It’s Time to Make Amends?

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(top)Get your dirt ready. (row 2 left) If your soil looks like this it might be too dry. (row 2 middle) If it looks like this it might not have enough drainage. (row 2 right) Getting the soil right promotes proper root development. (row 3 left) Getting the garden soil ready for planting is a family affair. (row 3 right) Worms are a gardeners soil helper. And bait for the fishermen in the family. (row 4 left) When you’ve done all you can do for your soil, plant away! (row 5 left) Enjoy your spring labor all summer long. 

Had enough of this cold weather? Yikes.  Even though I’m a proud Clevelander, and someone who LOVES to be outside in any weather, I am done with the cold weather blowing off of Lake Erie (it snowed this week, as I watched my beloved Indians play in Puerto Rico (87 degrees!).  To get out of my funk, one of my spring rituals is to join Jackie in prepping the gardens around the yard.  We hit the  garage, break out the tools, gloves and bags, get down on our hands and knees, soak in the warming sunshine (optimistic thoughts!) and get to work.  We start with the leftover hard to rake leaves, scattered unwanted debris, and then just dig into the soil, pulling what didn’t make it over the winter and begin visualizing just what we’ll plant this year.Doesn’t that sound good?  The reality is I am allowed to dig dirt and rake the leaves!  Jackie has the incredible gift of visualizing what needs to go where! Then the time arrives to “make amends.”  No, not the ones that come to mind (being a good Catholic boy like me, I am constantly working on those all year long) – more the garden type, specifically amending the soil.  So, for all my fellow weekend gardeners out there, here’s some great tips to get your soil ready for some great growing.  And for my “step by step” folks, see the top ten tips from rodalesorganiclife author Julie Moynahan.

For most gardeners, it is easy to take a patch of soil for granted and assume it has all of the components necessary for healthy plant growth. After assuming the soil is “good to grow”, gardeners simply visit the nursery, choose a kind of flower or vegetable crop they would like to grow this year, dig the hole, plant the crop, add a bit of water and hope for the best. In the case of excellent soil, the flower should grow healthily and beautifully. However, after a long time of using the same soil, to gain the most optimal growing environment for the plants, actions to improve the soil must be taken. This is considered “amending” your soil.
The first essential step to amend soil is to take a soil test to find out how quickly your soil drains. Try this:

  1. dig a few holes around your yard. It is recommended that these holes should be at least six inches wide and six inches deep.
  2. the day before you take your actual test, you saturate the holes with water, which will lead to a more accurate result. After all of the water has successfully drained, fill the holes with water again, making sure the bottoms of the holes are flat.
  3. After an hour, simply measure the water levels in the holes using a tape measure. What you are attempting to find out with this test is how rapidly the soil absorbs the water.  Now, take a close look:
  • If your soil absorbs less than a half of an inch water after an hour, your soil has a considerably poor quality of drainage.
  • If the water in the holes drains at a half inch after an hour, it means that your soil has a slow drainage; however, it is sufficient.
  • If the water drains from one to four inches in an hour, that is good news for you because most kinds of plants and flowers can do well in this soil condition.
  • If the water drains at a rate of more than four inches within an hour, the soil is considered to be quick draining. It is recommended that the water level should be definitely drained out of the hole from four to six hours because this amount of water is ideal for your soil. However, if the drainage lasts more than eight hours, it is difficult to grow any different kinds of flowers or plants.

If your soil has poor drainage, it likely consists of a lot of clay or has too much sand mixed in. Northeast Ohio is famous for its clay base.  You’ll be required to add more organic matter to the soil (or opt for a container garden instead) if your soil is too far gone. Don’t worry, it can take years to get your dirt just right!

Once you’ve determined your soil is good enough for planting, the next step is to remove any existing vegetation (weeds or grass) from the soil.. You can also smother the area with dark cloth prior to planting, which also kills off a lot of vegetation.  (this step is essential because you have to be sure that there are no weeds or grasses growing where you intend to grow). Jackie likes to use PREEN.

The best soil amendments for your plants consist of organic or inorganic fertilizers, as well as other soil amendment ingredients like compost. The three vital factors found in most chemical fertilizers are nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (N-P-K). Always pay attention to the N-P-K ratings on fertilizer packaging so as to get the proper combination in your soil. (to learn more, visit A Beginner’s Guide to Reading Fertilizer Labels).

It is undeniable that mulching can bring many benefits for your garden. In reality, not only does it add an attractive perfect look to your garden or yard, but it also helps keep weeds at bay as well as retain moisture. One thing you have to make sure of is not to lay mulch too thick. For finer mulch  2 inches is plenty, more than that and your plants won’t appreciate it!
To be sure your soil is “ready” you can send it to a lab or testing facility.  When you send a soil sample to a lab, you get a detailed analysis of soil nutrients and you find out about deficiencies. Here’s a link for my Cleveland diggers: http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/resources/soil-maps-and-testing.  And here’s a “top ten” checklist to follow:

1. SOIL STRUCTURE AND TILTH – When the soil is neither too wet nor too dry, dig a hole 6 to10 inches deep. Separate an intact section about the size of a soup can and break it apart with your fingers. Determine whether the soil is cloddy, powdery, or granular. Ideally, your soil should be made up of different sized crumbs that will hold their shape under slight pressure. Crumbs, or aggregates, as soil scientists call them, that break apart only with difficulty mean your soil is too hard.

Why It’s Important – “Soil rich in organic matter tends to form relatively round aggregates, which leads to porosity,” says Tom Thompson, Ph.D., a professor of soil science, at the University of Arizona. Open, porous soils allow the free movement of water and oxygen, he explains, so plants can develop strong, healthy roots.

2. COMPACTION – Plunge a wire flag vertically into the soil at different locations. Mark the depth at which the wire bends. The sooner it bends, the more compacted the soil. A foot or more of easily penetrable soil is ideal.
Why It’s Important– Compacted soil inhibits root growth and water availability and keeps earthworms and other vital soil fauna from circulating freely.

3. WORKABILITY – You may have already learned about your soil’s workability the last time you got the garden ready for planting. If tilling or digging the soil produces cloddy or plate-like clumps, the workability is low. Farmers measure workability by monitoring how much tractor fuel they use; you can simply judge the effort necessary to prepare beds for planting.
Why It’s Important – Soil that’s easy to work allows water to reach roots efficiently and is less prone to compaction. Fail this step, and your garden will likely show disappointing results for many of the other tests. “If the soil isn’t easily worked, other problems have already been going on for a while,” says Raymond Allmaras, a soil specialist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in St. Paul, Minnesota.

4. SOIL ORGANISMS – Measure the animal life in your soil by digging down at least 6 inches and peering intently into the hole for 4 minutes. Tick off the number and species of each organism observed, such as centipedes, ground beetles, and spiders. Because most soil organisms spurn daylight, gently probe the soil to unearth the shy residents. If you count less than 10, your soil does not have enough active players in the food chain.
Why It’s Important– A thriving population of diverse fungi, bacteria, insects, and invertebrates is one of the most visible signs of soil quality. The more that creeps and crawls under your garden, the less opportunity there is for pests and disease.  Each level of soil life does its part to break down plant residue and make more nutrients available for plant growth. Although this might be recommended, in full disclosure I hate creepy-crawly bugs especially spiders!

