Twelve-Inch Garden Patch

 

Key Lime Pie

 

We served this two Sundays ago, topped with vanilla ice cream. (It’s even better with homemade strawberry ice cream!) A few guests opted for crumble without ice cream, and some preferred ice cream without crumble. This recipe fed 16.

 

Mixed Berry Crumble

 

1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1 3/4 cup flour, divided

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter, diced

2 cups strawberries, quartered

2 cups blueberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blackberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

In large bowl, combine oats, 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, salt and butter. Cut with pastry cutter until butter resembles small peas. In a medium bowl, toss berries, granulated sugar, orange juice and vanilla. Spread berry mixture in 9x13” pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle oat mixture on top. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, until topping’s a light golden brown. Serve with cream, ice cream, whipped cream or all by itself.

Ten-Inch Flip-Flopped

 

Spain was still a fascist dictatorship in 1975, the year that Microsoft was founded.

There were no classes in calculus in Harvard’s curriculum for the first few years, because calculus hadn’t been discovered yet.

Two Empires – the Roman and the Ottoman – spanned the entire gap between the lives of Jesus Christ and Babe Ruth.

When the Egyptian pyramids were being built, there were still wooly mammoths roaming the earth.

The last use of the guillotine in France occurred in 1977; the same year the first Star Wars movie appeared in theaters.

Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, Jr. were born the same year.

Oxford University was already three hundred years old before the Aztec Empire was founded.

The fax machine was invented in 1843. President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Japanese samurai ceased to exist in 1867. So, in theory, Lincoln could have sent a fax to a samurai.

Sixty-Four Jewel Boxes

 

“As the world fights to figure everything out, I’ll be holding doors for strangers, letting people cut in front of me in traffic, saying good morning, keeping babies entertained in grocery lines, stopping to talk to someone who is lonely, tipping generously, waving at police, sharing food, giving children a thumbs-up, being patient with sales clerks, smiling at passers-by, and buying a stranger a cup of coffee. Why? Because I will not stand to live in a world where love is invisible. Join me in showing kindness, understanding and judging less. Be kind to a stranger, give grace to friends who are having a bad day, and be forgiving with yourself. If you can’t find kindness, BE kindness.” – Chris Holifield

Twelve-Inch Flip-Flopped

 

“During the coming days, weeks, and months, may I invite you to spend time in a sincere, full-hearted effort to draw near to God, seek diligently for everyday moments of hope, peace, and joy, and bring joy to others around you. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, as you search the word of God for a deeper understanding of God’s eternal plan, accept these invitations, and strive to walk in His Way, you will experience ‘the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,’ even in the midst of sorrows. You will feel a greater measure of God’s unsurpassable love swelling within your heart. The dawn of celestial light will penetrate the shadows of your trials, and you will begin to taste the unspeakable glories and wonders of the unseen, perfect, heavenly sphere. You will feel your spirit lifting away from the gravity of this world.” – Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

One Dozen Pin Cushions

 

In the 1946 congressional race, a young John F. Kennedy ran against a man named Joe Russo. Joe was one of the first Italian immigrants to hold office in Boston. He’d been part of Boston’s political landscape since 1938, and he was popular among the locals. Kennedy, on the other hand, had never held public office. He had his daddy’s money, his experience as a World War II Navy vet, and not much else. Kennedy’s chances must have looked pretty shaky. But one of his campaign managers found another Joe Russo – a janitor – and bribed him to enter the race. Voters wouldn’t know which Joe Russo to vote for. As it happened, though, the shady deal wasn’t necessary. Joe the city councilor got 5,661 votes. Joe the janitor got 773. JFK won with 22,183 votes. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1947, in the U.S. Senate in 1953, and as President in 1961.

More Square Pegs

 

You’d probably not be surprised if I told you the singer Johnny Cash didn’t go by his birth name. What might surprise you is that Cash was the name he was born with; Johnny wasn’t. His mom and dad couldn’t agree on a name, so he went by “J.R.” for years. When he joined the Air Force in 1950, the recruiter wouldn’t accept initials. That’s when he settled on the name John. Staff Sargeant Cash was serving at Lackland Air Force Base, transcribing Morse code messages when Joseph Stalin died. So, he was probably the first American to learn the Soviet leader was gone. He was arrested seven times, for public drunkenness, reckless driving, drug possession, and even for picking flowers. In the late 1970’s, "The Man in Black" received a degree in theology and became a minister. He never had his own congregation, but he did preside at his daughter’s wedding.