A Year of Blogging: September 21, 2011

September 21 was 'Miniature Golf Day'. I like playing miniature golf. I'm certainly much better at it than I am at regular golf. Although, that's not saying very much. But in miniature golf, it doesn't matter if you're bad. The brightly colored balls and strange obstacles give the whole thing kind of a funny feel anyway. So if you end up hitting your ball so hard you clear two or three nearby holes, it just adds to the amusement. I used to play miniature golf a lot. It was one of our family's favorite activities. Even on vacation, we were always quite content to find a miniature golf course nearby. I haven't played in a while. In our family, we always chose our ball color by our favorite colors. Since Mom, Dad, and I all like blue- a couple of us had to use other colors. I had hoped to play it last month when I was in New York with Sydney, but it was raining on the day we were at the ice cream shop that had the mini golf. So we'll have to play it another time. When I went to Hanover, there was a miniature golf course in Madison (the nearby town). It was a popular attraction for Hanover students and an especially good way to blow off steam or stress. In Indiana, miniature golf is called 'putt-putt'. According to Wikipedia, the first miniature golf course was built at St. Andrew's in Scotland in 1867. Women were interested in golf, but the social norms of the day felt that women should not publicly perform the violent acts required for a golf swing. That's the first I've ever heard of a golf swing being considered 'violent'. A special course was constructed for women and had short putting greens. The best way to celebrate this day is to grab a few friends and go for a nice relaxing round of golf. Miniature golf. It's also a great way to enjoy a nice fall afternoon!

A Year of Blogging: September 20, 2011

September 20 is 'National Punch Day'. Although it's not clear what that is supposed to mean. Is it a day to drink punch, that fruity drink often found at parties and get togethers? Is it a day to punch someone (which by the way, I would hope it isn't. We have enough problems in the world without people running around punching others.)? Or is it a day to celebrate the tool known as a punch? Since I don't want to promote violence, and know very little about the tool, lets talk about the drink. I might be out of touch, because I don't own a punch bowl. My mother had a nice punch bowl- complete with ladle and matching glasses. I think my sister has it now. Mom made punch for various parties or occasions. In our family, the punch was always non-alcoholic, but you can certainly add alcohol. The punch might contain a mixture of fruit juices or sodas, and it seems ice cream was always required to make a punch. Sometimes you could find pieces of fruit in the punch, kind of as a garnish. I've never really cared for punch. Maybe I'm picky. I like my ice cream separate from soda. I don't like mixing my sodas together. I don't really understand punch. I would think it would be so much easier to set out the two liters of soda and let people drink what they want. Of course, I often avoided punch because orange soda was often used, and I can't drink orange soda because it makes me sick. Unfortunately, if someone made punch, that was often the only drink they were offering. I think, if you're going to make punch, you should still have other offerings for people. I'm sure my friends have punch recipes they'd love to share. Or you can always do a web search. Before the Internet, we had to use Mom's recipe. Mom got her recipe from Grandma. Sometimes, someone Mom worked with would share their family recipe for punch, and then you had two recipes. Now, you could spend hours sorting through all the punch recipes on the Internet.

A Year of Blogging: September 19, 2011

September 19 was 'International Talk Like a Pirate Day'. Supposedly it's a day to let the pirate in each of us out to have fun. I must be defective. I have no inner pirate. I didn't grow up wanting to be a pirate. Then again, I didn't live near an ocean. Perhaps, if you grow up near the ocean, you feel the urge to be on the open seas. I remember learning about pirates, and they weren't good people. They attacked ships, robbed people, and engaged in acts of violence. These were not the role models my parents hoped for me. It seems lately pirates have become popular again, and I really don't understand it. I suspect Hollywood is behind it, glamorizing something it shouldn't. If you have an inner pirate, go ahead and let it out. It is suggested that you go full-force into the holiday. Do not limit your pirate-ness to just speaking. Go ahead and dress like a pirate too! If nothing else, putting a bandana on your head will take care of a bad hair day.

A Year of Blogging: September 18, 2011

September 18 is 'National Women's Friendship Day'. There was a time in my life that my closest friends were all guys. I had best friends who were female, and there were always problems. At the bat of an eye, something would happen and the friendship was over. I've got to tell you, girls can be vicious. With guys, it was much easier. You didn't have the petty jealousies that you had with females. I am at a point now that I have an abundance of female friends. Although I'm still not a woman who goes out with girlfriends. That is primarily a result of geography though- as my closest friends do not live close to me. I'm sure if I lived closer to them, we'd get together regularly. Even if they don't live nearby, you need your girlfriends. A guy isn't going to understand why you are so frustrated with him, but your girlfriends get it. They get why you feel so lousy sometimes. They pick you up and encourage you when you need it. And even when you don't feel so special, a good friend knows just the thing to say to you to make you smile. I am incredibly blessed with the wonderful women who are my friends. Today is the day to celebrate our friendship. Thank you all for filling my life with light, wisdom, and beauty.

