′, 3″ long!
Grown by Giovanni Scozzafava in Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada.
Fun fact!
Zucchini, in culinary terms is regarded as a vegetable — although botanically — it is considered a fruit!
~ from my fabulous collection of emails
this one from 2019
TODAY WAS GOOD.
TODAY WAS FUN.
TOMORROW’S ANOTHER ONE.~ DR. SEUSS ~
INSTANT KARMA
PUT UP WITH FOOLS
RIDDLE ME THIS
WHAT IS ALWAYS IN FRONT
OF YOU, BUT CAN’T BE SEEN?
GET YOUR JAM ON!
No need to fret if you’ve never made jam before.
These 2 recipes are easy-peasy and are blue ribbon greatness.
I haven’t made either of these recipes for several years — but I used to every summer and would gift them to friends and colleagues.
It’s so cool that to this day – when I have conversations this time of year – one of the questions is always, “Have you made any mango-lime jam or strawberry-banana jam this year?” Ha!
They are both exceptional recipes and can’t be found/bought on any grocery store shelf – ((to my knowledge)).
Choose an afternoon that you can dedicate a few hours.
Roll up your sleeves, put on some favorite music and go for it!
Recipients will be thrilled!
Peter’s favorite, won’t surprise you, was Mango-Lime.
Here we go!
Here’s how we make them:
JOAN’S MANGO-LIME JAM
From my mother-in-law, Joan Clarson, outta Australia
Quantity – 8 x 8 ounce jars of jam
My mother-in-law, Joan, passed away 8 years ago. I have so many fond memories of her.
This jam was one of her best-of-the-best recipes. Who’s ever heard of a Mango-Lime Jam? Not me!
Lucky all of us that she shared it with me and I share it with you today!
HERE’S HOW WE MAKE IT:
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 cups peeled, pitted and crushed fresh mango
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 box powdered light fruit pectin
NEXT:
- Place peeled, pitted and crushed mango and lime juice in a kettle (large soup pot) over high heat.
- Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and light fruit pectin.
- Bring to a full, rolling boil over high heat and add remaining sugar.
- Immediately bring back to a full, rolling boil again, stirring constantly.
- Boil 1 – 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal at once.
- Invert jars until they seal properly.
- Serve for yourself or gift to lucky recipients.
Juanita’s STRAWBERRY-BANANA JAM
From my neighbor Juanita Arrington
Quantity – 8 x 8 ounce jars of jam
Harold and Juanita were our neighbors when we first moved into the neighborhood a little more than 30 years ago. They have both passed now.
They were the finest neighbors + friends. Juanita was full of joy and very creative.
One particular day she shared this recipe with me, typed out on an 8×11 sheet of paper.
I treasure this recipe. It’s a little tattered and words are a bit faded from all the many times that I have unfolded, to read and make this jam — and it’s splattered with a little strawberry juice. Just makes it even more special!
Yep, pretty sure most of us are familiar with strawberry jam – and strawberry jam is great.
But strawberry-banana jam? I don’t think so.
Hello! Outside the strawberry basket deliciousness! Today I share it with Daymakers.
Thanks Juanita! Keeping part of your memory alive and well with me by sharing your recipe with others.
HERE’S HOW WE MAKE IT:
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 3/4 cups (about 2 quarts) fully ripe strawberries
- 3 fully ripe medium bananas
- 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
- 6 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 box SURE-JELL fruit pectin
- 1 TBSP butter
NEXT:
- Clean, stem and thoroughly crush strawberries, one layer at a time
- Measure 3 1/4 cups crushed strawberries into an 8 quart or larger soup pot
- Mash bananas thoroughly
- Measure and add 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas to sauce pot of crushed strawberries
- Stir in lemon juice
SEPARATELY:
- In a large bowl – combine sugar, fruit pectin and whisk dry ingredients together thoroughly
- Slowly add to saucepot of crushed strawberries and mashed bananas and lemon juice
- Add butter
TURN UP THE HEAT TO HIGH
- Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly
- Turn off heat
- Quickly ladle into prepared hot sterilized jars, filling within 1/4″ inch
- Wipe jar rims and threads.
- Cover with the two-piece lids
- Screw bands tightly
- Invert jars for 5 minutes or more, and turn back upright
- Listen/check that the jar seals have sealed properly
- Store, gift, enjoy!
RIDDLE ANSWER
THE FUTURE
LOST IN SUBURBIA
TURN YOUR WHEEL AND COUGH
BY TRACY BECKERMAN
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t really know much about cars. So when my car started making a funny noise, I knew the noise wasn’t its regular noise. The regular noise sounded like “vroom-vroom,” but this new noise sounded a little like “cough-cough.” Although I wasn’t very car-savvy, I was a mom, and being a mom, I was pretty sure I knew what the problem was.
“The car has a cold,” I told my husband.
“Excuse me?” he replied from his place on the couch where he usually sat when I told him something was broken and was going to cost us a lot of money to fix.
“It has a cold,” I told my husband. “It seems very low-energy, and has a cough.”
“Cars don’t get colds,” he said.
“Well, its symptoms are very flu-like,” I argued. The car reminded me a little of my husband when he got a “man cold.” It was coughing and sluggish and needy. The only difference was, the car didn’t look up its symptoms on WebMD.
“Cars don’t get colds,” he repeated more slowly, as though saying it slower would make me agree with him faster.
