On This Date Since 1900...

2010 Pfizer sponsors a study of the smoking cessation drug Varenicline, suggest governments would be wise to fund smoking cessation treatments
2010 Ukranian prosecutors claim that in 2000, former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko ordered the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze
1998 Week of Fed Cup
1997 49th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1997 Bank One Senior Golf Classic
1997 Chicago Whites Sox retire Carlton Fisk's number, 72
1997 Karrie Webb wins LPGA SAFECO Classic
1997 Loren Roberts wins CVS Charity Golf Classic with a 266
1996 A's Mark McGwire is 13th player to hit 50-home runs in a season
1996 Dean Headley takes 3rd cricket hat-trick of season, Kent vs. Hampshire
1996 New York Met Todd Huntley sets record of 41 home runs by a catcher
1996 Tara Dawn Holland (Kansas), 23, crowned 70th Miss America 1997
1994 All 28 baseball owners vote to cancel rest of 1994 season
1992 1st subway car completed to be exported from U.S. (to Taiwan)
1991 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (Hawaii), 24, crowned 65th Miss America 1992
1991 Freshman Marshall Faulk of San Diego State rushed for NCAA record
1991 Magic Johnson weds Erieatha "Cookie" Kelly
1991 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1991 386 yards and scored 7 touchdowns as the Aztecs beat Pacific 55-34
1990 Ken Griffey, Sr and, Jr., hit back-to-back home runs in 1st inning
1989 Calgary Flames become 1st NHL team to play in U.S.S.R., win 4-2
1989 Jeff Reardon is 1st to record 30 saves in 5 consecutive seasons
1989 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1988 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1987 "Les Miserables," opens at Rock Theatre, Vigzinhaz Budapest
1987 107th U.S. Mens Tennis: Ivan Lendl beats Mats Wilander (67 60 76 64)
1987 Cal Ripken's streak of 8,243 consecutive innings (908 games) is broken
1987 Ivan Lendl defeat Mats Wilander to win U.S. Tennis Open in 4 hours 47 minutes
1987 Toronto Blue Jays hit a record 10 home runs vs Baltimore Orioles
1986 Bo Jackson's 1st home run - a 475-foot blast (longest at Royal Stadium)
1986 Bomb attack in Paris, 2 killed
1986 Bomb explosion on airport Kimpo at Seoul, 5 killed
1986 Judy Dickinson wins LPGA SAFECO Golf Classic
1986 Saskatchewan and Hamilton play 1st CFL regular-season overtime game
1985 Susan Akin (Miss), 21, crowned 59th Miss America 1986
1984 1st MTV awards-Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd host
1983 U.S. House of Representatives votes, 416 to 0, in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner
1982 36" snow Red Lodge, Montana
1982 Cindy Nicholas of Canada makes her 19th swim of English Channel
1982 Trevor Baxter sets skateboard high jump record of 5' 5.7"
1981 Entertainment Tonight premieres on TV
1980 "Charlie and Algernon" opens at Helen Hayes Theater New York City for 17 performances
1980 Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA United Virginia Bank Golf Classic
1980 Dwight Clark begins NFL streak of 105 consecutive game receptions
1979 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1979 Theodore Coombs completes 5,193 mile roller skate from LA to New York City and back to Yates Center, Ks
1978 Braves' Jim Bouton, 38, beats Giants, his 1st win since 1970
1978 Portugal government of Da Costa falls
1977 Christmas Tinto sentenced to 7 years in Robbeneiland South Africa
1975 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Southgate Golf Open
1975 Pope Paul VI declares Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton 1st U.S. saint
1975 Rembrandts "Nightwatch" slashed and damaged in Amsterdam
1975 Robin Yount breaks Mel Ott's record, playing in 242 games as a teen
1974 Charles Kowal discovers Leda, 13th satellite of Jupiter
1973 Indianapolis is awarded a WHA franchise
1973 Israel shoots down 13 Syrian MIG-21s
1973 President Nixon signed into law a measure lifting pro football's blackout
1972 "Waltons" TV program premieres
1972 Jason Miller's "That Championship Season," premieres in New York City
1972 West Germany and Poland establish diplomatic relations
1971 Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators, play 20 innings
1970 Stevie Miracle marries Rita Wright
1969 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Wendell-West Golf Open
1969 Males of Swiss kanton Schaffhausen rejects female suffrage
1968 1st broadcast of 60 Minutes on CBS-TV
1968 Detroit Tigers' Denny McLain's 30th victory of season
1968 Dmitri Shostakovich' 12th string quartet, premieres in Moscow
1968 U.S.S.R.'s Zond 5 is launched on 1st circumlunar flight
1967 Melville Abrams Ball Field in Bronx named