5. EARTHWORMS – When the soil is not too dry or wet, examine the soil surface for earthworm casts and/or burrows. Then dig out 6 inches of soil and count the number of earthworms squirming on the shovel. Three worms are good; five are better. The absence of worms means the soil does not have enough of the organic matter they feed on.
Why It’s Important– Not only do earthworms aerate the soil, but their casts infuse the soil with enzymes, bacteria, organic matter, and plant nutrients. They also increase water infiltration and secrete compounds that bind soil particles together for better tilth. As an added benefit, lots of earthworms work well if you are a fisherman!

6. PLANT RESIDUE – If you’ve grown a cover crop, dig down 6 inches 1 month after turning it into the soil and then look for plant matter. The range of organic material is important to notice here. The presence of recognizable plant parts as well as plant fibers and darkly colored humus indicates an ideal rate of decomposition.
Why It’s Important– “The single most important component of healthy soil is organic matter,” Thompson says. But plants and other organic materials decompose only when soil organisms are there to do the work. Any sign of this process is a good sign, but the speed of decomposition is important, too. Fast decomposition is another indicator of soil quality. In poorly aerated soil, plants break down slowly, a condition that gives off a faintly sour scent.

7. PLANT VIGOR – Start this test during the active growing season and look for healthy plant color and size that’s relatively uniform. Overall health and development must be judged for what’s considered normal for your region. One caveat: If you planted late or during a drought, or suffered a pest infestation, results of this test may be unreliable.
Why It’s Important– Plant vigor indicates soil with good structure and tilth, a well-regulated water supply, and a diverse population of organisms. It’s the best sign of effective soil management you’ll have above ground.

8. ROOT DEVELOPMENT – Use a shovel or hand trowel to dig gently around a selected plant, preferably a weed you won’t miss. Once you’ve reached root depth, pull an annual plant up and check the extent of root development, searching for fine strands with a white healthy appearance. Brown, mushy roots indicate serious drainage problems—and a poor outlook for this year’s harvest. Stunted roots might also indicate disease or the presence of root-gnawing pests. “When you look at the roots, you can really see what’s going on,” Allmaras says.
Why It’s Important– Roots have the most immediate connection with and reliance on soil quality. Without air, water, biological activity, and crumbly soil to grow in, roots can’t do their job.

9. WATER INFILTRATION – Take an empty coffee can with the bottom removed and push it into the soil until just 3 inches remain above the surface. Fill the can with water, marking the water height, and then time how long it takes for the water to be absorbed into the soil. Repeat this several times until the rate of absorption slows and your times become consistent. Anything slower than 1/2 to 1 inch per hour is an indication of compacted soil.
Why It’s Important– Good infiltration gets water to plants where they need it—at their roots—prevents runoff and erosion, and lets air move more efficiently into soil pores.

10. WATER AVAILABILITY – Wait for a soaking rain; then record how long until plants start to show signs of thirst. Results will vary widely by region. The basic lesson is that if plants require more frequent watering than typical for your region, your soil is probably the culprit.
Why It’s Important– Porous soil can better resist evaporation and adequately supply plants between waterings. “It could make all the difference in the world if water were to go another inch deeper,” Allmaras says.

Once you’ve amended your soil, plant away, and be sure to send me a photo of your results so that we can post onto our website.

BONUS POST:  
https://www.provenwinners.com/sites/provenwinners.com/files/catalogs_pdfs/proven_winners_annuals_by_region.pdf

 

 

 

Paraskevidekatriaphobia = Triskaidekaphobia Squared

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If you truly suffer from Triskaidekaphobia or worse yet Paraskevidekatriaphobia, see ya later. Actually, I’m sure you’ve already clicked off of this page. For the rest of you, that Friday the 13th movie poster reminds me of our expertise in proper blade hardening to prevent breaks and give long life to sharpness. 🙂 Click HERE to see the original Friday the 13th film trailer starring Kevin Bacon as Jack. Click HERE for your Friday the 13th afternoon background music –  Friday the 13th Original Motion Picture Score by Steve Jablonsky.

As I was preparing my post for this week, I flipped my calendar and realized that this Friday is the 13th.  Ever since I was young, I’ve always been told to be cautious on Friday’s when they are on the 13th – (never knew why).  I figured, probably like you, a little trivia and history would help to clear things up.  (Oh, and by the way the fear of the number 13 is the title of this blog post above).  Thanks Wikipedia and all those who keep the superstitions going. Now in full disclosure, I happen to think Friday the 13th brings me good fortune, but that’s just me!
  1. Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year.
  2. In 2017, F13 occurred twice, on January 13 and October 13. In 2018, it will also occur today and July 13.  There will be two Friday the 13ths every year until 2020, where 2021 and 2022 will have just one occurrence, in August and May respectively.
  3. The superstition surrounding this day may have arisen in the Middle Ages, “originating from the story of Jesus’ last supper and crucifixion” in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.  While there is evidence of both Friday and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century.
  4. An early documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards’ 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th:  He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away.
  5. It is possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson’s popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, contributed to disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
  6. A suggested origin of the superstition—Friday, 13 October 1307, the date Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar—may not have been formulated until the 20th century.
  7. In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck.  The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day.  Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war (Mars in Roman mythology). The fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade occurred on Tuesday, April 13, 1204, and the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans happened on Tuesday, 29 May 1453, events that strengthen the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in Greek the name of the day is Triti (Τρίτη) meaning the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to “come in threes”.
  8.  The 2000 parody film Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth was released in Italy with the title Shriek – Hai impegni per venerdì 17? (“Shriek – Do You Have Something to Do on Friday the 17th?”).
  9. Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television show, novels, comic books, video games, and tie‑in merchandise. The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be “cursed” and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. The original film was written by Victor Miller and was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham. The films have grossed over $464 million at the box-office worldwide.
  10. Friday the 13th is considered one of the most successful media franchises in America—not only for the success of the films, but also because of the extensive merchandising and repeated references to the series in popular culture. Although the films were not popular with critics, the franchise’s popularity has generated a fan base who have created their own Friday the 13th films, fashioned replica Jason Voorhees costumes, and tattooed their bodies with Friday the 13th artwork. Jason’s hockey mask has become one of the most recognizable images in horror and popular culture.
  11. According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day, making it the most feared day and date in history. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. “It’s been estimated that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day”.
  12. In Finland, a consortium of governmental and nongovernmental organizations led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health promotes the National Accident Day to raise awareness about automotive safety, which always falls on a Friday the 13th.  The event is coordinated by the Finnish Red Cross and has been held since 1995.
  13. (Here’s one for my math/statisticians out there) … Each Gregorian 400-year cycle contains 146,097 days (with 97 leap days) or exactly 20,871 weeks. Therefore, each cycle contains the same pattern of days of the week and thus the same pattern of Fridays that are on the 13th. The 13th day of the month is slightly more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the week.  On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 days, whereas Thursday the 13th occurs only once every 213.59 days.
And, to get you through the day, here are 13 of the most common superstitions:
1. Black cats – You’re doomed to bad luck if a black cat crosses your path.
2. Mirrors – If you break a mirror, kiss 7 years of luck goodbye.
3. Ladders – They say walking under a ladder is bad luck. I say walking under a ladder is a bad decision. Nothing good can come of it.
4. Salt – If you spill salt, you’re supposed to throw it over your shoulder to avoid getting bad luck.  In my business we know the importance of salt and spilling it is bad!
5. Purses – You should never leave your purse on the floor if you want to avoid bad luck.
6. 6.66 – If a bill total $6.66 or you receive that much change you should either buy something else or leave a penny from your change to avoid bad luck
7. Umbrellas – Opening an umbrella indoors is said to bring bad luck – never on F13 Especially if I am trying to leave the room!
8. Cutting Your Hair – If you cut your hair on Friday the 13th, legend says someone in your family will die.  You can all see why I am a really lucky guy!  No problems here either!
9. Funerals – If a funeral procession passes you on Friday the 13th, you will be the next to die.
10. Babies – A child born on Friday the 13th is said to be unlucky for life.
11. Floor 13 – Many hotels and hospitals have eliminated floor 13 in their elevators to eliminate bad luck. But if you’re staying on floor 14, isn’t it really 13?
12. Cemeteries – To avoid bad luck when passing a cemetery, you’re supposed to hold your breath until you see a black or brown dog. What if there isn’t one around? You may have to hold your breath until you’re the next one to move into the cemetery.  My girls loved this game, except when I would stop the car before passing the cemetery.
12. Getting Out of Bed – To avoid bad luck, you’re supposed to get out of the same side of the bed you got into.  This only makes sense.  Jackie would not be happy if I got out on her side, especially, given the time I get up in the morning!
13. Number 13 – Many believe the number 13 is bad luck. Taylor Swift disagrees and says it’s her lucky number. Not only was she born on the 13th, she turned 13 on the 13th, her first album went gold in 13 weeks.
BONUS:  You can always spin around 7 times to break any bad luck, but you’ll have to worry about what you look like to those around you. It may be easier to carry a rabbit’s foot, four leaf clover or a buckeye in your pocket. All are said to bring good luck.

