DIANE'S CORNER ..

Celebrate Peanut Butter Lovers Day

Peanut butter is a well-loved high performance food that is great for snacks, baking and cooking. It’s an extremely versatile food that offers a whole variety of ways to appreciate and enjoy it. Though it has a little bit of sugar, it also contains a lot of beneficial components that can be part of a healthy and tasty diet.

And for those people who absolutely love peanut butter? Well, this day is just perfect because it’s time for National Peanut Butter Lovers Day!

Learn Some Fun Facts about Peanut Butter

Raise awareness for National Peanut Butter Lovers Day by learning and sharing some delightful bits of trivia related to peanut butter. Try out some of these:

It takes approximately 540 peanuts to make a twelve ounce jar of peanut butter.
Peanut butter and banana sandwiches were favorite sandwiches of singer Elvis Presley as well as former US president, Bill Clinton.
The United States has four different cities named Peanut, in these states: California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia. Plus, Pennsylvania also has cities named Lower Peanut and Upper Peanut.
Enough peanuts grow on one acre of a peanut butter farm to make approximately 35,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

History of National Peanut Butter Lovers Day

Peanuts have origins that go far back into human history. Some researchers believe that peanuts (which aren’t actually nuts at all but are really legumes) have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years! But it wasn’t turned into the modern food we call peanut butter until more recently.

After some rudimentary experimenting with peanut paste and a patent granted in 1884 to Canadian inventor, Marcellus Gilmore Edson, an unnamed doctor seems to have used peanut butter as a way to feed some of his patients a nutritious, easily edible food in the year 1890.

National Peanut Butter Lovers Day was first celebrated in 1990 to commemorate the first commercially available peanut butter in the United States. The day was founded by a collaboration between the National Peanut Board and the Adult Peanut Butter Lovers Fan Club in the US.

One great fact about National Peanut Butter Lovers Day is that it actually falls on the first day of March, several months after National Peanut Butter Lovers Month, which is in November. That way, peanut butter lovers have the opportunity to spread the celebration around throughout the year!

As it turns out, there may just be a great geographical divide in the United States among peanut butter lovers! It seems that those people who live in the West Coast of the US tend to prefer crunchy peanut butter while those living toward the East Coast would typically prefer creamy peanut butter. But whether it’s creamy or crunchy, in the west, in the east – or anywhere else in the world – National Peanut Butter Lovers Day is the perfect time to celebrate!

thanks, Michele, Picture Coordinator

JOKE OF THE DAY thanks, Michele

bring on the sunshine for those daily hikes!

WORD OF THE DAY

infame

MEANING:
noun: A person having a bad reputation.
verb tr.: To defame: to attack the reputation or to disgrace.
adjective: Having a bad reputation.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin in- (not) + fama (reputation). Earliest documented use: for noun: 1413; for adjective: 1551; for verb: 1413.

USAGE:
“She had called him a coward, a sneak, an infame, a liar, childish, stubborn, and uncaring ‘you are a fool.’”
Conor Fitzgerald; The Namesake; Bloomsbury; 2012.

“So what if I am an evil person from ancient times? So what if I am infamed for thousands of years?”
Ying Xing; Supreme Immortal, Volume 2; Funstory; 2020.

TODAY'S ARTIST thanks, Natalie

Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967)
was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (Staatliches Bauhaus) school.

cat art happened in this house!!!

IDIOM OF THE DAY
What does 'broad strokes' mean?

Meaning: If something is described or defined with broad stokes, then only an outline is given, without fine details.

she framed samples of grandma's lace...

thanks, Patsy

curly-haired horses are the maximum cute animals

(Not So) TOTALLY USELESS FACTS OF THE DAY

Wedding rings are placed on the left ring finger because, in Ancient Egypt, it was believed to be the only finger with a vein leading directly to the heart.

Jurassic Park was a blockbuster film from 1993. It was both a visual and auditory success. Did you know that the sounds of mating tortoises was used to create the dinosaur noises? Well now you do.

The plastic table-like item found in pizza boxes is called a 'pizza saver' and is meant to keep the top of the box from caving in at the center.

curly-haired horses are the maximum cute animals
YOUR CALL by Sylvia, CAN DO Correspondent
Fun Allergy Facts
1) If I Fits, I Sits (from your Cat Allergy report)
Many cat owners have noticed that their cats have a peculiar desire to sit inside of boxes. Some cats have such a strong instinct to sit inside of things that they will even sit inside of circles that are painted on the floor. The funniest part is that this behavior isn’t limited to house cats. Lions, leopards, and other large cats also like sitting in boxes. This particular behavior is highly conserved among cat species for some reason. Even big cats can act like house cats when presented with a box.
2) (Almost) Nothing to Do With Hay (from your Hay Fever report)
While the name "Hay Fever" suggests that hay will trigger the immune response, it generally isn't the primary culprit. Dried grass (such as hay) can cause the allergic reaction, but more often it is triggered by pollen in the air, dust mites, or mold.
3) Good For The Body (from your Sunflower Pollen Allergy report)
Flower pollen contains vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and amino acids. Sunflowers are no exception to this rule and have been used in scientific studies involving men with enlarged prostates awaiting surgery. The patients given the flower pollen showed a 69% improvement in symptoms compared to a placebo group (with only 29% improvement). Nice.
4) Prehistoric Bread (from your Gluten Sensitivity Report)
Some people who endorse gluten-free food like to say that our ancient ancestors didn’t eat bread. Boy, are they wrong.
In fact, archaeological evidence suggests that people were making and eating bread at least 23,000 years ago. We know for certain that people were regularly making bread 14,000 years ago. So eating bread couldn’t be more natural for humans.

