01.13.2009

Hello everyone. I hope you've had a good week. I'm not feeling very chatty today--I think winter is getting to me. So I'll just get straight to the newsletter stuff. Take care everyone and stay warm.
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Now for Phyllis...

Hi everyone! Hope you are all having a great 2009 so far!


Feel like taking a trip down memory lane?
http://theimaginaryworld.com/page4.html

HEALTHY LIVING

"If hunger is not the problem, then food is not the solution." -Unknown

Food does more than just fill us up when we're hungry...it also satisifies feelings, and when you use food to satisfy your emotions when you're not hungry, then it is "emotional eating."

A few newsletters ago I posted a quiz on how to tell the difference between real hunger and emotional hunger. So now I'd like to offer you some tips on how to control emotional eating.

1. Make a list of things that you can do instead of eating when you are tempted to eat when you're not really hungry. Don't use food for comfort. Instead, go for a walk, read a book, call a friend, exercise, knit...anything that you enjoy that doesn't involve eating. Try to distract yourself from food.

2. Don't keep unhealthy foods in the house. If its not there, you can't eat it, and you probably won't want to drive to the store to get it. Keep healthy snacks in the house; fruit, unbuttered popcorn, low calorie dip and veggies.

3. Make sure you're getting enough calories every day. If you're on a diet and you cut out TOO many calories, you're just setting yourself up for a binge.

4. Exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Its easier to keep your emotions in check and your moods under control when your body is fit and well rested.

5. Keep a journal and write down what you are feeling when you are tempted to reach for food when you're not hungry. Recognizing your triggers will help you resist them.

I hope these tips will help. I use them, and I'm proud to report that I've lost another 9 lbs and 7 inches.
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A very pretty website
http://www.jz-rose.com/
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I read this in a magazine a few weeks ago and thought I'd share it. Did you know that you should get rid of your cosmetics after a certain date due to the bacteria they collect?

Foundation, powder eye shadow, lipstick and nail polish...toss after one year.
Blush or bronzer....toss after two years.
Mascara....toss after three months.

And remember that its important to clean your makeup brushes. Here's how;

Run the bristles of your makeup brushes under warm (not hot) water.
Apply a very small amount of gentle shampoo to the bristles and work into a light lather.
Rinse bristles thoroughly under warm running water. You'll probably notice that the water coming from your makeup brush is tinted with the colors of your old makeup as it rinses off.
Continue rinsing until water is clear.
Allow to air dry.
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Cool Pick

This weeks cool pick website is

http://www.answers.com/

Answers.com is an "online dictionary, encyclopedia and much more." They claim to be a "one stop shop with instant information on over 4 million topics"! Its more than a search engine...its a free reference library and research assitant available with a click of the mouse. Instead of using a search engine, which will give you a list of links, Answers.com gives you all the information in one convenient place. They also give you "Today in History", birthdays of famous people, and more. So if there is something you need to know, get your answers at Answers.com.
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Here is a site that I hope none of you will ever have the need to use;

http://www.idtheftcenter.org/
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Workout music playlists
http://www.inthegym.net/
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Did you know that a full plate of broccoli has the same calories as a small spoonful of peanut butter? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average adult needs 2000 to 2500 calories a day to maintain their weight.
Here's a great visual website

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm
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A friend is like a flower
A rose, to be exact
Or maybe like a brand new gate
That never comes unlatched.
A friend is like an owl
Both beautiful and wise.
Or perhaps a friend is like a ghost
Whose spirit never dies.
A friend is like a heart that goes
Strong until the end.
Where would we be in this world
If we didn't have a friend?
-Emma Guest
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Now for Toni...

I have gotten behind on new stamp issues for 2009, so here are two that have already been released and then two that will be released this week.

Alaska Statehood

With the issuance of this stamp in 2009, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood.

The stamp features a photograph by Jeff Schultz of a dogsledder taken in 2000 near Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range. Text on the stamp reads “1959 ALASKA.”

Scheduled issue date: Jan. 3 in Anchorage, AK.

Lunar New Year: Year of the Ox

In 2009 the U.S. Postal Service will issue the second of 12 stamps in its Celebrating Lunar New Year series, which began in 2008 with the Year of the Rat. The Year of the Ox begins on Jan. 26, 2009, and ends on Feb. 13, 2010.

Scheduled issue date: Jan. 8 in New York, NY.

Oregon Statehood

With the issuance of this stamp in 2009, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the sesquicentennial of Oregon’s statehood. Oregon was officially welcomed as the 33rd state in the Union on February 14, 1859.

