HEART, POLAR BEAR ART, LAUGHS, TRIVIA AND CREAM OF ARTICHOKE SOUP RECIPE
Hola All!
How’s your week going? Good here.
I have been enjoying watching the birds “hit” on the 3 bird feeders I have outside my picture window. I affectionately call it the “bird channel” as I get a lot of joy watching and so do my cats – sitting on the window ledge and looking straight at the feeders. Ha
I’ve been especially noticing all the beautiful Cardinals swooping in and landing for a bite to eat. A friend of mine once told me that Cardinals mate for life and if I see one – look for the mate. He/She is nearby. Guess what? I’m finding that to be totally true. I have a lot of fun spotting one and then spotting its “other half” close by.
Hump day is here! Wednesday Daymaker is also here to bring some cheer:)
Here’s a little rundown of what’s in today’s episode:
LESLIE ELMAN’S POP QUIZ
I found the answer re: Australia’s Qantas Airline to be most interesting. I flew on Qantas with Peter for holiday one time to see his folks (my in-laws). I remember it was top notch; as well as I remember that the flight to Australia was really, really, really L*O*N*G.
QUICK QUESTION
hmmmm – if I had a warning label what would it be? Don’t know of a specific one. Depends on the day. Ha
I do love the choices from the Humorous Warning Sign in this episode. You?
HUMOROUS WARNING SIGN STORY
See above.
TODAY’S QUOTE
Big fan. Simple life lesson perhaps to be gathered from it.
CREAM OF ARTICHOKE SOUP
Is MMM-MMM-GOOD ((remember when Campbell’s Soup used that iconic slogan? They still might, I’m not sure)).
TRACY BECKERMAN’S PILLOW TALK
Delivers a chuckle or 10 as always. Love her wit and writing talent.
FASCINATING STUFF
Is once again — fascinating! I wonder where Leslie Elman collects all of her great “stuff”.
For example just in today’s episode — she writes some crazy-cool stuff about those little Armadillo rascals. AND the origin of the English custom of Afternoon Tea.
My Australian in-laws were properly about a “cuppa” tea in the afternoon. That and a banana a day. Peter’s mum, Joan, explained as she peeled a banana, “I eat a banana a day for my Queen and my Country.” I have no idea of what that meant all the way. I should’ve asked.
Thanks so much for being part of the Daymaker Readable Art Community! Wishing you a wonderful rest of today and week.
We’ll catch ya Friday.
Same Time. Same Place.
Ready. Set. Here We Go. Enjoy!
POP QUIZ
- BERGAMOT-FLAVORED EARL GREY TEA IS NAMED FOR THE A MAN WHO HELD WHAT POSITION?
a) Ambassador to China
b) Grocery store operator
c) Owner of tea plantations in India
d) Prime minister of the U.K. - NHL ALL-STAR TIM HORTON PLAYED MOST OF HIS CAREER AND WON FOUR STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH WHICH TEAM?
a) Boston Bruins
b) Detroit Red Wings
c) Montreal Canadiens
d) Toronto Maple Leafs - THE AUSTRALIAN AIRLINE QANTAS TAKES ITS NAME FROM WHAT?
a) An Aboriginal word meaning “flight”
b) Regions in Australia
c) A rock formation near Sydney
d) A type of koala
QUICK QUESTION
IF YOU HAD A WARNING LABEL, WHAT WOULD YOURS SAY?
POP QUIZ ANSWERS
- Earl Grey tea is named for Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, prime minister of the U.K. from 1830 to 1834.
- Tim Horton played most of his career and won four Stanley Cup championships with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Qantas is an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, the airline’s original name.
~ Leslie Eman Trivia Bits
COPYRIGHT 2024, LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
FROM A HUMOROUS WARNING SIGN
Since I do not come with a warning label, I took into consideration several things you might want to prepare for. Please read the following and proceed with caution.
