Winter Fairy By Mucha

HEART, ART, LIMA BEAN SOUP, NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION + INSPIRATION + LAUGHTER

Hi Everyone!

How’s the New Year going so far (all of 3 days – ha)?  All’s well in my world.

Presenting Wednesday Reader on this first Wednesday of 2024.

Lots of fun packed in this episode for reading + thought enjoyment.  Beginning with:

POP QUIZ

Reminded me how much I love(d) “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and, yes, the song “Moon River.”  Totally gonna find + watch + re-visit that classic.

QUICK QUESTION

Best compliment I think I can give to someone — you matter.  Whether spoken or implied.  I love it when I hear it or feel it from someone.  How about you?

GRAVESIDE SERVICE STORY

Is a funny, for sure.

LIMA BEAN SOUP

What?!  Yes!  Seriously good, unique, tried-and-true.  The magic (as is usually the case with anything involving beans) start with dried beans.  And have you ever had a grilled Pimento Cheese + Ham sandwich?  No?  Now’s the time!  Yes?  Lima Bean Soup and Grilled Cheese Pimento Sandwiches with or without ham are soup mates for sure!
((Pro Tip – like a little kick in your food?  Add 2-4 cleaned, seeded and chopped jalapenos to the sauteed mixture of onions, carrots and celery — stellar add-in)).

TRACY BECKERMAN’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION COLUMN

Is slice-of-life funny and I, personally, can relate.

FASCINATING STUFF

Never disappoints.  Always fascinating and great material for being the/or one of the most interesting people in a group of people.

GRATEFUL

That you slid by today — reading + sharing + commenting.  Thank you.

HAVE A GRAND REST OF THE WEEK
CATCH YA ON FRIDAY
SAME TIME.
SAME PLACE.

Wednesday Reader January 3

POP QUIZ

  1. WHO COMPOSED “MOON RIVER,” THE OSCAR-WINNING THEME SONG FROM “BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S?”
    a) Elmer Bernstein
    b) Maurice Jarre
    c) Henry Mancini
    d) Ennio Morricone
  2. WHICH SPICE IS MADE FROM THE DRIED, GROUND FRUITS OF THE CAPSICUM ANNUUM PLANT?
    a) Cumin
    b) Ginger
    c) Nutmeg
    d) Paprika
  3. THE RHINE RIVER ORIGINATES IN THE ALPS AND EMPTIES INTO WHICH BODY OF WATER?
    a) Atlantic Ocean
    b) Baltic Sea
    c) North Sea
    d) Strait of Gibraltar
Wednesday Reader January 3

QUICK QUESTION

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST COMPLIMENT YOU CAN GIVE TO SOMEONE?

Wednesday Reader January 3

POP QUIZ ANSWERS

  1. Henry Mancini composed “Moon River” for the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
  2. Paprika is made from the dried, ground fruits of the Capsicum annuum pepper plant.
  3. The Rhine River empties into the North Sea.

COPYRIGHT 2024 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

GRAVESIDE SERVICE

As a young minister in the south, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a graveside service for a homeless man, who had no known family or friends.  The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country and this man would be the first to be buried there.

I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon became lost.  Being a “typical man” I didn’t stop to ask for directions.  I finally arrived an hour late.

I saw the backhoe and the open grave, but the hearse was nowhere in sight.  The digging crew was eating lunch and I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and I stepped to the side of the open grave.

There I saw the vault lid already in place.  I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, as I told them that this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around the grave and stood silently, as I began to pour out my heart and soul.

As I preached about “looking forward to a brighter tomorrow” and the “glory that is to come,” the workers began to say “Amen,” “Praise the Lord,” and “Glory!”

The fervor of these men truly inspired me.  So, I preached like I had never preached before, all the way from Genesis to Revelations.

I finally closed the lengthy service with a prayer, thanked the men, and walked to my car.

As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I heard one of the workers say to another, “I ain’t NEVER seen nothin’ like that before, and I’ve been puttin’ in septic tanks for years!”

