Fanchon, the Cricket is a 1915 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players Film Company and distributed by Paramount Pictures.  It is based on a novel, La Petite Fadette by George Sand.  It was directed by James Kirkwood and stars Mary Pickford, now working for Adolph Zukor and Daniel Frohman.  A previous film version of the story was released in 1912 by IMP (later Universal) and directed by Herbert Brenon.  Fanchon, the Cricket is the only film to feature all three Pickford siblings:  Mary (in the lead role), Lottie, and Jack Pickford.  Milton Berle, Fred, and Adele Astaire are also listed among the cast.  Astaire biographer Tim Satchell maintains that the film is the only one to feature the dancing duo of Fred and Adele Astaire.  Fred Astaire later said he had no recollection of working on the film.  All three roles have yet to be positively confirmed.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanchon_the_Cricket 

Caldo de piedra is deceptively humble.  Located a few miles outside Oaxaca City, the small, thatched-roof restaurant is named after its specialty, stone soup.  Before it’s cooked, even the soup itself might not look like much.  But when the chef plucks the glowing rock from the fire and drops it into a broth swimming with ingredients, the bubbling medley brings an ancient culinary art to life.  Caldo de piedra is a staple among northern Oaxaca’s indigenous Chinantec community, especially in the small town of San Felipe Usila.  After catching fish and shrimp from the Papaloapan River, men traditionally cook the soup right on the riverbank.  Seasoning the broth and protein with tomatoes, onions, lime, cilantro, chiles, and epazote, they add a fire-heated rock that flash-cooks the medley until the fish is tender.  In Chinantec villages, the process of fishing, fire-building, and cooking is a community affair dating back centuries, before the arrival of Spanish conquerors.  Although water quality in the area has led some locals to buy their fish at the store instead of the river, the tradition endures.  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/caldo-de-piedra

Stucky (also Steve/Bucky or Bucky/Steve) is a term used to denote the pairing of Steve Rogers (Captain America) and James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes (the Winter Soldier), fictional characters appearing in comic books and related media produced by Marvel Comics.  In accordance with shipping naming conventions, Stucky is a portmanteau of "Steve" and "Bucky".  Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), which establishes Rogers as Captain America and Barnes as his teenaged sidekick.  Barnes would be killed in 1948 and would not re-appear until Captain America (vol. 5) in 2005, where the character is brought back from his previous apparent death as the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed assassin.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucky_(fandom) 

Pasta puttanesca might have a slightly scandalous history, but we love it all the same.  With an extremely fragrant sauce, this pasta is to die for.  Bursting with flavor and so easy to prepare, you'll be craving this pasta every week.  Serve it with the best garlic bread ever and call it a day.  Makinze Gore   Find recipe at  https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a26092759/pasta-puttanesca-recipe/ 

When we start a new job we’re told to learn the ropes.  That expression comes from the days of sail when a new recruit was expected to learn the name, function and position of each and every one of them.  A sailing ship is likely to have at least a hundred ropes, secured to specific cleats and belaying pins.  If a sailor is to be of any use he needs to learn them.  Learning the lines is an expression used in the theatre for actors learning their parts and, presumably, for yachtsmen to learn their rig.  The irony is that it tends to be the modern sailor that gets ‘hung up’ on the word rope while those on shore have no qualms in using the word freely.  Other idioms:  Give him enough rope and he’ll hang himself (referring to a noose), and money for old rope.  Selling old rope for money is and was a rare occurrence and something to be rather chuffed about.  The expression has come to mean easily earned or easily obtained money from any means.  Rope in; to haul someone or something in (either figuratively or physically) with a lasso rope; ropeable (Australia, New Zealand); angry to the point of needing to be restrained with a rope.  On the ropes--when a boxer is near exhaustion and defeat, languishing against the ropes of the boxing ring.  A hierarchy of cordage might be listed in this order; thread, for sewing on buttons, string, for tying up parcels or balloons; twine, for sewing sails or bolt-rope and for whipping rope-ends; line, such as fishing line, marline, painter, lead line and for abstract delineations, rope, such as the running rigging in a ship, the bolt rope of a sail, a hangman’s noose or the cords of a boxing ring and hawser, warp and cable which are large ropes for mooring, berthing, warping, towing and anchoring.  James Parbery  Find uses of the word line at https://seaheritageonline.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/learning-the-ropes_18-march-2020_by-jdparbery.pdf 

WORD AND THOUGHT FOR DECEMBER 10  tinpot  (TIN-pot)  adjective:  Unimportant; of little worth.  Alluding to a tin pot, in quality or sound, broadly from a reference to tin as a base metal compared to precious metals.  Earliest documented use:  1838.  There is no frigate like a book / To take us lands away, / Nor any coursers like a page / Of prancing poetry. - Emily Dickinson, poet (10 Dec 1830-1886) 

Election Cake is a cross between a yeast bread and a light fruit cake, almost a “Hot Cross Panettone”! The brandy (or whisky) icing is lovely addition, too!  Many years ago, it was an American tradition that after voting and exiting the polls, each voter would receive a slice of Election Cake.  The first recipe for American Election Cake appears in 1796 in the first U.S. cookbook, Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery.  You can read more about the history of the cake on the New England Historical Society’s page.  Find recipe and pictures at https://www.christinascucina.com/election-cake/  Thank you, Muse reader!  

From her farm house in Wisconsin, Kitty O'Meara, a retired teacher, penned a few words of reflection in her notebook, starting with the line, "And the people stayed home."  She posted the meditative lines to Facebook and her blog.  Her friend shared those lines—and from there, the poem promptly went viral.  O'Meara's prose poem was shared by the likes of Deepak Chopra and Lindsay Lohan; translated into languages across the world; and was adapted into operatic arias, Peruvian Afro-jazz songs, and everything in between.  Link to 0:54 trailer at https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a33844010/and-the-people-stayed-home-book-kitty-o-meara/  See also https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/5/7/21230350/coronavirus-pandemic-lockdown-poem-and-the-people-stayed-home-kitty-omeara 

WORD OF THE DAY FOR DECEMBER 11   montane  adjective (ecology)  Of, inhabiting, or growing in mountain areas; specifically, the cool, moist upland slopes below the timberline.  montane  noun  (ecology)  Flora and fauna of a montane habitat.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/montane#English

December 11 is International Mountain Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to highlight the importance of sustainable mountain development.  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2296  December 11, 2020