"Queens of Egypt," National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C. March 1 to Sept. 2, 2019  The inspiration behind the exhibition was Kara Cooney’s, Professor of Egyptology at the University of California in Los Angeles, recently published book “When Women Ruled”.  In her book, she examines six of Egypt’s queens and the different ways each used to rule the land of the Pyramids.  These female rulers were Merneith, Neferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret, and Cleopatra.  In that chapter of Egypt’s history, ancient Egyptian women had the right to inherit and bequeath private property; some of them were even elevated to the status of Pharaoh such as Hatshepsut.  This is definitely proof that ancient Egyptian society respected women and their rights.  Often, women were tapped to rule on behalf of young princes who were still inexperienced to make their own decisions.  “Their steady hands could guide the nation as a way to transition power without shaking up the status quo of the patriarchy,” Cooney stated in an article she wrote for National Geographic.  https://scoopempire.com/queens-of-egypt-the-national-geographic-exhibition-honoring-pharaonic-female-rulers/  See also https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2018/12/queens-egypt-pharaohs-nefertiti-cleopatra-book-talk/

Meet the Queens of Egypt:  The Divine One, Ahmose-Nefertari (1639-1514 B.C.); The Pharaoh, Hatshepsut (1479-1425 B.C.); The Diplomat, Tiye (1390-1349 B.C.); The Beautiful One, Nefertiti (1353-1332 B.C.); The Beloved One, Nefertari (1279-1255 B.C.); The Last Queen, Cleopatra VII (51-30 B.C.)  Meet the Major Goddesses:  Bastet, Goddess of Domestic Joy; Hathor, Goddess of Motherhood; Mut, Queen of the Gods; Sekhmet, Goddess of Battle; Isis, Goddess of Magic; Taweret, Goddess of Pregnancy; Maat, Goddess of Truth  Source:  Queens of Egypt Exhibition Guidebook

It’s a pity that balderdash should come of unknown stock, but we really don’t have a clear idea where it comes from.  Some argue its origin lies in the Welsh baldorddus, idle noisy talk or chatter (though that is pronounced very differently), while others point to related words in Dutch, Icelandic and Norwegian, such as the Dutch balderen, to roar or thunder.  It appears around the time of Shakespeare with the meaning of froth or frothy liquid, or a jumbled mixture of liquids, such as milk and beer, or beer and wine.  Only in the latter part of the seventeenth century did it move towards its modern meaning, through the idea of speech or writing that is a senseless jumble, hence nonsense or trash.  It has also been used as a verb, meaning to make a jumbled mixture of ingredients or, in plain English, to adulterate.  http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-bal1.htm

Fullers Cakes can be traced to 1889 when a party of Americans exhibited in the UK.  One of these exhibitors was William Bruce Fuller who demonstrated his Fudge, Peppermint Lumps and Walnut Cake.  Having seemingly received a favourable response from the public he decided to stay and opened a shop in Oxford Street where he sold a variety of cakes and confection.  By the 1950s Fuller's had eighty-two shops where customers could order cakes, Easter eggs or a special box of chocolates.  In 1955 they bought Callard Stewart & Watt Ltd with a factory in Southfields and three large restaurants in London.  In 1959 they acquired Clifton's Chocolates of Manchester who also had eleven retail shops in the Lancashire area. In the same year the Fuller's company was acquired by the Forte Group who in 1961 also bought Joseph Terry & Sons Ltd of York.  In 1964 Forte sold the valuable Hammersmith factory and transferred the chocolate and confectionery business to York and in the same year acquired the firm of C. Kunzle Ltd and transferred Fuller's baking interests to the Kunzle factory in Birmingham thus enabling them to sell the valuable Hammersmith site.  The combined operation then became known as Fuller-Kunzle Ltd. In 1968 the baking interests of Fuller-Kunzle (restaurants went elsewhere) was taken over by Scribbans-Kemp Ltd but by the end of 1968, Lyons had acquired all these baking interests (Scribbans Fullers Kunzle) including the Oliver & Gurden bakery which Scribbans owned in Oxford.  By the autumn of 1973 it was decided to change the name of Oliver & Gurden to Fullers Cakes Ltd, after market research found more consumers were familiar with that name and associated it with being 'good value', 'high quality' and 'suitable for special occasions'.  https://www.kzwp.com/lyons2/fullers.htm