~ Author unattributed
from a saved email thread I received years ago

NEVER BEND YOUR HEAD.  ALWAYS HOLD IT HIGH.  LOOK THE WORLD STRAIGHT IN THE EYE.
~ HELEN KELLER ~

RIDDLE ME THIS

WHAT IS YOURS BUT MOSTLY USED BY OTHERS?

Lima Bean Soup

LIMA BEAN SOUP

Okay, before we throw our noses up in the air about “lima beans”  — give dried lima beans in a soup a chance.  Ha

This soup is incredibly delicious — especially served with a grilled pimento cheese sandwich or grilled pimento cheese + ham sandwich.

HERE’S HOW WE MAKE IT
INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 1/4 cup shredded carrot
  • 1/4 cup chopped celery
  • 4 TBSP butter
  • 2 cups dried baby lima beans, soaked overnight in enough water to cover OR for a faster version cover dried beans with cold water in a large soup pot, bring the water to a boil, simmer for 3 minutes, turn off heat and let stand for 1 hour
  • 6 cups of chicken stock
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 TBSP fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 cups half and half cream
  • Additional chopped cilantro for garnish

NEXT

In a large soup pot, saute the onion, carrot and celery in 2 TBSP of butter over medium heat until onions are soft, but not browned.

Drain the lima beans.  Reserve 2 cups of lima bean soaking liquid/water.

NOW

In the large soup pot with onion, carrot and celery — add the lima beans and 6 cups of chicken stock, 1-2 cups of the lima bean soaking water, thyme, cilantro, salt, pepper.

SIMMER ON LOW ABOUT 1 HOUR — UNTIL ALL ARE HAPPILY INCORPORATED AND LOOKING SOUPY

TAKE OFF HEAT AND CAREFULLY PUREE (in batches if needed) IN A BLENDER OR FOOD PROCESSOR

TRANSFER PUREED MIXTURE TO A LARGE MIXING BOWL

RINSE THE SOUP POT, AND RETURN PUREED SOUP MIXTURE TO IT

ADD

CREAM AND REMAINING 2 TBSP OF BUTTER

GENTLY HEAT OVER MEDIUM LOW UNTIL ALL ARE SOUP HOT ENOUGH

LADLE INTO BOWLS AND GARNISH WITH A FEW SPRINKLES OF FRESHLY CHOPPED CILANTRO

SERVE WITH GRILLED PIMENTO CHEESE SANDWICHES OR CORNBREAD OR WHATEVER TICKLES YOUR FANCY.

SERVES ABOUT 6

RIDDLE ANSWER

YOUR NAME

Wednesday Reader January 3

LOST IN SUBURBIA

RESOLVING TO KEEP MY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
BY TRACY BECKERMAN

Some years ago, I made a New Year’s resolution not to make any New Year’s resolutions because I immediately break them.  Of course, I didn’t remember making this resolution until I was in the car one day sitting in holiday traffic and getting really steamed about all the rude people on the road.  After someone cut me off and my then-4-year-old daughter yelled out, “Watch where you’re going, you moron,” I realized that I might not be setting the best example for my children.  I decided then that I was going to break my last New Year’s resolution and resolve to work on my road rage.

When I lived in the city, I didn’t really have a problem with road rage.  This was most likely due to the fact that I didn’t have a car.  Once we moved to the suburbs, though, we got a car and I actually had to do quite a bit of driving.  I soon learned that the suburbs are filled with bad drivers.  And most of them, it seemed, were always right in front of me.  Or behind me.  Or cutting me off.  Or stealing my parking space.  My usual calm response to this was a few choice words, some fist-shaking and an occasional full-blown hissy fit.

Although I came by this both genetically and geographically, I realized that I might live a little longer if I resolved to be a kinder, gentler driver.  For a while, I was much better.  When people cut me off, I would just smile and wave them on.  If someone tailgated me, I would pull over and let them pass.  When somebody else swooped in and stole the mall parking spot I’d been waiting for and there weren’t any other spots within a mile of the mall entrance, I just let her have it (the spot … I  let her have the spot!)