Buzzer Beater

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(top to bottom) Arike Ogunbowale takes the inbound, one bounce, puts it up, total swish at the buzzer, jubilation! 

It happened again.  This time is was a for the national college women’s basketball championship – a last minute shot when Arike Ogunbowale lofted a high, arcing jumper over Mississippi State’s Victoria Vivians. Basketball experts might call it an off-balance, half-shot leaner, (Notre Dame fans would surely call it a “prayer”), but nonetheless, the shot was perfect, this time with a tenth of a second remaining. It completed another come-from-behind run for Notre Dame that seemed unlikely, culminating with a trophy presentation at Nationwide Arena.  Last minute heroics are sprinkled throughout sports history, along with fun terms like “buzzer beater” that make up the jargon-laced pastime.  Around here at KHT, we have our own terms, like when a job is “hot” (needs to get out the door), a “batch”, (when we fill our ovens with work), and the ultimate PIA ones!  (Yes, we have our saves too!). Fortunately, my team is fantastic and we often “crush it”!  I could go on for a while but won’t. For our blog this week, I found some fun slang (see how well you know your stuff) and exciting links to You Tube game and match-ending footage.  Enjoy!

See the amazing Arike Ogunbowale shot HERE.
See two minutes of the game then the amazing Arike Ogunbowale shot HERE.

Test Your Sports Slang Knowledge

  1. Nutmeg
  2. Frozen Rope
  3. 5 Hole
  4. Sparkplug
  5. Catch a Crab
  6. Lettuce
  7. Stinger
  8. Ace
  9. Pepper
  10. Juiced
  11. Kayo
  12. Facial
  13. Pine rider
  14. Bean-ball
  15. Haymaker
  16. Six Pack
  17. Chunk
  18. Dirty Air
  19. Irons
  20. Gong Show

How many did you get?
Scroll down to see the definitions.
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KHT Sports Slang/Trivia Answers

  1. Nutmeg- A nutmeg (or tunnel, nut, megs, megnuts, panna, brooksy), is a playing technique used chiefly in association football (soccer), but also in field hockey, ice hockey, and basketball. The aim is to kick, roll, dribble, throw, or push the ball (or puck) between an opponent’s legs (feet). A nutmeg cannot be called (or counted) if the ball touches an opponent’s legs on the way through
  2. Frozen Rope- A baseball line drive, or basketball free throw, or shot from the floor with little/no arc.
  3. 5 Hole- The “five-hole” is a nickname for the space between a goaltender’s legs in ice hockey. If a player scores by shooting the puck into the goal between the goaltender’s legs, he is said to have scored “through the five-hole,” or to have “gone five-hole.” The nickname can also be used in basketball, when a player throws a bounce pass that goes through a defender’s legs. This expression comes from Canadian five pin bowling.
  4. Sparkplug- There are many things coaches and managers look for when picking the players for their respective teams. One thing often overlooked is the high energy guy – the sparkplug of the team. “Spark plugs” are people who help their team stay energized game after game, night after night.
  5. Catch a Crab- A crab is the term rowers use when the oar blade gets “caught” in the water. It is caused by a momentary flaw in oar technique – and it has happened to anyone who has ever rowed. A crab may be minor, allowing the rower to quickly recover, or it may be so forceful that the rower is ejected from the boat
  6. Lettuce – I don’t have this problem!!- Lettuce is the term used by hockey and lacrosse players to describe the look of their helmut hair, just after a game.  Debates abound between lettuce, and “flow”, the natural outcome of long hair, heavy sweat and of course, a good mullet cut.
  7. Stinger- A stinger, also called a burner or nerve pinch injury, is a neurological injury suffered by athletes, mostly in high-contact sports such as ice hockey, rugby, American football, and wrestling. The spine injury is characterized by a shooting or stinging pain that travels down one arm, followed by numbness and weakness. Many athletes in contact sports have suffered stingers, but they are often unreported to medical professionals.
  8. Ace  – My team is full of these.- A clean first serve in tennis that is not touched.  Also, a nickname for a very good player.
  9. Pepper- To pepper, two players face each other separated by a distance of 5–20 feet (2–6 meters). Distances vary based upon the players’ preference. Player 2 starts by hitting or tossing a volleyball to player 1. Player 1 then passes the ball back to player 2 starting the drill.
  10. Juiced- Often the term used to describe an athlete that has used strength or performance enhancing drugs.  Also, a slang word for when a baseball bat has been altered, to initiate more power, as in a “juiced bat”.
  11. Kayo- In Boxing: To put out of commission. From the boxing phrase “knockout” (knock unconscious), abbreviated “K.O.” and pronounced and often written as “kayo” or “kayod”.
  12. Facial- In basketball, when you slam dunk the ball so hard that the defensive player standing beneath the goal gets a ball hard in the face. Often this happens to the unfortunate 12th man that is playing during mop-up time in a blowout game.
  13. Pine rider- In most any sport, a nickname for a player who never gets to see action in a game and is sitting on the “pine” bench.
  14. Bean-ball- A Beanball is a colloquialism used in baseball, for a ball thrown at an opposing player with the intention of striking him such as to cause harm, often connoting a throw at the player’s head (or “bean” in old-fashioned slang). A pitcher who throws beanballs often is known as a “headhunter”
  15. Haymaker- A powerful forceful punch. The word usually used in boxing, or when fighting breaks out in a match/game. It is often referenced when a person/player swings with full force, twisting his waist and shoulders round before turning back unleashing a mighty blow! (it comes from how hay used to be harvested by swinging a scythe, since the punch resembles the same motion and level of power).
  16. Six Pack – Nope!- Often called “six-pack abs” (abdominal muscles). Someone who has a flat, muscular stomach is said to have a “six pack” or “six pack abs”. The next time you see a person with a flat, in shape stomach, count the firm muscles just above the belly button. You will see three muscles on one side and three on the other, thus referred to as a “six pack”
  17. Chunk – Yup!- Most often used in golf, it is when a player catches more of the ground than the ball, and “chucks” the earth, reducing distance and spin.  Players who did not hit their intended target and come up short will say, “I chunked it”.
  18. Dirty Air  – Yup!- A car racing term, clean air is the undisturbed air that flows over a car, allowing for the wings and body to get the maximum amount of downforce. Dirty air, on the other hand, is disturbed air from a car in front. This means that the amount of air coming into contact with the car following behind another car is less, which reduces downforce and impacts performance.
  19. Irons- While you might thing golf, it is also a horse racing slang term for the stirrups.
  20. Gong Show- A hockey slang term, started in Canada and in recognition of the popular TV show, when a game gets out of hand, and becomes unpredictable, as in “this game’s become a Gong Show”.