1967 Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge and Sanctuary opens in Bronx
1965 "F-Troop" premieres
1965 4th meeting of 2nd Vatican council opened
1964 WCVE TV channel 23 in Richmond, Virginia (PBS) begins broadcasting
1964 Walt Disney awarded Medal of Freedom at White House
1963 Mary Ann Fischer, Aberdeen, South Dakota, gave birth to America's 1st surviving quintuplets, 4 girls and a boy
1962 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1961 Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of CP of U.S.S.R.
1961 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.
1960 Chubby Checker's "Twist" hits #1
1960 Coup under Col Joseph-Desire Mobutu in Congo
1960 Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia and Venezuela form OPEC
1960 KERA TV channel 13 in Dallas, Texas (PBS) begins broadcasting
1959 Soviet Union's Luna-2 is 1st spacecraft to land on the Moon
1959 WQEX TV channel 16 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PBS) begins broadcasting
1958 Jackie Pung wins LPGA Jackson Golf Open
1958 WTAE TV channel 4 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (ABC) begins broadcasting
1958 Yankees win 24th pennant, and 9th under Casey Stengel
1957 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Maralinga Australia
1957 U.N. resolution deplores and condemns U.S.S.R. invasion of Hungary
1957 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1956 1st prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington D.C.
1955 Herb Score sets rookie record of 235 strikeouts (en route 245)
1954 B Britten's opera "Turn of the Screw," premieres in Venice
1954 Giants' Willie Mays gets 82nd extra-base hit, breaks Mel Ott's record
1954 Hurricane Edna (2nd of 1954) hits New York City, $50 million damage
1954 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test
1953 Comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara marry
1953 Yankees clinch 5th straight pennant with 8-5 win over Indians
1951 Giant's Bob Niemans homers on his 1st 2 at bats
1950 Western allies rearm West Germany
1948 Gerald Ford upsets Rep Bartel J Jonkman in Michigan 5th Dist Representative primary
1948 Ground breaking ceremony for United Nations world headquarters
1948 Milton Berle starts his TV career on Texaco Star Theater
1947 61st U.S. Womens Tennis: A Louise Brough beats M O duPont (86 46 61)
1947 67th U.S. Mens Tennis: Jack Kramer beats Frank A Parker (46 26 61 60 63)
1944 6,500 Dutch/Indonesian captives sent to Junyo Maru
1944 Gulpen, Meerssen and Maastricht freed
1944 Hurricane hits New England: 389 die
1944 U.S. 28th Infantry division occupies 1.5 km of Roscheid
1944 U.S. 4th Ivy League Inf division pushes through Westwall
1943 Comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara marries
1943 Yankees clinch pennant #14
1942 Battle of Edson's Ridge (Japanese assault) at Guadalcanal
1942 German troops occupy train station Stalingrad-1
1942 Yankees clinch pennant #13
1940 Congress passes 1st peace-time draft law
1940 German bomb hits shelter in Chelsea; 100s die
1939 British fleet attacks German U-39 boat
1939 Minister Winston Churchill visits Scapa Flow
1938 Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes maiden flight
1936 Paul Waner ties Rogers Hornsby's NL record of 200 hits for 7 times
1933 2 billion board feet of lumber destroyed in Tillamook Oregon fire
1933 Schaduwproces-Rijksdagbrand opens in London
1932 Military coup in Chile under Arturo Alessandri
1930 Detroit Lions (as Portsmouth Spartans) play 1st NFL game, win 13-6
1930 Nazis gain 107 seats in German election
1929 49th U.S. Mens Tennis: Bill Tilden beats Francis Hunter (36 63 46 62 64)
1929 A's clinch AL pennant with a 5-0 win over White Sox
1926 Guido Companions birthplace as a museum opens
1924 Walter Johnson elected AL MVP
1923 Jack Dempsey KOs Luis Firpo in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1923 Miguel Primo de Rivera becomes dictator of Spain
1923 Red Sox 1st baseman George Burns pulls off an unassisted triple play
1919 British regime forbids Sinn Fein Dail
1917 Kerenski regime declares Russian republic
1917 Provisional government of Russia forms, Republic proclaimed
1916 Christy Mathewson pitches and wins his final game
1914 German staff-chief von Moltke replaces von Falkenhayn
1914 German troops withdraw from Aisne/invent trenches
1913 27th U.S. Womens Tennis: Mary K Browne beats Dorothy Green (62 75)
1913 Cubs Larry Cheney hurls record 14-hit shutout against Giants (7-0)
1905 Albert Cuypstrat street market in Amsterdam inaugurated
1905 Dutch AR-politician AWF Idenburg named governor of Suriname
1905 RAC Tourist Trophy, 1st run, on Isle of Man
1903 New York Giant Red Ames no-hits St. Louis, 5-0 in a 5 inning game

