DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Brownie Day

Brownies, that rich, decadent, purely hedonistic blend of cake and cookie that feels amazing in your mouth and leaves you craving more. There’s a million different derivations of how to make these delicious treats, but there’s one thing they all have in common. Levels of chocolate so thick and rich they should be illegal.

So popular are they that you can find them served as the foundation for sundaes, they can be found in milkshakes, and there’s even been breakfast cereal based on them. Brownie Day is your chance to get in and indulge in all that decadent goodness you’ve avoided the rest of the year, or at least an opportunity to go into some serious brownie overload.

History of Brownie Day

The first brownies ever made set the bar for the hedonistic indulgence that was to follow, created for a fair luncheon in the late 1800’s, the first variety of these was found bedecked in an apricot glaze and inundated with delicious walnuts. To this day the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago serves the same recipe as that served to these ladies well over a hundred years ago.

Brownie Day was established by the millions of fans of this chocolatey-cakey treat, and the recipes that have cropped up over the years have been legion. From Chocolate Mint brownies to those made with rich swirls of caramel, the variations of brownie are limited only by the extent of your imagination.

thanks for the funnies, Bev

Hi!

Joke of the Day

“What weapon can you make from the elements potassium, nickel, and iron?”

“A KNiFe.”

Explanation
K, Ni, and Fe are the symbols for potassium, nickel, and iron in the periodic table.

but play safely

Word of the Day

auricomous

MEANING:
adjective: Relating to golden hair.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin auricomus, from aurum (gold) + coma (hair). Earliest documented use: 1864.

USAGE:
“The amber-haired women -- palpably indebted to auricomous fluids for the colour of their tresses -- objected to the dark burnished gold of Violet Tempest’s hair.”
Mary Elizabeth Braddon; Vixen: Complete; Floating Press; 2011.

just trying to please....

Idiom of the Day

What does 'All's well that ends well' mean?

If the end result is good, then everything is good.

moan groan

This Day in History

1765 - Eli Whitney was born in Westboro, MA. Whitney invented the cotton gin and developed the concept of mass-production of interchangeable parts.

1886 - At a convention of union leaders in Columbus, OH, the American Federation of Labor was founded.

1941 - The United States entered World War II when it declared war against Japan. The act came one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Britain and Canada also declared war on Japan.

1952 - On the show "I Love Lucy," a pregnancy was acknowledged in a TV show for the first time.

1960 - Fabian visited Elvis Presley at Graceland and lent him his pants when Elvis ripped his demonstrating karate.

1980 -In New York City, Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon to death. Earlier in the day, Lennon had autographed an album for Chapman.

1997 - Jenny Shipley was sworn in as the first female prime minister of New Zealand.

1998 - Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi's first of eight babies was born. The other seven were delivered 12 days later.

1998 - The first female ice hockey game in Olympic history was played. Finland beat Sweden 6-0.

2000 - Sting received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, December 8
You are an enthusiastic and determined person who has high ideals as well as very big plans and goals. A deep thinker, your morals are unusual yet strong, and your courage is great, particularly when it comes to standing up for a cause you believe in. You have a definite religious or philosophical bent. You are exceptionally attractive no matter what you look like, as you have much in the way of personal charisma. You are frequently devising new plots and challenges for yourself. Famous people born today:

65 BC Horace, Roman Republican poet (Odes), born in Venosa, Italy (d. 8 BC)

1542 Mary, Queen of Scots [Mary Stuart], Queen of Scotland (1560-87), born in Linlithgow Palace, Scotland (d. 1587)

1765 Eli Whitney, American inventor (Cotton Gin), born in Westborough, Massachusetts (d. 1825)

1865 Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (Valse Triste, Finlandia), born in Tavastehus, Finland (d. 1957)

1925 Sammy Davis Jr., American singer, dancer and actor (Ocean's 11, Candy Man), born in NYC, New York (d. 1990)

1930 Maximilian Schell, Swiss-Austrian actor and director (Odessa File, Julia), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2014)

1943 Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter (The Doors) and poet, born in Melbourne, Florida (d. 1971)

1953 Sam Kinison, American screaming comedian and actor (Back to School, Charlie Hoover), born in Yakima, Washington (d. 1992)

1966 Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter (Nothing Compares 2 U), born in Glenageary, Ireland

1982 Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and singer (Super Bass, Starships), born in Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

thanks, Michelle

READERS INFO
1.
(Not So) Totally Useless Facts of The Day:

June 08, 1948, the first Porsche vehicle was completed in Germany. The company had built other types of vehicles but this prototype (labeled ‘No. 1’) was the first to bear the “Porsche” name.

