Monday was beautiful, we survived it, and now we move on to Tuesday and do our best to survive it too! I’m sure we will. Across the world people are celebrating Fat Tuesday, eating pancakes – or other leavened goodies while they can, in preparation for Lent. If you are one of those people, enjoy your day and focus on the days to come and how special they will be.
Verse of the Day
March 5, 2019
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
Jesus came to reveal God to us. He has given us the clearest picture yet of what God is really like. Because of Jesus, we can know God, the only one who is truly genuine. Because we are in Christ, we share that special bond with the Father and find in him a whole new quality of life. This life won’t end when our bodies die, and eternal life begins now, as we walk with him each day and extends unto forever. For the eternal and transcendent God to make himself known to us is grace. For him to do it in Jesus is salvation!
www.verseofthe day.com
Food for Thought
How many ways to you annoy me? This count could get pretty high if I put too much time into it. There are just some people in the world that are great to start with, but in a short time become like buzzing gnats that don’t go away, cannot be swatted down easily and just keep buzz buzz buzzing. I am already looking forward to the weekend.
Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday / Pancake Day / Shrove Tuesday – I put the long version of Shrovetide on Sunday’s post – which marked the beginning of the days preceding Lent. Basically, this is the final day to live it up before observing Lent and giving up something of importance from Wednesday until Easter.
Multiple Personality Day – This isn’t a condition to make fun of – since it is a very serious psychological disorder, however, I’m sure we have ALL known someone who you can swear has at least two distinct personalities, if not more. In many ways many of us do . . . we have one personality at home, one at work, one with friends, another in church . . . the list goes on and on. It would be wonderful if we could all be exactly who we are no matter who we are around, but reality is we all put on a show for anyone outside of our homes, at least from time to time. Today is an opportunity to get in touch with ourselves. Just in case you really do run into people celebrating this day – be prepared to be around people talking to themselves, or maybe talking to someone only they can see. You might even find yourself talking to yourself! If you wish someone “Happy Multiple Personality Day” you may find yourself saying it to them several times, once for every personality!
Paczki Day – (Always on Shrove Tuesday) – In the United States, Fat Tuesday, also known as Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, is the day to indulge before Lent begins. In many parts of Eastern Europe, Fat Thursday (the last Thursday before Lent) heralds the winding down of Carnival season. In Poland, this is known as Tłusty Czwartek. In America the Polish community celebrates Paczki Day on Tuesday. Paczki (pronounced POHNCH-kee) are fried rounds of yeast dough with rosehip, prune, apricot, strawberry, raspberry or sweet cheese filling. Sometimes they are even made without filling and dusted with granulated sugar. To reduce the number of calories they can be baked too.
Saint Piran’s Day – Saint Piran is the patron saint of Cornwall and is said to have landed at the sandy shores of Cornwall at Perranporth. Legend says that Piran, who was originally from Ireland, was cast out to sea, tied to a millstone, on the orders of the Irish King, who was suspicious of Piran’s miraculous powers. Piran survived the stormy seas and arrived at Perranporth, where he built an oratory to promote Christianity – his first disciples were said to be a badger, a fox and a bear. This oratory is now preserved in the sand dunes at Perran Sands. It is interesting that Piran is famous for accidentally discovering tin. There was a black stone on his fireplace that got so hot that a white liquid leaked out, it was the first tin smelting! It was this discovery that earned Piran the title “Patron Saint of Tinners”, with tin mining being the backbone of the Cornish industry. According to the legend, Saint Piran was fond of a drink or two, and that in spite of them, he lived to the age of 206. Celebrations of Saint Pirin’s Day are growing in popularity, with the annual Saint Piran Play on Perran Sands being a highlight, with hundreds of people making a pilgrimage to this site and other landmarks. Saint Piran’s Day started out as one of many tinner’s holidays observed by the tin miners of Cornwall. I can’t find much in the way of specific traditions connected to this day, except for the consumption of large amounts of alcohol and food are done during what is called “Perrantide”, which is the week leading up to March 5th. The modern-day observance of Saint Piran’s Day as a national symbol of the people of Cornwall started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Celtic revivalists wanted to provide the people of Cornwall with a national day that is similar to those observed in other countries. Since the 1950s the celebration has become increasingly observed and since the start of the 21st century almost every Cornish community holds some sort of celebration to mark the event. Some of the celebrations that take place in the Cornish towns and cities are parades, speeches, children’s performance, rugby matches, singing and dancing . . . and, of course, WAY too much drinking and eating.