- If I say “I’m fine” that means one or a combo of several things:
a) I really am fine; just preoccupied
b) I’m not fine but I’d like to talk about it, so let me talk
c) I’m not fine, please leave me alone so I can figure it out - If I’m putting a pencil to piece of paper, LEAVE ME ALONE unless it’s really important. Examples of “really important” include (but are not limited to):
a) The house is on fire
b) The British are coming
c) This really hot guy wants your phone number
d) The chocolate cake is finished - I have 2 phobias: heights and needles*
HEIGHTS
I’m okay on the top of bunkbeds and looking out closed upper-story windows.
NEEDLES
Please refrain from telling me about any shots you had to get or details about any tattoo or piercing experience. Thinking about anything like that makes me nauseous. - PET PEEVES include (but are not limited to)
a) Liars/Cheaters/Thieves
b) My books out of alphabetical order
c) A sink full of dirty dishes from — yesterday
d) Unattended children running amuck
YOU WILL FIND THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO LET THINGS GO – SIMPLY FOR THE REASON THAT THEY ARE HEAVY.
~ C. JOYBELL. C. ~
RIDDLE ME THIS
WHAT IS STRONGER THAN STEEL BUT CAN’T HANDLE THE SUN?
CREAM OF ARTICHOKE SOUP
As a giant fan of canned artichoke hearts – this soup/recipe has my heart! Serve with slices of toasted Ciabatta bread or toasted baguette bread. 4 servings
HERE’S HOW WE MAKE IT
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 4 ribs celery, diced small
- 1 stick butter, softened and divided (think slices about a TBSP each)
- 4 cups of canned artichoke hearts, diced
- 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock (or vegetable)
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 TBSP flour
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- About 1/4 cup minced, fresh parsley
NOW GET READY FOR COOKING ACTION
- Over medium-high heat – add 3 TBSP butter. Slide in chopped onion, garlic and celery.
- Saute about 5 minutes – stirring frequently until onion and celery are soft.
- Add artichokes, chicken stock and about a tsp of salt + pepper + nutmeg.
- Stir well and —
- Bring the soup mixture to a boil.
- Lower the heat to medium-low.
- Cover and simmer about 20 minutes.
REMOVE FROM HEAT AND LET COOL ABOUT 10 MINUTES.
PUREE MIXTURE IN A BLENDER OR FOOD PROCESSOR.
RETURN SOUP TO THE POT AND PLACE OVER LOW HEAT.
IN A SMALL BOWL, COMBINE REMAINING BUTTER SLICES AND FLOUR. MIX/COMBINE WITH A FORK UNTIL FLOUR AND BUTTER FORM A CRUMBLY MIXTURE.
ADD THE BUTTER-FLOUR MIXTURE TO THE SOUP. STIR OR WHISK UNTIL WELL COMBINED.
SIMMER ABOUT 10 MINUTES, STIRRING OFTEN.
FINISH BY ADDING THE CREAM AND SOUR CREAM. AGAIN, STIRRING OFTEN FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES OR UNTIL IT’S SOUP IDEAL TEMPERATURE.
LADLE IN BOWLS AND TOP WITH PARMESAN CHEESE AND MINCED PARSLEY.
SERVE WITH TOASTED BREAD.
~ Hippie Cowboy recipe box
RIDDLE ANSWER
ICE
LOST IN SUBURBIA
PILLOW TALK
BY TRACY BECKERMAN
Every once in a while, I get bitten by the redecorating bug and I feel compelled to refresh one of the rooms in the house.
In the grand scheme of things, this is not as bad, as, say, wanting to refresh husbands. Of course, it might actually be cheaper to get a new husband than a new family room. But since my husband is the one financing the redecorating, it behooves me to keep him around.
Besides, I like to see the pained expression he gets on his face when I ask him to look at fabric swatches.
When I got the bug this time around, however, we were not really in a position to get new furniture. So I decided to see what I could do to improve the look of the room without spending a lot of money.
Having watched my fair share of home improvement TV shows, I new that the secret to creating a new look in our family room on a dime really came down to one word:
pillows.