 

 

Happy Easter

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You Can Taste It

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(top row) Ruth Graves Wakefield and her cookie discovery. (row two) Find the current iteration of Ruth Wakefield’s wonderful recipe book on Amazon; Find a copy the original cookbook on Ebay; And this book celebrating Ruth’s invention of the chocolate chip cookie on Amazon. (the rest) I wonder how many thousands of kids have had their first taste (pun intended) of cooking by baking these cookies. Ahhhh, the smell that fills the house. Mmmm, the taste. Love it!!

 

Here at KHT, we’re all about recipe’s.  Mixing ingredients, fine tuning temperatures, and even experimenting to find just the right balance for your PIA (Pain in the #%$) Jobs.  We love it, and just can’t get enough “tinkering” time to make sure every single load comes out great.  The other day I had a craving that I just had to follow – to get a tasty chocolate chip cookie.  Immediately I thought of the special women in my life, and their recipes – grandma Kowalski, my amazing wife Jackie, and the girls.  Each have their own way of mixing ingredients, baking and serving chocolate chip cookies … and I love every one of them!! (especially with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge! of course). Since Jackie’s chocolate chip cookies don’t last very long in our house, I really like to snitch from the mixing bowl before they go into the oven! It made me search out the history of this incredible invention, and that took me to Ruth Wakefield some 80 years ago this year.  Enjoy, and thanks to Wikipedia and Jon Michaud from The New Yorker for the insights.  And, if you have a “family favorite”, send me the recipe to post … or better yet, a fresh box to share with the KHT gang.

 

  1. The chocolate chip cookie was invented in 1938 by the American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield. She invented the recipe during the period when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts, a popular restaurant that featured home cooking and tasty deserts.
  2. Created as an accompaniment to ice cream, her chocolate-chip cookie quickly became so celebrated that Marjorie Husted (a.k.a. Betty Crocker) featured it on her radio program. On March 20, 1939, Wakefield gave Nestlé the right to use her cookie recipe and the Toll House name – for the price of one dollar – (a dollar that Wakefield later said she never received, though she was reportedly given free chocolate for life and was also paid by Nestlé for work as a consultant).
  3. It is often incorrectly reported that she accidentally developed the cookie, and that she expected the chocolate chunks would melt, making chocolate cookies. In fact, she stated that she deliberately invented the cookie. She said, “We had been serving a thin butterscotch nut cookie with ice cream. Everybody seemed to love it, but I was trying to give them something different. So, I came up with the Toll House cookie using chopped up bits from a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar. (the original recipe is called “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies.)
  4. Wakefield’s cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was first published in 1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. The 1938 edition of the cookbook was the first to include the recipe “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie” which rapidly became a favorite cookie in American homes.
  5. During WWII, soldiers from Massachusetts who were stationed overseas shared the cookies they received in care packages from back home with soldiers from other parts of the United States. Soon, hundreds of soldiers were writing home asking their families to send them some Toll House cookies, and Wakefield was soon inundated with letters from around the world requesting her recipe. Thus began the nationwide craze for the chocolate chip cookie.
  6. In the postwar years, the chocolate-chip cookie followed the path taken by many American culinary innovations: from homemade to mass-produced, from kitchen counter to factory floor, from fresh to franchised. In the nineteen-fifties, both Nestlé and Pillsbury began selling refrigerated chocolate-chip-cookie dough in supermarkets. Nabisco, meanwhile, launched Chips Ahoy in 1963, its line of packaged cookies.
  7. The Baby Boom generation, which had been raised on the Toll House cookie, sought to recapture the original taste of these homemade treats in stores that sold fresh-baked cookies. Famous Amos, Mrs. Fields, and David’s Cookies all opened their first stores in the seventies and prospered in the eighties. By the middle of that decade, there were more than twelve hundred cookie stands in business across the country.
  8. Every bag of Nestlé chocolate chips sold in North America has a variation (butter vs. margarine is now a stated option) of her original recipe printed on the back. The original recipe was passed down as follows:
    1. 1 1/2 cups (350 mL) shortening
    2. 1 1/8 cups (265 mL) sugar
    3. 1 1/8 cups (265 mL) brown sugar
    4. 3 eggs
    5. 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 g) salt
    6. 3 1/8 cups (750 mL) of flour
    7. 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 g) hot water
    8. 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 g) baking soda
    9. 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 g) vanilla
    10. chocolate chips – 2 bars (7 oz.) Nestlé’s yellow label chocolate, semi-sweet, cut in pieces the size of a pea.
  1. Although the Nestlé’s Toll House recipe is widely known, every brand of chocolate chips, or “semi-sweet chocolate morsels” in Nestlé parlance, sold in the U.S. and Canada bears a variant of the chocolate chip cookie recipe on its packaging. Almost all baking-oriented cookbooks will contain at least one type of recipe.
  2. Practically all commercial bakeries offer their own version of the cookie in packaged baked or ready-to-bake forms. National chains sell freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in shopping malls and standalone retail locations and several businesses offer freshly baked cookies to their patrons to differentiate themselves from their competition.
  3. There is an urban legend about Neiman Marcus’ chocolate chip cookie recipe that has gathered a great deal of popularity over the years. The legend claims Newman Marcus charged a customer $250 for the recipe, rather than the $2.50 she had expected.
  4. Depending on the ratio of ingredients and mixing and cooking times, some recipes are optimized to produce a softer, chewy style cookie while others will produce a crunchy/crispy style. Regardless of ingredients, the procedure for making the cookie is fairly consistent in all recipes.
  5. The texture of a chocolate chip cookie is largely dependent on its fat composition and the type of fat used. A study done by Kansas State University showed that carbohydrate based fat-replacers were more likely to bind more water, leaving less water available to aid in the spread of the cookie while baking. This resulted in softer, more cake-like cookies with less spread.
  6. Common variations include M&M’s (a “party” cookie), chocolate-chocolate chip using a chocolate flavored dough, using white chocolate, peanut butter chips or macadamia nuts, and replacing the dough with a flavored version, such as peanut butter. Other variations include using other types of chocolate, nuts or oatmeal. There are also vegan versions with ingredient substitutions such as vegan chocolate chips, vegan margarine, and so forth.
  7. Other taste variaitons include the Chipwich, the Taste of Nature Cookie Dough Bite, and the Pookie (a pie coated with chocolate-chip-cookie dough). Perhaps none of these variations was more culinarily or culturally significant than the début, in 1984, of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream – it took them five years to find a way to mechanize the process of hand-mixing the frozen cookie dough with the ice cream, but it proved profitable. By 1991, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough replaced Heath Bar Crunch as the company’s bestselling product.
  8. If you google chocolate chip cookies or best chocolate chip cookie recipes/cookbooks, you get hundreds of choices (I suggest you try them all!) One of my favorites is The Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Book: Scrumptious Recipes & Fabled History From Toll House to Cookie Cake Pie, by Carolyn Wyman.
  9. To honor the cookie’s creation in the state, on July 9, 1997, Massachusetts designated the chocolate chip cookie as the Official State Cookie, after it was proposed by a third-grade class from Somerset, Massachusetts.
  10. Nowadays, we’d expect the inventor of such an iconic bit of Americana to publish an autobiography and make regular appearances on the Food Network, but Wakefield didn’t grandstand. She and her husband sold the restaurant, in 1967, and she passed in 1977. The original Toll House restaurant burned down spectacularly on New Year’s Eve in 1984 and the spot is now home to a Wendy’s. The authorities in Whitman required the fast-food restaurant include a small museum to Wakefield and the Toll House on its premises.

