Tennessee Waltz

 

This week I learned mice don’t like cheese. Dr. David Holmes of the Manchester Metropolitan University, says they tend to avoid cheese. They’ll eat it, of course, if nothing else is available, but we should probably rethink using cheese to lure them into a trap. This is earth-shattering news. Everything I know about mousetraps I learned from Saturday morning cartoons. And every one of them was exclusively baited with cheese. While we’re on the subject of misleading classic cartoons, if you could dig a hole straight down through the earth, you wouldn’t end up in China, unless, of course, you started in Argentina. The antipode (opposite side) of the earth from me is way, way off the coast of South Africa. And you can’t dig that far, anyway. The deepest hole we’ve ever made is only 7 1/2 miles. The diameter of the earth is 7,917 1/2 miles, give or take. Six-year-old me would be so disappointed.

Nine Black and Red Log Cabins

 

“According to gospel doctrine, the difference between woman and man does not override the eternal promises God has for His sons and daughters. One has no greater possibilities for celestial glory than the other in the eternities. The Savior Himself invites all of us to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him. In this context, we are all considered equal before Him. When spouses understand and incorporate this principle, they do not position themselves as president or vice president of their family. There is no superiority or inferiority in the marriage relationship, and neither walks ahead of or behind the other. They walk side by side, as equals, the divine offspring of God. They become one in thought, desire, and purpose with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, leading and guiding the family unit together.” – Elder Ulisses Soares

Summer Winds

 

Last weekend we had lunch at the Red Iguana downtown. The special of the day was Chicken Posole Verde – a Mexican take on chicken soup. It was the perfect foil for a wet, raw afternoon. I only wish it came in a deeper bowl; one that didn’t allow the soup to cool faster than we could eat it.

 

Slow Cooker Posole Verde

 

1 cup onion, diced.

1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces green canned chiles, diced

6 cups chicken stock

28 ounces white hominy, drained and rinsed

3 boneless chicken breasts, or thighs

2 teaspoons cumin (Here’s where most of the heat is. If you’re timid, use 1/2 teaspoon.)

 

Add all ingredients to slow cooker; cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken before serving. Garnish with:

Chopped avocado

Lime wedges

Crumbled cotija or feta

Shredded cabbage

Thinly sliced radishes

Tortilla chips

Aunt Malvernia's Chain

 

During an interview on the Bobby Jones Show in 2018, Dolly Parton revealed she’d written two of her most famous songs: “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same day. “I Will Always Love You” was a farewell to her business partner when Dolly chose to purse a solo career, but it’s considered Whitney Houston’s signature song. The Rolling Stone listed “Jolene” as #217 on the magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Freddie Mercury claimed he composed “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” in “five or ten minutes,” WHILE HE WAS TAKING A BATH. Freddie wrote the song as a tribute to Elvis Presley. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” became the first US hit for Queen, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, before it was displaced by Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” These 150 words are (so far) all I’ve managed to write today.

Arizona

 

It’s always taken me a while to get good at writing the proper date when a new year comes. I only write a handful of checks per year - to my cleaners and the guy who aerates my lawn. When I do, I tend not to THINK about what year it is. My hand just goes on autopilot. It could always be worse, of course. I could be living in Ethiopia. In the year 500 A.D., the Catholic Church recalculated Christ’s birth year. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church didn’t. So, nearly everyone on the planet calls this year 2023. In Ethiopia, it’s seven years ago. Or possibly eight, because their year begins on our September eleventh (September twelfth on leap years). Even though Ethiopia lies slightly above the equator, somehow September is the beginning of their spring. Is your head spinning yet? The current year in Lebanon is 2077. And in Thailand, it’s 2565.

Twenty-five Butterflies

 

We tried this last Thursday, with mashed potatoes and green beans. I broke my rule about changing a new recipe by cutting it in half. It was still plenty for four adults. I suspect the full recipe would feed eight to ten.

 

Slow Cooker Apple Cider Pork

 

2 pounds pork tenderloin

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon EACH ginger, allspice and nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon sage

1 1/2 cups cider

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

 

Put carrots, onions, apples and garlic in slow cooker. Place pork on top. Blend cider, Worcestershire, herbs and spices; pour over pork and vegetables. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours, until meat falls apart and vegetables are tender. Remove and shred pork; return to slow cooker and continue cooking about 30 minutes. 

Honeymoon

 

Emerson Romero was born in Havana in 1900. He was first cousin to actor Cesar Romero, who was born when Emerson was seven. Cesar used his birth name, but Emerson used the screen name Tommy Albert. Emerson appeared in dozens of movies – most of them comedies – until 1927, when the first “talkies” came out. Emerson had lost his hearing to whooping cough at age six. He could read lips and speak after a fashion, but he couldn’t compete with the likes of Ronald Coleman or Charles Laughton. Actors without gorgeous voices weren’t the only casualties of talking pictures. Deaf audience members, who used to follow the action along with everyone else by reading intertitles, were suddenly left out. Emerson developed the first technique to pair captions with films, making them more accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing. His work inspired the invention of closed captioning used in TV shows and movies today.