Unique Names Day – I have a somewhat unique name – at least it’s not a name you hear every day. My daughter for YEARS was the only girl with her name anywhere. I just did a google search and was actually surprised to find three, including her. I figured it was just a matter of time. Unique names have their ups and downs though. On the good side, you are set apart from other names and being mistaken for someone else isn’t common. On the bad side, you can never, ever find anything that has a name stitched, printed or carved on it, with your name (You know, like vacation t-shirts, little license plates for bikes, etc.) unless they are special ordered. Where’s the fun in that? If you go to the beach, you’d like to find something right then and there to take home. When she was in grade school, she tried to get the other kids to call her by her middle name – which is Jade (also not common when she was born), but they weren’t cooperative. She would cry – “Why did you give me a weird name???” with tears streaming down her face. The teachers always mispronounced it, the other kids called her a ridiculous nickname that was a play on her name. It was ugly there for a little while. But she grew up and the name grew on her and everyone else – though most of us shortened it for normal conversation. Today, if your name is unusual, celebrate it! Be happy that your parents thought outside the box – at least for this one day.
This Day in History –
1770 – The Boston Massacre occurred.
Food Celebration of the Day –
Absinthe – I am going to start this one out with a bit of an EWWW. I am NOT a fan of anything that tastes of licorice, so to me, Absinthe isn’t something that would appeal to me . . . at all. There are a lot of people who DO like it though, so I’ll explain what it is (I had to look it up because honestly, I’d heard the name but didn’t really know what it was). Absinthe is an alcoholic beverage that is high in alcohol content, with a chemical compound called thujone, which is believed to cause psychedelic effects from consuming the beverage. It was a very popular drink up until the 20th century, at which point government agencies took note of the drink’s popularity and promptly banned it in the United States in 1912, then in France in 1915. The government was worried that drinking absinthe would create a generation of reckless drunks, and they may have been right, except for one small thing – there’s not enough thujone in most absinthes to cause its rumored mind-altering properties. It is likely that the people who appeared to be having an alternative experience were just really drunk! Absinthe is an “overproof” alcohol and having too much is likely to freak people out a bit. It doesn’t much matter what the alcohol is, so it doesn’t have to be Absinthe to have that affect. So, what IS Absinthe? It is a neutral spirit with a variety of botanicals, including fennel, green anise and wormwood. Wormwood? Seriously? I wouldn’t think of that as something I’d like to ingest! Anyway, it is these botanicals that give the drink its distinctive licorice taste. Absinthe isn’t banned in the U.S. any more – it was lifted in 2007, and it isn’t as regulated as something that was previously banned as you would think! Now, keep in mind, there is no legal definition of absinthe, so that bottle you buy from your local liquor store might not be absinthe at all! Do your homework before buying this particular drink. There are brands that are well respected and known for a high-quality product. Once you’ve made your purchase, it’s good to know that there are two ways you can drink it. Hardly anyone does a straight shot of absinthe – because it is so strong, it burns a LOT. Traditionally, an absinthe spoon with a sugar cube is placed over a glass of absinthe. Cold water is slowly poured over the sugar cube until it dissolves. The absinthe becomes cloudy and is ready to drink. The other method is a bit different. The sugar cube is soaked in absinthe, set on fire and dropped into the shot glass. Cold water is poured over the slotted spoon to douse the flames. This results in a stronger drink that is more intense than the original version. This may not be a drink that everyone would enjoy, but when done right, IF you like anise, it will give a clean, crisp, anise-flavored taste.
Cheese Doodles – There may not be many recipes that call for a product called “cheez” but if you are hungry for a junk food filled cheesy crunch, this is the place to be right now! Today is the annual celebration for the cheddar cheese coated, puffed or crunchy, fried or baked snack food. There is some debate over who the actual inventor of the Cheese Doodle was. One source said that they were invented in the 1940’s by a man named Morrie Yohai who had taken over his family snack food company called Old London Foods. Other sources say they were invented in the 1930’s. The debate continues because in the 1930’s there were two competing accounts, one from Wisconsin and one from New Orleans. No matter how they came to be here, they are here, they are crunchy and quite honestly, as hard as it is for me to admit, they are addictive and delicious. Everyone knows when we’ve gotten into them . . . the orange fingers give it away. OK, I admit it, I didn’t think when I did a search for low-carb cheese doodles that I would find a recipe, but I did! hahaha check this out! Low Carb Cheetos by www.YourLighterSide.com! I won’t have time to try them out today, but they seriously look like fun.
Have a wonderful Fat Tuesday, party while you can, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Hi Ho – It’s off to work I go! God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.
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Celebration list sources:
www.verseoftheday.com www.brownielocks.com www.holidayinsights.com www.thenibble.com www.foodimentary.com