 

 

Life is like a cup of tea – it’s all in how you make it!

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Stephen O’Shannessy O’Brien McMurphy Patrick Michael O’Kowalski back again, with some fun sayings, blessings and inspirations straight out of Ireland for you to use this St. Patrick’s Day. So, pick your favorite sayings (email them to friends), get green, smile, laugh and look for your pot ‘o gold and lucky leprechauns. To our friends, families, customers, employees, vendors, partners, neighbors and loved ones – may all the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you, in this simple poem – (special thanks to irishcentral.com for all ye fun tidbits below).

 

 

 

 

Legend, Teamwork & The Impossible

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Ever set a crazy goal … and then reach it?  Ever been told “oh, that’s impossible”, then feeling larger than life when it happens?  Ever convince a small group, that even though the goal is crazy (BHAG’s as the motivation experts like to call them today), you overcome the odds, and deliver.  That drive, passion and purpose, lives everyday here at KHT –  it’s the engine behind our PIA (Pain in the @%$) Jobs solutions – digging, testing, discovering and delivering.  It’s an amazing feeling for sure.  Last week a legend passed away at the age of 88 – Sir Roger Bannister, famously known as the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier, an accomplishment, at its time, most felt was “simply impossible”.  Being a bit of a running junkie, I dug into the history books a bit, and found out some things I never knew – like the fact that two other runners were chasing the same dream and pushing Bannister to hit his goal – like the fact that Roger had a pack of runners help him during the race to set the correct pace – that prior to breaking the record, Roger finished far behind in the pack of runners in many of his previous races, was unsure of this ever happening, and even thought of not running at all that glorious day, and about a month later, another runner broke Mr. Bannister’s record time.  Special thanks to The Guardian and Wikipedia and for the info, and congratulations Roger for reminding us all that sometimes, the impossible is possible.

 

  • Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister was a British middle-distance athlete, doctor and academic who ran the first sub-4-minute mile (3 minutes 59.4 seconds) on 6 May 1954 at Iffley Road track in Oxford, with Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher providing the pacing.
  • Bannister was born in Harrow, England. He went to Vaughan Road Primary School in Harrow and continued his education at City of Bath Boys’ School and University College School, London; followed by medical school at the University of Oxford Exeter College and Merton College and at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, now part of Imperial College London.
  • Bannister started his running career at Oxford in the autumn of 1946 at the age of 17. He had never worn running spikes previously or run on a track. His training was light, even compared to the standards of the day, but he showed promise in running a mile in 1947 in 4:24.6 on only three weekly half-hour training sessions.
  • He was selected as an Olympic “possible” in 1948 but declined as he felt he was not ready to compete at that level. Inspired to become a great miler by watching the 1948 Olympics, he set his training goals on the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
  • In 1949, he improved in the 880 yards to 1:52.7 and won several mile races in 4:11. By 1950 Bannister saw more improvements as he finished a relatively slow 4:13 mile on 1 July with an impressive 57.5 last quarter. Then, he ran the AAA 880 in 1:52.1, losing to Arthur Wint, and then ran 1:50.7 for the 800 m at the European Championships on 26 August, placing third. Chastened by this lack of success, Bannister started to train harder and more seriously.
  • His increased attention to training paid quick dividends, as he won a mile race in 4:09.9. In 1951 at the Penn Relays, Bannister broke away from the pack with a 56.7 final lap, finishing in 4:08.3. In his biggest test to date, he won a mile race on July 14 in 4:07.8 at the AAA Championships at White City before 47,000 people. The time set a meet record as he defeated defending champion Bill Nankeville in the process.
  • Bannister avoided racing after the 1951 season until late in the spring of 1952, saving his energy for Helsinki and the Olympics. He ran an 880 on May 28 in 1:53.00, then a 4:10.6 mile time-trial in June, proclaiming himself satisfied with the results. At the AAA Championships, he skipped the mile and won the 880 in 1:51.5. Then, 10 days before the Olympic final, he ran a ¾ mile time trial in 2:52.9, which gave him confidence that he was ready for the Olympics as he considered the time to be the equivalent of a four-minute mile.
  • His confidence soon dissipated as it was announced there would be semifinals for the 1500 m (equal to 0.932 miles) at the Olympics, and he knew that this favored runners who had much deeper training regimens than he did. The 1500 m final would prove to be one of the more dramatic in Olympic history. The race was not decided until the final meters, with Josy Barthel of Luxembourg prevailing in an Olympic-record 3:45.28 (3:45.1 by official hand-timing) and the next seven runners all under the old record.  Bannister finished fourth, out of the medals, but set a British record of 3:46.30 in the process.
  • After his relative failure at the 1952 Olympics, Bannister spent two months deciding whether to give up running. He set himself on a new goal: to be the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. Accordingly, he intensified his training and did hard intervals, a type of training that involves a series of low- to high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or relief periods
  • On 2 May 1953, he made an attempt on the British record at Oxford. Paced by Chris Chataway, Bannister ran 4:03.6, shattering Wooderson’s 1945 standard. “This race made me realize that the four-minute mile was not out of reach,” said Bannister.
  • Other runners were making attempts at the four-minute barrier and coming close as well. American Wes Santee ran 4:02.4 in June, the fourth-fastest mile ever. And at the end of the year, Australian John Landy ran 4:02.0, and matched his time again early in 1954. Bannister had been following Landy’s and Santee’s attempts and was certain a rival would likely succeed, Bannister knew he had to make his attempt soon.
  • The historic event took place on May 6, 1954 during a meet between British AAA and Oxford University at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, watched by about 3,000 spectators. With winds up to 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) before the event, Bannister had said twice that he favored not running, to conserve his energy and efforts to break the 4-minute barrier; he would try again at another meet. However, the winds dropped just before the race was scheduled to begin, and Bannister did run.
  • The pace-setters from his major 1953 attempts, future Commonwealth Games gold medalist Chris Chataway and Olympic Games gold medalist Chris Brasher combined to provide pacing on this historic day. Bannister had begun his day at a hospital in London, where he sharpened his racing spikes and rubbed graphite on them so they would not pick up too much cinder ash. He took a mid-morning train from Paddington Station to Oxford, nervous about the rainy, windy conditions that afternoon.
  • The race went off as scheduled at 6:00 pm, and Brasher and Bannister went immediately to the lead. Brasher, wearing No. 44, led both the first lap in 58 seconds and the half-mile in 1:58, with Bannister, No. 41, tucked in behind, and Chataway a stride behind Bannister.  Chataway moved to the front after the second lap and maintained the pace with a 3:01 split at the bell. Chataway continued to lead around the front turn until Bannister began his finishing kick with about 275 yards to go, running the last lap in just under 59 seconds.  Said Bannister, “The world seemed to stand still, or did not exist. The only reality was the next 200 yards of track under my feet. The tape meant finality – extinction perhaps.  I felt at that moment that it was my chance to do one thing supremely well. I drove on, impelled by a combination of fear and pride.”
  • The stadium announcer for the race was Norris McWhirter, (who went on to co-publish and co-edit the Guinness Book of Records). He excited the crowd by delaying the announcement of the time Bannister ran as long as possible.

“Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event nine, the one mile: first, number forty one, R. G. Bannister, Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, Oxford, with a time which is a new meeting and track record, and which—subject to ratification—will be a new English Native, British National, All-Comers, European, British Empire and World Record. The time was three…” (the roar of the crowd drowned out the rest of the announcement – “minutes, 59.4 seconds.”

  • The claim that a four-minute mile was once thought to be impossible by “informed” observers was and is a widely propagated myth created by sportswriters. The reason the myth took hold was that four minutes was a round number which was slightly better (1.4 seconds) than the world record for nine years, longer than it probably otherwise would have been because of the effect of the Second World War in interrupting athletic progress in the combatant countries.
  • Just 46 days later, on 21 June in Turku, Finland, Bannister’s record was broken by his Australian rival John Landy, with a time of 3 min 57.9 s, which the IAAF ratified as 3 min 58.0 s due to the rounding rules then in effect.
  • On August 7, at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, B.C., Bannister, running for England, competed against Landy for the first time in a race billed as “The Miracle Mile”. They were the only two men in the world to have broken the 4-minute barrier, with Landy still holding the world record. Landy led for most of the race, building a lead of 10 yards in the third lap (of four), but was overtaken on the last bend, and Bannister won in 3 min 58.8 s, with Landy 0.8 s behind in 3 min 59.6 s. Bannister and Landy have both pointed out that the crucial moment of the race was that at the moment when Bannister decided to try to pass Landy, Landy looked over his left shoulder to gauge Bannister’s position and Bannister burst past him on the right, never relinquishing the lead.
  • Bannister went on that season to win the so-called metric mile, the 1500 m, at the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland, with a championship record in a time of 3 min 43.8 s. He retired from athletics late in 1954 to concentrate on his work as a junior doctor and to pursue a career in neurology.
  • Bannister later became the first Chairman of the Sports Council (now called Sport England) and was knighted for this service in 1975. Under his aegis, central and local government funding of sports centers and other sports facilities was rapidly increased.  He also initiated the first testing for use of anabolic steroids in sport.
  • Retiring from athletics, Bannister spent forty years practicing medicine. He ultimately published more than 80 papers, mostly concerned with the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular physiology, and multiple system atrophy.  Bannister married the artist Moyra Jacobsson, daughter of the Swedish economist Per Jacobsson, who served as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.  In 2011, Bannister was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and died on March 3, 2018 at the age of 88.
  • On the 50th anniversary of running the sub-4-minute mile, Bannister was interviewed by the BBC’s sports correspondent Rob Bonnet. At the conclusion of the interview, Bannister was asked whether he looked back on the sub-4-minute mile as the most important achievement of his life. To the contrary, Bannister replied essentially that he instead saw his subsequent forty years of practicing as a neurologist and some of the new procedures he introduced as being more significant.
  • For his efforts, Bannister was made the inaugural recipient of the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year award for 1954. Later runners inspired by Bannister and his achievement, included Phil Knight who says that Roger Bannister inspired him to start Nike.
  • Today, according to The IAAF, the official body which oversees the records, Hicham El Guerrouj of Moracco is the current men’s record holder of the mile with his time of 3:43.13, while Russian Svetlana Masterkova has the women’s record of 4:12.56.

 

 

 

“Yea, That’s My Country too!”

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(row one left) Francis Scott Key. (row one top right) The first sheet-music issue of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was printed by Thomas Carr’s Music store in Baltimore in 1814. (row one bottom right) The flag over Ft. McHenry (painter unknown) (row two left) 120,868,500 commemorative postage stamps were issued August 9, 1948. One of these in mint condition is worth around 60 cents today. 15 cents for a used one. (row two right) an engraving of a younger Francis Scott Key. They probably called him Frankie. (row three) The original Fort McHenry flag (15 stars and 15 stripes) measured 30 feet by 42 feet. It’s being preserved and restored in Washington, DC. (row four) Glorious isn’t it?