Artist Gregory Manchess, a resident of Beaverton, OR, was inspired by his own experiences along the Pacific coast to create the painting for the stamp. The result is an evocative piece that incorporates several elements of the coastline — trees, rocks, cliffs, and pounding surf — but does not illustrate a specific place. “I wanted to make it an icon, an impression, of what the shoreline feels like when you look at the stamp,” says the artist.

Scheduled issue date: Jan. 14 in Portland, OR.

Edgar Allan Poe

In 2009, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America’s most extraordinary poets and fiction writers. For more than a century and a half, Poe and his works have been praised by admirers around the world, including English poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who dubbed Poe “the literary glory of America.” British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called him “the supreme original short story writer of all time.”

Scheduled issue date: Jan. 16 in Richmond, VA.
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Indiana

The first long-distance auto race in the U. S. was held May 30, 1911, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The winner averaged 75 miles an hour and won a 1st place prize of $14,000. Today the average speed is over 167 miles an hour and the prize is more than $1.2 million. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the site of the greatest spectacle in sports, the Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis 500 is held every Memorial Day weekend in the Hoosier capital city. The race is 200 laps or 500 miles long.

Abraham Lincoln moved to Indiana when he was 7 years old. He lived most of his boyhood life in Spencer County with his parents Thomas and Nancy.

Marcella Gruelle of Indianapolis created the Raggedy Ann doll in 1914.

Santa Claus, Indiana receives over one half million letters and requests at Christmas time.

Crawfordsville is the home of the only known working rotary jail in the United States. The jail with its rotating cellblock was built in 1882 and served as the Montgomery County jail until 1972. It is now a museum.

Historic Parke County has 32 covered bridges and is the Covered Bridge Capital of the world.

True to its motto, "Cross Roads of America" Indiana has more miles of Interstate Highway per square mile than any other state. The Indiana state Motto, can be traced back to the early 1800s. In the early years river traffic, especially along the Ohio, was a major means of transportation. The National Road, a major westward route, and the north-south Michigan Road crossed in Indianapolis. Today more major highways intersect in Indiana than in any other state.

Deep below the earth in Southern Indiana is a sea of limestone that is one of the richest deposits of top-quality limestone found anywhere on earth. New York City's Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center as well as the Pentagon, the U.S. Treasury, a dozen other government buildings in Washington D.C. as well as 14 state capitols around the nation are built from this sturdy, beautiful Indiana limestone.

Indiana means, "Land of the Indians".

In Fort Wayne, Syvanus F. Bower designed the world's first practical gasoline pump.

Indianapolis grocer Gilbert Van Camp discovered his customers enjoyed an old family recipe for pork and beans in tomato sauce. He opened up a canning company and Van Camp's Pork and Beans became an American staple.

Muncie's Ball State University was built mostly from funds contributed by the founders of the Ball Corporation, a company than made glass canning jars.

Indiana University's greatest swimmer was Mark Spitz, who won 7 gold medals in the 1972 Olympic games.

In 1934 Chicago Gangster John Dillinger escaped the Lake Country Jail in Crown Point by using a "pistol" he had carved from a wooden block.

The farming community of Fountain City in Wayne County was known as the "Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad." In the years before the civil war, Levi and Katie Coffin were famous agents on the Underground Railroad. They estimated that they provided overnight lodging for more than 2,000 runaway slaves who were making their way north to Canada and freedom.
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From Cheryl:

Having Trouble Threading Needles?

Try this: Put a tiny dab of clean nail polish on the tip of the thread. Let it dry and the tip will be easier to thread through the eye of the needle.

Useful Bridal Shower Gift

If you want to give something different at a bridal shower, why not put together a life saving kit for the couple's new home? In a large bucket, include a fire extinguisher, smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. Not glamorous, but life saving.
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Upper and lower case letters are named “upper” and “lower” because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the upper case letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the lower case letters.
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People often overestimate what will happen in the next two years and underestimate what will happen in ten.
~Bill Gates, The Road Ahead
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If you happen to have any old recipes that call for a Number 2 or Number 303 can of something, this site has a chart to help you determine current can measurements.http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciq-can-sizes.shtml
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­Fried potatoes were first introduced in the United States by Thomas Jefferson in the late 18th century. Jefferson had come across them while he was in Paris. The actual French fry is an American invention but received its name based on the origin country of fried potatoes.

During the early 19th century, fried potatoes steadily gained in popularity. They became a common menu item at restaurants across the country. In 1853, a diner at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., ordered the fried potatoes with his meal. The diner, rumored to have been Cornelius Vanderbilt, sent the potatoes back to the kitchen with a complaint that they were not crispy enough. The chef at the restaurant, George Crum, apparently was furious with the criticism. So he sliced the potatoes paper-thin, salted them heavily and refried them. Ironically, instead of ruining the meal for the diner, Crum's creation was a hit with the patron.