If I had to pick one cake to represent England's carefree youth of the 20s and 30s, I'd have to choose a Fuller's Walnut Cake.  It's mentioned in both Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate.  That's a good enough pedigree for me!  Turns out the original Fuller's Walnut Cake was two layers with buttercream between them, but the recipe I found was for a single layer cake.  L.H. Collado  Find pictures and simple recipe at http://www.thepastonaplate.com/2012/12/a-cake-for-bright-young-things.html

Snow peas are also known as Chinese pea pods since they are often used in stir-fries. They are flat with very small peas inside; the whole pod is edible, although the tough “strings” along the edges are usually removed before eating.  Snow peas are mildly flavored and can be served raw or cooked.  Garden peas are also sometimes called sweet peas or English peas.  The pods are firm and rounded, and the round peas inside need to removed, or shelled, before eating (the pods are discarded).  The peas are sweet and may be eaten raw or cooked.  Snap peas are also known as sugar snap peas, and are a cross between snow peas and garden peas.  The whole pod is eaten and has a crunchy texture and very sweet flavor.  Snap peas may be eaten raw or cooked.  Find pictures and link to recipes at https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-snow-peas-sugar-snap-peas-and-english-peas-ingredient-intelligence-205118

Green beans (a.k.a. string beans or snap beans) are long and rounded and green.  Yellow versions are known as wax beans and purple varieties are also to be had.  Haricots Verts (a.k.a. French green beans or filet beans) are very thin.  They are usually green, but yellow varieties are out there, too.  Long beans,  sometimes called yard-long beans are, in fact, a completely different family of plant from green beans.   Romano beans (a.k.a. Italian green beans or flat beans) are flat and wide and flavorful.  https://www.thespruceeats.com/types-of-green-beans-4047242

pell-mell  in disorderly confusion; with reckless haste.  There are various early uses of pell-mell, which have slightly different meanings.  The general sense though is of people charging about 'like chickens with their heads cut off'.  See also helter-skelter.  Sir Thomas North, in his 1579 translation of Plutarch's Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes, used the term to mean 'in disordered confusion':  "He entred amongest them that fled into their Campe pelmel, or hand overheade."  The first record we have of the term being used with our currently accepted spelling is in Shakespeare's Richard III, 1594:  "March on, ioine brauelie, let vs to it pell mell, If not to heauen then hand in hand to hell."  The expression is derived directly from the French pêle-mêle, which has the same meaning as the English variant.  This was an adaptation of the Old French pel et melle (melle means mix; pel may derive from the Old French pesle, meaning to run or bolt).  There is a possible association between pell-mell and Pall Mall, which is best-known now as the name of a street in central London which runs between St James's Street and Haymarket--previously a small alleyway.  That name was coined from the name of the game pall mall (a game played with a ring and mallet), which was played in the alley.  On the face of it pell-mell and Pall Mall are derived separately and are unrelated.  There are early records though, from Samuel Pepys and others, of both the game and the alley being called pell mell.  Whether the game was disorderly and confused and the name was coined from that is speculative.  It may be that the similarity between the two is merely coincidence, backed up by indifferent spelling.  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pell-mell.html

The recipients of the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes—the highest awards for excellence in achievements in journalism, literature, and musical composition—were announced by Dana Canedy, the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, on April 15, 2019 at the Columbia University  Journalism School.  Aretha Franklin, who passed away in August 2018, was awarded a special posthumous citation for her contribution to American music and culture at the 103rd Pulitzers.  See list at https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2019/04/16/103rd-pulitzer-prizes-award-spectator-alum-commend-student-journalism/

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY  The cure for anything is salt water--sweat, tears, or the sea. - Isak Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen), author (17 Apr 1885-1962)

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2082  April 17, 2019