 

We’ve all been lucky to watch an amazing Olympic competition these past few weeks, with athletes from all over the world doing amazing things on the ice and snow.  Each one, of course, has their own story – some competing for the first time, some competing in their third of fourth Olympics (can you imagine) and others wrapping up their Olympic careers.  Consistently, every athlete talked about sacrifice, hardship and overcoming the odds, with a small few prevailing to stand on the podium, medal on chest, tears on their cheeks and hand over heart, proudly representing their county while listening to their respective national anthem.  I don’t know about you, but I feel really proud when the anthem plays, and get choked up seeing the athletes realize their accomplishments.

We all know our “official” USA anthem is the Star Spangled-Banner, but what you probably didn’t know is it took 40 attempts to get it through Congress (talk about perseverance) – tomorrow, March 3th is the anniversary of the adoption of the anthem.  For my trivia buds, here’s some interesting history and cool trivia about the great anthem we’ve all come to know as the strength and sound of the United States of America. Enjoy, and thanks Wikipedia, historian Mark Leepson and History.com for the info.

 

  1. A song is written.  By the dawn’s early light on September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key peered through a spyglass and spotted an American flag still waving over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry after a fierce night of British bombardment. In a patriotic fervor, the man called “Frank” Key by family and friends penned the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When he composed his verses, he intended them to accompany a popular song of the day. “We know he had the tune in mind because the rhyme and meter exactly fit it,” says Marc Leepson, author of the Key biography “What So Proudly We Hailed.” The first broadside of the verses, printed just days after the battle, noted that the words should be sung to the melody of “To Anacreon in Heaven.” (ironically an English song composed in 1775 that served as the theme song of the upper-crust Anacreontic Society of London and a popular pub staple).  Key was quite familiar with the tune, having used it to accompany an 1805 poem, which included a reference to a “star-spangled flag,” he had written to honor Barbary War naval heroes Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart.
  2. Key was not imprisoned on a British warship when he penned his verses.  In his capacity as a Washington, D.C., lawyer, Key had been dispatched by President James Madison on a mission to Baltimore to negotiate for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prominent surgeon captured at the Battle of Bladensburg. Accompanied by John Stuart Skinner, a fellow lawyer working for the State Department, Key set sail on an American sloop in Baltimore Harbor, and on September 7 the pair boarded the British ship Tonnant, where they dined and secured the prisoner’s release under one condition—they could not go ashore until after the British attacked Baltimore. Accompanied by British guards on September 10, Key returned to the American sloop from which he witnessed the bombardment behind the 50-ship British fleet.
  3. The flag Key “hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming” did not fly “through the perilous fight.” In addition to a thunderstorm of bombs, a torrent of rain fell on Fort McHenry throughout the night of the Battle of Baltimore. The fort’s 30-by-42-foot garrison flag was so massive that it required 11 men to hoist when dry, and if waterlogged the woolen banner could have weighed upwards of 500 pounds and snapped the flagpole. So as the rain poured down, a smaller storm flag that measured 17-by-25 feet flew in its place. In the morning, experts believe, they most likely took down the rain-soaked storm flag and hoisted the bigger one … and that’s the flag Key saw in the morning.
  4. The song was not originally entitled “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When Key scrawled his lyrics on the back of a letter he pulled from his pocket on the morning of September 14, he did not give them any title. Within a week, Key’s verses were printed on broadsides and in Baltimore newspapers under the title “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” In November, a Baltimore music store printed the patriotic song with sheet music for the first time under the more lyrical title “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
  5. The national anthem has four verses.  The version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” traditionally sung on patriotic occasions and at sporting events is only the song’s first verse. All four verses conclude with the same line: “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” In 1861, poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a fifth verse to support the Union cause in the Civil War and denounce “the traitor that dares to defile the flag of her stars.
  6. Key opposed American entry into the War of 1812.  Ironically, the man who created one of the lasting patriotic legacies of the War of 1812 adamantly opposed the conflict at its outset. Key referred to the war as “abominable” and “a lump of wickedness.” However, his opposition to the war softened after the British began to raid nearby Chesapeake Bay communities in 1813 and 1814, and he briefly served in a Georgetown wartime militia.
  7. Key was a consummate Washington insider.  Although Key loathed politics, he was a prominent figure in Washington, D.C. –  an important player in the early republic, He was a very successful and influential lawyer at the highest levels in Washington.  Key ran a thriving law practice, served as a trusted advisor in Andrew Jackson’s “Kitchen Cabinet” and was appointed a United States Attorney in 1833. He prosecuted hundreds of cases, including that of Richard Lawrence for the attempted assassination of Court.
  8. Key was a one-hit wonder who might have been tone deaf.  Key was much more adept in his legal day job than he was as an amateur poet. Most of the odes he composed were never meant to be seen beyond family and friends, and none came remotely close to realizing the popular fame of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In addition to being a middling poet, Key also had a hard time carrying a tune. “Key’s family said he was not musical,” Leepson says, “which means he likely was tone deaf.”
  9. It did not become the national anthem until more than a century after it was written. Along with “Hail Columbia” and “Yankee Doodle,” “The Star-Spangled Banner” was among the prevalent patriotic airs in the aftermath of the War of 1812. During the Civil War, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was an anthem for Union troops, and the song increased in popularity in the ensuing decades, which led to President Woodrow Wilson signing an executive order in 1916 designating it as “the national anthem of the United States” for all military ceremonies.
  10. Song becomes national anthem.  On March 3, 1931, after 40 previous attempts failed, a measure passed Congress and was signed into law that formally designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem of the United States.
  11. The flag restored and on display.  Nearly two centuries later, the flag that inspired Key still survives, though fragile and worn by the years. Experts at the National Museum of American History completed an eight-year conservation treatment with funds from Polo Ralph Lauren, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the U.S. Congress.  With the construction of the conservation lab completed in 1999, conservators clipped 1.7 million stitches from the flag to remove a linen backing that had been added in 1914, lifted debris from the flag using dry cosmetic sponges and brushed it with an acetone-water mixture to remove soils embedded in fibers. Finally, they added a sheer polyester backing to help support the flag.  Said Brent D. Glass, the Museum’s Director – “The Star-Spangled Banner is a symbol of American history that ranks with the Statue of Liberty and the Charters of Freedom,” “The fact that it has been entrusted to the National Museum of American History is an honor.”

 

 

 

 

“Road Trip”

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(row one left) When the Indian’s trucks roll out, spring training is right around the corner. (row one top right) Cleveland Indians fan Jon Brittan looks on before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Goodyear Ballpark Mar 19, 2017. (row one bottom right) Kids along the foul line try to snag a grounder. (row two) Goodyear Ballpark’s 1 Millionth Fan, Jean Wilson. Excited much? (row three) Getting autographs is a huge part of the game. (row four) I just had to share these: The little t-baller is just so darn cute! And the little dude on the right, Christian Haupt was the youngest person to ever throw a first pitch at a Major League Baseball game a few days after his 4th birthday. See his throw HERE. (It’s near the end of the video if you want to zoom to it). (row five) Play ball, baby! Can’t wait for opening day!