Then one day I found myself behind a car that was going so slowly, it might as well have been going backwards.  I immediately took note of the fact that the car was a big, old, sedan with Florida plates and a bumper sticker that said, “I Brake for Yard Sales.”  It also seemed, quite mysteriously, to be driving itself.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  I could see a pair of hands on the steering wheel, but there was not head.  It was a headless, Floridian driver doing 10 miles an hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone on a one-lane road and I was stuck behind it, losing my mind.

If ever there was a recipe for road rage, here it was.  Of course, I was very late for an appointment, to boot, so what little patience I had wore thin after two miles.  I thought, all we needed was a couple of floats, a marching band and some Snoopy balloons and we could have our own suburban parade.

For five miles I tailgated the headless driver, getting more and more frustrated and mentally willing him/her/it to pull over, turn, or be beamed up to an alien spaceship and flown away.  Finally, we got to an intersection, and the sedan pulled over to make a turn.  I pulled up next to it and looked over.  There, behind the wheel, was a very old lady, about 110 years old.  I immediately felt awful for tailgating her and belatedly recalled my old New Year’s resolution.  I gave her a weak smile and a little, apologetic wave of my hand.

The itty-bitty old lady looked over at me, raised her hand in return …

And gave me the finger.

~ 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

FASCINATING STUFF

  • The highest order of chivalry in Denmark is the Order of the Elephant, typically given to royals or foreign heads of state.  On rare occasions, it’s been presented to commoners such as Nobel Prize Danish physicist Niels Bohr.  For his role in World war II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was awarded the Order of the Elephant in 1945.  To date, Eisenhower is the only American to be so honored.  His decoration — a small, jeweled elephant on a pale-blue sash — is in the collection of the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.
  • The permanent collections of both the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London contain knitted wool socks from Egypt and Rome dating as far back as the third century.  Some still retain their bright-red color from more than 1,000 years ago.  One pair is knitted in rainbow stripes.  Most are two-toed, with room for the big tone on one side and the rest of the toes on the other — like foot mittens.  Even our ancient ancestors hated having cold feet.
  • America’s first KFC franchise restaurant opened in the 1950s, not in Kentucky, as you’d expect, but in Salt Lake City, Utah.  That unlikely event is down to Pete Harman, a Utah restaurateur and friend of “Colonel” Harland Sanders.  Sanders prepared his famous “original recipe” chicken for Harman and his wife, who decided to put it on their own restaurant menu — calling it Kentucky Fried Chicken in Sanders’ honor.
  • Known for their huge, colorful beaks, toucans are frugivores, meaning their diet consists mainly of fruit, especially guava, figs, oranges and peppers found in South America, where they live.  When they’re courting, toucan couples will use their beaks to toss fruit to each other as a sign of affection.
  • You probably know the American patriotic song “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” has the same tune as the British anthem “God Save the Queen.”  Perhaps you didn’t know that tune is also used for the national anthem of Liechtenstein, “Oben am jungen Rhein” (Up Above the Rhine”), and for “Kongesangen” (“King’s Song”), the royal anthem of Norway.

~ LESLIE’S TRIVIABITS (TM)
COPYRIGHT 2024 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

Day Maker Readable Art
6 replies
  1. Marty says:

    WHAT IS THE BIGGEST COMPLIMENT YOU CAN GIVE TO SOMEONE? To begin seeing individuals as a PERSON OF VALUE and then acting in that manner toward them. It’s a wonderful site to behold. (Heads up: I’m not talking about evil people as those I dodge.)

  2. Carol says:

    The best compliment you can give someone? I agree with Marty and Cheryl. Acknowledging the person, letting him or her know you see them as an individual.

    Oh, that Lima Bean Soup sounds so good right now! I love that it includes cream – how could it not be delicious!!! And Tracy Beckerman. I can so relate and so enjoy her humor!!

    ‘Til Friday. . .

  3. Stacy Oneal says:

    I am going to try that lima bean soup! I love cilantro and I may also add some bacon bits! Yums! Love the artwork too!

Comments are closed.