A to Z: Ack! April Already!

Is it really?  But, i'm not ready yet!

Like the calendar cares, right?  So, here i've signed up for April A to Z, and i haven't a clue what to blog about for A, except that it's April and i'm not so sure that it should be this far into the year already and it's pretty lame, but anyway.

At least for part of the month i will write about animals, and part of it about kids (like that's different?).  And i'm trying to remember what i did last year.  Oh, yes, i could go and look, but that would be too easy.  Okay, give me a minute, i'll go look.

All right then.  Last time, i started with A for Apple Pie.  That's as good a place to go as any.

Our favorite apple pie recipe is easy, and good, and #2 Son took over making it long ago and like most things we cook around here, there's no set amounts, mostly approximations.

We use the easy pie crust recipe you can find here.  Half of that gets rolled out as the bottom crust and pre-baked for about 10 minutes at 400°.  The rest of the pie crust you can roll out, spread with a bit of melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and bake alone for another tasty treat.

While the bottom crust is baking a bit, slice up about 5 apples.  Mix 1/2c sugar with some spices -- cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, ginger, mace, whatever sweet spices you like, and if you are like us, you will use a lot because you like a spicy pie.  Layer the apples and sprinkle the sugar/spice mix liberally.

Then take about two tablespoons of butter and cut it into smaller chunks.  Tuck these in and among the apples.

Now mix 1/3c sugar with 1c of finely chopped pecans.  Cut 6 tablespoons of butter into it, adding a bit more spice if you like (i told you we like spicy pies), and drop the mixture by spoonfuls on top of the apples.

Bake the whole thing at 400° for ten minutes, then lower the temp to 350° for about 35 minutes, or until the apples are at the texture you like.

Be sure you cover the edges of the crust with foil if they start to get too brown.

There, that's A.  Tune in tomorrow, if you dare, and see if i come up with something for the letter B besides "my brain is frozen."

 

Today is

APAWS International Pooper Scooper week -- The Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists believe every dog should have its day, but not on someone else's lawn!

April Fool's Day  a/k/a Huntingowk Day or Gowkie Day in Scotland, because an April Fool is called a gowk; in England it is All Fools Day or April Noddy Day, as an April fool is a "noddy"

Azalea Festival -- Muskogee, OK, US (month long celebration with citywide events throughout)

Capture of Brielle Remembrance -- Brielle, Netherlands

Civil Service Day -- Thailand

Community Spirit Days -- an open invitation, all month long, for any town or community to involve itself in a special service project

Day of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Edible Book Day -- Sponsored by the Edible Book Festival, Austin, TX, US (celebrating books and culinary creativity by making edible representations of books, then eating them)

Fossil Fools Day -- part of the conservationist movement of many organizations that want us to decrease reliance on fossil fuels and stop corporate polluters

Greek Cypriot Day -- Cyprus (EOKA Day)

International Fun at Work Day -- sponsored by Playfair, which encourages non-foolish humor that is non-toxic, with this year's theme:  Work Like Your Dog!

International Tatting Day

Investiture of the New Captains Regent -- San Marino (sometimes listed as National Day)

Islamic Republic Day -- Iran

Kalends of April -- Ancient Roman Empire; also
     Festival of Fortuna Virilis -- Fortune in her role of bringing luck to women who want better relationships with men
     Veneralia -- ritual yearly washing of the statue of Venus

Kha b-Nisan -- Assyrians (traditional New Year celebration)

Loki's Day -- by some calculations, but more likely it was moved to this date to celebrate the trickster of all time on the trickiest day of the year

Miyako Odori -- Kobu Kaburenjo Theatre, Kyoto, Japan ("Dance of the Old Capital", the highly anticipated geisha dance and music festival, through the 30th)

National Sourdough Bread Day

Orissa Day -- Orissa, India

One Cent Day -- no history on this, just noted on several sites

Pigasus Award Announcement Day -- by James Randi, awarded to parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds

Reading is Funny Day -- a day to read riddles, jokes, and fun things with kids to show them how great reading can be

School Year Begins -- Japan, most schools and universities

Sizdeh Be-dar -- Iran (Nature Day, an ancient Persian celebration to get out and joyfully spend the day outdoors)

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival -- Skagit Valley, WA, US; through the 30th

Sorry Charlie Day -- a day to recognize Charlie the Tuna, always rejected but never giving up, and anyone who has ever been rejected and lived to tell about it

St. Gilbert de Moray's Day (Patron of Caithness, Scotland)

St. Stupid's Day (First Church of the Last Laughhttp://www.saintstupid.com/)

Sun 'n Fun International Fly in & Expo -- Lakeland, Florida, US (preserving and enhancing the future of flight; through Sunday)

Tree Loving Week begins -- South Korea (always the week that includes April 5, their Arbor Day)

Uzupis Day -- Uzupis District, Vilnius, Lithuania


Anniversaries Today:

Nunavut becomes Canada's third independent territory, 1999
Jim Bakker marries Tammy Faye LaValley, 1961


Birthdays Today:

Randy Orton, 1980
Jon Gosselin, 1977
Rachel Maddow, 1973
Susan Boyle, 1961
Libby Riddles, 1956
Annette O’Toole, 1953
Samuel A. Alito, Jr, 1950
David Eisenhower, 1947
Daniel Joseph “Rusty” Staub, 1944
Ali MacGraw, 1938
Gordon Jump, 1932
Debbie Reynolds, 1932
Jane Powell, 1929
Anne McCaffrey, 1926
Toshiro Mifune, 1920
Abraham Maslow, 1908
Clara "Mother" Hale, 1905
Lon Chaney, 1883
Sergei Rachmaninoff, 1873
Otto von Bismarck, 1815
William Harvey, 1578
Emperor Go-Saga of Japan, 1220


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Will Rogers Follies"(Musical), 1991
"General Hospital"(TV), 1963
"The Doctors"(TV), 1963
"Der blaue Engel/The Blue Angel"(Film; premier of Marlene Dietrich), 1930


Today in History:

The ruins of the city of Pompeii are found, 1748
Japan's volcano Unsen erupts, killing about 53,000, 1793
Samuel Morey patents the internal combustion engine, 1826
Cincinnati becomes the first US city to pay firefighters, 1853
Singapore, Penang & Malakka become British crown colonies, 1867
The London-Paris telephone connection is opened, 1891
The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois, 1891
The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, 1918
The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed, 1924
Generalisimo Frederico Franco announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, 1939
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Aleutian Islands creates a tsunami that strikes Hawai'i, killing 159, 1946
The twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland, 1949
The Canadian government repeals Japanese Canadian internment after seven years, 1949
The BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax on its current affairs programme Panorama, 1957
Project Tiger, a tiger conservation program, is launched in the Corbett National Park, India, 1973
Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, 1976
The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created, 1996
Comet Hale-Bopp is seen passing over perihelion, 1997
Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories, 1999
Croatia and Albania join NATO, 2009