curly-haired horses are the maximum cute animals

COFFEE thanks, Ella

PICTURES OF THE DAY

Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) was an African-American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped the space agency pioneer the use of computers to perform tasks. She worked with the Apollo program, calculating rendezvous paths for the lunar lander and command module on its flights to the Moon. Johnson's calculations were essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program and she also worked on plans for a mission to Mars. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as a pioneering example of African-American women in STEM. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson as a lead character in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. This NASA photographic portrait of Johnson was taken in 1983.

Farne Islands

A pair of Atlantic puffins

keeping that one egg warm is non-stop sitting in the nest!

knit
thanks, Helen

Good Luck Clover

knit
thanks, Stella

Morning Glory Shawl

knit

Wayback Machine

knit

Vik

knit

Hoodie Dog Coat

but it probably won't hatch as it was laid too early in the year....

KNIT PATTERNS OF THE DAY

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Beginner Tube Sock

Poncho

crochet

thanks, Mary

Shamrock Barefoot Sandals

crochet
thanks, Helen

Hypnotic-Afghan

crochet

Bus Stop Cardigan

crochet

Country Rose Decorative Potholder

crochet

Half and Half Crochet Sweater

Lady and Razor posing for their yearbook photo

RECIPE thanks, Shelley, NY Food Correspondent

The Best Chicken Tikka Masala

PANTRY RECIPE thanks, Debbie

Tuscan White Bean Soup

CROCKPOT RECIPE thanks, Patsy

Slow Cooker Tuna Noodle Casserole

they swim freely in the waters of Pugwash Harbour

VEGAN/ VEGETARIAN RECIPE thanks, Alice

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.

Eggplant Meatballs

Makes 4 servings

Time: About 1 hour, largely unattended

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound eggplant, unpeeled, cut into cubes no larger than 1 inch

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 cup cooked or canned white beans

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup breadcrumbs, preferably wholewheat

Pinch red chile flakes

2 cups tomato sauce

Instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Use 1 tablespoon olive oil to grease a large rimmed baking sheet. Put 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the eggplant and ¼ cup water. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pieces shrivel a bit and are tender and beginning to color, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the eggplant to the bowl of a food processor.

2. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan along with the onion and garlic and return to the heat. Cook, stirring frequently until they’re soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, drain the beans; if using canned, rinse the beans also. Add the beans and parsley to the work bowl with the eggplant and pulse until well combined and chopped, but not pureed.

3. Toss the eggplant mixture with the onion and garlic, then add the breadcrumbs and red chile flakes if you’re using them. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Roll the mixture into 12 balls about 2 inches in diameter; transfer them to the prepared pan. Bake, undisturbed, until they’re firm and well browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, warm the tomato sauce. Serve the meatballs hot or at room temperature along with the tomato sauce.

She hiked while in Nevada!

COPYCAT RECIPE thanks, Jenny

Copycat Olive Garden Mozzarella Fonduta

I'm sure that they meant well....

RETRO RECIPE thanks, Ann

Sheet-Pan Crispy Chicken Strips And Veggies

may the Hohenzollern Castle, Germany never sit abandoned!

SWEETS RECIPE thanks, Anna

Apple Charlotte

maple syrup farms just have to include horses

ADULT COLORING

so easy to sing along...

FUN

Can You find A FOOTBALL among the pandas?

solution:

Canadian lobster is exported to more than 50 countries around the world

CRAFTS thanks, Zoey

DIY Lucky Poppers

aw, momma....

CHILDREN'S CORNER thanks, Joanne

Grab a small plastic sandwich bag and use fabric paint to draw a four leaf clover on the clear plastic.

Sprinkle some glue on while it's wet, and when it dries you can carefully peel off the shamrock to decorate a window.

This one can honestly be done for any holiday, and all you would have to do is switch up the shape or design.

March break could include ice fishing

PUZZLE

Cones Green Wire Jigsaw Puzzle

this IS what happens to the males at this time of year

WORD SEARCH

arrive

breast
brutal

carpet
chemicals
comeback
commemorative

convention
credit
critic

desktop

family
famous
fire

flatter
follow
fret

nape

object
opinion

police

rale

salary
secret
silence
station

threat
tire
tote

versatile
vote

warrant

but it moves when we walks...

SUDOKU .. medium

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.