FALL’S HEADED OUR WAY – HOORAY!
HAPPY WEDNESDAY FRIENDS
FROM CHERYL CLARSON
Fun line-up of cool reading in today’s Wednesday Reader.
As an English major — I did not know the answer in the Pop Quiz regarding Shakespeare and how he took out the majority of his characters.
QUICK QUESTION –
What’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen multiple times on the side of the road. Hands down — One shoe. You?
I love. love. love. the God Bless Teacher Story.
I’ll be frank – not all teachers are created equally. My mom was a teacher — 1st grade — for years. My mom was a Bonnie teacher (as in the story). Hat tip, Mama.
I remember – clearly – 4 teachers :
Mrs. Simon, Ms. Potter, Mr. Warren and Mrs. Bailey who there is no doubt in my mind made an impact on my young life to who I am today.
You?
Chicken Parmesan Recipe is sooooooo delish.
As always, sweet friends, thanks for sliding by today and giving us a read and thoughts and commenting.
Totally matters.
xo
POP QUIZ
- OF THE MANY WAYS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE KILLED OFF CHARACTERS, WHICH METHOD DID HE EMPLOY MOST OFTEN?
a) Drowning
b) Poisoning
c) Stabbing
d) Suffocation - ALLEN LUDDEN WAS THE LONGTIME HOST OF WHICH TV GAME SHOW?
a) “Concentration”
b) “Jeopardy!”
c) “Let’s make a Deal”
d) “Password” - WHICH OF THESE MARINE ANIMALS IS A CEPHALOPOD?
a) Sea anemone
b) Shark
c) Squid
d) Stingray
QUICK QUESTION
WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST THING YOU’VE SEEN MULTIPLE TIMES ON THE ROAD OR THE SIDE OF THE ROAD?
POP QUIZ ANSWERS
- From Julius Caesar to Titus Andronicus, at least 30 characters in Shakespeare’s plays died by stabbing.
- Allen Ludden was the long time host of the classic TV game show “Password.”
- The squid, octopus and nautilus belong to the taxonomic class of cephalopods.
~ COPYRIGHT 2023 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
GOD BLESS TEACHERS
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.
One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his/her best option in life was to become a teacher?”
To stress his point, he said to another guest, “You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?”
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make?”
She paused for a second, then began …
“Well, I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game or movie on TV.
“You want to know what I make?
She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table:
‘I make kids wonder.
‘I make them question.
‘I make them apologize and mean it.
‘I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
‘ I teach them to write and then make them write. Keyboarding isn’t everything.
‘ I make them read, read, read.
‘ I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man made calculator.
‘I make my students from other countries learn everything about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
‘ I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
‘Finally, I make them understand if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.'”
Bonnie paused one last time and continued.
“Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing that money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant.”
“You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?”
His jaw dropped; he went silent.
~ Author unknown
TEACHING … THE PROFESSION THAT MAKES ALL OTHER PROFESSIONS POSSIBLE.
BE YOUR OWN FIGHTER
(( Starve the landfills. Recycle. ))
RIDDLE ME THIS
WHAT CAN BE TOUCHED BUT NOT SEEN?
CHICKEN PARMESAN CUTLETS
This recipe is fantastic. I could not even begin to count how many times we made it for our grab-and-go dinners at Hippie Cowboy. Customers were wild about it. So am I.
Here’s how we make it:
- 8 – 2 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 fine dried bread crumbs (you can make your own – however, I’m a giant fan of Progresso Bread Crumbs – Italian style).
You can purchase it in a cylinder cardboard container with spices and herbs at your local grocery store. - 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 TBSP minced fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 TBSP olive oil (maybe a little more)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
With a meat mallet or a rolling pin, pound the chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap to about 1/8″ thickness.
Season cutlets with salt and pepper and press the seasonings into the meat with your fingers.
MAKE THE COATING
Combine the bread crumbs, freshly grated Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
SPREAD THE FLOUR ON ANOTHER PIE OR DINNER PLATE
BREAK THE EGGS INTO A SHALLOW BOWL AND BEAT LIGHTLY
Dip the pounded 1/8″ cutlets in the flour, coating both sides and shake off excess.
Now dip them in the egg bowl, letting any excess drip back in the egg bowl.
Finally, coat the cutlets on both sides with the seasoned bread crumbs, pressing bread crumb mixture into place.
As each cutlet is coated, place it on a baking tray.
Cover the cutlets with foil and refrigerate until you are ready to fry them.
READY TO FRY? HERE’S HOW WE DO IT
Heat a large skillet over high heat until very hot – 1/4″ depth. Use vegetable oil or regular olive oil.
When the oil is almost smoking, add as many cutlets as the skillet will comfortably hold. Do not crowd the pan.
Cook until the cutlets are golden on the bottom — about 2 minutes.
Turn and cook on the second side — about half a minute longer.
With tongs, lift the cutlets as they are done, allowing any excess oil to drain back into the skillet.
Transfer to a baking sheet with several thicknesses of paper towels.
Repeat with the remaining cutlets.
WHEN READY TO SERVE –
choices are – but not limited to :
- On top of a small butter lettuce salad with sliced tomatoes
- Prepared thin spaghetti
- Fresh baguette sliced in half or ciabatta as a sandwich thing
SIDE CONDIMENT IDEAS:
- Light oil and vinegar dressing for salad
- Fresh, light marinara sauce on thin spaghetti
- A swipe or 2 on fresh bread of either the oil and vinegar or light marinara for spectacular sandwich
~ Hippie Cowboy recipe box
RIDDLE ANSWER
SOMEONE’S HEART
LOST IN SUBURBIA
MY SQUEEGEE GOALS
BY TRACY BECKERMAN
“You’re doing that wrong,” my husband observed as I stepped out of the shower.