“What’s with all the pillows?” asked my husband when he came home from work and saw a dozen different throw pillows fluffed and arranged on the sofa and club chair.
I beamed, “Doesn’t it look great? I redecorated with pillows!”
He grimaced.
“What?” I cried. “You don’t like them?”
“We are not Pillow People.” He said definitively. He popped his p’s like they were poison darts.
I had no idea what to make of that remark. I assumed it had some kind of negative connotation from the way he said it, but it escaped me how something as innocuous as a pillow could be bad.
“What are pillow people?” I asked.
He inhaled deeply. “Pillow People have a lot of pillows everywhere. And they have poufy loveseats. They also have cats. And dried flowers. And candles that make the house smell like vanilla.”
I thought for a minute.
“And you prefer no pillows and drooly dogs and leather recliners with built-in cup holders and a house that smells like dirty socks?”
“YES!”
“You had that house. It was your bachelor pad,” I reminded him. It was a pit.”
He shrugged. “I prefer to think of it as comfortable.”
“Pillows are comfortable,” I protested.
He shook his head and walked over to the couch. “Watch.”
He went to sit down on the couch, but the pillows took up so much real estate that there was only about six inches of open couch space left at the end for someone to actually sit. He bent down, rested the very edge of his butt on the available couch space, and stared at me.
“OK,” I see your point, I admitted.
“Good.”
“I’ll lose some of the pillows,” I promised.
“Thank you.”
“But can I keep the new cat?”
~ Tracy Beckerman is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, “Barking at the Moon: A Story of Life, Love, and Kibble.”
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
Fascinating Stuff
FASCINATING STUFF
- Female nine-banded armadillos almost always give birth to identical quadruplets — either four males or four females. The little ones are able to walk within hours of birth. Their skin is soft; it takes a while to develop scutes, the characteristic bony plates that cover an adult armadillo’s body.
- The English custom of afternoon tea can be traced to the 17th-century Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza. When Catherine married England’s King Charles II in 1662, tea wasn’t especially popular in England. Catherine changed that. The queen being a de facto trendsetter, her habit of taking an afternoon “cuppa” became the fashion and remains so to this day.
- Here’s a story … about Mike Brady: Before Robert Reed was cast as the dad in “The Brady Bunch,” producer Sherwood Schwartz had Gene Hackman in mind for the role. The network vetoed the choice, reportedly because Hackman wasn’t well-known enough. “The Brady Bunch” premiered on ABC in 1969. Two years later, Gene Hackman won an Oscar for his role in “The French Connection,” at which point everyone knew his name.
- The Bible used for George Washington’s inaugural oath of office on April 30, 1789, was also used at the inaugurations of Warren G. Harding, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. It belongs to St. John’s Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons, which would have been especially significant to Washington, since he was a Freemason. It’s usually on display at Federal Hall National Memorial in New York city.
- The HMS Endeavour was the ship that carried James Cook on his voyages of exploration to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific from 1768 to 1771. When NASA was developing a shuttle to replace Challenger, it conducted an essay contest for elementary and high school kids to suggest names for the new spacecraft. Enedeavour — spelled British-style like Cook’s ship — was the overwhelming favorite. (or should we say “favourite”?)
~ COPYRIGHT 2024 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
RE: Today’s Recipe. I love ordering Artichoke Soup when eating at our favorite restaurant. And now Daymaker is helping us to see it is manageable in making Artichoke Soup at home. Who would ever believe that our inflation is causing us to rethink the “buried treasure” is in our own kitchen?
Hi Marty –
Isn’t it the truth that many “buried treasures” are in our kitchens? Just gotta dig them out with thought and intention.
So happy for your thoughts + comments + reading!
Gratitude!
My warning label? Depending on the day/mood – Handle With Care! 😉
Loved the Fascinating Stuff and the Artichoke Soup recipe
Until Friday. . .
Handle with care. Love it, Carol!
Mine, too, from here on out. Kind and caution tape all at the same time.
Thanks, Daymaker, for reading and sharing and caring.
Grateful!