The owner of Moon's Lake House, realizing that the chips were delicious, made them a menu item. Eventually, Crum opened his own restaurant that featured the thin, fried potatoes. He called them Saratoga Chips. As word of the chips got out, other restaurants began to serve them. It wasn't long before potato chips were a staple at restaurants across the country.

William Tappendon of Cleveland, Ohio, is credited with taking the potato chip out of the restaurant and into the grocery store. In 1895, he began selling potato chips to local grocers and turned his barn into the world's first potato chip factory. During the early 1900s, several companies built large factories for the mass production of potato chips. And the 1920s saw the birth of three companies that define the potato chip industry:

Earl Wise, Sr. had too many potatoes at his Wise Delicatessen Company, which was founded in Berwick, Pa., in 1921. He decided to make potato chips out of the extras and sell them in brown paper bags through the delicatessen as Wise Potato Chips.

Herman Lay began selling potato chips in the south, and in 1932, he founded Lay's in Nashville, Tenn., as a distributor for a chip factory in Atlanta, Ga. In 1938, Lay purchased the chip factory and started selling Lay's Brand Potato Chips.

In 1921, Bill and Salie Utz founded Utz Quality Foods in Hanover, Pa. Utz marketed and sold chips made by his wife Salie, called Hanover Home Brand Potato Chips.
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James Bond, known to his friends as Jim, was a Philadelphia ornithologist and the author of a book called Birds of the West India.

While the bird-watching book may not have been a bestseller, it did catch the attention of an Englishman named Ian Fleming. At the time, Fleming was living in Jamaica and writing a book of his own. It was the story of an as yet unnamed British secret agent who had the code name 007.

One day, as Fleming was sitting at breakfast looking through his favorite non-fiction tide, he found the perfect name for his hero: Bond, James Bond. Interestingly, the name Bond was not chosen because it was strong, exotic, or even memorable. As Fleming later wrote, "It struck me that this name, brief, unromantic and yet very masculine, was just what I needed." Jim Bond didn't know about his fictional namesake until the early 1960s when he read an interview in which Fleming explained the origin of his character's name.

In 1961, Bond's wife, Mary, wrote to Fleming and half jokingly threatened to sue him for defamation of character. Fleming replied, "I most confess that your husband has every reason to sue me.... In return, I can only offer your James Bond unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming for any purpose he may think fit."
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Here are a few recipes that are sure to add some citrus sunshine to your winter days.

Creamsicle Cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks (3⁄4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1⁄2 cup orange juice
2 tsp grated orange zest

Creamsicle Frosting
1 1⁄2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1⁄2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange zest
Liquid orange food color (optional)
Garnish: thin strips orange zest

1. Heat oven to 350*F. Line 24 regular-size (2 1⁄2-in.-diameter) muffin cups with paper or foil liners.

2. Beat butter, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, orange juice and zest in a large bowl with mixer on high 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. On low speed, beat in flour in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, just until blended, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Spoon evenly in muffin cups.

3. Bake 22 to 25 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean and tops are golden. Cool in pans on a wire rack 5 minutes before removing from pans to rack to cool completely.

4. Frosting: Beat ingredients in medium bowl on medium-high speed until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted. Tint with food color; beat just until blended. Frost and garnish cupcakes.
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Lemon Love Notes

BATTER:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (3 1⁄2 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel

GLAZE:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
1⁄3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Heat oven to 350*F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan

2. Batter: Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg until blended. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until blended. Stir in coconut and lemon peel

3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until just until edges start to pull away from sides of pan. Do not overbake. Cool on a wire rack 20 minutes. Glaze bars while still warm.

4. Glaze: Stir confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over warm cookies, then spread evenly with a small flexible spatula. Sprinkle with coconut. Cool thoroughly before cutting in bars.
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Fun! Free Tetris
http://www.freetetris.org/
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Arkansas mother Michelle Duggar gave birth December 18 to her 18th child, Jordyn-Grace Makiya. The Duggar Family stars in the TLC reality show 17 Kids and Counting.
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Officials with the American Museaum of Natural History last month discovered a $15,000 diamond lodged in a vacuum cleaner bag. The gem belonged to Catherine Hart, who lost the stone when it became dislodged from her ring during a "Night at the Museum" overnight event earlier in December. On a hunch, museum officials had the cleaning crew check four dusty vacuum bags used to clean up after the event.
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From Sharon:

Take Me Back to the 50s
http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm
What We Drove in the 50s & 60s
http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove.htm
Growing Up in the 50s
http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/growingupinthefifties.htm
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Sharon's offering prompted me to share this site that I like that reminds me of my growing-up years:
http://www.escape-to-the-seventies.com/