“Excuse me?”
“When you squeegee the glass, you’re going down and across. You need to go across and down. That will get rid of the most water and avoid streaks,” he stated with authority. “It’s called the Fan Method.”
“There’s a NAME for it?” I replied incredulously.
“I have a video I can show you to help you get the proper technique down, or I can loan you my copy of “Squeegeeing For Dummies,” he continued.
“There’s a BOOK on this?” I gasped. My husband nodded, took the squeegee savant … and it was all my brother’s fault.
As a California transplant, it wasn’t all that surprising when my brother became an early adopter of what we called, a “squeegee lifestyle.” He had a very modern apartment with a stone bathroom and a glass-enclosed shower, which, we were informed, he kept spotless and smudge free with a squeegee. At the time, this was a new concept in showers and something pretty foreign to the rest of us shower-curtain-owning Neanderthals.
None of us realized how complex the whole squeegeeing process was, actually, until my husband went out to L.A. for work and stayed with my brother.
Unfortunately, due to my husband’s less than stellar squeegeeing skills, he was forced to endure a series of very serious squeegee lessons over the course of several visits, which eventually resulted in him mastering the art of the squee, but also left him with a bad case of PTSD.
Post Traumatic Squeegee Disorder.
None of this would have been a problem, of course, since we, ourselves had 1950s style bathrooms with good old-fashioned pink bathtubs and matching floral shower curtains.
… Until we did a bathroom renovation and got a glass enclosed shower.
And now my brother had passed the torch, or rather the squeegee manifesto into our home. Since I was not a master squeegee-er like my husband and brother, I could see that invariably, one of two things would happen. Either my husband would force me to meet his expectations of squeegee perfection, ensuring that our children would model our behavior and continue the survival of the squeegee fittest … Or I would buck the squeegee trend, word would get out, and I would end up a pariah of squeegee society.
I decided the squeegee madness stopped here.
“Hey there,” I said to my brother on the phone. “I just read that you Californians are once again ahead of the home design curve.”
“Oh really,” he replied enthusiastically. “In what way?”
“No more squeegeeing the shower doors. Water droplets and subtle streaks are the new IN look.”
“Wow, great! I’ll try that!” he exclaimed.
“Yeah,” I said. “And make sure to tell my husband that when he comes to visit you next week.”
~ Tracy Beckerman is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, “Barking at the Moon: A story of Life, Love, and Kibble.”
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS
Fascinating Stuff
FASCINATING STUFF
- When one star in a leading role doesn’t seem like enough, how about one star in two leading roles — as in identical twins? Nicolas Cage did it in “Adaptation.” Both Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin did it in “Big Business.” Jean-Claude Van Damme did it in “Double Impact.” And the list goes on. Bette Davis did it in two separate films, “A Stolen Life” and “Dead Ringer” (not to be confused with Jeremy Irons playing twins in 1988’s “Dead Ringers”). Lindsay Lohan also did it twice, first in the 1988 reboot of “The Parent Trap” and again in 2007’s “I Know Who Killed Me.”
- Left-handed relief pitcher Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball. Signed by the San Francisco Giants, he made his American big league debut at age 19 on September 1, 1964, against the New York Mets. Murakami played just 54 games in the majors before returning to Japan in 1965. Another 30 years passed before right-handed starter Hideo Nomo became the second Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball, joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.
- Founded in 1761 and still going strong, the family-owned firm of Faber-Castell produces more than 2.3 billion wood-cased pencils a year for artists, students and everyone who enjoys the feeling of “analog” writing in a digital world. Though they’re called “lead pencils,” they’re not now — nor have they ever been made from lead. The lead-colored substance is graphite, whose name comes from the Greek word for writing.
- Pigment manufacturers Binney & Smith introduced Crayola crayons in 1903. Priced at just 5 cents, the original eight-pack contained the same assortment offered today. A more elaborate 28-pack “for young artists” included hues analogous to paint pigments, such as Van Dyke Brown, Madder Lake and English Vermilion, plus Umber and Sienna both Burnt and Raw , and a dreamy Celestial Blue. The name Crayola came from the French word for “chalk” and the Latin for “oily.”
- The world’s first nuclear-powered submarine was the USS Nautilus (SSN 571), built by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut, and put into service by the U.S. Navy in 1954. It could travel farther and remain submerged longer than any submarine in existence at the time. In 1958, the Nautilus became the first marine vessel in history to reach the North Pole in a top-secret mission dubbed “Operation Sunshine.” Today, the Nautilus is back in Groton, Connecticut, as the main attraction of the Submarine Force Library and Museum.
- ~ COPYRIGHT 2023 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
Re: the squeegee tool. I spoke with a professional window cleaner at a retail shopping center and he gave me this tip on the squeegee tool — once you place the squeegee on the glass either from the top down or side to side never lift up the rubber squeegee until until you have reached the bottom or the side edge.
Wipe off the water and repeat. If you brake this rule you are in trouble.
2nd tip: Replace the rubber when it starts to harden by visiting your local hardware store. No need to buy the metal piece again, just slide out the rubber and head for the store. Tah-Dah!
PS – Of course it’s a drop of Dawn soap in a pail of water.
So glad to get all the tips for squeegie-ing!