Monday, December 10, 2018


A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words.  Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.  There are three forms for compound nouns:  open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe); hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack); closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (bedroom).

"Life can bore or it can be amusing."  words from the Hungarian song Merry Hours

Juniper berries recipes  The spicy, aromatic, dark berries of the juniper tree can be used fresh or dried, crushed or whole, to flavour casseroles, marinades and stuffings and complement pork, rabbit, venison, beef and duck.  They can also be used in sweet dishes such as fruitcake.  Link to recipes at https://www.bbc.com/food/juniper_berries

Sorghum, a cereal grain, looks like a smaller version of corn, but instead of producing ears, the seeds of the plant are harvested.  There are two food-grade sorghums grown:  milo and sweet.  Milo produces the edible seed while the sweet sorghum is used in producing the molasses-like sweetener.  Whole sorghum is a perfect gluten-free substitution for all those chewy wheat grains.  It works well as a base for grain bowls, tossed in salads, or used in soups and stews.  Sorghum can also be cracked and used as porridge, or in a risotto-like dish.  It can even be popped like corn.  Sorghum, whether the whole grain or flour, is best stored in airtight containers in a cool place.  Whole sorghum can be stored up to a year in the freezer or 6 months in the pantry.  Sorghum flour is best stored in the freezer and will last up to 6 months.   HOW TO COOK SORGHUM  Combine sorghum and water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let cook until sorghum is tender, 40 to 55 minutes.  Sorghum should be chewy, but not tough.  Drain off any remaining liquid and serve.  Add more water as needed to achieve the right texture.  https://naturallyella.com/pantry/grains/sorghum/

Sherwood Anderson Library (The Sherwood Anderson Literary Center, c/o The Lorain County Historical Society, 509 Washington Ave., Elyria, OH 44035.)  Windy McPherson's Son (1916) is Sherwood Anderson's first and most autobiographical novel and the only one set in Illinois.  Mid-American Chants (1918) is Sherwood Anderson's first and only book of poems.  Winesburg, Ohio (1919) gave birth to the American story cycle, for which William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and later writers were forever indebted.  In addition to book descriptions, link to online resources, FAQs about Sherwood Anderson and Winesburg, Ohio, and a brief biography at http://www.sherwoodanderson.net/library  See also All Roads Lead to 'Winesburg, Ohio' by Porter Shreve at https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-xpm-2014-03-07-chi-sherwood-anderson-20140307-story.html

Abby the Spoon Lady (born October 29, 1981 in Wichita, Kansas), born Abby Roach, is an American musician, radio personality, and free speech activist.  Her music focuses on the American roots genre.  She tours with one man band Chris Rodrigues.  Abby first started street performing and busking as a means to make money traveling across the United States, primarily hopping freight trains.  She taught herself to play the spoons and traveled all over the United States by hitchhiking and railroad.  She states that landing in Asheville, North Carolina, was completely an accident and that she took the wrong train. Today she hosts storytelling events where she discusses the lifestyle of the American hobo.  She spent a good amount of her time traveling recording the stories, interviews and songs of other American travelers.  In 2014 she was instrumental in developing a group called the Asheville Buskers Collective which advocates for street performance within the city of Asheville, North Carolina.  Today she records buskers through a project called Busker Broadcast, and records interviews and songs of travelers passing through Asheville.  In 2012 she was filmed in the horror film Jug Face playing spoons, and in 2015 she was filmed for Buskin' Blues, a documentary about the street performance scene in Asheville.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_the_Spoon_Lady

Angels in Heaven - Chris Rodrigues & the Spoon Lady    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nLmM9kcBKs  4:15

William Taylor Adams, better known by his pen name "Oliver Optic," was born in Medway, Massachusetts, July 30, 1822.  His father, Laban Adams, was at that time the proprietor of a tavern in Boston, but in 18 38 he moved to a farm in West Roxbury.  William received his schooling first in Boston and later obtained what he could while doing farm work.  He then traveled for a year in the South and upon his return assisted his father in the management of the "Adams House," built on the site of the former tavern.  After a short time, however, he obtained the principalship of the grammar school at Dorchester, at that time a village but now a suburb of Boston, and while there was married, in 1846, to Sarah Jenkins, by whom he had two daughters.  He continued to teach in various Boston schools for twenty years, and at the same time wrote many short stories and books.  In 1865 he resigned to devote his entire time to literature, although he retained his interest in the public schools.  He was a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature for one year but declined a renomination.  He died March 27, 1897, at his home in Dorchester.  His first book was written in 1853 under the pen name "Warren T. Ashton."  It was called "Hatchie, the Guardian Slave; or, The Heiress of Bellevue.  A Tale of the Mississippi and the South-West," and for it he received $37.50[!] from a Boston publisher.  Most of his short stories and books were written for boys.  His style was so pleasing, his plots so interesting, and the action so lively, that he was very successful and had a very large following of youthful readers.  He had the ability of writing stories that were so natural and everyday in their setting that his boy readers unconsciously became in imagination the heroes themselves.  Adams' style is, in some cases, rather careless, but he was a natural story teller, and while his heroes performed wonders, the action was at least possible if not probable.  All in all, Adams wrote perhaps a thousand short stories and over 125 books.  Having a reading knowledge of German, Italian, Spanish, and French, and having traveled some twenty times to Europe as well as to the Mediterranean coasts of Africa and Asia, he had firsthand information available for his stories.  He always carefully outlined his plots before beginning to write, then filled in the details from the voluminous notes which he had made on his travels or which he had entered in his note books from many sources.  Five hours of writing was his regular day's work.  He was one of the best-paid authors of his time.  For two stories in 1873 the Fireside Companion paid him $5,000.   Besides writing short stories and novels, he also was successively editor of Student and Schoolmate, Our Little Ones, and Oliver Optic's Magazine (Our Boys and Girls), and in these magazines many of his stories, which were later issued in book form, first appeared.  The pen name "Oliver Optic" was first used in 1851.  It was taken from the principal character, "Doctor Optic," in a burlesque being played in Boston at that time.  The name Oliver was added for euphony.  In a few cases it was written "Oliver Optic, M.D."  Besides "Oliver Optic" and "Warren T. Ashton," he also used the names "Irving Brown," "Clingham Hunter, M.D." "Gale Winterton," "Brooks McCormick," and "Old Stager."  The only story that I have found under his own name was a short story, "The Whaleman's Daughter; or, The Mysterious Pilot," which appeared in the Yankee Privateer, volume VI, September 19, 1857.  Albert Johannsen    https://www.ulib.niu.edu/badndp/adams_william_t.html  See also Books by Oliver Optic at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/260

Roasted Baby Eggplant by Katie Goldsmith  I was never a big fan of eggplant.  I don’t like the meaty texture of most dishes, or the slippery consistency of over-blended American baba ganoush.  Then I came across Japanese eggplant, baby eggplant, ‘Orient Express’ eggplant . . . who knew?!  Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 40 minutes  See recipe at https://www.furtherfood.com/recipe/roasted-baby-eggplant/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  December 10, 2018  Issue 2001  344th day of the year 

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