The book "Where the Wild Things Are" was originally named “Where the Wild Horses Are" until the author, Maurice Sendak, realized he couldn't draw horses. When the editor asked what he could draw, Sendak replied "things."

According to the Chinese American Restaurant Association, there are more Chinese restaurants currently in the United States than the combined number of McDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.
2.
1977 -

Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow is the first American born woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Science. Accepting the Nobel Prize in medicine at the Nobel banquet, Yalow spoke out about continued discrimination against women working in traditionally male fields.

3.
Coronavirus Style by Sylvia, CAN DO Correspondent
Social Distancing

not all guys are romantics

Pictures of the Day

The golden-headed cisticola (Cisticola exilis) is a species of warbler in the family Cisticolidae, found in Asia and Australia. An unobtrusive bird, it forages for invertebrates, such as insects and small slugs, near the ground, but supplements its diet with grass seeds. Both sexes construct the rounded nest with a side entrance in a grass tussock or among tangled herbage. Built of green leaves and fine grasses and lined with soft plant down, it is stitched together with cobweb silk and camouflaged on the outside with further herbage. The female incubates the eggs and the male drives off intruders, but despite this concealment and care, only 32 per cent of the eggs successfully hatch. This golden-headed cisticola was photographed near Cornwallis, New South Wales, in Australia.

Hungary

Vehicles on a road between frost covered trees near Debrecen.

and not just in elder years!

knit
thanks, Adele

Scandi Christmas Sweater

knit
thanks, Wendy

Personalized Christmas Stocking pattern by Mare Allison

knit

Christmas Mug Cosies

knit

Wreath Ornaments

knit

Knitted snowman

I keep wanting to clean off the smudges....

Knit Patterns of the Day:

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Crochet Snowman Christmas Ornament

Jingle Jester Baby Hat

just blending in to be one of the pack

crochet
thanks, Lois

Little Deer Purse or candy cane holder

crochet
thanks, Mary

A very Christmasy tea cosy

crochet

Santa Pocket Crochet Ornament

crochet

Icicle Angel Ornament pattern by Donna Collinsworth

crochet

Crimson Tree Skirt

the Elf of Luck for all to share

RECIPE

thanks, Shelley, New York Food Correspondent

Home Cook vs Food Stylist: Avocado Toast

not all babies look like their mommas....

Quarantine Cooking Recipes

thanks, Debbie

Lentils with Fried Eggs

CROCKPOT RECIPE

thanks, Ina

Easy Barbecue Beef Brisket

not all monkeys are big per Pygmy Marmosets

VEGAN/ VEGETARIAN RECIPE

Both vegetarian and vegan diets may provide health benefits, including reduced body weight, lower cholesterol levels, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, it is important for vegetarians and vegans to ensure that they are meeting all of their nutritional requirements.

thanks, Alice

Carrot Ginger Soup Recipe

peek a boo - did I scare you?

COPYCAT RECIPE

thanks, Jenny

Copycat Mint Chocolate Milano Cookies Recipe

you can't see me

SWEETS

The Palmer House Brownie

ADULT COLORING

are you up momma? huh huh, are you up????

FUN

thanks, Dana

who knew this is what whales look like when they are sleeping....

CRAFTS .. sewing

No Sew Holiday Masks

CHILDREN'S CORNER

momma's gonna look after you little one

PUZZLE

Rudolf ll of Hasburg

WORD SEARCH

bale
bridle

deploy
depression

ears
elephant

flatten
fragment

glut

hoist

infectious

label
light

moil

naught

pothole
puberty

quadrant

ribbon

same
seer
short
slew
spice
sprout
store
summer

tease
trapeze
tremendous

uplift
urchin

veteran

wicker

SUDOKU .. very hard

solution:

ICE BREAKER ...

thanks, Kris

You can use 'ice breaker questions' to build a rapport, enabling strangers to engage in back and forth conversion. With a little practice and possibly a beer or two, you’ll be breaking more ice than the Titanic.