“OK, so maybe not a cold.” I said reluctantly. “Then it’s probably, um … the carburetor!”
He shook his head. I knew he thought I had no idea what I was talking about because, to be honest, I did have a history of having no idea what I was talking about. In these instances, I would guess it was something I knew the name of, like a carburetor, so it would seem like I did, in fact, know what I was talking about, although it was highly unlikely that I did.
“Do you even know what a carburetor does?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said enthusiastically. “It berates the car.”
He raised an eyebrow dubiously.
“What about the transmission?” he asked.
“It transmits things,” I said. That is its mission.”
He shook his head and looked at the dog for support. The dog wisely stayed out of it.
“You know nothing about cars,” he said. “Just admit it.”
“I do, so,” I argued.
“OK, let’s try something easier. Where does the washer fluid go?”
“On the windshield.”
“No. I mean, where does it come from?”
“The store,” I said emphatically.
“Where do you put it in the car?”
“In the backseat until the gas station attendant can pour it in.”
He exhaled deeply. “… And where does he pour it into?”
“The car,” I replied.
He got up from the couch and banged his head against the wall.
“Forget I asked … anything. Ever. About cars,” he said.
I shrugged. I could understand his frustration. We’d had similar conversations about women’s shoes.
“OK,” I said. “Well, I guess I’ll make an appointment with the mechanic to figure out what’s wrong and get it fixed.”
“You don’t need to do that,” he replied.
“Why not?” I said.
He picked up his laptop.
“I’ll just look up the symptoms on CarMD.”
~ Tracy Beckerman is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, “Barking at the Moon: A story of Life, Love, and Kibble.”
COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM
Fascinating Stuff
- Guitar picks were made from tortoiseshell until the 1970s, when people stopped harvesting it from endangered sea turtles. To fill the gap, inventor Jim Dunlop devised Tortex, a synthetic, more environmentally friendly “tortoiseshell.” It’s still used for picks today, although some guitarists prefer more unconventional picks. ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons picks with a Mexican peso coin and Brian May uses a silver British sixpence.
- The oldest continuously o0perating auction house in the world is Stockholms Autionsverk, founded in 1674. It’s been in business so long that it was selling baroque and roccoco artwork and objects when they were still considered contemporary!
- The element vanadium (atomic number 24) is so nice it was discovered twice. The first time was in 1801, by Andres Manuel del Rio, a professor mineralogy in Mexico City. But when he sent his findings to Paris for confirmation, they were rejected. Thirty years later, Swedish chemist Niles Gabriel Sefstrom found the same element and managed to convince his peers it was unique. Today del Rio gets credit for the discovery and Sefstrom for the element’s name, which honors Vanadis, the Norse goddess of beauty.
- The word sybaritic, meaning luxurious or indulgent, comes from the ancient Greek city Sybaris. Known for the the luxurious lifestyle of its residents, Sybaris is reputed to have enacted the first noise ordinance in recorded history, back in the sixth century B.C. It required artisans and tradesman to do their noisy work outside the city limits. Even roosters who crowed at sunrise were banned so as not to disturb the Sybarites’ peace of mind.
- In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the fourth Monday of July is observed as Hurricane Supplication Day, when people offer prayers for a safe and mild hurricane season. The tradition goes back centuries and was observed as a paid holiday for local government employees until just a few years ago. The third Monday of October is Hurricane Thanksgiving Day, when people offer prayers of gratitude for safely surviving the hurricane season.
~ COPYRIGHT 2024 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
Something I will never do again is ride a roller coaster. Some high school friends persuaded me to join them way back when and I was terrified from the first drop. Spent the rest of the ride concentrating on keeping my stomach contents in place – my friends said my eyes were the size of saucers and I had a look of horror on my face – and when the ride was over stumbled gratefully out of the car and onto firm ground. I know many people who love the experience but in my mind terror is not fun and I will not do that again. Period.
As always, love the art and cartoons and informative facts.
See you Friday!
Hi Carol –
Ughhhhh! Roller Coaster ride.
Nope. No fun when ya gotta concentrate on keeping your stomach contents “inside”. And just waiting to survive the ride.
Agree! In my mind – “terror is not fun.” Ride or scary movies!
Delighted that you enjoyed the post and took the time to share + care + engage.
You bring us happiness with your sharing and caring.
VALUABLE
Carol and Cheryl, you scaredy cats!
I love ROLLER COASTERS. It started with a girlfriend that loved them so much that out of that love she coaxed me on my first BIG roller coaster.
That would be in Salt Lake City, Utah and then it was California Magic Mountain and Disneyland.
Did I scream?
Well, YES,very loud but that was the secret that kept me from a heart attack.
Would I ride one today? Just how many feet off the ground are we talking about? I’m thinking in terms of playground equipment.
Marty!
You are braver than I! Roller Coaster girl!
Appreciate ya sharing + caring!
MEANINGFUL.
My scariest ride was the elevator shaft free fall ride!
Your stomach is in your throat. I said never again!
The strawberry banana jam sounds delish. Do you have a good lemon curd recipe? I know that’s big in Aussie land for there tea time?
Another great blog❤️
Hi J!
Elevator shaft free fall ride? Whoa. Never heard of it. But I won’t ever stand in line for that ride. Yikes!
Not sure about a lemon curd recipe – but I’m so gonna look and see if I have one.
Indeed, it’s big in the land of Aussies for tea time on scones.
Thank ya for your time and sharing + support.
GRATEFUL!