 

As the ice starts to shift on the lake, and we hit some warm days in NE Ohio, I love to reconnect with one of my favorites – spring training.  Like all athletes, it’s a time when I harken back to pre-season workouts, long runs, weight training and working on fundamentals.  As a business owner, I like to review our “basics” – those things that’s made us successful for so many years – making sure we’re ready for your “routine grounders” and “pop ups” – responding promptly to inquiries, making deliveries on time, and just consistently solving your pesky PIA (Pain in the @%$) Jobs.  I like to open the doors, let in the fresh air, and spend some time with each of the crew, finding those little things we can work on to serve you better.  While not the consistent warmth of Florida or Arizona, it does give us time to train and prep for the upcoming season.  For those who have the time, jump on a flight, or in the car, and hit some spring training camps – fun relaxed, and you never know where the next Babe will emerge.  Thanks Wikipedia for the trivia.

 

  1. In Major League Baseball (MLB), spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing players practice time prior to competitive play.
  2. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warmer climates to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play, and spring training usually coincides with spring break for many US college students.
  3. Spring training typically starts in mid-February and continues until just before Opening Day of the regular season, traditionally the first week of April. In some years, teams not scheduled to play on Opening Day will play spring training games that day. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training first because pitchers benefit from a longer training period. A few days later, position players arrive and team practice begins.
  4. Spring training by major league teams in sites other than their regular season game sites first became popular in the 1890s and by 1910 was in wide use. Hot Springs, Arkansas has been called the original “birthplace” of Spring Training baseball. The location of Hot Springs and the concept of getting the players ready for the upcoming season was the brainchild of Chicago White Stockings (today’s Chicago Cubs) team President Albert Spalding and Cap Anson. In 1886, the White Stockings traveled to Hot Springs to prepare for the upcoming season. Practicing at the Hot Springs Baseball Grounds, the White Stockings had a successful season and other teams took notice and began holding spring training in Hot Springs.
  5. The Cleveland Spiders, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Red Sox followed the White Stockings to Hot Springs. Whittington Park/Ban Johnson Park (1894), Majestic Park (1909) and Fogel Field (1912) were all built in Hot Springs to host Major League teams.
  6. Famously, a young pitcher named Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox was playing an emergency game at first base on St. Patrick’s Day, 1918, his first time playing the field. Ruth would hit two home runs that day in Hot Springs, and the second was a 573-foot shot that landed across the street from Whittington Park in a pond of the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo. Soon he was playing the field more often.
  7. Over 130 Major League Baseball Hall of Famers, including such names as Ruth, Cy Young, Cap Anson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx were involved in Hot Springs Spring Training games.
  8. The Detroit Tigers are credited with being the first team to conduct spring training camp in Arizona. They trained in Phoenix at Riverside Park at Central Avenue and the Salt River in 1929.
  9. The Philadelphia Phillies were the first of the current major-league teams to train in Florida, when they spent two weeks in Jacksonville, Florida in 1889. Spring training in Florida began in earnest in 1913, when the Chicago Cubs played in Tampa, and the Cleveland Indians in Pensacola. One year later, two other teams moved to Florida for spring training, the real start of the Grapefruit League.
  10. Except for a couple of years during World War II, when travel restrictions prevented teams training south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, Florida hosted more than half of the spring training teams through 2009. Since 2010, major league teams have been equally divided during spring training, with 15 teams in Florida and 15 teams in Arizona.
  11. According to the autobiography of former Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck, the avoidance of racism was one reason the Cactus League was established. In 1947, Veeck was the owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers and the team trained in Ocala, Florida. Veeck inadvertently sat in the Black section of the segregated stands and engaged in conversation with a couple of fans. According to Veeck’s book, the local law enforcement told Veeck he could not sit in that section, and then called the Ocala mayor when Veeck argued back. The mayor finally backed down when Veeck threatened to take his team elsewhere for spring training and promised to let the country know why.
  12. The Brooklyn Dodgers trained in Havana, Cuba in 1947 and 1949, and in the Dominican Republic in 1948. The New York Yankees also trained in the early 1950s in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Spring training camps and games were also held in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and various cities of northern Mexico, sometimes by visiting major league teams in the 1950s and 1960s.
  13. During World War II, most teams held an abbreviated spring training within easy reach of their cities. In order to conserve rail transport during the war, 1943’s Spring Training was limited to an area east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River. The Chicago White Sox held camp in French Lick, Indiana; the Washington Senators in College Park, Maryland; and the New York Yankees in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
  14. Before and shortly after big league baseball reached the West Coast, a number of teams trained in the state of California or along the state boundary. The Chicago Cubs trained on Catalina Island in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s. For example, early in their history, the then-California Angels held spring training in Palm Springs, California from 1961 to 1993, the San Diego Padres in Yuma, Arizona from 1969 to 1993, the Oakland Athletics in Las Vegas in the 1970s, and various major league teams had trained in Riverside, San Bernardino, and El Centro near the Mexican border.
  15. The concept of spring training is not limited to North America; the Japanese professional baseball leagues’ teams adopted spring training and preseason game sites across East Asia such as South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan; the Pacific Islands (most notably in Hawaii); and two cities in the United States: Salinas, California and Yuma, Arizona on the Mexican border.

Grapefruit League – Florida

 

Cactus League – Arizona

 

 

 

WOW

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(top) Wow!!! (row two left) Elon Musk and his son watch the lift-off (row three left) “Starman” floating in space. (row three right) A tweet by Jon Fusco makes the point: “Tesla playing Bowie (2018)” and Bowie playing Tesla (2006). David Bowie actually played Nikola Tesla in the Christopher Nolan film “The Prestige”. (row four) Check out the screen on the Tesla dashboard. (bottom) These booster rockets dropped of the main rocket and landed upright…at the same time. Wow!!!!

 

Every once in a while, events happen that just take my breath away.  Last week, as you probably read, Elon Musk’s Space X vehicle had a successful launch.  I was intrigued, not just as a curiosity seeker, but also as a business owner.  Think about it – here’s a guy, Elon Musk, who decided he wanted to go to Mars.  He creates a company, recruits an incredible team, overcomes ridiculous odds, and then includes things never before tried, like landing the rocket boosters safely back on earth, and landing the rocket booster safely on a floating drone ship in the middle of the ocean … really.  So, on behalf of all of us business owners, dreamers, daily masters of PIA (Pain in the @%$) Jobs!, employers, and Americans, I salute you, your staff, your vision and passion to make this happen.  Take the time today to watch the launch (and re-entry) of the vehicle parts, and then watch the footage of Elon’s reaction, and then enjoy the Tesla Starman views … WOW !!

 

Launch and side booster landings:

 

Elon Musk Emotional Reaction To Falcon Heavy Launch and Interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK6FSK98asc

 

“Starman” – in space:

 

 

And… Check out these “14 things you might not know about the SpaceX rocket launch” from c|net —> HERE