Double Wham - 2001!

The shock of what had happened had not passed, but we did begin to get back on track...

13th Sept. 2001 : Commercial air traffic restarts from most airports in the U.S. after all air traffic had been grounded following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. After another night of firefighters and rescue workers digging through the rubble of the twin towers hopes are fading to find any further live survivors of the bombing, the current toll is an estimated 20,000 missing.

13th Sept. 2001 : Osama bin Laden has been named As Prime Suspect behind the terrorist attacks on the United States two days ago by the Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Sunday Supper

Sunday was a perfectly lovely day. Moonsong rang early and rescheduled to clean and so I was able to kick back and read. How delightful. A nap was tossed in plus doing sheets and getting things in order for the coming week. Markie was due at 5pm to make dinner. He said he had pulled some lamb shanks out of the freezer and oh my what a treat was in store. But first up was cocktails.

I rather enjoyed trying the Blueberry vodka with diet tonic over ice. Cool and refreshing for a change of pace and since the temps had topped off just over 90 it was spot on. After a couple of those and enjoying the smells of the kitchen as Markie prepared dinner, it was time to enjoy the Atkins friendly version of Osso Bucco. Mind you I say this as I forgot to take a picture last night and the image I found that was closest to what Markie presented is on a bed of carrots. We did not have them. Mind you we did not miss them. Add a lovely salad with blue cheese dressing and viola, a great Sunday Supper. For those that have not gotten to enjoy Osso Bucco, it is an amazing melt in your mouth, fall off the bone dinner. But the sauce, oh my goodness and Markie was clever to trade out ingredients and make it so the dish was basically carb-free! Mind you, I loved the sauce so much I opted out of wine with dinner and enjoyed a couple of glasses of the sauce. There was nothing to dredge it in and so drinking it was the only option. The juniper berries added flavor and the bits of burnt garlic made it tasty. Life is not always difficult.

For those who would like to try, here is a recipe:

Osso Buco
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:15 min Cook Time:2 hr 0 min
Level: Easy Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 dry bay leaf
2 whole cloves
Cheesecloth
Kitchen twine, for bouquet garni and tying the veal shanks
3 whole veal shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All purpose flour, for dredging
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small carrot, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 stalk celery, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions
Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.

For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.

In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.
Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in decorative serving platter. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard. Remove and discard bouquet garni from the pot. Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

Ten Years Ago Today...

I remember waking up at my apt. in Portland on 22nd Avenue and going in to get coffee going and I turned on the TV. I thought to myself, "it is too early to have Diane Sawyer on?" Little did I realize what was happening and soon calling everyone I knew telling them to turn on their TV's and most were tuned in by the time the 2nd plane hit. The rest of the week was numbing. It was unreal seeing the towers collapse on live TV. A year later Mick and I were in Paris on the anniversary and they did a visual tribute at their city hall much like the above.

The Heat Is On!

I am so trying to stay cool. Thank goodness for air conditioning. With the heat on I decided to get all the chores done this morning and that included 2 loads of laundry, dishes washed and got initial prep ready for tonight as Rob and Jodie are coming over for heavy snacks and drinks. It is too hot to consider dinner! Tomorrow Markie is stopping by to cool off and have dinner - yes, I take a ribbing for having AC, but it does draw in those needing comfort.

Travel Trinkets

March had a group go over to Ireland and Julie, my event coordinator out of Santa Clara, was so sweet and found a lovely Waterford crystal seahorse for me to use as an ornament. It will be the first ornament on the tree when it goes up in November. You just never know when another item comes into the house, but I have really tried to live by the policy that if something comes in I let something else go. Trying to find balance.Curtis, my event coordinator in Seattle, lead a group to Africa this summer. He went looking for something that had purple in it and found the beaded color that was more along periwinkle. It is most interesting and several people have tried it on. My head is too big and so it becomes a sort of faux-hat on my head. It is fun and a festive conversation piece.

A Sticky History

On this date, back in 1930 life changed forever. Today is when Scotch Tape was developed as a brand name used for certain pressure sensitive tapes manufactured by 3M as part of the company's Scotch brand. Yes, a lot has changed over the years and one thing I know is that I have one of these black tape dispensers on my desk. I think they are a staple of many offices around the world as we seek to have a dispenser that will work with you as you try and hold an article or photo in place as you reach for the tape to get an item stuck together just perfectly.Although it is a trademarked brand name, it has sometimes been used in the United States and elsewhere as a generic term for transparent adhesive tape. The Scotch brand includes many different constructions (backings, adhesives, etc.) and colors of tape. Use of the term "Scotch" in the name has a pejorative origin. A customer complained that 3M was manufacturing its masking tape too cheaply, and told company engineer Richard Drew to, "take this tape back to your stingy Scotch bosses and tell them to put more adhesive on it."Who has not been impacted by Scotch Tape. Seriously, how often do you ask for adhesive tape. Nope, I didn't think so. Presents just look better and it has so many uses. I have to laugh that now the big push is the pull pre-cut packs. I can see the impact come the holidays, but boy what a blitz on that new option with the school year kicking off. What I know is that I need to stock up for the upcoming holiday season to be prepared.