Sunday Snippets

 

Hello everyone,

I`ve made it!  Better late than never.

I`m no longer red, my face has returned to it`s normal pasty beige colour that is usual for the time of year.  The red WAS rather alarming and I`m glad it`s gone though I might try the face pack just one more time to see if it was a one off.  I don`t usually suffer from allergies so it`s worth a try. More good news is that the tumble dryer is working again.  I cleaned the condenser unit out and left it to dry out thoroughly before trying it out, and lo and behold it worked.  Jim had changed the fuse in the plug but thought that wouldn`t have made much difference.  I didn`t want to call out the engineer until I was sure that there was definitely something worng.  If I`d called him out and he`d said it needed a good clean I would have had to pay for it.  I found it written in the small print on the warranty certificate yesterday so it was a good job I did.

Now the dryer is working now is as good a time as any for another appliance to go wrong, which it did first thing this morning.  I plugged it in and switched it on but the kettle wouldn`t heat up, I flicked the switch several times and it did come on but I know we`ll have to get a new one.  When I told Jim about it he said it can be my birthday present....WHAT???   I said "Okay then, good idea",  he didn`t say another word about it so he must be joking, at least I think he is...in fact he`d better be....lol!

This morning while tidying the living room I discovered a mark on the coffee table.  I was not pleased as it is my pride and joy and I`ve just had to do some work to remove a ring mark from it`s beautiful walnut surface.  Of course, nobody is responsible for any mark that that I find there, no we must have a table-marking ghost!  I have asked nicely, I have asked in a slightly firmer voice and then I have threatened anybody who is silly enough to risk my fury by damaging `my` table. I bought it a few years ago from a posh little shop that sold hand-made furniture, all of which at full price I could never afford. I had seen the table in the shop window and I thought it was lovely but out of my price range. Then one day I was walking past and the lady who owned the shop was putting a few items outside with sale labels on them.  It was then that I saw the table with a substantial reduction , and the rest is history folks!

We didn`t go to the cinema yesterday as the film we wanted to watch wasn`t on. We were going to see "Walk the Line" with Joaquin Pheonix and Reece Witherspoon and it should still be showing, but it wasn`t so we stayed in and watched "Finding NeverLand" with the divine Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, it was really good too.  Jim had seen it before but was keen to watch it again.  Thank goodness for all the DVD`s he buys, it`s a bit like having our own cinema indoors AND he bought a couple of small tubs of Ben and Jerry`s cookie dough ice cream too!

I`m going to read the journals that I haven`t got round to yet, I hope you`ve all had a lovely weekend, take care and bye bye for now.

 

 

FOOD FACTS

A honey bee must tap two million flowers to make one pound of honey

An etiquette writer of the 1840's advised, "Ladies may wipe their lips on the tablecloth, but not blow their noses on it."

Caffeine: there are 100 to 150 milligrams of caffeine in an eight-ounce cup of brewed coffee, 10 milligrams in a six-ounce cup of cocoa, 5 to 10 milligrams in one ounce of bittersweet chocolate, and 5 milligrams in one ounce of milk chocolate.

Capsaicin, which makes hot peppers "hot" to the human mouth, is best neutralized by casein, the main protein found in milk.

China's Beijing Duck Restaurant can seat 9,000 people at one time

Goulash, a beef soup, originated in Hungary in the 9th century AD.

Haggis, the national dish of Scotland: take the heart, liver, lungs, and small intestine of a calf or sheep, boil them in the stomach of the animal, season with salt, pepper and onions, add suet and oatmeal.

Large doses of coffee can be lethal. Ten grams, or 100 cups over 4 hours, can kill the average human.

Mayonnaise is said to be the invention of the French chef of the Duke de Richelieu in 1756. While the Duke was defeating the British at Port Mahon, his chef was creating a victory feast that included a sauce made of cream and eggs. When the chef realized that there was no cream in the kitchen, he improvised, substituting olive oil for the cream. A new culinary masterpiece was born, and the chef named it "Mahonnaise" in honor of the Duke's victory.

McDonald's "Big Mac" slogan, introduced in 1975, is: "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun."

McDonalds and Burger King sugar-coat their fries so they will turn golden-brown.

Mushrooms have no chlorophyll so they don't need sunshine to grow and thrive. Some of the earliest commercial mushroom farms were set up in caves in France during the reign of King Louis XIV (1638-1715).

Per capita, the Irish eat more chocolate than Americans, Swedes, Danes, French, and Italians.

Persians first began using colored eggs to celebrate spring in 3,000 B.C. 13th century Macedonians were the first Christians on record to use colored eggs in Easter celebrations. Crusaders returning from the Middle East spread the custom of coloring eggs, and Europeans began to use them to celebrate Easter and other warm weather holidays.

Pine, spruce, or other evergreen wood should never be used in barbecues. These woods, when burning or smoking, can add harmful tar and resins to the food. Only hardwoods should be used for smoking and grilling, such as oak, pecan, hickory, maple, cherry, alder, apple, or mesquite,depending on the type of meat being cooked.

Refried beans aren't really what they seem. Although their name seems like a reasonable translation of Spanish frijoles refritos, the fact is that these beans aren't fried twice. In Spanish, refritos literally means "well-fried," not "re-fried."

Rice is the staple food of more than one-half of the world's population.

Saffron, made from the dried stamens of cultivated crocus flowers, is the most expensive cooking spice.

The dye used to stamp the grade on meat is edible. It's made from grape skins.

The English word "soup" comes from the Middle Ages word "sop," which means a slice of bread over which roast drippings were poured. The first archaeological evidence of soup being consumed dates back to 6000 B.C., with the main ingredient being Hippopotamus bones!