friday fun fact: chicken noodle soup

in our household

we’ve all been a little under the weather

well except for the little one

she has found herself under the tree 

digging for presents

so last night i made chicken noodle soup

i heard a rumor

that chicken noodle soup could actually cure a cold

so

i did some very laxed research

and found this article

from

{the ny times}

it’s true

well at least according to the university of nebraska study

people do feel better after chicken noodle soup

remember this

the next time you are feeling a little under the weather

and

make some chicken noodle soup

(even the canned soup was effective!)

friday fun fact:masks of Carnevale di Venezia

tomorrow 

i am 

going to venice

for carnevale!

this is my birthday gift to myself

i am so excited

in honor of

carnevale

and

friday fun fact

i decided 

to dedicate 

this friday

to the masks

of 

carnevale

i found 

a few different types of masks

via 

google and wikipedia

first 

the bauta

it is a full faced mask

and 

historically was used

during political events

when citizens

were suppose to be

anonymous 

like voting

a prettier bauta

the second mask i found

is

moretta

the moretta

is an oval mask of black velvet

worn by women 

when they visit convents

the french invented the mask

and the italians

made it look more feminine 

i like the italian spin on it!

and finally

the 

columbina mask

my favorite!

 tomorrow

i will spend a day

amid a millions of masked people

and 

as creepy as it sounds

i will be loving every minute of it!

information for this blog 

was pieced together from 

{here} & {here}

friday fun fact...i am not a cook

i tend to neglect 

friday fun fact

and i sincerely apologize to friday for this

so 

today

we are honoring friday

fact:

 i am not a cook

i do not pretend to be

i can follow a recipe

most of the time

and 

typically 

the dish, dessert, whatever

comes out

looking 

somewhat like the picture

today 

i found a recipe for healthy cupcakes

in this shape magazine

now doesn't that look delicious!

and it's only 186 calories

it was perfect 

i love cupcakes

i try to be healthy

so i 

attempted to make this recipe

the cupcakes turned out

perfect

it's hard to believe folks

but those are somewhat healthy!

the icing

oh the icing....

that didn't turn out like the picture

i could never get 

a 

"firm tip"

as describe by the recipe

in fact

i couldn't get 

the icing to look like anything

but sugar water

so

i thought

what would julie childs do?

drink more wine!

small problem: my bottle is empty.

i reflected on other

cooking greats

like paula dean

and the pioneer woman

so i added more butter

and more sugar

and 

just because i had it

why not some

i figure i like whip cream

why not?!?

and 

by now

the icing was looking like

a sugary soup

so i thought

"what can i add to make it thicker"

and i came up with

cocoa!!

by now

it was starting to thicken up

so 

i tasted it

"bleh!"

it was way too sweet

i was lost

imagine it

if you can

i am standing in my italian kitchen

which is nothing like an american kitchen

it's tiny folks with no counter space

covered in cocoa

and flour

i should probably invest in an apron

i have some amazing looking cupcakes

and 

a bowl of brown sweet thicken soup

i thought

what next?

i can leave the cupcakes unfrosted

but frankly 

that is sinful!

cupcakes deserve to be frosted

i needed something to 

take the sweet out

and there it was in my cabinet

sitting 

unused

begging me

"to just try it"

i mean at this point 

i have nothing to lose

so i did

i added a little peanut butter cookie mix

tasted

it seemed to be working

i added a little more

tasted

and 

"wow! this was good!"

my icing concoction

still needed

to 

"sit up"

this was my unprofessional observation

i put it in 

our tiny italian refrigerator

and waited

thirty minutes later

ta-da!

peanut butter chocolate icing

on top of healthy chocolate cupcakes

the icing totally negates the healthiness of the cupcake

and 

they were

good!

kenneth has already ate four.

on this friday

let it be known

i am not a cook

my track record speaks for me on that

i mean 

i admit to having 

instant cookie mix in my kitchen cabinet!

but today

i had a small victory in the kitchen!

happy friday ya'll!

friday fun fact: italian lesson uno (pronounced ooooon)

its been awhile since we've had

a

friday fun fact

too long if you ask me

maybe not long enough if i'm asking you!