A Year of Blogging: September 17, 2011

September 17 was 'National Apple Dumpling Day'. I've never had an apple dumpling. Mom has made blueberry and blackberry dumplings before, but her dumplings are much different than the pictures of apple dumplings that I am finding online. The apple dumpling recipes are basically a whole apple covered in pastry. Mom's dumplings were made with biscuit mix, and were fluffy and cloudlike- similar to the dumplings she makes for chicken and dumplings, only she cooked them with berries. Getting apples are a fall tradition for me. Erich started asking a couple of weeks ago when we were going to get apples. Although, don't be fooled. He wasn't interested in the apples. He was interested in the apple cider donuts we buy at the orchard. Yesterday was the day. I thought it might be too early to get apples, but it's a nice drive out to the orchard so I figured it's fine even if we end up having to go twice this year. I'm glad we went yesterday, even so early in the season they had very few apples. Our weather this summer wasn't very apple friendly, and they had no you-pick apples available. Which is fine. I don't go into the orchard and pick my own any more. I know, I'm missing part of the experience. I haven't gone into the orchard since I was a young girl, when many of the apple orchards at home stopped offering pick your own due to the liability. So for me, 'getting apples' means going to the orchard and choosing some they have already picked. I said I wasn't going to get many this year. And I didn't think I did. I bought a peck and a half of Macintosh for pies (the apples weren't very large, that's why I bought so many). I bought a half peck of Jonathans for sauce, and half a peck of Galas for eating. It didn't seem like a lot of apples, until I got home and am now faced with cutting and peeling all those apples. I will space it out. Today I'm going to make applesauce, and at some point, I will make several pies to put in the freezer. I'm already thinking of ways to incorporate apples into meals for the next couple of weeks. And I have some new recipes I'm eager to try! Even if you don't like apple dumplings, take time today to enjoy some sort of wonderful apple treat. I love apples, but they always taste best in the fall!

A Year of Blogging: September 16, 2011

September 16 was 'Collect Rocks Day'. This is a day Erich would love. I never really gave rocks much of a thought until I met him. Sure, I remember some things from Dr. Totten's geology classes, but science and I have never really gotten along. Erich is the science guy. His bachelors and doctorate are in geology (of some form or another-he always corrects me, but basically, he studied rocks). I used to bring him back rocks from my vacations. It's a little harder to bring rocks through security these days, so now I just take pictures of neat rock formations for him. September 16 was also 'Mayflower Day'. On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England to the New World, or as we know it, America. They were headed for a settlement in the Virginia Colony, at the mouth of the Hudson River (present day New York City), but veered off course and landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts after a 66 day journey. Today, you can fly from Boston to London in about 7 hours. September 16 was also 'National Play Doh Day'. Play Doh! It seems like I spent hours playing with the stuff as a child. My sister and I made all kinds of things. Now, Sydney has a lot of play doh and loves to play with it. I can't stand the smell, and wonder how children get past that. When my sister and I were children, we used old kitchen supplies from Grandma or Mom's kitchen with our playdoh. Now you can buy kits. Sydney has numerous 'kits' including an ice cream shop and a dog play set. She loves all of them. Play Doh's origins are debated, but it seems it started in the mid 1950s in the Cincinnati area. How cool is that? Well, I suppose to non-Cincinnati area people, it isn't that great. But I like it when I find a local connection to big things. Do you remember homemade playdoh? That was very popular when I was growing up as a less expensive alternative to the play doh in bright yellow cans. I remember the big draw it had with the children, too. "It's ok to eat this playdoh, Mommy made it!" Seems even homemade playdoh is not simple anymore. I did a google search looking for the recipe, and found all kinds of variations. In case you want to give it a try, this recipe was billed as 'Plain Old Playdough Recipe #1'.

1 cup flour 1 cup water 1/2 cup salt 1 TBS cream of tartar 1 TBS oil food coloring Heat all ingredients in a saucepan, slow to medium heat. Stir continuously. Once dough is at the consistency you want remove from heat. Cool before using. Due to the high salt content, this playdough should be kept away from pets.

Actually, given the amount of salt in this, it's probably not a good idea for children to eat it either!

A Year of Blogging: September 15, 2011

September 15 was 'Make a Hat Day'. You don't have to wear the hat you made, you just have to make one. I think the last time I made hats was in kindergarten or first grade. I seem to remember pilgrim hats and Indian 'headbands' made out of construction paper. I keep meaning to make hats out of leftover yarn, but so far, I'm still content making afghans. Giant blankets that take a lot of time to make! September 15 was also 'Felt Hat Day'. It's a day to wear felt hats. When I think of felt hats, I always think of Peter Pan. But really, felt hats could be very stylish, I'm sure. As the temperatures started to drop, people pulled out their felt hats. Felt hats are too hot for summer, but great to keep you warm in the fall and winter. You can celebrate both days by making your own felt hat and then wearing it!