Wonky Split Nine-Patch

 

While vacationing in Long Island in 1906, a wealthy banker’s family contracted typhoid. Concerned for the reputation of his summer home, their landlord hired a sanitary engineer to pinpoint the source of the infection. His conclusion? Their cook, Mary Mallon, had prepared fresh peach ice cream. If she'd baked peach pie or even washed her hands, things would have ended differently. “Typhoid Mary” was responsible for more than 51 cases and at least 3 deaths – probably many more, because she used several aliases. Mary had contracted the disease and spread it without ever having symptoms. Initially, the New York Health Department confined her on North Brother Island. William Randolph Hearst (who loved any controversy that would sell his newspapers) paid for her legal defense, and she was released after promising she would never work as a cook again. Mary was unable (or unwilling) to keep her promise, and was returned to the island for the rest of her life.

Sixteen Crowns

 

“If I had my child to raise over again, I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less. I'd do less correcting, and more connecting. I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes. I would care to know less, and know to care more. I'd take more hikes and fly more kites. I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play. I'd run through more fields, and gaze at more stars. I'd do more hugging, and less tugging. I would be firm less often, and affirm much more. I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later. I'd teach less about the love of power, and more about the power of love. It matters not whether my child is big or small. From this day forth, I'll cherish it all.” – Diane Loomans

Winged Square

 

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hardly a Western society or an American cultural phenomenon. It is an international church, as it was always meant to be. More than that, it is supernal. New members from around the world bring richness, diversity, and excitement into our ever-growing family. Latter-day Saints everywhere still celebrate and honor their own heritage and heroes, but now they are also part of something far grander. The culture of Christ helps us to see ourselves as we really are, and when seen through the lens of eternity, tempered with righteousness, it serves to increase our ability to fulfill the great plan of happiness.” – Elder William K. Jackson

Punkin Love

 

1. Edvard Munch called his most famous painting Der Schrei der Natur (The Scream of Nature).

2. Pennywise the Clown was portrayed by Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgård.

3. The Electric Chair was part of Andy Warhol's Death and Disaster series , beginning in 1962.

4. Mary Shelley's maiden name was Godwin. Wollstonecraft was her middle name.

5. Shirley Jackson called herself a "practicing amateur witch" and bragged about the hexes she'd placed on disagreeable publishers.

6. Jay Anson claimed The Amityville Horror was based on true events.

7. Anne Rice says Dickens, Hemingway, Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Stephen King influenced her work.

8. Red Dragon was first published in 1981.

9. Gaston Leroux wrote Phantom of the Opera. It was first published in French in serial form, in March of 1910.

10. Mrs. Danvers has been played by Kristin Scott Thomas, Diana Rigg and Dame Judith Anderson.

Plain Block

 

In the mood for a Halloween trivia quiz? I'll post the answers tomorrow morning:

1. Who painted The Scream?

2. What was the name of the clown in Stephen King’s It?

3. Who created the 1968 artistic work  Big Electric Chair?

4. Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. What was her middle name?

5. Which American horror writer is responsible for The Haunting of Hill House, The Lottery and The Sundial?

6. Which 1977 novel became a series of 11 horror films between 1979 to 2013?

7. Who wrote The Vampire Chronicles including the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire?

8. Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs was a sequel, What was the first book in the series?

9. The Phantom of the Opera has become two very different Broadway musicals. Who wrote the original novel?

10. In Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, what was the name of the sinister housekeeper?

Twenty-five Picket Fences

 

When I use ground turkey, I usually combine it with stronger flavors – like chili and cumin or oregano and garlic – to hide its turkey-ness. This recipe does just the opposite.

 

Turkey Loaf

 

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced carrot

1 teaspoon salt, divided

Ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoons sage

1 1/2 cups unseasoned stuffing mix

3/4 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 pound ground turkey

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 teaspoons Dijon

 

Preheat oven to 275F. Sauté vegetables and seasonings in butter; cool. Pour stock and stuffing mix into bowl; stir in cooled vegetables. Fold in egg and turkey. Press into loaf pan, then unmold onto baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Whisk last three ingredients together and spread over top of loaf. Return to oven and bake another 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before cutting. 

Four Knaves

 

Usually by this point in the year, we’d have seen several dozen movies on the big screen. But by almost any standard, this has been a most unusual year. In January, we saw Doolittle, because we like Robert Downey Jr. and we love the Hugh Lofting books: a mistake on both counts. In February, we caught Sonic the Hedgehog (Jim Carey’s a delightful bad guy) and Call of the Wild (Harrison Ford should have passed on this one). We saw Onward and Emma in March right before the pandemic shut everything down. Since then, some of the films we’d been looking forward to have been released digitally, but most have just been postponed.  A few have trickled into the very clean, very empty cinemas; the ones the studios knew wouldn’t do well. It’s a catch-22. The good flicks won’t come back until there’s an audience for them, and there won’t be an audience until there’s something worth watching.