today's friday fun fact

is a brief italian

lesson

while studying the language

because i hope in four years 

i will be able to say i'm fluent

i have learned 

the shortest

italian word

 that contains 

all vowels 

and only vowels

is...

aiuole

pronounced i-u-o-lay

so what does it mean?

flower beds!

which i love by the way!

i found this picture by googling images of flower beds. 

isn't it gorgeous!

so today as

the sun shines in oklahoma

 and its a day you wish it was spring

yes, i check the weather in oklahoma

and 

the sun is shining in aviano

it's quite a bit cooler here than oklahoma

what better way to wish for spring

than to 

dream about

aiuole

happy friday 

ya'll!

friday fun facts: christmas tidbits

merry christmas everyone!

in honor of christmas 

this edition of friday fun facts

will center around 

fun christmas facts!

fact 1:

according to the 

national christmas tree association

the most popular live christmas tree is 

the

fraser fir

according to the website

this tree has 

excellent needle retention

and requires minimal water

both good selling points for live trees

i think this tree is absolutely beautiful!

fact 2:

"it's a wonderful life" is the most televised

christmas movie

and i must say it is one of my favorite

fact 3:

because i am from oklahoma

because everyone enjoys a good kiss

the mistletoe 

is oklahoma's state floral emblem

now go find some mistletoe

snuggle up with someone you love

and enjoy this christmas eve

friday fun fact: the oldest....

in honor of kenneth's birthday this weekend 

i am dedicating this friday fun fact editon to him

 because he is another year older 

i felt it was only appropriate to reflect on some of the 

oldest 

items,people,etc on record

meet Ms Jeanne Clamet

 she was born 21 feb 1875 in France

 she passed away 4 august 1997 at the ripe age of 122 years and 164 days old

 this making her the oldest person ever to live

the oldest living tree is the Christmas tree found in Sweden. 

it stands 13 feet tall

and has a root system that is 9550 years old!

{national geographic} has a wonderful piece on her

according to guinesss book of records

the oldest dog 

 was bluey 

who hailed from Australia 

he was a cattle dog and lived to be 29 years and 5 months.

 he was put to sleep November 14, 1939

quick math: 29 years is 203 human years

and finally

the oldest male stripper 

was Bernard Barker

he began stripping at the age of 60

dying at the age of 66 from cancer

see honey,

 there is hope for you to have a second career after the military!

happy friday ya'll!

happy birthday weekend to my hubby

may i live one day less than you

so i never know a day without you!

thank you to {Guinness World Records}

and

{National Geographic}

for providing images and information

friday fun fact: cold wet noses

we made it to another friday!

woo-hoo!!!

time for your friday fun fact

i am a dog lover

most know this about me and don't consider it a friday fun fact at all!

as a dog lover

i am accustomed to being woke up by a cold wet nose in my face

this happens to be admiral's nose

i love the coloring!

most people know that a cold wet nose

typically indicates a healthy dog

unless it's a runny nose that is no bueno!

i read the following

tale about why a dogs nose 

is wet and cold

and thought i'd {share}

click on the link above to see the original website

***

According to legend, 

God bestowed cold,

 wet noses on dogs 

for saving Noah's Ark from sinking. 

As the story goes, 

a dog was on patrol 

when he discovered water pouring through a hole in the hull. 

The quick-witted dog stuck his nose in the small hole to keep water from flooding in.

The second dog ran off to alert Noah, 

who quickly repaired the hole. 

had to include this picture of maik 'running to save the day'

The dogs saved the day. 

For their actions, 

God made a cold, wet nose 

the symbol of good health for a dog.

and that is why 

dog's have cold wet noses

cold wet noses make it easy to fall in love with these four pawed creatures 

even when they do wake you at 5 am on a saturday morning

i love this picture by the way......

friday fun fact

dr. seuss's "green eggs and ham"

was the first book i ever read

there is your friday fun fact!

***

now come on, 

i would not make your friday fun fact as simple as that

there is something else special about "green eggs and ham"

it only uses 50 words!!!

no joke!

count them.

i dare you.

dr. seuss was challenged by his editor 

Bennett Serf

to write a book using fewer words than the 225 he used in 

"cat in the hat"

and by george!

dr. seuss did just that.

the fifty words are:

a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would and you.

happy friday everyone!

now go read a book!